2/28/2023 9:33am
So nice to listen to even though I've heard it a few times throughout the years. The recording is so good. Guitars are crunchy and present, the saxophone is beautiful, the sound design and transitions between tracks is unparalleled and I'm realizing is quite influential for how I conceptualize a full album. I would like to make vinyl-sized records that are more experiences than a bunch of songs smooshed together.
-Welcome to the Machine synths are amazing. They cut through and tingle the spine.
Wow 2 volumes, 21 tracks. Must be good. Good start.
Influences I can imagine they have: Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, The Smashing Pumpkins
-Based on track 1, it sounds like they're a mixture of The Beach Boys and Pink Floyd. Plenty of fuzz and character.
-Tonight: i love how tight and fuzzy the guitars are without sounding "lo-fi". they feel well recorded and high quality, created to sound this specific way. It feels both big like a band on a stage - including horns - and also a bit garage-y. Smashing Pumpkins seem like an influence too.
I'm hearing Rolling Stones, Beatles, and even a bit of The Ramones particularly in have You Seen My Baby?
Yesterday's Numbers is a groove.
I like the guitar crunchiness. It does feel like this is a...less successful/more garage band style of Rolling Stones meets Beatles. It's interesting because it doesn't suck, which soundalikes often do. They've done it.
16 tracks ranging from 2:30 - 6:50 in length. I wonder how they did that back in the day?
Getting rockabilly vibes too from Evil Hearted Ada. I bet they were fun to see live. I like the filter effect, wonder if its an Eventide H9000 or whatever?
Whiskey Woman is cool.
Shakin' All Over has a good groove. Feels like good grooves abound.
Feels like the recording got worse as the album continued out. From Louie Louie, to Walkin' the Dog to Carol, there is a lot of microphone feedback and it feels like teh quality has gone down. Wonder if they ran out of money or there's some other reason?
Cult of Personality was always ringing in my ears from the radio growing up, so the concept is something that I've been aware of for a long time. Given the added context of my adult life and the goings-on of 2016-2023, these lyrics hit different.
I like the 80s reverb/slap going on. This feels like the vocal is really treated as theeee main portion of the mix.
"I exploit you, still you love me. I tell you one and one makes three."
"you gave me fortune, you gave me fame. you gave me power in your god's name. i'm every person you need to be, oh i'm the cult of personality"
multiple guitar solos...that's missing from modern music for sure.
I loved this. full of life and energy and THAT GUITAR TONE is insanely delicious. I was struck by how short the record is (35 minutes). I loved hearing the fans going absolutely ape**** when he would wiggle and wobble with his voice or the guitar. Inspiring.
The instruments are all very clear and clean, spread wide across the whole spectrum. It was refreshing to hear that the vocal and guitar weren't fully centered. the variety was refreshing.
Not really into it at this time. But I did appreciate the non-conformity of it all.
This album is eccentric almost as a rule. The group is British so that makes sense. Feels a bit punkish with elements of many of the different major artists that have stood the test of time from the 70s to today. The songs also seem to meander stylistically and instrumentally throughout the tracks.
Lyrics on I Just Can't Be Happy Today really reach me.
The piano intro of Melody Lee is an interesting and abrupt change that gets interrupted with the muted speed rock and rock star vocals.
Anti-Pope has cool stereo vocals and again. The lyrics are anti-establishment and right on.
These Hands is quite the murder song. It's mad.
Plan 9 Channel 7 is supposed to be the biggest, highest reaching song. I agree with that assessment based on the chorus. It feels like the most accessible song on the album...until we get to the end with the vocal solo heavy on the left side.
Noise, Noise, Noise - very punk. Kick everyone out of the way so you can hang out and cut loose. I love the recurring church themes that show up. NOISE NOISE NOISE
NOISE NOISE NOISE
NOISE NOISE NOOOOOOOOIIIIIISE
As I listen this time around, I'm really distracted by all of the changing locations of instruments throughout the album. I bet this one will sound better super loud on club speakers.
This is a concept album and I'm into it. Willie Nelson wrote on this. I love that it's set up like a program where he introduces the album verbally. It feels like we're at the show, seated right behind the two love birds sitting in front of us.
Cowboy blues meets jazzy night club. Pedal steel, honkytonk piano, crooner, but country blues songs. This is right up my alley.
Night Life: Around 2 min mark, the left channel pedal steel is juicy AF.
Really nice experience listening throughout. I love this era of music production.
Crispy azz drums, nice clean production. The book says that 1986 was a dark period thanks to drummers being replaced by shitty drum machines. I can hear the artistry that has been unleashed with this album though. And that's reflected in the natural but unnatural album art. I can't unsee the butterfly faced mustachioed man on the cover. But...like...that's me. A mask and face forged together with a variety of natural elements (butterflies in this case). Juxtaposition of real instruments with the beating drum of technological progress that up until that point was poorly executed.
I started listening to this album on loudspeakers, as the album art suggested, and it wasn't really hitting for me. Then I switched over to my headphones and cranked it. What I once thought seemed a little bit corny, now I hear as a thumping, pumping culture blast. So many classic synth sounds! Plenty of drama, some classical music-ness to it as well.
Behind the Wheel - I love the stereo effects as they echo, call and respond. Then when the thick, sexy vocals come in in the center, I become ecstatic, as in full of ecstasy, but not the drug.
I see an image of me sway-bopping in a crowd of 60,000 to these intoxicating tunes. I have no idea what the lyrics are, but that's not what I really listen for on a first pass. Or a second pass. And probably not the third either.
