With the exception of the titular track, the album was adequately pleasant. It's hard to articulate why I didn't like the track Cole's Corner. The orchestration felt too cheesy--ultracheesy, if you will. However, the folksy, singer-songwritery songs with more subdued instrumentation worked for me (i.e. Born Under a Bad Sign.)
Easily listenable hymnals to fall asleep to that are elevated by The Weight.
For The Band, this is a great sophomore effort. It has more boogie and soul than Big Pink. I will return for Up on Cripple Creek and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
Speakerboxxx is a solid, focused hip hop record by Big Boi that gets better in its second half. After The Way You Move, my favorite tracks are Knowing, Flip Flop Rock, Reset and Last Call. Meanwhile, Andre 3000's goal seems to have been to make anything but a rap album. Which is insane to make a record without your best instrument, but it's an insane accomplishment. Apparently, Hey Ya was the product of Andre's first attempt at learning guitar. Though, not everything worked for me on The Love Below. But songs that did are Happy Valentine's Day, Behold a Lady, Pink and Blue, Love In War, and A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre.
I was two years old when this album came out. Every single one of these songs reminds me of the back seat of my mom's Dodge Dart, which was beige.
I like Snoop's flow, the beats, Lady of Rage, the singles, Gz and Hustlas and so much more on this album. But I do not like the skits. Never did like the skits. Never will like the skits. There, I said it.
Short, sweet and to the point.
Courtney Love has a mind blowing career. At 21, she acted opposite Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb in one of my all-time-favorite movies, Sid & Nancy. Here she is--a rock star--13 years later with one of the 1001 albums you must listen to before you die sandwiched between starring roles in The People vs. Larry Flynt and Man on the Moon, opposite Woody Harrelson and Jim Carrey, respectively.
Like, she made it in the entertainment business, on two fronts. Yet, she is remembered as an addict, an afterthought, a punchline. Of course, there is...Everything. Else. But still, it feels like she does not get enough credit for her accomplishments.
Having said that, the real star of this album, for me, is Courtney Love's crop top on the cover.
Today I learned that Randy Newman wrote the song Mama Told Me Not to Come, which was a number one hit for Three Dog Night in 1970. However, the first recording of Mama Told Me Not to Come was on an Eric Burdon and the Animals release in 1967 called Eric Is Here. Besides Newman, Eric Is Here included songs written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King as well as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. They would all later have songs on Dusty Springfield's Dusty In Memphis.
It appears that when Sail Away was remastered and re-released in 2002, that someone decided to rotate the cover image 90 degrees to the right--so that Newman is looking left--and tint the entire thing red. Prior to that, the cover was tinted normally and Randy Newman was looking down. The change, to me at least, made the album look like Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.
Blood on the Tracks, this is not. But it is a brisk, jaunty disk worth a listen. I know this is a well regarded album and appears on many best of lists. However, it was not a hit record. It looks to me like Randy Newman never had a hit album despite having hit songs. That, to me, is why he now has to slave away on Pixar soundtracks for Disney into his 80's. Poor guy.
I am not a Jazz guy and, for that, I feel bad about myself. So I cannot get too jazzed up about this album. But do not get me wrong, there is nothing distasteful on here. In fact, plenty of it is quite good, especially Sarah Vaughan's voice. This record would be a nice accompaniment for a dinner party with cool friends or, possibly, even sexy time.
I definitely enjoyed the slice-of-life Chicago nightclub vibe. There is a part when you hear an audible thud followed by the crowd chuckling. This was presumably in response to a busboy slipping on a banana peel and stumbling, genitals first, into a microphone.
"[A]n anarcho-syndicalist speedfreak road movie record" is about right. But instead of anarcho-syndicalist, I would say tolerable.
Today I learned that the bassist in Magazine went on to have a solo career where he released soundtracks to non-existent films. His third album, Oedipus Schmoedipus, had some My Life in the Bush of Ghosts vibes and could go in a Music to Listen to While Working or Studying playlist.
Elvis' first album did not include his most popular songs of the time such as Heartbreak Hotel, Love Me Tender, Don't Be Cruel and Hound Dog because they had already been released as singles.
As a general rule, an album has been an afterthought in the music business. It was Sgt. Pepper's that made the album viable as artistic expression and a commercial product.
Today I learned why I did not hear anything from Dexys Midnight Runners after the release of their homage to bukkake, Come On Eileen, went to #1 in the US and was an early MTV staple. They committed commercial suicide with the release of their follow-up album Don't Stand Me Down.
Of course, just like The Cure is Robert Smith. Dexys, as they came to be known, is Kevin Rowland. And Kevin Rowland's voice on this album could be related to Robert Smith's voice. Maybe not in the higher register, but definitely mid to low. Like, if their voices are not brothers on this album, then cousins.
Aside from the citation of Warren Zevon on One of Those Things in the 1997 re-release, I was also picking up Lou Reed's Satellite of Love vibes on Knowledge of Beauty. I might have even heard a hint of Fleetwood Mac's That's All for Everyone somewhere, but I could not be bothered to listen again to find out.
Though not completely without artistic merit, I found this album bland with the conversational elements bringing it down further.
Recommended tracks: Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London, Lou Reed's Satellite of Love, Fleetwood Mac's That's All for Everyone and The Cure's A Strange Day.
Is there such a thing as easy-listening punk? There are a lot of hooky songs on here, but nothing really elevates. Drop Out reminded me of Kick Out The Jams. I'd say this music is along the lines of MC5 or X, but with a horn section and pedestrian lead singer.
To be honest, this is the first Taylor Swift album I have ever listened to. And it was alright. Also, this review is being written just after Taylor's appearance on the New Heights podcast, the announcement of her album The Life of a Showgirl and the announcement of her engagement to Travis Kelce. Go Chiefs!
I do like the indie vibe of the album, to the extent that "indie" is now its own genre. The album perfectly adheres to "indie" conventions. However, I'm not sure how much of the credit or discredit goes to Aaron Dessner. Either way, the album feels almost too perfect. It just does not resonate with me, but is still a pleasant listen.
Siamese Dream was released between my first and second year at the University of Kansas. Though, I do not think I was aware of Smashing Pumpkins until watching the Today video. At that time, my alt rock allegiance was with Nirvana. In Utero came out the week after Today was released as a single. Apart from that, I was listening to a lot of Bob Dylan and Velvet Underground and being depressed. So that's where my mind was at, but this album would have been right up my alley.
I did buy Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness when it came out (spoilers: it's a 4 too), but this is the first time listening to this album in its entirety. I had only heard the singles before. I have always liked Today and I was reminded how much I like Disarm.
I suppose Billy Corgan's singing voice has been something of an acquired taste. But I give him the benefit of the doubt for coming out of Chicago at the same time my mom lived there and for citing The Cure as an influence. Hell, the Pumpkins even covered Syd Barrett. They, and this album, are fine by me.
S.F. Sorrow resides in the vicinity of Sgt. Pepper's, early Floyd, and late-60s Kinks. It's not in the same neighborhood, mind you. It's on the outskirts of town, across the railroad tracks. The fact that it is allegedly the first "rock opera" earns no bonus points from me. Though I do kind of dig Baron Saturday.
By the way, at some point, the album was reissued with four bonus tracks. It seems most streaming services have this version. You only have to listen to the first 13 songs to hear the album immortalized on the 1001 list. I really hope I can reach just one person with this message.
I like, but it seems New Order are ripping off--er, interpolating--The Cure's Just Like Heaven on All The Way. Which shows me that there was some cross pollination happening between the bands. As I only thought it was Robert Smith doing the ripping off. First of all, compare The Cure's Splintered In Her Head to Joy Division's Atrocity Exhibition. Then also compare The Walk to Blue Monday.
Adele is clearly talented and has a fabulous voice. These are good songs. I could see myself returning for Rumour Has It. But my taste bone is not especially tickled by the other tracks. Bonus point for covering The Cure, though.
My first glib thought for Flamin Groovies is CCR, but without John Fogerty. Still, I dig the garage blues vibe and feel like Teenage Head punches above its weight.
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor is somewhere between a 3 and 4 for me. The first half was hit or miss. I felt the second half was much stronger with American Terrorist being a standout track.
The struggle is real...to star in films and television.
I always liked Q-Tip's flow from hearing him guest on tracks--particularly The Beastie's "Get It Together." Though, when "The Low End Theory" came out, I was not a fan of old school hip hop. I’m still not a fan of old school hip hop, but I wasn’t then either. So I overlooked the early evolution fostered by bands like A Tribe Called Quest. I wish I had listened to the album when it came out. Super solid and groovy.
I think MJ Cole may have been influenced by the 1080 Snowboarding soundtrack. I will put Sincere in a 'Music that could be in a videogame' playlist.
After reading about Dion, I thought of Bob Dylan. Their career trajectories are similar in the sense that they had early success followed by a turn to more mature materiel. Then they went Christian in the 80s, only to go back to secular music and experience late career renaissances on the Adult charts. Which, I guess, makes this Dion's Street Legal. Checks out. Street Legal was big in the UK.
I would put this album at 2.5--not distasteful, but nothing stands out. Since Dion has disowned the album, I will round down.
This exercise has me contemplating a number of what-ifs. Like, what if The Who never recorded "My Generation?" This album would be called "The Who Sing A Legal Matter." Would they have been as popular? It's doubtful in my mind, but who knows.
Regardless, they did sing "My Generation" which is quite fortunate. Otherwise, the album is something of a snooze with the The Who aping their influences to the best of their ability.
My intro to Radiohead was the Creep video on MTV, but what really got me into Radiohead was watching a There There video promo playing before a movie. I went out and bought Hail to the Thief. I loved it and then went to their previously released albums to determine that I loved those too--except for Pablo Honey.
OK Computer might be dysthymia in album form, but I am here for it.
The British Invasion bands broke based on their American R&B and rock and roll influences. Then they toured the other former colonies where they discovered heretofore-unknown-to-a-western-audience rhythms and instruments like the sitar. Which opened the door to the Shankar Sitar Complex. The sitar has remained an important instrument in popular western music.
What if The Last Starfighter were real? You know, that movie where the Rylan Star League puts a Starfighter video game on earth to recruit new gunners. Alex beats the game then is whisked out to space to fight the Ko-Dan Empire.
Also, so as not to arouse too much suspicion, the Rylans leave behind an android clone of Alex who looks the same but acts weird.
Yes, what if that were real? But, instead of a Starfighter simulator, it were pop music? Maybe that happened to Michael Jackson. After Thriller came out, the Rylan Space League abducted the King of Pop to battle the Ko-Dan Empire with song. Meanwhile, Michael's doppelgänger acted weird.
God, I hope that's what happened to Michael Jackson.
A friend introduced me to The Velvet Underground in college. I listened to this album a lot in 1993. I liked it then and I like it now. I do not know that I love-love it, but I'm definitely grading on a curve with these ratings.
I like Kanye's flow and he's obviously a Pro Tools wizard. However, he may have gone too far in a few places on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I dig "Monster" and "Hell of a Life."
I want to like Country Life more than I do. "Out of the Blue" cuts through for me, but not so much the other tracks.
In late 1994, I was living with my uncle in Lansing, Kansas and working at the Subway across from Fort Leavenworth. I drove my grandma's red 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which came equipped only with AM radio. The best listening option was an oldies station--710, I think. The format was popular music from 20 or more years ago. "What Is Life" was in heavy rotation. I would regularly open the store so it was me microwaving the meatballs, sneaking cookie dough, etc. with Mr. Harrison, The Association, The Beau Brummels, et al. on the radio.
I had another job taking phone orders for Sony parts near the Kansas City Airport. I want to say this was sometime in 1996. Niki Sullivan, an original Cricket, worked there. They played Buddy Holly hold music. Anyway, I once talked to George Harrison's personal assistant. As I recall, he wanted portable tv equipment. I checked on the order later and he returned the items.
I also began taking guitar lessons in 2020. One of the songs I picked was "My Sweet Lord." I did "learn" to play "My Sweet Lord." However, the trick to retaining said learning is to practice. Quite frankly, I don't have the dedication.
But I do like the songs on All Things Must Pass. I may even love them. Plus, I have this strong connection to George. The album is like a warm 70s blanket on a cool day--definitely five stars.
At first, I thought, I do not like this. But then I kept listening and kept hearing things I liked better.
Side one of Bookends is maybe a 2 or 2.5 if I'm being generous. "Voices of Old People" was hard to dance to. However, "Mrs. Robinson" and "Hazy Shade of Winder" elevate side two to a 4 to 4.5 rating. So that leaves this album as 3 to 3.5, overall. I am not feeling generous, so it's a 3 for me.
Heretofore, I was only familiar with John Cale through his association with Lou Reed. I had heard Velvet Underground's first two albums and the Reed/Cale homage to Andy Warhol, Songs for Drella.
So it was quite disorienting to find an album of radio-friendly John Cale. The opening track made me think of Brian Eno so I checked for the producer credit and it was Chris Thomas. (Incidentally, it was interesting to me that Thomas went on to have a production credit on Nevermind the Bollocks by Sex Pistols and INXS's Kick.)
Anyway, there's an alternate universe where this album was huge and multiple songs became radio staples. In that universe, I think of this album as a 4.5. But this is not that universe, so I am only giving Paris 1919 a 3.
I have to laugh at the fact that the song "Red Headed Stranger"--about a man who is acquitted of killing a woman for trying to steal the horse of his lost love--was written by a woman.
Of course, Willie Nelson made the lost love an unfaithful woman. He kills her and her lover. Poor red headed stranger. I was about to call this a soundtrack-to-a-nonexistent-movie, but it turns out they did turn Red Headed Stranger into a film starring Willie himself in 1986.
According to the plot synopsis, it does appear they left out the part where Willie kills a woman for trying to steal his horse.
There is good stuff on Moby Grape's Moby Grape, but nothing really stood out to me.
For the longest time, Steely Dan was a greatest hits band. That is, I did not own any of their albums, but I did have The Definitive Collection. I would tend to skip over "Bodhisattva" and "My Old School" to get to songs I liked better.
However, at some point I did acquire most of Steely Dan's albums. I would put Countdown To Ecstasy in the second or third tier of Steely Dan's discography (assuming Aja is top tier).
And, I have to say, "Bodhisattva" and "My Old School" have grown on me too. As has "The Boston Rag," "Your Gold Teeth" and "Show Biz Kids."
I cannot keep starting to listen to Songs In The Key Of Life only to find that it's two days later and I'm only three quarters of the way through. This is clearly a work of inarguable talent and possibly a masterpiece in a string of masterpieces. I mean, did you notice that this was Stevie Wonder's eighteen album? Yes, and he was twenty-six years old when it came out--just mind boggling.
I enjoyed listening to The Hour Of Bewilderbeast. Maybe I am a sucker for indie singer-songwriter tropes, but I found myself wanting to have Badly Drawn Boy as a friend. Then it hit me: Damon Gough sounds like Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
I got into a Wilco phase for a minute starting in 2003. Really liked Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born and Sky Blue Sky. In another universe, Jeff Tweedy has an indie singer-songwriter career as IBS Boy.
To borrow from Bob Newhart: I don't like country music, but I do not want to denigrate those who do. And if you like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'
Dookie came out near the end of my sophomore year of college. For a solid year, Green Day seemed ubiquitous. While I liked the music well enough, it was not Nirvana. So I disregarded Green Day at the time.
Cut to August 2009 and I am taking my beloved draughter to her first concert: Green Day, touring 21st Century Breakdown. They were terrific and played five songs off Dookie. (Though, does "Welcome To Paradise" belong to Kerplunk! or Dookie?)
Anyway, kudos to Green Day for making it and evolving.
I think listening to Melodrama in the chronological order of the 1001 albums would have helped the experience for me. I kept wondering whether Lorde was establishing pop-music cliches or perpetuating them. Or was that producer Jack Antonoff? My favorite song on the album is Homemade Dynamite, which is the only song Jack Antonoff had nothing to do with.
Anyway, I had to ask the internet and the internet said Lorde is an innovator, not an imitator. So, take that for what it is worth.
Here I am listening to In It For The Money and I am thinking that maybe Supergrass had more American influences than might be typical for a Britpop band. Specifically, I was listening to "G-Song" and getting Tom Petty vibes. Later on the album I was thinking I heard some Talking Heads inspiration.
Well, I found a 2015 interview with Gaz Coombes where he named his 13 favorite albums. Of the 13 albums, 10 were "American" artists, which includes both North and South America. Talking Heads was on there and I felt good about myself.
Gaz also likes On A Beach by Neil Young. Now, is it just me or could Gaz be the lovechild of a supermodel and Neil Young? I will say it is plausible.
Clearly, Trans Europe Express and Kraftwerk have massive influence. I had to laugh when I heard a Trans Europe Express sample on Africa Bambaataa's Planet Rock: The Album. Then there are the stylistic influenced bands like Depeche Mode, whose early stuff sounds like it could have been a Kraftwerk tribute band.
But I also could not help thinking of Sprockets: the SNL parody of 1980s German art culture. Dieter--Mike Myers detached, black-clad, monkey-obsessed host--seemed like exactly the the type of person that listened to Kraftwerk. Incidentally, Sprockets did use a sped-up Kraftwerk song for its introduction.
My review now bores me and I have shame. It is time to dance.
My first year at the University of Kansas was spent at Stephenson Scholarship Hall. In my second year, I moved down the hill off 14th and Vermont streets with two former Stephenson residents. I was as depressed as I would ever be and In Utero was my soundtrack.
I probably listened to In Utero the day that I watched Nirvana's Unplugged. No "Heart Shaped Box," but I approved of the inclusion of "Pennyroyal Tea," "All Apologies" and "Dumb." No "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but "Come As You Are" was the Nirvana song that first hooked me.
I had watched multiple Unpluggeds at this point in time, so I had no sense of profundity with Nirvana's performance with the exception of "The Man Who Sold The World." I had not heard the Bowie original at that point, but I think Nirvana made the song their own that night.
I bought MTV Unplugged In New York when it came out in November of 1994. It is in the one or two percent of albums on this 1001 list that I owned and listened to upon release. I had mostly put Nirvana to the side after Kurt Cobain's death. But MTV Unplugged In New York was a bittersweet reminder of something that was truly great for the briefest of moments.
Head Hunters is going in my Jazzy Dinner Party playlist. I found it really good to half-listen to.
I developed a secret crush on Madonna the first time I watched the video for "Material Girl." Though, I was never moved to buy her albums. She seemed ubiquitous from 1984 on.
Like A Prayer was released at the end of my freshman year in high school. I remember the "Like A Prayer," "Express Yourself," and "Cherish" videos in heavy rotation on MTV. By the end of my sophomore year, "Vogue" came out and the cycle kept repeating itself for a time. Fun fact: my junior yearbook, when I was on the yearbook staff, was titled "Express Yourself." I have lost it.
For me, Like A Prayer suffers because of its success. However, I did like "Love Song" with Prince, "Till Death Do Us Part," and laughed heartily at the line "What do you mean it's not in the computer?!"
This is a great album for people who want Adele in their lives.
I am basing my rating of Murmur mostly on the first side of the album. I really like "Pilgrimage" and "Talk About The Passion" and think "Radio Free Europe" is a truly great track.
"Catapult" is a good example of how I feel about the rest of Murmur. The first verse and pre-chorus go by and I am thinking this sounds like solid R.E.M. Then we get the "Catapult (Catapult)" chorus and I am taken out of the song. It sounds like it was grafted from a cheesy 80s sitcom.
Planet Rock: The Album is not my favorite flavor of hip hop. But there are some things I appreciate. Namely, I love that Kraftwerk has a writing credit on "Planet Rock." I also have co-opted the "Rock It Don't Stop It" refrain when I am getting my steps. Only, I say "Walk It Don't Stop It. Walk It Don't Stop."
Also, I was familiar with "Renegades of Funk" from the Rage Against The Machine cover on their album Renegades. I much prefer the RATM version.
I was not expecting such a nostalgia trip. Private Dancer was released two weeks after my grandfather succumbed to cancer. I hate to say it, but I was not sad when he died. I had only just moved in with my grandparents and uncle at the start of fourth grade. In hindsight, I do not think my grandfather wanted me there.
Tina Turner was ubiquitous for a time. I remember "What's Love Got To Do With It," "Better Be Good To Me," and "Private Dancer" all being big hits. They were background music as I settled in with my grandmother and uncle.
Digging into these songs yields a treasure trove of trivia. Not only are there tracks by Lennon & McCartney, David Bowie and Al Green, "Private Dancer" was written by Mark Knopfler. For all intents and purposes, it is a Dire Straits song with Tina singing. Dire Straits would release Brothers In Arms in May of 1985. It was onde of the first albums I owned on CD and I listened to it a lot.
Anyway, the biggest bit of trivia has to do with "I Might Have Been Queen" and its songwriters: Jeanette Obstoj, Rupert Hine and Jamie West-Oram. I knew Jeanette Obstoj as the co-writer of the song "Secret Separation," one of the best songs by The Fixx. Rupert Hine was one of the producers of Private Dancer and also produced "Secret Separation" as well as Reach The Beach by The Fixx--another of the first albums I owned on CD--which includes "One Thing Leads To Another" and "Saved By Zero." Jamie West-Oram is the guitarist in, you guessed it, The Fixx.
One more thing: Rupert Hine did the soundtrack for Better Off Dead. You can hear Cy Curnin, lead singer of Fixx, on the track "With One Look." Jeanette Obstoj and Jamie West-Oram also appear on the soundtrack. Allegedly, Cy Curnin provides background vocals on two Private Dancer tracks, but I could not spot him.
Having said that, "I Might Have Been Queen" is meh, probably because it is so Eighties. Which is also my feeling on "Steel Claw." I also do not think Tina makes "Help!", "1984" or "Let's Stay Together" her own. I do not love "Private Dancer," but Tina absolutely makes it her own. I like "Show Some Respect" and "I Can't Stand The Rain" as solid tracks. I really like "Better Be Good To Me" and think "What's Love Got To Do With It" is legitimately great.
To Pimp A Butterfly has cycled through my playlist a good four or five times. And that is where my rating would fall, between four and five. Very selfishly, I wanted to find an irresistible song or two that I had to listen to on repeat until I was satiated. Do not get me wrong, there are plenty of good, solid songs on this album that I like a great deal. I just did not fall in love with any and that would be my only knock on this album. But that is my problem.
Kollaps is not my cup of tea. But, you have to admit that it is better than starting two world wars.
I definitely have some hip hop blind spots. However, I am pleased to report that my eyes are now open to The Score. There's great flow, great beats, great singing; just great songs. Lauren Hill's performance on this album is mind blowing. Would recommend. Five stars.
To be honest, I rate most albums without knowing most of the lyrics. It really comes down to vibe. For example, in listening to "Lover of Mine" off Teen Dream, I originally thought Victoria Legrand was singing "Off to Norway." And on "Norway" I thought she was singing "No way."
Regardless, I dig the vibe.
You Want It Darker or, as I like to call it, The Death Shroud of Leonard Cohen, reminded me of the Kurt Cobain lyric from "Pennyroyal Tea": "Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld / So I can sigh eternally."
Apparently, Kurt was a fan of Cohen's music, but also claimed that listening to it made depression worse. I know where Kurt's coming from. Gosh, I hope Kurt Cobain was not listening to Leonard Cohen on April 5, 1994.
Another weird Cobain connection that popped into my head is that the title track, "You Want It Darker," reminds me of the Neil Young song "Sleeps With Angels" which was written in response to the suicide of Kurt Cobain. Only, we will have Lou Reed recite the lyrics. There, that is "You Want It Darker."
So, great, we have an album strongly evocative of death. It will be on heavy rotation when I feel my time is near.
For some reason, I felt predisposed to dislike Feast of Wire. However, I kept listening to the album and, even though it might straddle the "soundtrack to a non-existent movie" fence, I could not find anything I actually disliked.
I went to see more movies in the theater in 1994 than any other year. After my sophomore year in college, I decided to move to Tucson to try to get residency to attend the University of Arizona. I could not support myself and only made it through the summer. However, I could afford to go to as many movies as possible. We're talking The Lion King, Forrest Gump, True Lies, The Flintstones, Speed, The Mask, Maverick, Wolf, The Crow, and even something like When a Man Loves a Woman. I would also hit up the dollar theater where I saw Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, twice.
Anyway, after moving back to Kansas to stay with my uncle, I would still go to the theater when I could. Pulp Fiction was another movie I saw twice. So I guess my two favorite movies of 1994 were Pulp Fiction and Ace Ventura.
"Let's Stay Together" plays over the the scene where Marcellus Wallace is bribing Butch. It is a little nugget that pays off on subsequent viewings of the movie. Knowing that Butch eventually rescues Marcellus Wallace from hillbilly sodomists, "Let's Stay Together" is an inspired choice of music.
I wonder if Al Green is sending checks to Quentin Tarantino. If not, he should be. I dig the rest of the album's vibe.
Rock Band 2 was cool, right? Besides completing it with my beloved draughter, it was the first time I heard "PDA" by Interpol. But that is beside the point. Because I also believe it was the first time I heard "Teen Age Riot" by Sonic Youth.
Of course, I knew Sonic Youth. I bought Goo in high school. It had some stuff I liked, but I was not inspired to collect Sonic Youth's discography. I think they set to punk out on their major label debut so they leaned into the noise. I now think it is a shame that I did not also pick up Daydream Nation. Dare I say that Daydream Nation is more accessible than Goo?
Of course I dare say it. Talk is cheap. I mean, Daydream Nation still has its share of noise. But as I was listening to Daydream Nation, I wondered if I coined the term "prog punk." I never bothered to check. I would probably be inclined to give the album 4.5 stars, but since I cannot and I am feeling nostalgic, 5 stars it is.
I have added Getz/Gilberto to my Jazzy Dinner Party playlist. I have not yet had a reason to break out my Jazzy Dinner Party playlist, but I am anxious to do so.
Time (The Revelator) is not my jam, per se. It deserves more than my glib assessment. The voice and songcraft are top notch. If this were simply mainstream country music, I would have to give the genre a second look.
The self-titled album by Violent Femmes is a CD I own. I liked it well enough not to sell.
Incidentally, I sold too many CDs in my life. I even sold Eno/Byrne's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts after my mom explicitly said not to. God, I am so glad she is dead now so she will not find out.
For the record, I spotted the "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" melody on "Shakermaker" before I read that Oasis had to pay Coca-Cola for using it. You will simply have to take my word on this. Then I listened to more of Definitely Maybe and I thought, 'Is that T. Rex or The Clash or [other artist]?'
Noel Gallagher must be a fleshy musical computer with a knack for anthemic hooks. The fact that he interpolated from some of my favorite artists--besides Coke--makes the music on Definitely Maybe quite listenable. However, I am in the 'his brother is a nasally, whiny wanker' camp so the vocals wear on me. I give it one and a half yin and one and a half yang.
Now, we all know that the name Steely Dan comes from a steam-powered strap-on sex toy that appears in the William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch. But what you may not know is that, from 1981, William Burroughs spent his remaining years in Lawrence, Kansas.
Lawrence, Kansas happens to be where I chose to go to college, at the University of Kansas. Incidentally, I was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. This may be hearsay, but apparently Leavenworth had the choice of a state university or a federal penitentiary. Sigh.
Anyway, I did not know it at the time, but the internet says that Burroughs lived at 1927 Learnard Avenue, which was a mile from where I lived. So rumors of him shopping at the grocery store where I bought my ramen appear circumstantially true.
I never did run into William S. Burroughs when I was buying ramen. I would not have known what Burroughs looked like had it not been for the movie Drugstore Cowboy. Burroughs plays a junky priest who is a mentor, of sorts, to Matt Dillon.
And, oh my goo, I just learned this: William S. Burroughs and Kurt Cobain released a song in July, 1993 entitled "The 'Priest' They Called Him." It is a spoken word jam about a junky priest who gives his score to a sick boy and dies. Cobain provides background guitar noise. The two corresponded and collaborated remotely, but Cobain visited Burroughs in October, 1993, probably while I was buying ramen down the street.
Oh, yes, Can't Buy A Thrill is pretty good. I think the songs with David Palmer singing lead are my least favorite. Even though it was not a single, I would still hear "Dirty Work" on classic rock radio. So, at some point, it did come as a surprise that Steely Dan made this song about the shame felt sexing up a coupled woman. Oh, boo hoo.
Ringing endorsement here: I do not hate Woodface. It is mostly pablum. The lead track and single "Chocolate Cake" references Tammy Bakker, a televangelist popular in the 1980s along with her then-husband Jim Bakker before he was convicted of felony fraud.
I have a theory that Wikipedia would label original research, but here goes. With the rise of cable television in the 1980s, there were still less than 100 channels. So anyone who could get themselves on those channels had a good chance of being popular. Televangelists had more reach and popularity in the 1980s due to the fact that they had their own cable channels--like the Bakker's PTL (Praise The Lord) Network. Then, of course, you also had the music video evangelism of MTV.
So, whether you were Tammy Bakker or Crowded House, if you got yourself on cable TV back in the day, you had a good chance of finding an audience.
I spent the summer of 1983 with my aunt Pandy and uncle Mike in Jacksonville, Florida. Mike was stationed at the naval base and would often be at sea. For some reason, I spent a lot of time babysat by Pandy's friend. In hindsight, I wonder if Pandy was having an affair.
Pandy and Mike did not have MTV, but Pandy's friend did. I parked myself in front of her television and would watch as much MTV as I could. "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" were both still in heavy rotation. The Police were the biggest band in the world. I first heard of The Fixx and "Saved By Zero." Various other videos come to mind: "Slipping Away" by Dave Edmunds, Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue," "Our House" by Madness, Stevie Nicks came out with "Stand Back" and so many more.
Duran Duran were new to me and presented an image that my 9 year old brain could not yet wrap around. By the time Seven and the Ragged Tiger was released in November of 1983, I lived with my grandparents and uncle. They did not have MTV at the time so it took a couple of years before my uncle convinced my grandma to get cable. Without MTV, I gravitated to the classic rock my uncle listened to.
I wrote off Duran Duran after they did the James Bond song “A View To A Kill.” But then they would keep on releasing catchy tunes, specifically “Notorious” in 1986 and “I Don’t Want Your Love” and “All She Wants Is” in 1988. So I have to give Duran Duran their due. Rio is certainly peak Duran Duran and sets a tone for the rest of the 1980s, but still remains apart from it.
I can say I have seen Bob Dylan play live, one month before the release of Time Out Of Mind. Kansas City used to host a free concert festival called Spirit Fest which Dylan played in August, 1997. I went with my cousin Mary. We did not arrive in time to scope out a place to camp out. So we just wandered through the crowd for a few songs. Then we rode carnival rides.
While I heard of Bob Dylan growing up, I never really heard Dylan until I got to college. This included The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde, and Nashville Skyline. Blood On The Tracks was on heavy rotation in my CD player during an ill-advised summer in Tucson, Arizona.
Needless to say, Dylan holds a special place in my favorite artist pantheon. However, the older Dylan got, the more uneven his output became. By the time he released Time Out of Mind, he was dead and buried multiple times. He was also 56 years old. I am sorry, but 56 year old artists do not release vital music.
Time Out Of Mind may have been classified as a return to form. But I saw it as a work by an artist with a sure-handed command of the musical vernacular. I own this CD and listened to it a lot at the time. Though, I have not revisited it since. Time Out Of Mind is fine + 1 for nostalgia.
The Modern Dance let me know that it was safe to dip my toe into the Pere Ube appreciation pond. I also appreciate the "avant garage" descriptor. But do I actually like the album? I am ambivalent. The title track is an earworm. I can also vibe with a slow burn like "Over My Head" or the avant ska "Humor Me." But I am not down with the non song "Sentimental Journey."
The first time I heard "September Gurls" was the Bangles' cover on Different Light. "In The Street" is the theme song to That 70's Show. "Thirteen" is a classic and I really like the song "Feel." So, I understand the influence of Big Star. However, those songs are all on the first two Big Star albums which were packaged as a double LP and, quite probably, purchased at a discount. However, Third/Sister Lovers contains no songs of note and should not appear in anyone's top 500, 1,001, or 5,000 albums.
Okay, I guess In A Silent Way is a little too far out (man) to go in my Jazzy Dinner Party playlist. But I cannot hold that against the album too much, if only for its perceived influence. The "In A Silent Way" track points the way to Brian Eno's ambient albums. Then the track goes into a motif that is seemingly echoed in The Rolling Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," released two years later.
I mean, apart from the truly exceptional "Layla," the truly great "Bell Bottom Blues," and the rousing cover of "Little Wing" Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs is just okay.
Corin Tucker is just over a year older than I am. Carrie Brownstein is just over nine months younger. I could have gone to high school with Sleater-Kinney. So it gives me no pleasure to imagine them ignoring me for being such a square. Then later I might outwardly bad mouth their music out of male insecurity, but secretly think Dig Me Out rocks.
I can objectively say that Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut album is good. It has good singing, songwriting and production. However, I considered it adult contemporary upon its release when I was in eighth grade. I did not vibe with it then. The fact that I am now elderly has only solidified my vibe. Also, "Fast Car" being appropriated by country does it no favors.
Sometimes a band catches lightning in a bottle and you get a "Bitter Sweet Symphony." That, then, produces the false expectation of more advanced songwriting and production on Urban Hymns. But then you are treated to mostly simple ballads. If the album were more like "The Rolling People," I would be inclined to like it a lot better. However, the album wants to be more like "The Drugs Don't Work" which does not work for me. Also, minus one for including a hidden track, making me think something was wrong with the playback.
Ringo, I have to ask: What's wrong with your face? Is it just me or does Ringo's face on the cover look weird--I mean, weirder than usual?
To be fair, this is the second album released by The Beatles in 1963--on the same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, by the way. However, "All My Loving" is the only song of note. This might be The Beatles shite era, but it was short-lived. They followed this up with A Hard Day's Night less than eight months later.
Okay, Megadeth, here is your three. For what it is, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying is fine, I guess. But the faster the metal gets, the less I am inclined to want to listen to it.
I really dig "Sexy Boy" off Moon Safari. After that, the album is so chill it does not care what rating I give it. Three to five. Whatever, man.
Did you know that Zia McCabe of the The Dandy Warhols is a real estate agent in Portland, Oregon? If you are looking to buy or sell in the Pacific Northwest, check out A to Zia Real Estate.
I only mention that because I was listening to ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down and I thought 'I like this.' Then I thought 'Who are these guys?' Well, on this album, there was Courtney, Peter, Zia and Eric. Later, Brent replaced Eric.
To my knowledge, you cannot list your home with any of the other Dandies.
Paul Simon's self-titled album, Paul Simon, is a hodge podge of styles. It includes some world music on "Mother and Child Reunion" which points the way to Graceland, released 14 years later. It also includes the pop folk of "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" which is closer to the direction Paul Simon took his music for the next 14 years.
The rest of the album is fine. However, none of the other songs tickle my fancy.
I think I may have reached an epiphany listening to You've Come a Long Way Baby. I asked the internet why is electronic music so popular in Europe? The less obvious answers are Europe's embrace of disco and its various offshoots, less restrictive club laws, an abundance of music festivals and a general reverence for DJs as artists. However, the real reason, apart from being generally danceable, is that electronic music transcends language and ideology.
I mean, you can condense a timeline of European events to 1. electronic music ascends and 2. European Union forms. It seems quite straightforward. In fact, I think electronic music in all its guises would mitigate the political climate in the United States.
By the way, another epiphany is that Fatboy Slim is an English DJ and not a mid-aughts alt rock band from Mississippi. So, I give You've Come a Long Way Baby five stars for its sheer import to mankind's past and its future. Now, more than ever, the funk soul brother.
I respect k.d. lang's singing. However, I am surprised to learn that her first solo album, Shadowland, featured all covers, given she wrote or co-wrote every song on her follow-up Ingénue. lang's singing does elevate Shadowland, but it is still Country karaoke to me.
Firstly, it seems as if what The Jam were doing on Sound Affects should be called 'Brit Pop.' What with "Start!" ripping off--er, interpolating--"Taxman," I am surprised that George Harrison does not have a writing credit. Then, what came in the 1990s could be called 'Britpop Boogaloo.'
I have heard "That's Entertainment" before. However, my simple brain was confusing The Fall for The Jam. So the universe makes more sense now. Mark E. Smith does not sound like David Bowie, but Paul Weller sure does.
I know that Paul Weller is not aping Bowie. But I kept imagining that Sound Affects was an alternative universe Bowie album if he had gone punk.
Today I learned that sharia law was imposed in northern Mali. The group Songhoy Blues--with three of four men named Touré, no relation--fled and brought us this gem of "desert blues," a fusion of American blues hooks and Malian grooves. I am here for it.
Oftentimes, one thought will crystalize in my mind after a few listens of an album. This is because I can only keep one thought in my mind at a time. With the debut self-titled studio album by Fleet Foxes, that thought was 'Music for Commercials.' Now, I realize that "White Winter Hymnal" has been used in commercials, so this is not an original thought. However, it felt original to me.
Do not get me wrong, the album sounds nice. Many things sound nice, like the chime my washing machine makes when it is finished. However, I do not seek out that chime. Since I do not sell products or make commercials professionally, I do not think this album was meant for me.
The blues numbers are solid. However, someone should make a supercut of B.B. King addressing the audience on Live At The Regal. That person is not me, so I will simply summarize here:
Thank you. Thank you very much. Give it up for my band. They are wailing out there. Please make some noise if we happen to play a song you have heard before. Now, for this next number, we are going way back. But I want to tell a story. Ladies, if your man does not do right by you, do not cut him. And fellas, if your woman does not treat you right, do not go upside her head. Thank you. Thank you very much.
I want to like Five Leaves Left more than I do. It is great in a folk singer-songwriter context. However, when considered against all genres, it may be around my fifteenth to twentieth favorite album of 1969. There is nothing distasteful in the slightest. In fact, the album is quite tasteful. There just are not any songs that draw me to them.
Oracular Spectacular is spectacular. It would be impossible for the rest of the album to match "Time To Pretend," "Electric Feel," and "Kids," but the remaining songs are strong and a front to back listen is so rewarding.
The first and only Elvis Costello album I owned was Spike. For a brief moment, my mom worked at a record store and bought me a bunch of CDs one Christmas. Apart from "Veronica," which was receiving MTV airplay, I was not moved by the album.
And that is my basic experience with Armed Forces, except there are no songs that had already pierced my bubble. (Except for "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding," which was only included with the album after the 1993 re-release, so it does not count.) While I do like some songs by Elvis Costello, I am generally not moved by his music or this album.
Kid A gets five stars from me. Except for Pablo Honey, I would rather listen to any Radiohead album over nine out of ten albums on the thousand and one list.
As I was listening to Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left, I was wondering if anyone ever said "'How to Disappear Completely' would not exist without Nick Drake." I would not say that, but the echoes appear to be there.
"The National Anthem" and "Optimistic" are top tier Radiohead songs for me. However, virtually every other song is strong in its own right.
I appreciate that with The College Dropout, Kanye West created a space for hip-hop to rap about higher education, materialism, Jesus, etc. My favorite tracks are Spaceship, Get Em High and School Spirit. Once I removed the skits from the playlist, I liked the album a lot better.
The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star" was the first video played on MTV in August of 1981. By that time, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes (of The Buggles) had joined Yes and released the album Drama, which featured Horn on lead vocals. It was the first Yes album that did not have Jon Anderson singing lead.
Trevor Horn stuck around to produce the immensely successful Yes follow-up 90125, which included "Owner of a Lonely Heart." Horn also produced ABC's The Lexicon of Love (including "The Look of Love"), Malcolm McLaren's Duck Rock ("Buffalo Gals"), and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Welcome to the Pleasuredome ("Relax"). His Wikipedia page says he has been called "the man who invented the eighties" which does not feel too far off.
Meanwhile, Geoff Downes formed Asia in 1981 with John Wetton (formerly of King Crimson), Steve Howe (who was estranged from Yes at the time) and Carl Palmer (the "Palmer" in Emerson, Lake and Palmer). Downes and Howe have since rejoined Yes and continue with the band to this day. None of this is really germane to this review, but I find it interesting.
My uncle was more of the Yes fan in my household. He owned 90125 and Classic Yes on CD. Classic Yes included "Heart of the Sunrise," "Long Distance Runaround" and "The Fish" off Fragile. But I invariably would skip "Heart of the Sunrise" and "The Fish." Frustratingly, it also included an inferior, live version of "Roundabout."
I eventually acquired the album version of "Roundabout," which is probably my second favorite Yes song after "Starship Trooper." I read an interview with Jon Anderson who said the lyrics were mostly written while on a bus ride, driving through roundabouts and around lakes. Checks out.
So, while I like Yes, this is the first time I have listened to Fragile in its entirety. Whether or not I give it a five depends on "We Have Heaven," "South Side of the Sky" and instrumentals from Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford. (Incidentally, Bill Bruford left Yes in 1972 to join King Crimson and was the touring drummer for Genesis in 1976, when Phil Collins took over lead vocals.) Survey says: Fragile is a four.
This is as good a time as any to tell you about my idea for a 1970s supergroup that never was and never will be: W.E.B. However, perhaps with some AI trickery, W.E.B. could be conjured into existence and the world could be gaslit into believing that it was a real thing.
W.E.B. is the ultimate in 1970s excess: a keyboard supergroup composed of Rick Wakeman of Yes, Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Tony Banks of Genesis. Although, I assume Wakeman would leave immediately and need to be replaced by Rick Wright of Pink Floyd.
Someone just needs to make a short video that includes a spoofed W.E.B. article in Creem (which would be harder to fact check than Rolling Stone.) Throw on an English narrator and out-of-context interview clips from Wakeman, Wright, Emerson and Banks and, shazam, W.E.B. now exists.
Oh yeah, Tarkus is fine, I guess. I wish it had "Lucky Man."
Kudos to Grizzly Bear for recording themselves singing and playing original compositions, then releasing said recordings as an album called Veckatimest. My own feeling on the album is that is between a two and three. But I appreciate the effort so a three it is.
So 1977 was a year. At first, I thought it was the year of Iggy Pop, what with the release of The Idiot and Lust For Life. Note to self: listen to The Idiot. But then I see Bowie put out Low and "Heroes." You had the debut albums of Peter Gabriel, Television, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, and Sex Pistols. Exodus, Aja and Rumours came out. If you could only listen to one year in music, 1977 would not be a bad year to pick.
"The Passenger" first came to my attention via the cover by Siouxsie and the Banshees. I also listened to The Jim Rome Show back in the day, which liberally employed the "Lust for Life" intro. For all I know, it still does.
This is the first time listening to the album Lust For Life and I must say, I like it a lot. It probably lies between a four and five for me. But I am happy to award it a five with the nostalgia and connection to 1977.
Oh, yeah, there is one other thing that came out in 1977: Star Wars.
Okay, I think I know what happened to The Verve: Oasis. I like A Northern Soul a lot more than Urban Hymns. However, I get the impression that The Verve could be seen as something of an Oasis knock-off on this album. If only it included "Bitter Sweet Symphony," perhaps the story of Britpop would be seen differently.
If your streaming service forced you to only listen to artists from one city, it would be hard to top New York City. The early to mid-1970s bands set the scene for punk and new wave: Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie, Talking Heads and, of course, Ramones. Listening to this album was like being hit in the face with fourteen equally short, but intense rays of sunshine.
Listening to Bubble And Scrape, it felt like Sebadoh had some dirt on Dimery. Why am I listening to these mostly shambolic compositions from a guy that got kicked out of Dinosaur Jr.? I asked the internet what bands have cited Sebadoh as an influence, expecting to find none. But the internet said that a handful of bands claimed Sebadoh's lo-fi indie was influential. Including, oddly enough, Dinosaur Jr.--probably sometime after Lou Barlow rejoined. Bubble And Scrape is probably two and a half stars for me, but I will round down out of pettiness.
Hot Buttered Soul gets four stars from me on vibe alone. Well, that and the fact that I imagined South Park's Chef--who was, of course, originally voiced by Isaac Hayes--doing the spoken word part of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and prefacing every line with "Now, children..."
Picture Book was a surprise on many levels. Firstly, my brain must have confused Simply Red with Simple Minds. I was expecting 1980s synth pop. Instead, I hear a black woman singing soulful tunes that were more reminiscent of the late 1970s. The next surprise was that the singer was, in fact, a ginger man, not a black woman. You can imagine me flicking my fingers next to my temples, indicating a blown mind.
I did dig the vibe of the album, but with one exception, the songs underwhelmed me--especially the "Heaven" cover. That one exception is the evocative "Holding Back the Years." At first, I did not remember I had heard it back in the day. But the "I'll keep holding on" line reminded me. Yes, it was a number one song, but I must have only heard it on the radio a few times and then it fell in the memory hole. Gladly, the memory hole has been excavated and a diamond was unearthed.
I would probably rate this album at three and a half stars, but the fact that I love "Holding Back the Years" so much pushes Picture Book to four stars.
Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon by David McGowan tries to make the case that the American 1960s music scene in Laurel Canyon was somehow engineered by the CIA. He points to some interesting, if not mind-blowing, connections of some rock icons to the government. For example, Jim Morrison's father was in command of naval forces at the Gulf of Tonkin in August of 1964 when reported attacks on U.S. destroyers led to a significant escalation of military involvement in Vietnam.
Frank Zappa was cited as well for his father's work at the Edgewood Arsenal's Army Chemical Center, ninety miles north of Washington, D.C. Zappa attributes his various childhood illnesses to mustard gas exposure. His father also gave him mercury to play with. Zappa died at age 52 of prostate cancer.
In my mind, McGowan's Weird Scenes does not make the case that the CIA was behind the Laurel Canyon scene. Just as We're Only In It For The Money does not make a case of its vitality. I give Frank Zappa kudos for his wit and musicianship, but this album does not do it for me.
Next to the rest of the Radiohead discography, The Bends is not one of my first picks. However, next to the soundscape of the 1,001 albums I will listen to before dying, it is a welcome respite.
I wrote Radiohead off after "Creep." On reflection, it was Thom Yorke's blonde hair that did it. So I did not dive into the Radiohead discography until 2003. However, had I bought The Bends in March of 1995, I know it would have been on heavy, heavy rotation.
People in 1973 did not know how good they had it. Bob Marley and the Wailers released Catch A Fire in April. The compilation album African Herbsman came out in July. Then, in October, Burnin' was released. Also, I was born in December. Now, one of these things is not like the other. Still, it was a great year for Marley and a pretty good one for me too.
