Darkness on the Edge of Town
Great album overall; for a "rocker" Springsteen really does have a knack for pretty melodies. That run of Something in the Night, Candy's Room, Racing in the Street and The Promised Land is just fantastic.
Sympathy For The Devil - it's a bit daring to open the album with the greatest song you ever did, or ever will, write (though that may be just, like, my opinion, man).
No Expectations - bluesy and laid back.
Dear Doctor - country-bluesy-folk. Great lyrics - "there's a pain where there once was a heart" distils the whole essence of country songs down to a single line.
Parachute Woman - 12 bars blues. Terrible lyrics - "my heavy throbber's itching" sounds like another medical issue for the doctor from the previous song.
Jigsaw Puzzle - really, really liked this one. Lush arrangement, original vocal melody, amusing lyrics. It's got a similar rhythm (and length) to Sympathy For The Devil, but without the stupid "woo hoo"s or sixth-form-rebel lyrics. Okay, my mind's been changed - sorry, Sympathy for the Devil, you're only number two now.
Street Fighting Man - a class struggle anthem from the poshest boys in rock.
Prodigal Son - more delta blues, this song sounds like it was written and recorded in the 1920s. In a good way.
Stray Cat Blues - the first song with Blues in the title on the album, and yet probably the least bluesy... at least until the end when it drifts off into a beatnik jam.
Factory Girl - huh, the last album had a tracked called Factory. Nice Donovanesque finger picking, mandolin, fiddle, very un-Rolling Stones-like. Nice.
Salt of the Earth - and another class struggle anthem from the poshest boys in rock. But this one kind of works - more anthemic (it's got a gospel choir joining in, for Pete's sake), and Richards is honestly a better singer than Jagger.
Black Dog - I've never heard this before, but it was very familiar... because the long-running Reeves & Mortimer quiz show Shooting Stars uses bits from this when introducing the scoremaster. Strange to have heard something hundreds of times over the years while having no idea where it originated from!
Rock and Roll - Just a nice simple rock and roll song; fine to listen to but leaves no lasting impression, even mere minutes after listening to it.
The Battle of Evermore - and so, the filk part of the record begins. This could have been quite epic, but they chose to go very simple and stripped back with the arrangement - which I guess is period appropriate, but I'd be interested to hear what this would be like with a couple of wailing electric guitars added in.
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zep's magnum opus, and indeed one of the greatest tracks ever recorded. Can't really say anything about it that's not been said before, so will just highly recommend Jeroen Offerman's recording of it (search YouTube for Stairway at St Paul's"), where he sings the whole thing backwards and reverses the video to turn it back the right way round.
Misty Mountain Hop - musically really interesting - I like the "chanting" bit where each note is the same length and the notes don't quite fit into the chords.
Four Sticks - argh, they've got a bit prog here for the last of the filky section, the rhythm is all strange and truncated; if the previous song was a song a hobbit would compose, this is a song an orc would compose.
Going to California - very pretty.
When the Levee Breaks - wailing and wahing all over the place, very nice.
It's Dark Side of the Moon! Perfect album, no notes.
Generally: Great album, but very front-loaded. And an awful lot of "whoa-oa"s throughout.
Let it Rock: The intro to this is great, but then it transforms into what is now fairly generic rock. It probably sounded a lot more original in 1986, though.
You Give Love a Bad Name: Absolute classic - the first time I've heard this through headphones, so didn't realise what great use it made of stereo, with the bassline wandering around the listening.
Living on a Prayer: Another absolute classic, and the most "New Jersey" song on the album - could easily see this being covered by Bruce Springsteen, actually.
Social Disease: Ugh, yet another absolute classic! Huh, I always thought that "Love is a" was part of the title, but apparently not. Really a great groove - more rock music should include horns.
Wanted Dead or Alive: and side A closes with one more classic, this is ridiculous. I'm fairly certain this is the song that got Jon Bon Jovi the Young Guns II soundtrack gig. Really impressed at how different every song on side A manages to be.
Raise Your Hands: High energy, but forgettable.
Without Love: great drumming I guess? Otherwise it pretty much just slides off my brain.
I'd Die for You: this could have probably been another classic with better lyrics, as it is it's just another overly earnest angsty teenage lovesong.
Never Say Goodbye: one of those "last song at the disco" tracks. Nice, tuneful, laid back - not sure why this is the second last track, it would seem better to close the album with this.
Wild in the Streets: and we end with one more fairly forgettable high-energy number.
Smooth, proto ambient and very nice, but feels a little above my head - I recognise, but do not fully appreciate, its greatness.
Folsom Prison Blues – Plagiarism controversy aside, this did give us one of the greatest lines Johny Cash ever wrote – “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die”
Dark as the Dungeon – a sad waltz, worth listening to for the interaction with the audience of convicts, instantly building a rapport.
I Still Miss Someone – doesn’t quite match the version h edid with Dylan, but nice enough.
Cocaine Blues – you can telll the care he took with building a set that would appeal to an audience of convicts.
25 Minutes to Go – one of Shel Silverstein’s ditties (most famous as a songwriter for A Boy Named Sue, another Cash standard, and probably the most intimidating figure ever to write a bestselling children’s book)
Orange Blossom Special – another railroad song with the guitar following the rhythm of a steam engine.... unusual to hear a versio of this song without fiddle since it’s one of THE big fiddle tunes.
The Long Black Veil – another “free spirit outlaw” track, again elevated a little by the interaction with the audience
Send a Picture of Mother – it’s got to be admitted at this point in the album that while Johnny Cash may have been a great singer and Songwriter, his guitar playing was merely okay.
Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog/Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart – variety show drivel.
Jackson – fine.
Give My Love to Rose – interesting to hear this early version.
I Got Stripes another convict’s tale.
Green, Green Grass of Home – a standard version of a country standard
Greystone Chapel – nice to end with a song written in the place of performance.
Not for me at all. A wash of insipid loops and clumsy rhymes. Stan is interesting, at least, and The Real Slim Shady is okay, but after that the rest of the -unusually long - album felt like a chore.
Very enjoyable... somehow I've gone this century without really being aware of Beth Orton beyond a name and a haircut. Not what I was expecting, a very pleasant surprise.
Terrible album name, awful lyrics, and almost certainly the worst band name on the entire list... I don't think
Nevertheless, solid album, good tunes and I really enjoyed it when I managed to tune out the lyrics. Sounds a lot like something the rival band would be playing in a battle-of-the-bands movie. Or, actually, maybe something like Limozeen.
A hugely evocative and dreamlike album, with tinges of Hammer horror/sci-fi throughout. Side one is entirely bangers (especially Cloudbusting), side two is one long extended dream. Fantastic all round.
