#11 The Clash, London Calling
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? Yes
3. Have I listened to the album before? Yes
When you think of the Clash, you
think of leather jackets and safety pins and combat boots and Mohawks. When you actually listen to The Clash, you
(or at least I am) are struck by the musicality of it- it’s fast, upbeat, and
dare I say cheery even with subject matter than is less than. There’s a pop styling to the music that bands
like The Stray Cats and Social Distortion took and ran with in subsequent
years. These guys are actually extremely
talented.
The title track is well
known. Brand New Cadillac is a sleek and
drawn lamentation. Rudie Can’t Fail is
one of my all-time favorite songs. “What
I need, I just don’t have…”
Spanish Bombs is a great example
of the cheery song with some downer lyrics.
Imagine if you will dancing to this:
Spanish
songs in Andalucia
The shooting sites in the days of '39
Oh, please, leave the vendanna open
Fredrico Lorca is dead and gone
Bullet holes in the cemetery walls
The shooting sites in the days of '39
Oh, please, leave the vendanna open
Fredrico Lorca is dead and gone
Bullet holes in the cemetery walls
Yet here I am doing just that-
bobbing by head and wiggling in my seat a little.
Lost in the Supermarket is just
funny in an odd sort of way. The rest of
the album you hear reggae influences, horns and other goodness. It is in some ways the antithesis of punk, in
others pure punk. Which really if you
think about it is the essence of Punk.
So I learned something
today. Train In Vain is a song I’ve
heard hundreds of times and I’d not idea it was The Clash nor that it was
called Train In Vain. And I love Train
In Vain.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? Yea
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULD? Come on, it’s the Clash.
#11 David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy
Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? Yes
3. Have I listened to the album before? No
Five Years starts out with a very 70s sound. This is appropriate, as it was written in the
70s so I am unsure what my point is here exactly.
Let’s take a deep breath, shall we?
Soul Love has some amazing guitars- simple fuzzy and buzzy-
and some saxophone. Normally I hate sax,
(I said SAX) but here its actually adds something and is complementary instead
of Kenny G style overwhelming and obnoxious.
Now we move to Moonage Daydream, more familiar territory for
me and a great track. Same with
Starman. On both tracks I am digging the
acoustic guitar. Really, the further in
the more I’m appreciating the background musicians; Lady Stardust should be
played in piano bars the world over.
Star is an old school song that would have fit in well in
the 50’s.
Ziggy played guitaaaaaarrrrr… beautiful.
Suffragette City is one of those songs where you only know
one line of the song but you still sing along cause you can- “Hey Man”.
David Bowie will forever be on my list of regrets that I
never saw him perform live. What an
amazing artist.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? Yea
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULD? Come on, it’s Bowie
#12 Dolly Parton, Jolene
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? Maybe?
Right off I dig the guitar.
Dolly’s got an amazing voice.
Jolene is a great track; got an incredible intensity.
10 songs, 24 minute. This is old school.
Slide guitar, banjo. And that voice. Even if you hate country, you’ll like this
album for the sheer talent that it contains.
I will say that after the
intensity of Jolene, the subsequent tracks are a little syrupy. I would have liked it if she had maintained
that emotion, but still have to appreciate what she’s doing here.
Whoa. I had forgotten that I Will Always Love You
was a remake, that Dolly did it in ’74.
My mind is blown.
Randy makes me giggle because it
makes me think of my friend Randy in Dallas.
Well, that was fast; it’s
over. I’m gonna put Jolene back on really
quick before moving on.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? I’d listen to Jolene the song
again, for sure. I’d put this album on
if I wanted to just chill out for 20 minutes.
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULD? I am.
#13 Supertramp, Breakfast In America
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? Yes
3. Have I listened to the album before? No
This is one of those bands that I
have a peripheral familiarity with.
Couldn’t name one of their songs, but when I hear one, I’m like, oh, who
is that?
Gone Hollywood starts out in a
Bee Gee like fashion then gets kind of trippy.
The Logical Song. I totally know this song. No idea what it was called, or who it was by. I might have guessed Yes if a gun was pointed
at my head. Great song.
Goodbye Stranger. I totally know this too! I would have guessed Steely Dan? I love this song!
Breakfast in America. Guess what?
I know this one. Who knew that I
liked Supertramp?
What a great set of three songs
back to back to back!
Take The Long Way Home. Know it.
Dig it.
Lord Is It Mine is the pull the
lighters out and wave them in the air interlude. It’s making me a little sleepy. Child of Vision sounds like it should be a
musical number, not a great end.
I’m pleasantly surprised by this
album all in all. Who knew I liked
Supertramp?
You do, my friends, you do.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? The first half of the album for
sure. It falls off a bit in the second
half, but I wouldn’t shut it off or anything if I heard it.
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULD? I am.
#14 Metallica, Metallica
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? Yes
3. Have I listened to the album before? Yeah, maybe a few times
I remember the day I bought this
album with my buddy Rob. Technically Rob
bought it for me and to this day suspect I owe him 10 bucks as a result.
This is simultaneously one of the
most revered and vilified albums of all time.
“The Black Album killed Metallica for me”, “They sold out on us
maaaan”. Me? I think it is an excellent album by a band
that wasn’t scared to move on from a sound that they helped to create, and they
have continued that evolution in the 25 years since this album came out. It’s not my favorite album by them, but it is
very very good. I always liked the less
played songs like The God That Failed, Through The Never, Of Wolf and Man, but
it is hard not to appreciate Sad But True.
This is an album that must be
played loud. I’ve heard Sandman a
thousand times but played loud I can still feel my pulse quicken.
Holier Than Thou isn’t a song
I’ve given much thought to in a while.
But it shreds.
I’m struck by the musicality of
it all. I remember interviews with the
album’s producer Bob Rock where he’d say, “I just wanted them to sound better”,
and I’d be all like, “FUCK YOU, Bob! They
were just fine before you dug your claws into them!”
But now I get it, I think.
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? Of course
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULD? Not even slightly
#15 Kanye West, The College Dropout
1. Have I heard of the artist? Yes
2. Have I heard of the album? No
Wait, Kanye West is a
singer? I’m joking, of course.
We Don’t Care has a nice simple beat; it’s
the lyrics that add the layers to the song. Making kids sing the chorus is making
a point about something, I think? I’m
not getting it. The interlude that
follows seems to indicate that maybe it was a joke played against an
antagonist, who is displeased with Kanye.
I dunno man. I feel old listening
to this.
Spaceship is a cool sounding
song, nice vocals. Jesus Walks has some
odd chanting in the background and some Indian sounding horns in the
middle. It seems very stark and very
dark.
Evidently this is his first album
as a recording artist. The beats are
good, the lyrics are smooth. Some of the
guest artists I like better than others- Jay Z I’ll pass on, but GLC and
Consequence are pretty cool.
The skits that he pops in here
and there do play into the subsequent songs, but they’re a little weird. But when they preface a song like The New
Workout Plan it’s hard not to appreciate what he’s doing even if it is a little
ridiculous at the same time.
Kanye really has an issue with
college it seems.
Through the Wire appears to be
about a song about a gentleman with a broken jaw maybe? Poor guy’ll never make it through security
with a plate in his chin! There’s just
an odd humor here that is pervasive.
Last Call clocks in at 12:41.
That is probably about 8:41 too long for what he actually gives. Who exactly
are you talking to, sir?
WOULD I LISTEN TO IT
AGAIN? Probably not, but I think I would
like to listen to other albums by Kanye now just to see what they are like
AM I SURPRISED THAT I
WOULD? I’m surprised that the album
intrigued me enough to want to listen to other stuff by him.
No comments:
Post a Comment