I have never been a PF fanatic. But goddamn listening to this now and I am remembering how stunning and epic of a statement this is. Right from the jump, with the otherworldly ambience and the guitar lines from Gilmour, I am transported out of my life into this world created by the band. This is so incredible!
It was on my chart way back in 2012-13, and I took it off to put some more albums that are a little more RyanCore. But this is still overall chart worthy stuff. Gilmour and his intense and sculptural elegance on guitar is enough to make this worth a 100 listens. I feel he is one of the best guitarists ever and I am obviousl;y not alone on that. But I felt it worth mentioning again in a new unit of time.
The songs are mostly long and sprawling and beautiful and feauture lots of delicate shifts in tempo and time and tone. I don't love Waters' vocals or lyrics, but I don't hate them either. He hadn't yet jumped the shark a bit with parts of Animals and most of the Wall with his more self-serious and silly traits. This is the best Floyd album. And yes that includes the early Barrett albums, which get a lot of love from the more musically woke amongst us.
like.... How is that even possible?! lol. I thought all music nerds went through the requisite (and essential imo) Pink Floyd phase in middle school. lol. God I love them. I used to watch that Wall movie all the time in high school. Killer stuff for high school that's for sure.
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
like.... How is that even possible?! lol. I thought all music nerds went through the requisite (and essential imo) Pink Floyd phase in middle school. lol. God I love them. I used to watch that Wall movie all the time in high school. Killer stuff for high school that's for sure.
Haha! Honestly, maybe I should admit that when I was a wee lad I'd 13 I went through a heavy Floyd and zeppelin phase. Perhaps at that time I was a "fanatic". _________________ -Ryan
I'm planning on doing a deep dive into country music and all it's strands. Now I usually just go to RYM and pull up the genre chart with everything, comps, archival, live, albums, eps, and I include subgenees (and pass over stuff that from my experience just seem way way off the track of my idea of the genre) and find the top 10-20 or so that I am interested or intrigued by. For country let's see how the top 100 go when I do this...
1. At Folsom prison - I have heard many times need to revisit. I like but don't love.
2. TVZ live at the old quarter - a masterpiece. May revisit but not a high priority in this journey of self discovery.
3. Johnny Cash At San Quintin - its good maybe better than Folsom. Will revisit. Again not a high priority.
4. Townes' self titled - another absolute classic!
5. Nebraska - pretty great album. May revisit.
6. Unearthed by Johnny Cash - ooooh my first blind spot! I will make this a priority!
7. TVZ's Our Mother The Mountain - great! Amazing! Need to revisit all things TVZ soon. Won't be as if now a priority.
8. Rear View Mirror by TVZ - Jesus! The TVZ love is strong with RYM. Love it. This will be a priority revisit.
9. Complete Grateful Dead Europe 72 - although I love the idea of this, its sooooo frof along loooong! I will revisit the shortened version before jumping into this
10. I see a darkness - although definitely I hear the country, this just seems different for me. Idk. It's a sub genre and it is a classic.... the point is I won't be revisiting for this project.
11. Another Grateful Dead biggie, Dick's picks or something... ditto what I said earlier.
12. Magnolia Electric Company - it's a great one. Not gonna revisit just yet.
13. The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash - his latter day late life releases are generally adored and I have not dove into them - I will now!
14. Sixteen Horsepower's sackcloth... - it's great from what I recall. And scary and intense... may revisit for this project. Not first priority.
15. Johnny Cash - American III - ditto, gonna check this out.
16. Sixteen horsepower live 2001 - will definitely check this out!
17. Car Wheels on a gravel Road by Lucinda - good on tall RYM! This is a top 10 album for me. Don't need at this time to revisit.
18. Johnny Cash's American Recordings - Jesus, another latter day Cash? I will revisit. I know I listened to some of these in the far distant past.
19. John Prine - I love it. I will revisit.
20. Jayhawks Tomorrow The Green Grass - "Blue" is heavenly and this album is amazing. I may revisit. Not as high a priority as I mostly wanna listen to new stuff not stuff I have been crying and swaying along to for decades!
21. Waylon Live - ooooh another blind spot! Put it on the bolded list!
22. Munly and the lee Lewis harlots - started listening during my emmykou kick and it was just not the kinda country I wanted. But now I vow to listen to this album which has ascended as a modern classic right under my ignorant nose! 23. Will The Circle Be Unbroken by The Nitty Gritty Diet Band - will definitely revisit this. It's great from my 2 listens or so some time ago. Deserves more love now that I am ripe for country.
24. Dillard and Clark, the fantastic expedition of... I will listening to the hell out of this album! Another major blind spot! I'm super looking forward to this one.
25. Secret South by 16 Horsepower - I'll check this out. But doesn't feel as urgent a need as some of the more old school classic blindspots.
26. Grievous Angel by gram - one of the greatest albums I've ever heard. But I've listened to it 10+ times this last fortnight. So will not listen again that I can foresee.
27. Cowboy in Sweden by Lee Hazlewood - I'll chalk this up as a blind spot. I mean I've listened to it. But I think I was inebriated, and I wanna give it more attention aas it is a classic. And the kewl kids luv it.
28. Phases and Stages by Willie Nelson - listening to this right now for the 5th time in a row . It's that good and a total masterpiece.
29. Wrecking Ball by Emmylou - that's right, I have that undone tournament, don't I?! Shoot! I will revisit many times as it is stellar. But better than GP???
30. Marty Robbins Gunfifhter ballads - need to revisit and this is the oldest school album to come up yet so I need to give it more time. Consider it BOLDED.
31. Old No. 1 by Guy Clark - since I discovered TVZ as a youngster I have had more of an appreciation than and admiration for this album. But it's been awhile since I gave this a spin, and I wanna see if it kicks my head in this time as it always seemed it should.
32. Time the Revelator by Gillian Welch - I love love love her and this is great, but I always thought it was nothing compared to her debut. Will revisit to see if I can get a clearer opinion of it.
33. Jay Munly - Jimmy Carter Syndrome - will check out, but not super high priority. I don't know why. I just am in more of a mood of "normal" country. Lol.
34. Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams - the best album or at least my fave here so far. It's basically tied with Car Wheels. It's a work of god or something. Also, Emmylou. 'Nuff ced!
35. Red Headed Stranger - now that I am fully in love with Phases and Stages the album just before this most famous of all Willie albums, I will definitely give this a new listen. Yay!
36. O brother where art thou? - I'll look into it. It has Emmylou and others, and maybe I will appreciate it more now . Who knows a I remember thinking it was just okay.
37. Alison Krauss and Union Station Live - sure. I'll check it out.
38. Blaze Foley live at the Austin outhouse - never even heard of it (first of that ) Will check it out out of sheer curiosity.
39. Gram Parsons live 1973 - see, Tilly, this is a classic! Lol. Jk. But yes it's amazing and I will need to revisit to see where it goes in my contrived "tournament".
40. Mickey Newbury Looks Like Rain - another first listen. Not on Apple Music so I'll listen to a YouTube stream. Very excited.
Okay, that's all I'll do for now. When I'm on my computer I will hold the ones I will be making a high priority listen. Been typing this in a rush with my 2 chubby thumbs and now the whole of both my hands are sore. Sheesh! The things I do for my BEA loves.
Edit: bolded means its a priority to listen to, bolded and red is higher priority for me. _________________ -Ryan
1. Grievous Angel (1974)
2. Elite Hotel (1975)
3. Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)
4. Live 1973 (1973/1987)
1. Gilded Palace of Sin (1969)
2. Wrecking Ball (1995)
3. GP (1972)
4. Luxury Liner (1976)
Okay, lets finish this thing.... I have listened to all these albums again and I just wanna move on with my life here guys. It was a fun idea at first but what am I supposed to do, write more on albums I by and large gave huge reviews on? Nah. Not gonna do it....
So ......
match 1 is Grievous angel vs Live 1973....
And Grievous Angel is better. They're both great and recorded at almost the same time which is interesting... they both can be looked at as the final document of Grams life. RIP.
GRIEVOUS ANGEL WINS....who will it face???
Match 2... is Elite Hotel vs Sweetheart of the Rodeo... and this is a bit tougher, but I went with the Byrds here. Its more concise and full of short and sweet classics all around. Elite Hotel may be Emmylou's most consistent album. But no insane, career defining highs are here. Its still majestic. But The Byrds get this one!!!
SWETTHEART OF THE RODEO WINS!!!!
Match 3... is Gilded Palace of Sin vs Luxury Liner, and this is interesting cuz its not close. Although Gilded Palace is just about as amazing as Sweetheart and it is facing also a solo album just 1 year new than Elite Hotel, the difference is that Luxury Liner is just a stone cold classic and one of my fave albums ever. I have actually been debating whether I love Luxury Liner or Grievous Angel more... Crazy, right?!?
LUXURY LINER WINS!!!!!
Match 4 is..... Wrecking Ball vs GP... and this is a bit tougher.... maybe the toughest choice of this set of matches... But I am gonna go GP by a hair. Its just got some of these best written songs not just of Gram's career but of the whole decade. Wrecking Ball is a stunning artistic reinvention, and Emmylou is amazing. But that Lanois fella kinda annoys me on some tracks... sooooo
GP WIns!!!!!!!!!!
okay and the next matches will be the semifinals. And I know based off what I have been saying it seems like a foregone conclusion which will face in the final. And i would be lying if I said I hadn't rearranged the bracket and put Luxury Liner in the second bracket and swapped it out for Elite Hotel after realizing Luxury Liner is basically every bit as Good as Grievous Angel. That did happen a week or 2 ago...
And this was a romp. Both deserve to be on my overall chart. Somehow The Byrds classic isn't there but I think I'll rectify when I finally get off my proverbial ass and just do a full big beautiful update of my chart. But Grievous Angel is in the upper upper crust, the most rarefied of air when it comes to Americana albums, right there in the same tier as Car Wheels, Heartbreaker, Luxury Liner, and Southeastern. So the winner is
Basically its between the album which first introduced Emmylou to the world in earnest and the album which to my ears saw her become of superhuman musical force of nature. And while the album GP has some great tracks and more original material (Luxury Liner has 1 Emmylou original which was her style) Luxury Liner has just a sheer preponderance of absolute stunners all the way through. I've even come to appreciate "Hello Stranger".
okay and so finally the final.... I'll think about this a bit... and maybe revisit some, but I won't submit this post until I have figured out my choice. Just know, all of you Tillys out there, I have tried and struggled to make a good choice here....
oh and after this in a serperate post I will do the more sensible thing which perhaps I should have done from the jump and just rank the albums in this project and also maybe I will add some albums in the genre I have listened to thanks in large part to the enthusiasm for all things country this silly exercise has produced. Also I have listened to some other Emmylou albums not included here. Okay, here we go....
Emmylou Harris + Gram Parsons Tourney Final is....
and after much deliberation, here are my shortened thoughts...
1. Emmylou's masterpiece has more songs that truly take my breath away... just slightly. But it also has more moments and even a song which takes me out of it, whereas Grievous Angel is perfect from start to finish just a great album with almost as many stunning classics.
2. Grievous Angel has a lot of the melodic prowess and singing angellic perfection of Emmylou as well, so while not the vocal album that Luxury Liner is, it does have that going for it. Also the love and warmth of the Gram and Emmy duets is maybe the best part of Grievous Angel, and Luxury liner of course has none of that. Although Luxury Liner does have one of the most touching tributes to Gram in her cover of "She":
3. They are both amazing. One is probably a 9.8 (rounded up to 10) and the other is probably about a 9.6 (also rounded up to 10)... but one of these albums does have a slight edge as seen in those arbitrary numerical grades I gave out done just to spit in the face of everything Dead Poet's Sopciety tried to teach me lol.... and the album that has the slightly higher grade above and thus is the winnmer of this whole massive event is......
as a bow on this thing...I will rank these albums.... and other albums I have listened to in the last couple weeks as a result of all these progressive country and country rock albums...
Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams (2000)
#1) Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons (1974)
#2) Luxury Liner by Emmylou Harris (1976)
Phases and Stages by Willie Nelson (1974) Looks Like Rain by Mickey Newbury (1969)
#3) Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds (1968)
#4) The Gilded Palace of Sin by The Flying Burrito Brothers (1969)
Heart Food by Judee Sill (1973)
#5) GP by Gram Parsons (1973)
#6) Live 1973 by Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels (1973/1987)
#7) Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town by Emmylou Harris (1978)
#8) Elite Hotel by Emmylou Harris (1975)
The Fantastic Adventures of Dillard And Clark (1968) Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton (1971)
#9) Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris (1995)
#10) Roses In The Snow by Emmylou Harris (1980)
#11) Pieces of the Sky by Emmylou Harris (1975)
Heart Like A Wheel by Linda Ronstadt (1974)
#12) Trio by Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris (1987)
Red Dirt Girl by Emmylou Harris (2001)
#13) Blue Kentucky Girl by Emmylou Harris (1979)
#14) Safe At Home by The International Submarine Band (1968)
#15) Burrito Deluxe by The Flying Burrito Brothers (1970)
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes (2006)
#16) Sleepless Nights by Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers (1976)
as a bow on this thing...I will rank these albums.... and other albums I have listened to in the last couple weeks as a result of all these progressive country and country rock albums...
Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams (2000)
#1) Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons (1974)
#2) Luxury Liner by Emmylou Harris (1976)
Phases and Stages by Willie Nelson (1974) Looks Like Rain by Mickey Newbury (1969)
#3) Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds (1968)
#4) The Gilded Palace of Sin by The Flying Burrito Brothers (1969)
Heart Food by Judee Sill (1973)
#5) GP by Gram Parsons (1973)
#6) Live 1973 by Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels (1973/1987)
#7) Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town by Emmylou Harris (1978)
#8) Elite Hotel by Emmylou Harris (1975)
The Fantastic Adventures of Dillard And Clark (1968) Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton (1971)
#9) Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris (1995)
#10) Roses In The Snow by Emmylou Harris (1980)
#11) Pieces of the Sky by Emmylou Harris (1975)
Heart Like A Wheel by Linda Ronstadt (1974)
#12) Trio by Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris (1987)
Red Dirt Girl by Emmylou Harris (2001)
#13) Blue Kentucky Girl by Emmylou Harris (1979)
#14) Safe At Home by The International Submarine Band (1968)
#15) Burrito Deluxe by The Flying Burrito Brothers (1970)
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes (2006)
#16) Sleepless Nights by Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers (1976)
Interesting list. Love Heartbreaker. Haven't listened in a while but you have it really up there. Do u like it better than his Whiskeytown stuff?
Surprised Pieces of Sky is so low. 🤔
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
Yeah, if you see my overall chart as of now, I have Heartbreaker in my top 6. Its crazy. I truly adore it. Its a constant cycle that I love it wear it out and then go away and move it down a bit on my chart, down to 20 or 18 or so, then I listen again and I'm like "whoa! move it up move it up move it up!" The main thing is there has been an internal raging debate as for Car Wheels On A Gravel Road vs Heartbreaker. They are similar stylistically, both feature unique leading lights, stunning songwriting, one is a bit more extroverted (Car Wheels...) and one is more introverted (Heartbreaker, that is the main difference.
As for it in comparison to the Whiskeytown albums, yes I love it much much more than any Whiskeytown album. To be fair, I love it more than any Wilco, Clash, or Replacements album. It just happens to be a contender for personal fave album. But as for Whiskeytown, I need to revisit their 2 or 3 albums, but I recll liking them quite a bit. But haven't listened to them in years and years. Hell! I haven't given a hard good attentive listen to any other Ryan Adams album in years either.
--------------
As for Pieces of the Sky... I really love it and I am glad it exists. To be fair everything from Trio up is a 8.8 or 9.0 album which I love. Everything above Restless nights is an 8.3 or higher and is great! So.... its fair to say this is a stacked league. But yeah as far as 70s/early 80s Emmylou albums rank, the order of checking them out in my opinion is Luxury Liner > Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town > Elite Hotel > Roses in the Snow > Pieces of the Sky > Blue Kentucky Girl _________________ -Ryan
Okay, along with updating my overall thoroughly (click my signature below and check it out), other things going on listening-wise, has been relistening to great albums like this enigmatic collection by one of the strangest and overlooked crazy men in music history
and it was great! He was such a strange, and literally a bit insane person, who grew up and taught himself the piano, which is absolutely stunning from listening to "Gitanarias" on this album. Also the off-the-wall fun medley's that start this thing off are awesome. But the true standout is one of the most haunting versions of any song that I've heard...his take on "St. James Infirmary Blues". Its a compilation of live performances and it captures the essence of this wild man and piano virtuoso at his most typically brilliant and disorienting. Also he's a solid and unique singer. Check it out! Especially if you wanna hear some really varied and unique New Orleans Blues, Piano Blues, and some interesting Jazz and Classical elements mixed in.
I listened to that album because i was at 120 albums to fit into my top 100 and boy did I have some tough choices. I almost included it just to try to shine light on it.
I also relistened to this punk classic which doesn't need people to at least hear about it like Mr. Booker does, oh i'm talking about this album...
Both bands were manic, fiery, adrenalized legends of their shared genre and also their distinct off shoots of that genre. Both feature legendary frontman who took upon themselves the full brunt of attention and owned it nicely as a good front man should and they both created incredibly distinct voices in the packed early 80s and late 70s punk/hardcore scene.
Neither album quite made my chart. At the end I had these 2 and Bad Brains debut and Los Angeles by X that got cut. I did get Wild Gift on there, cuz I just feel that is a slightly better X album and one that needs to be listened to and (hopefully) loved by more people here. Th
Basically, if you wanna hear the most strange, in your face, and just bizarrely intense band of their time, check out Fresh Fruit... and also listen to this song cuz I have been thinking for years that it sounds like The Dead Kennedys went back in time and just made a song in like 66-67 to troll everyone... but I have no one around me on the daily who knows or cares about such things, so I'd love your thoughts if you hear some similarities...
also listening to this now newly it really reminds me of US Maple. But there ya go.
As for Fire of Love, this used to be a top 50 album for me. Mostly due to the fact that it was coolest mix of delta blues and deep blues and punk and just the debased junky culture Pierce was living at the time. And it is still of those things. And I still love it, but it doesn't hype me up nearly as much as it used to. Still this band was like a proto-white stripes, and Jeffrey Lee Pierce at times (a lot of the times) sounds like a proto-Frank Black/Black Francis. So its awesome.
Okay, and lastly, last week I went and saw Of Montreal live. aaaaand...it was great! Like, a truly awesome show. Almost as great as The Flaming Lips a couple months ago. And now TONIGHT is Father John Misty I am seeing live. So what I'm gonna do is listen to some of his stuff and give my thoughts here ... maybe ... unless something comes up and distracts me.
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