Next batch coming. It should be noted that I am including Live and archival in this all time list. We have not yet come to any live albums or archival, but when they show up I will handle them the same way. Cuz those albums have value in music listening and in music history too. If its a 4 or 5 hour monstrosity I will not indulge (unless I really really wanna take the dive).
\This album is ingrained in my DNA. Its Zeppelin's best. My fave, anyway. Me and my dad had many music conversations in my youth revolving around this album, and it was one of the first say 6-10 classic albums I got in to. That said, I am not a huge fan. Its a great rock album. But i don't have an urge to return to it very often.
well, this album, man. As far as i'm concerned its one of the top 2 or 3 greatest albums ever. Depending on the day, this is my favorite album. And its easily my fave album on this rundown yet. Its not an album I have a blind spot on, I may listen to it today just because anyway. Its a musical miracle.
Okay, here we are. Have I owned this album forever almost? yep. Have I heard it all the way through? yep. But only a couple times over the yuears. I am very unfamiliar with it and the ins and outs of its tracklisting. It has always been lost on me, its allure. I will be listening to this to handle this blind spot/area of relative unfamiliarity.
Honestly, Bowie is a legend, I have never really loved any of his albums or fully understood his appeal. So this should be valuable and fun. Also, yesterday was his birtrhday, so thats something i guess.
Very cool album which is the first Heavy Metal album to appear and its deserving of its status. I really really like it and am very familiar with it. But its number 3 or 4 on my Sabbath ranks. I wish Vol 4 was in the top 100. Love that album.
This is an album I have heard maybe 100 times (50-60 of them occurred in a 2 week run of constant listening). This album took over my existence, and was top of my fave albums list when I was 18. I remember seeing the Pitchfork 90s albums list I went and got this (basically same time I went and picked up If You're Feeling Sin ister, I See A Darkness, ...Endtroducing, and many more for the same reason). Also I had heard they were influential to one of my fave bands at the time, Arcade Fire. Anyway, all of this is to say, I love this album and it requires no revisit.
This is great. This album is, like, seismic! Its one of those albums which is an album so influential and "important" that when you finally listen to it you are trembling with lustful anticipation. Maybe that was just me as a teenager. Took a few listens to get its full appeal and understand its genius. But yeah this is amazing and bless this Boston Band for the ages. No need for a listen on this blindspot listening project.
Okay, here is another album which is one of the greatest ever and one of my favorites. I didn't get this album for the first few years. I mostly had it due to a sense of obligation as a young music fan to get and listen to this album. Each time I'd come back to it, I'd like it a bit more gradually, then there was a momentr a couple years ago which absolutrely blew my mind. And I vaulted this album up into the top 10-20 all time. Its just a work of supreme genius.
#18 all time, and is the first "Post Rock" on this list. Its great, its long, its immensely depressing and inspired, its a unique and unparalleled I really love it. I haven't given it a full listen in a couple years, but I listened to the first half a month or so ago and I was still blown away bty it. No need for a blindspot listen for this project, but once I am back into very sad and dark music again, i will listen to this album with much love.
oh and speaking of very dark, depressing, sad albums the top 20 ends with these 2 breathes of joy...
Okay, and both of these albums are amazing and both are on my chart of top 100 fave albums and have been for awhile.
Joy Division's debut is just amazing. When I am in the right frame of mind, there is no rock band which sounds more primal and real and raw.
As for Pink Moon, its amazing. Its one of the greatest acoustic, lonesome guitar music albums ever.
----------------------
Okay, so, David Bowie album is my next listen. Don't worry, I took a peep at the 21-30 and there a couple more blind spots and they are juicy. _________________ -Ryan
Rock music. Its cool. Guitars and larger than life lead singers. I dig it.
Late 60s and early 70s rock music produced the greatest classics of guitar god, riff rock awesomeness, as well as the greatest most ambiguous and flashy lead vocalists. Led Zep IV, Who's Next, Sticky Fingers, Are You Experienced, and this album The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars.
Of all of these classics, this is the one which just never quite hit me while not being disliked by me. I honestly just never got in to it. I have tried to get into early Bowie before and this and Hunky Dory were the ones I focused on.
So now I am gonna sit down and listen to this with an open mind. To be honest I am very familiar with the opening salvo of tracks 1-6 or so. But after that I am not sure what to expect.
5 Years is pretty cool. The drums are so cool and modern and I just love the way they roll through the track. The song itself is cool. I have always had a soft spot for it.
After that "Soul Love" is okay, I like the groove. And the horns are cool and the whole vibe is unique. The Ronson riff when it hits is glorious. I suppose the thing I don't really care for is Bowie's vocals and antics. Its unique and memorable and all, but I just don't like his vocals on this or any other album I've heard. On a pop rock album like this where the whole focus is on the main man, the star and what he brings to the table, not being on board fully with said person and their vision is sort of a terrible ground to build on. Like, don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Bowie as a singer or songwriter or personality, I'm just never taken into the atmosphere of this song (or, maybe, the whole album). I don't feel any emotional connection to the character of Ziggy Stardust, and also (or maybe as a result) I never have much of an interest in the arc of this concept album. So what I'm left with is evaluating this as a rock/hard rock album, listening mostly to the production and the musicianship and the rock coolness of the album, just like I am with Sticky Fingers or Who's Next. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. But I will say that yesterday King Cri son blew my mind cuz of the technical virtuosity and innovation of the music, and Loveless blew me away with the depths of emotion and emotionbal investment in the sounds as well as the innovative way they made me feel those emotions. This record as of now has neither card in play.
But the saving grace of this album potentially is in the next track (one of 2 on this album which I come into this listen realizing are truly stunning and I am looking forward to...the ones I'd usually skip to on my copy of this album over the last 14 years or so)... "Moonage Daydream".
Holy shit, this song...Bowie's pained vocals on the chorus, the backing vocals and the piano as it builds up to one of the coolest riffs in rock history, the bridge, the orchestra on the second half, even the lyrics, the way Bowie croons, then those echoing vocals, the drum sounds and fills, and Hot damn that guitar solo crescendo! This track right now is almost bringing tears to my eyes, its just so fucking stellar! 10/10 easily.
Okay, then "Starman"...holy shit. I had forgotten these 2 songs were back to back. Earlier when I mentioned 2 songs which I would say are perfect, this is the other one I was referring. Thgis song is so different, its so freaking cool, it has that same cooler than cool groove on the verses as Lou Reed's hit from that year. But the chorus manages to amp up the brilliance to insane heights. Its an emotional song, a cool song too, its fun, but somber at times, it has another very cool guitar solo. I like the hand claps as well.
Then the last of the songs I'm very familiar with is "It Ain't Easy", which is a very cool, gospel-tinged thing with more of the same pristine rock production, big choruses, awesome biting guitar, and its just very cool.
The next few tracks are comparatively new to me. "Lady Stardust" is sweet and beautiful. "Star" is a nice rock jam. Neither track blew me away. But they were net positives to my general opinion of the album.
But then on "Hang On To Yourself" is so cool, so groovy, proto punk, sexy, and just gebnerally badass as fuck. That low end riff is like proto-Damned. Its so absolutely sick! I am so glad I have discovered another brilliant song on here.
"Ziggy Stardust" is a cool, melodramatic rock track. I like it well enough. But the main thing that caught my ear was the next track, the famous "Suffragette City". THIS track (similar to Hank On To Yourself) has a certain proto-punk aggressiveness and groove which I adore. The intense rhythmic piano and the guitars and horns and Bowie's vocals all add up to a rocker of the highest order. Not mind blowing or particularly consequential, but cool as hell nonetheless.
and finally the closer "Rock N Roll Suicide", which is a somber and sobering track. And a genuinely genius way to end this album. The acoustic strum, the visual lyrics, the subdued voicals, and the build to the soulful; horns. The way the whole track comes together is just awesome! and that climactic end, especially the absolutely show stopping vocals of Bowie is just beyond great. I think I'm starting to come around on Bowie's vox. He's pretty great at times on this record.
------------
Okay, so do I like this album a whole lot more now? Yeah, I actually do! Its much better and more brilliantly composed than I gave it credit for. Its not vaulted to favorite or near favorite really. But still its an album I have come around to understanding the praise which is heaped on it. There is npot a less tha good song hjere, and the pop songcraft is amazing, the songs are juist little nuggets and they each have their own beautiful unique touches and they also all flow together. That's cool I guess.
random Grade: 8.1/10
Freaking Starman and Moonage Daydream are all timers for me. okay, bye. _________________ -Ryan
Okay, so as a result of listening to Ziggy twice (once just now and once last night) I will make a note of my comparitive before and after ranks.
Before yesterday 11-20 was ranked by me like this:
1. Kind Of Blue
2. A Love Supreme
3.Pink Moon
4. Unknown Pleasures
5. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
6. Lift Your Skinny Fists...
7. Doolittle
8. Led Zeppelin IV
9. Paranoid
10. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust...
buuuuut after that nioce relisten it goes...
1. Kind Of Blue
2. A Love Supreme
3.Pink Moon
4. Unknown Pleasures
5. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
6. Lift Your Skinny Fists...
7. Doolittle
8. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust...
9. Led Zeppelin IV
10. Paranoid
... so while not as big a jump as Crimson King or Loveless, still a nice vaultiong, and now I feel I have no blind spots in the top 20! Yay. _________________ -Ryan
okay, next 10 albums on RYM top all time albums... (this is when I will get into some albums I actually have a hard time listening to all the way through, because I don't like them... this is when this project is tested for the first time. Please don't hate me BEA).
This is one of the greatest works of art ever conceived. This is the stuff of legend. It should be top 10 on all humans' lists. And that is known. Wish it was higher on RYM and BEA (it gets slightly higher representation on BEA, but lately some travesties have occured around these parts...like Funeral over Highway 61. 🙁 )
This is another great one which was very influential to my progression as a music fan. This and the Demme concert film a few years later kinda obsessed me. And this is when I started realizing there was this guy named Eno as well who is great. Top to bottom this is a mysterious, innovatyive, acheivement of an album. Need to revisit it sometime soon, but for the purposes of this project, that will not happen now.
and now finally for the first of my next batch of "blind spots" or in this case and again later, an album I really don't actually enjoy listening to...
I know a ;lot of people love this. Many would say this is the greatest debut rock album of all times. But me? I have tried a few times to listen to this short and "sweet" album in full and it's never gone well. Last time I tried was on this diary when it had its 50th anniversary, but I got a couple tracks in and stopped. So i will listen to this ion full and with an open mind for the first time since I was 15 soon and see if I can unravel its allure.
-----------
side note, my roommate is home and blasting some early Bright Eyes, and holy shit, I am suddenly in a worse mood. I fucking hate Oberst's vocals and music with passion at this momemnt. And to think there was a time in my life when I kinda loved this stuff. anyway, back to regularly scheduled program...
-----------
Man, I just can't with this. I don't like this. I like the hits, I like the Smiths compilations, the Best ofs 1 and 2 or whatever, but this album I just haven't had my "moment" with. So, actually as I wrote what I just wrote I became very excited to play this and play it in full and really delve into its greatness. I think I'm ready to see the light. *Fingers Crossed*.
I like this album. I actually only relatively recently got into this finally. About 2 or 3 years ago. Which is sooner than every other album in this list so far. Its too self-serious, its ridiculous in concept, but it also is well done in its textures and especially the guitar playing is out of this world. David Gilmour's finest hour? I think so.
Okay, I'll admit I do really like this album. But when I first listened to it, I was absolutely in love. In like 2005 I believed I had discovered a music for me and I was just over the moon. That level of fandom is almost completely gone. I still really like this record, but its just not something I return to very often. Also Neon Bible is better.
I like this, and the production is absolutely mind blowing, and the second half is es[pecially incredible. But its not like I ever thought it was one of my faves. I have however heard this album the most in Bowie's discog and along with Ziggy Stardust (which I now quite like) its my fave thing by him. I am familiar enough with it that I am not revisiting it.
I really like this album. "Friction" is one of the greatest guitar songs I've ever heard, and the whole aesthetic and style of this record is amazing. Actually got into this pretty early on, along with Talking Heads and Patti Smith and other New Yorkers shortly after falling in love with The Ramones. I a;lso think its a bit overhyped. Okay that is all.
-----------
soon (probably tomorrow) I'll listen to The Doors and The Queen Is Dead. Until then, peace. _________________ -Ryan
Okay, I have always said that at best I kind of enjoyed this album. On most days I would scoff when I heard this album and band mentioned in the same breathe as The Stones, Beatles, Hendrix, or (God Forbid) Dylan.
I'd also internally think it was weird when people would say the latter half of the 60s was some kind of utopian explosion of the greatest rock music ever. The bands and acts which would always be mentioned to illuminate this popular opinion were usually The Beatles, The Stones, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Byrds, Janis Joplin, The Beach Boys, The Who, The Kinks, and... that is basically it. Keep in mind this was before BEA, before being introduced to other more abstract or underground representations of the Glorious late 60s. So, no, I never heard mention of VU, or Beefheart, or Zappa, or Love, or the jazz greats releasing masterpieces 65-69.
The acts mentioned above were what I'd here from uncles and my dad at reunions when I would start talking music. And going down that list, well, I did love the Beatles. Dylan was the Greatest of All Time in my mind from about age 12 onward, The Rolling Stones were cool and steeped in the blues (which even then was a big deal to me), The Beach Boys were silly but yeah they had some great harmonies and were kinda brilliant, The Byrds...well they were whatever but at least they covered the GOAT's songs, so i kinda got the hype, The Kinks had some hard rocking songs and that was cool, Hendrix was the coolest guitarist ever and his debut album was a fave early on, The Who were loud and smashed guitars and they had that really heavy "The Ox" song which blew me away, and then... The Doors and Janis Joplin.
I like Janis Joplin and all, but never loved any of her albums. Plus her records aren't nearly as hyped as The Doors. So this leaves us with the Doors. The fucking Doors. For some reason they never struck me as anything but a very sixties, groovy band with short, blues based songs. Oh and they didn't have a bassist. I tried to get into their debut at a relatively early stage in my music fandom. I went and bought it and a couple other classic Doors LPs. But for the past 15 or so years I have always avoided them. When I would see their debut YET AGAIN on a "Greatest 60s Albums" or "Greatest Debut Albums" list or in the top 20 or top 50 Greatest Albums of All Time List, I would look at the placement and be perplexed. I'd often come back to my copy of the album and try to listen to it yet again. Id get a few tracks in, think "yeah, this is fun, the grooves are cool, Morrison has a sexy voice and personality, the lyrics are stupid as fuck, aaaaaaand I could be listening to so many other more interesting things..." and I'd turn the album off. I have started this album maybe 20-30 times (very very very rough guess) and I have heard it all the way through maybe 2 or 3 times in my decade and a half relationship with it.
So, this big preamble brings me to right now, as I listen to the album for the second time in 22 hours or so. And... I like it!
Okay, end of review. JK. But really I don't have much to say. I have always been a person who does not have set opinions on music. I could literally m ake fun of a song or album and then go listen to it right after and instantly change my mind. I am easily amused I suppose. Simplistic, even. But listening again now to the LEGENDARY and ICONIC debut, I like it. I love that it has such a unique and instantly recognizable sound, while being so stripped down. The band is so much its own little thing.
One thing that is striking me now as a reason for my lukewarm response to them all these years is that there is nothing instrumentally or sonically which sticks out above everything else. Like the Stones had a swagger and they had heard riffs and vulgarity, and honestly I look at the Stones 60s work much the same way as the Doors. When I think of great Rolling Stones records I'm thinking 69-72 by and large. Hendrix, well, his solos are so goddamn loud and virtuosic and the riffs are heavy. The Beatles made dozens of catchy brilliant songs and they have more gaudy production, melodic, etc, elements which caught my attention at an early age. Dylan...wel l Dylan was so perfect and so brilliant, his lyrics and words so sharp, his voice so fasconating, I had something to latch on to right away.
But the Doors? Their solos are short and, while not simple, they are kind of plain and austere. The organ work is interesting, but much like the guitar work, it doesn't wank out. Morrison's vocals stick out a bit, buit at the same time they aren't always super flashy. The drums are rock solid jazzy bluesy, but there aren't the same Whovian explosions. So now as I listen I am actually super impressed by the fact that they don't give in to explosions or flash like many bands of the 60s or definitely the 70s. Instead they took a theme and a sound and groove and a vibe and just sculpted a little nugget, where all the drums and guitar and organ and vocals are placed excactly. The whole first 10 songs and 32 minutes is chock full of great little rock songs.
Then we get to that 11 minute closing track "The End"...which I am listening tro now and I am floored by it. Its so ominous and builds so subtly, its so experimental. And bearing in mind that I almost never got to the end of the album before, this last track is one of the most important closing tracks imaginable. And maybe its this climactic end which was omitted in my experience which made me think honestly that this was the most overrated avg album of the 60s. I had heard the song or a good portion of it in Apocalypse Now, stripped of its musical context, and while I liked it there, i thought it was great only in the scene as Coppola is a genius. Listening now, i see that that is not so. Its one of the great 60s album closers, in a decade with lots of these sorts of long statement classic closers. I'd put it up there in the tier of "Desolation Row", "Sister Ray" "A Day In The Life", "European Son", and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands". And I'd even go so far as to say only "Desolation Row" is clearly greater and more stunning than "The End".
Okay, so there ya go. My gripes are still there. I don't feel this is one of the greatest albums ever made. But that closing track , and the general almost nonchalant perfection of the grooves and the fact that so many of the songs are just 2-3 minute perfectly structured nuggets makes it a really great album. I still think some of the Morrison lyrical exploits are stupid. But I actually thought some of the lyrics were cool this time.
This has been yet another excellent learning experience and I feel like a good thing that another area of musical fandom has been shored up. sweet. _________________ -Ryan
Okay, I have always said that at best I kind of enjoyed this album. On most days I would scoff when I heard this album and band mentioned in the same breathe as The Stones, Beatles, Hendrix, or (God Forbid) Dylan.
I'd also internally think it was weird when people would say the latter half of the 60s was some kind of utopian explosion of the greatest rock music ever. The bands and acts which would always be mentioned to illuminate this popular opinion were usually The Beatles, The Stones, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Byrds, Janis Joplin, The Beach Boys, The Who, The Kinks, and... that is basically it. Keep in mind this was before BEA, before being introduced to other more abstract or underground representations of the Glorious late 60s. So, no, I never heard mention of VU, or Beefheart, or Zappa, or Love, or the jazz greats releasing masterpieces 65-69.
The acts mentioned above were what I'd here from uncles and my dad at reunions when I would start talking music. And going down that list, well, I did love the Beatles. Dylan was the Greatest of All Time in my mind from about age 12 onward, The Rolling Stones were cool and steeped in the blues (which even then was a big deal to me), The Beach Boys were silly but yeah they had some great harmonies and were kinda brilliant, The Byrds...well they were whatever but at least they covered the GOAT's songs, so i kinda got the hype, The Kinks had some hard rocking songs and that was cool, Hendrix was the coolest guitarist ever and his debut album was a fave early on, The Who were loud and smashed guitars and they had that really heavy "The Ox" song which blew me away, and then... The Doors and Janis Joplin.
I like Janis Joplin and all, but never loved any of her albums. Plus her records aren't nearly as hyped as The Doors. So this leaves us with the Doors. The fucking Doors. For some reason they never struck me as anything but a very sixties, groovy band with short, blues based songs. Oh and they didn't have a bassist. I tried to get into their debut at a relatively early stage in my music fandom. I went and bought it and a couple other classic Doors LPs. But for the past 15 or so years I have always avoided them. When I would see their debut YET AGAIN on a "Greatest 60s Albums" or "Greatest Debut Albums" list or in the top 20 or top 50 Greatest Albums of All Time List, I would look at the placement and be perplexed. I'd often come back to my copy of the album and try to listen to it yet again. Id get a few tracks in, think "yeah, this is fun, the grooves are cool, Morrison has a sexy voice and personality, the lyrics are stupid as fuck, aaaaaaand I could be listening to so many other more interesting things..." and I'd turn the album off. I have started this album maybe 20-30 times (very very very rough guess) and I have heard it all the way through maybe 2 or 3 times in my decade and a half relationship with it.
So, this big preamble brings me to right now, as I listen to the album for the second time in 22 hours or so. And... I like it!
Okay, end of review. JK. But really I don't have much to say. I have always been a person who does not have set opinions on music. I could literally m ake fun of a song or album and then go listen to it right after and instantly change my mind. I am easily amused I suppose. Simplistic, even. But listening again now to the LEGENDARY and ICONIC debut, I like it. I love that it has such a unique and instantly recognizable sound, while being so stripped down. The band is so much its own little thing.
One thing that is striking me now as a reason for my lukewarm response to them all these years is that there is nothing instrumentally or sonically which sticks out above everything else. Like the Stones had a swagger and they had heard riffs and vulgarity, and honestly I look at the Stones 60s work much the same way as the Doors. When I think of great Rolling Stones records I'm thinking 69-72 by and large. Hendrix, well, his solos are so goddamn loud and virtuosic and the riffs are heavy. The Beatles made dozens of catchy brilliant songs and they have more gaudy production, melodic, etc, elements which caught my attention at an early age. Dylan...wel l Dylan was so perfect and so brilliant, his lyrics and words so sharp, his voice so fasconating, I had something to latch on to right away.
But the Doors? Their solos are short and, while not simple, they are kind of plain and austere. The organ work is interesting, but much like the guitar work, it doesn't wank out. Morrison's vocals stick out a bit, buit at the same time they aren't always super flashy. The drums are rock solid jazzy bluesy, but there aren't the same Whovian explosions. So now as I listen I am actually super impressed by the fact that they don't give in to explosions or flash like many bands of the 60s or definitely the 70s. Instead they took a theme and a sound and groove and a vibe and just sculpted a little nugget, where all the drums and guitar and organ and vocals are placed excactly. The whole first 10 songs and 32 minutes is chock full of great little rock songs.
Then we get to that 11 minute closing track "The End"...which I am listening tro now and I am floored by it. Its so ominous and builds so subtly, its so experimental. And bearing in mind that I almost never got to the end of the album before, this last track is one of the most important closing tracks imaginable. And maybe its this climactic end which was omitted in my experience which made me think honestly that this was the most overrated avg album of the 60s. I had heard the song or a good portion of it in Apocalypse Now, stripped of its musical context, and while I liked it there, i thought it was great only in the scene as Coppola is a genius. Listening now, i see that that is not so. Its one of the great 60s album closers, in a decade with lots of these sorts of long statement classic closers. I'd put it up there in the tier of "Desolation Row", "Sister Ray" "A Day In The Life", "European Son", and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands". And I'd even go so far as to say only "Desolation Row" is clearly greater and more stunning than "The End".
Okay, so there ya go. My gripes are still there. I don't feel this is one of the greatest albums ever made. But that closing track , and the general almost nonchalant perfection of the grooves and the fact that so many of the songs are just 2-3 minute perfectly structured nuggets makes it a really great album. I still think some of the Morrison lyrical exploits are stupid. But I actually thought some of the lyrics were cool this time.
This has been yet another excellent learning experience and I feel like a good thing that another area of musical fandom has been shored up. sweet.
I'm a long time fan of the Doors so I'm biased but one thing strikes me in what you write.
You are a few times mentioning your idea of the Doors as a band with short songs and solos. I don't know if you only refer to this album but my view is that they're one of the first bands with really long songs and solos.
Already on this album it's not only The End but I have always viewed Light My Fire as one of the best epic long songs ever, here seven minutes but on live albums like In Concert it takes about 10 minutes of frantic organ work which to me as a guitar solo lover rocks even better than the best guitar solos (in my youth it has long time been my most favorite song ever). And then there's Soul Kitchen which is only 3:35 minutes on this album but on live albums like In Concert it is stretched out to more than 7 minutes.
And then there's the other regular albums: Strange Days of 1967 ends with When The Music's Over: nearly 11 minutes.
The title song of The Soft Parade (1969) is 8:36 minutes.
And on LA Woman (but that's already 1971 I admit) both LA Woman and Riders on The Storm are also over 7 minutes.
If you really want to get a view on the explosivity of the Doors I recommend listening to In Concert, a really long double live album.
In Concert by The Doors
And as a bonus: it ends with a great version of The End.
But of course I'm glad you liked the album after all and as always your write-up is fantastic.
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
And now onto this pseudo-blank area. I say that cuz outside of "in The Court of the Crimson King" I have heard all these albums several times since becoming a person who listens to lots of LPs. King Crimson was legitimately an album I had not heard since i was like 13. But Loveless and Ziggy Stardust and The Doors and this record, The Queen Is Dead, I have heard several times. But much like those earlier albums, I don't have a clear concept of the flow and contents of this album. I think of this album as an adored classic of the 80s by one of the most respected bands in music history. But have I ever had a phase when I listened to this on the regular over a week or 2 or a month period of time? nah. It usually is just a cursory glance.
I have always come away from this album thinking "What's the fuss?". I can hear the lavish, detailed production, I can hear the oh-so-sad English brand of the maudlin down and outer which Morrisey perfected. I can hear the clever turns of phrase. The equal parts sardonic and sincere themes. But all these factors to my ears did coalesce into a great album.
When I was about 15 I picked up a used copy of "Best...1" and I listened to that comp a lot. I was blown away by almost every song. So, being as it was 2003 and I was a member, I looked at a BMG music club catalog (not the website... i was such a fucking weirdo, i was living life like it was 1990 even though I had a computer right there...) and I ordered Meat Is Murder, Strangeways, and The Queen Is Dead. They came in the mail a week later and I gave them a listen. I remember liking Strangeways the most, but not having the same interest in Meat is Murder or Queen Is Dead. But I put these albums on my ever-expanding shalf and moved on to other music and forgot about them.
Fast forward to 2012-2013 and I was on this site and rubbing digital elbows with you fine folks. And The Smiths were a BIG deal and the biggest deal of an album was The Queen Is Dead. I listened to this album probably once a year or so. Never thought it was special.
Now I am revisiting this again. I have more interest and context in this band in the scene it came out of. And I am more impressed than ever by the funky, detailed, jangly mix of sounds. And the persona of Morrisey doesn't rub me the wrong way like it has in the past. I am hearing more of the lyrics and laughing. I am differentiating the tracks more, whereas before I looked at this album as a 35 minute blur of jangly pathetic sadness.
And full disclosure, I am listening to this for the 3rd time in the last 20 hours. And more of the songs are clicking. Like, there are songs on here which just mesmerize and dazzle me like few songs can. I don't know how I didn't see the sheer greatness of "Cemetary Gates" before...maybe I thought it was but a measly nothing compared to Pantera's take on it, lol. Also Bigmouth Strikes Again is masterful. "Frankly Mr Shankly" is excellent and makes me smile. Even the epic title track which opens it is greeat, whereas before today I thought it overlarded and pointless. And the songs I loved before I love even more. "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" is such a strange, jaded, humorous romantic song which only Marr and Morrisey could dream up. And the closer "Some Girls are Bigger Than Others" is just as fun and intricate and catchy as ever.
The album actually flows and doesn't drag, and is indeed NOT a blur to me anymore. I have given this enough attention to hear its glory. Its a very solid and interesting pop album through and through.
I still don't look at this as one of my fave albums. But I get what makes it so great and depending on your sensibilities I can see what so many people who have worshipped this album for so many years see.
Okay, there ya go. I'm gonna finish this time through the album and then look at the next batch of 10 and see what I need to revisit or actually pay attention to in 31-40 all time. _________________ -Ryan
I'm a long time fan of the Doors so I'm biased but one thing strikes me in what you write.
You are a few times mentioning your idea of the Doors as a band with short songs and solos. I don't know if you only refer to this album but my view is that they're one of the first bands with really long songs and solos.
Already on this album it's not only The End but I have always viewed Light My Fire as one of the best epic long songs ever, here seven minutes but on live albums like In Concert it takes about 10 minutes of frantic organ work which to me as a guitar solo lover rocks even better than the best guitar solos (in my youth it has long time been my most favorite song ever). And then there's Soul Kitchen which is only 3:35 minutes on this album but on live albums like In Concert it is stretched out to more than 7 minutes.
And then there's the other regular albums: Strange Days of 1967 ends with When The Music's Over: nearly 11 minutes.
The title song of The Soft Parade (1969) is 8:36 minutes.
And on LA Woman (but that's already 1971 I admit) both LA Woman and Riders on The Storm are also over 7 minutes.
If you really want to get a view on the explosivity of the Doors I recommend listening to In Concert, a really long double live album.
In Concert by The Doors
And as a bonus: it ends with a great version of The End.
But of course I'm glad you liked the album after all and as always your write-up is fantastic.
Honestly, yes I was referring to only this album. I have never gotten into any other Doors album, nor tried because of my feelings toward this album. But yeah looking at Light My Fire, it is 7 minutes! whaaaat! I never nopticed that cuz I suppose its a great enough and classic enough song that it flies by.
anyway, thanks for the kind words at the end. That review is mostly built around my mostly wrong ideas about the band I've carried around since I was a kid surrounded by my father and mother's generation of veneration for The Doors. My perspective has shifted a bit. And I will have to finally get to loistening to other Doors albums a bit more.
And I will check out those live recordings you mentioned at some point as well. _________________ -Ryan
Okay, and now before I look at #31-40 on the RYM top albums of all time (archival and Live albums included, just none have shown up yet), I wanted to take a look at my before and after ranks of 21-30. Have they changed? Before they were:
#1 Highway 61 Revisited
#2 Sgt. Peppers
#3 Remain In Light
#4 In Rainbows
#5 Marquee Moon
#6 Low
#7 Funeral
#8 Animals
#9 The Queen Is Dead
#10 The Doors
--------------------------
After: (Bear in mind that this batch of 10 is not full of all time faves of mine, outside of number 1, none are even overall chart worthy in my eyes at this time.
#1 Highway 61 Revisited
#2 Sgt. Peppers
#3 Remain In Light
#4 The Queen Is Dead (Up 5 spots from 9 to 4)
#5 In Rainbows
#6 Marquee Moon
#7 The Doors (up 3 spots from 10 to 7)
#8 Low
#9 Funeral
#10 Animals _________________ -Ryan
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Mercury
dihansse
