Congratulations with your 1000th post Romanelli and your ability to share both information on the albums while also pinpointing why people should like or dislike these albums remains in place. Many of the albums you discussed are on my wishlist.
Congratulations with your 1000th post Romanelli and your ability to share both information on the albums while also pinpointing why people should like or dislike these albums remains in place. Many of the albums you discussed are on my wishlist.
Congratulations with your 1000th post Romanelli and your ability to share both information on the albums while also pinpointing why people should like or dislike these albums remains in place. Many of the albums you discussed are on my wishlist.
Hey...thanks to both of you...and thanks to BEA for reading my ramblings. I hope I'm not sucking at this. It's strange to see 1000 for sure. I hope I can keep this thing rolling! _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
Hey...thanks to both of you...and thanks to BEA for reading my ramblings. I hope I'm not sucking at this. It's strange to see 1000 for sure. I hope I can keep this thing rolling!
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. In Bloom
3. Come As You Are
4. Breed
5. Lithium
6. Polly
7. Territorial Pissings
8. Drain You
9. Lounge Act
10. Stay Away
11. On A Plain
12. Something In The Way
Is Nevermind an unbelievably great album, or the best example of right place at the right time ever? Regardless of the answer to the former, the latter is undeniably true. The music landscape of 1991 was a wasteland of power ballads by day glow wearing long hairs with their underwear on the outside of their clothes, Michael Jackson cavorting with child actors and panthers, and the wind of change in the air (not just the Scorpions song) that would usher in a whole new sound and change what we listened to overnight…thankfully. And even though Pearl Jam’s album Ten was released a month before this, it was “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that ended the madness, made flannel cool again, and made listening to music a whole lot better. In one five minute song, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Skid Row, Poison, and everything we now know as classic rock was made irrelevant, and all of the great music that had been bubbling underneath the surface for years was set free to be heard by an entire generation that had grown weary of their parents taste in music.
Nevermind is so much more, though. The sheer energy of the band, in particular Kurt Cobain, is enormous, and shines through on every single track on the album. The use of Pixies-like dynamics and Cobain’s emotional snarl made this group of exceptionally well written, yet simple songs, the perfect music at the perfect time. So, is Nevermind an unbelieveably great album? I say yes. One track after the other, listening through this shows that they were really on to something big, that the songwriting was top notch, and that the sound was the perfect soundtrack for the new music generation. One review stated, “Anyone who hates Nevermind is just trying to be cool, and needs to be trying harder”. It’s true. And it still sounds amazing today. Nevermind is timeless, even if the band that made it wasn’t. This is the rarest of things: a perfect rock album that was released at the exact right moment in time. This is as perfect as an album can get.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
FASTBALL
ALL THE PAIN MONEY CAN BUY
1998-HOLLYWOOD
Produced By JULIAN RAYMOND & FASTBALL
1. The Way
2. Fire Escape
3. Better Than It Was
4. Which Way To The Top?
5. Sooner Or Later
6. Warm Fuzzy Feeling
7. Slow Drag
8. G.O.D. (Good Old Days)
9. Charlie, The Methadone Man
10. Out Of My Head
11. Damaged Goods
12. Nowhere Road
13. Sweetwater, Texas
Fastball’s debut album, Make Your Mama Proud, sold fewer than 7000 copies in 1996. So when All The Pain Money Can Buy soared to platinum status with a number one hit, yeah…folks were pretty surprised. The career of Fastball has always been defined by one song. When “The Way” hit the airwaves in early 1998, we were treated to something we don’t get to hear often: the perfect song. “The Way” is based on the true story of the disappearance of an elderly couple from Texas, one with Alzheimer’s and the other just having had brain surgery, and an imagining of what might have happened to them (after the song was written, they were found dead in a ditch in Arkansas). The result is perfection, and a song that still sounds great to this day. It’s also the song that got Fastball branded as one hit wonders, as they have never been able to come close to the success of that one song. But don’t dismiss this band, or this album, too quickly. Because the people who bought the album know that the band was more than just “The Way”. True, they never duplicated it. But it’s not really fair to expect them to.
The album has plenty of gems. It’s worthwhile for “The Way” alone, but you’ll also find some great songs alongside of it. “Out Of My Head”, in particular, is a song that should have been a big hit, but somehow wasn’t. “Fire Escape”, “Which Way To The Top”, “Warm Fuzzy Feeling”, and “Charlie, The Methadone Man” show that the band was capable of a lot more than they were ever credited for. Not everything here is great, and there are some missteps. But there’s enough solid material to warrant having this album in your collection. But ultimately, it all comes down to “The Way”. If you love the song, and you should, then this should be part of your collection. Fastball is still at it, but they’ve never come close to this success, and likely never will at this point, although there is plenty of good material in their catalog. This was a very big part of life in 1998, and a good album with a great song by an underappreciated band. It’s always good to remember bands like Fastball.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
JAMES TAYLOR
SWEET BABY JAMES
1970-WARNER BROS
Produced By PETER ASHER
1. Sweet Baby James
2. Lo And Behold
3. Sunny Skies
4. Steamroller
5. Country Road
6. Oh, Susannah
7. Fire And Rain
8. Blossom
9. Anywhere Like Heaven
10. Oh Baby, Don’t You Loose Your Lip On Me
11. Suite For 20G
This was the first real album that I could call my own. One of my sisters gave it to me as a gift, not too long after it first came out. It’s the album that I learned to really sing harmonies on (I made my own harmonies for every vocal line on the album). Sweet Baby James is Taylor’s second album, and continues the interesting story of his early career. He had been discovered when Peter Asher had auditioned him for Paul McCartney, was signed by Apple Records, and became the first non-British act to release an album on The Beatles’ label. That album sold poorly. Asher left Apple when Allen Klein took over as the band’s manager, and he took Taylor with him. Taylor was saved from being sued for breach of contract by Klein by none other than McCartney. So Taylor went to the US, and despite having been injured in a motorcycle accident, began writing songs and got a deal with Warner Brothers. His second album, Sweet Baby James, became his greatest work in a career that has now spanned 45 years. Much of his classic live repertoire comes from this album, and the sound is Taylor at his most down to earth and folk driven.
The album is home to Taylor classics “Fire And Rain”, “Country Road”, and the title track. There are also excellent lesser known songs. “Lo And Behold” is his best attempt at the blues. “Sunny Skies” and “Blossom” are simply lovely songs, with Taylor’s excellent guitar work holding everything together. A couple of lesser tracks keep this from the realm of perfection: “Steamroller” is the worst example of white boy blues. And “Suite For 20G” is a better story than it is a song: Taylor was homeless while recording the album, and needed one more song. He strung together three fragments to create the final song to get his 20G advance…thus the title. Ultimately, this is the James Taylor who won us over with his warmth and honesty, before the days of Carly Simon and “Handy Man” and countless mediocre albums. Sweet Baby James is almost perfect, and for me, it’s one of those rare albums that can bring me back to childhood.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER
A PLACE IN THE WORLD
1996-COLUMBIA
Produced By MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER & JOHN JENNINGS
1. Keeping The Faith
2. Hero In Your Own Hometown
3. I Can See It Now
4. I Want To Be Your Girlfriend
5. Let Me Into Your Heart
6. What If We Went To Italy
7. That’s Real
8. Ideas Are Like Stars
9. Naked To The Eye
10. Sudden Gift Of Fate
11. The Better To Dream Of You
12. A Place In The World
New Jersey born Mary Chapin-Carpenter has always been one thing above everything else: misunderstood. A Brown University graduate, she played sporadically around Washington DC doing mostly covers before deciding to play her own material, which landed her a deal with Columbia. The label saw something about her that made them market her as a country artist, even though her music has never really been much country at all. Despite this, the label was right: she won four consecutive Grammy awards for Best Country Vocal Performance from 1992 to 1995. Fresh off of this winning streak, she began changing her style by moving into more political and topical subject matter on her sixth album, A Place In The World. Coming on the heels of her most successful album to date, Stones In The Road, this record continued to place songs on the country charts (“Let Me Into Your Heart”, I Want To Be Your Girlfriend”, and “Keeping The Faith”)despite moving even further from the genre. But, despite her exceptional skills as a songwriter, this album is plagued by what has ailed much of her recordings throughout her career: average musical arrangements.
What should be a blistering album of great tunes is turned into pretty much a mess of average sounding tracks. It comes back, ultimately, to the poor decision to make her a country singer rather than let her be who she is. Allowed to make records with her own sound, she may have won a lot fewer Grammys…but her albums would have probably been a lot better. Still, she has the voice and the songs to keep this (and her other 90’s albums) from disaster. And while it’s pleasant in the way of her voice and her songs, this album will just not stick with you. It’s not memorable, which is a shame. Carpenter made several albums like this during her early career, loaded with hit songs and forgettable playing. And there’s not that one song, like the stunningly beautiful “It Don’t Bring You” from 1989’s State Of The Heart, that makes you want more. Mary Chapin Carpenter is a talented gem. You just have to really dig to find the great tracks. Unfortunately, this is only pretty good, and none of those special songs are here.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
METALLICA
1991-ELEKTRA
Produced By BOB ROCK, JAMES HETFIELD & LARS ULRICH
1. Enter Sandman
2. Sad But True
3. Holier Than Thou
4. The Unforgiven
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. Don’t Tread On Me
7. Through The Never
8. Nothing Else Matters
9. Of Wolf And Man
10. The God That Failed
11. My Friend Of Misery
12. The Struggle Within
Ah, the Black Album. Here’s the point where, if you happen to be one of those who think that Metallica “sold out” in making this album, you might want to go read something else. Metallica smartly realized that in making Kill ‘Em All Part 6 that they would be going nowhere, and that they would be purposely impeding their own growth. Fans who were outraged because this album wasn’t “thrash” enough and was a move towards pop were simply being idiots. What Metallica actually is as an album is heavier than anything they had done before (note that fast does not necessarily mean heavy), and it’s a showcase of a band that had grown up and started concentrating on the actual song over the actual speed at which you could flip your hair. Not saying that the previous five Metallica albums were bad. They were absolutely not, and I would own any of them (and do own several). The point is that Metallica dared to progress and evolve into better musicians and songwriters, and actually became heavier than they had ever been. Fan backlash over this was foolish and childish. Thank you. Rant over.
This album opens with “Enter Sandman”. Maybe the saving grace of metal in the early 90’s, this song alone is worth having the album. But the collection of great songs here, which includes “Sad But True”, “Nothing Else Matters”, “The Unforgiven” and “Holier Than Thou” justifies this as one of the greatest American hard rock albums of all time…maybe even the greatest. The move away from thrash and into a more song oriented sound suits the band extremely well, and allows each of the members to show sides of themselves that no one had ever heard before. Most impressive is that they were able to do it from one album to the next without having to struggle to find a new sound. Metallica is able to have the fury of metal, yet the beauty of the songs themselves and of the album as a whole shine through the sound of the band. To me, this makes it the best album by Metallica, by far. If you want to hate the band for taking the next step forward, then hey…you’ve always got Dave Mustaine to worship. Have fun with that one.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
METALLICA
1991-ELEKTRA
Produced By BOB ROCK, JAMES HETFIELD & LARS ULRICH
1. Enter Sandman
2. Sad But True
3. Holier Than Thou
4. The Unforgiven
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. Don’t Tread On Me
7. Through The Never
8. Nothing Else Matters
9. Of Wolf And Man
10. The God That Failed
11. My Friend Of Misery
12. The Struggle Within
Ah, the Black Album. Here’s the point where, if you happen to be one of those who think that Metallica “sold out” in making this album, you might want to go read something else. Metallica smartly realized that in making Kill ‘Em All Part 6 that they would be going nowhere, and that they would be purposely impeding their own growth. Fans who were outraged because this album wasn’t “thrash” enough and was a move towards pop were simply being idiots. What Metallica actually is as an album is heavier than anything they had done before (note that fast does not necessarily mean heavy), and it’s a showcase of a band that had grown up and started concentrating on the actual song over the actual speed at which you could flip your hair. Not saying that the previous five Metallica albums were bad. They were absolutely not, and I would own any of them (and do own several). The point is that Metallica dared to progress and evolve into better musicians and songwriters, and actually became heavier than they had ever been. Fan backlash over this was foolish and childish. Thank you. Rant over.
This album opens with “Enter Sandman”. Maybe the saving grace of metal in the early 90’s, this song alone is worth having the album. But the collection of great songs here, which includes “Sad But True”, “Nothing Else Matters”, “The Unforgiven” and “Holier Than Thou” justifies this as one of the greatest American hard rock albums of all time…maybe even the greatest. The move away from thrash and into a more song oriented sound suits the band extremely well, and allows each of the members to show sides of themselves that no one had ever heard before. Most impressive is that they were able to do it from one album to the next without having to struggle to find a new sound. Metallica is able to have the fury of metal, yet the beauty of the songs themselves and of the album as a whole shine through the sound of the band. To me, this makes it the best album by Metallica, by far. If you want to hate the band for taking the next step forward, then hey…you’ve always got Dave Mustaine to worship. Have fun with that one.
Strong opinion there... well said. While I'm not quite all the way there in the strength of your opinion, I'm 100% in agreement with the general sentiment. Sad but True, Nothing Else Matters, wherever I May Roam are all, in a way, the epitome of Metallica. Even as a pure thrash band, they were always more melodic than the norm for the genre. These songs, and this album just brought that tendency to full fruition whale still being fully "heavy." Quite an achievement.
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dihansse
Repo
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RoundTheBend
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