I had listened to Sound Affects a while back, and this one is pretty similar. Catchy, upbeat power pop that feels pretty British. There's a cover of David Watts that's pretty good, and It's Too Bad was also a standout. I think the album was at its best when it was going outside its comfort zone a bit, such as on In the Crowd, which has some cool psychedelic influences.
582. Making Movies by Dire Straits
630. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
658. Nursery Crime by Genesis
664. The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine
673. Waiting for the Sun by The Doors
676. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
679. Lady in Satin by Billie Holiday
689. Songs for Swining' Lovers by Frank Sinatra
700. Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk
700. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
Well I'm guessing I just listened to Preoccupation's favourite album. Early experimental post-punk album that must have been an influence on a lot of bands. I can see why people would love this album and be a favourite, and I can see why people would dislike it. Like a lot of experimental albums at times it was a touch too experimental for me. I could have done without the ambient closing track, and Radio Prague, but Radio Prague did lead in nicely to Makeshift Swahili, probably the track I liked the most. But there were a lot more great tracks that did work. 8/10, and 16/21 for 1981 (it's a good year so far).
I would be happy to listen to any of those but I would choose The Doors first.
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Tha1ChiefRocka (3 picks left)
1. Black Sea by XTC
2. Solid Pleasure by Yello
3. Tin Drum by Japan
5. Signals, Calls, And Marches by Mission Of Burma
6. Mesh & Lace by Modern English
9. Avalon by Roxy Music
10. Script Of The Bridge by The Chameleons
13. Since The Accident by Severed Heads
15. Wrong by NoMeansNo
17. The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories by Felt
Touch My Beloved's Thoughts by Greg Ward & 10 Tongues
Ya know what? I don't think I'll play this often. The idea is interesting: Greg Ward and his friend Roell Schmidt (executive director of the Chicago performing arts center Linkโs Hall) heard The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by the one and only Mingus, loved it and decided to stage the modern rendition of the piece plus the dancers and the whole show. Greg Ward was supposed to make it more original and modern, cause they didn't want to disrespect the Mingus piece. I really like this approach in theory. The outcome was this - Mingus in traces, Greg Ward in spades. But what bugged me the most was "Mingus in traces" part. There are certain musical phrases from The Black Saint scattered throughout the album. Sometimes the whole song is based on Mingus' piano lick or a few second trumpet snippet. Which is a cool concept, but doesn't work for me. I didn't like these parts, and for a simple reason - they were done better on the original. It just made me want to listen to Mingus instead. On the other hand, I was always going to dislike something about this since The Black Saint is one of my favourite records of all time. Overall, when Greg is not borrowing too much from the template, I love the music. When he is, I just want to play Mingus instead. If this was a bit more Mingus influenced, and a bit less Mingus borrowed, I'd love it. I guess I'll give it another go sometime in the future, but my mindset may never allow me to enjoy this.
(2)
Glad that you liked This Heat, try XTC next.
(3)
deepcuts top 50 of the decade & RYM metal top 100 & SquishypuffDave Top 100 Greatest Albums
50/ Oceansize - Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up
Cryptopsy - None So Vile
Immolation - Close To The World Below
Autopsy - Mental Funeral
Demilich - Nespithe
Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations
Coroner - Mental Vortex
1. Deerhoof - The Runners Four
3. The Books - The Way Out
6. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of Natural History _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
Pretty similar to the last Doors album I listened to for this game in Morrison Hotel. "Hello I Love You" is of course great. The rest of the songs were new to me. "Unknown Solider" is a haunting song, but I think the keyboards make it feel a little less intense than it's supposed to be. "My Wild Love" stood out as an interesting chatting / a capella experience, though I'm not sure it worked in the context of what is otherwise pretty much a pop rock album. The closer felt like a rewrite of "Back Door Man" (which yes I know was a cover but you can rewrite someone else's song). I don't really have complaints about any of the rest.
There's part of my that thinks I should really like The Doors given that their albums are usually pretty short slabs of rock that doesn't really sound like much else from the era. And yet something is holding me back. I think I mentioned Morrison's penchant for obvious rhymes in my last Doors review, and it was definitely pretty common here too. I think some artists could make that seem charming but combined with his vocal style I guess it just really doesn't work for me. And while their songs have some nice hooks they often feel like they're shoved into songs where they don't really fit - like those organ/keyboard parts just come out of nowhere. Oddly, I like LA Woman more than either this or Morrison Hotel, and that album is pretty over the top in terms of Morrison's vocals and loud, deliberate instrumental pieces. So maybe I feel like this is holding back compared to LA Woman or something like The End.
I'd love to help you finish up your 10's list LedZep, but I haven't heard that album and I love this one, so this is the one I'm giving you.
BEA's top 1,000 albums:
582. Making Movies by Dire Straits
630. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
658. Nursery Crime by Genesis
664. The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine
676. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
679. Lady in Satin by Billie Holiday
689. Songs for Swining' Lovers by Frank Sinatra
700. Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk
701. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
703. When the Pawn... by Fiona Apple _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
Instrumentally I enjoyed this. Creative, beautiful, mellow - overall really good, even if I wouldn't consider it top 250 material. I don't often dislike vocals, but I am really not feeling his affectation. It definitely negatively affects my appreciation, and the only song that I think approaches greatness despite the vocals is Breezeblocks. There's definitely more good than bad here though. 3/5.
~~~~~
2. It's not her best work, as her voice was starting to fail and she had just over a year of life left. But this is still a great album, and also the album of the day:
200. AM - Arctic Monkeys
224. Random Access Memories - Daft Punk
232. Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & The Dominos
233. Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
235. Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
236. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
256. Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull
266. Machine Head - Deep Purple
267. Hotel California - Eagles
272. Urban Hymns - The Verve _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
This was really cool. Great jangle post-punk sound to their new wave pop rock here. I have never heard an XTC album I haven't liked yet. They know how to write great songs. Travels In Nihilon, and of course General And Majors were the highlights, but it was all really consistent material throughout. 8/10, and 11/27 for 1980.
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Tha1ChiefRocka (2 picks left)
2. Solid Pleasure by Yello
3. Tin Drum by Japan
5. Signals, Calls, And Marches by Mission Of Burma
6. Mesh & Lace by Modern English
9. Avalon by Roxy Music
10. Script Of The Bridge by The Chameleons
13. Since The Accident by Severed Heads
15. Wrong by NoMeansNo
17. The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories by Felt
18. The Crossing by Big Country
Huh, I just saw that this band was apparently on the NWW list; guess I didn't remember that. (Look that up if you don't know what I mean. That could be somebody's next list to choose from!) This was a fun and engaging Krautrock album that did some things I hadn't heard on many previous Krautrock albums. It even had a sense of humor, which is not generally the case either. There were also some Zappaesque composition throughout the whole thing that I enjoyed as well. The real star of the show has to be the saxophone player though, because whenever he comes in to a track he really plays his ass off.
Nomeansno is probably the most technically proficient punk band to ever exist. Because it's worth it, listen to the version that has all of the bonus tracks. "Life In Hell" may have one of the sickest grooves I've ever heard.
I can see why this album is so well-regarded. The highlight is of course the titanic Bitter Sweet Symphony, but there are several other great songs as well, with The Drugs Don't Work being my second favorite. I was surprised by just how psychedelic and mellow the whole album is. On the downside, this record is far too long, and would have worked better at around half the length. The sound is not very varied either, which makes the length more of a problem than it would be otherwise. Very good, but not a classic in my estimation. 3.5/5.
~~~~~
2. Oh wow, I can give you an album from an artist I've heard again (thanks to joyofdivision iirc). Listen to Neurofibro.
~~~~~
3. BEA Overall Chart
199. AM - Arctic Monkeys
225. Random Access Memories - Daft Punk
232. Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek & The Dominos
233. Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
234. Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
237. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
256. Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull
266. Machine Head - Deep Purple
267. Hotel California - Eagles
271. Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
babyBlueSedanUsed to be sort of blind, now can sort of seeProfile
This was my first experience with Billie Holiday, so I can't compare it to her earlier work back when her voice hadn't been through so much, but I really enjoyed it. You can tell her voice is a bit weak, but I think it adds to the album and gives it more character than it would have otherwise. I often don't find these compilations of standards very interesting unless the singer is really engaging, and Holiday definitely fits that bill. It's definitely kind of a sad listen, and I'd almost compare it to Blackstar or You Want It Darker, though it's not really obsessed with death like those too. Maybe I'm only comparing it to those since she passed away not long after, but looking back it's a shame I'm making those comparisons and she was only in her 40's at the time of recording. Anyway I really need to listen to more artists from this time period and earlier, and this makes me want to listen to an older album of hers to see how different it sounds.
582. Making Movies by Dire Straits
630. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
658. Nursery Crime by Genesis
664. The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine
676. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
689. Songs for Swining' Lovers by Frank Sinatra
700. Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk
701. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
710. O by Damien Rice
712. My Favorite Things by John Coltrane _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
Oh man! This shit rocked!!! It started hard, and just never let up throughout the whole album. Just enough variety to keep it interesting but really it's the same consistent great post-hardcore/hardcore punk vibe throughout the whole thing. It sounds like there is some technically proficient musicianship going on, the song writing is interesting, and there are some fantastic bass lines, especially in the second half of the album. I've had this band recommended to me before and now I get why. 8.5/10, and 10/25 for 1989.
op 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Tha1ChiefRocka (last pick)
2. Solid Pleasure by Yello
3. Tin Drum by Japan
5. Signals, Calls, And Marches by Mission Of Burma
6. Mesh & Lace by Modern English
9. Avalon by Roxy Music
10. Script Of The Bridge by The Chameleons
13. Since The Accident by Severed Heads
17. The Strange Idols Pattern And Other Short Stories by Felt
18. The Crossing by Big Country
19. 90 by 808 State
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
babyBlueSedan
Purplepash
LedZep
baystateoftheart
Tha1ChiefRocka
