An album I already own and of which there is a track I haven't heard in many years:
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"Heroes" by David Bowie
And that track is The Secret Life of Ariabia I haven't heard since 8 february 2008 and rightly so because it is part of three instrumental tracks near the end which are intentioned to sound dark and ominous but which just sound very bland with very dated synthesizers. Even a "hit" like Beauty And The Beast is not one of his best. But there is naturally the title track which is Bowies ticket to classic stature and rightly so. So to me as an album completely overrated but just because of that on classic deserves a place in my top chart and rises from the 63rd to the 47th rank.
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Hope by Klaatu
This is a pompous piece of sh**. Sorry for the people who like it.
First an album I already own and of which there is a track I haven't heard in many years:
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Chairs Missing by Wire
And that track I hadn't listened to in a long time is I Feel Mysterious Today I hadn't listened to since 6 November 2007 and in fact not a bad track. But this album has two excellent track which shows the two faces of the band fantastically. I Am The Fly has the cynic Swagger and Too Late is a classic punk song which has become one of my favorites. The rest of the album is just good and so the album rises from the 54th to the 23rd rank of the year.
Then an album on my wishlist:
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Black And White by The Stranglers
Not as good as their first two but certainly also a fine album and the last one which still had the punk spirit (with that perfect combination of the singing of Hugh Cornell, that special organ and that very special bass) especially in tracks like The Tank (I had never heard before to my great surprise) and Toiler On The Sea (I already knew well). Even the cover of Walk On By (an outtake track) has that punk spirit. There's a few silly misses like Enough Time but there's enough fun here and this is still a must have and the album ends up at the 33rd rank.
First an album I already own and of which there is a track I haven't heard in many years:
The Long Run by Eagles
That tracks is Disco Strangler, last listened to in 13 February 2010 and not really good. After their big success with Hotel California, this whole album was clearly a big step back which was perhaps also due to the fact that the influence of Don Henley was less important, except for the beautiful The Sad Cafe. Of course tracks like the title track and Heartache Tonight were still good but they missed the country twang that made this band really great (and this coming from someone who doesn't really like country). Still an ok album and increases from the 48th to 42nd rank.
And an album on my wishlist:
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The Fine Art Of Surfacing by The Boomtown Rats
Their third album and to me their most consistent, certainly not only because of that great hit I Don't Like Mondays. Songs like Someone's Looking At You and Diamond Smiles at least match the quality of that, maybe a bit too overplayed, track. A fine discovery and good for the 31st rank.
Two choices of albums of 1980 and both from somewhere in Ireland:
First an album from a band from the Republic of Ireland I already own and of which there is a track I haven't heard in many years:
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Boy by U2
And that track I haven't heard in a long time is The Ocean and the last time I heard it was 9/12/2009 and is in fact an ok song.
This is the first U2 album and Belgium was one of the first countries fully embracing them because they made a big live reputation on their house festival in Belgium Torhout-Werchter. Their young and abrasive attack was most felt in the first track of the album I Will Follow but they showed that also in great songs like Electric Co. A very fine debut and the album rises from the 27th to the 18th track.
And an album on my wishlist from a band from Northern Ireland:
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Hypnotised by The Undertones
The difficult second album (see first track) from this fine punk band and didn't need to be afraid as this album shows, both in the hits My Perfect Cousin and one of their most poppy songs: Wednesday Week. So a fine album which enters at the 34th rank.
First an album I already own and of which there is a track I haven't heard in many years:
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Movement by New Order
That track is The Him which I haven't heard since 4 January 2015 and is in fact a very good track.
The absolute winner on this first album after Joy Division is Dreams Never End which showed that they good go in the same vein as that other band but with dance rhythms. And the other tracks followed the same trend although they are somewhat darker than on their next albums. Still a good album and rises from the 24th to the 8th rank.
And an album on my wishlist:
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Happy Birthday by Altered Images
I have listened recently to their second album and didn't really like it but this first one hits all the right spots. It's at the same time very poppy (not in the least because of the very innocent sounding voice of Clare Grogan) while still retaining some kind of punky atmosphere. The title track and major hit is still a great one but the same can be said for most of the others. So it enters at the 22nd rank.
First an album I already own and of which there is a track I haven't heard in many years:
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Madou by Madou
That track is Minderjarig which I haven't heard since 18 april 2008 which is indeed one of the lesser tracks on the album.
But what a good album this is. The female singer came from a traditional Belgian folk band but got a bit fed up with it and started a band which was more in tune with modern time. The thing is, she has one of the most fantastic female voices I know with for english speakers of course the setback that the album is completely sung in Flemish. The themes of the album are maybe a bit too much about things like domestic violence, rape and so on but they do feel very intimate. The best tracks that I would also recommend to non Dutch speakers are Witte Nachten (White Nights) and Niets Is Voor Altijd (nothing Is For Ever Ever). The album is one of the best Flemish sung albums ever and it rises from the 29th to the 12th rank.
Then an album on my wishlist:
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Abominog by Uriah Heep
I 'm a big fan of their proggy/symphonic albums from the beginning and also like their newer metal ones (I can recommend Chaos & Colour of this year) but I didn't really like this one from their middle period which is also supposed to be one of the best of that period. It's just too close to very average arena rock in the style of Europe/Bon Jovi to me. Running All Night (With The Lion) and Too Scared To Run are good examples but are still ok but the rest of the album is a bit too mediocre to my ears to be worthy of inclusion in my year chart.
These last days I had two wonderful live experiences:
Last Thursday I went to a live punk concert in a very small venue (about 200 people) with the Australian band Civic of which I liked their two albums very much so I wanted to see how they did live.
The support act was the Belgian garage rock band Roda Lits, I didn't know before but made a good impression and like I said the number of people at the concert was fairly small but seemed to also include a big part of the family and friends of the support act. This to say that the fanbase of Civic is not very big. Although their performance was short (only 50 minutes, it was also very much to the point and even punkier than on the albums with a singer which performed a bit like Henry Rollins and really made the show. A grzat evening and Btw: next week I'm gonna see Built To Spill playing live.
And the second live experience was in fact a concert movie, namely the re-issue of Berlin by Lou Reed. the album was released in 1973 but wasn't really successful at the time and Lou Reed refused to bring it live for a long time. Until 2006 when he did a tour of the album at Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn and of which Julian Schnabel made a concert film.
I have always found that some parts of Berlin were fairly uneven but after seeing the movie in a real movie theater (and with the perfect sound system) I completely changed my mind. Everything fits here and the first part of the album is more tight and electric than on the album while the second part is delivered in a much more sensitive way than on the album.
Which brings me to a dilemma: should an album be rated with only the album as a basis or should it be rated on the best versions of those songs which in many instances are live performances. I have that with ex The Scorpions but certainly now also with Berlin of which the current fifth rank of 1973 should be higher, but based on what version? I'll come back to this as well when I'll discuss Speaking I, Tongues by Talking Heads. And speaking of that band: to me Stop Making Sense was to me the ultimate concert movie (I think I saw it five times) but I think I'll have to change my mind.
BtW: you can see this concert completely on Youtube but do yourself a favor: go and watch it in a movie theater if you get the chance.
First an album I already own and of which there is a track I haven't heard in many years:
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Speaking In Tongues by Talking Heads
And that track is I Get Wild/Wild Gravity I last heard on 13 August 2010 and which is, on a renewed listen an ok song. This is again a very good Talking Heads album but as I commented in my last post it suffers from a suboptimal production and there is this thing that many of the tracks are not the best versions of these songs because there are many better live versions on live albums like Stop Making Sense. But however a great album with some of their best songs like Girlfriend Is Better and This Must Be The Place. It climbs from the 4th to the 3rd rank of the year.
Then an album on my wishlist:
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Born Again by Black Sabbath
Somewhere else people are discussing Black Sabbath albums. To me the first two (ok three) albums are still the outstanding ones. After that I always have the feeling that there is something with them: there are quarrels in the band, it's not the Sabbath sound any more and most of all, there are other singers. Which is also the case with this album: it has Ian Gillan from Deep Purple as a singer. But as a matter of fact: I'm a fan of the voice of Ian Gillan; and the songs are fairly good as well. So my conclusion is this is a good album but it doesn't feel as a Black Sabbath album and it immediately enters at the 31st rank.
Born Again by Black Sabbath
Somewhere else people are discussing Black Sabbath albums. To me the first two (ok three) albums are still the outstanding ones. After that I always have the feeling that there is something with them: there are quarrels in the band, it's not the Sabbath sound any more and most of all, there are other singers. Which is also the case with this album: it has Ian Gillan from Deep Purple as a singer. But as a matter of fact: I'm a fan of the voice of Ian Gillan; and the songs are fairly good as well. So my conclusion is this is a good album but it doesn't feel as a Black Sabbath album and it immediately enters at the 31st rank.
Yay! Psyched you like it! I think it's really interesting!! And very good!
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