Post subject: [Closed] B1974 1D: Graham Central Station vs. Country Life
With our next album, things get a little funky. Larry Graham, bassist for Sly and the Family Stone, has brought together a group of musicians from the Family Stone, Santana, and Hot Tuna to form a band called Graham Central Station.
Now, our next album was praised by Rolling Stone, along with 1973's "Stranded", as the "the zenith of contemporary British Art Rock" in 1975. Considered the best by the band that helped the evolution of Glam from Art Rock, talking about Roxy Music, here is Country Life.
Can you call a funk album vanilla? Because this is vanilla, by the numbers funk. It is certainly decently played with especially great bass lines, but it does nothing to transcend its genre. Considering its going against one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite bands, this was no contest.
Graham Central Station delivers some great funk beats, but Graham's vocals feel uninspired and his lyrics are often too generic to really engage me. It has some strong moments, particularly on the more group-oriented anthems like "People" and "Ghetto", but it's a pretty inconsistent experience overall. I think I'm just not sold on Larry Graham as a leading man. I don't know many of the details of his feud with Sly, but the musical fallout was a bit sad.
It's the opposite story with Roxy Music and Brian Eno. While they did work well together, this album, along with Stranded and Warm Jets, is proof that they were plenty functional separately. I'm not crazy about this one, but the high points on Country Life are more than enough to put it over the top here. I especially like the opening and closing tracks.
The one with the best cover... _________________ "And can’t you see you’re in on it?
You were born though you need not
And is that not some cause
For worship, being born among these trees?"
Graham Central Station delivers some great funk beats, but Graham's vocals feel uninspired and his lyrics are often too generic to really engage me. It has some strong moments, particularly on the more group-oriented anthems like "People" and "Ghetto", but it's a pretty inconsistent experience overall. I think I'm just not sold on Larry Graham as a leading man. I don't know many of the details of his feud with Sly, but the musical fallout was a bit sad.
It's the opposite story with Roxy Music and Brian Eno. While they did work well together, this album, along with Stranded and Warm Jets, is proof that they were plenty functional separately. I'm not crazy about this one, but the high points on Country Life are more than enough to put it over the top here. I especially like the opening and closing tracks.
I enjoyed Graham Central Station, but Country Life blew me away. Vote to Roxy. After four pairs of albums, I haven't heard a bad album yet this tournament.
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