Listmeister Listens - My Top 106: The Fame

[Listmeister]

New Discovery 2: Guitar Rock of 1970


American Woman by The Guess Who

BEA Ranks: 63rd of 1970; 583rd of 1970s; 2989th of All Time
Ranked Highest by: Mauce, 23rd of All Time

"They were invited to the White House, under the guise that they would not play one particular song. They played 'American Woman' anyway, and were kicked out. How badass is that?" junodog4

"Those three hits are probably three of the 100 best radio songs ever." jhuik

Mathematically, one out of every 13 or 14 albums that I hear should be in my top 100. Given that it takes an album several listens, and I'm not going to rank it into its true place the first time I hear it, it may be more like one out of 25 or 30. Still, I expected I'd have more than two new discoveries since I started this diary. Happily, I now have the chance to rectify that a little bit. This had been in my wish list for a long time, but I just didn't get around to listening to until last week I wished I listened to it sooner.

The guitars are amazing on "American Woman". "8:15" shows the virtuosity of the band, with the accoustic guitars, bass, and drums each taking a moment in the spotlight. The interplay of guitar and vocal harmonies is amazing on "No Time." More fantastic harmonies in "When Friends Fall Out" and "Proper Stranger." "Talisman" is a 1960's poetry exercise with some interesting vocals by Burton Cummings, and on "Humpty's Blues" he pushes his voice to the limit. "969 (the Oldest Man)" is an instrumental, it has flute in it.

"No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" is in a class almost by itself. It's two songs, really. One sung after another, and then both at the same time. That is so hard to do that few bands have even attempted it. Simon and Garfunkel did something similar with "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", and that's the only other example I can think of.

When I heard the album, it immediately went to number one for 1970 ("Lola vs. Powerman & the Moneygoround" by the Kinks is now runner-up). I had to put in the top 100, even the my top 100 are already glutted with 70's albums. I'll make room for one more.

91. Breakfast in America
92. Book of Dreams
93. Actually
94. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
95. Revolution Radio
96. American Woman
97. Use Your Illusion II
98. London Calling
99. Don Quixote
100. American Graffiti Soundtrack
101. The Fame Monster

[Listmeister]

40. The Year That Was 1960-1962


Lonely And Blue by Roy Orbison

BEA Ranks: 12th of 1961; 313th of the 1960s; 4,345th of All Time
Ranked highest by: The Carl, 13th of All Time

[Listmeister]

Egregious Oversight 3: My Star of 2006


Alright, Still by Lily Allen

BEA Ranks: 96th of 2006; 1,007th of 2000s; 4,260th of All Time
Ranked highest by Laiv448, 14th of All Time

"Bookended by two great songs, and filled in the middle with passable pop with a slight bite. Nothing remarkable." junodog4

"I'm a bigger fan of her next release, but this one doesn't get quite enough attention. Lots of great energy, and a lot of fun, to boot." ruckermanley

"Really good, quite cheeky & funny whilst retaining a lot of originality. Solid throughout with no filler and lots of catchy tracks." antiquusxy

So, I've started working on my Second 100 list, albums I would like to review when (if) I get done with the first 106. Part of this process is, I've been listening to the best albums and near-misses of each year. So, I listened to my top 3 of 2006 today.

I listened to The Black Parade, by My Chemical Romance, for the first time since I reviewed it (see page 7). I was too harsh with it then, and might boost it up a little. Second was The Life Pursuit by Belle & Sebastian (see page 1). I hadn't misjudged The Life Pursuit, it's still great. But Lily Allen's voice is just amazing, and I had to rank it higher than Life Pursuit, which puts it in the Top 100.

Most of my 2008 was spent catching up on the music of the previous decade, which I had missed. My quest is detailed on my blog from that period, which is at https://listmeister.wordpress.com/, and included UK hits as well as the American ones. As I went through 2007 and 2006, picking my favorites, there was Alfie. And there was Smile. Some songs are enjoyable enough to keep you committed to listening to pop music, and that was Lily Allen, on this album.

Her persona is that of a young woman living in London, dealing with guys, most of whom are stupid, and life, which is disillusioning; but she has a joy that she puts behind all of that. Her guy cheated on her? Not a problem, she'll just mess with him, and then smile. Her brother is lazy, and she tries to motivate him, to no effect. "I only say it 'cause I care", she explains "So please can you stop pulling my hair". There's a story to every song, and it's a delightful way to spend 37 minutes.

81. The Resistance
82. The Stone Roses
83. Alright, Still
84. Having a Rave Up
85. Fly Like an Eagle

Black Parade also moves up:

64. One of These Nights
65. Watermark
66. The Black Parade
67. Pyromania
68. Who Are You

[Listmeister]

39. From The Last Herd of Galapagos Turtles


Kick by INXS

BEA Ranks: 14th of 1987; 122nd of 1980s; 776th of All Time
Ranked highest by Btel74, 4th of All Time

"Not sure why there's so little love for this album here. For me, it's a great listen with lots of enjoyable tracks." --albummaster

"Hutchence's vocals brings late-70s-rock power with Jim Morrison's swagger, all within INXS's pop framework of restrained guitars, synths and plenty of room for Hutchence to croon." --paladisiac

"Fantastic 80's album huge in Australia, was an unusual time for music was really Indie versus Metal. INXS were mainstream and was nice to have an album everybody enjoyed . Only problem is the Pathetic album cover" --BraddlesHendo

"It's got those songs that you hear for the first time and they immediately feel familiar." --GawdIDontKnow

Rock and Roll, in it's purest form, has been moribund for a long time. These days, only Fall Out Boy seems to have any hits in the genre. There will probably always be practitioners of it, but has splintered to the point that there is almost no mainstream any more. I'm not making an old-man complaint, I realize that it's the nature of every art form to have a finite life span. Once all aspects of this form have been explored, it becomes impossible to make new stuff that's relevant.

INXS's Kick represents that last moment when Rock And Roll was at the peak of its powers. It's like the Jedi Knights during the Star Wars prequels -- you get to see what they could really do. In the next few years (1987-1992) pop music would become dominated by rap, alternative, and grunge. Even metal fell by the wayside. You hear it in the vocals (every song), and drumming ('Never Tear Us Apart'), and the keyboards ('Wild Life'), and the harmonies ('Love You So') and the amazing guitar riffs ('Devil Inside' and 'Need You Tonight'). The lyrics are pretty interesting too ('Meditate'), but that's not something particular to rock and roll.

There would be other rock albums. Hair metal was dominant at this time, and began to carry the torch into the nineties. I'm not saying this was the last Galapagos turtle. I'm saying this is the best Galapagos turtle teleported from the last time when there herds of Galapagos turtles all over the Galapagos islands.

39. The ArchAndroid
40. Help!
41. Kick
42. Lonely and Blue
43. On the Threshold of a Dream
44. Moody Blue
45. Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We
46. In the Court of the Crimson King
47. Past Masters Volume One
48. Long Distance Voyager

[Listmeister]

38. All Rev'd Up And No Place To Go


Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf

BEA Ranks: 14th of 1977; 114th of 1970s; 453rd of All Time
Ranked highest by strongbowuk, Best Of All Time

"Say what you will about how over the top Meat Loaf may be, but "Bat Out Of Hell" is a masterpiece. Some incredible singing, great songwriting, one of the most unique albums in rock history, and a favorite of mine." --RockyRaccoon

"This album was never meant to provide the answers to meaning of life questions. If you try to take it seriously - you are unlikely to like it. If you just have fun with this album it is enjoyable, party music." --edubs

"I get nothing from this. Sounds derivative of so many 70's trends, queen, billy joel, led zeppelin, elton john. If you made an album of "worst 70's motifs" where you combined all the parts of 70's pop that now sound dated and exhausting - it would be this album. Multiple listens didn't expose anything to make me reconsider this opinion." --corenfro

---

My first copy of Bat Out of Hell was a miscut cassette. For some reason, side one was spliced in such a way that it begins with the last few seconds of the side. You have silence, and then, "ALL REV'D UP WITH NO PLACE TO GO! ALL REV"D UP WITH NO PLACE TO GO!! ALL REV'D UP WITH NO PLACE TO GO!!!" Then Bat Out of Hell, the song, begins. Well, I'm awake now. At the end of side one, the song cuts off rather suddenly. "ALL REV'D WITH NO PLACE TO---"

I can't think of another album where this level of energy is carried on by one artist over the course of the whole album. Even when he's singing in ballad mode ("Baby we can talk all night, but that ain't gettin' us nowhere") he's pouring his heart out into whatever he's singing. The man does not have a "relax" mode.

The music is incredible, there's driving guitars, horns, a fireworks explosion of drumming in For Crying Out Loud, occasional bits of theatric dialog (like at the beginning of Hot Summer Night / You Took the Words Right Out of my Mouth

In reading up on BEA's opinion of this album, for the quotes -- let me interject here, that Romanelli's review in his diary, here, is an excellent summary of the album in it's historical context. Where was I? BEA members either love this album or they hate it. They love the album because it's bombastic, it's loud, it's theatrical, it's fun, it's got a weird sense of humor. Or else they hate it because it's bombastic, it's loud, it's theatrical, it's fun, it's got a weird sense of humor. They love the over-the-top drama in Bat Out of Hell They love or hate the outrageous metaphors sprinkled throughout the lyrics (e.g. "there ain't no coup de ville hiding in the bottom of a cracker jack box", from Two Out of Three Ain't Bad They love or hate the baseball bit in Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.

Now, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights is such a well-crafted epic that I was probably going to love any album it was on, at least at first. The emotional roller coaster -- he's thrilled he's going out with the best girl in school, then they're making out, it's getting hotter. [the baseball bit comes in here, as a character is rounding the bases, almost getting stopped at every base, announced by New York Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto. "Here's the throw, here's the play at the plate. Holy Cow, I think he's going to make it.] "Stop right there!" command the girl, as she demands a promise of eternal love "before we go any further". He waffles, she insists, they go back and forth, and then this:

"I couldn't take it any longer, LORD I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave
Started swearing to my God and on my mother's grave that I would love you till the end of time.
I swore I would love you till the end of time............
So now I'm praying for the end of time to hurry up and arrive"

38. Bat Out Of Hell
39. The ArchAndroid
40. Help!
41. Kick
42. Lonely and Blue
43. On the Threshold of a Dream
44. Moody Blue
45. Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We
46. In the Court of the Crimson King
47. Past Masters Volume One

Coming next: The Best of 1974

[dihansse]

[Listmeister]

37. Glamsville '74


Kimono My House by Sparks

BEA Ranks: 24th of !974; 249th of the 1970s; 1,111th of All Time

"Sparks are not for everyone. With falsetto vocals in combination with an unpredictable, schizophrenic style, they're a tightrope act teetering on obnoxious cleverness. But I guess that's why I love them. Unlike other bands, Sparks don't play it safe. My personal fave, Kimono My House, sounds like a marriage of showtunes, prog, and some futuristic genre not yet discovered." --meccalecca

"It just sounds like a bad DJ mixed ABBA and Genesis." --Hayden

"Very very underrated album and artist. How to make an art out of clever and funny lyrics." --Jorbaa

"When I first listened to this I wasn't too impressed. Why didn't someone lecture me about how objectively amazing this is? " --SuedeSwede

The most fun I ever had on this site was when I hosted the Best of 1974 tournament in 2013. Then, as now, BEA ranked The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis as the best of that year. Overall, it was in the 200s somewhere, which is much much lower than the highest ranked songs of the years surrounding it. 1973's best was "Dark Side of the Moon" (number 2 overall), and 1975 was "Wish You Were Here", 12th overall. I explained that something was seriously lacking in the love that 1974 was getting on BEA, and I wanted to host a tournament to rectify this. This was approved, and we began.

sp4cetiger nominated Kimono My House, by Sparks, along with Gram Parson's Grievous Angel and Stevie Wonder's Fulfillingness' First Finale. In the first round, it crushed Living in the 70s by Skyhooks. It was the first time I had heard Kimono, and I was blown away. Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell fell next, 11-6, followed by Autobahn by Kraftwerk, 13-9. Then it knocked out the Defending Champion, the aforementioned Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in the quarterfinals, before losing to Rock Bottom by Robert Wyatt in the Semifinals, and then lost the Bronze to Veedon Fleece by Van Morisson. By the end of the tournament, Kimono had become my favorite of the tournament, and of the year. The other albums in the top 4 weren't as fun or as interesting to me.

There are so many amazing moments in Kimono. The four ascending notes repeated at the opening of "Amateur Hour". The way the word 'equator' sort of morphs into 'You quitter!' at the end of "Equator" The line "Hasta Manana Monsieur was all I knew how to say," is hysterical since the guy is mixing two languages. The way the falsetto vocals that harmonize on "In My Family".

I think glam, as a a genre, reaches its pre-Queen peak on this album. (Queen was a whole nother thing.) It's a fun album, and the musicianship is top-notch. Thank you, sp4cetiger.

37. Bat Out Of Hell
38. The ArchAndroid
39. Help!
40. Kimono My House
41. Kick
42. Lonely and Blue
43. On the Threshold of a Dream
44. Moody Blue
45. Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We
46. In the Court of the Crimson King

[Repo]

[bobbyb5]

I love the Guess Who too. I like them better than the regular Who. LMAO. They had more good songs, to be honest. Although I think Canned Wheat is better than American Woman. But all their albums have at least three or four Classics on them. And I mean REALLY classic. And the best thing is, their very best songs were also huge hit singles. That makes them all the more awesome.

[Listmeister]

Reluctant Disqualification Two


The Best Of Sweet by Sweet

BEA Ranks: 352nd of 1993, 3504th of 1990s; 17237th of All Time
Ranked highest by Listmeister (36th of All Time)

This was my favorite road-trip album for years. Each song is high energy glamish metalish rock and roll. The harmonies of the normal metal voice with the high-pitched metal voice are phenomenal and they nail it on every song. Many of the songs, the most famous ones particularly, were singles that did not really appear on albums.

Here's the problem. This is not the definitive collection. Bigger problem, there isn't one. There isn't even really a definitive Sweet discography. They suffered from the British-albums-like-this-American-albums-like-that problem. (I think that's the technical name for that condition).

So finding the albums with my favorite Sweet songs (Little Willy, Wig Wam Bam, Ballroom Blitz) is not really possible. In Britain, some of them were not actually put on albums. In America, these singles were put on albums that were hodgepodges of British albums plus singles. So, I'm stuck with a compilation.

I introduced this one to Best Ever Albums when I was first compiling my list because I loved it so much. Still do. But there are other Sweet compilations. "Strung Up" (1975) is the highest ranked one on BEA, but it only covers about half of their career. "Action: The Sweet Anthology" (2009) is more extensive, with 32 songs on it, including almost all the songs on Best Of, and maybe I should go with that one. Or, I can knuckle down and start listening to the actual albums, and pick my favorites, as I have done with other bands after loving their Best Of.

With some compilations, there is no more that you need of this band than what is on the compilation. "The Association" and "Little River Band" are great examples of this, you don't really need more than their greatest hits.

But I have listened to some of the Sweet albums, and some other anthologies, and the same thing I love about the songs on this album is there in almost all their songs. Their sound is one of the most unusual sounds in rock and roll history. I need more Sweet than I can get from this album.