So I saw you had Sam Rivers' Dimensions and Extensions, which I really like, rated high, but Crystals and Streams, neither of which I had heard, ranked even higher, so I made a run at them.
I'm a huge jazz fan, but not so big a sax fan, and my main loves in the genre are hard bop, post bop and fusion; somewhat less with the avant garde and free jazz. But those are two impressive albums as well. Since I was getting free, I decided to also have a listen to your very highly rated Cecil Taylor album as well and also took to it somewhat, but I suspect it'll take a few listens to really absorb that one.
So I saw you had Sam Rivers' Dimensions and Extensions, which I really like, rated high, but Crystals and Streams, neither of which I had heard, ranked even higher, so I made a run at them.
I'm a huge jazz fan, but not so big a sax fan, and my main loves in the genre are hard bop, post bop and fusion; somewhat less with the avant garde and free jazz. But those are two impressive albums as well. Since I was getting free, I decided to also have a listen to your very highly rated Cecil Taylor album as well and also took to it somewhat, but I suspect it'll take a few listens to really absorb that one.
Re: Crystals and Streams ... Nice! Rivers was a composer with few peers. Streams is perhaps his peak as a soloist interweaving all of its parts (each his own) into a highly personal whole, while Crystals may be his compositional peak. The amount of instrumental "voices" going off into multiple directions one after the other and simultaneously while somehow remaining completely unified is really awe-inspiring.
Re: Unit Structures ... Certainly among the most challenging jazz albums ever, so yes, dont be surprised if it takes some extra acclimation. Basically, it is akin to an unstoppable force of nature emanating from a commanding, highly contemplative and highly intellectual source. Every note and frantic cluster of notes or sudden calamity of instruments, strikes not with an "obscene" violence but as if an all-powerful intellectual source has suddenly performed the most complicated mathematical formulas and created them on the spot and is actively considering/contemplating their direction/existence. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Perhaps the most spectacularly guilty pleasure in the history of music?
I think that could apply to just about any of Steinman's productions. Meatloaf, Bonnie Tyler, Pandora's Box. Most don't know it but he wrote two songs for the Sisters of Mercy album, Vision Thing (More and When You Don't See Me). Not a marriage you'd expect and very different from Jim's other collaborations, but it works quite well.
I'm also a huge fan of his songs which were the opener and closer for the Streets of Fire soundtrack. Over the top comic book bombast at its very best!
Thanks! The second one approaches the thunder, sanctimony and "symphonic" grandeur of Original Sin in some ways, while the first was amusingly 80s! _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Updated as of 1/27/17 ... List is now current. See the "Update" in bold at the top of the page for specifics. ^^^ _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Yes, discovery of many of these is very much indebted to Scaruffi and his is a site I highly recommend for the most adventurous listeners and for those that feel they agree with my choices or his more often than not. I've addressed this similarity extensively on listology.com where I was a very consistent member for years, but is currently crashed (Will it ever get back up and going again?). I will soon be re-posting "my criteria" page from that site (though will be a more updated version), which did also shed some light on this point. That it's quite similar is very definitely the case (though there are several differences too, some minor, some major). I can't deny his accuracy (imo) just for the sake of my choices being different than his. I wish they were more different, however, but it is what it is. I've discussed rock selections and criteria with him via emails on various occasions and I don't know what to say about it anymore except that we apparently have a very similar criteria and a very similar mathematical approach to determining the ranking of those selections. When I listen to the same albums as he, even if before he has revealed his ratings, it is common for the ratings to be the same on about 75 or 80% of them or even more sometimes.
One thing to know is that he hasn't rated the vast majority of his jazz albums so a whole portion of my list is still to be determined as to whether it's as similar as my rock ones. Same thing with Classical. Same thing with cinema, which I haven't posted here yet, but will soon. Also, Paintings/Visual Art, though I also haven't posted that list here yet, but will soon. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
How would you describe The Residents' Not Available? What would you say makes it so great? It's such a weird album that I can't even begin to analyze it. Of course, you don't have to re-visit it. Just what you remember about it is completely fine.
And has your opinion on To Pimp a Butterfly changed since Scaruffi finally reviewed it?
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