Human Canon Ball Relaunched: A Trip Through Time

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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #1
  • Posted: 10/09/2017 17:55
  • Post subject: Human Canon Ball Relaunched: A Trip Through Time
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After a long hiatus, I'm restarting my music diary. I'm rebuilding my top 100 slowly and methodically by re-listening to albums, rating each track, and plugging the results into a simple formula. Geeky I know... There have been a lot of surprising results so far, albums I either underrated or overrated due to what I wanted my taste to be. Now I think I'm getting a better idea of what my taste actually is.

Below are the results up through 10/9, with a more complete and regularly updated list available here. Releases that aren't BEA eligible and therefore can't appear in my chart are italicized. 3.75 is the cutoff for inclusion on the list.

I'm very busy with school, so I won't be able to do write-ups very often. This will be a sparse diary until I graduate and have more free time.

Scored Re-Listens Through 10/9

The Masterpieces:

Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys 4.93
The Muscle Shoals Sound - Various Artists 4.79
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield 4.79
Good Kid, M.A.A.D City - Kendrick Lamar 4.79
Acabou Chorare - Novos Baianos 4.78
E•MO•TION [US Version] - Carly Rae Jepsen 4.77
Modern Vampires Of The City - Vampire Weekend 4.75
Spring Fever! - The Pussywillows 4.69
Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica - The Ronettes 4.67
Deep Trouble (EP) - EasyFun 4.67
Boxer - The National 4.66
Odessey And Oracle - The Zombies 4.63
Donuts - J Dilla 4.62

The Classics:

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars - David Bowie 4.58
Alvvays - Alvvays 4.55
#1 Record - Big Star 4.54
Graceland - Paul Simon 4.54
The Wayward Bus - The Magnetic Fields 4.54
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground 4.52
Forever Changes - Love 4.52
LP1 - FKA Twigs 4.51
Shangri-Las - 65! - The Shangri-Las 4.51
Confusion - Fela Kuti & Africa 70 4.50
Is This It [US Version] - The Strokes 4.50
This Is Just A Modern Rock Song (EP) - Belle And Sebastian 4.50
The Harder They Come - Various Artists 4.49
Chronic Town (EP) - R.E.M. 4.48
The Smile Sessions - The Beach Boys 4.48
Endless Summer - The Beach Boys 4.47
Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul - Otis Redding 4.42
Myrmidons Of Melodrama - The Shangri-Las 4.42
The Best Of The Girl Groups, Volume 1 - Various Artists 4.42
Since I Left You - The Avalanches 4.42
Beauty And The Beat - Go-Go's 4.41
The Smiths [US Version] - The Smiths 4.37
Belle & Sebastian Sing Jonathan David (EP) - Belle And Sebastian 4.34
Dog On Wheels (EP) - Belle And Sebastian 4.33
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground 4.29
Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman 4.27

The Strong:

Push Barman To Open Old Wounds - Belle And Sebastian 4.20
PC Music Volume 1 - Various Artists 4.16
Strawberry Switchblade - Strawberry Switchblade 4.12
High Violet - The National 4.08
Easymix - EasyFun 4.00
25 All-Time Greatest Bubblegum Hits - Various Artists 3.89
Lazy Line Painter Jane (EP) - Belle And Sebastian 3.87
The Beach Boys Today! - The Beach Boys 3.86

The Merely Solid [not qualified for chart]:

3.. 6.. 9 Seconds Of Light (EP) - Belle And Sebastian 3.73
I'm Waking Up To Us (EP) - Belle And Sebastian 3.51
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Last edited by baystateoftheart on 09/27/2018 17:10; edited 10 times in total
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #2
  • Posted: 10/09/2017 20:18
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One thing I forgot to mention: I do welcome recs! Just leave an album you love that I haven't ranked yet in the replies.

If I have it in my collection, I'll move it to the top tier in my queue of things to revisit. I'll also do brief write-ups for these requests.

If I don't have it in my collection yet, I may add it to my wishlist, which is a near-bottomless pit of over one thousand albums Laughing
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #3
  • Posted: 10/10/2017 01:09
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The Beach Boys Today! by The Beach Boys

1. Do You Wanna Dance? 4.5/5 - Great arrangements and vocal layering make this cover stand out.
2. Good To My Baby 3.5/5 - Good musically, but it's worth asking why people think he treats his girlfriend poorly. Probably something to that.
3. Don't Hurt My Little Sister 2/5 - Lyrically, this takes a turn for the awful when the love of a boyfriend and big brother are compared.
4. When I Grow Up 4/5 - Introspective and beautiful, sullied a bit by some corniness in the diction.
5. Help Me, Ronda 4/5 - The arrangement here really doesn't hold to candle to the later single version, and the fadeouts are pointless, but this is a good song all the same.
6. Dance, Dance, Dance 4/5 - Good upbeat dance track.
7. Please Let Me Wonder 5/5 - Sublime. One of the best songs The Beach Boys ever recorded, the lyrical yearning perfectly reflected in the vocals and music.
8. I'm So Young 4.5/5 - Strong cover of The Ronettes' tune, but the vocals aren't quite perfect like the original.
9. Kiss Me, Baby 5/5 - The best song on the album and one of their best songs period. Amazing pre-choruses. Fantastic arrangement. Great tune about getting back together.
10. She Knows Me Too Well 2.5/5 - Great vocally and instrumentally. Disturbing lyrics that reveal an abusive relationship.
11. In The Back Of My Mind 4.5/5 - Another strong introspective ballad with good lyrics and vocals.
12. Bull Session With The "Big Daddy" 2.5/5 - Disposable spoken word that should have been left off the album.

Genres: Pop Rock, Baroque Pop
Overall Score: 3.86

This album is a lot less consistent than I remembered, mostly due to a few unsettling lyrical letdowns. It does have two of The Beach Boys' best tunes, and is their best pre-Pet Sounds record. While it scores well enough to make the list, it has the lowest score of any listed album so far. The front half has more upbeat numbers, while the back half is stacked with ballads. I can't say it's cohesive as an album, functioning more as a collection of songs. Check it out if you're a Beach Boys fan, but only after listening to Pet Sounds, The Smile Sessions, Endless Summer, and Wild Honey.
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #4
  • Posted: 10/14/2017 01:28
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Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 10/14

The Masterpieces:

Songs Of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen 4.87

The Classics:

Aquemini - OutKast 4.44
Let's Get Out Of This Country - Camera Obscura 4.43
The Very Best Of The Drifters - The Drifters 4.33
The College Dropout - Kanye West 4.32
The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths 4.32

The Strong:

Wild Honey - The Beach Boys 4.15

The Merely Solid [not qualified for chart]:

Get Lost - The Magnetic Fields 3.74
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BeA Sunflower



Location: Forest Park
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  • #5
  • Posted: 10/14/2017 03:28
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baystateoftheart wrote:
Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 10/14

The Masterpieces:

Songs Of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen 4.87

The Classics:

Aquemini - OutKast 4.44
Let's Get Out Of This Country - Camera Obscura 4.43
The Very Best Of The Drifters - The Drifters 4.33
The College Dropout - Kanye West 4.32
The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths 4.32

The Strong:

Wild Honey - The Beach Boys 4.15

The Merely Solid [not qualified for chart]:

Get Lost - The Magnetic Fields 3.74


Can't really argue with any of this except, I think The Queen is Dead is totally a masterpiece, but I can see how you might see a few of the songs as trivial.

I also think Wild Honey is on the same level as some of your classics. Will have to revisit Get Lost. I forget what I thought of that album. lol. so I guess for me it's "forgettable." Anxious
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pa
as it happens


Gender: Male
Age: 43
Location: Italia
Italy

  • #6
  • Posted: 10/14/2017 12:48
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Tilly wrote:
I think The Queen is Dead is totally a masterpiece


a bright and charming masterpiece, I might add
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #7
  • Posted: 10/14/2017 17:46
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Tilly wrote:
baystateoftheart wrote:
Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 10/14

The Masterpieces:

Songs Of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen 4.87

The Classics:

Aquemini - OutKast 4.44
Let's Get Out Of This Country - Camera Obscura 4.43
The Very Best Of The Drifters - The Drifters 4.33
The College Dropout - Kanye West 4.32
The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths 4.32

The Strong:

Wild Honey - The Beach Boys 4.15

The Merely Solid [not qualified for chart]:

Get Lost - The Magnetic Fields 3.74


Can't really argue with any of this except, I think The Queen is Dead is totally a masterpiece, but I can see how you might see a few of the songs as trivial.

I also think Wild Honey is on the same level as some of your classics. Will have to revisit Get Lost. I forget what I thought of that album. lol. so I guess for me it's "forgettable." Anxious


"Never Had No One Ever" and "Vicar In A Tutu" were the two tracks that I gave a 3.5/5 to. My favorite of theirs is actually the self-titled (as long as it's the American version with This Charming Man), though both records are totally phenomenal. Yeah, I had Wild Honey pegged as a classic too, but when I gave ratings to all the tracks and tallied things up, it fell just below the threshold.

pa wrote:
a bright and charming masterpiece, I might add


Agreed that it's a wonderful album. "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" is a strong contender for best song ever.
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #8
  • Posted: 10/15/2017 19:14
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Speaking of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", is this the best cover of it? I think so.


Link


~~~~~

I remembered how much I like The Dum Dum Girls today while re-listening to
End Of Daze by Dum Dum Girls, which I think might be the best entry point for new listeners. Four strong original tunes with just the right amount of noisy guitars and 60s girl group vibes*, plus a well-executed cover of Strawberry Switchblade's "Trees And Flowers" (how I discovered Strawberry Switchblade actually). Very underrated release on BEA, and it won't take up much of your time at just over 18 minutes. Check it out.

*Makes sense, because their producer is Richard Gottehrer, who produced "My Boyfriend's Back" and other classics, and later Blondie, Go-Go's & The Raveonettes.

Genre: Indie Pop
Overall Score: 4.37
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #9
  • Posted: 10/21/2017 17:05
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Really tough breakup last night. A year and four months together, and we even lived together over the summer. But yesterday she came to the conclusion that this was the wrong time in her life for commitment and ended it. Nothing I could have done to change things. I was totally blindsided and I'm pretty devastated, but that's life.

Anyway, here are the results for the week. This week I focused more on new music than re-listens.

Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 10/21

The Masterpieces:

A Love Supreme - John Coltrane 4.87

The Classics:

End Of Daze (EP) - Dum Dum Girls 4.37

The Strong:

Loaded - The Velvet Underground 4.18

~~~~~~~~~~

New Listens / Non-Scored Re-Listens [*] For The Week Ending 10/21

The Classics:

Tiger Trap - Tiger Trap
Antisocialites - Alvvays

The Strong:

You Could Be Born Again - The Free Design
Work And Non Work - Broadcast
You Turn Me On - Beat Happening*
Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples
Kites Are Fun - The Free Design
The Cold Vein - Cannibal Ox
A Go Go - Dara Puspita

The Merely Solid:

C81 - Various Artists
C86 - Various Artists
The Dreaming - Kate Bush
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Last edited by baystateoftheart on 10/27/2017 19:30; edited 2 times in total
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BeA Sunflower



Location: Forest Park
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  • #10
  • Posted: 10/21/2017 18:47
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baystateoftheart wrote:
Really tough breakup last night. A year and four months together, and we even lived together over the summer. But yesterday she came to the conclusion that this was the wrong time in her life for commitment and ended it. Nothing I could have done to change things. I was totally blindsided and I'm pretty devastated, but that's life.


Wow! Sorry to hear that, brother! I'm crazy impressed with how well you seem to be handling it! Hang in there! Thank the gods for good music , right?!
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