Hey there people.
This is going on haitus for a month - in the meanwhile I'm going to Portugal, getting married and spending 17 days in Japan!
I'll still be around Manchester until Friday but I'm much too busy to give the albums a proper listen.
See ya soon!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
271. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973)
Track Listing
1. I Ain't The One
2. Tuesday's Gone
3. Gimme Three Steps
4. Simple Man
5. Things Goin' On
6. Mississippi Kid
7. Poison Whiskey
8. Freebird
Review
Ahhh! Lynyrd Skynyrd, that most natural of spellings. In our age of enlightenment Lynyrd and particularly Free Bird have become recurrent jokes in pop-culture. They do, however, deserve better than that. This album is a pretty nifty collection of tracks, with Free Bird being of course heads and shoulders above everything else.
Free Bird really is one of the best guitar tracks ever cut on vinyl - it is at the same time silly in its sappy lyrics but exhilirating in its guitar playing. The mix creates something of true hillarious beauty, and a track that belongs in everyone's library.
The rest of the album never reaches the heights of Free Bird but it is also a better way to appreciate the quality of Lynyrd as you are not so familiar with the tracks. Tuesday's Gone and I Ain't The One are good examples of this. Lynyrd Skynyrd deserve a better place in history and particularly this short lived line up which ended in an airplane accident deserves to be up there with other sometimes derired bands like CCR in the hall of the gods of Southern Rock. And next time you reach the last song in Guitar Hero II, take a moment to reflect on Lynyrd. So you should really get this from Amazon UK
or US
.
Track Highlights
1. Free Bird
2. Tuesday's Gone
3. I Ain't The One
4. Mississippi Kid
Final Grade
9/10 (ahhhhh Freeeee Biiiiirdddd!)
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
In the video game Guitar Hero, during a loading screen, a message appears that states, "They don’t really want you to play ‘Free Bird’. They're just heckling you", an obvious reference to the calling of the song to be played at various concerts.
* The song is featured as the final encore track in Guitar Hero II, though it had the guitar outro abbridged, reducing the song length to 9 minutes and 20 seconds. It is sometimes accompanied by the loading screen message "FINE. They AREN'T just heckling you this time. SIGH." And there is another message that says "AND THIS BIRD YOU CANNOT CHANGE!!!" A third one reads "You're looking for 'Gtr solo i' in Practice Mode" (in the game, the song contains 19 solos, labeled "A" to "S"). A fourth loading screen reads "Man, you must really like Free Bird." Also, there are two messages that supposedly refer to the difficulty of the song: one reads "Hang in there! You can do it! FREE BIRD!", as if encouraging the player, while the other is actually a tip: "Save yourself a whole world of pain. Master Free Bird in Practice Mode before trying your hand in the full version on stage." This is the only song in the main setlist of the game that has its own self-referencing loading messages, that are only shown when playing Career Mode (in other encore songs, an encore-specific loading message appears).
o Upon beating the eighth tier and going to try Free Bird, instead of the usual encore prompt, the game says, "Looks like the time has come. They're chanting for Free Bird. You knew it would happen one day. You wanna do this?" as a reference to the pop culture cliché. If the player chooses "Yes", the game will continue to ask, "Wait, you want to play Free Bird?" "This move can only be pulled off by a TRUE hero! You still game?" and finally "Okay, last chance... You really want to play Free Bird?"
It has become a popular culture cliché for the audience of almost any concert to shout "Free Bird" as a request to hear the song, regardless of the performer or style of music. This phenomenon began earlier in the 1970s with The Allman Brothers Band's epic "Whipping Post", but then took off to a much greater extent with "Free Bird". This can be traced back to Skynyrd's first live album, 1976's One More From The Road. Skynyrd did not play the song during the main portion of the concert, or even in the encore performance. Instead they saved it for their second encore. After leaving the stage following the first encore of the concert, the crowd was riled by the apparent omission of Skynyrd's signature song. The crowd then began chanting "Free Bird, Free Bird ...". No one left the auditorium. The band then returned to the stage for a second encore and upon taking the microphone Van Zant asked the crowd, "What song is it that you wanna hear?", which was immediately followed by several more shouts of "Free Bird". This interaction is recorded as an intro to the song on the album, and the band responded with a 14-minute version of the song. More recently, they play the song on the first encore.
In the 1980s, Chicago Radio DJ Kevin Matthews urged his listeners to shout "Free Bird!" at a Florence Henderson concert as a sort of joke towards the musician/actress. Credited with starting the tradition of yelling "Free Bird!", he stated that "It was never meant to be yelled at a cool concert -- it was meant to be yelled at someone really lame. If you're going to yell 'Free Bird,' yell 'Free Bird' at a Jim Nabors concert."
Phish performed it a cappella and Mark Oliver Everett of Eels has played a piano version of the song following a heckler's request, substituting the lengthy guitar solo for a piano version. Cat Power has performed a shortened version of the song, with just a single chorus, lasting only about 1 minute. Mike Doughty refuses to perform the song, and insisted on his live album Smofe and Smang that audiences should request The Weather Girls's "It's Raining Men" instead. Doughty then refuses to play "It's Raining Men," as he claims he does not know how. There's also a "Free Bird" moment on Dave Alvin's live album Out in California. After the last track "Everything's Gonna Be All Right" finishes and fades out, the sound fades up again on applause and an audience member shouts out "Free Bird!" Alvin groans humorously, then after a pause, asks "You really wanna hear it? You think we don't know it? You think we can't play it? Boys, the gauntlet's been thrown down..." The band then eases into a sloppy but energetic abbreviation of the song. After the song crashes to a close, and the band and audience are laughing, a voice from the crowd cries out "Stairway to Heaven!"
Even the avant-garde Blue Man Group gets into the act. After they play riffs from Devo's "Whip It" and other rock songs on their PVC instruments, a planted audience member shouts out "Free Bird." Blue Man's back up band starts to play the song, the Blue Men sway to the rhythm, and one of them whips out a cigarette lighter to wave. Another Blue Man douses him with a fire extinguisher.
A harsh reaction to "Free Bird" came from comedian Bill Hicks during a Chicago gig in 1989. On a bootleg recording of the show, I'm Sorry, Folks, Mr. Hicks at first just sounds irked. "Please stop yelling that," he says. "It's not funny, it's not clever - it's stupid." The comic soon works himself into a rage, but the "Free Birds" keep coming, eliciting the now infamous outburst: "Hitler had the right idea, he was just an underachiever; kill everyone, Adolf, kill them all!" "Free Bird," he finally says wearily, then intones: "And in the beginning there was the Word - 'Free Bird.' And 'Free Bird' would be yelled throughout the centuries. 'Free Bird,' the mantra of the moron."
The conductor of the Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra, David Stahl, irritated by outbursts of "Free Bird!" at concerts, had the orchestra learn to perform the song so that they could go directly into it from whatever piece they were performing at the moment.
Free Bird:
Track Listing
1. I Ain't The One
2. Tuesday's Gone
3. Gimme Three Steps
4. Simple Man
5. Things Goin' On
6. Mississippi Kid
7. Poison Whiskey
8. Freebird
Review
Ahhh! Lynyrd Skynyrd, that most natural of spellings. In our age of enlightenment Lynyrd and particularly Free Bird have become recurrent jokes in pop-culture. They do, however, deserve better than that. This album is a pretty nifty collection of tracks, with Free Bird being of course heads and shoulders above everything else.
Free Bird really is one of the best guitar tracks ever cut on vinyl - it is at the same time silly in its sappy lyrics but exhilirating in its guitar playing. The mix creates something of true hillarious beauty, and a track that belongs in everyone's library.
The rest of the album never reaches the heights of Free Bird but it is also a better way to appreciate the quality of Lynyrd as you are not so familiar with the tracks. Tuesday's Gone and I Ain't The One are good examples of this. Lynyrd Skynyrd deserve a better place in history and particularly this short lived line up which ended in an airplane accident deserves to be up there with other sometimes derired bands like CCR in the hall of the gods of Southern Rock. And next time you reach the last song in Guitar Hero II, take a moment to reflect on Lynyrd. So you should really get this from Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Free Bird
2. Tuesday's Gone
3. I Ain't The One
4. Mississippi Kid
Final Grade
9/10 (ahhhhh Freeeee Biiiiirdddd!)
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
In the video game Guitar Hero, during a loading screen, a message appears that states, "They don’t really want you to play ‘Free Bird’. They're just heckling you", an obvious reference to the calling of the song to be played at various concerts.
* The song is featured as the final encore track in Guitar Hero II, though it had the guitar outro abbridged, reducing the song length to 9 minutes and 20 seconds. It is sometimes accompanied by the loading screen message "FINE. They AREN'T just heckling you this time. SIGH." And there is another message that says "AND THIS BIRD YOU CANNOT CHANGE!!!" A third one reads "You're looking for 'Gtr solo i' in Practice Mode" (in the game, the song contains 19 solos, labeled "A" to "S"). A fourth loading screen reads "Man, you must really like Free Bird." Also, there are two messages that supposedly refer to the difficulty of the song: one reads "Hang in there! You can do it! FREE BIRD!", as if encouraging the player, while the other is actually a tip: "Save yourself a whole world of pain. Master Free Bird in Practice Mode before trying your hand in the full version on stage." This is the only song in the main setlist of the game that has its own self-referencing loading messages, that are only shown when playing Career Mode (in other encore songs, an encore-specific loading message appears).
o Upon beating the eighth tier and going to try Free Bird, instead of the usual encore prompt, the game says, "Looks like the time has come. They're chanting for Free Bird. You knew it would happen one day. You wanna do this?" as a reference to the pop culture cliché. If the player chooses "Yes", the game will continue to ask, "Wait, you want to play Free Bird?" "This move can only be pulled off by a TRUE hero! You still game?" and finally "Okay, last chance... You really want to play Free Bird?"
It has become a popular culture cliché for the audience of almost any concert to shout "Free Bird" as a request to hear the song, regardless of the performer or style of music. This phenomenon began earlier in the 1970s with The Allman Brothers Band's epic "Whipping Post", but then took off to a much greater extent with "Free Bird". This can be traced back to Skynyrd's first live album, 1976's One More From The Road. Skynyrd did not play the song during the main portion of the concert, or even in the encore performance. Instead they saved it for their second encore. After leaving the stage following the first encore of the concert, the crowd was riled by the apparent omission of Skynyrd's signature song. The crowd then began chanting "Free Bird, Free Bird ...". No one left the auditorium. The band then returned to the stage for a second encore and upon taking the microphone Van Zant asked the crowd, "What song is it that you wanna hear?", which was immediately followed by several more shouts of "Free Bird". This interaction is recorded as an intro to the song on the album, and the band responded with a 14-minute version of the song. More recently, they play the song on the first encore.
In the 1980s, Chicago Radio DJ Kevin Matthews urged his listeners to shout "Free Bird!" at a Florence Henderson concert as a sort of joke towards the musician/actress. Credited with starting the tradition of yelling "Free Bird!", he stated that "It was never meant to be yelled at a cool concert -- it was meant to be yelled at someone really lame. If you're going to yell 'Free Bird,' yell 'Free Bird' at a Jim Nabors concert."
Phish performed it a cappella and Mark Oliver Everett of Eels has played a piano version of the song following a heckler's request, substituting the lengthy guitar solo for a piano version. Cat Power has performed a shortened version of the song, with just a single chorus, lasting only about 1 minute. Mike Doughty refuses to perform the song, and insisted on his live album Smofe and Smang that audiences should request The Weather Girls's "It's Raining Men" instead. Doughty then refuses to play "It's Raining Men," as he claims he does not know how. There's also a "Free Bird" moment on Dave Alvin's live album Out in California. After the last track "Everything's Gonna Be All Right" finishes and fades out, the sound fades up again on applause and an audience member shouts out "Free Bird!" Alvin groans humorously, then after a pause, asks "You really wanna hear it? You think we don't know it? You think we can't play it? Boys, the gauntlet's been thrown down..." The band then eases into a sloppy but energetic abbreviation of the song. After the song crashes to a close, and the band and audience are laughing, a voice from the crowd cries out "Stairway to Heaven!"
Even the avant-garde Blue Man Group gets into the act. After they play riffs from Devo's "Whip It" and other rock songs on their PVC instruments, a planted audience member shouts out "Free Bird." Blue Man's back up band starts to play the song, the Blue Men sway to the rhythm, and one of them whips out a cigarette lighter to wave. Another Blue Man douses him with a fire extinguisher.
A harsh reaction to "Free Bird" came from comedian Bill Hicks during a Chicago gig in 1989. On a bootleg recording of the show, I'm Sorry, Folks, Mr. Hicks at first just sounds irked. "Please stop yelling that," he says. "It's not funny, it's not clever - it's stupid." The comic soon works himself into a rage, but the "Free Birds" keep coming, eliciting the now infamous outburst: "Hitler had the right idea, he was just an underachiever; kill everyone, Adolf, kill them all!" "Free Bird," he finally says wearily, then intones: "And in the beginning there was the Word - 'Free Bird.' And 'Free Bird' would be yelled throughout the centuries. 'Free Bird,' the mantra of the moron."
The conductor of the Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra, David Stahl, irritated by outbursts of "Free Bird!" at concerts, had the orchestra learn to perform the song so that they could go directly into it from whatever piece they were performing at the moment.
Free Bird:
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
270. The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St. (1972)
Track Listing
1. Rocks Off
2. Rip This Joint
3. Shake Your Hips
4. Casino Boogie
5. Tumbling Dice
6. Sweet Virginia
7. Torn And Frayed
8. Sweet Black Angel
9. Loving Cup
10. Happy
11. Turd On The Run
12. Ventilator Blues
13. I Just Want To See His Face
14. Let It Loose
15. All Down The Line
16. Stop Breakin' Down
17. Shine A Light
18. Soul Survivor
Review
Well. this is an interesting album. I have been pretty busy preparing the music playlist for my wedding on the 5th of May and therefore I have been listening more to snippets of the tracks I'm cutting and pasting than actual music. I was able to give this album about 4 or 5 listen throughs though and even tohugh I know I really like it, it hasn't sunk in that much yet.
Firstly there is no immediate catch here, there's no single or stand out song, that's very much the fault of the fact that the whole album is pretty uniformely good. Little stands out because very little is unimpressive as well. This has the pernicious side-effect however of making the whole double-album kind of blend in itself.
The Stones are taking a much rawer approach to music here than in previous albums, the music frequently drowns Jagger's vocals out, but this is only fair if you take into account the fact that Jagger was faffing about celebrating his wedding while Keith Richard was doing all the work. It is only fair that the music takes precedence over the vocals. There are, however some very nice vocal touches, particularly in the gospec inspired backups and this is particularly good in Tumbling Dice and Let It Loose. Other tracks rock non-stop like Rip This Joint. In the end it is a pretty perfect showcase of the Stones' capacity to produce coherent albums with impeccable music, even more so than The Beatles did. This is no White Album because the White Album was such a hit and miss affair. Get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Tumbling Dice
2. Rip This Joint
3. Rocks Off
4. Let It Loose
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Legend has it that the album was recorded in the basement of Keith Richards' new home, Nellcôte, at Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice, France. In reality, many basic tracks were recorded in 1969 and 1970 at Olympic Studios and Mick Jagger's Stargroves country house in England during sessions for Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. These tracks, together with additional basic tracks recorded at Keith's villa in June 1971 (most probably only "Rip this Joint", "Shake Your Hips", "Casino Boogie", "Happy", "I Just Wanna See His Face", "Turd on the Run", and "Ventilator Blues"), were taken to Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles and numerous overdubs (all piano and keyboard parts, all lead and backing vocals, all guitar and bass overdubs) were added during sessions that meandered from December 1971 until May 1972. Some tracks (like "Rocks Off" and "Loving Cup") were freshly recorded in Los Angeles.
The basic band for the Nellcôte sessions is believed to have consisted of Keith Richards, Bobby Keys, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, Jimmy Miller, and Mick Jagger when he was available and/or interested. Bassist Bill Wyman did not like the ambience of the Richards villa and sat out many of the French sessions. As Wyman appeared on only eight songs of the released album, the other bass parts were played by Taylor, Richards, and on four tracks upright bassist Bill Plummer. Wyman noted in his memoir Stone Alone that there was a clear dichotomy between the band members who freely indulged in drugs (Richards, Miller, and Keys) and those who more or less abstained (Wyman, Watts, and Jagger).
Tumbling Dice, it's better on the album:
Track Listing
1. Rocks Off
2. Rip This Joint
3. Shake Your Hips
4. Casino Boogie
5. Tumbling Dice
6. Sweet Virginia
7. Torn And Frayed
8. Sweet Black Angel
9. Loving Cup
10. Happy
11. Turd On The Run
12. Ventilator Blues
13. I Just Want To See His Face
14. Let It Loose
15. All Down The Line
16. Stop Breakin' Down
17. Shine A Light
18. Soul Survivor
Review
Well. this is an interesting album. I have been pretty busy preparing the music playlist for my wedding on the 5th of May and therefore I have been listening more to snippets of the tracks I'm cutting and pasting than actual music. I was able to give this album about 4 or 5 listen throughs though and even tohugh I know I really like it, it hasn't sunk in that much yet.
Firstly there is no immediate catch here, there's no single or stand out song, that's very much the fault of the fact that the whole album is pretty uniformely good. Little stands out because very little is unimpressive as well. This has the pernicious side-effect however of making the whole double-album kind of blend in itself.
The Stones are taking a much rawer approach to music here than in previous albums, the music frequently drowns Jagger's vocals out, but this is only fair if you take into account the fact that Jagger was faffing about celebrating his wedding while Keith Richard was doing all the work. It is only fair that the music takes precedence over the vocals. There are, however some very nice vocal touches, particularly in the gospec inspired backups and this is particularly good in Tumbling Dice and Let It Loose. Other tracks rock non-stop like Rip This Joint. In the end it is a pretty perfect showcase of the Stones' capacity to produce coherent albums with impeccable music, even more so than The Beatles did. This is no White Album because the White Album was such a hit and miss affair. Get it from Amazon UK
or US. Track Highlights
1. Tumbling Dice
2. Rip This Joint
3. Rocks Off
4. Let It Loose
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Legend has it that the album was recorded in the basement of Keith Richards' new home, Nellcôte, at Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice, France. In reality, many basic tracks were recorded in 1969 and 1970 at Olympic Studios and Mick Jagger's Stargroves country house in England during sessions for Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. These tracks, together with additional basic tracks recorded at Keith's villa in June 1971 (most probably only "Rip this Joint", "Shake Your Hips", "Casino Boogie", "Happy", "I Just Wanna See His Face", "Turd on the Run", and "Ventilator Blues"), were taken to Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles and numerous overdubs (all piano and keyboard parts, all lead and backing vocals, all guitar and bass overdubs) were added during sessions that meandered from December 1971 until May 1972. Some tracks (like "Rocks Off" and "Loving Cup") were freshly recorded in Los Angeles.
The basic band for the Nellcôte sessions is believed to have consisted of Keith Richards, Bobby Keys, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, Jimmy Miller, and Mick Jagger when he was available and/or interested. Bassist Bill Wyman did not like the ambience of the Richards villa and sat out many of the French sessions. As Wyman appeared on only eight songs of the released album, the other bass parts were played by Taylor, Richards, and on four tracks upright bassist Bill Plummer. Wyman noted in his memoir Stone Alone that there was a clear dichotomy between the band members who freely indulged in drugs (Richards, Miller, and Keys) and those who more or less abstained (Wyman, Watts, and Jagger).
Tumbling Dice, it's better on the album:
Monday, April 23, 2007
269 . Al Green - Let's Stay Together (1972)
Track Listing
1. Let's Stay Together
2. La La For You
3. So You're Leaving
4. What Is This Feeling
5. Old Time Lovin'
6. I've Never Found A Girl
7. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
8. Judy
9. Ain't No Fun To Me
Review
There is something strange about this album, and it's not the music itself but the year it came out. It really sounds like something from the late 50's to early 60's. A lot of the albums on the list are anachronistic in the opposite sense, stuff like Can sounds like it came from the future, the same happens with Roxy Music for example, which sounds like it came from outer space, this album seems like it was preserved in a time capsule.
There is nothing wrong with the album itself however, it is just not the most orignal of music. Still it is all very competently executed, Al Green's voice is great indeed, he is a great singer. The title track is the definite stand-out here, just a great track, all the other tracks are not bad and he shows up how much better he is than the Bee Gees by covering one of their songs in a much better way than they ever could.
Of course anyone showing that they are better than the Bee Gees really doesn't stand out, but making How Can You Mend A Broken Heart bearable is a feat in and of itself. Of course it didn't become a great song overnight, but it was always shit. In the end Al Green presents us with a very nice album which looses points by not bringing anything new or tremendously interesting to the world of music, but he does it really well. Get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Let's Stay Together
2. La-La For You
3. I've Never Found A Girl (Who Loves Me Like You Do)
4. Ain't No Fun to Me
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
On October 18, 1974, Green's girlfriend, Mary Woodson, poured boiling grits on him as he was showering because he had rejected her marriage proposal. This caused second-degree burns on his back, stomach and arm. She then killed herself in an adjacent bedroom. Deeply shaken, Green converted to Christianity and became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976. Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and the critics grew steadily harsher.
Another piece of evidence for the fact that the devil has all the best tunes.
Let's Stay Together, look at that man's crotch! And how uncomfortable does he look mimimng to the song?:
Track Listing
1. Let's Stay Together
2. La La For You
3. So You're Leaving
4. What Is This Feeling
5. Old Time Lovin'
6. I've Never Found A Girl
7. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
8. Judy
9. Ain't No Fun To Me
Review
There is something strange about this album, and it's not the music itself but the year it came out. It really sounds like something from the late 50's to early 60's. A lot of the albums on the list are anachronistic in the opposite sense, stuff like Can sounds like it came from the future, the same happens with Roxy Music for example, which sounds like it came from outer space, this album seems like it was preserved in a time capsule.
There is nothing wrong with the album itself however, it is just not the most orignal of music. Still it is all very competently executed, Al Green's voice is great indeed, he is a great singer. The title track is the definite stand-out here, just a great track, all the other tracks are not bad and he shows up how much better he is than the Bee Gees by covering one of their songs in a much better way than they ever could.
Of course anyone showing that they are better than the Bee Gees really doesn't stand out, but making How Can You Mend A Broken Heart bearable is a feat in and of itself. Of course it didn't become a great song overnight, but it was always shit. In the end Al Green presents us with a very nice album which looses points by not bringing anything new or tremendously interesting to the world of music, but he does it really well. Get it from Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Let's Stay Together
2. La-La For You
3. I've Never Found A Girl (Who Loves Me Like You Do)
4. Ain't No Fun to Me
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
On October 18, 1974, Green's girlfriend, Mary Woodson, poured boiling grits on him as he was showering because he had rejected her marriage proposal. This caused second-degree burns on his back, stomach and arm. She then killed herself in an adjacent bedroom. Deeply shaken, Green converted to Christianity and became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976. Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and the critics grew steadily harsher.
Another piece of evidence for the fact that the devil has all the best tunes.
Let's Stay Together, look at that man's crotch! And how uncomfortable does he look mimimng to the song?:
Sunday, April 22, 2007
268. War - The World Is a Ghetto (1972)
Track Listing
1. Cisco Kid
2. Where Was You At
3. City, Country, City
4. Four Cornered Room
5. World Is a Ghetto
6. Beetles in the Bog
Review
Well, if you know me personally, you also know that most people call me Cisco as a short for Francisco, and just for that this album deserves my love. The first track, Cisco Kid, is obviously not about me, but the fictional Mexican gunfighter that had films and shit done about him donkey's years. Actually the first person that called me Cisco called me Cisco Kid usually, the mother of a friend of mine when I was just wee tall.
After that little glimpse into the private life of your dear reviewer, which always adds something to the enjoyment of his ouevre, let's go on with the review. The first track is great but slightly unnerving, because some one is always calling my name, particularly when it goes into "Hey, Cisco". Other than that, this is a pretty funky album, but in some tracks it really spreads out too thinly. This is particularly true in the 3rd and 4th track, which just seem to last forever without any big hooks there. Other than that Tracks, 1,2 and 5 are really what you should take home with you.
War successfully mixes funk with latin music, but they are not the first and won't be the last. The 10 minute long title track is really good in the way that it makes social interventionism but with a sense of hope, the lyrics are of particular high quality. Still, it is not one of my favourite albums on the list, there is that x-factor lacking here really, if all songs were like Cisco Kid or The World Is A Ghetto it would be a diffeent story. Get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. The World Is a Ghetto
2. Cisco Kid
3. Where Was You At
4. Beetles In The Bog
Final Grade
7/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The Cisco Kid was a popular film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his short story "The Caballero's Way," published in 1907 in the collection Heart of the West. Films and television depicted the Cisco Kid as a heroic Mexican caballero, although in O. Henry's original story, he was a non-Hispanic character and a cruel outlaw, probably modelled on Billy the Kid.
Numerous movies featured the character, beginning in the silent film era with William R. Dunn portraying the Cisco Kid in The Caballero's Way (1914), followed by The Border Terror (1919). Warner Baxter won an Oscar for his portrayal of the Cisco Kid in the early sound film In Old Arizona (1928), directed by Irving Cummings and Raoul Walsh, who was originally slated to play the lead until a jackrabbit jumping through a windshield cost him an eye while on location.
The movie series with Cesar Romero in the title role began with The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939), and Duncan Renaldo took over the reins in 1945 with The Cisco Kid Returns. Beginning with The Gay Cavalier (1946), Gilbert Roland played the character in a half-dozen 1946-1947 movies.
Cisco Kid:
Track Listing
1. Cisco Kid
2. Where Was You At
3. City, Country, City
4. Four Cornered Room
5. World Is a Ghetto
6. Beetles in the Bog
Review
Well, if you know me personally, you also know that most people call me Cisco as a short for Francisco, and just for that this album deserves my love. The first track, Cisco Kid, is obviously not about me, but the fictional Mexican gunfighter that had films and shit done about him donkey's years. Actually the first person that called me Cisco called me Cisco Kid usually, the mother of a friend of mine when I was just wee tall.
After that little glimpse into the private life of your dear reviewer, which always adds something to the enjoyment of his ouevre, let's go on with the review. The first track is great but slightly unnerving, because some one is always calling my name, particularly when it goes into "Hey, Cisco". Other than that, this is a pretty funky album, but in some tracks it really spreads out too thinly. This is particularly true in the 3rd and 4th track, which just seem to last forever without any big hooks there. Other than that Tracks, 1,2 and 5 are really what you should take home with you.
War successfully mixes funk with latin music, but they are not the first and won't be the last. The 10 minute long title track is really good in the way that it makes social interventionism but with a sense of hope, the lyrics are of particular high quality. Still, it is not one of my favourite albums on the list, there is that x-factor lacking here really, if all songs were like Cisco Kid or The World Is A Ghetto it would be a diffeent story. Get it from Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. The World Is a Ghetto
2. Cisco Kid
3. Where Was You At
4. Beetles In The Bog
Final Grade
7/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The Cisco Kid was a popular film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his short story "The Caballero's Way," published in 1907 in the collection Heart of the West. Films and television depicted the Cisco Kid as a heroic Mexican caballero, although in O. Henry's original story, he was a non-Hispanic character and a cruel outlaw, probably modelled on Billy the Kid.
Numerous movies featured the character, beginning in the silent film era with William R. Dunn portraying the Cisco Kid in The Caballero's Way (1914), followed by The Border Terror (1919). Warner Baxter won an Oscar for his portrayal of the Cisco Kid in the early sound film In Old Arizona (1928), directed by Irving Cummings and Raoul Walsh, who was originally slated to play the lead until a jackrabbit jumping through a windshield cost him an eye while on location.
The movie series with Cesar Romero in the title role began with The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939), and Duncan Renaldo took over the reins in 1945 with The Cisco Kid Returns. Beginning with The Gay Cavalier (1946), Gilbert Roland played the character in a half-dozen 1946-1947 movies.
Cisco Kid:
Saturday, April 21, 2007
267. David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972)
Track Listing
1. Five Years
2. Soul Love
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Starman
5. It Ain't Easy
6. Lady Stardust
7. Star
8. Hang on to Yourself
9. Ziggy Stardust
10. Suffragette City
11. Rock & Roll Suicide
Review
Here we go, this is one of those albums, one of the most important albums of the last century, one of those which you will find in all lists of bests. It's probably Bowie's most famous album, but it my opinion it is not his best, Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Low are still better than this one in my opinion. But really in the end this is nitpicking. This is still a work of immense talent and freshness.
Bowie goes much rockier here than in Hunky Dory, guitars never blared like this before, and it also the birth of one of Bowie's greates innovations, the character of Ziggy Stardust himself. That is one thing you miss incredibly from the album itself, the whole idea of theatre surrounding it, and for that you should really get the film of the last performance of Ziggy at the Hammersmith.
This is at the same time a work of great innovation, but it is also an easier album than Hunky Dory, it is never as challenging or ultimately as interesting. As a concept album though it works fantastically in the way that you are not necessarily aware of the fact that it is a concept, each song works by itself and all the tracks really work. There is also some really inspired orchestration here, nothing on the level of Roxy Music's debut, but again this has a much wider appeal.
This is when you start seein the chameleon that Bowie is, with the creation of a character, the extreme change from the music in Hunky Dory and the variety of the music in the album itself. Bowie continues to show his genius here and this is an essential album for anyone's collection, get it at Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Ziggy Stardust
2. Suffragette City
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Hang On To Yourself
Final Grade
10/10 (it's still a ten though)
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
In 1997 Ziggy Stardust was named the 20th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 24, while in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 48. It was named the 35th best album ever made by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2000 Q placed it at number 25 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
Some quotes by Bowie on the Album:
"I fell for Ziggy too. It was quite easy to become obsessed night and day with the character. I became Ziggy Stardust. David Bowie went totally out the window. Everybody was convincing me that I was a Messiah, especially on that first American tour. I got hopelessly lost in the fantasy."
"Ziggy, particularly, was created out of a certain arrogance. But, remember, at that time I was young and I was full of life, and that seemed like a very positive artistic statement. I thought that was a beautiful piece of art, I really did. I thought that was a grand kitsch painting. The whole guy. Then that fucker would not leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to sour. And it soured so quickly you wouldn't believe it. And it took me an awful time to level out. My whole personality was affected. Again I brought that upon myself. I can't say I'm sorry when I look back, because it provoked such an extraordinary set of circumstances in my life. I thought I might as well take Ziggy to interviews as well. Why leave him on stage? Looking back it was completely absurd. It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity. I can't deny that the experience affected me in a very exaggerated and marked manner. I think I put myself very dangerously near the line. Not in physical sense but definitively in mental sense. I played mental games with myself to such an extent that I'm very relieved and happy to be back in Europe and feeling very well. But, then, you see I was always the lucky one."
Ziggy Stardust:
Track Listing
1. Five Years
2. Soul Love
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Starman
5. It Ain't Easy
6. Lady Stardust
7. Star
8. Hang on to Yourself
9. Ziggy Stardust
10. Suffragette City
11. Rock & Roll Suicide
Review
Here we go, this is one of those albums, one of the most important albums of the last century, one of those which you will find in all lists of bests. It's probably Bowie's most famous album, but it my opinion it is not his best, Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Low are still better than this one in my opinion. But really in the end this is nitpicking. This is still a work of immense talent and freshness.
Bowie goes much rockier here than in Hunky Dory, guitars never blared like this before, and it also the birth of one of Bowie's greates innovations, the character of Ziggy Stardust himself. That is one thing you miss incredibly from the album itself, the whole idea of theatre surrounding it, and for that you should really get the film of the last performance of Ziggy at the Hammersmith.
This is at the same time a work of great innovation, but it is also an easier album than Hunky Dory, it is never as challenging or ultimately as interesting. As a concept album though it works fantastically in the way that you are not necessarily aware of the fact that it is a concept, each song works by itself and all the tracks really work. There is also some really inspired orchestration here, nothing on the level of Roxy Music's debut, but again this has a much wider appeal.
This is when you start seein the chameleon that Bowie is, with the creation of a character, the extreme change from the music in Hunky Dory and the variety of the music in the album itself. Bowie continues to show his genius here and this is an essential album for anyone's collection, get it at Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Ziggy Stardust
2. Suffragette City
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Hang On To Yourself
Final Grade
10/10 (it's still a ten though)
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
In 1997 Ziggy Stardust was named the 20th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 24, while in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 48. It was named the 35th best album ever made by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2000 Q placed it at number 25 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
Some quotes by Bowie on the Album:
"I fell for Ziggy too. It was quite easy to become obsessed night and day with the character. I became Ziggy Stardust. David Bowie went totally out the window. Everybody was convincing me that I was a Messiah, especially on that first American tour. I got hopelessly lost in the fantasy."
"Ziggy, particularly, was created out of a certain arrogance. But, remember, at that time I was young and I was full of life, and that seemed like a very positive artistic statement. I thought that was a beautiful piece of art, I really did. I thought that was a grand kitsch painting. The whole guy. Then that fucker would not leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to sour. And it soured so quickly you wouldn't believe it. And it took me an awful time to level out. My whole personality was affected. Again I brought that upon myself. I can't say I'm sorry when I look back, because it provoked such an extraordinary set of circumstances in my life. I thought I might as well take Ziggy to interviews as well. Why leave him on stage? Looking back it was completely absurd. It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity. I can't deny that the experience affected me in a very exaggerated and marked manner. I think I put myself very dangerously near the line. Not in physical sense but definitively in mental sense. I played mental games with myself to such an extent that I'm very relieved and happy to be back in Europe and feeling very well. But, then, you see I was always the lucky one."
Ziggy Stardust:
Friday, April 20, 2007
266. The Temptations - All Directions (1972)
Track Listing
1. Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On
2. Run Charlie Run
3. Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
4. Love Woke Me Up This Morning
5. I Ain't Got Nothn'
6. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
7. Mother Nature
8. Do Your Thing
Review
The Temptaitons have by now definitely left their days of My Girl behind, and decide to come out with this supremely funky album. It is really a great collection of tracks, although curiously the best tracks are the ones that The Temptations didn't want to record, like Run Charlie Run, and Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, this shows that more than being a savvy band they were being very well advised.
It starts out with what sounds like a live recording of a really funky tune, followed by the amazing Run, Charlie Run (the niggers are comin') about the white people running away to the suburbs, which The Temptations didn't want to record, maybe because of the use of the n-word every fucking line, but it ends up being one of the strongest track on the album, showing a political awareness not usually associate with The Temptations.
It is in the third track, however that it really explodes with the supremely long Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, probably the most perfect of their songs. Lasting upwards from 10 minutes it is great from the instrumental to the singing bit to everything, and feels much shorter than 2 digits. Following this there are a lot of mellower songs more in the tradition of The Temptations, with a great rendition of The First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face) and a cover of Do Your Thing that rivals Hayes'. So definitely an album to get at Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
2. Run, Charlie Run
3. Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On
4. Do Your Thing
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
According to group leader Otis Williams, the Temptations fought "tooth and nail" not to record "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" or "Run Charlie Run", a socially conscious Black power track (dealing primarily with the phenomenon of white flight) that called for them to repeatedly call out, in an affected Caucasian accent, "the niggers are comin'!" The group was certain that "Papa" and All Directions would flop, and that they would be back to singing ballads like "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" again. Although the first single, "Mother Nature", charted at number 92 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, "Papa" was a number-one hit and is today one of the Temptations' signature songs.
Also included on All Directions are the Edwin Starr cover "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On" (the b-side to "Mother Nature", a Top 30 R&B hit), the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell cover "Love Woke Me Up Early This Morning", and "I Ain't Got Nothin'", a rare lead showcase for Otis Williams.
Here you go a shortened version of Papa Was A Roling Stone with a slideshow:
Track Listing
1. Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On
2. Run Charlie Run
3. Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
4. Love Woke Me Up This Morning
5. I Ain't Got Nothn'
6. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
7. Mother Nature
8. Do Your Thing
Review
The Temptaitons have by now definitely left their days of My Girl behind, and decide to come out with this supremely funky album. It is really a great collection of tracks, although curiously the best tracks are the ones that The Temptations didn't want to record, like Run Charlie Run, and Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, this shows that more than being a savvy band they were being very well advised.
It starts out with what sounds like a live recording of a really funky tune, followed by the amazing Run, Charlie Run (the niggers are comin') about the white people running away to the suburbs, which The Temptations didn't want to record, maybe because of the use of the n-word every fucking line, but it ends up being one of the strongest track on the album, showing a political awareness not usually associate with The Temptations.
It is in the third track, however that it really explodes with the supremely long Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, probably the most perfect of their songs. Lasting upwards from 10 minutes it is great from the instrumental to the singing bit to everything, and feels much shorter than 2 digits. Following this there are a lot of mellower songs more in the tradition of The Temptations, with a great rendition of The First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face) and a cover of Do Your Thing that rivals Hayes'. So definitely an album to get at Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
2. Run, Charlie Run
3. Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On
4. Do Your Thing
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
According to group leader Otis Williams, the Temptations fought "tooth and nail" not to record "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" or "Run Charlie Run", a socially conscious Black power track (dealing primarily with the phenomenon of white flight) that called for them to repeatedly call out, in an affected Caucasian accent, "the niggers are comin'!" The group was certain that "Papa" and All Directions would flop, and that they would be back to singing ballads like "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" again. Although the first single, "Mother Nature", charted at number 92 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, "Papa" was a number-one hit and is today one of the Temptations' signature songs.
Also included on All Directions are the Edwin Starr cover "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On" (the b-side to "Mother Nature", a Top 30 R&B hit), the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell cover "Love Woke Me Up Early This Morning", and "I Ain't Got Nothin'", a rare lead showcase for Otis Williams.
Here you go a shortened version of Papa Was A Roling Stone with a slideshow:
Thursday, April 19, 2007
265. Alice Cooper - School's Out (1972)
Track Listing
1. School's Out
2. Luney Tune
3. Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets
4. Street Fight
5. Blue Turk
6. My Stars
7. Public Animal #9
8. Alma Mater
9. Grande Finale
Review
Once there was a terrible high-speed colision between Iggy Pop and Slade at Sunnydale California, and out of the wreckage came Alice Cooper glorious incarnation of what is at the same time bad and actually pretty good. This album is a very fine example of that, it shouldn't work, the concept is puerile, the guy isn't that great a singer and no one is particularly talented in the album. The lyrics are as over the top as you can get as well.
Yet, surprisingly it works as an album. It has the famous School's Out as the opener, but it doesn't get any worse throughout, some of the songs are actually pretty great, like the West Side Story inspired Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets or Blue Turk. And then you scratch your head... and finally you understand, the join the stomp of something like Slade to the feral quality of the Stooges, while having moments of delicate music, like in the previously mentioned Blue Turk.
Of course they are not as good as The Stooges, there is a disaffection lacking and it is too theatrical to feel real, but they are better than Slade because there is some integrity to the music here. Cooper's theatrics really come through here and they work really well for an album. One problem with the album is that it sometimes follows the concept to a fault, that seems to be the problem with many concept albums. Still you should listen to it, get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Blue Turk
2. School's Out
3. Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets
4. Alma Mater
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The original album cover (designed by Craig Braun) had the sleeve opening in the manner of an old school desk. The vinyl record inside was wrapped in a pair of girl's panties.
After conquering his alcoholism, Cooper became a noted golf enthusiast, participating in several Pro-Am competitions. He has appeared in commercials for Callaway Golf equipment. He reportedly has a 5 handicap and plays 6 days a week. Since 1997, he has hosted an annual golf competition, the Alice Cooper Celebrity AM Golf Tournament. All proceeds from the event go to Cooper's charity, the Solid Rock Foundation. In August 2006, he participated in the Northern Rock All Stars Cup event - a celebrity version of the Ryder Cup, for chari
And he's a born again Christian... I'd rather he stayed drunk.
Alice Cooper in one of his most dignified performances of School's Out:
Track Listing
1. School's Out
2. Luney Tune
3. Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets
4. Street Fight
5. Blue Turk
6. My Stars
7. Public Animal #9
8. Alma Mater
9. Grande Finale
Review
Once there was a terrible high-speed colision between Iggy Pop and Slade at Sunnydale California, and out of the wreckage came Alice Cooper glorious incarnation of what is at the same time bad and actually pretty good. This album is a very fine example of that, it shouldn't work, the concept is puerile, the guy isn't that great a singer and no one is particularly talented in the album. The lyrics are as over the top as you can get as well.
Yet, surprisingly it works as an album. It has the famous School's Out as the opener, but it doesn't get any worse throughout, some of the songs are actually pretty great, like the West Side Story inspired Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets or Blue Turk. And then you scratch your head... and finally you understand, the join the stomp of something like Slade to the feral quality of the Stooges, while having moments of delicate music, like in the previously mentioned Blue Turk.
Of course they are not as good as The Stooges, there is a disaffection lacking and it is too theatrical to feel real, but they are better than Slade because there is some integrity to the music here. Cooper's theatrics really come through here and they work really well for an album. One problem with the album is that it sometimes follows the concept to a fault, that seems to be the problem with many concept albums. Still you should listen to it, get it from Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Blue Turk
2. School's Out
3. Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets
4. Alma Mater
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The original album cover (designed by Craig Braun) had the sleeve opening in the manner of an old school desk. The vinyl record inside was wrapped in a pair of girl's panties.
After conquering his alcoholism, Cooper became a noted golf enthusiast, participating in several Pro-Am competitions. He has appeared in commercials for Callaway Golf equipment. He reportedly has a 5 handicap and plays 6 days a week. Since 1997, he has hosted an annual golf competition, the Alice Cooper Celebrity AM Golf Tournament. All proceeds from the event go to Cooper's charity, the Solid Rock Foundation. In August 2006, he participated in the Northern Rock All Stars Cup event - a celebrity version of the Ryder Cup, for chari
And he's a born again Christian... I'd rather he stayed drunk.
Alice Cooper in one of his most dignified performances of School's Out:
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
264. Roxy Music - Roxy Music (1972)
Track Listing
1. Re-make/Re-model
2. Ladytron
3. If There Is Something
4. Virginia Plain
5. 2 H.B.
6. The Bob (Medley)
7. Chance Meeting
8. Would You Believe?
9. Sea Breezes
10. Bitters End
Review
I must come clean right now... I am just now wearing a Brian Eno t-shirt while I am writing this. And another thing, it's the only music related t-shirt that I own. Brain Eno is probably the most represented artist on the list, if you mix albums where he plays, are his solo work, he produced or are collaborations he has in the region of 20 albums on the list. That's a good number, and there are very good reasons why.
So, Roxy Music... probably my favourite band in the world ever, and this album, together with For Your Pleasure are in my top five albums of all time. This album has an incomparable mix of strangeness, beauty, originality and experimentalism which could only arise from a merger between Brian Ferry, who was mainly interested in the beauty and Eno who was mainly interested in the other points. Of course this mix could never work forever, but it worked for two albums, which are two of the most precious diamonds in the history of music.
The version that I am reviewing here is the one with Virgina Plain, the track was actually not present in the first pressing, but is present on all other version... unless you own a first pressing of Roxy Music... and if you do contact me, this is the version you will get and the album is only better for it. Virginia Plain is another work of genius which works perfectly here. The mix between Ferry's croon, Manazanera's guitar, McKay's oboe and sax and Eno's synth brilliance make this one of the most original and unexpected debuts of any band, anywhere in the world.
The album is timeless, it doesn't sound particularly modern, or particularly ancient, because it sounds like nothing else in the universe. There is a sense of a casino in the far future, somewhere in space with loads of alien sounds supporting this slightly insane singer, while at the same time managing to be quite beautiful. It is never going to be an album that you will immediately love, but if you give it its necessary time it will never leave you. All Hail Roxy Music! All Hail Brian Eno! Get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Virginia Plain
2. Re-Make/Re-Model
3. Ladytron
4. The Bob (Medley)
(and all other tracks)
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The opening track, "Re-Make/Re-Model", has been labelled a post-modernist pastiche, featuring solos by each member of the band echoing various touchstones of Western music, including The Beatles' "Day Tripper", Duane Eddy's version of "Peter Gunn" and Wagner’s "Ride of the Valkyries"; the esoteric chorus "CPL 593H" was supposedly the license number of Bryan Ferry's car. Eno produced some self-styled 'lunacy' when Ferry asked him for a sound "like the moon" for the track "Ladytron". "If There Is Something" was later covered by David Bowie's Tin Machine.
A number of songs were thematically linked to movies. "2HB", with its punning title, was Ferry’s tribute to Humphrey Bogart and quoted the line "Here’s looking at you, kid" made famous by the film Casablanca (1942); "Chance Meeting" was inspired by David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945). "The Bob" took its title from Battle of Britain (1968) and included a passage simulating the sound of gunfire.
Discussing the music, Andy Mackay later said "we certainly didn’t invent eclecticism but we did say and prove that rock 'n' roll could accommodate - well, anything really".
You NEED to watch this:
Mesmerising performance of Re-Make/Re-Model... what the hell is Eno wearing?:
Track Listing
1. Re-make/Re-model
2. Ladytron
3. If There Is Something
4. Virginia Plain
5. 2 H.B.
6. The Bob (Medley)
7. Chance Meeting
8. Would You Believe?
9. Sea Breezes
10. Bitters End
Review
I must come clean right now... I am just now wearing a Brian Eno t-shirt while I am writing this. And another thing, it's the only music related t-shirt that I own. Brain Eno is probably the most represented artist on the list, if you mix albums where he plays, are his solo work, he produced or are collaborations he has in the region of 20 albums on the list. That's a good number, and there are very good reasons why.
So, Roxy Music... probably my favourite band in the world ever, and this album, together with For Your Pleasure are in my top five albums of all time. This album has an incomparable mix of strangeness, beauty, originality and experimentalism which could only arise from a merger between Brian Ferry, who was mainly interested in the beauty and Eno who was mainly interested in the other points. Of course this mix could never work forever, but it worked for two albums, which are two of the most precious diamonds in the history of music.
The version that I am reviewing here is the one with Virgina Plain, the track was actually not present in the first pressing, but is present on all other version... unless you own a first pressing of Roxy Music... and if you do contact me, this is the version you will get and the album is only better for it. Virginia Plain is another work of genius which works perfectly here. The mix between Ferry's croon, Manazanera's guitar, McKay's oboe and sax and Eno's synth brilliance make this one of the most original and unexpected debuts of any band, anywhere in the world.
The album is timeless, it doesn't sound particularly modern, or particularly ancient, because it sounds like nothing else in the universe. There is a sense of a casino in the far future, somewhere in space with loads of alien sounds supporting this slightly insane singer, while at the same time managing to be quite beautiful. It is never going to be an album that you will immediately love, but if you give it its necessary time it will never leave you. All Hail Roxy Music! All Hail Brian Eno! Get it from Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Virginia Plain
2. Re-Make/Re-Model
3. Ladytron
4. The Bob (Medley)
(and all other tracks)
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The opening track, "Re-Make/Re-Model", has been labelled a post-modernist pastiche, featuring solos by each member of the band echoing various touchstones of Western music, including The Beatles' "Day Tripper", Duane Eddy's version of "Peter Gunn" and Wagner’s "Ride of the Valkyries"; the esoteric chorus "CPL 593H" was supposedly the license number of Bryan Ferry's car. Eno produced some self-styled 'lunacy' when Ferry asked him for a sound "like the moon" for the track "Ladytron". "If There Is Something" was later covered by David Bowie's Tin Machine.
A number of songs were thematically linked to movies. "2HB", with its punning title, was Ferry’s tribute to Humphrey Bogart and quoted the line "Here’s looking at you, kid" made famous by the film Casablanca (1942); "Chance Meeting" was inspired by David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945). "The Bob" took its title from Battle of Britain (1968) and included a passage simulating the sound of gunfire.
Discussing the music, Andy Mackay later said "we certainly didn’t invent eclecticism but we did say and prove that rock 'n' roll could accommodate - well, anything really".
You NEED to watch this:
Mesmerising performance of Re-Make/Re-Model... what the hell is Eno wearing?:
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
263. Paul Simon - Paul Simon (1972)
Track Listing
1. Mother and Child Reunion
2. Duncan
3. Everything Put Together Falls Apart
4. Run That Body Down
5. Armistice Day
6. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
7. Peace Like a River
8. Papa Hobo
9. Hobo's Blues
10. Paranoia Blues
11. Congratulations
Review
The cover of the album give you an inkling of just how cool Paul Simon is... an anorak with a wooly hoody! He's so cool he doesn't care about being cool. From his 3 feet height he looks down on all us non-musical geniuses. Despite all that this is probably one of the best singer-songwriter albums of the 70's, there is not a miss here and each song is different enought to give you a glimpse of Simon's genius in all kinds of music.
Dropping Art Garfunkel was really not a bad thing at all for Paul Simon, I think Simon was holding himself back because of Art and when Art leaves you get to see where all the genius was. And it was with Simon. The album starts with Mother and Child Reunion; one year before Bob Marley's To Catch A Fire came out, Paul Simon was bringing Jamaican music to all of us. He follows that with Duncan with beautiful south american inspired pipes which surprisingly don't sound half as tacky as in El Condor Pasa.
Simon is all about the experimentation here, and while other artists will use experimentation for the sake of it, making it sound distorted and hard to listen to, Simon makes it harmonious and beautiful, even if they are sounds that you had never heard before. Simon's voice is just about the most pleasant thing you can think of and his guitar playing is not bad at all. In Hobo's Blues Simon actually attempts to be the Django Reinhart to Stephane Grappeli who guest stars in the album, and although not Django the track is still pretty successful. Simon's love for the sounds of the world would be explored at much greater lenghts in later albums, but the germ is here in a beautiful and pretty damn near perfect album. With Art went the schmaltzyness, the too prim harmonies and the pretentiousness, with Simon stayed all the brilliance. Get it today from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Mother And Child Reunion
2. Peace Like A River
3. Me And Julio Down By The School Yard
4. Duncan
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
About Mother and Child Reunion:
This song is considered to be one of the first attempts at reggae music by a white musician (although many scholars point to the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" as an earlier example of reggae by a white artist). The name has its origin in a chicken-and-egg dish which Paul Simon saw on a menu at the Chinese restaurant Say Eng Look Restaurant in New York City's Chinatown.
Yes, but Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da was SHITE!
The best cover version EVER of Mother and Child Reunion:
Simon and Garfunkel do Me And Julio:
Track Listing
1. Mother and Child Reunion
2. Duncan
3. Everything Put Together Falls Apart
4. Run That Body Down
5. Armistice Day
6. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
7. Peace Like a River
8. Papa Hobo
9. Hobo's Blues
10. Paranoia Blues
11. Congratulations
Review
The cover of the album give you an inkling of just how cool Paul Simon is... an anorak with a wooly hoody! He's so cool he doesn't care about being cool. From his 3 feet height he looks down on all us non-musical geniuses. Despite all that this is probably one of the best singer-songwriter albums of the 70's, there is not a miss here and each song is different enought to give you a glimpse of Simon's genius in all kinds of music.
Dropping Art Garfunkel was really not a bad thing at all for Paul Simon, I think Simon was holding himself back because of Art and when Art leaves you get to see where all the genius was. And it was with Simon. The album starts with Mother and Child Reunion; one year before Bob Marley's To Catch A Fire came out, Paul Simon was bringing Jamaican music to all of us. He follows that with Duncan with beautiful south american inspired pipes which surprisingly don't sound half as tacky as in El Condor Pasa.
Simon is all about the experimentation here, and while other artists will use experimentation for the sake of it, making it sound distorted and hard to listen to, Simon makes it harmonious and beautiful, even if they are sounds that you had never heard before. Simon's voice is just about the most pleasant thing you can think of and his guitar playing is not bad at all. In Hobo's Blues Simon actually attempts to be the Django Reinhart to Stephane Grappeli who guest stars in the album, and although not Django the track is still pretty successful. Simon's love for the sounds of the world would be explored at much greater lenghts in later albums, but the germ is here in a beautiful and pretty damn near perfect album. With Art went the schmaltzyness, the too prim harmonies and the pretentiousness, with Simon stayed all the brilliance. Get it today from Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Mother And Child Reunion
2. Peace Like A River
3. Me And Julio Down By The School Yard
4. Duncan
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
About Mother and Child Reunion:
This song is considered to be one of the first attempts at reggae music by a white musician (although many scholars point to the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" as an earlier example of reggae by a white artist). The name has its origin in a chicken-and-egg dish which Paul Simon saw on a menu at the Chinese restaurant Say Eng Look Restaurant in New York City's Chinatown.
Yes, but Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da was SHITE!
The best cover version EVER of Mother and Child Reunion:
Simon and Garfunkel do Me And Julio:
Monday, April 16, 2007
262. Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972)
Track Listing
1. Pink Moon
2. Place To Be
3. Road
4. Which Will
5. Horn
6. Things Behind The Sun
7. Know
8. Parasite
9. Ride
10. Harvest Breed
11. From The Morning
Review
I love Nick Drake, but contrary to most people I find this album to be the least interesting of his three albums. It is the most intimist of his albums and mostly composed of Drake and his guitar playing songs. It is also a very short album. So this album keeps his inspired songwriting and his great guitar playing but is missing one of my favourite elements fro his other two albums, which are the great string arrangements. Maybe it's because I like flashy stuff, but this one just doesn't hook me like his other albums.
It is a surprisingly peaceful album, and it is interesting that his was his last album before he commited suicide. This sounds like a man at peace with himself, and that is maybe why all those retro-emo kids love this album so much. Still, there so much to commend here, this is probably the most peaceful singer-songwriter album on the list... but there is also a lack of fire here which is quite sad.
It's like Drake has lost the will to live but had made his peace with it. It is not particularly depressing, but it seems like he is not caring very much anymore. It's really not an album that I would want to have playing all the time, Five Leaves Left was beautifully produced and Bryter Later was shinning with positiveness and warmth. Pink Moon is much more intimate but also much more detached and in the end not as good as the other two albums. Get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Pink Moon
2. From The Morning
3. Know
4. Place To Be
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The cover of the album features an illustration by the partner of Drake's sister Gabrielle, Michael Trevithick.
Initially, Pink Moon garnered a small amount of critical attention, but after Drake's death it received widespread public and critical acclaim. The music on Pink Moon is strikingly sparse and unadorned (especially in comparison to Drakes' previous recordings), leading some to consider it to be the least accessible of his three albums, though it nevertheless continues to be thought of by many as his greatest work.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 320 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The title track was used in a Volkswagen advertisement in the US in 2000.
Nick Drake Sells Out! From Beyond the Grave!:
Track Listing
1. Pink Moon
2. Place To Be
3. Road
4. Which Will
5. Horn
6. Things Behind The Sun
7. Know
8. Parasite
9. Ride
10. Harvest Breed
11. From The Morning
Review
I love Nick Drake, but contrary to most people I find this album to be the least interesting of his three albums. It is the most intimist of his albums and mostly composed of Drake and his guitar playing songs. It is also a very short album. So this album keeps his inspired songwriting and his great guitar playing but is missing one of my favourite elements fro his other two albums, which are the great string arrangements. Maybe it's because I like flashy stuff, but this one just doesn't hook me like his other albums.
It is a surprisingly peaceful album, and it is interesting that his was his last album before he commited suicide. This sounds like a man at peace with himself, and that is maybe why all those retro-emo kids love this album so much. Still, there so much to commend here, this is probably the most peaceful singer-songwriter album on the list... but there is also a lack of fire here which is quite sad.
It's like Drake has lost the will to live but had made his peace with it. It is not particularly depressing, but it seems like he is not caring very much anymore. It's really not an album that I would want to have playing all the time, Five Leaves Left was beautifully produced and Bryter Later was shinning with positiveness and warmth. Pink Moon is much more intimate but also much more detached and in the end not as good as the other two albums. Get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Pink Moon
2. From The Morning
3. Know
4. Place To Be
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The cover of the album features an illustration by the partner of Drake's sister Gabrielle, Michael Trevithick.
Initially, Pink Moon garnered a small amount of critical attention, but after Drake's death it received widespread public and critical acclaim. The music on Pink Moon is strikingly sparse and unadorned (especially in comparison to Drakes' previous recordings), leading some to consider it to be the least accessible of his three albums, though it nevertheless continues to be thought of by many as his greatest work.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 320 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The title track was used in a Volkswagen advertisement in the US in 2000.
Nick Drake Sells Out! From Beyond the Grave!:
261. Tim Buckley - Greetings From L.A. (1972)
Track Listing
1. Move With Me
2. Get On Top
3. Sweet Surrender
4. Night Hawkin'
5. Devil Eyes
6. Hong Kong Bar
7. Make It Right
Review
Just when we'd discarded Timmy as being a whiny, yet talented troubadour, he messes with our mind. Tim is well known for his reinvention shennanigans, but none of them were as radical as this one, and good on him. Tim manages to reinvent himself as a funky R&B and soulful player, of course this is all tinged with a nice rock mood and his typically dreary lyrics.
Although the lyrics are still quite depressing, the music behind them makes them much more supportable than on some of his previous offerings where the music just accentuated what didn't need accentuating, of course it's never cheery, but it has rhythm to it. It is really hard to compare this with the previous Tim Buckley albums on the list, it is so different that if it wasn't for his distinctive voice it would be hard to say that it is the same artist.
In the end it is a very worthy reinvention of an artist which seemed to have gotten stale after a couple of unsuccesful releases. I am pretty sure, however, that this was not at all what his fans were expecting, emo-kid goes funky is quite a shock, but a really good one if you are meant to respect Buckley. Of course there were commercial pressures for Tim to change his style for this album, but you can see that that is not the prime consideration, as there is considerable talent and love for the songs displayed here. So get it from Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Sweet Surrender
2. Get On Top
3. Hong Kong Bar
4. Devil Eyes
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
(...) with his finances depleting and craving for recognition ripe, he released three albums which combined rock with a soul/funk direction - Greetings from L.A., Sefronia and Look at the Fool. These albums failed to become a commercial success. Fundamentally Tim was unhappy with the systematic and shallow R&B structure of the lyrics and music, despite being a fan of the genre. His distaste with bowing to commercial pressures from Frank Zappa's Discreet Records soon left him without a recording contract.
Sweet Surrender with a slideshow:
Track Listing
1. Move With Me
2. Get On Top
3. Sweet Surrender
4. Night Hawkin'
5. Devil Eyes
6. Hong Kong Bar
7. Make It Right
Review
Just when we'd discarded Timmy as being a whiny, yet talented troubadour, he messes with our mind. Tim is well known for his reinvention shennanigans, but none of them were as radical as this one, and good on him. Tim manages to reinvent himself as a funky R&B and soulful player, of course this is all tinged with a nice rock mood and his typically dreary lyrics.
Although the lyrics are still quite depressing, the music behind them makes them much more supportable than on some of his previous offerings where the music just accentuated what didn't need accentuating, of course it's never cheery, but it has rhythm to it. It is really hard to compare this with the previous Tim Buckley albums on the list, it is so different that if it wasn't for his distinctive voice it would be hard to say that it is the same artist.
In the end it is a very worthy reinvention of an artist which seemed to have gotten stale after a couple of unsuccesful releases. I am pretty sure, however, that this was not at all what his fans were expecting, emo-kid goes funky is quite a shock, but a really good one if you are meant to respect Buckley. Of course there were commercial pressures for Tim to change his style for this album, but you can see that that is not the prime consideration, as there is considerable talent and love for the songs displayed here. So get it from Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Sweet Surrender
2. Get On Top
3. Hong Kong Bar
4. Devil Eyes
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
(...) with his finances depleting and craving for recognition ripe, he released three albums which combined rock with a soul/funk direction - Greetings from L.A., Sefronia and Look at the Fool. These albums failed to become a commercial success. Fundamentally Tim was unhappy with the systematic and shallow R&B structure of the lyrics and music, despite being a fan of the genre. His distaste with bowing to commercial pressures from Frank Zappa's Discreet Records soon left him without a recording contract.
Sweet Surrender with a slideshow:
Sunday, April 15, 2007
260 . Eagles - Eagles (1972)
Track Listing
1. Take It Easy
2. Witchy Woman
3. Chug All Night
4. Most Of Us Are Sad
5. Nightingale
6. Train Leaves Here This Morning
7. Take The Devil
8. Earlybird
9. Peaceful Easy Feeling
10. Tryin'
Review
Finally! A not very good album! I was getting tired of 9's and 10's. So here come the Eagles, and what can we say about them? The world of folk rock is poorer since they showed up. This is actually not so much the fault of the Eagles, but of all the shit they've inspired. Still, they're not very good, the whole album is pedestrian with the exception of a couple of songs.
The Eagles are boring, uninteresting, formulaic and destroying a great tradition of music which we have been charting here with people like CSNY and each individual C S N and Y. But of course any successful enough genre will eventually be dumbed down to the lowest common denominatior, something we saw with Slade as related to the glam phenomenon for example.
The album isn't excrutiating, you can actually nod your head to some of the songs and even really crappy ones like Witchy Woman have brilliant kitsch factor, but the shine fades really fast. You just start thinking, my life is to short to be listening to this more than a couple of times. Songs like Chug All Night are pretty dismal almost a precursor to Billy Ray Cyrus in style, its Achy Breaky Heart country-rock stylings fail to impress.
After being spoiled by so much good stuff lately this is a real disappointment... still, I didn't expect anything great from the Eagles, we have Hotel California to look forward to... or not. Get it at Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Earlybird
2. Take It Easy
3. Witchy Woman
4. Take The Devil(and sticking this in the highlights is a bit of a stretch)
Final Grade
6/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Eagles is the first studio album by the American rock band Eagles, released in 1972. (see 1972 in music). In 2003, the album was ranked number 374 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
How sexy are they? Here's Earlybird, the only actually pretty good song on the album:
Back to good albums!
Track Listing
1. Take It Easy
2. Witchy Woman
3. Chug All Night
4. Most Of Us Are Sad
5. Nightingale
6. Train Leaves Here This Morning
7. Take The Devil
8. Earlybird
9. Peaceful Easy Feeling
10. Tryin'
Review
Finally! A not very good album! I was getting tired of 9's and 10's. So here come the Eagles, and what can we say about them? The world of folk rock is poorer since they showed up. This is actually not so much the fault of the Eagles, but of all the shit they've inspired. Still, they're not very good, the whole album is pedestrian with the exception of a couple of songs.
The Eagles are boring, uninteresting, formulaic and destroying a great tradition of music which we have been charting here with people like CSNY and each individual C S N and Y. But of course any successful enough genre will eventually be dumbed down to the lowest common denominatior, something we saw with Slade as related to the glam phenomenon for example.
The album isn't excrutiating, you can actually nod your head to some of the songs and even really crappy ones like Witchy Woman have brilliant kitsch factor, but the shine fades really fast. You just start thinking, my life is to short to be listening to this more than a couple of times. Songs like Chug All Night are pretty dismal almost a precursor to Billy Ray Cyrus in style, its Achy Breaky Heart country-rock stylings fail to impress.
After being spoiled by so much good stuff lately this is a real disappointment... still, I didn't expect anything great from the Eagles, we have Hotel California to look forward to... or not. Get it at Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Earlybird
2. Take It Easy
3. Witchy Woman
4. Take The Devil(and sticking this in the highlights is a bit of a stretch)
Final Grade
6/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Eagles is the first studio album by the American rock band Eagles, released in 1972. (see 1972 in music). In 2003, the album was ranked number 374 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
How sexy are they? Here's Earlybird, the only actually pretty good song on the album:
Back to good albums!
Friday, April 13, 2007
259. David Ackles - American Gothic (1972)
Track Listing
1. American Gothic
2. Love's Enough
3. Ballad Of The Ship Of State
4. One Night Stand
5. Oh California
6. Another Friday Night
7. Family Band
8. Midnight Carousel
9. Waiting For The Moving Van
10. Blues For Billy Whitecloud
11. Montana Song
Review
Another one of those rare discoveries from the list. Have you ever heard of David Ackles? No? I thought not, neither had I. Still, it is a pretty outstanding album, but one which never got an audience... it's a bit late now seeing as Ackles died in 1999. If you like the albums by Scott Walker and Randy Newman which I reviewed here already, you will really like this.
The first time you listen to this you might think it derivative, particularly in the similarities to Scott Walker, but after a while you start understanding how this album has its own particular identity. Firstly, all songs here are originals, unlike in Scott Walker. Secondly, David Ackles has an amazing vision for the epic and operatic quality of music. The arrangements are less Casino music and more modern composer style, from Aaron Copeland inspired music like Midnight Carousel to the operatic Montana Song.
This guys lyrics are really beautiful and well crafted, and his arrangements are just amazing enough to fit the lyrics. And then he has a great voice. At first the album might seem really weird, but it soon gets under you skin. This is one of those albums you really need to let grow on you, of course from the first time I put it on I immediately tohugh: "I'm going to like this, I just don't know when"... it was about 4 plays of the album later that I really made the epistemic shift into a higher state of counsciousness in what regards this album.
This is a masterpiece, an unknown and unrecognised masterpiece, but one nonetheless, I am going to get this on CD even though it's available on Napster for you to stream! Also you can get it form Amazon UK or US.
Track Highlights
1. Montana Song
2. Midnight Carousel
3. Ballad Of The Ship Of State
4. One Night Stand
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
His first album, the eponymous David Ackles (1968), did not achieve commercial success, but was influential among singer-songwriters. This and his follow-up 1969 release, Subway to the Country, featured songs that melded strong theatrical influences with piano-based rock. His songs reflected the views of their characters-narrators, many of whom were societal outcasts. In this way he presaged many of the songs of Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle.
His best known work was his third album, American Gothic, released in 1972, which was produced by Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin. Though it did not enjoy big sales, the album was highly acclaimed by music critics in the US and UK. The influential British music critic Derek Jewell of the UK The Sunday Times described the album as being "the Sgt. Pepper of folk". Alone of Ackles four albums, it was recorded in England rather than in America. Taupin and Ackles had become acquainted when Ackles was selected to be the opening act for Elton John's 1970 American debut at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Elton John referred to his admiration for Ackles' talent in the booklet for his 4-disc retrospective box set To Be Continued released in 1990.
I wanted the Montana Song from youtube, but there's not a single David Ackles video on the site, so... there's another good thing from Montana which isn't the Montana song, it's Montana himself:
Track Listing
1. American Gothic
2. Love's Enough
3. Ballad Of The Ship Of State
4. One Night Stand
5. Oh California
6. Another Friday Night
7. Family Band
8. Midnight Carousel
9. Waiting For The Moving Van
10. Blues For Billy Whitecloud
11. Montana Song
Review
Another one of those rare discoveries from the list. Have you ever heard of David Ackles? No? I thought not, neither had I. Still, it is a pretty outstanding album, but one which never got an audience... it's a bit late now seeing as Ackles died in 1999. If you like the albums by Scott Walker and Randy Newman which I reviewed here already, you will really like this.
The first time you listen to this you might think it derivative, particularly in the similarities to Scott Walker, but after a while you start understanding how this album has its own particular identity. Firstly, all songs here are originals, unlike in Scott Walker. Secondly, David Ackles has an amazing vision for the epic and operatic quality of music. The arrangements are less Casino music and more modern composer style, from Aaron Copeland inspired music like Midnight Carousel to the operatic Montana Song.
This guys lyrics are really beautiful and well crafted, and his arrangements are just amazing enough to fit the lyrics. And then he has a great voice. At first the album might seem really weird, but it soon gets under you skin. This is one of those albums you really need to let grow on you, of course from the first time I put it on I immediately tohugh: "I'm going to like this, I just don't know when"... it was about 4 plays of the album later that I really made the epistemic shift into a higher state of counsciousness in what regards this album.
This is a masterpiece, an unknown and unrecognised masterpiece, but one nonetheless, I am going to get this on CD even though it's available on Napster for you to stream! Also you can get it form Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Montana Song
2. Midnight Carousel
3. Ballad Of The Ship Of State
4. One Night Stand
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
His first album, the eponymous David Ackles (1968), did not achieve commercial success, but was influential among singer-songwriters. This and his follow-up 1969 release, Subway to the Country, featured songs that melded strong theatrical influences with piano-based rock. His songs reflected the views of their characters-narrators, many of whom were societal outcasts. In this way he presaged many of the songs of Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle.
His best known work was his third album, American Gothic, released in 1972, which was produced by Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin. Though it did not enjoy big sales, the album was highly acclaimed by music critics in the US and UK. The influential British music critic Derek Jewell of the UK The Sunday Times described the album as being "the Sgt. Pepper of folk". Alone of Ackles four albums, it was recorded in England rather than in America. Taupin and Ackles had become acquainted when Ackles was selected to be the opening act for Elton John's 1970 American debut at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Elton John referred to his admiration for Ackles' talent in the booklet for his 4-disc retrospective box set To Be Continued released in 1990.
I wanted the Montana Song from youtube, but there's not a single David Ackles video on the site, so... there's another good thing from Montana which isn't the Montana song, it's Montana himself:
Thursday, April 12, 2007
258. T. Rex - The Slider (1972)
Track Listing
1. Metal Guru
2. Mystic Lady
3. Rock On
4. Slider
5. Baby Boomerang
6. Spaceball Ricochet
7. Buick Mackane
8. Telegram Sam
9. Rabbit Fighter
10. Baby Strange
11. Ballrooms Of Mars
12. Chariot Choogle
13. Main Man
Review
Finally a normal sized album, getting a bit overwhelmed by all the double and triple albums on the list. T. Rex are back, and what a dandy thing that is too. The Slider is the follow up to Electric Warrior which recently got a perfect 10 here.. Slider will not get that however, not because it is in anyway bad, which it isn't, but it just goes to show that Bolan has basically found a formula that he's exploiting here.
The formula is of course great, and saying that The Slider is more of the same is a bit unfair.... and even if it was more of the same it would be more of the same of a great album. The Slider rocks much harder than Electric Warrior, however, but it lacks the sweetness of some songs in the previous album, it is just going more for a heavier sound. The starting track Metal Guru tells you what to expect, still it has pretty much the same feeling as Warrior, and a spirit of "if it isn't broke don't fix it".
At times Bolan is just doing Zeppelin meets T. Rex, again there's nothing wrong with that as I love both bands, but it brings a level of derivativeness which was unecessary to the album. I might be sounding a bit to mean for what is actually a great album with no boring tracks or skippable ones at that, but I am only being like this because I love T.Rex, still if you ever only get two albums of T.Rex this is the second one to get. So get it at Amazon UK
or US
.
Track Highlights
1. Baby Strange
2. Telegram Sam
3. Metal Guru
4. Ballrooms of Mars
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
It became T. Rex's most popular album in the United States, reaching #17, featuring the singles "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru", though neither of these became hits in the U.S ("Telegram Sam" only scraped to #67 and "Metal Guru" didn't chart). The much-parodied iconic cover was #37 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest album covers.
The Slider came on the heels of the success of Electric Warrior, and many said that timing probably helped The Slider's own success. The virtues of Electric Warrior were all there, but most agreed it had a very different style.
Baby Strange:
Track Listing
1. Metal Guru
2. Mystic Lady
3. Rock On
4. Slider
5. Baby Boomerang
6. Spaceball Ricochet
7. Buick Mackane
8. Telegram Sam
9. Rabbit Fighter
10. Baby Strange
11. Ballrooms Of Mars
12. Chariot Choogle
13. Main Man
Review
Finally a normal sized album, getting a bit overwhelmed by all the double and triple albums on the list. T. Rex are back, and what a dandy thing that is too. The Slider is the follow up to Electric Warrior which recently got a perfect 10 here.. Slider will not get that however, not because it is in anyway bad, which it isn't, but it just goes to show that Bolan has basically found a formula that he's exploiting here.
The formula is of course great, and saying that The Slider is more of the same is a bit unfair.... and even if it was more of the same it would be more of the same of a great album. The Slider rocks much harder than Electric Warrior, however, but it lacks the sweetness of some songs in the previous album, it is just going more for a heavier sound. The starting track Metal Guru tells you what to expect, still it has pretty much the same feeling as Warrior, and a spirit of "if it isn't broke don't fix it".
At times Bolan is just doing Zeppelin meets T. Rex, again there's nothing wrong with that as I love both bands, but it brings a level of derivativeness which was unecessary to the album. I might be sounding a bit to mean for what is actually a great album with no boring tracks or skippable ones at that, but I am only being like this because I love T.Rex, still if you ever only get two albums of T.Rex this is the second one to get. So get it at Amazon UK
or US.Track Highlights
1. Baby Strange
2. Telegram Sam
3. Metal Guru
4. Ballrooms of Mars
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
It became T. Rex's most popular album in the United States, reaching #17, featuring the singles "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru", though neither of these became hits in the U.S ("Telegram Sam" only scraped to #67 and "Metal Guru" didn't chart). The much-parodied iconic cover was #37 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest album covers.
The Slider came on the heels of the success of Electric Warrior, and many said that timing probably helped The Slider's own success. The virtues of Electric Warrior were all there, but most agreed it had a very different style.
Baby Strange:
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