Tags
Allman Brothers Band, Beastie Boys, Beethoven, Bonnie Raitt, Discogs, Handel, Leonard Bernstein, Prokofiev, Rudolf Serkin, Suicidal Tendencies, The Connells, The Mountain Goats, Underdog Records, Velvet Underground
Salutations™!!
Our original plan for this week was thwarted when the Connells had to postpone their show in Durham due to a member of the band being in a car accident. So, we did the breakfast thing and then over to Underdog Records. It was a dreary morning but we brightened it up with rekkids! Here’s the haul!
©Epic
- Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill — #219 on the RS list, I wanted to get this to show 3B that not all rap is this mess they call rap these days or cRap as I call it. Sometimes you gotta fight for your right to better music. New.
- Suicidal Tendencies – Lights… Camera… Revolution — I used to listen to this when my friend Danny (Daniel now) and I used to cruise Stratford. “Lovely” and “Send Me Your Money” was the two best on the album and they still are. Robert Trujillo who is now the bassist for Metallica was the bassist for ST in the day. I saw them open for Queensryche on the “Building Empires” tour, too. They were one of the first rapping metal bands that I remember. New on transparent green vinyl.
- The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas — This is one of those bands that The BCPF loves. This was the sixth “studio” album by the “band.” Up to and including this the albums had been recorded on a Panasonic boombox and it was only John Darnielle writing, recording and playing the songs. It’s a concept album that the cover even says, “fourteen songs about seven people, two houses, a motorcycle, and a locked treatment facility for adolescent boys.” You can hear the wheel gears on the boombox whirling the whole time. It’s very lo-fi and I didn’t really care for it, but it wasn’t for me anyway. New.
- The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat — Once again, I will never understand the appeal of the Velvet Underground. Not the songs. The songs have some substance but the total disregard of sonic sense in the recordings of this album is raking on the nerves of people that enjoy real music. This is #293 on the RS list and I think that is asinine. It should be in the #1 spot for worst thing ever. This is worse than The Velvet Underground + Nico album and that’s saying something. VG++ but how would you know?
- The Allman Brothers Band – The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East — The good news is I was able to add a few from the RS list. The bad news is that I don’t really like two of them. This was is #49 on that list which, again, I just don’t get. I stirred a bit debate on Facebook with the post about this album. I get so tired of extended jamming and endless crapola solos. I agree the guitar tones were fantastic and Gregg’s voice was on point, but if it were just songs of normal lengths, I’d have been quite fine with this, but it goes on and on and on forever. I mean the whole Side 4 is a 22-minute version of “Whipping Post.” I like that song but it was just a bunch of showing off. I didn’t care when I first heard it and I still don’t. But, it’s part of my collection and one off the list. VG+.
- Handel, Leonard Bernstein, The New York Philharmonic, The Westminster Choir – Messiah — Christmas is coming, right? Leonard Bernstein, right? Yeah. 2xLP set. VG+.
- Serkin / Beethoven – Three Favorite Sonatas — The “Moonlight Sonata,” “Pathétique” and “Appassionata” are the three and they are doing beautifully by Rudolf Serkin. This was NM and not a single pop and crackle was heard.
- Bonnie Raitt – Takin’ My Time — I never really cared about Bonnie Raitt but the last few things I’ve listened to, I really liked from her. On this album, there are a few songs that she channels her inner Etta James and you can’t go wrong with that. Others she’s like Carole King. This is a great album. VG+.
- Prokofiev – The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy– Classical Symphony, The Love For Three Oranges Suite, Lieutenant Kijé Suite — A $1 bin find, it seems like yesterday was a good classical day for The BCPF and me. Yay us. Even though it was a $1 bin find, it is in VG+ shape.
We got a lot of it listened to yesterday. It was a good day, even with two (necessary) clunkers. Jonathan was bouncing around the store and joking around, so he has gotten over the Record Store Day weekend. He’s gearing up for a good holiday season and you should tell your loved ones that you want a gift certificate to Underdog Records for your Christmas gift. You can use it for anything in the store. You’ll get it on a 45 7″, too. Listen to The Less Desirables each week to hear the TLD/UDR special of the week.
Discogs is the way I keep track of what my collection looks like. Also, I can purchase from other sellers the things that Jonathan may not be able to get.
Until tomorrow, keep spinnin’!
Scorp out!
—
“White light, White light goin’ messin’ up my mind. White light, and don’t you know its gonna make me go blind. White heat, aww white heat it tickle me down to my toes. White light, Oh have mercy white light have it goodness knows.” – “White Light/White Heat” (Reed)
album. It was the height of their popularity and mystique. This album, though, is truly what broke them into the spotlight, entirely on the coattails of “Rock and Roll All Nite” my second least favorite KISS song of all time (“Boomrerang” wins the honor of #1). And, I believe, completely, in my heart that all live albums that followed this is are judged on the comparison to this album. KISS, as a live show in general, is the standard by which live shows have shaped over the years. When the Vagabond Saints Society did Alive & Alive II back-to-back in November, I loved watching everyone’s interpretations of these tunes. If I was picking a favorite KISS tune of all time, it’s on here: “Black Diamond.” Although, I’m a huge a fan of everything on this album except “RNRAN.” Heavens Sake, the band that I am still “technically” in although we’ve not been in a band situation in about ten years, performed “Got to Choose,” live, almost more than any other KISS song. It was the first one we ever played together, all the way through. “C’mon and Love Me” and “Cold Gin” were others we did often. The HS song, “Cannibal” was basically written as an homage to “Watchin’ You.” So, by luck of the Doug Davis draw, when it came time to assign me songs for the VSS show, I drew “Got to Choose,” “Watchin’ You” (I asked for that one and “God of Thunder” from Alive II) and “Cold Gin.” I got to sing with Clay Howard on “Let Me Go Rock and Roll” to close out the night. Thanks, Clay. So, to sum this arse KISSing session up, this is definitely important in the KISS Kanon, but if you really want an experience in KISS, ask me and we’ll get you stuff you need (some of this will definitely be on there). Dug by default.
Punk wasn’t about how good you could play and how much sugar you can pour into the lyrics. It was about being raw and emotional and standing out of the norm and flipping the bird to the “establishment.” All the things that I hate about it is what makes it so important and good (at least to those who like it). This came out in 1980, mere months after Ian Curtis decided he just couldn’t deal with the struggles of depression, which is always sad. I believe he definitely had some inspiration from Jim Morrison, what with the spoken lead vocals that are at times shouting and chanting and with the equally disturbing ignorance of tonality; that’s all here. But, again, it works for this. Musically, I think the album is pretty tight and I love some synth-driven music. My question, really, would be this: if Curtis hadn’t killed himself, would this album have mattered as much? I’m not being insensitive. I just think media, especially Rolling Stone (whose list this is) tend to latch on to the unfortunate circumstance and create mountains from proverbial molehills out of tragedy. Probably New Order wouldn’t have happened (it was created from the living members of Joy Division), sure, but would the rest of the world have cared so much if there wasn’t tragedy involved? The album didn’t chart. Their only true hit was “Love Will Tear Us Apart” which was released as a single after the album and isn’t even on the album. A lot of that era’s groups did that. I thought the idea of the single was to drive album sales? Apparently, not to many of the post-punk artists. Nevertheless, whether it would have done so well without his death, the fact is, he did die and it did drive the popularity of this album. Which, in the whole, if you’re into that kind of thing, it’s a great album. Truth is, I never cared about New Order either. The acts from that era/genre that I can halfway take in limited doses? Siouxsie and the Banshees, Devo and Talking Heads. This album, whilst I certainly see the importance, won’t ever get another listen from me (at least not on purpose). Meh.
man-rock here. The Pretenders’ debut album, it’s sharp and to the throat. These riffs are gritty and attitudinal. And, the fact that Chrissie Hynde has a potty mouth that would rival any Tarantino character, just adds to the overall yumminess of this album. “Space Invader” has a dirty, nasty bass groove (Pete Farndon rocks) and I like that, a lot. The clandestine feel of a song titled “Private Life” isn’t lost on me. It’s mysterious; it’s subtly powerful; it’s perfect. I’d say the only nick I’d give would be “Lovers of Today.” It seemed, at least to me, like it was forced and not what I’m used to from Chrissie and I just don’t like it. Even though “Mystery Achievement” wasn’t released as a single I know I’ve heard it a great number of times because of SiriusXM’s First Wave Channel. I think it would have been a better single than the Kinks’ song “Stop Your Sobbing” (their first single) or “Kid” (their second). Just my opinion. Overall, it was a great album and has many high spots and very few less-than-high. I would recommend this album, for sure. Dug!
and rap communities got so big they became completely irrelevant (at least to me), overly saturated and stereotypical. To me, the era from the mid-80s until the mid-90s are the best for hip hop. This was just vocals, heavy hip hop bass and drums with some samples and pads laid in for texture. Some references to Bell Biv Devoe and New Edition, I like that. But, in the end it became background music. Not that I was ignoring it or it wasn’t worth listening to, just that it became settled; as in it settled in and really didn’t take me anywhere. Or, it took me somewhere at the beginning but then dropped me off on the side of the road. But, hey, at least it wasn’t Quicksilver Messenger Service, right? Dug, sort of.
many of the albums on this list are debuts. It’s like they come out firing and sometimes their subsequent albums fall slightly shy of the same greatness. I’m not saying that’s all the time but it happens. I hear some hints of Siouxsie and the Banshees as well. This band is all about some amalgamation of styles and there’s truly nothing wrong with that. However, the downside is that once I picked up on some of the influences, I spent more time trying to compare than I did listening to their merits. Don’t get caught in that trap, Dear Reader, just listen and enjoy. Because, whilst I did get in the rut of comparison, I thought the music was entertaining, as a whole. One funny thing is on the song “Wake Up” there are xylophones and one of the bars is the exact same tone and timbre of the Facebook Messenger alert tone. So, every time that played I kept looking to see who messaged me. I’m going back to an old adage that I (created?) have used this entire countdown from around 450 on: I think it’s a decent album but top five hundred of all time? That’s stretching it. I don’t see where it’s influential, groundbreaking or revolutionary. But, I can see that its enjoyable. I dug it, regardless of what half of this synopsis may indicate.
