Tag Archives: Lou Reed

Escape From The Island or: A True Turning Point

17 Monday Jul 2017

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Salutations™!!

This wasn’t included in my “The Haul” from yesterday because it was delivered after I had posted that. This album was not purchased from Underdog Records, but Amazon. The distributors are back ordered and Amazon had five of them left, so I grabbed one. What is this, already, you ask? It’s my favorite KISS album: Music from “The Elder” (1981).

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©Casablanca Records/Universal 

 

Now, I know a lot of my friends cringe when I say that, especially true KISSheads. Deeper than that, a lot of my friends cringe when I say I’m a KISS fan, period. I have always and will always be a fan of the band and in turn, this album. It’s a major dividing line not only in KISStory itself but in much of the KISS Army. Most people I’ve talked to that have any clue what this album is are in the love camp or hate camp. There isn’t that much in-between.

KISS fans had already started to wane in loyalty over the perceived debacles that the two previous albums, the disco-laden Dynasty (1979) and the power-pop heavy Unmasked (1980). They didn’t like that their favorite band was bowing to trends and seemingly abandoning their roots, and arguably, their fans. There was a lot of turmoil and trouble in the KISS camp that the general public didn’t know about until several years post. The public never knew the fact that Peter was essentially out of the picture for just about everything KISS at this point and that Ace was very unhappy, as well. Part of that was that he wanted to get back to rocking and another part was the fact that, without Peter, he was constantly being outvoted by Gene and Paul and their clique. So for Dynasty and Unmasked Peter wasn’t even on the albums other than one song. They needed something to kickstart the interest again. KISS touted a new album that returned to the rocking style that got them “world domination” status.

Instead, Gene and Paul were persuaded by bad advice and “those who know” suggestions to do something to get critics on board with how KISS really are great musicians. Here’s the thing, though… KISS aren’t great musicians. KISS are good musicians and great entertainers that did what they did (entertain) really, really well.

There was Rock on the album, no doubt. In fact, most of the songs were rock, but this wasn’t the Cock Rock that KISS was known for. Instead of an album full of sex and debauchery, the fans were given art rock concept album that followed a disjointed storyline that was like Excalibur meets Homer’s Odyssey or something equally as weird. In fact, “Odyssey” was a song on the album, written by songwriter Tony Powers that was released a few years prior but never got anywhere. The critics, instead of jumping on the bandwagon, jumped into a ditch to steer clear of it. It wasn’t very good in their eyes. Pretty much, it wasn’t that good. It’s the only KISS album up until Carnival of Souls (1997) that didn’t at least make Gold status in sales. The official tally is around 375k sold. It was also the first record that didn’t have a tour to go with it.

To make matters worse, here in the States, Casablanca decided to rearrange the songs in order to turn the focus onto two songs: “The Oath” and “A World Without Heroes.” So, the concept album that was already confusing enough totally went into the weeds and the songs weren’t strong enough to keep the listeners interested. No one cared. KISS had essentially lied and not put out a kick-arse rock album. KISS put out sub-par tunes that were not even on a decent band’s throw away list. KISS messed up.

I could have been there was a new drummer, one that replaced the departed Peter Criss. Eric Carr is my favorite KISS drummer. He breathed new life into a crumbling phase of KISStory. It was a new, youthful (even though he was only a few years younger than Peter) approach and while the tunes didn’t rattle the windows, his drumming was spot on. Also, Ace was all but checked out. The only real promotion KISS did for this album was on the ABC version of Saturday Night Live called Fridays Ace didn’t care to be there, you could tell if you watched it. He could have phoned in the performance. End-of-caring bare bones costumes, songs that were limp, band members who were either embarrassed or imbibing on substance and it made for a bad time. There was also a “video” performance of “A World Without Heroes” on TV’s Solid Gold.

Most of Ace’s parts were redone in the studio and you had Paul doing several solos and guitarist Robben Ford doing the solo for “Just a Boy.” Ace couldn’t even be bothered to show up for the recording sessions. He had his own studio, “Ace in the Hole,” in a bunker behind his house and he had the tapes sent to him where he’d record his parts and send them back to Toronto or New York, wherever they were recording at the time. It was a long, drawn-out process, to say the least.

Even bringing in legendary producer Bob Ezrin, who co-wrote some of the tunes and who was instrumental in making Destroyer (1976) the beast and success it was, couldn’t save this project. I believe it was a bit of his doing that it was made this way. I also think he was strung out on cocaine. Oddly enough, a few songs were co-written by the late, great Lou Reed. It just made for strange bedfellows, I think. It was a bad time for KISS. It was a bad time for many KISS fans. But, it wasn’t for me; not at the time.

I was still in my “KISS-Can-Do-No-Wrong” phase and truthfully, other than knowing it sounded a little different, I was so blinded that I couldn’t really tell there was a musical change. Not at almost 11 years old (the album was released 10 days before my 11th). It was KISS and I liked the songs. I liked some more than others. I loved “The Oath,” “A World Without Heroes,” “I” and “Mr. Blackwell” (mostly because they said “go to hell”). I listened a little to the others but it wasn’t until much later that I realized what was going on and fell in love with the whole album. I listened and formulated the nonexistent film in my head through the songs. When the “remastered” version came out in the correct track order (the Japanese version was always in the right order), it made a world of more sense to me. It made it a better album to me, although I already dug it. But, it really wasn’t great. I was just too blinded to notice.

So, why then do I say it’s my favorite KISS album if I’ve spent the entire post explaining why it sucked? Okay, it’s only my favorite album in theory. I can’t really place that tag on any one album. I can point to the ones I don’t like as much, easily, though. I think because it was when I was hitting that certain age and still loving KISS in every way and getting to see them on Fridays, that was a big time for me. The next album, they came to their senses and busted arse, but it was a tad too late, sort of… I think Music From “The Elder” is a fine album. Weird but fine. I think it took a lot of balls, the same balls the overall vibe was missing, to put it out and own it. Gene and Paul recognize it for what it is, whatever you want to call it. I love it and will tout it as my favorite, still.

Listen to Music From “The Elder” and give it a fair shake. Understand what it is and try to understand the whys and hows. It’s not typical KISS and it’s not that great but for this former 11-year old, it was it! It was the first KISS album I had on CD (original release listing) and I made sure to get it quick on LP before they discontinued it. Thanks for reading this long-winded post, Dear Reader.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Morpheus, you have been summoned here to offer your judgment of The Boy. Do you still deem him worthy of The Fellowship?” – Order of the Rose

Silent Sunday or: The Haul 6/17/17

18 Sunday Jun 2017

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Salutations!!

Our haul from Underdog Records was smaller than normal but we didn’t go through the $1 bin, so that kept us a little more honest. Here’s what we got!R-371878-1351475600-8668.jpeg

I have been looking hard for Berlin from Lou Reed since I heard it on the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time that I did the last couple of years. I found a near mint first pressing of it and it is near perfect. I am so happy to have that one, finally. Thanks, Jonathan. Get over to Underdog to check out his vinyl awesomeness and listen to The Less Desirables for the weekly UDR/TLD special. And, as always, use Discogs for your album archiving needs (it’s free)!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Oh! You Pretty Things. Don’t you know you’re driving your Mamas and Papas insane? Oh! You Pretty Things. Don’t you know you’re driving your Mamas and Papas insane? Let me make it plain: you gotta make way for the Homo Superior!” – “Oh! You Pretty Things” (Bowie)

CBGB or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

18 Saturday Feb 2017

Posted by in Movie Review, Uncategorized

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, CBGB (2013), starring Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman, Justin Bartha.

Per IMDb: “A look at the New York City punk-rock scene and the venerable nightclub, CBGB.”

Hilly Kristal (Rickman) had a few businesses and marriage that failed, mostly because of

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©XLerator Media

his hedonistic lifestyle of thinking that money was secondary and happiness and doing good was enough. Doesn’t always work that way. He tried another “club,” this time in the Bowery of New York City. His closest friends, even his daughter, figured he’d fail, as he always had. He wanted this bar, again, in the Bowery of NYC, to be a place for country, blue grass and blues, so he renamed what was going to be called Hilly’s on the Bowery, CBGB to reflect his wishes for the establishment.

He hired an artist fella by the name of “Taxi” to run sound for his new club. He gave a junkie named “Idaho” a job cooking what looks like old toilet water, but they call it Hilly’s Chili. He enlists the help of some biker gangs to keep people off of his back, giving them free drinks in exchange for “protection,” whenever he needed it.

One day, a dude by the name of Terry Ork shows up saying he represents a band called Television and they want to audition to play the club. He doesn’t really dig it but he doesn’t really not. He gives them a gig. They become popular. Following that, a slew of punk icons, still in their early days, come rolling through. Acts like The Ramones, Blondie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, The Dead Boys, Talking Heads and Patti Smith, just to name a few. CBGB became the birthplace of American punk. Speaking of which, the film also talks about the phenomenon that was Punk Magazine. The mag’s origin, the people that worked there, promoted there and counted on there to get their fix of the NYC punk scene.

I don’t know how truthful most of this film is. It seems plausible but improbable most of the time. It is entertaining, though. It’s NYC in the 70s, what could be bad about that? The story is gritty and dingy, as is the scenery, as are the sets. I’ll admit that I don’t know a lot about the punk scene, American, British, or otherwise, but I really enjoyed getting a (probably) convoluted account of the rise and somewhat fall (Dead Boys) of some of these punk pioneers. I also, admit that I enjoyed the soundtrack immensely. Bands that I normally wouldn’t care for, I enjoyed, even the Ramones, if you can believe that. It made me want to go and find the real backstories of these real life bands.

I liked the many cameos and supporting actors and actresses that had parts. Rupert Grint as Cheetah Chrome, Taylor Hawkins as Iggy Pop, Johnny Galecki as Ork and many others. Again, I’m not thinking this film was supposed to knock anyone’s socks off and it certainly didn’t. Total US theater gross for this film was $40,400. That’s not a typo, forty thousand, four hunderd. Including the Home Distribution tallies, it has made about $526,514. Still, small change for the movie industry with a large release.

I don’t know that the filmmakers knew how to handle the true history and made it a bit cheesy, where the source material should have been portrayed a bit richer. I am huge fan of Alan Rickman and this was one of the last films he made before his death a little over a year ago, January 14, 2016. I don’t know that I especially enjoyed his portrayal of Hilly Kristal but I liked that he gave it a shot.

Rotten Tomatoes rates the film at a dismal 8% Rotten and the Audience Score, while significantly better is only a 42%. IMDb has it at 6.6 stars out of 10. That’s actually not too bad. I saw the film on Netflix. I am rating it 3.75 stars. That last .75 is from the soundtrack alone. Not a great film but decent if you want a bit of historical fiction and some great music. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I opened CBGB because I thought country music was gonna become the next big thing. And it did… in Nashville.” – Hilly Kristal

Silent Sunday or: Chock Full of Stuff

06 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by in Beer, Food, Life as We Know It, Silent Sunday

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Salutations™!!

A lot of stuff happening this weekend. From having aged beer at the Tavern in Old Salem and red wine sangria at Willow’s on Friday night to a haircut by both The BCPF and myself on Saturday morning, then buying Lou Reed’s Transformer album from Underdog Records, followed by breakfast at Mary’s Gourmet Diner, coffee at a 2015-12-06 17.23.48new coffee shop, a few hours wandering about Old Salem listening to my baby give a spiel about historic buildings (I didn’t have to pay for the tour), driving to Pilot Mountain to have Christmas beer and Nikki’s Pickles at The Living Room and NOT watch a holiday parade, to going to The Garage (the Official Music Sponsor of The Less Desirables) to watch Patrick Ferguson do a cool acoustic set to stopping at Waffle House to have some greasy bad food. Then this morning, you know what I did? I went to church. It was only for support of my great friend The Right Reverend Cool at Arts District Church as this was the church’s first ever service. He’s a nervous about it and I wanted to support him. It won’t be something I do often. Then food at Finnigan’s Wake (the Official Emerald Isle of The Less Desirables). Been a great weekend. Chock full of stuff whilst not doing a danged thing. I like it that way.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters.” – Audrey Hepburn

Even When She’s What? or: Sometimes I Give Myself the Creeps (RS Part 31)

02 Monday Nov 2015

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Salutations™!!

The last segment of Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time went quite well, I’d say. We’re inside the top 200 now. We can see the small, pinhead sized light at the end of the tunnel, but, Dear Reader, we have a long way to go, still. I hope you’re having a fun ride. Strap in, the rest is over and it’s time to get started, again.

#200 – Highway to Hell by AC/DC. My favorite of the Bon Scott albums. I overlook that there is just one AC/DC song and they change the lyrics. It’s just the way it is. I’ve done a few of these songs live. One of the first bands I was in did “Walk All Over You” and one 1Acdc_Highway_to_Hellof the later ones covered the title song. There’s really not a bad song (again, they’re all the same song) on this album. Straight ahead rock and roll; in your face, wanting to hurt you. Cliff Williams even proves me wrong in thinking he’s a three-note bass player. Go figure! Anywhat, to save rambling: listen to this, it rocks. I dug! And for the record, I don’t actually believe there to be only one song or that Williams is a three-note bassist.

#199 – Is This It by The Strokes. Speaking of bass! In the opening, title song, Nikolai Fraiture rocks out on the thunderstick. The overuse of the distorted vocals is a bit annoying to me. The songs, however, are well written. I really like “Last Nite.” The rest, even though they’re done right, nothing really stands out to me as fantastic. A lot of the songs were reminiscent of the others. By the end I was thinking that it should be over soon. Good songs or not, to me the mold was broken after “Last Nite.” I will say I dug it but mostly “meh.”

#198 – Best of Little Walter by Little Walter.

#197 – Murmur by R.E.M. The debut, co-produced by my friend, Mitch Easter, who also produced the album Shinola by Heavens Sake (my band). All the instruments burst on “Pilgrimage” and the production is slick, but still raw. “Moral Kiosk” has a lot of ’60s elements (which really doesn’t all of it?) in the chorus: “Inside, cold, dark, fire, twilight” reminds me of some “Five O’clock World” from the Vogues. It’s good stuff. “Perfect Circle” is, to me, a precursor of the “Everybody Hurts” direction they’d go to later. First listen of this, I’d say it was the alternative that I avoided, like the plague, for so long, but it’s really rock and roll that was different, or alternative, to what I was listening to at the time. It’s really not much different to what I went on to listen to. I have all the 1R.E.M._-_MurmurR.E.M. albums, I think. Part of it is the “connection” I feel because Mitch Easter produced one of my albums and I call Mitch a friend, so it goes hand in hand with listening to stuff he did before working with me. Also, this album highlights that Mike Mills is really a fantastic bass player. That on top of those backing vox he’s pulling off at the same time. Wow. Certainly not my favorite R.E.M. album but it’s still pretty good. Dug!

#196 – Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 by Various Artists. Pretty much the longest title of any other album thus far, but still a compilation so… no.

#195 – Blues Breakers by John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. I thought “All Your Love” was “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” from the Beatles. That actually came after this song (it was written in 1958). I still like the Beatles version better. Then comes “Hideaway” after that and some of that crapola blues mess that I detest. Ugh. I did like “Another Man,” though. And it was just that harmonica that I complain about and vox and it was pretty alright. The cover of “What’d I Say” (with “Day Tripper” mixed in) is pretty cool and would be cooler if they’d left that clunky drum solo out. It was just a mess and at times sounded like listening to my sun just beat on drums instead of playing them. There’s some good parts, of course, and the drummer is really good but that solo was clunky. I did like “Key to Love.” It’s a jumpy cool song, really. All in all, even though I can’t usually stand this kind of stuff, it wasn’t bad. Thankfully, it went by pretty quickly. I would (and did) say that I actually enjoyed parts of it. So for that it gets1Transformer a “dug.”

#194 – Transformer by Lou Reed. As much as I can’t stand Lou Reed with Velvet Underground, I’m not too low on him solo. “Vicious” is a great tune. “Hey, why don’t you swallow razor blades!?” I mean, who wouldn’t love lyrics like that? Yeah, great tune. “Perfect Day” is a danged fine song, too. I’ve heard covers but (can you believe it?) I actually prefer Reed’s version. I’d venture to say it’s one of my faves from him. Marky Mark shows up on this album… not really. “Walk on the Wild Side” was the first thing I ever heard from Reed. I couldn’t believe they got away with talking about the subject matter and “all the colored girls sing” parts. Herbie Flowers is rockin’ that double bass, too. I don’t know that I’d ever heard the song “Satellite of Love” even though I’ve heard of it. Not my favorite but wasn’t too bad. Lou Reed was an excellent songwriter and, just like Dylan, if you can get past his voice, you can see that. Something about VU that just tears me up, this is really good. His voice, while moderately annoying, has an honesty about it. It feels like he’s about to lose traction on the pitch and while he’s doing a high-wire balancing act with the vocals, he never falls off. It’s a masterfully composed and executed album. Thanks David Bowie for making sure he got the broader audience. Otherwise, we’d just have been stuck with VU. I loved this album, much like I did Berlin. I’d love to own it on vinyl. DUG!

#193 – Dookie by Green Day. Forcing grunge to scoot over, this pop punk band showed up and rocked the house. And yes, I hated it. Then. Again, I’ve, well, to be cliche, “When I Come Around,” it was clear that they were certainly worth a listen. More than one and often. For its time it was definitely a breath of cigarette-filled “fresh” air. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and their ilk were poised to take over the world (and would have succeeded had it not been for these punk kids!). Now, you weren’t forced to pick a side: hair vs. flannel. Dookie added another hook-filled dimension. In early 1994, there was how many chicks you were banging for the pretty boys or “how woe is me?” is me from 1dookiethe Seattle-esque clans. Then, in February of that year, optimistically ironic music made a splash in the form of this album basically forcing people to stop being a wuss and take responsibility for your own danged self. “Long View” shows off Mike Dirnt’s bass prowess but that’s not the end of it. He highlights every song on the album with great and tasteful riffs. Listen to the work on “Welcome to Paradise,” as well. GD pulls some influence from the 50s with “Pulling Teeth.” No, it doesn’t sound like it’s from the 50s but you can certainly hear that pull (pun). “Basket Case” was my first intro to GD and I found it funny but was still not taking anything like this seriously. Listening to it now, it was more leaning toward the hair stuff whilst sucking some grunge from the other side. Now, after all these years I can see the beauty in this and truly appreciate it. American Idiot was another demonstration of the band’s effectiveness in this area. Billie Joe Armstrong’s lyrics are canny and crafty bordering on misery and majesty. Well written, all around. I can’t say enough good things, listen and love. DUG!

#192 – The Gilded Palace of Sin by The Flying Burrito Brothers. Certainly a great name for a band. I also know it predates the Eagles by a few years but it reminds me of their early albums. “Sin City” takes me back to Ma Père’s favorite honky-tonk country and him listening to records in the dark (not that that happened a lot, mind you) and it’s that same kind of feel. I also feel like I could be watching Hee Haw. Still not a bad thing. I’m not sure I get the “Cosmic American Music” part. “Hot Burrito #1” I like. “Hot Burrito #2” I like, too. Add “Christine’s Tune” and the aforementioned “Sin City” to those and I’m good. Even though it drudged along, the final cut, “Hippie Boy,” I liked that one, too. The rest of it, I didn’t really care one way or another. So based on the 1funhousenostalgia I felt and that I could actually name so many of the songs as likes, I’m going to say I dug it. But, that’s kind of pushing it.

#191 – Funhouse by The Stooges. I’ve never really known much about Iggy Pop other than videos and the fact that the brother is weird. I’m on the first song, “Down on the Street” and I think it’s fantastic! “Dirt” is epic and you feel the classic Iggy Pop performance coming through the recording. Is this where he would actually cut himself live? Did he really do that, or is it just urban legend? I’m sure someone will tell me. The energy continues with “1970.” Strange but wonderfully so. Steve Mackay’s distressed sax solo makes “Funhouse” fun(ner?). I can picture Iggy just wallowing around on the floor of the studio just being Iggy. I didn’t even notice the nearly 8 minutes of length on that song. That’s when you know it’s a good song. The song “L.A. Blues” pretty much was what you’d envision them sounding like at the end of a show: lots of feedback and drum improv. From what I understand, they stripped the studio of baffling, isolation and separation, opting instead to record like they would live. There’s a live feeling throughout this and I believe it shines through and makes this what it is. I’m sure that’s bound to surprise some people. Anywhat! I actually loved this album.

So, two compilations on this segment and I see a few on the horizon. I don’t like creeping too far ahead, I like that “ooh what’s next” aspect. A few that I didn’t think I’d like and really, really did, including a Lou Reed album, a punk record and a blues record. A few that I could take or leave but overall, it was a pretty good segment. I’m off to do another in between everything else, now.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Just a perfect day. Drink sangria in the park. And then later, when it gets dark, we go home” – “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed

The Second Hundred or Hit Hit Miss Hit

18 Monday May 2015

Posted by in Music Review

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Salutations™!!

So, we’re down another hundred albums on the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time. As the title reads there were hits and misses. I’ll say, though, that there were many more hits than misses. There were good segments, there were great segments and there was one particularly uninspired segment.

Let’s start with that. For the most part the 10 album segments were at least decent; dare I say good? Segment 12, however (nos 390-381) was a wasteland of dirge to me outside the two opening albums, Elephants by White Stripes and End of the Innocence by Don Henley.  What else is on there, you may ask? Enter the Wu-Tang (36 e1a5f-rolling_stone_logo-svgChambers) by Wu-Tang Clan, Love and Theft by Bob Dylan, A Quick One by The Who, More Songs About Buildings and Food by Talking Heads (which I did give a “dug”), The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers, Smile by The Beach Boys. The award for the weirdest thing I’ve come across on this list is also in this segment. It’s called The Indestructible Beat of Soweto and was by the always vague “Various Artists.” This was a cornucopia of African music, which isn’t a bad thing, just isn’t my thing. And the most perplexing part was why? Why even include that on this list? And if you’re going to include it (and again, why would you?), why put it that high. Put it at #500 if it absolutely must be on this list. It’s not a bad album, just… why?!?

Let’s do my faves and least faves. I will say I left off the obvious, any of the Beatles, The Police, the above mentioned End…Innocence, etc. Basically, the stuff that I already know I loved, I left off this because the point is to be introduced to things that I a) didn’t have a clue existed or b) that I wouldn’t have sought out on my own.

So the least faves first, and these are in no particular order:
*Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (#305). I hated that album. It was her ridiculous over-exaggerated “cuhn-treh” (country) accent, I think.
*Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure (#396). I think I was just expecting more from these guys. It was a major disappointment, especially from the album that was supposed to Ferry’s favorite. Ick.
*Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn (#347). I love Pink Floyd or should I say I love Pink Floyd from Dark Side on. Don’t give me extra weird Floyd.
*Muddy Waters – At Newport 1960 (#348). I. Hate. Traditional. 12-Bar. Blues. Why, if you’re putting this on a list, is it this high?.
*Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (#387). The “N” word for the “N” word’s sake is over done and I am just over it. This was as bad as listening to Raekwon in the first hundred. Ick, again.
*Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (#328). I think this was more like Sonic Noise than Sonic Youth. I don’t know just didn’t dig it.

A pause for compilations. There are six, that I can find skimming on here. As I’ve said, and it seems to be confusing at times, I do like greatest hits and compilation collections. I do. I just don’t want to rate them as albums because I only do live albums (and at first I didn’t want to do that) and studio releases, not record label money-grabs. However, I did rate a few, just not all of them, the compilations are: Sun Records Collection by Various (#311); Ultimate Collection by John Lee Hooker (#377); In the Jungle Groove by James Brown (#329) that I didn’t rate. The three I did rate are: Substance by New Order (#362); Singles Going Steady by Buzzcocks (#360); Louder than Bombs by The Smiths (#369). Okay, they’ve gotten enough time from me.

My faves. Again, this is a truncated list and the ones that I rated “dug” with emphasis (in no particular order):
*Nick Drake – Pink Mooon (#321). Just a beautiful album. There’s not a lot to really even say.
*Lou Reed – Berlin *Bjork – Post (#376). She’s quirky and weird and I like it that way.
*Massive Attack – Blue Lines (#397). Chill music mixed with Soul/R&B. Yes, please.
*Jeff Buckley – Grace (#304). Beautiful from the beginning to the end. Sad a talent like this left the way it did.
*Tom Waits – The Heart of Saturday Night (#339). Tom Waits. A hit or miss with me usually but this was a younger, on-key Tom and it tripped my trigger.
*Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense (#345). Remember when I said I did review live albums? Well this is one of my favorites from the list thus far.
*Nirvana – Unplugged in New York (#313). Yes. I said that. Nirvana. In my faves. Nirvana! The beauty of this list right here.

There are probably many, many more I could put on here. For the most part I’d say it was (out of a hundred) about 80-85% likes, at least moderately. That’s really a pretty good rating. Even the ones that I really didn’t care for, I could put in the 80-85%. If I just count the ones that I listed above it would be only 6% dislike, but I know there are others and then some of lesser degree.  I enjoyed this segment, though, and I think that I was getting into the meat of the list and the same is going to be for the coming segments. Then, theoretically, I’ll be getting into the crème de la crème as the countdown winds down. So read on, Dear Reader, read on! And, if you disagree with me, as I’m sure you do, let me know. Send me your thoughts, one way or the other, I look forward to hearing from you.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“A classic record proves itself over time.” – Joe Levy, Music Editor, Rolling Stone

Qu’est-ce que c’est or: Are You Not Entertained? (RS part 16)

30 Monday Mar 2015

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Salutations™!!

Three Mondays in a row! I’m wondering if that means that I have a new streak or I have way too much time on my hands.  I think it’s the latter. My wallet, my bank account, my WIFE… definitely show it’s the latter. Oh well. Here’s hoping this next set is on par with the last two. That would be some consolation, I guess.  Let’s just jump right in.

#350 – Roger the Engineer by The Yardbirds. Two from The Yardbirds in five entries. This is a British Invasion for sure. And this one, I liked. It’s the 1960s Brit Rock that you’d expect when you hear the name Yardbirds. “Lost Woman” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” from the get go, is right in your face and it’s beautiful chaos.  These contain nothing mundane. Everything is doing something and it’s not subtle.  The bass is rolling (it’s Jeff Beck playing bass on “Over Under Sideways Down) and the guitar, whilst sounding like noodling, is actually quite conformed and the drums are jumping.  Beck sings “The Nazz Are Blue” and while I hate that 12-bar blues thing, these vox are spot on.  After that, it kind of tones down the “in your face bit” but is still good background music.  A lot of yah yah yahs in “Hot House of Omagarashid” and a lot of “noise, but I enjoyed that noise. It was certainly fun.  This is the first album with Jeff Beck wielding the axe so of course there’s the bluestastic “Jeff’s Boogie” with a variety of jams highlighting him. “Turn Into Earth” not only has a morbid-sounding title, it pretty much is.  The song is eerie, really. I love the use of depth in the older albums. In the days before surround sound (I’m guessing, I’m no expert on the matter) it sounds like they had to use reverb and mic placement to make depth-of-venue type effects to create huge rooms out of small ones. Again, I did some of this in my first stint of college but I’m only guessing that’s what they’re doing here. Turns out the whole end of the album is almost depressing (it bounces in and out).  That’s ok, though. Still a good album. Dug.

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“The Black Album” by JAY-Z

#349 – The Black Album by JAY-Z. I’m supposing the female on “December 4th” is or is portrayed as Shawn Carter’s (JAY-Z) mother, Gloria.  I know I should just get over it but the “N” word use KILLS me. I know I’ve said it 800 times before; it’s annoying, a hangup. The beauty of this album is, though, that there is some good music on it. I love the “chorus” of “What More Can I Say.” A lot of stories here, this was touted as his “Final Album.” We know that’s baloney because just three years later, he released Kingdom Come. They called that a “comeback album.”  I think that’s ridiculous. But back to this.  I’m happy that there aren’t a lot of “special guests” on this album. It’s a true JAY-Z album and not some amalgam of contemporaries.  This is the first time ever that I’ve actually heard the real version of “99 Problems.” I’ve only heard other people bastardize the song (and usually horribly). I like that song.  “Justify My Thug” is good musically. I was head bobbing whilst writing this.  Overall, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I know that sounds bad, I just don’t really get into the hip-hop genre.  I appreciate it, I truly do. I just can’t get into it.  Overall, I’ll say I dug this one.

#348 – At Newport 1960 by Muddy Waters. Wait, was something playing here?  It sounded like background noise to me.  I loathe this style of music.  It just played as I did other things.  BIG THUMBS DOWN!

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“The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” by Pink Floyd

#347 – The Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd. I’ll go ahead and say it.  I don’t really care for Syd Barrett. I’ve not done enough (any) drugs to get into the psychedelia. I’m used to overwrought jams from Floyd, which are, to me, at times, a bit thick. Some harmonies come out great in this collection, though. “Astronomy Domine” I came to know from the Echoes greatest hits collection.  It’s trippy and when listened to with the eyes closed, departing. I do like the guitar riffs of “Interstellar Overdrive,” and “Scarecrow” is pretty alright, too. “Bike” is one of the ones on Echoes that I just skip over, so I was wishing I could skip over it for this, too. Just like the previous entry in this segment, it just becomes background and isn’t anything I get especially excited about. Couldn’t care less.

#346 – 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul. It’s funny from the start with the game show like “Intro.”  “The Magic Number” is a play on the Schoolhouse Rocks classic “Three is a Magic Number” by Bob Dorough (also remade by Blind Melon). In fact, the sampling of the original is a cool addition as is a sampling of Johnny Cash’s “Three Feet High and Rising.” This whole thing falls in the hip-hop area that I really like.  Some late ’80s/early ’90s rap with melodic rhythm and good pop music (mostly sampled), it’s just fun. No one is yelling at anyone, just telling interesting stories that aren’t necessarily trying to be the mouthpiece of a generation.  Just write and perform good songs.  That’s all I ask.  Part of the fun of this is trying to find the hidden sampled gems. One instance that I was surprised was Steely Dan’s “Peg” showing up in “Eye Know.”  The music and the chorus both were there; nice! “(I Can’t) Go for That” from Hall & Oates is the basis of “Say No Go.”  Of course, the highight of the album is the mega hit, “Me, Myself & I.” I had never really listened very closely but I like it.  This was also the first in a long time that I had to search outside of Rhapsody.  Thank you, YouTube.  I dug it. It was a jewel in the rough after the two clunkers (my opinion) that preceded it.

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“Stop Making Sense” by Talking Heads

#345 – Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads. I know I put a lot of revelations on here but I never saw the film.  Everyone tells me that it would probably be my fave concert film if I did.  Going to be hard to beat U2 at Slane Castle in Sept. 2001.  Never have I been a huge fan of Talking Heads but I respect what they do and most of the songs that I hear, I really, really enjoy. So, I’m looking forward to listening, and actually watching, this. “Psycho Killer” and “Heaven” acoustic are righteous. I’ll say that Tina Waymouth is a beast on bass. Just wow! One of my favorite Talking Heads songs ever is “Burning Down the House” and this version does NOT disappoint. So much energy and passion in this version.  “Life During Wartime” is another favorite of mine and they’re back-to-back. The sound quality of this live album is exquisite. You hear everything so clearly and it’s very intricate. There’s nothing that stands out on its own so much as it’s a collective ball of awesome.  Waymouth and husband Chris Frantz’s side project, Tom Tom Club, perform their big hit, “Genius of Love” to give Byrne a chance to throw on his big duds, the ones he became known for, toward the end. Probably one of the best versions of “Once in a Lifetime” that I’ve heard and that’s one of my faves.  Yet another of those, “Girlfriend is Better,” and where this album/concert film gets its name, is very strong.  I think it sounds better here than the studio version. Overall, this is a fantastic album and is one of my faves from the entire list, thus far.  I don’t know if I could have worked “Fave” or “Favorite” in that any more. LOVE!!!

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“Berlin” by Lou Reed

#344 – Berlin by Lou Reed. So far, this thing starts off pretty darned good.  I’m three songs in and other than Lou Reed’s bland and flat voice (which fits this perfectly, by the way), I’m enjoying it.  Musically, this is a fantastic specimen of 1970s awesomeness. I’m really impressed with the piano work. Nothing spectacular yet spectacularly effective. Since I can’t really discern whether I’m hearing emotion or just rickety vocals, I’m going to err on the side of emotion.  I hear this especially in “The Kids.”  A song about a woman of assumed “ill repute” losing her children over the deeds she’d done, the song culminated by the sounds of a baby crying and a child calling for its mother in distress. Really powerful and moving; sad. When I say that no song (with the exception of “The Kids”) stands out to me, don’t take that for dismissal of the album. The whole album is a concept album that deals with not only prostitution but drugs and depression, et al. The summation of all the vices and circumstance is an ending that isn’t very happy. In fact, the complete opposite could be said.  I didn’t know what to expect, but man, this was one fantastic album. I take that back, it’s an amazing album. To back up what I said earlier, not a single song stands out, but as a collective? There’s not enough letters in “WHOA!” to express how much I thought this was genius. It’s over and I’m still sitting here in awe and trying to think of what words would do it justice.  I find that no more words is fitting. Tragically, I LOVE this album.

#343 – Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf. This is a fun ride.  I own this album, have heard it on many, many occasions and think Jim Steinman, at least at this time, was genius. The length of the songs are a bit long, but the fun takes your mind off that.  On more than a few occasions I have asked The BCPF, “On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?” Steinman is known for using euphemisms, idioms and cliches in his songs, this is the absolute best demonstration of that.  “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth,” “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” (my favorite on the album) and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” are prime examples. I really love this album.  I enjoyed parts of the sequel from 1993, even “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).” I’ve talked about Jim Steinman, but this is a Meat Loaf album.  Meat Loaf has a very distinctive and powerful voice.  Trust me when I say it’s hard to emulate or even perform these songs; he’s in high registers and with that power, it’s taxing on one’s voice.  But man, it’s good stuff.  DIG!!

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“Violator” by Depeche Mode

#342 – Violator by Depeche Mode. It was around this time that I first ever heard of Depeche Mode.  I thought it was some bad food or something, I didn’t know.  “Personal Jesus” made me think it was some atheist BS but it’s not, really. After all, now I’m atheist so it wouldn’t have been so bad. I do love “PJ” though.  That’s a great guitar riff. I am a sucker, for sure, when it comes to electronic-based pop.  “World in my Eyes” is another fantabulous song and opens the album nicely.  So much good on here.  “Enjoy the Silence” (another fave) is a bit weirder than I’ve ever heard it.  Up until now, I’ve only ever heard it on Sirius’ First Wave or on the Greatest Hits compilation that I have. Heck the version on mine even leaves out the cool fade followed by the “enjoy the silence” vox. It just fades out.  Sad really.  I don’t know what all this extra is about, though. “Policy of Truth” is bouncy and definitely a head-bobber.  Overall, there is something sinister sounding about this album.  I’m not sure what, and I don’t really care.  Maybe that is what drives me to like it even more? Who knows. DIG DIG DIG!!

#341 – Play by Moby. Caveat: this is only Play and not Play & Play: B-sides. 2 electronic music acts back-to-back. I like that. Is it possible to say that Moby is a hero of mine without really having heard very much of his stuff?  I am a fan of, and have written, electronic music. He’s a top name in the vast sea that is electronic music.  He artfully puts loops and patches together with uniquely placed instrumentation and vocals. It’s a great marriage therein. “Honey” the opening track features Bessie Jones, an American blues singer. “Find My Baby” features Boy Blue’s “Joe Lee’s Rock.” Moby does the vocals himself on “Porcelain.” From what I understand, he didn’t like it, but was talked into it.  I think it’s a great song. He also sang on “South Side”, “Machete”, “If Things Were Perfect” and “The Sky Is Broken.” This album makes  for a great backdrop to a busy day.  As I listen, I’m working on TWO other blog posts and some social media tasks. But, I’m still involved. Other albums in this segment (*cough* Muddy Waters *cough* *cough* The Piper at the Gates of Dawn *cough*) were background noise and noise is being kind. This is not background, as I said, it’s a backdrop; sets the mood. I love the way he takes traditional American music and mixes it with modern electronica, a la “Natural Blues” which features “Trouble So Hard” by Vera Hall. And ethereal. Check out “Guitar Flute & String,” you’ll see it. So much awesomeness on this album. Truly, I can’t say it enough. Dug!

Wow, there were some BIG revelations for me on this segment. Some I really, really, really loved and some I couldn’t give two flips about. One of those was actually a disappointment because of it. I am certainly looking for Lou Reed’s Berlin on vinyl and I want to hear it with headphones.  It was a fun segment and I can’t wait to start on the next one.  What are your thoughts on these albums? Do you agree or disagree with me? Which of these would be your pick if you had to choose one?  Hit me up and tell me!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“See the storm is broken in the middle of the night. Nothing left here for me. It’s washed away. The rain pushes the buildings aside. The sky turns black. The sky. Wash it far, push it out to sea. There’s nothing left here for me. I watch it lift up to the sky. I watch it crush me and then i die” – “The Sky is Broken” by Moby