tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33574666541894592662024-03-08T15:17:45.387-08:00Reagan's Album ReviewsReaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-71634090492596806432014-08-12T08:56:00.000-07:002016-08-24T19:28:18.657-07:00Loaded -- The Velvet Underground -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Loadedalbum.jpg" data-file-height="300" data-file-width="300" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/71/Loadedalbum.jpg/220px-Loadedalbum.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Loadedalbum.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Loadedalbum.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Loaded (1970)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 14</b></div>
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<b>"Somethin's got a hold on me / And I don't know what"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: New Age <i>or </i>Sweet Jane</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: Train 'Round the Bend</b></div>
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I'm not even gonna try and hide my hand on this one -- as far as pop albums go, I insist there aren't many much better than this. I know it has its haters, and the majority just hold it up as a "pretty good" addition to the Velvets' legacy, and I know it makes me super uncool, but I can't help it -- I think this gigantic cheesy poppy sell-out is their best work, and it's easily one of my favorite albums of all time. As far as smile-inducing music goes, I really don't think one can beat <b>Loaded</b>. </div>
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For the uninitiated, the legend goes that after the paltry sales of <b>The Velvet Underground</b>, the band's record company advised Lou to write an album "loaded with hits". Obviously, knowing how cynical Reed can be, it should come as no surprise that quite a few of these tracks come off as parodies of 60s pop: "I Found a Reason" is a ridiculously schmaltzy doo-wop ballad complete with a dramatic spoken-word confession of love from Reed (when he begins reciting with that deadpan "<i>Honey...</i>", it's everything I can do to keep from cracking up), and the opening "Who Loves the Sun" is an exceedingly cheery, Turtles-or-Zombies-esque pop song complete with goofy wordless backing vocals and a completely accessible melody. Nevertheless, as ironic and sly as these tracks may be, they're still <i>completely brilliant from a songwriting perspective</i>. They're silly pop songs, sure, but they're GREAT silly pop songs, full of brilliant little details. Take, for example, the bridge of the latter, where the track randomly derails into an acoustic-led vocal harmony breakdown and then shuffles back into the chorus just as fast as it left it. Or the outro of "I Found a Reason", where the mood suddenly turns from romantic to completely desperate, with the almost-haunting mantra of "<i>You better come, COME COME, COME to me"</i> gradually fading the tune out. The entire album is full of incredibly effective and memorable little moments like these, and these aren't even the very best songs!</div>
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"Sweet Jane" definitely is, though, but you probably already know that one. On the off chance you don't, then by god, you should -- it perfectly captures Reed's magical ability to craft songs that are both rambling and anthemic, and it's one of his very best. It just keeps growing and growing and building and building, culminating in that synth-led climax (a synth-led climax! in 1970!!) with Doug and Lou shouting as triumphant a cry of "<i>LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!</i>" as I've ever heard, followed by some more joyous chants of the title. It's a classic, dammit. And not much worse is the breezy California soft-rock of "Rock & Roll", another of the band's most famous tracks. It deserves the status, too, with its frenzied mid-section, fun lyrics, and memorable laid-back guitar riffs. Equally triumphant and joyous is the pounding "Head Held High", cleverly kicked off by a soothing choral intro. This first impression is quickly offset by a startling drum fill, followed by some of Lou's most rowdy, energetic vocal work ever. I don't know what else there is to say -- just like the other two anthems I've mentioned, it's got a passionate buildup, an incredibly catchy melody, and an epic climax featuring the band chanting the title for all its worth. Silly, throwaway pop formula? I guess so, man, but there aren't many other songs in the world that give me as much joy as these do.</div>
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And besides, it's not like the album is nothing but upbeat soft-rock anthems -- far from it! You've got some fun, catchy country-rock (the fantastic "Cool It Down", the less-fantastic-but-still-entertaining "Lonesome Cowboy Bill"), some groovy feedback-driven experimentation ("Train 'Round the Bend", which admittedly is kinda weak, but is more or less saved by the aforementioned production experiments), and a 7-minute proto-power-ballad with an extended outro full of guitar heroics ("Oh, Sweet Nuthin'", which makes for a fantastically anthemic closer along the lines of "Hey Jude" or "You Can't Always Get What You Want""). And the very best song of all just might be "New Age", a song that strives for the late-night mood of <b>The Velvet Underground </b>and manages to do it even more effectively. From the tepid opening of "<i>Can I have your autograph?</i>" all the way up to the explosive, chillbump-inducing proclamations that it's "<i>The beginning of a new age</i>", I can't think of a much better classic rock ballad than this one.</div>
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Of course, it's pretty obvious that <b>Loaded </b>has next-to-nothing to do with the Velvet Underground's legacy to this point, and if you're a jaded indie guy who worships at the altar of <b>White Light/White Heat </b>and <b>Nico</b>, then there's a decent chance this album just might disgust you. It's super soft, super happy, and virtually inoffensive -- virtually everything the band in its earlier incarnation was trying to rebel against. But if you go into it with an open mind, and understand that good pop music is just as valid an artistic medium as noisy, droning experimentation, then I don't see how one couldn't enjoy the living daylights out of this.</div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-5741056935852705752014-08-11T19:51:00.000-07:002016-08-24T19:28:42.257-07:00The Velvet Underground -- The Velvet Underground -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9a/Velvetundergroundthirdalbum.jpg/220px-Velvetundergroundthirdalbum.jpg" height="198" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Velvetundergroundthirdalbum.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Velvetundergroundthirdalbum.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>The Velvet Underground (1969)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 12</b></div>
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<b>"Help me in my weakness, 'cause I've fallen out of grace"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: Beginning to See the Light</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: Some Kinda Love</b></div>
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Well, after <b>White Light/White Heat</b>, John Cale decided to leave. I can't seem to find out a definite reason why (most think that it was due to tension between him and Reed), but whatever the case -- he's out, and Doug Yule is in. Yule, a veteran of some long-forgotten contemporary of the band called The Grass Menagerie, brought along with him something of a gentle, folky sensibility. This, coupled with the fact that all of the band's amps and pedals had been stolen, led to the group deciding to take their next album in a direction resembling the softer songs from their previous two records -- tracks like "Here She Comes Now" and "Sunday Morning". This ended up giving the whole affair something of a smoky, late-night/morning-after vibe that I've never really encountered on any other album. This general mood is absolutely wonderful and incredibly unique -- had they combined this mood with some extremely strong songwriting, the band could've made the strongest album of their career...emphasis on the "could've".<br />
Instead they simply made one of the better albums of their career, one that is indeed good, but also one that falls <i>juuust</i> short of all-time greatness. There's just too much flat-out filler here, such as the meandering, countryish "Some Kinda Love". The lyrics are mildly amusing, but the twanging guitars get a bit repetitive, the vocal melody doesn't really...erm...exist, and the whole thing just screams "<i>Unneccessary!</i>" in my ears. Yawn.<br />
There's also the issue of over-repetition that rears its ugly head every so often. Of course, a low-key folk-rock album can only have so much diversity, but the problem with repetition isn't only found in the style itself...it's also in the melodies. "Candy Says" and "Jesus", while both absolutely beautiful, heart-wrenching ballads, sound very similar, and "That's the Story of My Life" is nothing more than an silly acoustic retake of the uplifting, far superior "Beginning to See the Light".<br />
That's not to say that the entire album is nothing more than a bunch of sleepy folk songs built on dreamy arpeggiated guitars and soothing vocals, though; there are a number of exceptions to this general rule. "What Goes On" and the aforementioned "Beginning to See the Light" actually come close to being what you might call rockers! Anthemic vocals, powerful (but still subtle) multi-tracked guitar strums, and, in the case of "What Goes On", some wonderfully uplifting organ work help distance these tracks from the insomnia-aiding calm of the album's other songs. In addition to providing needed diversity, they're also simply flat-out wonderful songs. "I'm Beginning" is a particularly strong track; Lou's vocal melody is great, the layered acoustic riffage provides a wonderful backing, and the lengthy coda where the band keeps singing "<i>How does it feeeeeel to be looooooooooved?</i>" in unison is simply magical, one of the most memorable highlights of the whole VU catalog.<br />
Another song that's rather different than the bulk of the album's material is the simply bizarre "Murder Mystery", a 10-minute (!), multi-part song suite filled with deadpan spoken-word recitations, eerie keyboard lines, bashing drums, and some nice singing from Lou, Yule, and even drummer Maureen Tucker (who, despite being barely used by the band, has a pleasant child-like quality to her voice). The song eventually turns into something completely different around the 7-minute mark as it completely drops out and a strangely chipper piano line comes in. The brief moment of levity is then spoiled by a load of disturbing lyrics, dissonant feedback, and what sounds like a small army of out-of-tune pianos attacking the listener...and then it ends. Is it cool? Yeah, sure. Does it need to go on for 10 minutes? Nah, but it holds its length better than you might expect, and it's a welcome addition to the album.<br />
"The Murder Mystery"'s finish heralds the start of the album's final tune, the wonderfully charming "After Hours" (not to be confused with Martin Scorcese's criminally underrated film). It's nothing more than a simple acoustic show-tune sung by Maureen, but it works wonderfully as a closer to the whole experience. There are also a number of other ballads, including the magical "Pale Blue Eyes" and the uplifting, empowering "I'm Set Free", but that basic description pretty much sums up the album. No, it's not their best, but it's quite good, and the mood it creates is completely unique and very special. Don't get it first, but get it soon afterwards.Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-41755335497121487962014-08-11T19:46:00.000-07:002016-08-24T19:29:01.011-07:00The Velvet Underground -- White Light/White Heat -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/68/WhiteLightWhiteHeat_1985.jpg/220px-WhiteLightWhiteHeat_1985.jpg" height="218" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/68/WhiteLightWhiteHeat_1985.jpg/330px-WhiteLightWhiteHeat_1985.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/WhiteLightWhiteHeat_1985.jpg 2x" width="220" /></div>
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<b>White Light/White Heat (1968)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 10</b></div>
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<b>"Aw, you shouldn't do that! Don't you know you'll stain the carpet?"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: White Light/White Heat</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: The Gift</b></div>
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Is it wrong of me to say that I enjoy this one more than the debut? ...well, obviously it's not *wrong*, it's only a matter of personal opinion, but still -- 9 times out of 10 I would much rather listen to this than <b>Nico</b>.<br />
....which is pretty ironic, since this one is FAR more purposely ugly and nihilistic than its predecessor. The band took the feedback squalls and avant-garde nuttiness of "The Black Angel's Death Song" and "European Son" and basically extended them into an entire album. No catchy guitar-rockers, no happy pop songs, no stately ballads...pretty much everything on here is dedicated to frightening and, to some degree, irritating the listener in ever way imaginable. And yet it's an accepted classic, and a completely enjoyable listen?<br />
One song, "The Gift", even goes so far as to have no melody at all -- it's just a short story being read aloud by Cale while the band mindlessly jams along behind him. It would be hard to even call it a "song", but for whatever reason it...kinda works. Now don't get me wrong, it's far and away the worst track on the album, but there's still SOMETHING about the song that attracts me to it. Those feedback squeals combined with Cale's hilarious accent make the song work juuuust enough to get by. It also helps that the story itself, written by Lou back in his college days, is quite entertaining. It's essentially a tale of two lovers who are separated, and the lengths that the guy in the relationship, Waldo Jeffers, is willing to go to in order to be reunited with his girlfriend...but of course, everything goes completely awry in an absolutely bizarre, darkly comedic fashion. Note to self and all blog-readers -- packaging and mailing yourself to a loved one, while a perfectly clever idea, isn't the smartest thing to do.<br />
The title track is a major classic, with the band returning to that incredibly effective *chank*chank*chank*chank* groove of songs like "I'm Waiting for the Man", albeit in an even harsher, sloppier way. The melody is brilliant (those backing vocal chants of "<i>White light!</i>" and "<i>White heat!</i>" are sooo catchy to me), the groove is irresistible, and that throbbing bass solo at the very end is just as disorienting and mind-blowing as I'm sure the band intended it to be.<br />
"Here She Comes Now" is a wonderful respite from the noise of the rest album, a gentle ballad that while short, works wonderfully in context. The melody is also very nice, and the low-key atmosphere is rather addictive, much like the ballads off of the next album. Even tastier is "Lady Godiva's Operation", a song that rises from the ashes of "The Gift". As the final crushing guitar notes fade out from that track, "Lady Godiva" kicks in to wonderful effect -- the seductive, very full sound of the song works wonderfully to take the listener out of the disjointedness of "The Gift". The song proceeds along this path as Cale sings a wonderfully seductive vocal melody over the dangerous-sounding (yet somehow slightly beautiful) backing track...until Lou randomly comes in at the end with an assortment of sound effects and jarring spoken-word declarations. The song then essentially collapses under its own weight after a minute of this chaos, to delightful effect.<br />
But all of this fades into the distance when we finally approach the album's final, most infamous track...I am speaking, of course, of the 17-minute "Sister Ray". As you probably already know, the song is nothing more than the band grinding on the same primitive riff over and over and over again for nearly 20 minutes. It's definitely jarring, and it's definitely a groundbreaking piece of music...but is it any good?<br />
Surprisingly, the answer is a rousing yes. It definitely is. Although I must agree with what many others have said before me -- it would make a BRILLIANT 8 or 9-minute track, whereas the 17-minute version is slight overkill. Nevertheless, the repetition of the same musical phrase over and over again gives the song an indisputably anthemic quality, and that basic guitar riff is SO pleasing on a near-primal level that it becomes hard to resist. If you were to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and explain the genre of music known as "rock and roll" to someone, I imagine that they would picture it as something like "Sister Ray". It's the one of the few 60s songs I've heard that still sounds legitimately frightening to this day. The only other possible contender for this title would be Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused", but even that has a level of professionalism and studio polish -- this features nothing along those lines AT ALL.<br />
Hell, the band's producer notoriously walked out of the studio halfway through the recording of "Sister Ray", refusing to participate in the creation of what he thought was sheer aural torture. The levels of distortion on the track approach levels of white noise from time to time (in fact, <b>White Noise/White Heat</b> would've been a pretty great name for the album), and while I prefer my bouts of sheer noise to be momentary rather than lengthy (and there are more than a couple of minutes of the song's running time where the noise reaches that level of extremity), the track still cooks on a general level. THIS, ladies and gents, is pure proto-punk -- one of the very first examples of rock and roll boiled down to its rawest elements. This is rock music dragged by the knuckles all the way back to its purest essence, and while you may not be able to stand it, I find it quite interesting and even <i>pleasing</i>, on some primal level or another.<br />
Y'know, you might as well just go ahead and use those last few sentences to describe the entire album. This is a band searching desperately to find the primordial ooze that rock'n'roll seeped out of, and then perverting and mangling that ooze into what must have been a ridiculously frightening piece of work when it came out. And you know what....it's still a bit disconcerting now.<br />
Yeah, now. <i>Now!!!!!</i> In the time of derivative scream bands, ridiculously edgy bands like, uh, I dunno, Death Grips, and loads of other artists making music for the sheer purpose of offending people's sensibilities: morally, musically, and otherwise -- this thing is <i>still</i> dangerous-sounding. It still shocks you when you first turn it on. There's something to be said about that -- I don't even think you could say something like that about <b>The Velvet Underground and Nico</b>. That's some seriously notable staying power.<br />
The sheer musical elements here still aren't quite enough for me to give the album anything higher than an 11, but everyone needs to give this a listen. And yes, I truly mean EVERYONE. I give it my highest recommendation...even if my score might not say as much. This is an album truly like no other.<br />
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Buy it here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002G7E/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000002G7E&linkCode=as2&tag=reasalbrev-20&linkId=P54ZBJOY5QGFG2Z7">White Light/White Heat</a>Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-12063248098067657912014-05-14T10:12:00.003-07:002014-05-14T10:15:44.071-07:00A Different Kind of Truth -- Van Halen -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dd/Van_Halen_-_A_Different_Kind_of_Truth.jpg/220px-Van_Halen_-_A_Different_Kind_of_Truth.jpg" height="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/Van_Halen_-_A_Different_Kind_of_Truth.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/Van_Halen_-_A_Different_Kind_of_Truth.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>A Different Kind of Truth (2012)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 7</b></div>
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<b>"You wanna be a monk, you gotta cook a lotta rice"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: Blood and Fire</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: China Town<i>, maybe...</i></b></div>
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Well they heard you missed 'em, and they're back. Apparently time heals all wounds, and thus Diamond Dave rejoined forces with Eddie, Alex, and Micha--...oh, wait. Michael Anthony's still missing, leaving Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen (I'm still torn as to whether that's an amazing name, or a terrible one) to take over the duties on backing vocals and bass. And hey, he's great! I actually saw this lineup live last year (great show, by the way), and Wolfie absolutely tore it up -- he's a fantastic bass player, one that's easily as talented as Michael in my opinion.<br />
And as for the other band members, <i>geeez</i> these guys are on fire. Alex hasn't lost a beat since the band's glory days (pun most certainly intended), and Eddie, well, he might sound even better than he used to! Okay, his tone on the album is a little too "generic heavy metal" for my tastes, but as far as sheer chutzpah and talent is concerned, he's at the top of his game. Roth, on the other hand...well...<br />
...he kinda sucks. Actually, "kinda" is too nice of a word; he <i>really </i>sucks. I would go as far as saying that his voice actually downgrades the album by a decent amount. For starters, he's mixed<i> really </i>loud, so it's virtually impossible to look over him. For the entire fifty-minute running time, he sounds like an old man trying ridiculously hard to be hip, and it's very, very painful -- especially on a song like "Stay Frosty", where he attempts to reach back into the showman shtick of tracks like "Big Bad Bill" or "Ice Cream Man" to particularly embarrassing effect. It's bad. Really bad. And the rest of the band, while certainly professional and talented, don't really sound like <i>Van Halen</i>. There's none of the winking irony, the interesting sonic techniques, or the unique instrumental ideas. Eddie's playing is <i>impressive</i>, yes, but it's not that <i>enjoyable</i>. It's just a lot of showboating wankery, and it just doesn't quite work for me.<br />
The songwriting here isn't exactly aces either. Some tracks, like the pummeling "She's the Woman" and "Blood and Fire" were written back during the band's early years, and these are the clear highlights ("Blood" is actually a near-classic, a powerful "we're the best!" anthem that actually lives up to its slightly self-aggrandizing lyrics) -- the newer material, though, like the afore-mentioned "Stay Frosty", sticks out like a sore thumb, and even some of the older tracks come off as stilted and awkward thanks to Dave's paltry delivery. It also doesn't help that the band is in full-on "RAWK" mode for the entire record, leaving you completely bored after about four tracks. I've heard worse reunion albums, sure, but I've also heard much better, and unless you're a <i>really </i>big fan, I wouldn't go for it.</div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-78447301525615685512014-05-13T15:12:00.001-07:002014-05-13T15:13:12.420-07:00Talking Heads -- Album Reviews<div abp="106" align="center">
Talking Heads -- Complete Discography</div>
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<strong abp="19"><a abp="76" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2014/05/77-talking-heads-review.html">'77 (1977)</a></strong></div>
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<strong abp="78"><a abp="133" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2014/05/talking-heads-more-songs-about.html">More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)</a></strong></div>
<div abp="106" align="center">
<strong abp="135"><a abp="190" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2014/05/fear-of-music-talking-heads-review.html">Fear of Music (1979)</a></strong></div>
<div abp="106" align="center">
<strong abp="192"><a abp="247" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2014/05/remain-in-light-talking-heads-review.html">Remain in Light (1980)</a></strong></div>
<div abp="106" align="center">
<strong abp="249"><a abp="304" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-name-of-this-band-is-talking-heads.html">The Name of This Band is Talking Heads (1982)</a></strong></div>
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<strong abp="306"><a abp="361" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/speaking-in-tongues-talking-heads-review.html">Speaking in Tongues (1983)</a></strong></div>
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<strong abp="417"><a abp="419" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/09/stop-making-sense-talking-heads-review.html">Stop Making Sense (1984)</a></strong></div>
<div abp="106" align="center">
<strong abp="363"><a abp="475" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/09/little-creatures-talking-heads-review.html">Little Creatures (1985)</a></strong></div>
<div abp="106" align="center">
<strong abp="477"><a abp="638" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/09/true-stories-talking-heads-review.html">True Stories (1986)</a></strong></div>
<div abp="106" align="center">
<strong abp="640"><a abp="695" href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/09/naked-talking-heads-review.html">Naked (1988)</a></strong></div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-48298842663724679152014-05-13T15:03:00.001-07:002014-05-13T15:03:40.462-07:00'77 -- Talking Heads -- Review<div abp="2796" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="2797">
<img abp="2798" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Talking_Heads_77.jpg/220px-Talking_Heads_77.jpg" height="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Talking_Heads_77.jpg/330px-Talking_Heads_77.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Talking_Heads_77.jpg/440px-Talking_Heads_77.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b abp="2801">Talking Heads: 77 (1977)</b></div>
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<b abp="2804">Rating: 11</b></div>
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<b abp="2807">"Be a little more selfish, it might do you some good!"</b></div>
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<b abp="2810">Best Song: Tentative Decisions</b></div>
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<b abp="2813">Worst Song: First Week/Last Week...Carefree</b></div>
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<div abp="2815">
A wonderful debut. It doesn't reach quite the heights of the band's later work, and the production isn't nearly as special as it eventually would be (don't worry, Eno will be here soon!), but the songwriting is already at a high level, and the band is already startlingly sharp in their precision. This is essentially an album of nothing more than quirky, catchy guitar-pop songs, but they're nearly all classics on one level or another, and there's a surprisingly great deal of diversity to be found here.</div>
<div abp="2816">
Not to mention that the album's guitar work is uniformly brilliant. Most reviewers seem to skip over this fact, opting instead to fawn over the band's guitar style on the famed live album <b abp="2817">The Name of This Band is Talking Heads</b>. Don't get me wrong, the <b abp="2818">'77</b> tracks found on <b abp="2819">Name of This Band</b> are wonderful, but the guitar interplay here is just as excellent. The only difference is that the guitars aren't mixed nearly as loud, leading to a good deal of people glossing over them. But don't! -- the riffage on tracks like "New Feeling", "Don't Worry About the Government", and "Psycho Killer" is of a jaw-dropping quality. The band also indulges in a great deal of instrumental experimentation here that they would eventually abandon, for better or worse. You get some nice steel drums on the opening "Uh-Oh! Love Has Come to Town" (giving the track a wonderfully bouncy reggae feel), some tasty saxophone solos on "First Week/Last Week", some barroom piano here and there...it works wonderfully, and these little instrumental touches often provide a great boon to helping distinguish the various tracks and making them stand out even more.</div>
<div abp="2820">
Highlights include the classic "Psycho Killer" (it of the infamous "<i abp="2821">oh-ho-ho-ohhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH, AY-AYE-YEAH-YEAH-YEAAHH-OOOOOOOOoooooo</i>" chorus) which has, for some odd reason, become one of the band's best known songs; the aforementioned pop of "Love Has Come to Town; and the AWESOME "Pulled Up", featuring some of the best New Wave riffs imaginable along with one of Byrne's most inspired deliveries ever.</div>
<div abp="2822">
Hell, this whole album features some of Byrne's most inspired deliveries ever. Aside from "Pulled Up" and "Psycho Killer", he's also excellent in the hysterically quirky "Happy Day" (I love how it almost sounds like he's in serious physical pain as he squeals "it's such a happy...DAYYY-AY" in such a disturbing way, giving the otherwise pleasant ballad a touch of menace and dark irony) and the wondrously geeky love song "The Book I Read".</div>
<div abp="2823">
On the bizarrely anthemic, multi-part "No Compassion" (which just so happens to feature a brilliant mid-song instrumental breakdown and some of the album's very best guitar lines), Byrne takes on the guise of one who is constantly looked to for answers, and he doesn't necessarily like this position. "Talk to your analysts!" he sings, "Isn't that what they're paid for?" He plays a similar character during the WONDERFUL "Tentative Decisions", another song that one could easily describe as anthemic. David dishes out romantic advice in the way that only he can as martial drumbeats, skitchy guitar lines, and infinitely catchy backing vocals (good luck getting the chorus out of your head -- I've been humming "<i abp="2824">Oh, the boys...want to talk...</i>" for a good two weeks) accompany him. A criminally underrated track, and in my opinion, it's secretly one of the band's very best.</div>
<div abp="2825">
Yes, it's a great album. A few songs might be a little forgettable ("Who Is It", "The Book I Read", and "First Week/Last Week" don't do a whole lot for me in particular) and the sound gets a *bit* samey after a while, but the vast majority of the material here is pretty freaking delightful. It might not be their greatest album, but it just might be their most fun. Get it soon.</div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-5949535604826388622014-05-13T15:03:00.000-07:002014-05-13T15:03:25.792-07:00Talking Heads -- More Songs About Buildings and Food -- Review<div abp="220" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="221">
<img abp="222" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/75/TalkingHeadsMoreSongsAboutBuildingsandFood.jpg/220px-TalkingHeadsMoreSongsAboutBuildingsandFood.jpg" height="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/TalkingHeadsMoreSongsAboutBuildingsandFood.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/TalkingHeadsMoreSongsAboutBuildingsandFood.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<div abp="223" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="224">
<b abp="225">More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)</b></div>
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<div abp="227">
<b abp="228">Rating: 12</b></div>
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<div abp="229" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="230">
<b abp="231">"I wouldn't live there if you paid me to"</b></div>
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<div abp="232" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="233">
<b abp="234">Best Song: With Our Love</b></div>
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<div abp="235" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="236">
<b abp="237">Worst Song:<i abp="238"> I have no idea.</i></b></div>
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<div abp="240">
<b abp="241"><i abp="242"><br abp="243" /></i></b></div>
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<div abp="244" style="text-align: left;">
<div abp="245">
As you probably know, after the debut the band met a young producer by the name of Brian Eno. For those <i abp="246">not </i>in the know, Eno is one of the most brilliant and influential figures in pop music history, a force to be reckoned with as both a producer for many other successful artists (Devo, U2, and obviously Talking Heads) and in his own solo career (a series of reviews dedicated to said career will be written in due time). His influence on the Heads is immeasurable, and a great deal of their best material came as a result of his own direct involvement. While not nearly as revolutionary as the later Talking Heads/Eno collaborations, <b abp="247">More Songs About Buildings and Food </b>is a major step forward for the band. Eno took the quirky guitar-pop of the debut and forced the band to partake in an endless series of overdubbing sessions. Thus, the sound of the album is <i abp="248">ridiculously</i> dense with chugging guitar rhythms, synth effects, and bass grooves, and it works excellently, especially when compared to the relatively spare sound of <b abp="249">'77</b>. </div>
</div>
<div abp="250">
The opening "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" demonstrates this new style with a surprisingly high level of force. The name of the game here is <i abp="251">momentum</i>, as the band pummels (okay, that might be a bit too harsh of a word for Talking Heads, but you get the idea) over a powerful drumbeat and what is quite possibly the album's best vocal melody. It's nothing more than two straight minutes of pure exuberance, and it's a GREAT start to the whole affair. I'm especially fond of those ridiculously empowering guitar strums during the chorus -- "<i abp="252">Yes you can </i>*BANG* <i abp="253">walk! You can </i>*BANG* <i abp="254">talk just like me!</i>".</div>
<div abp="255">
"With Our Love" is another obvious highlight, featuring a great vocal melody along with some BRILLIANTLY layered guitar work and an amazing bass line. I also love how the first verse/chorus of the track is completely happy and chipper, but the second repetition of this section (which is musically identical to the first) comes across as moody/eerie/anthemic/whatever simply by the addition of a hardly noticeable, slightly ominous synth line. That's Eno for you -- completely redefining what a song is like by merely adding a subtle change in sound.</div>
<div abp="256">
"The Good Thing" combines some hilariously academic, geeky lyrics with a strangely inspiring chorus (Tina's backing vocals work excellently here) and a wonderful ending as the band jams out behind Bryne screaming "<i abp="257">Watch me wooork!</i>" over and over again. And don't forget about the subtly brilliant "Warning Sign"! Byrne's vocal melody isn't especially memorable here, but the instrumental texture is fantastic. The bizarre, echoey drum sound works together with a small army of disorienting guitar lines and an incessantly catchy bass groove to absolutely wonderful effect. Oh, and the creepy filter on David's voice is another excellent touch. "The Girls Want to Be with the Girls" would be notable enough just for being one of the first-ever LGBT anthems, but it also includes some wonderfully bouncy keyboard and an excellent guitar-driven after-chorus.</div>
<div abp="258">
The lyrics in "Found a Job" are some of the band's wackiest ever -- it's the story of a couple who save their marriage by creating their own television show; however, the contents of the show are left to the listener's imagination. Of course, the fact that "Judy's in the bedroom inventing situations" is a prominent line in the chorus gives us a hint, but who knows. The song's lyrics aren't the only objects of note, however; the guitar interplay here is at an all-time-high for the band, and the lengthy coda where Jerry and David jam over a wonderful steel drum melody is one of the greatest moments in all of Head-dom.</div>
<div abp="259">
"I'm Not in Love" isn't an especially memorable tune, but it seems that Eno noticed this and decided to dress it up in as dense an arrangement as possible -- as a result, the track still works, if only because the band flat-out COOKS during the instrumental sections. I also like the oft-hated "Big Country"; maybe it's just because the mere idea of Talking Heads doing a country song makes me slightly giddy, but I definitely enjoy the song more than not. Sure, the live version on <b abp="260">Name of This Band</b> is a definite improvement, but at least the original has some wonderful slide guitar work, eh?</div>
<div abp="261">
There are some other highlights here ("Stay Hungry" is another especially good one), but you get the idea -- this is a classic album through and through. The only reason it gets a slightly lower score than you might expect is that it's very samey throughout and the highs, while wonderful, aren't *quite* classic enough to put it over the edge. And, for the record, Eno produced ANOTHER post-punk album in 1978 that's even better than this one, but...that's a story for another time (I've got a <i abp="262">gut feeling</i> it'll come up again at some point in the future....*wink, wink*) . The band was soon to leave the world of minimalistic guitar rock behind, but their time in the genre was certainly not a waste. An excellent effort.</div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-78266529614087238312014-05-13T15:02:00.001-07:002014-05-13T15:02:26.828-07:00Fear of Music -- Talking Heads -- Review<div abp="252" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="253">
<img abp="254" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Talking_Heads-Fear_of_Music.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></div>
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<div abp="255" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="256">
<b abp="257">Fear of Music (1979)</b></div>
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<div abp="258" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="259">
<b abp="260">Rating: 12</b></div>
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<div abp="261" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="262">
<b abp="263">"It'll be over in a minute or two..."</b></div>
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<div abp="264" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="265">
<b abp="266">Best Song: Life During Wartime<i abp="267">, </i>Electric Guitar<i abp="268">,</i> <i abp="269">or </i>Memories Can't Wait</b></div>
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<div abp="270" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="271">
<b abp="272">Worst Song: Air</b></div>
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<div abp="273" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="274">
<b abp="275"></b> </div>
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<div abp="277">
A major left-turn -- whereas the previous albums were pretty much nothing more than extraordinarily well-done, happy guitar-pop, this album seems to mark the point where Eno's vision exceeded the band's. The guitar interplay of old, while still certainly present, is nowhere near the foremost element of the Heads' sonic palette on <b abp="278">Fear of Music</b>. The album's cover is actually pretty indicative of its sound -- dark, stark, and a little creepy, something like a paranoid conspiracy theorist's <b abp="279">Dark Side of the Moon</b>. Echo effects abound throughout the LP, and Byrne's voice seems to weave itself in and around all sorts of sounds. His "raving maniac" shtick reaches an absolute peak here, and it fits -- just look at the title! He's afraid of everything: animals, cities, drugs, war, his own memories, the air, heaven, and even paper....yes, paper.</div>
<div abp="280">
As silly as these lyrical ideas may seem, they actually work well in context; the continual theme of paranoia and fear works well to make all the songs fit together quite smoothly. Of course, this also leads to a mild case of the dreaded disease "Same-itis". One can only take so much of Byrne's caterwauling and Eno's eerie synth treatments. I suppose that's why I like the more unique tracks the best -- "Life During Wartime" is a deserved classic, a ridiculously fun dance groove with a wonderful guitar riff. Sure, David's ravings are as present as ever, but in context they seem almost <i abp="281">empowering</i> -- there's something wonderfully ironic about him warning victims of war that "<i abp="282">this ain't no disco!</i>" while singing what is essentially a New Wave-tinged disco song. I also love the GORGEOUS "Heaven", where the band sets aside their worries for a moment and focuses on creating one of the greatest ballads of the 70s. And it's not like the lyrics aren't interesting -- David humorously notes that a place as perfect as Heaven is "a place where nothing ever happens", and he even manages to bring romance into the whole situation. Of course, I'm not exactly sure what the "When this kiss is over..." section has to do with Heaven, but it does add a good deal of emotion and beauty to the song, so who am I to complain?</div>
<div abp="283">
"Electric Guitar" is a track that no one seems to make sense of, featuring a hilariously fractured melody and some of the absolute strangest production I've ever heard from Eno. Admittedly, I hated it the first five or so times I gave it a listen, but now I think it's one of the album's greatest moments -- those synth blurbs are almost triumphant in their absurdity, and the "<i abp="284">This is a criiiime....against the staaaage!</i>" hook in the chorus is as catchy as an outfielder. I'm also fond of "Memories Can't Wait", which is a great deal more typical of the album than the other tracks I've mentioned as of yet. Hell, I'd say that "Memories" sums up <b abp="285">Fear of Music</b> better than any other song here -- great guitar riffs, INTENSE synths, downright frightening Eno effects ("<i abp="286">I'm sleeping, I'm...flat on my BACK-back-back-back-back</i>"), a wonderfully manic performance from Byrne ("<i abp="287">I'M IN HERE...AAAAAAALLL THE TIIIIIME</i>"), and one of the most anthemic endings I've ever heard in a Talking Heads song.</div>
<div abp="288">
Yet another highlight is "Drugs", a relatively unaccessible track that's certainly worth getting into. Byrne's delivery is REALLY cool (I feel like I'm beating a dead horse by continually congratulating the man's vocal talents, but MAN, I love hearing him sing), but the real star of the show here is the production. Sampled voices pop in and out (ah, cue another <b abp="289">Dark Side</b> comparison), creepy keyboard lines slowly unfurl themselves, and Byrne's vocals echo, twist, and collide all over the place, leading to a track that's just as befuddling and addictive as its titular subject. There's also the album's opener "I Zimbra", the band's first ever world-beat experiment (and a major sign of things to come). David and the band scream a load of nonsense (literally -- the lyrics are all gibberish) over a boogieing bongo rhythm, manic bass lines, and a series of wonderfully interlocking guitar lines from Byrne, Jerry, and none other than guest guitarist Robert Fripp. It's an incredible groove, and a wonderfully energetic way to kick off the album.</div>
<div abp="290">
Everything else is fairly interchangeable to me. I don't *hate* the rest of the songs, but with the exception of the OUTSTANDING piano-rocker "Cities", most of the other tracks seem to fall into background music territory fairly easily for me (I never feel guilty about skipping "Air" or "Paper", for example). Nevertheless, this is an extremely solid addition to the Heads pantheon, and one that I endorse heartily. It's not an easy listen at first (some listeners will definitely find it too cold and paranoid), and it's a somewhat low 12, but every decent collection of 70s music should have more than enough room for this. </div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-51166046380271540272014-05-13T14:59:00.000-07:002014-05-13T14:59:06.311-07:00Remain in Light -- Talking Heads -- Review<div abp="51" align="center">
<div abp="52">
<a abp="53" class="image" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TalkingHeadsRemaininLight.jpg"><img abp="54" alt="Album cover containing four portraits covered by red blocks of colour, captioned "TALKING HEADS" (with inverted "A"s) at the top and (much smaller) "REMAIN IN LIGHT" at the bottom." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2d/TalkingHeadsRemaininLight.jpg/220px-TalkingHeadsRemaininLight.jpg" height="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/TalkingHeadsRemaininLight.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/TalkingHeadsRemaininLight.jpg 2x" width="220" /></a></div>
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<div abp="55" align="center">
<div abp="56">
<strong abp="57">Remain in Light (1980)</strong></div>
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<div abp="58" align="center">
<div abp="59">
<strong abp="60">Rating: 14</strong></div>
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<div abp="61" align="center">
<div abp="62">
<strong abp="63">"Same as it ever was..."</strong></div>
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<div abp="64" align="center">
<div abp="65">
<strong abp="66">Best Song: <em abp="67">Any of the first four tracks</em></strong></div>
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<div abp="68" align="center">
<div abp="69">
<strong abp="70">Worst Song: The Overload</strong></div>
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<div abp="73" style="text-align: left;">
<div abp="74">
<strong abp="75"> </strong>I don't even know what to say. The thought of reviewing <strong abp="76">Remain in Light </strong>has single-handedly scared me away from writing any more reviews for a good five months. Considered by many to be the greatest album of the 80s, there are literally hundreds of reviews out there already saying the exact same things that I would like to say. I could easily sum up the review in one quick quote -- if you don't own it, you should. That's it. But of course, I could never do that, and thus I'm stuck, just waiting to tell you something you probably already know. At any rate, Eno's back again, and his production here is quite possibly the highlight of his entire career; hell, I'd say that this is the best thing ever released with the words "Brian Eno" listed somewhere on the packaging (it's at least in a dead heat with <strong>Before and After Science</strong>).</div>
<div abp="74">
Every instrument is manipulated to the point of it hardly sounding like its original incarnation; it sounds like an album delivered from an alien planet. If it had somehow gone unreleased over all these years and the band were to put it out next week and act as if it were a brand new album, the musical press would wet itself over the "forward-thinking, futuristic" ideas contained herein. It literally hasn't aged a day, simply because it really isn't based on any trends; the synthesizers here sound nothing like the New Wave-y, poppy synths that have become synonymous with the 80s. We're dealing with a truly before-its-time album, one that I predict will sound just as fresh and unique fifty years from now.</div>
<div abp="74">
And on top of all the sonic experimentation, it's just a flat-out fun album to listen to. Obviously the chorus of "Once in a Lifetime" is one of the greatest moments in pop history, but tracks like "The Great Curve" and "Crosseyed and Painless" are completely accessible pop songs, just pop songs that have been twisted, rearranged, and tinkered with to the point of complete perfection -- you can listen to the album thirty times and still be discovering new ideas, melodies, and noises.</div>
<div abp="74">
Of course, not everything is completely catchy radio fare -- the opening "Born Under Punches" can be a bit overwhelming at first, due to Byrne's "manic, raving preacher" shtick and the disorienting nature of the percussion. Not to mention that the chorus and various vocal melodies can seem a bit atonal until the ending, when all the song's disparaging elements and fragments come together; oh yes, the glorious cascading vocals and triumphant chants of "AND THE HEAT GOES ON!" that take up the last half of the track might just be the Heads' shining moment as a band.</div>
<div abp="74">
"Listening Wind" and "Houses in Motion" might be viewed as relatively mellow and dull, especially compared to the catchy dance-grooves that make up the album's first half, and while I don't like them quite as much as I do <em>those, </em>I still enjoy them quite a bit. "Wind" in particular is a great track with a memorable chorus, chilling synth textures, and a fascinatingly eerie, uneasy mood. The spoken-word "Seen and Not Seen" can also be slightly off-putting, although the groove that backs up Byrne's story is PHENOMENAL, and the story itself (about how humanity subconsciously either accepts or attempts to change the way they look) is rather thought-provoking. </div>
<div abp="74">
The only track that doesn't completely work for me is the band's Joy Division tribute "The Overload" -- it's too dreary to be enjoyable, and too bland to be depressing. The production is still plenty interesting, but as far as experimental closers to Talking Heads albums go, I'll take "Drugs" any day. Other than that, though, I'd be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with <strong>Remain in Light</strong>. It's an extremely high 14, almost a 15, and easily my favorite album of the 80s. Go into it with an open mind, but give it a shot -- adventurous listeners will be rewarded. There's certainly nothing else like it.</div>
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Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-87747928556248667802013-11-27T17:57:00.003-08:002013-11-27T17:57:32.131-08:00The Name of This Band is Talking Heads -- Talking Heads -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="200" src="http://cdn3.pitchfork.com/albums/8129/homepage_large.48d7eead.jpg" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Name of This Band is Talking Heads (1982/2004)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 12</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"Make a clean break, wipe that love away!"</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Best Song: Love -> Building On Fire/Memories Can't Wait/Heaven</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: I'm Not in Love</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b> </b>The gap between <b>Remain in Light </b>and <b>Speaking in Tongues </b>was filled in by this, the band's first live album. It's been slightly overrated over the years, but I can't deny its power; this is a document of a brilliant band at the height of its powers. <b>Name of This Band </b>isn't a single, complete show; it's actually a compilation of several different Heads performances over the first four years of the band's existence. This definitely makes for an interesting listen, as the tracks are sequenced chronologically -- the tightly-wound guitar interplay of <b>'77 </b>leads into the mild synth touches of <b>More Songs </b>and <b>Fear of Music</b>, but the real shock comes when we hit the <b>Remain in Light </b>tour, as stalwarts like Adrian Belew, Bernie Worrell, and Nona Hendryx (along with a number of other backing members) join the band and effectively create a massive, all-encompassing dance-machine that just <i>barely </i>resembles the nerdy pop-rock shtick of the earlier tracks. <br />
The album starts off with an absolute bang, a mini-set the band recorded live in the studio featuring tracks from <b>77</b>. The group's energetic, David's vocals are in wonderful shape, and the interplay between David and Jerry's Fenders is even more mind-blowing than it was on the album -- in short, it's pretty much early-Heads-heaven. There's even a non-album rarity that made its way on here; it's called "A Clean Break (Let's Work)", and it's positively brilliant. Why it was left off of <b>77</b> is anyone's guess -- it's probably the best track here, topping even the infamous "Psycho Killer" in melody, performance, and sheer enthusiasm. The riffs are absolutely AWESOME, David's vocals are AWESOME ("<i>Wipe that love awaaaaaAAYYYYYYY!</i>"), and all in all it's easily one of my favorite Heads songs. Of course, this entire set of performances isn't quite perfect -- "Who Is It" is completely unnecessary, "The Book I Read" is pretty underwhelming (I was never crazy about it to begin with, but for some reason I really end up disliking the song in this context; chalk it up to my quirks, I guess), and "Pulled Up", while still great, doesn't quite match up to its studio incarnation. Everything else is gold, though.<br />
The album then takes a slight turn for the worse. It doesn't help that my two least favorite tracks from the <b>77 </b>performance are placed right in a row at the end of the set, but the next few songs (all recorded during the <b>More Songs About Buildings and Food </b>era) after this dry spell also do a great deal of damage to the album's pacing. I like this version of "The Big Country" quite well out of context, but <i>in </i>context it sorta drags; same with "I'm Not in Love" and "The Girls Want to Be With the Girls" -- I like both of these songs, but the way they're structured in the album's overall flow just doesn't work well for me at all. It all gets really samey really quickly, and since none of these tracks are downright classics from a songwriting standpoint, it gets a little old. I <i>do </i>enjoy this early version of "Drugs", though; it's called "Electricity", and it replaces the creepy production and vocal effects of the original with a more traditional, riff-rocking style to great effect. "Found a Job" is next, and while I do miss those steel drums during the outro, it works just fine.<br />
The style completely shifts with the next few tracks, thankfully; I can't quite place my finger on it, but the rejuvenated guitar tones and added synth layers utilized by the band on the <b>Fear of Music </b>tour breathes a new layer of life into the album, one which it thankfully keeps for the rest of its running time. There are some completely competent renditions of "Mind" and "Air" here, but the real meat comes in the three-track-stretch of "Love -> Building On Fire", "Memories Can't Wait", and "Heaven". "Building On Fire" is yet another non-album track, and it's nearly as good (if not just as good) as "A Clean Break"; the guitar lines are <i>killer</i>, the bridge is hilariously fun ("<i>We go 'tweet! tweet! tweet! tweet! tweet! tweet! tweet! tweet! tweet!' like little birds!!"</i>), and the main "<i>It's not loooove!</i>" hook in the chorus is ridiculously pleasing to the ear. "Memories" is done up in a hard-rocking, uber-dramatic fashion to great effect, and "Heaven" is given the room to breathe in a live setting that it never quite had on the original. Oh, and Byrne's delivery on the last verse is absolutely <i>HEART-WRENCHING</i>.<br />
And so ends the first disc. The second disc is completely different -- here we get a look at the <b>Remain in Light </b>band, a gigantic conglomerate with all sorts of guest musicians. Adrian Belew is a particularly inspired choice; his guitar effects help spice up nearly every song, and he's an invaluable addition to the group. Things start out well enough with another rendition of "Psycho Killer" followed by a decent run-through of "Warning Sign" and a particularly inspired "Stay Hungry". "Cities" is next, and...uh...what's that in the chorus? Oh yeah, that's Nona Hendryx singing backup. She sounds a little off-key, I'll admit, but she's in the background for the most part, so...she's fine. Besides, "I Zimbra" is next!<br />
...aaaand she completely ruins it by shrieking like a dying wildebeest throughout it. Okay, she doesn't <i>completely </i>ruin it; the guitar interplay is AWESOME here, as Jerry, Adrian, AND David all swap licks and atmospheric touches. The vocal melody, however, is essentially left lying dead on the floor -- why couldn't they get Eno to sing backup on tour instead of <i>HER</i>? I mean, I guess she's fine as an over-the-top soul singer -- she was a member of the band Labelle back in the early 70s (most famous for the infamous "Lady Marmalade"), and as such, she's actually pretty great in "Take Me to the River" -- but when she tries to sing on something like "Houses in Motion" or "Once in a Lifetime" it's just flat-out painful.<br />
I can't blame her, though -- part of the allure of something like "The Great Curve" on <b>Remain in Light </b>was in Eno's intricately-constructed vocal arrangements, and those would be nigh-impossible to recreate in a live setting. And the guitars and rhythm section serve these tracks just fine -- yet another feat one would consider quite difficult given Eno's production, but the band members take up the job admirably. Of course, I'd be hard-pressed to call any of these repurposed songs better than their originals, and they generally work more in a "Wow, they were able to decently recreate *insert <b>Light </b>song here* in a live setting! How impressive!" way than in a "Wow, this is an awesome song! I feel the need to listen to this regularly!" way. That said, certain tracks are pretty cool -- the groove on "Crosseyed and Painless" is pretty freaking great, and this version of "Drugs" is flat-out AMAZING, combining the creepy effects found on the studio version with the liveliness and rocking guitar lines of the "Electricity" rendition found earlier in the album. "Take Me to the River" is a load of fun too, as the band delivers a more straight-forwardly thumping version than the quirky, awkward original.<br />
So it's not quite uber-essential listening, but it's still an interesting artifact of one of the best live bands ever. The first disc is certainly more pleasurable than the second, but I would whole-heartedly recommend the entire thing to any fans of the band. I'm not quite as in love with it as everyone else seems to be, but there's some great stuff to be found on here. Get it after you get a few studio albums, but still definitely get it.<br />
<br /></div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-1374191954047949112013-11-24T12:36:00.000-08:002014-05-14T09:32:06.985-07:00Abbey Road -- The Beatles -- Review<div abp="999" style="text-align: center;">
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<span abp="1001" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img abp="1002" alt="The cover of Abbey Road has no printed words. It is a photo of the Beatles, in side view, crossing the street in single file." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/42/Beatles_-_Abbey_Road.jpg/220px-Beatles_-_Abbey_Road.jpg" height="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Beatles_-_Abbey_Road.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Beatles_-_Abbey_Road.jpg 2x" width="200" /></span></div>
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<div abp="1003" style="text-align: center;">
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<b abp="1005"><span abp="1006" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abbey Road (1969)</span></b></div>
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<b abp="1009"><span abp="1010" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rating: 15</span></b></div>
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<div abp="1011" style="text-align: center;">
<div abp="1012">
<b abp="1013"><span abp="1014" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Oh, that magic feeling / Nowhere to go"</span></b></div>
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<div abp="1015" style="text-align: center;">
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<b abp="1017"><span abp="1018"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best Song: <i abp="1019">The entire second side</i></span></span></b></div>
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<div abp="1020" style="text-align: center;">
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<b abp="1022"><span abp="1023" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worst Song: Come Together</span></b></div>
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<span abp="1026"><br abp="1027" /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
</div>
<div abp="1028">
<span abp="1029" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <i abp="1030">Awwwwww yeahhhhhh</i>. As much as I love <b abp="1031">The Beatles</b>, my adoration of it lies mainly in the fact that it attempts <i abp="1032">everything</i>, and then proceeds to do <i abp="1033">everything </i>successfully. However, while it is indeed well-structured, I still don't get the feeling like I'm listening to some grand "statement". It's just a bunch of really fantastic (hell, <i abp="1034">perfect</i>) songs that...honestly have nothing to do with each other. This isn't a major flaw, just a simple fact. <i abp="1035">This</i> thing, however, is where the band really grabs me by the jugular and refuses to let me go. THIS is their ultimate triumph, and I say this from both a personal and an objective viewpoint. </span></div>
<div abp="1036">
<span abp="1037" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Simply put, this is one of the few Beatles albums that really gives me the "sensory overload" that I talked about in the introduction. For example, in the chorus of the doo-wop-influenced "Oh Darling" I genuinely have a hard time deciding on what great aspect I want to focus on! The banging piano? Paul's <i abp="1038">awesome</i> vocals? Those incessant, biting *<i abp="1039">CLANK</i>* guitar chords? Ringo's brilliant drumming? The awesome, 50s-ish backing vocals? Here's yet another example of the Fabs giving me what I personally crave in music -- brilliant songwriting PLUS brilliant, chock-full arrangements and production. No "Taxman"-esque emptiness to be found here, folks.</span></div>
<div abp="1040">
<span abp="1041" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Well...except for maybe the opening "Come Together". I know, I know, it's generally accepted as a classic, and it's one of the band's most famous numbers, but it's never been one of my favorites. The gibberish lyrics are rather silly, the arrangement is rather barren (although the pounding chorus is admittedly spectacular), and the melody just isn't catchy enough to completely hold my attention. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine song, but as far as major classics go it's always seemed a little weak to my ears.</span></div>
<div abp="1042">
<span abp="1043" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Everything else is sheer perfection, though. There's literally something for EVERYONE here. Don't care for the childlike fun of Ringo's cheerful "Octopus's Garden"? Well, I don't know why you wouldn't (it's the best thing he ever wrote), but just in case you don't, you'll probably find something more to your tastes in John's disturbing jazz-rock/proto-metal fusion monster "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". And while I could go on for hours about that one, I think the phrase "jazz-rock/proto-metal fusion monster" does a pretty decent job of summing up why that track is so unbelievably awesome...but I'll still go on about it anyway. The jazzy verses are wonderful in themselves, but it's the headbang-inducing heaviness of the chorus section that really sells this one for me. That looooong, gruesome fade-out has got to be one of the most memorable moments in Beatles history, and when the song finally drops out only to be replaced by the happy acoustic strums of "Here Comes the Sun", it's a wonderful effect.</span></div>
<div abp="1044">
<span abp="1045" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> George's brilliant "Something" is also a highlight (if you don't get chills during that positively thunderous "<i abp="1046">You're asking me, will my love grow...</i>" section, I'm fairly sure you don't have a soul), as is Paul's quirky murder story "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". I know a lot of people think it's stupid, and...yeah, it kinda is, but it's catchy, it's fun, and I love all the small (but effective!) touches throughout. Whether it be the cute, chipmunk-esque "<i abp="1047">Maxwell must go free!</i>" backing vocals, the hilarious anvil sound effects, or the truly unique (and quite futuristic) synthesizer lines, there's always something going on here that puts a smile on my face and attracts my attention. </span></div>
<div abp="1048">
<span abp="1049" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But as wonderful as all of these other tracks may be, the album's true genius is shown in the medley found on the second side. This story has become infamous by now, but I'll tell it anyway -- Paul and John had an assortment of random song snippets lying around, but both of them felt that these short snippets didn't deserve to be expanded into full-length songs. As such, they agreed to, for lack of a better word, <i abp="1050">smush </i>them all together into one long, perfectly flowing medley. And, in my humble opinion, it's the best thing The Beatles ever did.</span></div>
<div abp="1051">
<span abp="1052" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> While most would argue that the medley begins with "You Never Give Me Your Money", I often think of the previous track, "Because" as being in the medley as well -- the haunting, ethereal vibe of the piece just flows perfectly into the unsure, tender opening to "Money", doesn't it? Whatever the case, both songs are absolutely brilliant; "YNGMYM" in particular is absolutely classic, throwing a bunch of brilliant (and ridiculously emotional) ideas into something of an anthem. I'm especially fond of the joyful, ragtime-y "<i abp="1053">Out of college, money spent</i>" section, and, of course, the moment right when Paul yells "<i abp="1054">Nowhere to go, uh!" </i>and the rest of the band busts through with that <i abp="1055">insanely </i>uplifting, triumphant scream of "<i abp="1056">AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-OOOOOOO!"</i> is overwhelmingly brilliant, to my ears.</span></div>
<div abp="1057">
<span abp="1058" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And it's not like the rest of the medley is any worse. "Mean Mr. Mustard" features a fun character sketch from Lennon, and that fuzz-bass-driven groove is mighty tasty. "Golden Slumbers" is a perfect, ridiculously anthemic piano ballad, "Sun King" is one the band's most beautiful and soothing moments, and "Polythene Pam" is easily my second favorite rock song about a cross-dresser. Oh, and "Carry That Weight" just might be the best part of the whole thing -- those primal yells of "<i abp="1059">Boy, you're gonna carry that weight / Carry that weight a long time!</i>" just SLAY me, and when the horn section kicks in....well, it almost makes me tear up a little. And of course, I think it's brilliant how elements of "You Never Give Me Your Money" are worked back into the track, as well; it really gives the whole medley a feeling of being an actual collective whole, as opposed to just a collection of random songs. </span></div>
<div abp="1060">
<span abp="1061" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> There's also a killer guitar solo, a goofy drum solo, and a completely self-deflating encore that keeps the whole affair from becoming <i abp="1062">too </i>pretentious. But if ever pretension was deserved on a rock album, this is certainly the one that should earn it. In the end, <b abp="1063">Abbey Road</b> is The Beatles' most touching, most emotional, most well-written, best-produced, most flat-out perfect album. It defines musical nirvana as I know it, and in the world of popular music, its stature is unassailable. If you've never heard it, you've never experienced one of the true examples of perfection in the world of mass art. </span></div>
<div abp="1064">
<span abp="1065" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> There, now is that pretentious and serious enough for you?</span></div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-34176501883302112542013-11-24T12:35:00.001-08:002013-11-24T12:35:52.700-08:00Past Masters, Volume 1 -- The Beatles -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dc/The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_One.jpg/220px-The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_One.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_One.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_One.jpg 2x" width="200" /> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Past Masters, Volume 1 (1988)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 12</b></div>
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<b>"How can you laugh when you know I'm down?"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: I Want to Hold Your Hand</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: I Call Your Name</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
For those not in the know, in the late 80s EMI took a look at their vaults and realized that The Beatles had a great deal of material released only on singles. You see, back in the 50s and early 60s, bands would write 2 or 3 good singles and then record about 25 minutes of cover tunes and filler; this was how most pop albums were produced. The Fab Four, however, took a different approach, one designed to give their fans the most bang for their buck -- they would indeed record a series of brilliant, well-selling singles, but they would never actually place them on their albums, leading to every album containing nothing but completely new material. This was great back in the day, but by the 80s this proposition was a little troublesome; there was a load of great material released by the band that was virtually inaccessible.<br />
Enter <b>Past Masters</b>, a two-volume set of all the singles released by the band. This first set, comprised of material released from 1962 to 1965, is a little weaker than the second set, but it's still necessary. Sure, there are some middling tunes -- Ringo's cover of "Matchbox" is forgettable, Paul's chipper "She's a Woman" is rather boring, and John's "I Call Your Name" is just...meh. There are also German versions of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You", which, while fun for novelty value, are completely unnecessary when the brilliant originals are already placed on the exact same album.<br />
Other minuses include the silly "Bad Boy" and the slightly cheesy "This Boy" (although the middle eight on that one is friggin' excellent, featuring some of John's best vocals EVER), but everything else is definitely solid. The afore-mentioned "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" are pretty overplayed and ubiquitous, but you're heavily saturated with them for a reason! They're both spectacular pop gems, particularly "Hold Your Hand", which features some of the best harmonies I have EVER heard. "I'm Down" is Paul's attempt at something of a...hard-rock surf-rock doo-wop number, and he pulls it off handily -- it's brilliant. I've admittedly never been a huge fan of the group's first single "Love Me Do", but its follow-up, "From Me to You" is absolutely splendid, combining some great vocal melodies with a great harmonica line.<br />
There are other highlights as well (Paul's cover of "Long Tall Sally", "I'll Get You", and the groundbreaking "I Feel Fine"), but I'm sure you get the idea -- a great collection of a decent period by a great band. There are far more essential Beatles recordings, but I'd be hard-pressed not to recommend this at least somewhat. A solid buy.Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-1495678260733292832013-11-19T08:44:00.005-08:002013-11-19T08:44:46.032-08:00Past Masters, Volume Two -- The Beatles -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="thumbimage" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/14/The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_Two.jpg/220px-The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_Two.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_Two.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/The_Beatles_-_Past_Masters_-_Volume_Two.jpg 2x" width="200" /><br />
<b>Past Masters, Volume Two (1988)</b><br />
<b>Rating: 14</b><br />
<b>"Don't you know it's gonna be / Alright!"</b><br />
<b>Best Song: <i>????</i></b><br />
<b>Worst Song: Old Brown Shoe</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
The <b>Past Masters</b> train rolls on as we track the band throughout their true glory years. And yes, this is one hell of a compilation, one that should be owned by everyone. The disc kicks off with "Day Tripper", a song known by virtually everyone. What can I say -- it's catchy, the riff is immaculate, blah blah blah. Its b-side, "We Can Work It Out", might be even better, though. The melody is wonderful, the harmonium is a great touch, and I love how the tempo and mood keep shifting around throughout the whole track. Pretty freaking progressive for a pop single from 1965! (I should also mention that Stevie Wonder's little-known cover of this track is positively EXCELLENT.) Both of these songs are great, and I have absolutely no clue why either of them were left off of <b>Rubber Soul</b> (they were recorded during the same sessions) for substantially weaker material.<br />
Similarly, I have no idea why "Rain" and "Paperback Writer" didn't make it onto <b>Revolver</b>! Both tracks are FAR greater than anything like "Good Day Sunshine" or "Doctor Robert", and had they made it on there I might have even raised the score a bit. Ah well, we can still listen to them here, and they're both brilliant. "Rain" in particular is a stone-cold classic, filled with some AWESOME harmonies and what is quite possibly Ringo's best ever drumming. Oh, and dig that simply bizarre ending as John's vocal is filtered backwards over a sea of trumpet samples. Strange. Of course, "Paperback Writer" is no slouch either, but I'm sure you already know it by heart.<br />
Elsewhere you'll find hilarious novelty numbers ("You Know My Name"), one of George's best, most underrated Indian excursions ("The Inner Light"), and alternate versions of a few songs from Let It Be ("Across the Universe", "Get Back", and the title track) that are generally quite even with the original versions. You'll also find "Hey Jude" on here, which is still a classic...even if you've heard it 1,098,234 times. Sure, maybe the "na na na" coda winds on for a bit too long, but I still get chills when those horns kick in. Its B-side is hardly any worse, though -- "Revolution" is probably the Fabs' hardest-rocking tune ever, a complete jolt to the senses that thumps along with an intensity that one would expect on something like <b>Led Zeppelin II</b>, not a Beatles compilation.<br />
Paul's ridiculously catchy piano rocker "Lady Madonna" is also here (man, I love that saxophone line that kicks in from time to time), as well as John's rollicking "Ballad of John and Yoko" (man, I love those biting guitar leads that kick in from time to time) and his ridiculously emotional, powerful "Don't Let Me Down", one of my very favorite Beatles tunes (and one of my very favorite love songs ever, period). Why it didn't make it onto <b>Let It Be</b> is anybody's guess.<br />
And now we come to the problem of rating the album. There's no denying that the songs here are on the same level as the tracks on the "big four"; however, there is absolutely no "grand artistic scope/vision" here to push me over the edge into giving it a 15. (It also doesn't help that the singles are arranged strictly in chronological order, as opposed to simply placing them in a fashion that flows well like some other compilations.) I'll happily give it a 14, though, placing it firmly in the category of "not a completely perfect, groundbreaking artistic statement, but an undeniably essential addition to your music collection". And yes, I'm rating it higher than <b>Rubber Soul</b> and <b>Revolver</b> -- sue me.Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-86623899538821523762013-11-11T10:48:00.000-08:002013-11-11T10:48:19.420-08:00Squeeze -- The Velvet Underground -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4f/Squeeze_The_Velvet_Underground.jpg/220px-Squeeze_The_Velvet_Underground.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/Squeeze_The_Velvet_Underground.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/Squeeze_The_Velvet_Underground.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Squeeze (1973)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 9</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"Did I make you happy? Did I make you cry?"</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Best Song: Little Jack</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Worst Song: Dopey Joe</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
After the commercial failure of <b>Loaded</b>, Lou, Sterling, and Maureen Tucker all left the band, leaving poor Doug Yule as the band's only remaining member. Not about to give up his last chance at commercial success, Yule got together with Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice and recorded a series of songs consisting of nothing more than Doug's voice, whatever instrument Doug was playing at the time, and Paice's drums. A saxophonist and some female vocalists were eventually brought in as an attempt to expand the sound, but for all intents and purposes, <b>Squeeze</b> is nothing more than a Doug Yule solo album. He sings lead, he sings harmony with himself (even attempting to pull off a decent Lou impersonation at times), he plays nearly every instrument, and he even produced the LP himself. The end result was a complete failure, both critically and commercially, leading most to pronounce the record one of the absolute worst of all time.<br />
So what does it actually sound like? Well, it's nothing more than 35 minutes of simple, two-to-three minute pop songs, just like the more flippant numbers found on <b>Loaded</b>. And I like it! I mean, it's hardly among the greatest albums ever, but it's not like Yule's musical talents suddenly disappeared. The best tracks here are easily the equal of "Who Loves the Sun", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", and their ilk. Of course, those who think of <b>Loaded</b> as a terrible "sell-out" of an album would probably hate this, but me? Hey, I dig it. Fans of early-70s pop like Big Star should be all over this.<br />
Highlights include the ridiculously catchy "She'll Make You Cry", the Neil Diamond-aping "Caroline" (literally, the chorus features nothing but Yule shouting "Sweet Caroline!!"), and the countryish piano-pop of "Wordless". I'm also a fan of the opening "Little Jack", despite it being a hilariously obvious rip-off of the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" -- the bouncing rhythm, the "hoo hooo!" backing vocals, and even the verse melody are essentially lifted straight from it. But all these elements are repurposed in a surprisingly fun, entertaining way, and I can't help but enjoy the track. Of course, it's not all perfect. "Crash" is a completely forgettable throwaway, and the over-repetitive "Dopey Joe" is...well...I'm sure you see this joke coming, but yes, it's indeed very dopey. The closing "Louise" isn't bad per se, but it's nothing more than a rather unmemorable piano-pop song that just so happens to feature a bridge which sounds IDENTICAL to the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". It's perfectly listenable, though.<br />
Hell, the whole album's perfectly listenable! It's probably the worst of the five proper studio albums released under the band's name, but if you have any fondness for <b>Loaded</b> and you want more VU goodness along those same lines, definitely give this a listen.Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-50204789643955067902013-11-11T09:53:00.005-08:002013-11-11T09:53:59.287-08:00Speaking in Tongues -- Talking Heads -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Talking_Heads_-_Speaking_in_Tongues.jpg/220px-Talking_Heads_-_Speaking_in_Tongues.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Talking_Heads_-_Speaking_in_Tongues.jpg/330px-Talking_Heads_-_Speaking_in_Tongues.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Talking_Heads_-_Speaking_in_Tongues.jpg/440px-Talking_Heads_-_Speaking_in_Tongues.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Speaking in Tongues (1983)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 8</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"Stop making sense!"</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Best Song: This Must Be the Place</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Worst Song: Girlfriend is Better</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
After the hyper-obsessive, ultra-intense sessions for <b>Remain in Light </b>were finished and the critical praise started rolling in, the band was stressed out to the max. They all proceeded to diverge and create a load of various solo projects (Byrne and Eno released their ultra-influential <b>My Life in the Bush of Ghosts</b>, Jerry released his underrated solo debut <b>The Red and the Black</b>, and Tina and Chris joined forces and became the surprisingly successful Tom Tom Club) until they eventually got back together three years later...without Eno. Now, no one is quite sure exactly why Eno left, although most seem to think that Byrne fired him as a way of preserving the band's identity -- none of the other members were as head-over-heels in love with Brian as Byrne was, and I'm guessing that David decided to drop Eno as a way of keeping in-fighting down. Besides, after <b>Remain</b>, where were they going to go with Eno? What else could they do? They had reached the very top of the mountain, as far as groundbreaking sonic experimentation was concerned. And thus, they decided to go in the exact opposite direction...they SOLD OUT. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Okay, that's a bit of an overstatement, but there's some truth to it -- the music video for "Once in a Lifetime" was a MAJOR MTV hit, becoming one of the most famous music videos ever, and the silly dance-pop of the Tom Tom Club had introduced some of the band members to a decent degree of popularity. I can't blame them for wanting to capitalize on their success, I just...wish they had done it in a more interesting way. This is nothing more than 50 straight minutes of bouncy dance-pop, "The Great Curve"-for-dummies, a poor man's Prince. It's all listenable, mind you (and certain songs, like the awesome, bluesy "Swamp" and the infamous "Burning Down the House" approach excellence), but it's also mostly forgettable. Of course, it <i>was </i>popular, and this album is the main reason that most average Joes recognize the name "Talking Heads", and for that I suppose I'm grateful, but I don't see myself throwing this one on very much in the future. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It also doesn't help that every song here is 5 or so minutes long (I suppose that's a suitable amount for a dance song, but still), leading to a very tiring experience. I could list some songs out for you, but I really don't see the point -- they're all bouncy, slightly catchy (well, except "Girlfriend is Better" -- I don't like that one at all), and generally pleasant background music, but from the people responsible for <b>Fear of Music </b>you would expect a little more than that. No thank you. (Oh, but "This Must Be the Place" is a deserved classic, a strangely beautiful, introspective near-ballad. Make sure to track down that one, "Burning Down the House", and "Swamp". You're welcome.) </div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-30557719732714887202013-09-29T12:22:00.000-07:002013-09-29T12:22:19.630-07:00The Flaming Lips -- Album Reviews<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Flaming Lips -- Complete Discography</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>------------------------------------------------------------</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/09/hear-it-is-flaming-lips-review.html">Hear It Is (1986)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/08/oh-my-gawd-flaming-lips-review.html">Oh My Gawd!!... (1987)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Telepathic Surgery (1989)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/08/in-priest-driven-ambulance-flaming-lips.html">In a Priest Driven Ambulance [with Silver Sunshine Stares] (1990)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/08/hit-to-death-in-future-head-flaming.html">Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/08/transmissions-from-satellite-heart.html">Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/07/clouds-taste-metallic-flaming-lips.html">Clouds Taste Metallic (1995)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/07/zaireeka-flaming-lips-review.html">Zaireeka (1997)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-soft-bulletin-flaming-lips-review.html">The Soft Bulletin (1999)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/yoshimi-battles-pink-robots-flaming_9.html">Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/void-flaming-lips-review.html">VOID (2005)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/at-war-with-mystics-flaming-lips-review.html">At War with the Mystics (2006)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/05/embryonic-flaming-lips-review.html">Embryonic (2009)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-dark-side-of-moon-flaming-lips.html">The Dark Side of the Moon (2009)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/gummy-song-fetus-ep-flaming-lips-review.html">Gummy Song Fetus [EP] (2011)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-flaming-lips-and-heady-fwends.html">The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012)</a></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://reagansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-terror-by-flaming-lips-review.html">The Terror (2013)</a></b></div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-34602821679145763522013-09-29T12:21:00.000-07:002013-09-29T12:21:48.475-07:00Stop Making Sense -- Talking Heads -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e0/Stop_Making_Sense_-_Talking_Heads.jpg/220px-Stop_Making_Sense_-_Talking_Heads.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Stop_Making_Sense_-_Talking_Heads.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Stop_Making_Sense_-_Talking_Heads.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Stop Making Sense (1984)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 11</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"Hi! I've got a tape I wanna play."</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Best Song: Burning Down the House <i>or </i>Crosseyed and Painless</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Worst Song: Genius of Love</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b> </b>Okay, first things first -- if you haven't seen <i>Stop Making Sense</i>, stop reading this review and watch it immediately. This album is essentially nothing more than a straight audio recording of the infamous concert film, and while the soundtrack is great in its own right, it's truly something to behold when you're watching the real thing. Directed by Jonathan Demme of <i>Silence of the Lambs </i>fame, it's easily<i> </i>the best concert movie ever made, <i>Last Waltz</i>-be-damned. It's filmed excellently, the band is at its peak in playing prowess (they were nine members strong at this point), and the setlist is a wonderful combo of the band's entire career up to this point. By all means, see it, even if you're not a Heads fan. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As far as the album itself is concerned, it's fine; it may not be as powerful without actually <i>seeing </i>the band put all of this stuff together, but it still makes for a great listen. And for those of you who already own <b>Name of This Band</b>, there's definitely some stuff of interest on here for you as well. First off, you get several renditions of tracks from <b>Speaking in Tongues</b> (which all sound better here than they did in their original incarnations); the ridiculously energetic "Burning Down the House" is a clear highlight, but "Swamp" and "Slippery People" groove along mightily as well, and "This Must Be the Place" is as delightful as ever. You'll also get a wonderful acoustic rendition of "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" (which was unfortunately one of the few tracks from the band's early epoch not to make it onto <b>Name of This Band</b>), a ditty from Tina and Jerry's Tom Tom Club side project called "Genius of Love" (okay, this one's not so great), and a wonderfully catchy rarity called "What a Day That Was" which you can't find anywhere else. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Everything else can be found on <b>Name of This Band</b>, but it's not like these versions are completely worthless; for one, the expanded band sounds a good bit tighter here than they did back then, and as such, songs like "Once in a Lifetime" and <i>especially </i>"Life During Wartime" (man, this version of "Wartime" is incredible) sound quite a bit improved from their previous incarnations...but nothing compares to the BRILLIANT rendition of "Crosseyed and Painless", which might just improve on the original. Yeah, that's right -- the live band sounds even better than Eno's production. Impressive.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There's also a beautifully stripped-down performance of "Heaven", a decent run-through of "Take Me to the River", and a perfectly fine "Found a Job". Oh, and Byrne even attempts an acoustic version of "Psycho Killer" that works far better than it has any right to.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Okay, there's not much for me to say here, honestly -- as far as negatives go, there might be a few too many tracks from <b>Speaking in Tongues</b>, and since nearly everything on here features the band in full-out-arena-dance mode, it starts getting a little monotonous by the last half of the album. But hey, if you're a fan of <b>Speaking in Tongues </b>or a MASSIVE fan of <b>Name of This Band </b>who's dying for more live Heads, you'll be all over this. Anybody else? Eh, just watch the movie. </div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-87496466339887179932013-09-29T12:19:00.000-07:002013-09-29T12:19:17.255-07:00Little Creatures -- Talking Heads -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/ce/Thlittlecreates.jpg/220px-Thlittlecreates.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ce/Thlittlecreates.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ce/Thlittlecreates.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Little Creatures (1985)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 8</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"We're on the road to nowhere"</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Best Song: And She Was</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Worst Song: <i>I'm not sure. </i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Yaaaaaawn</i>. After <b>Stop Making Sense </b>became the biggest thing since sliced *insert pun on the word "bread" here*, the band decided they didn't want to go back to being underground sonic experimentalists. As such, they recorded <i>this</i>, an album of straightforward, bland pop tunes. Sure, they're well-made, but there really isn't much to say here. "And She Was" is actually great, an uptempo number (then again, everything here's uptempo) that actually bothers to include some memorable hooks and melodies. And isn't that bridge where the whole band shouts "<i>hey, HEY! HEY! HEY! hey! HEY HEYYY!</i>" just wonderful? If the whole album was as good as "And She Was", I'd probably like it as much as everybody else seemingly does.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And everybody seems to love it <i>a lot</i>. This is the band's highest-selling album, which does nothing more than prove just how mindless most music listeners are -- a band as great as Talking Heads has to release a super-accessible, boring pop album in order to get any major mainstream success. But hey, that's just how average people are, right? The critics probably attacked this thing, didn't they?...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
...well, nope. It was actually voted best album of the year by that yearly <i>Pazz & Jop</i> album-reception-tallying-thing (if you've never heard of it, it's essentially the magazine equivalent of Metacritic). Allmusic gave it 4.5 stars, <i>Rolling Stone </i>gave it a positive review, and even the consensus of the Web Review Community is that it's a fairly great album, one worthy of comparison with <b>'77</b>. Um...no. Well, at least, not in my opinion.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I guess I should talk about the songs, but I feel like the description of every track would be the same. The stuff here is generally pleasant background music, but I would never listen to any of these tracks (save maybe "And She Was") if not for having to review them. The whole thing just swirls around in my head as a bland, unintelligible group of <i>very </i>80s pop songs, and forgettable ones at that. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Creatures of Love" is a decent country-tinged song that tackles the subject of sex in the most hilariously bland way possible. I mean, I suppose I should be proud of Byrne for even <i>mentioning </i>the subject, but if he's just going to view it as "okay" and as a way to produce "little creatures", then I don't know why he would even bring it up. Then again, his completely uncaring attitude about sexuality is admittedly funny, so I suppose it's entertaining. The song really isn't though; all I can say about it is that it sounds like mid-80s Talking Heads doing a country song. Yeah.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Give Me Back My Name" features a cool sonic texture, but the song itself is essentially melody-less. I suppose the basic tune of "Stay Up Late" is good enough, but the lyrics are so stupid that it's almost hard to listen to. The gist of the song is that Byrne is so obsessed with his baby that he wants to stay up all night with it, but his goofy delivery and the even <i>goofier </i>lyrics make it sort of a pain to listen to...and the god-awful hip-hop break in the bridge doesn't help matters. Lead single "The Lady Don't Mind" is a little better; the keyboard tone is straight out of <b>Let's Dance</b>, Byrne's delivery is fairly nice, and the horn section is a nice touch. Heck, I'd go as far as saying that it's actually <i>catchy</i>, so...good job, guys!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The closing "Road to Nowhere" is kind of a highlight; the band brings back the martial drumbeat from "Tentative Decisions" (man, I should be listening to <b>'77 </b>right now...) and throws in a ridiculously odd choral intro, giving the song something of a regal feel. I mean, the melody is as forgettable as everything else on here, but it's not bad! "Walk It Down" is also one of the better tracks here, full of groovy synths and featuring a nice chorus. And the little filter that Byrne sings through here is pretty cool-sounding, admittedly. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But everything else? Meh. It's all just in one ear and out the other, and while you could do much worse than this album, you could also do a lot better. Grab the highlights on iTunes, but don't get the album itself unless you're a big fan of 80s pop (and even if you <i>are </i>a fan of 80s pop, you'd do better just to get <b>True Stories </b>anyway).</div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-75254436362601778442013-09-25T09:35:00.004-07:002013-09-26T14:16:37.480-07:00True Stories -- Talking Heads -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8e/Talking_Heads_-_True_Stories_-1986-.jpg/220px-Talking_Heads_-_True_Stories_-1986-.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8e/Talking_Heads_-_True_Stories_-1986-.jpg/330px-Talking_Heads_-_True_Stories_-1986-.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/Talking_Heads_-_True_Stories_-1986-.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>True Stories (1986)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 9</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"This is your story"</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Best Song: Wild Wild Life <i>or </i>Dream Operator</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Worst Song: Papa Legba</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b> </b>After Talking Heads finally went "big" with the major success of <b>Speaking in Tongues </b>and <b>Little Creatures</b>, Byrne decided that he wanted to branch out into a new medium. Thus, he decided to write, direct, and star in a bizarre, post-modern movie musical set in an imaginary Texas town. For the record, I've never actually seen the entire film, but from the parts that I <i>have </i>seen, it definitely looks...interesting. The movie also stars John Goodman, strangely enough, and <i>yes</i>, he sings. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
At any rate, this album consists of all the songs included in the film, although here they're being performed by Talking Heads as opposed to the stars of the movie. And, I've gotta say...it's pretty good. I mean, most of the album admittedly seems like nothing more than "quirky-80s-dance-pop-by-numbers", and coming from a genius like David Byrne, that's a little disappointing, but this is <i>really </i>solid. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Well, mostly solid. "Puzzlin' Evidence" is certainly fun (the over-the-top choir shouting in the background is a nice touch), but it winds on for way too long, and in the end it's utterly forgettable. "Papa Legba" breaks away from the happy-synth-pop mould that the rest of the album falls into, but it does so in a dreadfully boring way; it's essentially a brain-dead version of "Listening Wind". I suppose there's some slightly interesting Spanish flavor in there, but...egh. Why in the world does the worst song on the album have to wind on for 6 minutes? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Hey Now" is a definite improvement, though; it's a load of fun too, with its "Hokey Pokey"-esque melody and slight Latin flair, and it's smart enough to finish off at around the three-minute mark. The best thing here is probably the massive hit "Wild Wild Life". I must admit -- for years and years (literally since I was a little kid) I've heard this track, but I had NO IDEA it was by Talking Heads until I sat down and listened to this album for review. Ironically, I always thought it was called "Why Why Why", but I guess that's a side-effect of only hearing it through terrible supermarket speakers for years and years (fun fact: I've also heard "Once in a Lifetime" at a supermarket...oh, and I heard David Bowie's "Sound + Vision" at a Chinese restaurant one time; now <i>that </i>was odd).</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Whatever the case -- "Wild Wild Life" is an absolutely brilliant song, one of the better straight-forward 80s pop songs I've ever heard; the chorus is ridiculously catchy, the lyrics are fun, the energy is unbeatable...yup, it's a classic. Oh, and there's also the accordion-driven "Radio Head", which is actually fantastic. Yeah, it's just a fun, silly pop song (like everything else on here), but it's a <i>really </i>well-written silly pop song. And yup, Radiohead got their name from the track; I find it especially ironic that Byrne describes the titular object as "the sound of a brave new world", obviously referencing the famous dystopian novel of the same name. I don't see anything particularly dystopian about <b>Pablo Honey</b>, but I think "the sound of a brave new world" is about as perfect of a description of <b>OK Computer</b> or <b>Kid A </b>as any.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"Love for Sale" is a fun, surprisingly rocking number with an ridiculously raucous vocal performance from Byrne, and "Dream Operator" is a...well, it's actually a really touching ballad. The rolling piano lines are <i>gorgeous</i>, the guitar is beautifully atmospheric in a way almost reminiscent of Television (think "Elevation" or "Guiding Light"), and David gives the prettiest performance he's given since "Heaven". It might actually be <i>better</i> than "Heaven", crazy enough. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And "People Like Us" is just as pretty as that! It's sort of a cross between a traditional country song (complete with some of the best steel guitar work this side of <b>Apollo </b>and a wonderful hint of fiddle) and a classic Heads tune like "Found a Job", and yes, that means lots of jittery guitar work and a wonderful sing-a-long melody. Great stuff! It might be a little long, sure, but it's great!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There's also another touching, "Heaven"-esque ballad in the from of the closing "City of Dreams", and...that's your album! It's not a classic, but it's fun, it's catchy, and it's surprisingly cathartic in more than a few places. It should be one of your last Heads purchases, but if you like the band I don't see why you wouldn't like this.</div>
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</div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-68872369480511044312013-09-22T11:15:00.000-07:002013-09-22T11:15:46.948-07:00MGMT -- MGMT -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/MGMT_Cover_Art.jpg/220px-MGMT_Cover_Art.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/MGMT_Cover_Art.jpg/330px-MGMT_Cover_Art.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/MGMT_Cover_Art.jpg/440px-MGMT_Cover_Art.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>MGMT (2013)</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Rating: 9</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"I love those alien days"</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Best Song: Introspection</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Worst Song: I Love You Too, Death</b></div>
<br />
Well, they lost all their fair-weather synth-pop friends after <b>Congrats</b>, and thus they decided to go for broke and become even <i>stranger</i>, resulting in what has to be the weirdest major-label album in some time. Flaming Lips producer Dave Friddman was brought in to amp up the sound with some technicolor, psychedelic fireworks, and...well, he certainly amped it up, but not necessarily in a good way. The album as a whole <i>reeks </i>of over-compression, almost to the point of causing the listener to become uncomfortable.<br />
And while every other critic is remarking on this as well, you should really take it seriously that I'm bringing it up -- you see, the so-called "Loudness War" has never really bothered me. Plenty of albums have been accused of excessive noise over the past few years, but very, very few have ever bothered me to any noticeable degree. And even if I <i>do </i>notice it, I'll typically just bump the bass up in my car or iPod or what-have-you, and then proceed to completely forget about it.<br />
But not so here -- every song here just has the almost sickening level of trebly crunch added on to it, and while I guess it isn't *that* big of a deal, it probably cost the album a point or two. Not to mention that this sound is remarkably constant throughout the entire LP, giving the whole affair a very repetitive vibe. In short: the production doesn't ruin the album, but it certainly makes it hard to listen to from beginning to end.<br />
With that out of the way, we might as well take a look at the songs. The album kicks off with "Alien Days", which is...well...hm. How do I describe it?<br />
So the track (and the album) starts off with Andrew singing an enchanting duet with a little girl. Noises and sounds gradually build over the first minute or so, and then....*<i>WHOOSH</i>*, you're thrust into the abyss. The meticulously constructed track comes off like a candy-flavored, neon-colored cross between Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Lucky Man" and Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (I'm sure that "LSD" is an influence here, and I mean that in all its various connotations), and it's exactly as strange as it sounds. But it is indeed enjoyable, muddled production and all. It also helps that the actual songwriting here is among the best on the album, so even if you're not particularly crazy about the window dressing, you should be able to at least enjoy the melody. Oh, and it should go without saying -- if "Alien Days" is too weird for you, then you'd better leave the rest of the album alone.<br />
Of course, weirdness isn't an inherently bad thing -- just ask The Flaming Lips (or David Lynch, for that matter) -- but weirdness only for weirdness' sake sorta <i>is </i>a negative. Yeah, <b>Congratulations </b>was weird, but its weirdness was the crumbled cracker topping on an already delicious chicken casserole (METAPHOR HO!). On here, the band seems to have taken on the goal of weirdness first and songs second, and that's a problem.<br />
For example, I think the bizarre sound of the <b>Embryonic</b>-esque "Mystery Disease" is pretty cool (I mean, I <i>did </i>describe it as "<b>Embryonic</b>-esque", didn't I?), but for the life of me, I cannot remember a single thing about the melody except for the semi-catchy repetitions of the title. And with the track coming from a band who provided the world with some of the catchiest pop singles of the late-aughties, this is fairly troubling.<br />
Although that's not to say that there aren't any good ear-worms here -- the mellow, <i>very </i>60s anthem "Introspection" is a great track with a wonderful vocal melody (although that great melody may only be here because the track's actually a Faine Jade cover -- I guess that explains the 60s vibe), and the repetitive industrial crunch of "Your Life is a Lie" is <i>extremely </i>fun (and the music video is incredibly funny) -- but for the most part, the songs here just pass me by and leave me fairly cold. "Astro-Mancy" and "An Orphan of Fortune" both sound somewhat interesting (and I like the general vibe of both tracks), but both just seem to be nothing more than a bunch of random (but cool!) noises spliced together while Andrew coos a barely-even-there vocal melody over the whole thing. I think the band was trying to go for a more psychedelic version of <b>Kid A</b>/<b>Amnesiac</b>-era Radiohead, and while it works at times (the gradual, unsettling crescendo in the last half of "Astro-Mancy" is admittedly impressive), at others it just feels like nothing's really going on. The only track in this style that truly works for me is "A Good Sadness", which actually features a well-written, eerie vocal melody in addition to all of the random noises. <br />
The first half of "I Love You Too, Death" is more "Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors" than "In Limbo", and if you know your Radiohead, you understand that this is something of a problem. Thankfully, the second half is a little bit better; yeah, the production is still ridiculously busy, but the song turns into something of a nice ballad (think "I Found a Whistle"), and it's...listenable. "Plenty of Girls in the Sea" is one of the few moments on the album when the band actually seems like it's having fun (<i>GASP!!</i>), and it's got a nice sing-a-long melody and some funny lyrics, so it works well enough. And the chaotic, noisy instrumental breaks actually work well here -- they provide a nice contrast to the bubblegum-pop of the chorus, and they're mercifully brief.<br />
Yep, it's a mess. A <i>listenable </i>mess, and an interesting one, but a mess. If you're completely in love with <b>Congratulations </b>then you'll probably at least *like* this, but it's nowhere near the level of that masterpiece. I flip-flopped between an 8 and a 9 for this one, and I decided to go with a 9 for effort (plus, I really like a couple of these tracks), but proceed with caution. And hey, guys? We get it. You're not a pop band anymore. You're <i>artísts. </i>But just because something's pleasant to the ear doesn't mean that it's "selling out", alright? So don't be so obsessed with making sure all your pop fans leave you alone that you go <i>completely </i>off the deep end. Life's about balance, ain't it? Well, at any rate -- good luck next time, gentlemen. I'll be rooting for you.Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-55630456143401579572013-09-15T09:22:00.000-07:002013-09-15T09:22:05.018-07:00Top 10 Most Baffling Album of the Year Winners Hey there! It's Reagan. I'm sorry about the sporadic updating, I really am. And thus, I have decided to make a new rule -- FROM THIS DAY FORWARD (this day being September the 15th, 2013), REAGAN'S REVIEWS WILL BE UPDATED WITH TWO NEW POSTS EVERY SUNDAY. That's right. It may be a review and a blog entry, it may be two reviews, it may be two top 10 lists -- whatever. But there has to be two posts a week. I feel like I can at <i>least </i>manage that.<br />
At any rate, in addition to today's review of Talking Heads' <b>Naked</b>, I'm also treating you guys to this, my first top ten list since last January. Today we'll be looking at the ten most undeserving winners of the Grammy for Album of the Year. We all know that the Grammys are essentially stupid and meaningless, but some years they're <i>ultra</i>-stupid and meaningless, and I'm here to make fun of them. In fact, they're actually ultra-stupid and meaningless quite often -- it was rather difficult to narrow it down to ten. But thankfully I did, so now I present to you...the Top 10 Most Baffling Album of the Year Winners!<br />
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<b>#10 </b></div>
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<img alt="" class="thumbborder" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/86/Taylor_Swift_-_Fearless.png/220px-Taylor_Swift_-_Fearless.png" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Taylor_Swift_-_Fearless.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Taylor_Swift_-_Fearless.png 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Fearless by Taylor Swift (won in 2010)</b></div>
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<b> </b>This is one of the cases where the competition really wasn't very stiff -- as far as other nominees go, Swifty only had a bunch of mindless pop to deal with. Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé certainly weren't making anything far better than what Taylor put out. And as far as great un-nominated albums go, I can only name <b>Merriweather Post Pavilion</b>, <b>Revolution</b>, and <b>Embryonic </b>as actual classics that I would've preferred to have won. So, the only real reason I'm putting this on the list at all is simple -- <i>Taylor Swift</i> won a <i>Grammy</i> for <i>Album of the Year</i>. And, in my opinion, this...shouldn't have happened. Is anyone really going to remember <b>Fearless </b>fifty years from now? Would anyone seriously call this a classic album??</div>
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<b>#9</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6b/Steelydan-twoagainstnature.jpg/220px-Steelydan-twoagainstnature.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Steelydan-twoagainstnature.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Steelydan-twoagainstnature.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Two Against Nature by Steely Dan (won in 2001)</b></div>
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I'm afraid that <b>Two Against Nature </b>will forever go down in history as nothing more than "the album that beat <b>Kid A</b>". While I'm sure that Radiohead's masterpiece is far greater than Steely Dan's minor work, from what I've heard, <b>Two Against Nature </b>is actually a semi-decent album. The album also won against Eminem's seminal <b>Marshall Mathers LP</b>, which is, yeah, a bit baffling. </div>
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<b>#8</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="197" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/Amanandhismusic.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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<b>A Man and His Music by Frank Sinatra (won in 1967)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b> </b>Far from being an essential work of Sinatra's, <b>A Man and His Music </b>is nothing more than a compilation of re-recorded hits strung together by narration about his life. And <i>this</i>, ladies and gents, was chosen by the Academy over such masterworks as <b>Pet Sounds </b>and <b>Blonde on Blonde</b>. </div>
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<b>#7</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="198" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/Tonybennettunplugged.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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<b>MTV Unplugged by Tony Bennett (won in 1995)</b></div>
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...do I really need to comment here? A live album by Tony Bennett (released in 1994, no less) with the word "MTV" in the title was granted AOTY instead of classics like <b>Parklife</b>, <b>Weezer</b>, <b>Dookie</b>, <b>The Downward Spiral</b>, <b>Crooked Rain Crooked Rain</b>, or, heck, even <b>The Division Bell</b>! Uh...what?</div>
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<b>#6</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="195" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Sinatraseptember.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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<b>September of My Years by Frank Sinatra (won in 1966)</b></div>
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Admittedly, <b>September of My Years </b>is a great album, one of Sinatra's finest. However, it's hard for me to believe that it's more deserving of the award than <b>Rubber Soul</b>, <b>Highway 61 Revisited</b>, <b>The Beach Boys Today!</b>, <b>Bringing It All Back Home</b>, or <b>A Love Supreme</b>. Why is this hard for me to believe? Simple -- because it isn't!</div>
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<b>#5</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="197" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Natalie_Cole-Unforgettable_With_Love_%28album_cover%29.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Unforgettable... with Love by Natalie Cole (won in 1992)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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A middling R&B album recorded by a girl famous for nothing other than being Nat King Cole's daughter is better than <b>Nevermind</b>, <b>Loveless</b>, <b>Ten</b>, <b>The Low End Theory</b>, <b>Out of Time</b>, and <b>Spiderland</b>, apparently.</div>
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<b>#4</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0a/BS%26T_cover.jpg/220px-BS%26T_cover.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/BS%26T_cover.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/BS%26T_cover.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Blood, Sweat, & Tears by Blood, Sweat, & Tears (won in 1970)</b></div>
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Blood, Sweat, and Tears were a boring, yet decent, jazz-rock group, and while their sophomore album was quite good indeed, it's not quite an all-time classic...although the Academy seems to disagree. They voted it Album of the Year in a year which also featured <b>Tommy, Led Zeppelin, Let It Bleed, In the Court of the Crimson King, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, </b>and another little album known as <b>Abbey Road</b>. Are you trying to tell me that <b>Blood, Sweat, and Tears </b>is better than all of <i>that</i>?!</div>
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<b>#3</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4c/Glen_Campbell_By_the_Time_I_Get_to_Phoenix_album_cover.jpg/220px-Glen_Campbell_By_the_Time_I_Get_to_Phoenix_album_cover.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Glen_Campbell_By_the_Time_I_Get_to_Phoenix_album_cover.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Glen_Campbell_By_the_Time_I_Get_to_Phoenix_album_cover.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Glen Campbell (won in 1969)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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No offense to Glen Campbell -- he's a fine country singer -- but this forgettable album (his seventh) has no right to be called Album of the Year. How about <b>Magical Mystery Tour </b>instead? Or maybe <b>Beggars Banquet</b>? <b>The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society</b>? Simon and Garfunkel's seminal <b>Bookends</b>? And if it's a country album you want, then why not spring for Johnny Cash's brilliant live album <b>At Folsom Prison</b>? Baffling, I tell you, baffling!</div>
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<b>#2</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/47/Christopher_cross.jpg/220px-Christopher_cross.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Christopher_cross.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Christopher_cross.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Christopher Cross by Christopher Cross (won in 1981)</b></div>
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<b> </b>Oh yeah, Christopher Cross! I love that guy! Yeah, he's...he's great.........okay, no one tends to remember soft-rock icon Christopher Cross (whom I will now affectionately refer to as Chris-Cross), but at the time his debut was incredibly well-received. Of course, now-a-days everyone would rather listen to <b>The Wall</b>, or <b>Remain in Light</b>, or <b>London Calling</b>, or <b>Back in Black</b>, or <b>Sandinista!</b>, or <b>Closer</b>, or <b>Zenyatta Mondatta</b>, or <b>Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)</b>, but hey! Who doesn't love a little early-80s soft-rock from our good buddy Chris-Cross, eh? EH?</div>
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<b>#1</b></div>
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<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Billy_Joel_52nd_Street_album_cover.JPG/220px-Billy_Joel_52nd_Street_album_cover.JPG" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/Billy_Joel_52nd_Street_album_cover.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/Billy_Joel_52nd_Street_album_cover.JPG 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>52nd Street by Billy Joel (won in 1980)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b> </b>Oh, come on, you knew it had to be Billy Joel! <b>52nd Street</b> actually isn't a terrible album, but come on...<i>it's Billy Joel</i>. He could've released <b>The White Album </b>or something, and you still wouldn't have liked it, just because...<i>it's Billy Joel! </i>But things get even worse when you realize what else was released this year. Geez, 1979 was an excellent year for music -- <b>Fear of Music</b>, <b>Unknown Pleasures</b>, <b>Rust Never Sleeps</b>, <b>Breakfast in America</b>, <b>Metal Box</b>, <b>Tusk</b>, <b>Damn the Torpedoes</b>, <b>Entertainment!</b>, <b>Reggatta de Blanc</b>, <b>Highway to Hell</b>, <b>Off the Wall</b>...and according to the Academy, NONE of these match up to the artistic genius that is the one and only <i>Billy Joel</i>. None of them! <i>THE BILLY JOEL CONQUERS ALL. DON'T EVEN TRY AND CROSS THE JOEL, YOU'LL FAIL. ALL HAIL THE JOEL. HAIL. </i></div>
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So there you have it, my top 10. There are plenty of honorable mentions as well -- Mumford and Sons' victory last year nearly made my list -- but these are the most egregious examples of terrible voting.</div>
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<b>What are *your* picks for the worst-ever winners of Album of the Year? Tell me in the comments!</b></div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-23989368352292773992013-09-15T09:19:00.002-07:002013-09-15T09:19:56.018-07:00Naked -- Talking Heads -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/82/Thnaked.jpg/220px-Thnaked.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/82/Thnaked.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/82/Thnaked.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Naked (1988)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 7</b></div>
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<b>"BLIIIIND! BLIND! BLIND! BLIND! BLIIIIIND!</b><b>"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: Mr. Jones</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: <i>Hm...</i></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b> </b>When judging Talking Heads' legacy, this album, their last, is hardly ever mentioned. Of course, there's a reason for this -- there is <i>very</i> little actual innovation going on here. <b>Naked </b>is a "Talking Heads-by-numbers" album if there ever was one. Cap'n Marvel brilliantly described it as "<b>Remain in Light </b>performed by the Buena Vista Social Club", and while I would argue that the songwriting here is more along the lines of<b> Little Creatures</b>, the Social Club comparison is extremely apt. The band basically took all of the grooves it had performed in previous albums and replaced the synths and guitars with a variety of worldbeat instruments (congas, horns, talking drum, accordion, kora, and more!). They also hired a small army of session players to play all of these bizarre instruments (including the guitar contributions of one Johnny Marr), resulting in a studio filled with around 30 musicians.</div>
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So, if I'm going to praise this album for anything, it's gotta be the arrangements and production. Worldbeat may not be one of my favorite genres, but I can't deny that the densely layered instruments all grooving over one another sounds extremely cool. Of course, the sound is still nothing compared to <b>Remain in Light </b>(Steve Lillywhite, as good of a producer as he may be, is no replacement for Eno), but hey, it's not bad!</div>
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The songwriting, however, isn't quite up to par. Byrne apparently wrote the melodies for <b>Naked </b>while improvising with his voice over the instrumental grooves, and while that strategy may have worked for <b>Remain</b>, I find it leaves me a little wanting here. Sure, songs like "Mr. Jones" and "Nothing But Flowers" have decently memorable melodies, but they're still nothing compared to something like "Born Under Punches" or "The Great Curve" or "And She Was" or "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" or "Love's Come to Town" or a plethora of other Heads songs. </div>
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My favorite thing here is definitely the ultra-funky "Mr. Jones"; there's something oddly satisfactory about hearing a bunch of art-school nerds completely pulling off a funk song that also features an over-the-top Mariachi horn section. Yes, you read that right, and yes, the song completely works. The post-punk-y closer "Cool Water" also works, although not quite as well. It's certainly listenable, though. </div>
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The Bo Diddley-shuffle of "Ruby Dear" is...alright, I guess, and "Totally Nude" is a decent throwback to the band's guitar-driven days, but I'd be lying if I said I could remember how the melodies on either of these tracks go. The gentle country sway of "The Democratic Circus" is also pleasant while it's on, and I like how the track gradually grows into something of a rocker. I also like the chorus of "Mommy Daddy You and I", even though I really can't remember anything about the rest of the song. But hey, dig that groovy accordion!</div>
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On the negative side, the proto-industrial stomp of "The Facts of Life" sounds fairly silly by today's standards (it's like a goofy version of "The Overload"), the opening "Blind" features a <i>really </i>irritating vocal from Byrne, "Bill" is a total and utter bore, and...yeah, this thing's kind of a slog. I mean, individually these songs aren't awful by any means, but when they're stretched out over the course of 52 minutes, it's very easy to get tired of the endless worldbeat onslaught. It's not terrible, but only get it if you're really into these guys. As far as a final album goes, it's a bit disappointing. It doesn't ruin the band's legacy, or anything like that, but I do wish we had gotten a stronger swan song. </div>
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Ah, well. If I wanna hear some good Heads music, I can just go listen to <b>77 </b>or <b>Remain in Light </b>again, can't I?</div>
Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-77713976345475460292013-09-02T10:52:00.001-07:002013-09-02T10:52:22.081-07:00Hear It Is -- The Flaming Lips -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Flaminglips_hearitis.jpg/220px-Flaminglips_hearitis.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Flaminglips_hearitis.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Flaminglips_hearitis.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Hear It Is (1986)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 6</b></div>
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<b>"All I know is that my mind is blown / When I'm with you"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: Trains, Brains, and Rain</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: <i>Who knows?</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>From humble beginnings...<i>very </i>humble beginnings. That's right, folks, the Lips started out with less of a bang, and more of a whimper. This is their <b>Pablo Honey</b>; an embarrassing first effort that has little-to-no resemblance to their later, far greater albums. At this point in their career, the band was nothing more than an Oklahoma-based indie-punk trio making noisy little records in a glorified garage. The production is startlingly empty, the songwriting is weak, and literally the only similarity between this and later Lips records is Wayne's voice. In short -- no, this is not <b>The Soft Bulletin</b>. </div>
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The album starts off decently enough, with the opening trio of songs being among the best the album has to offer. "Unplugged" is a decent uptempo number with a cool surf-rock riff (although the vocal melody is fairly awful), and the opening "With You" has a nice alternation between its gentle acoustic verses and rocking chorus. The best thing here is probably "Trains, Brains, and Rain", a fun rocker with a surprisingly full arrangement. The combination of multi-tracked backing vocals, 80s production values, and both acoustic and electric guitars actually reminds me of <b>Lifes Rich Pageant</b>-era R.E.M., and that's definitely a compliment. No, it's certainly not a "Begin the Begin" or "These Days", but it isn't <i>too</i> much worse than something like "Hyena". It's fun!</div>
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Elsewhere you'll find "Just Like Before", a surprisingly cool rocker with a rather memorable vocal melody, and the nifty acoustic ballad "Godzilla Flick", which is...alright. And everything else? <i>Mehhhhh</i>. "Jesus Shooting Heroin" has a blasphemous title, but not much else of interest. Wayne's singing is irritating, the backing vocals are irritating, that head-bashingly simple riff in the chorus is irritating...and why does it have to wind on for over <i>seven minutes</i>?!?!?<br />
"Charlie Manson Blues", "Staring at Sound", and "Man from Pakistan" are all woefully unmemorable, headache-inducing rockers (although the tribal chanting in "Charlie Manson" is admittedly a nice touch), and "She is Death" is nothing more than an extremely boring acoustic ballad with no real reason to exist. Yawn.<br />
And that's not even mentioning that all of these songs become even worse when placed in context. This is a <i>ridiculously </i>painful album to listen to in one sitting -- nearly all the songs sound very samey and none of them really stand out, leading to an album that's sadly quite a bit worse than the sum of its parts. If you really like <b>Oh My Gawd!! </b>I suppose you might wanna try this, but I really can't picture anyone enjoying this very much. </div>
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Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-83383813345624617812013-08-22T15:09:00.000-07:002013-08-22T15:09:16.750-07:00Oh My Gawd!! -- The Flaming Lips -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/04/Oh_My_Gawd%21%21%21.jpg/220px-Oh_My_Gawd%21%21%21.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Oh_My_Gawd%21%21%21.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Oh_My_Gawd%21%21%21.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>Oh My Gawd!! (1987)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 8</b></div>
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<b>"BOMBS ARE COMIN' IN CEREAL PACKAGES!"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning <i>or the second half of </i>Prescription: Love</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: <i>Tracks 4 and 8 are equally forgettable -- take your pick</i></b></div>
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Eh, it's better. As for how much better...well, I can't really say. This is definitely a more ambitious record than <b>Hear It Is</b> (although that isn't saying much), but I'm not sure how much these ambitions paid off. It seems that the band simply used this album as an opportunity to throw everything at the wall and see what stuck. And when I say "everything", I mean it -- sound collages, near-progressive epics, piano ballads, and all sorts of bizarre-o sonic trickery fill up this album. But all of this experimentation means nothing if the songs aren't any good...<br />
...aaaaand for the most part, they.......<i>are</i>? <i>Maybe</i>? I'm really not sure. Most of the songs here strike a balance right on the VERY fine line between irritatingly mediocre and pleasantly mediocre, and at times I can't tell if I hate these songs or love them.<br />
But there are at least a few songs I can make some semi-definite judgment on. The track usually recognized as the album's big classic is the 9-minute "One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning", and while I *like* it, I'm not quite as sold on it as everyone else seems to be. As every reviewer in existence feels the need to specify, the band is TOTALLY going for a late-60s Pink Floyd sound here, and while they certainly succeed in providing a successful imitation, I was never *that* crazy about late-60s Floyd to begin with. Besides, I'd rather listen to "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" than this anyway.<br />
But hey, I'm not all down on the song! The transition from the softer acoustic section to the grungy, rocking one is handled very well (and isn't it positively Lip-tastic that the big, epic phrase that signifies this big, epic transition is a conspiracy theory about explosives being planted in breakfast food?). Plus the melody, while certainly not at a Drozd-level of memorability, is perfectly competent, and the riffage in the climactic section is really quite nice! Yeah, the track could be a minute or two shorter, but I would never skip it.<br />
Another track where my feelings are pretty clear is the closing "Love Yer Brain", where the band attempts to tackle the issue of drug addiction (at least, I think that's what it's about...) in an incredibly stupid manner via an "epic" piano ballad. The lyrics are vapid and completely forgettable, but the actual melody and chord progression is quite nice, and it makes for a fine closer.<br />
I have extremely divided feelings on "Prescription: Love", which makes sense -- it's an extremely divided song. The first half of the 6-minute track is a lengthy, guitar-driven intro that absolutely bores me to tears. The band bashes along for what seems like FOREVER, and I derive little-to-no enjoyment from this section. The second half, however, is an entirely different story. The band completely shifts gears from the noisy first part to something of a take on country-influenced 50s rockabilly, and it's positively glorious. The vocal melody is ridiculously happy and catchy, the lyrics are a load of fun (in addition to being REALLY clever and actually somewhat...<i>smart</i>?!?), and overall the track manages to put me into a GREAT mood every time it comes on. It's one of the greatest songs from the Lips' early epoch, and BY FAR the best thing they released pre-<b>Priest</b>. Heck, it even introduces that low-pitched vocal sound that the band ended up using so often throughout the 90s. If only the first half of the song was half as good....<br />
And well, that's about it, as far as clearly bad-or-good songs go. Everything else is just...mediocre. "Everything's Explodin'" is a decently fun rocker, "Ode to C.C. (Pt. 2)" is a decent acoustic ballad, and "Can't Stop the Spring" is another decent rocker that stands out only because it inexplicably samples "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Decent, decent, decent.<br />
"The Ceiling is Bendin'" is beloved by many fans of the band, but I'm not quite sure why. It's got a decent tune, but when it's over the only things I can really remember about it are those twisted "Come on, come on" backing vocals and the incessant fading in-and-out. Meh. "Maximum Dream for Evel Knievel" is a song that feels like it should irritate me a lot more than it should (it strikes a strange sort of enjoyment for me as is), and "Can't Exist"...meh. It's slow and ultra-quiet, but it's pleasant enough for me to not <i>entirely</i> hate it. Same for "Thanks to You".<br />
So that's your album. It's definitely a more pleasant listen than its predecessor, and unlike <b>Hear It Is</b>, I might actually return to it even after I've written my review. So...yeah, consider this something of a recommendation. Heard all the band's 90s material? Begging for more early Lips? Yeah, check this out. So c'mon everybody -- LET'S GIVE LOVE A MARKETING SCAM!<br />
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(<i>Note: as of now, I have no plans to purchase the band's third album, </i><b>Telepathic Surgery</b><i>, but from what I've read it's roughly comparable to these first two, as far as quality is concerned.</i>)Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3357466654189459266.post-66482162353840849822013-08-22T15:07:00.001-07:002013-08-22T15:07:46.833-07:00In a Priest Driven Ambulance -- The Flaming Lips -- Review<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="198" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/aa/InaPriestDrivenAmbulance.jpg/220px-InaPriestDrivenAmbulance.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/InaPriestDrivenAmbulance.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/InaPriestDrivenAmbulance.jpg 2x" width="200" /></div>
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<b>In a Priest Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares)</b></div>
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<b>Rating: 10</b></div>
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<b>"Things have changed, and God walks among us now"</b></div>
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<b>Best Song: Unconsciously Screamin'</b></div>
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<b>Worst Song: Mountain Side</b></div>
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After <b>Telepathic Surgery</b>, the Lips recruited an extra guitar player by the name of Jonathan Donahue. The acquisition of Jonathan was a brilliant move by the band -- they finally had a solution to all the dry, sparse arrangements found on the previous three albums. Donahue's style was less "riffage and soloing" than "white noise and chainsaw-buzz", and while your mileage may vary as far as your personal enjoyment of his sound, you can't deny that the songs here sound a heck of a lot fuller than the songs on the band's previous albums.<br />
As for as an improvement in actual songwriting goes...ehh. The band didn't really *improve* in songwriting so much as they just learned the fine art of cutting out filler. Of course, there are definitely a few songs on here that are less than great, but completely useless time-wasters (like, say, the first half of "Prescription: Love") are nowhere to be seen. Everything here sounds at the very least like the band was <i>trying</i> to make something good, and I can find <i>some</i> positives in nearly every song, so that's definitely a good thing.<br />
The album starts off on an absolutely hilarious note with the, erm, *uplifting* "Shine On Sweet Jesus". I think this song perfectly captures the general pros and cons of the whole album. As for pros: the vocal melody is pretty catchy, it's really fun, and it sounds cool. As for cons: Wayne's voice sounds absolutely TERRIBLE (although "Sweet Jesus" is kind of a novelty song, so it's not as bad here), and the song just kinda...floats along. There isn't much of a riff to be found in the instrumental sections, just a sea of swirling white noise and amp hiss. Again, it sounds cool, but an entire album of this gets a little tiring.<br />
However, a couple tracks in particular actually feature solid riffs, and this works well to break up the monotony of the album. The best of these by far is "Unconsciously Screamin'", one of the band's best-ever rockers. Wayne's vocals actually sound good for once, the riff is awesome, and the whole thing is just ridiculously fun and catchy. I'm not nearly as fond of the album's other riff-rocker, though. "Mountain Side" would've made for a fine 3-minute ditty (albeit one that would feel right at home on <b>Oh My Gawd!!</b>), but 6 minutes of mind-numbing noise and semi-directionless vocals is too much for me.<br />
Some of the album's greater moments come in its quieter, more acoustic tracks. The extremely anthemic ballad "Five Stop Mother Superior Rain" is quite good even despite its silly, "heartstring-tugging" lyrics -- that vocal melody is very memorable, and yeah, I've gotta admit, the brief bits of noise here actually work somewhat well. Just as good is the completely acoustic "There You Are", an absolutely beautiful ditty that works perfectly as a refuge between the crushingly hard rock of "Mountain Side" and "God Walks Among Us Now".<br />
Speaking of "God Walks Among Us Now"...geez, wotta song. It's not a classic, but I can safely say that I've never heard anything even remotely like it. Wayne screams his, erm, "vocal melody" (can you even call it that??) through a cool, megaphone-esque filter while Jonathan attempts to create a ridiculously disorienting sea of guitar noise. It all ends up turning into one bizarre mess of a song, but I definitely enjoy it...to some degree. I can easily see someone HATING it, though.<br />
Speaking of hatred, I've never been fond of the uber-anthemic "Rainin' Babies", if only because the beautiful arrangement and melody are absolutely destroyed by Wayne's terrible, <i>teeerrrrrible </i>vocals. This is one of the few times in the band's career where his voice is pretty much intolerable, and it makes the song very hard to listen to.<br />
The band also tries their hand at covering Can's "Mushroom", and while it's not amazing, I do like it slightly better than the original if only because Wayne wisely chose to take out that ridiculously irritating "I THOUGHT I'D GET MYYY DESPAAAAIR" chorus. I should also mention that the band completely changed the lyrics to the song, going as far as retitling it "Take Meta Mars".<br />
There's also a cover of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", which is rather nice. It doesn't do anything too special to the original song, but that's not necessary; it's a classic as is. Of course, you could also make the case for simply listening to the Louis Armstrong original instead, and...yeah, I don't have much of an argument for that. But the noisy indie-rock take on the ubiquitous song is still nice to hear every once in a while, y'know? Plus, it works wonderfully as a closer.<br />
It's good! It's not that "big leap forward" that everyone always treats it as, and it's not quite a must-purchase, but it's certainly the best thing they'd done to this point. If you're a fan of their other early-to-mid-90s work you'll probably like this as well.Reaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15647152266397473508noreply@blogger.com0