We’ve talked about albums that have split halves of albums. The first half of this was not something I was into at all. Some Like It Hot is maybe the one song I was familiar with, and I can’t say I have really thought about it since the 80s. But then the album takes a turn for the better, starting with their cover of T Rex’s Get It On (Bang a Gong), and then the album is excellent thereafter with Go to Zero, Harvest for the World, and Still in Your Heart. What a flip of the switch.
The Essential Track: Get It On (Bang a Gong)
Up Next: Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and Always
wease wrote:The Power Station: Robert Palmer and half of Duran Duran.
Yeah, I read that. Perhaps similar to Duran Duran, I had a hard time keeping the enthusiasm through a full album, and enjoyed selected tracks - though it wasn’t fatigue of the band because it was really only the second half I liked.
This is not our first foray into the goth rock world, but it feels like the most committed to the sub-genre. The vocals are so deep I feel like this guy could have a side gig doing Edgar Allen Poe audiobooks, or at least being hired to tell scary stories. Outside of that, there’s a level of disappointment in this because it seems to have the elements of a good album, but because they are not doing anything really of interest outside of repeating a dark post-punk pattern, it never rises above the din of background music.
The combination of guitar fuzz and opaque vocals seems to me to be another root of alternative rock music of the decade ahead. That guitar fuzz ends up being both a feature and limitation on this album, mostly because it is placed in the foreground of the album rather than the atmosphere around vocals - the vocals exist behind the fuzz, instead providing shape to the music. It’s a fascinating deconstruction and reconstruction of these melodic songs that makes it unique in its time. It also makes it nearly impossible to single out individual tracks for highlights since they all sort of serve that particular artistic vision, but pick one I guess we must.
I know Psychocandy is their canon masterpiece, but I've grown to like some of JAMC's later work more. Honey's Dead is my favorite of theirs these days.
This is a bizarre album, not because any particular song does any sort of mind bending experimentation, but due to the abrupt genre changes, from 80s pop to vocal jazz and back. Come to My Aid makes you think this is going to be a by the numbers 80s pop album, but then there’s suddenly a live vocal jazz track in Sad Old Red (sounds really great actually), and then back again in Look at You Now and the cover of Heaven. Holding Back the Years is the known quantity, and maybe the closest thing to a ballad here. It’s pretty unpredictable and there are some good moments, but it makes for such a weird listen.
I could probably say I had vaguely heard of this band in some space somewhere in my lifetime. Saw the band name somewhere and then it left my mind. Truly, I have no idea whether this band just created this album out of thin air and that was their moment, or if they have a full discography of these, but holy hell this is an amazing record. This is a swing for the fences and catching the ball straight on the sweet spot of the bat. Every song just works perfect against the other, both sonically and even in time length, juxtaposing long building tracks against quick shots of adrenaline - the exact sort of thing I love to hear. I got no notes for this one, just a massive stunning record.
This is probably a good spot to celebrate 950 and bring the update list of my favorites (we’re at 949). Gotta think of something for a thousand…
100. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Exodus
99. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
99. The Doors
97. Miles Davis - The Birth of the Cool
96. Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners
95. Dr. John - Gris Gris
94. Cannonball Adderly - Something Else
93. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
92. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
91. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
90. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
89. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
88. Peter Gabriel - 3 (Melt)
87. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz
86. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Skynyrd’s First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album
85. Rolling Stones - Some Girls
84. The Allman Brothers Band - Brothers and Sisters
83. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
82. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
81. Led Zeppelin II
80. Jimi Hendrix - Axis: Bold As Love
79. Led Zeppelin III
78. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
77. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
76. Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
75. Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson
74. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
73. Dr. John - Dr. John’s Gumbo
72. Dr. John - In the Right Place
71. Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
70. Jerry Garcia - Garcia
69. U2 - War
68. Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
67. Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk
66. Television - Adventure
65. Thelonious Monk - The Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1
64. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
63. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
62. R.E.M. - Murmur
61. Bruce Springsteen - The River
60. Pink Floyd - The Wall
59. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
58. Derek and the Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
57. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping
56. Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
55. The Who - Who’s Next
54. The Kinks - Lola Vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround
53. Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
52. Van Halen
51. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
50. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
49. The Allman Brothers Band
48. The Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South
47. Metallica - Ride the Lightning
46. The Allman Brothers Band - Eat a Peach
45. The Waterboys - This Is the Sea
44. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps
43. Credence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo’s Factory
42. Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
41. The Kinks - Arthur or the Decline of the British Empire
40. Tom Waits - Closing Time
39. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
38. Neil Young - After the Goldrush
37. Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On
36. Mission of Burma - Vs.
35. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
34. Television - Marquee Moon
33. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
32. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
31. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
30. Neil Young - Harvest
29. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
28. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
27. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
26. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
25. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
24. Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde
23. Led Zeppelin IV
22. The Who - Quadrophenia
21. Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner
20. Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
19. Thelonious Monk - The Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2
18. Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
17. John Coltrane - Blue Train
16. The Clash - London Calling
15. The Beatles - Abbey Road
14. Pink Floyd - Animals
13. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
12. The Beatles - Revolver
11. The Beatles
10. Neil Young - On the Beach
9. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
8. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
7. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
6. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
5. Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
4. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
2. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
1. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
This album is a really fun step up from the last one. Bittersweet has a classic rock feel to it, Like Wow - Wipeout could almost be surf rock, and Mars Needs Guitars! has just the right amount of tinkering to make this an interesting album above the near pop punk vibes. I think I read they brought in a new drummer for this album and the energy coming out of that is a highlight.
This ain’t much more than a single, running at around 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes pack a serious punch. All of the songs here are excellent and show the band in prime fighting for a cause form. It’s a level of immediacy striking even for them. Certainly worth coming back to since it’s been quite a few years since I heard this one.
The Essential Track: Hercules
Up Next: Big Audio Dynamite - This is Big Audio Dynamite
This ain’t much more than a single, running at around 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes pack a serious punch. All of the songs here are excellent and show the band in prime fighting for a cause form. It’s a level of immediacy striking even for them. Certainly worth coming back to since it’s been quite a few years since I heard this one.
The Essential Track: Hercules
Up Next: Big Audio Dynamite - This is Big Audio Dynamite
Said it before and I'll say it again, greatest EP of all time.
So this is life post-Clash. This is largely a dance album, though there’s a lot of chaotic elements sort of happening here, much of which doesn’t seem to really provide that much cohesion - really an attempt at melding rock, dance, and electronic music I think? The Bottom Line and Stone Thames are actually quite good on this, but I am not sure the rest of it lands at least with me - it feels like I could almost smell new plastic while listening to this.
This ain’t much more than a single, running at around 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes pack a serious punch. All of the songs here are excellent and show the band in prime fighting for a cause form. It’s a level of immediacy striking even for them. Certainly worth coming back to since it’s been quite a few years since I heard this one.
The Essential Track: Hercules
Up Next: Big Audio Dynamite - This is Big Audio Dynamite
Said it before and I'll say it again, greatest EP of all time.
It’s certainly among the better ones I have heard. I can’t even think of many that would top it. I think technically Jar of Flies was considered an EP and that’s an all time favorite (and Sap for that matter).
And then this is life post-Police. There’s a lot of nice melding of pop and jazz here - though there’s a sort of opposing effect here of socially charged lyrics in the height of Cold War concern juxtaposed with a sort of harmless musical palette. There were a lot of opportunities for these songs to open up, especially considering the quality of the musicians here, and what’s here is good enough in that regard, but it still feels like an opportunity lost for a great album if Sting free free set them free.
The Essential Track: If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
Up Next: Tears For Fears - Songs From the Big Chair
This ain’t much more than a single, running at around 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes pack a serious punch. All of the songs here are excellent and show the band in prime fighting for a cause form. It’s a level of immediacy striking even for them. Certainly worth coming back to since it’s been quite a few years since I heard this one.
The Essential Track: Hercules
Up Next: Big Audio Dynamite - This is Big Audio Dynamite
Said it before and I'll say it again, greatest EP of all time.
It’s certainly among the better ones I have heard. I can’t even think of many that would top it. I think technically Jar of Flies was considered an EP and that’s an all time favorite (and Sap for that matter).
So this is life post-Clash. This is largely a dance album, though there’s a lot of chaotic elements sort of happening here, much of which doesn’t seem to really provide that much cohesion - really an attempt at melding rock, dance, and electronic music I think? The Bottom Line and Stone Thames are actually quite good on this, but I am not sure the rest of it lands at least with me - it feels like I could almost smell new plastic while listening to this.
The Essential Track: The Bottom Line
Up Next: Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles
Fair. But the highlights on this have always stuck with me. Love me a little B.A.D.
