This would be the last real studio outing for the Who for many years, and the second in the post-Moon era. Face Dances was a tougher album to get through, in part because it felt like all the good stuff was held for Pete Townshend’s Empty Glass. This one is a step up, but not a huge step up. There’s some inspiration here - Eminence Front the most obvious but Cry If You Want is a sleeper great closer here - but not enough I don’t think to carry through the whole album. I do like the middle section of this album, I’ve Known No War, Dangerous, One At a Time…and It’s Your Turn is pretty decent, but this isn’t quite the same space that would have brought you the energy and power of their heyday.
This is the Clash album I’ve had on CD for ages. I’ve largely always been drawn to the first half of the album since it has the hit songs Should I Stay or Should I Go and Rock the Casbah, plus Know Your Rights and Straight to Hell (the last of which I always thought was pure genius). The second half here is pretty good but all over the place, and not in the way their prior albums flexed range, almost chaotic even if this is their most commercially successful album. Overpowered by Funk is a mess, but Atom Tan is pretty great. Sean Flynn has all sorts of stuff going on, as does Ghetto Defendant, Inoculated City, and Death Is a Star. Seems like they are swinging all over the place, but there’s enough here certainly to make for a good album.
This is a hardcore punk album that I am sure was quite influential, though it gives you the sense of the sort of purist punk rock that is fully uncompromising. That I am sure appeals to a lot of folks, though the belligerent nature of this largely turned me off (no one here I am sure is surprised by that). By no means do I even come close to demanding virtuosity, but give me something more than just piss and vinegar. Granted, Troops of Tomorrow and War do that, but there’s not much more to it than speed and fury.
This is the Clash album I’ve had on CD for ages. I’ve largely always been drawn to the first half of the album since it has the hit songs Should I Stay or Should I Go and Rock the Casbah, plus Know Your Rights and Straight to Hell (the last of which I always thought was pure genius). The second half here is pretty good but all over the place, and not in the way their prior albums flexed range, almost chaotic even if this is their most commercially successful album. Overpowered by Funk is a mess, but Atom Tan is pretty great. Sean Flynn has all sorts of stuff going on, as does Ghetto Defendant, Inoculated City, and Death Is a Star. Seems like they are swinging all over the place, but there’s enough here certainly to make for a good album.
The Essential Track: Straight to Hell
Up Next: The Exploited - Troops of Tomorrow
Rock the Casbah is next level
Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing!
- C. Montgomery Burns
This is a hardcore punk album that I am sure was quite influential, though it gives you the sense of the sort of purist punk rock that is fully uncompromising. That I am sure appeals to a lot of folks, though the belligerent nature of this largely turned me off (no one here I am sure is surprised by that). By no means do I even come close to demanding virtuosity, but give me something more than just piss and vinegar. Granted, Troops of Tomorrow and War do that, but there’s not much more to it than speed and fury.
The Essential Track: Troops of Tomorrow
Up Next: The Misfits - Walk Among Us
Aw, this is one of my favorite punk albums and I was hoping you might appreciate the poppy songwriting at least. I think the choruses are huge and hooky, and the melodies in general are totally infectious. So much energy and life in this one.
This is a hardcore punk album that I am sure was quite influential, though it gives you the sense of the sort of purist punk rock that is fully uncompromising. That I am sure appeals to a lot of folks, though the belligerent nature of this largely turned me off (no one here I am sure is surprised by that). By no means do I even come close to demanding virtuosity, but give me something more than just piss and vinegar. Granted, Troops of Tomorrow and War do that, but there’s not much more to it than speed and fury.
The Essential Track: Troops of Tomorrow
Up Next: The Misfits - Walk Among Us
Aw, this is one of my favorite punk albums and I was hoping you might appreciate the poppy songwriting at least. I think the choruses are huge and hooky, and the melodies in general are totally infectious. So much energy and life in this one.
Oddly, before this, I would have told you I had a more natural affinity with punk than metal, but it’s proven to be the opposite. I don’t dislike either genre of course, but a reversal of my own expectations.
All said, listening to that album made me feel like I was gonna start a brawl. It’s just too much of that energy for my old body.
As hardcore punk goes, I actually enjoyed this far more than the previous albums we’ve covered. Perhaps it’s something in the obvious gimmick they are going for (ideal for Halloween), or that the choruses are more hooky, but this was fun and easy and a band I would go back to. I Turned Into a Martian, Hatebreeders, Night of the Living Dead, Skulls, and Violent World were the songs to stick around in my head. Fun times.
On this journey, this is the first album that sounds like a full preview of that grunge sound that would dominate the first half of the 90s, delivered all the way back in 1982. We know at the least that Kurt Cobain was highly influenced by this band, and it seems obvious they were kicking around the Seattle circles well before grunge broke. It’s propulsive yet not delivered at the pace of their hardcore punk peers, and it makes a huge difference. It’s not even that they approach their sound with any particular nuance, but the pace and heaviness by which they operate draws you in similarly to Black Sabbath, even if what they are playing is pretty clearly punk. Really the first band I personally find has married the genres really well. The two drawn out tracks on this album, (I Saw You) Shine, and Sex Bomb, are my immediate favorites.
This is a fascinating debut from one of the greats. They hadn’t quite grown into their sound just yet, especially on vocals, but you can hear all the aspects of their work creeping in - propulsive rock that can hypnotize combined with art rock breakdowns that leave you speechless and guessing. Everyone gets a turn at the mic here it seems, but the vocal tracks feel like another instrument to fill the space with what’s happening on drums and bass, and then the rhythmic guitars. On this one, I am landing on I Don’t Want to Push It, but each track sheds a light on the future of this band.
We still got about 15 more albums for 1982 (you folks had a lot of suggestions), but let’s get a head start on 1983. So far:
The Misfits - Earth A.D.
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
ZZ Top - Eliminator
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Album
Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon
Metallica - Kill ‘Em All
Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
Def Leppard - Pyromania
Quiet Riot - Metal Health
Dio - Holy Diver
Kiss - Lick It Up
Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
Cheap Trick - Next Position Please
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made
Of This)
Sonic Youth - Confusion is Sex
Robert Plant - The Principle of Moments
Bob Dylan - Infidels
Rolling Stones - Undercover
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Marshall Tucker Band - Just Us
Elvis Costello - Punch the Clock
U2 - War
R.E.M. - Murmur
Violent Femmes
The Replacements - Hootenanny
The Police - Synchronicity
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Yes - 90125
Genesis
Run-DMC
New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies
Stevie Nicks- The Wild Heart
Madonna- Madonna
New Edition- Candy Girl
Robert Cray- Bad Influence
B-52’s- Whammy!
Tears for Fears- The Hurting
Huey Lewis and the News- Sports
Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing!
- C. Montgomery Burns
On this journey, this is the first album that sounds like a full preview of that grunge sound that would dominate the first half of the 90s, delivered all the way back in 1982. We know at the least that Kurt Cobain was highly influenced by this band, and it seems obvious they were kicking around the Seattle circles well before grunge broke. It’s propulsive yet not delivered at the pace of their hardcore punk peers, and it makes a huge difference. It’s not even that they approach their sound with any particular nuance, but the pace and heaviness by which they operate draws you in similarly to Black Sabbath, even if what they are playing is pretty clearly punk. Really the first band I personally find has married the genres really well. The two drawn out tracks on this album, (I Saw You) Shine, and Sex Bomb, are my immediate favorites.
The Essential Track: Sex Bomb
Up Next: Sonic Youth
Very happy you enjoyed this one. One of the greats IMO
