When I first heard All I Wanna Do I was irritated by how a fairly decent piece of slide guitar was ruined by Ms Crow whining about how 'everyone around here is boring, doesn't anyone wanna part-ay??'.
The album from which it came from continues in much the same vein. Decent musicianship and production covered by a drawl that, in varying degrees of unintelligibility, says nothing to me about my life. She could easily have been a candidate on American Idol.
3/10
Fairly standard early 80s English new wave, frequently marred by a nasty horn section. When they lose the horns, such as in Treason, they're ok; but no Echo and the Bunneymen.
Considering I never wanted to listen to this album, it could have been worse. Predictable but inoffensive.
Dolly Parton: A coat of many colours
http://open.spotify.com/album/0ihBM9U8RmU99Z3amECh60
4/10
Just an update for those who are curious and confused about these "Album XX" posts: I'm currently doing a 1001 album challenge - that is I'm listening to each album on a "1001 albums you must listen to before you die" list, posting a tiny review and a score out of 10.
It seemed a good idea at a time.
Whilst this is musically foreign territory, I can imagine the initial song Alone again or being rediscovered in a cult firm just as Caught in the Middle with You and Miserlou were by Tarrantino. The rest of the songs are lacking by comparison, but are passable.
Love: Forever changes
4/10
For all it's epic grandeur, this is a tedious album. What should be majestic ends up cacophonous. The Verve went on to do some better songs with their next album, but here it just comes across at an attempt to swagger an imitation of being The Doors.
3/10
The Verve - A northern soul
Music to overdose to. Whilst drowning. Maybe let's throw in some fatal injury that you're slowly bleeding to death from. Certainly there's no energy to do anything to avoid an eternity in spirit-crushing limbo or speed an exit from a world that is so tired of people complaining about the rain.
I like melancholy. This is something beyond, something damp.
Thank the maker this is their only album on this list, now cheering myself up by listening to Joy Division.
Travis - The Man Who
1/10
Another album that would be lost in the loft because of the tedious mucking about with CDs in the digital age. An album I mostly love, particularly as Walk on the wild side is so much better here than in clips and covers since. Not every song hits the mark, but most are precious stars.
Lou Reed – Transformer
8/10
While they sound nothing like them, this act reminds me of the KLF. Beautifuly strange, frequently instrumental, noticeably influenced by the previous 5 years of underground music (rave in KLF's case, urban in Red Snapper's). Not as far out electronica as say, Lemon Jelly, but still marvelous.
Red Snapper – Our Aim is to Satisfy
7/10
A U2 where they were still learning how to be an American Sell-out act, before the excess of Zooropa or the financial hypocrisy that has soured Bono's third world ambitions. The songs are good, New Year's Day is excellent and well performed. Makes a nice change from tedious songs like Elevation.
U2 - War
5/10
An unbearable imitation of Gary Glitter.
The Dictators - Go Girl Crazy
0/10
From an era where instruments would suddenly change sound because cheap capacitors would burn out, a great album where you can feel the band playing with the rules. Sometimes the experiments fail, but the overall sound is much better. Definitely not the one hit wonder that Don't you want me? might suggest.
Dare! - The Human League
7/10
Pleasant but with all the depth of tin foil. Occasionally (Metal Guru) it works, often it just repeats a nice hook to tedium. Are you my main man, are you? The last song asks. Not really.
5/10th
T-Rex: The Slider
I can see why this album is on this list, and Pacific 202 deserves it's place in the breakthrough triad of early 90s dance music singles along with Little Fluffy Clouds and Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately it's a bit dull by comparison with albums by The Orb or Orbital.
808 state: 808:90
5/10
Some songs I knew, some songs I didnt, all delivered in a beautiful way. Dusty deserves to be known for more than just her contribution to the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
Dusty Springfield - A girl named Dusty
7/10
Another album that, in my opinion of course, is not as good as one of its sequels. In this case, in sides and Halcyon are both much better. Certainly there's nothing here as awe inspiring as their reworking of the Doctor Who theme (Doctor?) or as fresh as their breakthrough single Chime. A shame.
Orbital: Snivilisation
6/10
This band sound like a very poor cousin of at least a dozen new wave bands, however Ive never heard them on an 80s compilation. There are very good reasons for that.
Haircut 100: Pelican West
0/10
70s metal infused with the speed and frenzy of punk. Every song as intense as the overplayed title track. Very enjoyable.
7/10
The final ABBA studio album, a very tired affair. Tired music, tired style and apparently tired of each other. At best a pale imitation of Goldfrapp's Head First.
2/10
ABBA - The Visitors
The entire album sounds sugar coated, even the Sloop John B sounds performed with big smiles on their faces.
Perhaps this is genuinely how California felt 45 years ago, but these songs "say nothing to me about my life".
Pet Sounds: The Beach Boys
3/10
The first new album from this 1001 album list that Ive really wanted to go back and listen to again. And again. And again.
Ive heard most of depeche mode's singles and played violator to death as a student. But this is the first time Ive heard this masterpiece of menacing beauty.
Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses
9/10
A foolish choice. If the authors wanted a token album by the 90s Alice Cooper, then the later album Mechanical Animals does a much better range of this band's style of shock industrial goth than this shoutfest that has little to commend it than the breakthrough single, the beautiful people.
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
3/10
An album that belongs on no greatest list. This is the sound of X factor relating stories off Jerry Springer. Dire well before you get to drrrty (spelling indeterminate). She has a voice, but what she does with it isnt worth the bandwidth.
Stripped: Christina Aguilera
1/10 - this album brought us the song beautiful, the magnificence of which has nothing to do with Christina.
It used to be a cliché that albums were a few singles with a few boring songs to pad it out to 12 inches of vinyl. Fun Lovin' Criminals reverse that. The single that was played to death for ten years or so - Scooby Snacks- is easily the weakest track on this, their debut album. Their eponymous opening track, also a single at the time is more indicative of their mix of hip hop and alt rock.
7/10
Two decent songs, but the rest sound like remixes. I know this was the era where the 12 bar blues was law, but there's not enough variation or development to sustain interest.
3/10
Gorgeous.
Im not sure if this counts as throwaway bubblegum pop. If it does, then its the sort of throwaway thing that is rightfully collected in museums as examples of the beauty of previous ages.
7/10
I don't like jazz but, fair enough, this is quality stuff. Its not the clichéd music I've suffered before, this is an authentic live sound from the fifties.
Not entirely sure why he's in Wales, but a jazz fan would love this.
4/10
Fourth album from a Madchester band that wasnt from Manchester and here are sounding very like another great almost-Manchester band of the nineties - The Stone Roses - only nowhere near as good.
Gone is the quirky nature of The Only One I know and Wierdo, instead an attempt at a sub-Paul Weller credible rock. One to another remains a decent song, but otherwise its an album a half dozen bands could have done better.
6/10
Nearly everyone's heard Louis Prima sing. Yes, you have. No? He's the "King of Swingers" and the voice of King Louie (cunning character name there, Walt) who sings I wanna be like you in Disney's The Jungle Book.
This album is genuine big band swing stuff and it's really quite good. My 21st century ears know this sort of music from the likes of Robbie Williams's vanity project or Mambo number 5.
So whilst its not my sort of thing really, this is an album that stands out as an example of how great Swing can be.
Louis Prima – The Wildest! 6.5/10
Elvis Presley's debut album is pleasant enough to 21st century ears. I doubt Id ever listen to it again, as its not my sort of thing. The generalised warbling is off-putting but otherwise its an ok piece of 50s rock and roll. Blue suede shoes is the best thing on, and is much better than you remember it being after many many plays and imitations. Theres nothing to challenge his later classics, Suspicious Minds being my favourites
Debut album are always interesting, being a flavour of what theyre like before being part of the music industry conditions you.
5/10
I'm currently having a break from Twitter. For various reasons, my energy level is significantly reduced; so I'm turning down the quantity of inputs. Not that I dont still value all the people and great content on there, but when youre saving 15 links to ReadItLater every day, it can get a bit much.
One of the recent links I found interesting was an analysis on how Farmville seems directly constructed to take advantage of people's Sunk Cost Fallacy. This cognitive bias features when people don't let go of what they've already irretrievably lost and make bad decisions not on what's best for them now and in the future. Gamblers who've lost a million and keep going to try to win it back, countries that continue wars based on old and irrelevant grudges.
This made me wonder: Is twitter a game? Is getting followers and #FFs a score? Could getting retweeted by Stephen Fry be the equivalent of gaining an Elite ranking? Certainly webapps like Klout talk in terms of scores for various achievements.
I think maybe not, but certainly there's a gaming aspect which game theory could probably explain. Perhaps its the game of celebrity, of being noticed and influential. Perhaps its the game of being given your own radio station, and its a competition for market share and syndication (RTs)
What do you think?
Dont know if anyone will notice or care, but Im off Twitter until further notice.
How many times has this been retweeted: 'Japanese nuclear worker on the news: "I am prepared to die to avoid meltdown." Say it with me--I will not complain about my job today'.
You're all missing the point. Most people complain about their job because they feel them to be mediocre and insignificant. There's no heroism in spreadsheets and daily TPS reports.
Yet this guy is a hero. He has a higher calling, the safety of his community. He has the skills to deliver. He has the respect of his peers, who trust him to do his best and he will not disappoint them. He has a mission and the knowledge that should he lose his life now, he will die gloriously.
How many people's jobs will be glorious today? Isnt that worth complaining about?
