Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,220 
Member is Online
|
Post by Confessor on Apr 25, 2024 17:35:20 GMT -5
Myself, I've always had impeccable musical taste.  Even the bands I listened to and bought records by as a little kid are great and still get listened to round my house (Adam & The Ants, XTC, Depeche Mode, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears etc). The first two albums I bought in grade school as a little kid were some early Beatles albums...so I stand by the same statement haha I became weirdly obsessed by the Beatles at a very young age too -- I'm talking, like, 3 or 4-years-old here. This was before I'd even heard their music! I can remember asking my Mum what the band members' names were and trying really hard to memorise them. By around age 7, I had discovered the so-called Red and Blue compilation albums ( 1962-1966 and 1967-1970) in my parents' record collection and had quietly spirited both of those upstairs to my bedroom, where they were on almost constant rotation on my second-hand turntable. For a lot of years I believed or assumed that those two albums represented the Beatles' entire output. I was therefore amazed at age 13 or so, when a class mate at school bought in a cassette tape of the Abbey Road album. I was amazed to see song titles on it that I had never heard of ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "You Never Give Me Your Money", "The End" etc). That was the moment when I realised that there must be other Beatles albums out there that featured untold numbers of songs that I hadn't heard. I went to my local library and in the referance section I found a book called The Beatles Album File and Complete Discography by Jeff Russell. In it, I found details of every Beatles album and I can vividly remember marvelling at exotic song titles like "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Within You Without You", "I'm Looking Through You" and "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey". Starting on my 15th Birthday and Christmas of that year, I began to ask relatives for Beatles LPs as presents, since, on my limited paper round wage, I couldn't afford many records. I was also careful to ask for the albums in strictly chronological order, so that I got to hear Please Please Me first, then With The Beatles, followed by A Hard Day's Night and so on. The reason I did this was because I wanted to experience those albums in the order they were originally released to better appreciate the band's musical development. I guess I was already a bit of a Beatles obsessive by then. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 18:22:04 GMT -5
1994.10
Mamouna - Bryan Ferry
Not one of my favourite Bryan ferry albums but it's enjoyable if you like his style. And perhaps that's its only real drawback, that it sounds much the same as all his other post-Avalon solo albums: even from track to track o there isn't a great deal of variety on this cd. I like his sound, so that doesn't bother me too much, but I much prefer the earlier stuff he did in the 1970s, whether with Roxy Music or as a solo artist. But here's a sample from Mamouna:
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 19:12:17 GMT -5
1994.9
Mellow Gold - Beck
I didn't get this cd until a few years later in the decade. In 1994 all I knew was Loser, which was of course an enormous hit for him, and deservedly so as it is probably the best track on the album, ehcih, as Confessor and kal were saying earlier is a little uneven. But I think the strong tracks outnumber the average, especially on "side 1", or the first half of the album. But I'll go with a cut from towards the end as an example of what I like about this cd: nice tune and a playful sense of humour that is evident in much of Beck's best material:
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 19:21:21 GMT -5
The first two albums I bought in grade school as a little kid were some early Beatles albums...so I stand by the same statement haha I became weirdly obsessed by the Beatles at a very young age too -- I'm talking, like, 3 or 4-years-old here. This was before I'd even heard their music! I can remember asking my Mum what the band members' names were and trying really hard to memorise them. By around age 7, I had discovered the so-called Red and Blue compilation albums ( 1962-1966 and 1967-1970) in my parents' record collection and had quietly spirited both of those upstairs to my bedroom, where they were on almost constant rotation on my second-hand turntable. For a lot of years I believed or assumed that those two albums represented the Beatles' entire output. I was therefore amazed at age 13 or so, when a class mate at school bought in a cassette tape of the Abbey Road album. I was amazed to see song titles on it that I had never heard of ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "You Never Give Me Your Money", "The End" etc). That was the moment when I realised that there must be other Beatles albums out there that featured untold numbers of songs that I hadn't heard. I went to my local library and in the referance section I found a book called The Beatles Album File and Complete Discography by Jeff Russell. In it, I found details of every Beatles album and I can vividly remember marvelling at exotic song titles like "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Within You Without You", "I'm Looking Through You" and "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey". Starting on my 15th Birthday and Christmas of that year, I began to ask relatives for Beatles LPs as presents, since, on my limited paper round wage, I couldn't afford many records. I was also careful to ask for the albums in strictly chronological order, so that I got to hear Please Please Me first, then With The Beatles, followed by A Hard Day's Night and so on. The reason I did this was because I wanted to experience those albums in the order they were originally released to better appreciate the band's musical development. I guess I was already a bit of a Beatles obsessive by then. I had a very similar history with the Red and Blue albums, especially the Red, since that was the only one we had at first, though eventually we got the Blue one too later on in my childhood years. I started buying the albums in my teenage years but for some reason never got any of the earlier, pre-Sgt. Pepper ones, not even Rubber Soul or Revolver, until the 90s when I bought them all in cd form. Not sure why, since I liked the earlier stuff as much as the later. Maybe, as you mentioned, I had retained some sub-conscious feeling that I already knew all the earlier material from having listened to that Red album so much as a ypoungster. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 21:18:27 GMT -5
1994.8
Whistling in the Wind - Leon Redbone
Normally a Leon Redbone album would be much higher in my "year's best" list but this isn't one of my favourites of his, though it's very good as was everything he did. It's maybe just a shade or two too slick for me compared to his earlier work. I first became aware of him around 1980 through seeing a repeat of his live performance on Saturday Night Live and was just bowled over by how good he was. I bought his first album, On the Track, as soon as I could find it and that's still the one I'd recmmened to anyone who wants to give him a listen. This album is in his usual style but as I said, maybe a little over-produced to my ears, and certainly with fuller, though always tasteful arrangements compared to that first album which was mostly him and his guitar. Whistling in the Wind is also interesting in that it includes two duets with two very well-known performers. See if you can guess who they are (I think one will be very obvious to almost everyone, the other perhaps less so):
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 25, 2024 22:19:27 GMT -5
1994.8 Whistling in the Wind - Leon RedboneNormally a Leon Redbone album would be much higher in my "year's best" list but this isn't one of my favourites of his, though it's very good as was everything he did. It's maybe just a shade or two too slick for me compared to his earlier work. I first became aware of him around 1980 through seeing a repeat of his live performance on Saturday Night Live and was just bowled over by how good he was. I bought his first album, On the Track, as soon as I could find it and that's still the one I'd recmmened to anyone who wants to give him a listen. This album is in his usual style but as I said, maybe a little over-produced to my ears, and certainly with fuller, though always tasteful arrangements compared to that first album which was mostly him and his guitar. Whistling in the Wind is also interesting in that it includes two duets with two very well-known performers. See if you can guess who they are (I think one will be very obvious to almost everyone, the other perhaps less so): I considered this one. I like Redbone a decent amount. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2024 1:17:45 GMT -5
1994.8 Whistling in the Wind - Leon RedboneNormally a Leon Redbone album would be much higher in my "year's best" list but this isn't one of my favourites of his, though it's very good as was everything he did. It's maybe just a shade or two too slick for me compared to his earlier work. I first became aware of him around 1980 through seeing a repeat of his live performance on Saturday Night Live and was just bowled over by how good he was. I bought his first album, On the Track, as soon as I could find it and that's still the one I'd recmmened to anyone who wants to give him a listen. This album is in his usual style but as I said, maybe a little over-produced to my ears, and certainly with fuller, though always tasteful arrangements compared to that first album which was mostly him and his guitar. Whistling in the Wind is also interesting in that it includes two duets with two very well-known performers. See if you can guess who they are (I think one will be very obvious to almost everyone, the other perhaps less so): I considered this one. I like Redbone a decent amount.
Aw, you knew the album already. I was hoping it was new to you so I could see if you recognised the voice of duet partner #2 (in the order I posted the videos, not the album order). I didn't, the first time I heard it.
|
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 26, 2024 2:35:40 GMT -5
(...) By around age 7, I had discovered the so-called Red and Blue compilation albums ( 1962-1966 and 1967-1970) in my parents' record collection and had quietly spirited both of those upstairs to my bedroom, where they were on almost constant rotation on my second-hand turntable. (...) Ah, yes. The Red and Blue albums. The Beatles starter kit for many a young music lover back in the late '70s and '80s. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2024 2:44:41 GMT -5
1994.7
Bewitched - Luna
Luna was the band formed by Galaxie 500 guitarist/songwriter/leader Dean Wareham after that band broke up. I had become a fan of Galaxie 500 from hearing them on Brave New Waves, a really great late night (midnight to 4AM) CBC radio show I used to listen to back then and where I was introduced to a lot of the music I loved from that era. Wareham wrote all the songs for Galaxie 500 and sang them and played guitar, obviously the dominant instrument in a trio of that kind, so I was very gung-ho to hear Luna and they didn't disappoint: his new band was a clear evolution from Galaxie 500 and showed that Wareham was trying to expand his musical palette. I've just recently started re-acquainting myself with their stuff and so far I'd say I like their first album more than this one, but this is still a good record with no seriously weak tracks. Here are the two that stood out to me on my latest listen - and they happen to come in this order on the actual cd:
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2024 3:02:54 GMT -5
(...) By around age 7, I had discovered the so-called Red and Blue compilation albums ( 1962-1966 and 1967-1970) in my parents' record collection and had quietly spirited both of those upstairs to my bedroom, where they were on almost constant rotation on my second-hand turntable. (...) Ah, yes. The Red and Blue albums. The Beatles starter kit for many a young music lover back in the late '70s and '80s. And earlier - with me it was the early 70s - I know, not a great distinction for most people, but for me early and late 70s are like two different worlds. I was old enough even then that I'd already known the Beatles from a very young age in the 60s. To be honest, I was surprised to find the Red and Blue albums came out so late as 1973 when I looked it up just now. Apparently I've been mixing up my memories of hearing their music before then with my memories of listening to that red album repeatedly. |
|
|
|
Post by commond on Apr 26, 2024 4:33:02 GMT -5
I'm not sure that Pearl Jam have ever made a bad record. I stopped buying their records after Binaural as I was more into other types of music by then, but they continue to grind out the records and the impression I have of them is that they're a classic American rock band. A lot of that is thanks to Eddie, but one of the things I liked about Pearl Jam is that they let the other members of the band write songs too. They even let the drummer write some songs. For me, Binaural was the first PJ album that didn't blow me away. It still had some very good songs on it, but it felt way patchier than, say, Yield. The first real inessential album in their discography was the follow-up Riot Act. I still own that album, but it's not an album that gets many listens. After that, there was the album with the sliced avocado on the cover, which I think was just called Pearl jam. That really wasn't a good album at all, although I kinda liked the single "World Wide Suicide". But after illegally downloading the avocado album, to try it out before I bought it, I decided that it wasn't good enough to bother purchasing. Another post- Binaural song I really like is "Just Breathe" from Backspacer, though that sounded more like an Eddie Vedder solo record TBH. But like I say, Ten, Vs., Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield are all pretty much faultless albums in my view. Personally, after Vitalogy, it took repeat listens for me to appreciate each album. That was back in the days when you'd buy an album and listen to it more than once. I liked Binaural a lot. I just gave Riot Act a spin. I quite like I Am Mine. That feels like a vintage Pearl Jam song to me. Thumbing My Way has a nice chorus. Love Boat Captain is a song that I feel could grow on me. You Are and Save You also have potential. I like the Live at Chop Suey videos better than listening to the LP. |
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,220
Member is Online
|
Post by Confessor on Apr 26, 2024 9:53:32 GMT -5
More favourite albums of 1994... #3 - MTV Unplugged in New York by Nirvana I'm not generally a fan of live albums, but there are some that really hit the mark and Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York is certainly one of them. Recorded in November 1993, the performance was released as an album in late '94 around 7 months after Kurt Cobain's death. In true Nirvana fashion, the band totally subvert MTV's unplugged formula by playing almost none of their hits ("Come As You Are" would be the only exception), by running Cobain's acoustic guitar through an amplifier and effects pedals to make it sound like an electric guitar on certain songs, and by inviting obscure cowpunk band the Meat Puppets on stage to play three of their songs with Nirvana. Reportedly, MTV's executives were NOT happy about these artistic choices, which is, of course, absolutely brilliant and totally rock 'n' roll. For me, the thing that this album makes explicit is the fact that Nirvana were just this little garage band from Seattle who, because of Cobain's excellent songwriting, became one of the biggest bands in the world. But it was a level of fame that they were never really supposed to achieve; it was a position they were never really meant to be in – and, as well all know, Cobain ultimately paid the price for that. There's poignancy to the idea of this noisy little band with the amazing songs being catapulted to the heights of super-stardom and, ultimately, tragedy – like Icarus flying too close to the sun or something. But there's also an inspiring and empowering component to it as well and both aspects are palpable in these performances. It's hard to pick out highlights from the album, as pretty much every song is a highlight. That said, Nirvana's cover of the Vaselines' "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" is breathtakingly beautiful and more than a little moving. The band's versions of their own "About a Girl" and "Dumb" blow their respective album versions away too. But really, the whole performance is utterly compelling and serves as a requiem to Cobain himself. Here's a video of the band's spine-tingling and harrowing version of Lead Belly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"… |
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 26, 2024 10:00:24 GMT -5
I considered this one. I like Redbone a decent amount.
Aw, you knew the album already. I was hoping it was new to you so I could see if you recognised the voice of duet partner #2 (in the order I posted the videos, not the album order). I didn't, the first time I heard it.
Of course, Man. It's the Hagg. And that's Ringo on Little Green Shack. This album probably would have been in like the 11 or 12 slot for me. |
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 26, 2024 10:02:08 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1994
#3 – Dave Alvin – King of California
Man, I came way too late to Dave Alvin (and The Blasters for that matter). But better late than never. Alvin was always a great songwriter and a very good guitarist, but the knock was that he should leave the singing to Phil. With this album I think he shows that when he's doing the right stuff his way, his vocals are just fine, thank you very much.
I really love this album and in a lot of years it would be well above the three spot. The title track is a great story-song. He takes "Fourth of July" which he did with X and strips it down in to a an amazing song about trying not to lose love. And while the ballad-ized version of The Blasters' "Border Radio" isn't going to make you forget the original, it is nothing if not interesting.
If you're looking for Dave Alvin, guitar slinger, this ain't the place. If you're looking for Dave Alvin, singer-songwriter-musician, this is the starting point.
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 26, 2024 11:16:25 GMT -5
More favourite albums of 1994... #3 - MTV Unplugged in New York by NirvanaI totally get this pick. But much like Pearl Jam, I just don't like Nirvana. Maybe I was just a little bit too old, but I did not connect with grunge at all. |
|
Even the bands I listened to and bought records by as a little kid are great and still get listened to round my house (Adam & The Ants, XTC, Depeche Mode, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears etc).
