Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 23:20:52 GMT -5
Put me in the "worship" category. On the Beach is intriguing because it was out of print for so long that it became this legendary "lost" Neil Young album. At one point, it was a badge of honor just to have heard it let alone own it. Now that it's readily available you get all sorts of opinions on its merits, but the musos tend to revere it. I prefer Neil's records with Crazy Horse, but Harvest/On the Beach/Tonight's the Night is an excellent trilogy. , which was a live album of all new material that was issued between Harvest and On the Beach, is the real "lost" Neil Young album of that era. It was deleted in the mid-70s and last that I was aware had never been reissued on CD. I have a bootleg CD of it sourced from a pristine vinyl copy in my collection, which I picked up in the 2000s. Is the album available digitally now or on streaming sites? |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 23:15:21 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#5-- On the Beach-- Neil Young Glad to see this album here, as it just missed out on a place on my list. I agree that this isn't a patch on earlier albums like Harvest, After the Gold Rush, or Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (the latter being my favourite Young album), but like you I find plenty to enjoy here. Favourite songs on the album for me would be "See the Sky About to Rain", "Ambulance Blues" and "For the Turnstiles". That said, this album does contain some of Neil's wonkiest singing and therefore is perhaps not the album to play to try to win over those who might be put off by the idiosyncrasies of his voice. I mean, After the Gold Rush or Harvest Moon this is not!  |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 16:47:34 GMT -5
I re-read the Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast TPB reprinting Batman #417-420 by Jim Starlin, Jim Aparo, and Mike DeCarlo. What I like is that the action sequences are done very well (props to Aparo), a fearsome foe is built up very quickly, and there's a great ending. Also, the Mike Zeck covers are excellent I'm not a fan of the plot-induced stupidity, like when people make themselves easy targets. On the other hand, that may be a function of how times change. I feel like there would be a pre-emptive cancellation of the fundraiser nowadays. Also, holy Hatch Act Batman! A presidential advisor at the campaign fundraiser. One of the characters asks why an Iranian operative would aiding a Soviet agent. Ditto. I guess it's because that was just a Starlin bugaboo. I loved "Ten Nights of the Beast" when it came out and bought each issue off of the newsagent shelves at the time. I agree completely about how skilkfully the threat was built up; KG Beast was a proper sh*t scary villain at the time. I have re-read this arc a few times, but probably not since the late 90s, so I've no idea how it would hold up now. But back in 1988, I felt that this was a really outstanding Batman storyline. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 16:40:54 GMT -5
Beppo the Super-Monkey! Coolest simian this side of Detective Chimp! Hey, we at the Sam Simeon/Angel & the Ape appreciation society have something to say about that! |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 16:27:30 GMT -5
In slightly different and pretty picky news...Kris Kristofferson keeps coming up on a Spotify playlist of the "60s." I love me some Kristofferson...especially his early stuff. But his first album released in 1970. He does not belong here. That would annoy me too. But, on the other hand, I would say that there is a difference between the 1960s in terms of the calendar years and "the Sixties" in the public consciousness. When you hear older folks who were there at the time talk about "the Sixties", what they generally mean are the years 1962 to about 1973. So, probably a lot of Baby Boomers would consider Kristofferson a '60s artist. That might be why Spotify classify him as such? |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 16:23:20 GMT -5
^^ Yeah, there's definitely an agenda at play in that spreadsheet. To be honest, as a fan of all three principal players -- Lee, Ditko and Kirby -- that blatant attempt to sway my opinion and demonise Lee turns me completely off anything that guy has to say. He may have some good points to make, but such a blatant agenda makes me suspicious of the veracity of his evidence and conclusions.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 7:00:03 GMT -5
Yeah...I don't think this guy was doing a rigorous graduate school thesis on the ancient trade routes of the Mediterranean region. I think this was an angry person who already knew the answer he wanted and was determined to find data to support it.Bingo! Correct answer. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 6:29:47 GMT -5
Here Come the Warm Jets - Brian Eno (Feb 1974) The Brian Eno stuff that I'm familiar with is his slightly later ambient albums, such as Another Green World, Music for Airports and Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Those records are very different to this, judging from "Needles in the Camel's Eye", which I just had a listen to. You can still really hear the Roxy Music connection in this music, though with even more art-rock stylings. Interesting... I might need to hear more of this. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 6:19:35 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974
#6-- Nightlife-- Thin Lizzy Wow! Those songs you posted are VERY different to the Thin Lizzy stuff I know. I'm one of those listeners who only really knows the big hits like "The Boys Are Back in Town", "Whiskey in the Jar", and "Don't Believe a Word", along with the Jailbreak album. The songs from Nightlife sound much more like slick mid-70s soft rock than the better known stuff. I almost hear similarities with mid-70s Hall & Oates. I have a lot of time for Phil Lynott though, he was a big talent. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 31, 2024 6:08:45 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974 #6 - Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
I have a criminal lack of familiarity with Gordon Lightfoot's music, despite a couple of my good friends being big fans of his. I know Bob Dylan really rates him highly as a songwriter too, which is obviously high praise indeed. Listening to that song you posted, I do quite like it, so I should definitely check out his stuff more seriously. Also, is it just me or does he sound a little like Paul Stookey from Peter, Paul & Mary vocally? |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 30, 2024 13:56:21 GMT -5
I hope it's not a faux pas to post this before Slam, but I'm just about to go out to play a gig and won't be back til the early hours, when I'll likely be too tired to check in on the forum. So, I'm just gonna dump today's 1974 pick now. #6 - Radio City by Big Star Today's choice is another album that sold almost nothing in its day, but which has since become revered as a key power pop record. Big Star are one of those cult bands who sold very few records, but who ended up influencing lots of far more successful acts, like Kiss, R.E.M., The Bangles, Teenage Fanclub, and Primal Scream, to name just a few. Radio City is the band's second album and, while it doesn't quite reach the sublime heights of the previous year's #1 Record, it's really good nonetheless. Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, the band really wear their Beatles/Stones/Byrds influences on their sleeve, while adding in a dash of blue-eyed Memphis soul grit. The band's main songwriter Alex Chilton (formerly of the Box Tops, who had a hit with "The Letter") is probably among the most gifted pop-rock composers of his era, though he was not recognised as such at all in the early '70s. Standout tracks from Radio City include "Mod Lang", Way Out West", "I'm in Love with a Girl", and the sublime power pop anthem "September Gurls" (which I first heard via the Bangles' very good cover in the mid-80s). This latter track is the one that I've chosen to showcase. It's just a great song – all ramshackle crunchy guitars and swaggering, Beatle-esque melody, with bittersweet lyrics about lost or unrequited love. I have no idea what a September girl is or what the line "December boys got it bad" means, but I sure feel it when they sing it… |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 12:30:08 GMT -5
On with more top albums of 1974... #7 - No Other by Gene Clark No Other is the fourth solo album by Gene Clark, who was The Byrds' one-time principal songwriter. Clark worked on the production and writing of this album like he'd never worked on any other, pouring his heart and soul into it and ramping up colossal (for the time) production costs of more than $100,000. Sadly, the album was ignored by the record buying public and hated by the critics. Clark's confidence in his music and his desire to play the record company game never recovered. Today though, No Other is widely regarded by those who are aware of Gene Clark as his masterpiece. The songs are a glorious mix of folk-rock, country, and gospel, with Clark's inventive, minor-laden chord progressions backing his mellifluous vocals, as they snake around sublime melodies and unabashedly poetic lyrics. The songs are mostly concerned with spirituality and humankind's quest for higher consciousness, set against the lurid and decadent backdrop of '70s Southern California. Really, I could pretty much pick any track to showcase this album, but I'm gonna go with the understated "Silver Raven", which is just beautiful… |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 12:09:18 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1974 #7 - James Cotton – 100% Cotton
Just a great album by the Chicago harp master. Add in some typically amazing side-work (and some songwriting) by Matt "Guitar" Murphy and you have the blues album of the year for 1974. This is just a super solid album from start to finish. A number of solid songs written by Cotton, a couple of strong cuts written by Murphy and two solid covers, "Rocket 88" and "Fever." Definitely the strongest of Cotton's early albums. ^^ That's a great song and performance! I only vaugly know of James Cotton from his time as a Sun Records recording artist in the 1950s (I have a track of his on a Sun Records box set that I own). I think I need to check out some of his later stuff. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 2:35:47 GMT -5
Quick story time, then the point. I got pretty into the then EU/now Legends Star Wars novels in the 90s. Off the top of my head, I read some of the ones where Luke rebuilt the Jedi academy, one of the immediately post-ROTS set ones, a handful of others. The Suncrusher rings a bell. I really enjoyed them, but largely fell off as I got more into music and girls in high school. For no good reason, I never got around to reading the original Thrawn/Heir to the Empire series. I know it was very well-regarded, but never got to it. I didn't like the cover either, which didn't help, but we know what they say about books and covers. Anyway, fast forward to now. I listen to music while I work, but I prefer stories when I clean or do chores. I was between podcasts/audiobooks etc and decided to browse Spotify's newish Audibook collection since they now include a set amount free streaming with Premium membership. I stumbled on a newish production of the first Thrawn novel, Heir to the Empire, and figured "Oh, I used to really like this, and I like the OT era vibe more than the new stuff, so what the heck, let's give it a try." . . . Y'all. I'm floored. It's SO GOOD. I can't believe it took me so long, but I am glad I found it. The new production is PHENOMENAL. It's got the full licensed production with sound effects, the music, etc, and the reader is an incredibly talented voice actor who does striking impressions of the cast. Well, the men anyway. It's almost like one of these fully voice acted productions with a single actor. I was transported back to my youth, and it was like it picked up right right where original Star Wars left off. It felt like Star Wars. It was familiar and comfortable and RIGHT. It was almost like getting a new movie in the original Star Wars movie series, like they kept going without any of the trappings of the prequels or sequels. I'm sure this is old news to many SW fans, but anyone who hasn't read it or wants to revisit, I cannot recommend it enough. This particular production. I've already mainline the rest of the trilogy and looked up the remaining SW novels set in old EU continuity by Zahn as well as the the best and most essential to the plot. Consider me fully reinvested in the old EU. Legends feels more like Star Wars to me than anything that's come from Lucas or Disney in decades, and I saw the fan link above about closure for this continuity. I think I have some content for a while! I loved the Zahn trilogy back when they came out. I've read them again since, maybe 15 or so years ago now. I'll have to check out this audiobook you're talking about. It's on Spotify, right? What's the guy's name who reads it? |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 29, 2024 1:55:30 GMT -5
I think it's interesting, these attractions experienced at such a young age - how do they compare with the more obvious and often more overtly sexual attractions that happen in adolescence and later on, for example? Not to get too off-topic (or wanting to court unnecessary controversy), but I think sexuality in very early childhood is a fascinating subject. Myself, I knew from a very, very early age that I liked women, even though I couldn't articulate why and had no idea what sex was. The earliest vaugely sexual experience I can recall was watching the glamorous, all female dance troupe Legs & Co. on the BBC music show Top of the Pops in 1976 and becoming aroused -- I'd have been just 3 years old. At that age, these things are purely instinctive: you don't know why you're attracted to something or aroused by it, but you definitely know that you are. I've talked about this with a fair few male and female friends over the years, during drunken nights down the pub, including a couple of gay men, and they all admit (after a few drinks) to having had similarly early corresponding sexual experiences at a very young age. My conclusion is that it's incredibly common, though not discussed in polite society. Anyway, I don't want to make anybody feel uncomfortable, so I'll leave it there. It's a bit 'eavy for a comic book forum, after all!  Uhura on Star Trek was a big one for me Oh yes...Uhura was a big childhood crush for me too. To be fair, she still is! |
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