-- Anthony Miccio (anthonymicci...), April 17th, 2003.
He wouldn't have been much without the Attractions, I don't think. I believe it was Langdon Winner, writing in Harper's when "Imperial" appeared, who said that EC knew more about music than anyone else who had previously played rock music...and while I do think he knows a lot, I've always found him to be a guy who played at being smart but whose opinions were actually fairly pedestrian. Anyway, if you've ever sat down to play any of EC's tunes, you'll find that he relies on the same tricks in every song, and I think they sound exactly like tricks or mannerisms and not the work of someone really attempting to do something cool with the pop-music format. EC's world is just such an enclosed one--you could say the same thing about Brian Wilson, except that Wilson's stuff does have that certain something else that opens up as opposed to closes you in. Basically, when I hear Elvis Costello now I want to run from the room, another great example of hidden woman-hating and so forth disguised under stupid wordplay and the typically English addiction to "the great tradition of pop music" and all that shit...uncharitable, I suppose, and a bit unfair. When I see EC's mug these days I simply cannot bear it, stop it, man, stop it... -- eddie hurt (eddshur...), January 13th, 2004.
To me, the anger on This Year's Model feels more adolescent, brighter, and more optimistic even as it spits and condemns. -- Kenan Hebert (khebert...), August 3rd, 2003.
i've always thought Elvis Costello (another glaring omission here, guys!) never outdid this year's model (which also rocks pretty hard):
-- Tad (llamasfu...), April 29th, 2003.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 10:56 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 4461st place votes: 0total votes: 13
NEIL YOUNG - AFTER THE GOLD RUSH
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000002KD9.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 10:59 (nineteen years ago) link
There are the obvious favourites on this album - has anyone ever done fucked-up comedown better than the title track? (I expect at least one post saying YES in response to this, but never mind..); the terrifying imagery of "Don't Let It Bring You Down" and "Birds" which is just plain beautiful and I can't believe I didn't nominate it for this poll. Even the "throwaway" tracks, though, are fantastic. The cynicism of "'Til the Morning Comes" always makes me smile. And cringe a little. Every track on this album makes me feel something bigger than whatever I was feeling before. I've never skipped one of them (though I've played "Birds" on repeat far too often).
Oh, and then there's the song that helped kick start St. Etienne's career. But that's another matter entirely.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:11 (nineteen years ago) link
There are the obvious favourites on this album - has anyone ever done fucked-up comedown better than the title track? (I expect at least one post saying YES in response to this, but never mind..); the terrifying imagery of "Don't Let It Bring You Down"; and "Birds" which is just plain beautiful and I can't believe I didn't nominate it for this poll. Even the "throwaway" tracks, though, are fantastic. The cynicism of "'Til the Morning Comes" always makes me smile. And cringe a little. Every track on this album makes me feel something bigger than whatever I was feeling before. I've never skipped one of them (though I've played "Birds" on repeat far too often).
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:15 (nineteen years ago) link
It is a great album and a great song. It's been many years since I've played it, one day I will again. Did I mention how great the song is? I read somewhere that a bunch of copies were pressed with the image in the gatefold mistakenly being the image from "The Slider".
-- Sean (saturns...), July 26th, 2002.
I think it is perhaps the most repugnant album ever made. Second only to Harvest. -- davidh(owie) (howied41'@hotmail.com), July 25th, 2002.
after the goldrush was a screenplay, but it was never turned into a movie. this is why it is not on IMDB.neil young is NOT a blues singer. anyone who makes this mistake does not know music. neil was first and formost a folk singer. his rock is amplified folk, or folk-rock (with a bit of country.)the best example of this was everybody knows this is nowhere.(for the heavy)or goldrush(for the folkie)
-- brian goldberg (rabbitfighte...), January 29th, 2003.
THere is absolutely NO excuse for anybody on "I love Music" to not own at least one Neil Young CD (preferably either "harvest", "everybody knows this is nowhere" or "after the goldrush")shame
-- geeg (gee...), January 6th, 2004.However, "After The Goldrush", "Harvest" and "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" are great. Out of his later material, "Harvest Moon" is the one sounding more like Young at his best than any of the others.-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), March 6th, 2003.
I ask because while I know it qualifies as a "classic" by radio standards, its such a weird song. That whole album is pretty fucked up, with enigmatic lyrics and nonsensical song styling, and it makes it great. But Southern Man is one of Neil's first songs where his trademark overdriven guitar tone combines with a brooding bend-solos, providing one of the first bit of classic electric Neil. However, that pounding piano is just so damned chaotic and the vocals are a bit too over the top for me.... Opinions? -- Bryan Moore (BWMUConn...), February 28th, 2005.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:22 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 4541st place votes: 1total votes: 16
BIG STAR - RADIO CITY
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=radio+city+big+star/v=2/SID=e/l=IVI/SIG=11qjp93lf/EXP=1114259228/*-http%3A//www.mic.gr/dbImages/24820_3.jpg
http://www.frontlinearts.com/bigstar/radio.jpg
Which is the real front cover? YOU TELL ME.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Lee F# (fsharp), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:32 (nineteen years ago) link
The second
― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:36 (nineteen years ago) link
I keep trying, because so many smart people love it...but I have to agree. It sounds okay, but never compelling. -- Not That Chuck (noemai...), January 9th, 2004.
Overrated? Cheap Trick? Teenage Fanclub?Daisy Glaze, September Gurls, O My soul, Life Is White, Whats Goin Ahn, Back Of A Car, Way Out West....these songs don't really sound like anything or anybody else. Thats why attempts to rip them off always sound more like the Raspberries or Cheap Trick and miss out on whatever it is that makes them sound unique. -- David Nolan (dnola...), January 9th, 2004.I like 'Radio City' because of its ultimate middle-albumness, the way it's still got some of the pop sheen/focus of the 1st alb but at the same time already seems to be sliding down ("any downs at all") into the total breakdown/collapse of the 3rd alb - and yeah, Jody Stephens on 'Radio City', sure is some of the most distinctive rock drumming I've ever heard.
There are maybe more great songs on the first alb, but there are no total duds on the 2nd (I can't really face the 3rd one too much any more and besides, 'Like Flies on Sherbert' is more fun, more scary and just generally more drunken/drugged/wigged out)
-- Andrew L (theplum...), January 9th, 2004.
Radio City is one of my all-timers, but I do know exactly what Anthony means, it does feel sluggish, almost drunken, lovably woozy without being sloppy. I'm listening to right now for the very first time in a long time, and I'm actually amazed how short the songs -- in my mind they're twice as long as they really are!The first time I ever heard #1 Record/Radio City I feel asleep. Listening to it conscious, I found it impressive but not heart-tugging; then a year later it all seemed to make perfect sense.
It's like Beatles '65 played in Al Jackson time but not funky in any obvious way. It's hard to describe.
-- Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), January 10th, 2004.
Anyone else bothered to check out the lyrics to Daisy Glaze?The music in the 'third section' is this ecstatic, life-affirming rush, all ringing chords beautifully layered, and i always thought the lyrics would match the same feeling. Instead they're about Chilton getting in a bar-brawl... 'who is this whore?' Totally changes the feel of the song, not necessarily for the worse though.(RE White Album comparisms - this is clearly their 'Happiness is a Warm Gun') -- pete s (petesesnai...), January 10th, 2004.
All I know is, "Jesus Christ" has the most perfect electricguitar I have ever heard, I wish I could play EXACTLY like that.
-- Squirrel_Police (goblinatri...), January 10th, 2004.
i am a huge powerpop fan and always thought Big Star were over-rated. -- Orbit (JustOneOpinio...), January 12th, 2004.
I like 'When my baby's beside me' best. I remember reading somewhere that Gordon Brown is a huge Big Star fan, i'd love to think it was true. -- leigh (melodynelso...), January 12th, 2004.
#1 Record is pretty kickass throughout, but I think Radio City only has a few great songs and then it's all a blur. I'm willing to admit, though, that this may because once you make it to the second half of the CD yer kinda fatigued...(ie, I have the twofer)) -- John 2 (poo...), January 10th, 2004.
The "clunkiness" is what prevents it from sounding like The Raspberries - well, that and the superior songwriting, singing and playing -- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), January 12th, 2004.
Radio City is great, start to finish. Third is more innovative, # 1 is a bit more conventional pop music. Stuff like the Raspberries sounds frantic and contrived now, whereas the "sluggish" Big Star, with their mastery of tempo...get it? sound just fine now. Radio City doesn't mean to squash you with its rock and roll power, etc. So if you want that, look elsewhere. Cheap Trick! I mean, entertaining and not bad, but it's completely one-dimensional, which they mean to be. There's room for both "September Gurls" and "Southern Girls," thanks, and I do think that the critical response to Big Star has always been a bit ridiculous; there is something flawed and a real drag about Chilton in general and Big Star in particular that one has to come to grips with, and most critics aren't, ahem, chickwithdick enough to say this...but Radio City is supposed to be a drag anyway, that's the point, so it achieves its goal even more subversively than the more obviously screwed-up Third.The songwriting isn't always great but it's the way it's done that matters; and as an expression of stasis that still "rocks" or whatever, Radio City is hard to beat...
-- eddie hurt (eddshur...), January 12th, 2004.
I think an article in Mojo (yes Mojo) a few years back by Barney Hoskyns (maybe) got exactly why they stand out from a dozen other superficially similar Power-pop bands : theres a darkness to the music, in the arrangements,in that "sluggishness", but especially in the lyrics, that Cheap Trick or the Raspberries could never replicate. Maybe because Chilton was such an asshole and Bell was such a fuck-up. whatever, its there in the sound, difficult to identify exactly, difficult to articulate but apparent to anybody who knows the songs well.Or to put it another way : Big Star rule!! -- David Nolan (dnola...), January 13th, 2004.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:46 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 4561st place votes: 1total votes: 19
THE CLASH - THE CLASH
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00002MVQF.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:49 (nineteen years ago) link
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agreed. -- Jazzbo (jmcga...), January 11th, 2005.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Lee F# (fsharp), Friday, 22 April 2005 11:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:06 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 4961st place votes: 0total votes: 20
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - LOADED
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000249FS.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― RS, Friday, 22 April 2005 12:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― Lee F# (fsharp), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:21 (nineteen years ago) link
-- Sterling Clover (s_clove...), April 26th, 2003.
Loaded (on the tracks where Lou sings) is where Lou's voice comes into its own (by Rock & Roll heart he sounded way younger, and prior to Loaded he was sounding too callow
Sterling Clover (s_clover@empty.org), April 26th, 2003.
Loaded: I like "Sweet Jane." I like "Rock and Roll." I like "Oh Sweet Nuthin'!" The rest ssssuuuuuuccccckkkkkkkkkssssssssss.
-- Evan (savage156...), April 27th, 2003.
As for albums, I would say "Velvet Underground & Nico" and "Velvet Underground" are the ones that contain most great songs, while "Loaded" is the only one that contains nothing that is so totally unlistenable it has to be skipped every time.
-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), April 27th, 2003.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:30 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 4971st place votes: 1total votes: 13
THE ROLLING STONES - STICKY FINGERS
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000000W5N.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:32 (nineteen years ago) link
"Sticky Fingers," the penultimate entry in the Rolling Stones'hallowed "middle period" of the late sixties-early seventies, remainsthe tightest LP they ever made. While "Exile" has the messy,double-LP sprawl and "Beggars" a few throwaways, "Sticky Fingers" isinch-perfect: a note-for-note masterstroke that finds the Stones nolonger channeling the blues, soul, country and early rock 'n' rollsides they so adored, but instead transcending those genres with ahazy, drugged-out confidence. From the boozy, Parsons-inflectedcountry of "Wild Horses," to the desperate Stax-soul of "I Got theBlues," the Stones not only prove to be the worthy inheritors of thegenres they long parroted; rather, the knowing perfection of thesesides (dare I say?) obscures their sources, rendering them almostsecondary.
by Keith C
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:35 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 5051st place votes: 0total votes: 18
WIRE - PINK FLAG
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000024E05.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:38 (nineteen years ago) link
as an album, straight through...PINK FLAG. It's just perfect. -- Gage-o (gcb...), January 8th, 2002.
The typical line is that Pink Flag is the punk rawk record, and that from there on out they get increasingly "difficult." I think though that PF is probably *more* difficult in a sense than CM or (esp.) 154. Perhaps I haven't given it enough time or attention, but half the time when it's on I don't even notice it's there, or the songs just fly by (it having songs < 1 min doesn't help I'm sure). It feels like more of an exercise--"let's make the absolute most minimalist punk imaginable"--than say 154, which to my ears is far more texturally interesting, musically varied, and in a sense beautiful. -- Clarke B. (clarkeb...), January 11th, 2002.
Actually I was never terribly impressed with "Pink Flag" - for me, it grew increasingly tedious after a dozen listenings. But Wire certainly deserve praise for inspiring Minutemen and (presumably) Minor Threat.
-- Myonga Von Bontee (scottyfield...), March 3rd, 2004.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 12:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:05 (nineteen years ago) link
Loaded is their best album -- nate detritus (n***p*****550...), January 21st, 2004 12:02 AM.
I'm kind of on the fence about VU apart from Loaded which is just sensational.-- Dr.C (petethane...), July 23rd, 2004 3:16 PM.
Even though Loaded has nothing to do with White Light, White Heat, it's a great soft-rock album. -- Huk-L (handsomishbo...), February 23rd, 2005 9:01 PM.
The worst song on "Loaded" is still better than the best thing on 99.9999999999999999999% of other albums -- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), November 14th, 2003 3:10 PM.
I *always* hated Loaded when I was younger. Maybe I just wasn't old enough to understand it at the time or something, I don't know. It just sounded like coked-up disco-boogie with that bad 70s production, I wanted the noise and the feedback and all that! So I didn't listen to it for years. And then I gave it a chance when I got the box set (perhaps it was the alternate mixes that did it) and I utterly loved it. -- Ma$onic Boom (masonicboo...), July 23rd, 2004 1:51 PM.
Oh Sweet Nuthin is SOOOOO good. I bet Reed would've ruined it by making it more snarly/less pretty. -- Shakey Mo Collier (audiobo...), June 1st, 2004 11:37 PM.
"Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" - 'tis good. And Doug Yule's best vocal performance, period. Plus tasty S. Morrison guitar lead. This song's better than anything on 'Sticky Fingers'. Listen to how shit Reed's vocals are on 'Loaded'. In fact, listen to the caterwauling racket that is the "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" demo on that 'Fully Loaded' dealie. Lou sounds like a cat in heat. Thankfully he didn't sing on the "official" version. Only thing lacking on this track is Mo Tucker on drums. Am I the only one who finds this song/performance (esp. Yule's vocal) proto-Big Star (say, 'Sister Lovers')? Alex Chilton could've/should've done this one, but, absence of Mo Tucker aside, I think the song is perfect as it is. -- Kjoerup (s_kjoeru...), November 14th, 2003 10:11 PM.
In what universe is Loaded's greatness disputed? -- dan. (dan_haa...), February 23rd, 2005 8:21 PM.
― Alba (Alba), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:10 (nineteen years ago) link
cheers Alba. i'm not exactly convinced, but i am utterly gobsmacked. there's no accounting for taste, i suppose.
― Lee F# (fsharp), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― danski (danski), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― $V£N! (blueski), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― 57 7th (calstars), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Keith C (kcraw916), Friday, 22 April 2005 13:44 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 5101st place votes: 1total votes: 12
CAN - TAGO MAGO
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0002K0ZJY.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:11 (nineteen years ago) link
what's the insane one on Tago Mago? with the ridiculous drum machine passages and the shrieking? I like that one best.-- gaz (gary.lo...), February 25th, 2003.
The funkiest is also the noodliest (Tago Mago)-- sexyDancer (jjjjjjjjjj...), May 21st, 2004.
tago mago = higher peaks, wider valleys than ege bamyasi. -- el sabor de gene (yn...), May 22nd, 2004.
"Tago Mago", "Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days" are never far from my stereo and despite many, many spins still sound fresh as a daisy.-- steve (heligolande...), August 21st, 2003.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:24 (nineteen years ago) link
You might want to get over that. After the Gold Rush is an amazing, amazing album, but far from his best. If Rest Never Sleeps isn't in the top five, this forum is broken.
― Shakey, Friday, 22 April 2005 14:25 (nineteen years ago) link
Sorry - I don't know much about Can (although I'm intrigued, having seen the results so far) so didn't know that one wasn't right.
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:27 (nineteen years ago) link
some bad news:
61 points: 2961st place votes: 0total votes: 9
NEIL YOUNG - RUST NEVER SLEEPS
― Lee F# (fsharp), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Shakey, Friday, 22 April 2005 14:31 (nineteen years ago) link
er... "lonesome cowboy bill"?
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:38 (nineteen years ago) link
points: 5131st place votes: 0total votes: 18
DAVID BOWIE - LOW
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00001OH7W.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― willem (willem), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― peepee (peepee), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Lee F# (fsharp), Friday, 22 April 2005 14:48 (nineteen years ago) link