Laurie Anderson - Big Science - C or D

context is key -- I bought it the day it came out and expectations were too high, first studio album of all new songs in four years (Home of the Brave only half counts). dozens of guest musicians on almost every track, really ornate 80's production, and she'd been taking voice lessons to tackle some more traditional approaches to singing. some beautiful melodies & lyrics but its pop aim is very wide & all my favorite moments on the record are the few seconds where she lets herself fall back into her speaking tone, that voice. I like the title track & "Ramon", so I shouldn't say terrible as much as 'not my favorite' which would be Mister Heartbreak

"Blue" Gene Tyranny plays on a few tracks of Strange Angels though, can't be all bad

I don't know what it is about that album that anyone likes.

Dear sir,

You are a dick, and your ear is of tin.

Sincerely,

Bakithi Kumalo

Also, there is "Ramon".

and "Babydoll"! and "My Eyes," which is the most gorgeous song she's ever written and talk-sung!

Milton Parker comes closest to nailing the circumstances under which the album was recorded; but where he's closest to the non-pop moments I find its movements towards a wider word at once thrilling and fragile. I'm possibly tainted by having heard Strange Angels before the others, so that Big Science and even Mister Heartbreak seemed stilted and arch. The title track and "The Dream Before" encapsulate everything worth preserving about her after "O Superman" -- intelligent, buoyant, and moving.

*a wider world

I'm still in the

Laurie Anderson songs < Laurie Anderson spoken word performance

camp.

But as far as Strange Angels go, "The Dream Before" is pretty nice.

Alfred, I'd heard Big Science and Mister Heartbreak prior and I love Strange Angels. I don't know who these crazy people are!

For a grander Big Science-era fix, you should really get United States Live next (Strange Angels is also great, but entirely different). Avoid Mr. Heartbreak unless you're a devoted Gabriel/Bush nut.

i do feel the possibility of Bush here. and of course, i am a Bush not. As for GAbriel, not so much yet.

i don't know, it doesn't register with me at all. i'd say go for Bright Red before that, it works better on the whole. not that I listen to it that much either (I do like the duet with Lou Reed)

oops *Bush nut =)

I wish I had been here for more Laurie Talk. Did anyone mention Bright Red? I stick by Big Science, but that's got some great bits on it. "Did she fall or was she pushed"

dicks don't have ears

although I suppose you could hook a little tin one on there

Why do people always get so abusive on this board. It's not fox hunting y'know. That's right nabisco, turn the other cheek!

i don't even know what just happened

I never know what just happened. How're you doin' on the album now?

this album? it's very good! i'm totally into it. i think my fav song is Ex. 22, not necessarily b/c it's the poppiest, just cuz it's nice and cohesive.

Mine is Let X=X. This always reminds me of the room I lived in in first year in College, I listened to this and Matmos every time I was going out. Seems a bit weird now.

love this album. i've been listening to it for like a year now and still am not sick of it, which is pretty rare for me

so weird but still catchy and fun

Lord, but "Let X=X / It Tango" is gorgeous.

Your Captain says: Put your head on your knees.
Your Captain says: Put your head on your hands.
Captain says: Put your hands on your head.
Put your hands on your hips.

let x=x is still the sound of the first room i lived in when i went to college

I haven't done an A/B comparison but my instinct was that all these tracks were better on the huge "United State Live" box.

been listening to this alot lately myself for some reason, it seems to always be relevant, somehow

30 y/o today

"Gee you look terrible for your age." -- Rose Nylund

your mouth
your eyes
the way
you hold
your pens
and pen
cils

i no longer love it

I haven't done an A/B comparison but my instinct was that all these tracks were better on the huge "United State Live" box.

in no case is this true

probably one of my favorite albums of all time, have yet to hear another laurie anderson album that i really like :/

o superman came on from some old mix CD this weekend while i was driving around with my 2 1/2 year old.
"what is she saying?!" "what is that sound!?"

neither snow nor rain
nor gloom of night
shall stay these couriers
from the swift completion
of their appointed rounds

have yet to hear another laurie anderson album that i really like :/

^^^ what I think about Strange Angels although I like lots of her other albums.

The Ugly One with the Jewels appeals to the kid in me who still loves storytime.

haven't heard it, but You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With is a great title

Mr. Heartbreak is mostly killer, a little filler.

Anyway, the O Superman video is sort of shockingly effective to me today given its age and the technology involved: http://vimeo.com/3610524

I haven't done an A/B comparison but my instinct was that all these tracks were better on the huge "United State Live" box.

in no case is this true

Well then, you've forced me to do said comparison!

'o superman' is wonderful. but not enough is said about the title track. sometimes certain parts will hit me out of nowhere - "Every man for himself.
Golden cities. Golden towns."

"Thanks for the ride. Big Science. Hallelujah. Big Science. Yodellayheehoo

It's the best, along with "Let X=X / It Tango"

Here's a man who lives a life of danger.
Everywhere he goes he stays -
a stranger.
Howdy stranger. Mind if I smoke?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqCJkzyYwCM

love

Well that’s a nice discovery — the album gets a rerelease on Bandcamp tomorrow:

https://laurieanderson.bandcamp.com/

Was United States Live ever filmed or videotaped? I wish that could be released, but I guess that's rarely the case with performance pieces like it.

I have memories of PBS airplay.

I assumed the revive was for this good appreciation of it by Margaret Atwood https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/08/margaret-atwood-laurie-anderson-big-science-o-superman-prophetic-80s-america-pertinent

I have memories of PBS airplay.

Aw nice! There must be a broadcast master somewhere.

Oddly enough my own first encounter of her wasn't a broadcast of a full piece straight up but a separate appearance in a PBS documentary series...and I almost want to say it was The Story of English?

I've never seen any footage of it. You're not getting confused with Alive from Off Center, are you?