Going back to 'Try It', I wasn't aware it was a cover at the time, but they do a fantastic job of turning a fairly routine hi-nrg piece into something quite strange and magical.
― The multi-talented F.R. David (Billy Dods), Monday, 4 July 2011 22:27 (thirteen years ago) link
not really feeling "Try It". nice production though.
I think of DJ Sprinkles when I hear "We All Feel Better in the Dark". And those have to be some of the most obviously 'dirty' lyrics in the PSB catalog.
― skip, Monday, 4 July 2011 22:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Anyway, that's your lot for the night. 30-16 tomorrow.
― The multi-talented F.R. David (Billy Dods), Monday, 4 July 2011 22:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Did everyone hear "Try It (I'm In Love With A Married Man)" off Disco 3 - one of the best later PSB songs I've heard, very hypnotic and melancholy.― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 14 August 2003 13:53 (7 years ago)
I'm always amazed at how terrible the Oh Romeo original is, considering how much er questionable Bobby 'O' productions I have time for (his James Brown ripoff, etc).
― etc, Monday, 4 July 2011 22:29 (thirteen years ago) link
I find both Fundamental and Nightlife disappointing. A couple of very strong tracks but everything ranges from so-so to kind of awful.
― daavid, Monday, 4 July 2011 22:29 (thirteen years ago) link
*everything else
― daavid, Monday, 4 July 2011 22:32 (thirteen years ago) link
Glad "One More Chance" got some other votes - love the original mix to bits'n'pieces; Neil is still singing with a slight goblinoid/Almond sleaziness, and there's some fantastic synthesized "Streets Of Cairo"-esque public domain motifs garnishing the track.
― etc, Monday, 4 July 2011 22:33 (thirteen years ago) link
I love "Your Funny Uncle" to pieces, though it always wrongfoots me - to me the title suggests it'll be about a black sheep in the family, the bachelor relation that "never married" etc; instead it's a straightlaced uncle in the military behaving decently at the funeral of his gay nephew.
... oh dear, it seems like one of Keane are covering it on YouTube.
― etc, Monday, 4 July 2011 22:42 (thirteen years ago) link
god the 'admit you love me and you always did' part of Red Letter Day never gets old
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Monday, 4 July 2011 22:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Wow, a goodly chunk of my ballot was taken care of in the lower reaches (Liberation, It Must Be Obvious, It Couldn't Happen Here, Miserablism, My October Symphony).
Re post-Very records, I like both Nightlife and Fundamental a hell of a lot more than I did a week ago. I suspect that had something to do with relative under-exposure, so I have this poll to thank for rehabilitating them in my mind. On the other hand Bilingual and Release now still seem weaker than I had remembered.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 4 July 2011 23:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Release has three songs and the rest is filler.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 July 2011 23:02 (thirteen years ago) link
Elton John said this song saved his life (tonight).
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 July 2011 23:03 (thirteen years ago) link
I really should have voted for "Your Funny Uncle". The actual verse about the funny uncle is deeply affecting today.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 4 July 2011 23:19 (thirteen years ago) link
Recap of 31-50.
31 We All Feel Better In The Dark B-side 138 6 132 Try It (I'm In Love With A Married Man) Disco 3 136 5 033 I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore Nightlife 129 6 034 Your Funny Uncle B-side 124 6 035 One More Chance B-side 123 5 036 The Truck Driver and his Mate B-side 120 6 037 It's Alright Introspective 118 4 038 My October Symphony Behaviour 116 5 039 Losing My Mind (Liza Minelli) Collaboration 109 6 040 Miserabilism B-side 106 6 041 It Couldn't Happen Here Actually 105 5 042 It Must Be Obvious B-side 98 5 043 Some Speculation B-side 98 4 044 Love Etc Yes 94 5 045 Where The Streets Have No Name(I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You) Standalone 87 4 046 A Red Letter Day Bilingual 83 4 047 Liberation Very 81 4 048 To Face The Truth Behaviour 77 3 049 Do I Have To? B-Side 76 4 050 I'm Not Scared (Eighth Wonder) Collaboration 69 4 0
― The multi-talented F.R. David (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 09:46 (thirteen years ago) link
I remember playing my pop-hating grandma Your Funny Uncle when it came out and even she was moved. It might have been the lines from Revelation that did it.
― Strictly vote-splitting (DL), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 11:33 (thirteen years ago) link
lol, of course I was the only one to list "We All Feel Better In The Dark" as #1
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 11:56 (thirteen years ago) link
I had it as my #3, and almost ranked it higher
― I DIED, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 12:29 (thirteen years ago) link
I think I might have cut it from my last 25
― undeɹrated ærosm?th b∞tlegs I have pwned (sic), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 13:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Can we post our ballots when it's all done?
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 13:13 (thirteen years ago) link
I don't know if I should be concerned that so much of my ballot is showing up or psyched that I am so clued into the ILX PSB hivemind
btw if "Domino Dancing" is the highest-placing single I will hate all of you all day all day
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 13:31 (thirteen years ago) link
I was going to post a link to the google spreadsheet if no one objected, anyone who's keen and a bit more spreadsheet savvy could then have a play about with the figures.
― The multi-talented F.R. David (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 13:32 (thirteen years ago) link
btw thank you all for reminding me that "I Don't Know What You Want But This Song Title Just Isn't Long Enough" is fucking great, I often overlook it in the sea of "For Your Own Good"/"Closer To Heaven"/"New York City Boy" that surrounds it
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 13:35 (thirteen years ago) link
The "For Your Own Good"-"Closer To Heaven"-"I Don't Know" sequence is so good that I stop listening at this point. I'm helped by the fact that "Happiness is an Option" is a fucking dog.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 14:24 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, 4th track on that album is an instant fast-forward. But what a group of first three tracks.
What does everyone think of "In Denial"? I am kind of partial to it despite the obviousness, sentimentality etc.
― skip, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 14:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Love In Denial. Almost voted for it. I may be in a minority there.
― Strictly vote-splitting (DL), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 14:43 (thirteen years ago) link
It's okay at best. I'm more taken with "Boy Strange."
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 14:44 (thirteen years ago) link
I dig it's way-over-the-topness.
― Gukbe, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 14:44 (thirteen years ago) link
my favorite parts are the line "who in his pathetic own way denies he's gay" to describe the boyfriend and the turnaround at the end when the daughter asks if HE can still love HER. Very sad situation and thankfully increasingly less common.
― skip, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 14:52 (thirteen years ago) link
On the later albums, I'm drawn to the more overt storytelling - I Get Along is another favourite. In Denial is such a wonderful, economical character study.
― Strictly vote-splitting (DL), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 15:00 (thirteen years ago) link
Running Spotify playlist here ppls: http://open.spotify.com/user/dalzinho/playlist/727ciD0cHSADIUd8tircRX
― scotstvo, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 15:24 (thirteen years ago) link
4 of mine so far (one more chance, losing my mind, i'm not scared, i don't know what you want etc). amazed there was only 32 ballots tho, thought that if there was one poll on ilm that would see a big turnout it would've been this.
― second only to popcorn (or something), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 15:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Is "In Denial" the only PSB song that explicitly uses the word gay?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 15:34 (thirteen years ago) link
wow a lot of Nightlife love on here, i thought i was on my own with that. easily their best album after the early 90s i think. massively under-rated.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 15:37 (thirteen years ago) link
I agree with that; it certainly sticks in my head more than subsequent albums, which all contain songs I like but rarely go back to.
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 15:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, expected a few more ballots, especially since Pavement got 60+. Nothing from Geir which surprised me.
― The multi-talented F.R. David (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 15:45 (thirteen years ago) link
Been listening to Actually today and struck by how great the rhythm programming is. The beats on Rent and What Have I Done to Deserve This are so unusual and distinctive. I think they lost something when the pumping 4/4 became their default setting. I voted for Was That What It Was not for the songwriting or Tennant's weird, out-of-tune vocal but the programming. I used to listen to that over and over. Giant drums! Orchestral stabs!
― Strictly vote-splitting (DL), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 16:47 (thirteen years ago) link
was THAT what it was?
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:07 (thirteen years ago) link
what are ppl's guesses for highest-charting single/b-side/album track?
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:12 (thirteen years ago) link
PANINARO OH-OH-OH-OHHHHHHHHHHHHH
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:13 (thirteen years ago) link
Album track - King's Cross? Dreaming of the Queen? This Must Be the Place?B-side - PaninaroSingle - I can see Being Boring being the consensus choice. Is there any PSBs fan who doesn't rate that?
― Strictly vote-splitting (DL), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:20 (thirteen years ago) link
I like "Being Boring" a ton but it didn't make my ballot
personally I'm hoping for "Rent"
I agree with "Paninaro" and "King's Cross"
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:23 (thirteen years ago) link
people don't like Liberation?
― gospodin simmel, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:25 (thirteen years ago) link
I don't. Their first really bland song.
― Strictly vote-splitting (DL), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:28 (thirteen years ago) link
One moral I've drawn from this wretched record: don't have high expectations of pop stars. Despite their protestations, they'll never fail to let you down. Despite myself, I'll seek solace in my beloved Gay Dad album.
— Paul Cooper, November 2, 1999
― omar little, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:28 (thirteen years ago) link
I've learned to like it over the years. I love his falsetto and the line about his lover sleeping on his shoulder.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:28 (thirteen years ago) link
tbh I first "Liberation" as an excerpt from the E-Smoove remix on Disco 2 and have never been able to reconcile that monster stomper with the gentle album track
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Wither Shameless?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:32 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm sure "Shameless" will pop up later (although I'm bummed that if it does appear, it will be higher than "We All Feel Better In The Dark", "It Must Be Obvious" and "Some Speculation")
really hoping others are as infatuated with "Don Juan", "Jack The Lad" and "You Know Where You Went Wrong" as I am
― DJP, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:34 (thirteen years ago) link
I ended up going for Absolutely Fabulous and Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend over Shameless, though neither of the latter two made my final ballot.
― skip, Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:35 (thirteen years ago) link
You know what track we missed at first?
"Decadence."
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 July 2011 17:35 (thirteen years ago) link