Follow-ups to minor classics that were a letdown at the time but turned out to be mostly pretty good 1988-91

OK, Fasty, on the strength of your review above (mention the Feelies and I get all hotnbothered) I'm downloading Giant now from eMu.

Neither Fish Nor Flesh owns this thread.

[q] Goo has some of Kim Gordon's best moments, as well as one of Sonic Youth's best songs in "Kool Thing". The furious guitar mantra at the end of that track is astonishing...

― Dan S, Saturday, April 4, 2009 5:19 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

kool thing is not one of sonic youth's best songs...

― jagged-electronically mäandernden underbody (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, April 4, 2009 12:24 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark [q]

Me: Kool Thing is one of Sonic Youth's best songs.

you: Kool Thing is not one of Sonic Youth's best songs.

Probably I'm inviting trouble by even commenting, but I truly love, love, love, these simple assertions of opposing opinions. I don't know why. PS I am old, therefore none of these albums means anything to me in comparison to, say, "White Music," "Soul Mining," oh, never mind (NOT "Nevermind").

Cool poll question; however, one album here sticks out for me and that's Doolittle. I remember the feeling at that time being more along the lines of, "How could they possibly make ANOTHER album this good?" If that album let you down you had some crazy inflated expectations.

Kool Thing might be better than I give it credit, but I usually go under the assumption that in the early 90s the worst SY songs usually got released as singles...clear that b.s. away (along w/ the vox) and Kool Thing actually has a delirial ghoulishness that I find endearing...

Neither Fish Nor Flesh owns this thread.

this is kind of OTM only I really loved Neither Fish Nor Flesh when it came out

It's good ("Billy Don't Fall"), but Symphony or Damn, which can you find cheap in any used record store, is even better.

"I Have Faith In These Desolate Times" A+++++

Wild Card is also fantastic. Poor old arrogant crazy TTD

huh i guess i should give camper van beethovan a chance? dude always kinda bugged me, at least in cracker who was more my era i guess.

I always hated Cracker (who were also more my era) and I just think of CVB being a jokey cover band cause I've only heard their cover of "pictures of matchstick men" and "take the skinheads bowling".

what you haven't heard their jokey cover of Black Flag's "Wasted"? or Ringo's "Photograph"?

Or their hoedown cover of "White Riot?" Or "Interstellar Overdrive?" Or Sonic Youth's "I Love Her All the Time?" Or their track-for-track cover of "Tusk?" Among other awesome CVB covers.

(Well, OK, the reinvented "Tusk" is pretty hit-or-miss, but the other covers the band has done are all awesome).

missed this poll, would've voted for Only Life -- sometimes my fave Feelies record, though they all occasionally hold that title.

Listened to The Woodentops' Giant. First impressions: A little Good Earth-era Feelies, but more Conspiracy-era Jazz Butcher with a bit of Housemartins feel in the vocals. Pretty good; I would probably now have very fond memories of it if I had heard it at the time. Flisten in 2009: only OK, lyrics a bit weak. But def. has the potential to grow on me (or maybe not).

I realized I left out a few more:

Love And Rockets - Earth-Sun-Moon 87
The lack of the heavy buzzsaw sounds of Express lead me to write this album off at the time. Now it sounds pretty inspired compared to their more disappointing self-titled album from '89.

The Church - Starfish 88
Heyday was a big favorite in 1986, but when this came out, it sounded too clean and sterile to me. In retrospect, their singles were some of the prettiest stuff you'd hear on the radio at the time.

Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide 91
I got turned on to 1987's Saint Julian before I even was aware of Teardrop Explodes. Reading his Head-On/Repossessed auto-bio reminded me that he also released the mediocre My Nation Underground in 1988, which I totally was unaware of at the time. I remember checking out bits of Peggy Suicide at the college radio station and being impressed by the concept, but not the songs. Finally got a copy just recently and still growing.

Earth Sun Moon is their best album

Didn't get to vote in this the first time around (I would have gone for Goo, which I actually think is miles better as a brilliant pop album than the unfocused sprawl that was Daydream Nation)...

But Starfish? Come on, most casual listeners would probably say that was the Church's finest hour. And still their biggest commercial success.

Ditto Earth Sun Moon, which was really L&R's breakthrough album. I'm not sure how you're judging this "followups" business here.

Explained upthread, but they were judged at the time with my teenage ears that were expecting something better. And now I'm re-evaluating them a couple decades later.