essentially:
the ocean will have us all otm
― preschoolin' life (BradNelson), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 18:22 (twelve years ago) link
Not wild about "Emily," "Buffalo Ballet," or "Momamma."
what
This. "Emily" sounds like she's been dead for thirty years. The bridge to "Buffalo Ballet" ("Yes, we'll all join in/And we'll all hold hands") is like some bizarre gospel song from There Will Be Blood. "Momamma" has killer slide guitar, IIRC.
Go back and do your homework, Alfred. Momamma is very disappointed in you.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 18:30 (twelve years ago) link
I have a hard time getting past the opening melody of "Emily."
The lurching dynamics of "Momamma" are a precursor to the superior "Heartbreak Hotel."
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 18:35 (twelve years ago) link
i dig cale's appropriation of corny English song tropes (at least that's what they sound like to me) on songs like "emily" -- something kind of interesting about the juxtaposition of these victorian melodies and the other, nastier stuff.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 18:44 (twelve years ago) link
and momamma scuba's riff is definitely pretty close to the heartbreak hotel one. but on what other song do you have manzanera, richard thompson and bryn haworth playing together?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 19:10 (twelve years ago) link
Title song is one of my favourite songs ever.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
voting Fear
― little orphan annie & sweet sue too (m coleman), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 19:23 (twelve years ago) link
"Buffalo Ballet" and "Fear" are easy top ten Cale tunes for me. I'll let them fight it out in my head for a while.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
I think that's exactly right. Between the loping piano, the whooshing ocean noise, and chorus of dead female backing singers, it's as if the song was written for Mary Shelley.
I'll let them fight it out in my head for a while.
Same here -- I'm having a hard time figuring this one out.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 20:39 (twelve years ago) link
"Buffalo Ballet"
― timellison, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 20:44 (twelve years ago) link
i think i might come out of this voting for "ship of fools"
― preschoolin' life (BradNelson), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 20:51 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, that is the one that really stood out to me on my latest listen ...i had gotten used to the sharper, less dreamy solo acoustic versions Cale's done in recent years. but there's this heatstroke, dreamy quality to the studio version that is just amazing.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 20:53 (twelve years ago) link
yeah generally the mood here is one in which the instruments and songs are come out of a thick smoke and it is particularly there in "ship of fools." one of the instruments is resonating throughout the length of the song, makes the whole enterprise seem like it's swelling and growing upon itself.
― preschoolin' life (BradNelson), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:21 (twelve years ago) link
and then of course "gun" rockets you into the mouth of hell a bit
― preschoolin' life (BradNelson), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:23 (twelve years ago) link
sylvia said is such a great song
― iatee, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:27 (twelve years ago) link
might even have voted for it ahead of the actual album songs
yeah, it is so good!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:29 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, "sylvia said" is amazing
of the album tracks proper tho, "ship of fools"
― the charo and the pity (donna rouge), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:31 (twelve years ago) link
did someone end up volunteering to do a VU solo poll? that really would be fun
― iatee, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:32 (twelve years ago) link
"Sylvia Said" is a little Velvet Underground-ish.
― timellison, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:32 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, i figured this was cale's little nod to lou's "said" series of songs
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:33 (twelve years ago) link
seems unlikely that the title would be a total coincidence
― iatee, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:34 (twelve years ago) link
Considering I've relistened to Moe's excellent I Spent a Week... and Lou's Set the Twilight Reeling in the past week, it would be an impossible choice.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:34 (twelve years ago) link
The synthesizer part is kind of like the viola on "Stephanie Says."
― timellison, Wednesday, 29 June 2011 21:37 (twelve years ago) link
Ship of fools, easily.
― so confused (blank), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 23:27 (twelve years ago) link
Manzanera plays guitar on "gun", right? Nasty stuff.
― so confused (blank), Wednesday, 29 June 2011 23:36 (twelve years ago) link
Manzanera and Eno both play the guitar on Gun.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 30 June 2011 00:48 (twelve years ago) link
According to the interview in The Island Years' liner notes, Eno's guitar credit is for feeding Manzanera's lines through his synth.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 June 2011 00:49 (twelve years ago) link
That's what I meant - they are both playing that gnarly guitar at the same time.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 30 June 2011 00:50 (twelve years ago) link
ship of fools
― Iago Galdston, Thursday, 30 June 2011 01:16 (twelve years ago) link
Not to belittle Eno's role, because god knows on tracks like Bowie's "Beauty and the Beast" he does otherwordly things treating guitars with his EMS Synthi. But on "Gun," all he's basically doing is speeding up and slowing down the LFO modulating the filter Manzanera's guitar is being run through. It's a classic solo for sure, but praising Eno on this is like giving credit to Jimi Hendrix's right foot for controlling the wah-wah pedal on "Voodoo Chile."
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 30 June 2011 03:06 (twelve years ago) link
Buffalo Ballet for me. Paul Kelly's cover of it is possibly even more affecting, such an evocative song.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 30 June 2011 03:29 (twelve years ago) link
best chorus is "ship of fools"
best verses are "fear"
tough call
― love in a grain elevator (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Thursday, 30 June 2011 03:40 (twelve years ago) link
Relistened to this last night; "Sylvia Said" is indeed a fine, fine thing.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 June 2011 11:04 (twelve years ago) link
Love this album, especially the first side - all classic songs in my opinion.Gun is another good one, I guess I'll go for Buffalo Ballet because of the "sleeping in the midday sun" bit.
As for the "mannered" style of the Island era, this is exactly why I like these albums so much. They're very difficult to pin down, they can be at the same time cold-hearted exercises in rock n roll and brutally excoriating confessional tales.
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 30 June 2011 13:25 (twelve years ago) link
all three of those Island era lps are my well-worn, go-to favorites. put one on and it's always, 'Thank you, thank you, John Cale to the rescue!!'
― nerve_pylon, Thursday, 30 June 2011 13:49 (twelve years ago) link
yessss - slow dazzle is the near-equal of fear IMO and helen of troy isn't too far behind. has guts ever been issued on CD? it's a great 70s cale primer
sabotage is where he REALLY got 'unhinged'
― little orphan annie & sweet sue too (m coleman), Thursday, 30 June 2011 13:54 (twelve years ago) link
in fact slow dazzle might be my favorite, good excuse to relisten before the next poll
― little orphan annie & sweet sue too (m coleman), Thursday, 30 June 2011 13:55 (twelve years ago) link
HOT sounds forced to me. Don't mind "I Keep a Close Watch" but the title track and "Leaving It Up to You" are Grand Guignol.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 June 2011 13:56 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah but Pablo Picasso is the shit.
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 30 June 2011 14:00 (twelve years ago) link
just for the way he prounces AHSSSWHOLE
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 June 2011 14:00 (twelve years ago) link
I love 'my maria' and 'engine'
― iatee, Thursday, 30 June 2011 14:03 (twelve years ago) link
HOT is uneven but "Leaving It Up To You" is one of his all-time classics; also like "Close Watch" and "Cable Hogue"
― little orphan annie & sweet sue too (m coleman), Thursday, 30 June 2011 14:15 (twelve years ago) link
the end of "china sea" is probably my favorite slow dazzle moment.
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 June 2011 14:31 (twelve years ago) link
but back to fear! here's an outtake from the cover shoothttp://www.xs4all.nl/~werksman/cale/img/outtakes/fear.jpg
Fear, Buffalo Ballet, Ship of Fools are my favourites... Fear wins though.
― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Thursday, 30 June 2011 15:52 (twelve years ago) link
sleeping in the midday sun, sleeping in the midday sun...
it's weird, i still haven't heard helen of troy. think this is his best apart from paris.
― sonderangerbot, Thursday, 30 June 2011 21:00 (twelve years ago) link
helen of troy is pretty unsettling to me, even after all these years of listening to it. like what is going on during "engine"? yikes!
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 June 2011 21:03 (twelve years ago) link
These 3 albums are contenders for "3 best consecutive albums" ever, along with, say, the first 3 Wire albums. I wonder if that's been polled...
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 1 July 2011 00:23 (twelve years ago) link
3 good albums, but they get worse as they go on, "Helen of Troy" is pretty crap in places - does the world need ANOTHER version of "Baby What You Want Me To Do", especially from John Cale??!?!? I've heard Cale say that Island put it out before he'd finished mixing it or something, but that's a hoary old excuse artists are wont use for albums that aren't quite up to scratch.
― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Friday, 1 July 2011 10:49 (twelve years ago) link
yeah! he did that at my show too. i didn't want to give you spoilers but it was so great, right? i love him when he is goofy and lighthearted just as much as when he's any of his other ways. did he do the nookie wood song? thanks for the recap -- i'd have wondered and then forgotten to ask you
― Mayor Manuel (La Lechera), Friday, 18 April 2014 15:49 (ten years ago) link
here's some of his big ears set -- sounds kind of cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFOf39vRSOU
― tylerw, Friday, 18 April 2014 15:51 (ten years ago) link
yes, it was amazing, though I will admit that it took me a while to find a way into the groove of whatever it is that they were doing. But once I did I was all theirs.
Ludicrously great band obviously. Funkiest bassist ever.
― ruth rendell writing as (askance johnson), Friday, 18 April 2014 16:00 (ten years ago) link
oof the bridge in "buffalo ballet"... so nice.
― tylerw, Saturday, 27 September 2014 21:14 (nine years ago) link
the whole record. john cale rules.
― tylerw, Saturday, 27 September 2014 21:15 (nine years ago) link
http://quietus_production.s3.amazonaws.com/images/articles/7147/John_Cale_1318330132_crop_550x571.jpg
― Onan Pullett (wins), Saturday, 27 September 2014 21:20 (nine years ago) link
He looks like a Brian Froud drawing.
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 27 September 2014 21:31 (nine years ago) link
I just play the whole Island Years comp.
― Dear Catastrophe Theory Waitress (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 27 September 2014 21:38 (nine years ago) link
* hi, my name is Zach_TBD (Karl Malone). i was a longstanding underrater of Fear.** hi Zach_TBD (Karl Malone). * hi. god, this is awkward. what was i even thinking. where do i even begin
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Thursday, 8 April 2021 05:32 (three years ago) link
sleeping in the midday sun.sleeping in the midday sun.
one of those single lines that just makes the entire song. john cale has a lot of those.
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Thursday, 8 April 2021 05:35 (three years ago) link
note: on Spotify, the most popular song on this album is Barracuda (close to 3M listens, compared to only 500K for the best song, Ship of Fools). on this poll, Barracuda has 0 votes.
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Thursday, 8 April 2021 05:37 (three years ago) link
"Barracuda" is a catchy sumbitch
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 April 2021 09:30 (three years ago) link
sleeping in the midday sun.sleeping in the midday sun.one of those single lines that just makes the entire song. john cale has a lot of those.
― It Is Dangerous to Meme Inside (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 April 2021 12:30 (three years ago) link
Holy shit, I was going to post that I was surprised more people don't cover John Cale, but then I saw this:
https://werksman.home.xs4all.nl/cale/covers/index.html
List of bands includes both Sugar Ray and Red Hot Chili Peppers, though both (particularly the latter) or kind of technicalities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NzuVBA55NI
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 April 2021 12:48 (three years ago) link
Paul Kelly does a great version of "Buffalo Ballet":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4cBcd0IaIA
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 8 April 2021 13:09 (three years ago) link
"Emily" would have been my pick. Another one-line chorus: "Maybe we'll love again".
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 8 April 2021 14:27 (three years ago) link
haha, that is weird that "barracuda" is the most-played spotify track — must be the one that the algorithm has singled out for being up-tempo, no screaming, not too long etc. the playlist canon.
― tylerw, Thursday, 8 April 2021 15:27 (three years ago) link
KM I am glad that you are properly appreciating this masterpiece
― I like signing up to dead sites (sleeve), Thursday, 8 April 2021 15:29 (three years ago) link
― tylerw
I wonder if it's from people searching for the Heart song and playing it.
― nickn, Friday, 9 April 2021 02:05 (three years ago) link
I wondered that too.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 9 April 2021 02:19 (three years ago) link
Haha maybe!
― tylerw, Friday, 9 April 2021 02:32 (three years ago) link
Most likely
― It Is Dangerous to Meme Inside (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 April 2021 02:53 (three years ago) link
Now if only Taylor Swift would record a song entitled "The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy"...
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 9 April 2021 02:57 (three years ago) link
“Barracuda” features in the recent Andy Samberg film Palm Springs - might be getting some action from that.
― Paul, Friday, 9 April 2021 03:10 (three years ago) link
omg the Heart connection, don't know whether to laugh or cry
― I like signing up to dead sites (sleeve), Friday, 9 April 2021 03:12 (three years ago) link
god, this just hit me hard for some reason
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Friday, 9 April 2021 03:18 (three years ago) link