Sparks: classic or dud?

I'll see this sooner or later, but these descriptions sound terrible.

― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, June 24, 2021 8:02 PM (seven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Seen it, am actually mostly satisfied.
Stylistically, there was such a variety of visual approaches and material, and the pace was kept fast enough, that things like the animation or the vintage B&W "commentary" inserts didn't bother me, it was just another 2 or 3 seconds until something else showed up. Also, it wasn't really an "exploration" of each of the albums, they're just signposts so you don't say, "wait, what decade are we in again"? Also, keeping the pace so fast allows for the very unusual sequence of the 1988 to 1995 era, where the pace is deliberately slowed down instead of sped up.
I think it was true to the "Sparks ethos" inasmuch as everything - Ron and Russell talking, performance footage, celebrity testimonials - was presented as if in quotes, like "here's the bit where we self-consciously echo the things you've seen in dozens of these documentaries".

Do the Maels or their fans in the film admit that any of the records were sub-standard?

― Halfway there but for you, Friday, June 25, 2021 4:28 PM (seven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think the only one that really gets critiqued this way is Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat? Even Interior Design (which I quite like) has someone saying something nice about it.

I’m not a big enough fan to read this thread to see if this is already covered, but the thing that struck me the most about the documentary is that the Sparks guys made it pretty clear that they were only willing to make a documentary if it went against traditional rock documentary standards and then went on to deliver a relatively conventional rock documentary.

I wonder if the fact that they were making Annette at around the same time made them less inclined to press that point - knowing that they were making their mark in a Proper Film, it might have been less important to have their rock doc be as odd as they themselves can be.

I think most Sparks fans will admit that not all their albums are good but yeah Pulling Rabbits seems to be the only one that's universally derided. Last year I decided to listen to all of Sparks' albums and it struck me that their songwriting was actually a lot more consistent than I'd remembered. The relative quality of the albums has more to do with the arrangements & production. That's why Kimono & Propaganda are universally regarded as classics, they had such a powerful glam/prog/power pop sound that just fills the room. Likewise No. 1 in Heaven still feels like it's from the future, it's so crisp and propulsive. And of course their modern albums all sound great & have intricate and full arrangements. On the other hand on their bad albums it's not just the songs, it's that they sound like garbage. Mostly those post-band 80s ones which either sound incredibly thin or have that stupidly loud reverb/choral effect on everything. Even Big Beat suffers from this, sounding like it was recorded in a shoebox.

But the songs themselves are generally salvageable. Check out the Plagiarism, particularly "Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat", which re-envisions the song as if it was written during the Li'l Beethoven sessions (though that album was still 5 years away!) - it's totally massive and honestly one of my favorites on the whole disc

Now that I think about it I'm surprised Plagiarism was barely mentioned - for one they got Mike Patton at the height of his fame, and that seems like a pretty significant influence. For two the direction they took on some of those tracks clearly pointed towards what they'd do for like...the entire 21st Century (so far). And yet in the documentary it's like..."eh, we had no ideas"

I also tried listening to them all last year too, and stopped after slogging through Angst In My Pants, which at only 36 minutes seemed as long as Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Madness

As for Plagiarism, they've spoken before about how they were essentially talked into it, preferring not to look back in general. I think if it had just been a straight-up tribute album they'd be happy with it.

Do the Maels or their fans in the film admit that any of the records were sub-standard?

― Halfway there but for you

I remember a few years back they were asked which was the worst Sparks album and they both answered Terminal Jive. I think it was in some questionnaire in Uncut Magazine maybe?

Man, realized I forgot to post here about the LA show last month! Well, having seen that and last night's SF show to kick off the full tour, you absolutely want to go to this if you have even the slightest interest in the band. I've been seeing them regularly for a quarter of a century and every show has been great in its own way but both these recent shows were compact overviews of their whole career, and it's a great summary and perfect introduction to them if you're relatively new to them and a lovely retrospective if you're in deep like me. Ron dance in full effect of course, and Russell still has the pipes and energy to burn, not that I've ever seen him lack those. Good times for sure.

Aah, so jealous you got to see them at Disney Concert Hall! Definitely one of those times I was wishing I still lived in LA. I'll be seeing them next week at Big Ears though. Recent setlists look fantastic - I wish they were doing more from A Steady Drip, but hard to have any complaints about that song selection.

Saw them in New York last night. Great to see them on a much bigger stage. You can tell they've tailored the setlist to please people who saw the movie, but I don't care, it's all good. And they seemed genuinely thrilled by the reception they got. They said that both a new album and another movie musical is on the way. Amazing.

I had to miss them in St. Paul, I was out of town. I love that they're doing "Under The Table With Her," one of my favoritest faves.

They've signed to Island. 50 years after they last signed to Island. And a new album is coming 26 May (days before I see them in London).

Midnight Special, 1974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IVTSdF-YzI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viAmueyo0cc