| Author | Message | ||
     Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.95.4 |
I'm probably going to get laughed at, but listening to the new Take That album today has confirmed a feeling that's grown over listening to their new stuff that they have suddenly become this truly classic act. It shouldn't happen because they're a 'boy band', but it has. They're so mature now and so brave in their aim to experiment and push themselves. This new album is wonderful. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
I always had a guilty soft spot for this band (my step-daughter was seriously into them back in the '90s, and this kind of thing rubs off via repeated, involuntary exposure ;). It was never to the point where I listened to their albums, but they've paid their dues, and Barlow and Williams are an intriguing pair. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
(PS You'll only get laughed at by folk who think they're above this kind of pop culture but who, in laughing, reveal that they're as ensnared in it as any of TT's fans. It's much better to listen without getting caught in the swim of identity politics and what's-cool, etc. The best way of all, of course, to be genuinely unaware of what's-cool, etc.) | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
Na, the best way is to laugh at Take That! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
Mick, the rebel. He never mellowed, just remained edgy till his dying day. In the context of Surrey, that is.  | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.116.50.208 |
Is Lady Gaga cool? Love the a** on the lass. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Oh, whoops .. I think I've wandered onto the wrong board by mistake. I thought this was the RCMB ...  (sorry, Tony, I'm not really laughing at you!  ) | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
I'm only prepared to be a rebel if my rebelliousness can be delivered by Ocado. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
This is the very first time in my life I've ever heard of Take That. And the next time I do, I hope it, too, will be the first time I've heard of them. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 92.23.162.87 |
Back in the hard rockin' head bangin' seventies when I had hair down to my waist, thought that Ozzy Osborne and Robert Plant could raise the dead, that Ian Gillan's voice could bring about the apocolypse and I possessed enough denim to keep a small nation in jeans for a whole year, I had a secret soft spot for Abba. no, not just the gorgeous dark-haired one,but for their music, their catchy, addictive, tightly-written songs. So, if you want to like Take That, go ahead and like them. Cheers Terry | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
ABBA's songwriting was superb; they're up there with the best (even though I spent the 'seventies watching the likes of Hawkwind). I saw The Carpenters twice too... | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.116.50.208 |
In the beginning it was Purple for me, then a bit of Sabbath (all right, all the Ozzy albums), and as puberty progressed early Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Crimson, Van der Graaf, Curved Air . . . Abba was for ninnies. My main guilty pleasure (dare I admit it?) was The Sweet. Oh, and before Purple: *choke* Middle of the Road.  | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.68 |
Take That? Mm. As I recall, their early stuff was sh*te and camp as hell; from what I've heard of their new stuff it's pretty good singalong pop stuff...and camp as hell. Good for them. And now we know what happened to Barlow after Ben staked him. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
Camp as hell? And this from an Elton John fan . . . | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
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| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.78 |
Bernie Taupin hetroed up Elton's stuff. It's hard to write music to Americana laden western dream lyrics. The occasional lapse aside, Elton's music's surprisingly uncamp. His 'west coast' stuff's still superb. Uh, but he did sing it in high heels and wearing a feather boa... Ahem. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.78 |
It's hard to write camp music to... That should've been. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I've recently rediscovered the wonderful PJ Harvey and Nick Cave's Murder Ballads has been my album of choice this Christmas. I'm afraid Take That and their ilk simply leave me cold: horrible, horrible stuff. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.78 |
I've been listening to a lot of Duncan Sheik this last week or so. Mostly his 'Humming' album, probably his poppiest album, and his best of album. Saw him gigging earlier this year on a rare UK tour. Just him and acoustic guitar. The business. Even the pisshead in row one of the theatre (who had to be chucked out) didn't detract from a great gig. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.78 |
I got the Big Blue Ball album for Xmas btw, which I'm looking forward to checking out. As well as a Jimmy Webb sort of retrospective thingy, in which he duets with various people on some of his finest songs, possibly murdering them, or at least committing involountary manslaughter. Haven't listened yet, so will let you know. Also, funnily enough, like Mick, I've also now received a copy of the Elton John/Leon Russell album, which apparently has gone down a storm in the US, while going down like a lead balloon here in the UK. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
I've recently rediscovered the wonderful PJ Harvey and Nick Cave's Murder Ballads Murder Ballads and Polly Harvey's Stories From The City, Stories From the Sea have long been real favourites of mine. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
Mark - we've now had a listen to the Elton John/Leon Russell album and it has a lot of good stuff on it. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.78 |
Nick Cave's music is the sort of stuff I listen to if I want to annoy myself. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.78 |
Can I also add that I hate Abba's stuff and the music of Grease the Motion Picture musical thing. It's not in the spirit of Christmas to say as much, but there you go. Bah, bumhug. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 89.194.42.224 |
Take That = the worst bollocks the music industry has ever produced. Frank Zappa = the greatest genius music has ever produced. And everything in between is better than Take That, including that twat Daniel O'Donnell - so take that, Take That, you knobheads! Apologies, but this is a point of principle with me! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
Ooh, look, it's the cool kids. See how they grimace. Hark at how they shudder at the mainstream and its attendant simple-mindedness. They're edgy, these kids. They frown over Marx. They're all destined for university, but only as a way of accessing the subversion stuff. And one day they're all grow up to be . . . solicitors, doctors, and civil servants. Behold how they babyboom their way to comfortable retirements on ethical trust funds. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.78 |
Hee hee... :-) | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.70 |
I went to a Howard Jones concert for my 40th birthday (this year, not in 1985). Really enjoyed it as well. But I'm still cool, daddio! | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.70 |
I disagree with Stevie, by the way. The worst bollocks the music industry ever produced is usually (but not always) straight out of the canning factory of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. That said, it was only the same thing as Motown as far as I'm concerned, but 20 years later and with crapper singers. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.69 |
Cue Mick.... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
GF - it's not about being cool, it's about liking what you like. We're not 12, and most of us are, like, really into our music.  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
For the record, though, I'm cool as fuck. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
GF - it's not about being cool, it's about liking what you like. We're not 12, and most of us are, like, really into our music. Exactly - like what you like - dislike what you don't. I've loads of 'uncool' music; life's too short to base your tastes on the criteria of others. I do have a preference for the music of 'cool' Lennon over 'uncool' Macca though - after GF spoke about Band on the Run on here a couple of years back, I bought a copy of the album and listened to it for the first time in many years - still don't like it, although it has to be said that my favourite song by any ex-Beatle is one of Sir Paul's, and that I think Imagine is a load of poorly written, puerile tosh. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
PS - Mark, back atcha with Elton John from anything after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to this recent album! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
Just joshing with ya, guys. But I do know for certain that Zed is closet Glee fan. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
I'd heard he'd come out of the closet... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
>>>Take That = the worst bollocks the music industry has ever produced. Frank Zappa = the greatest genius music has ever produced. And everything in between is better than Take That, including that twat Daniel O'Donnell - so take that, Take That, you knobheads! But, sorry, Stevie - that really does sound the comment of a 12 year old. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.118.76.188 |
Elton's music's surprisingly uncamp. His 'west coast' stuff's still superb According to a mate who's studying musicology there are hidden (classical) subtleties in Elton John's music. I have yet to discover them. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 89.194.5.194 |
An extremely pissed 12 year old! I do have an uncontrollable blinkered hatred of shite popular music though... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Well, since it's musical confession time I have to admit that I absolutely *adored* early Motown. It did go off a lot during the 70s though - early Motown is best, along with early soul (the Atlantic label rocked!). Michael Jackson was absolutely brilliant when he sang the likes of Rockin' Robin with his brothers. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Tyrell, The Temptations and Four Tops, early Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles - all superb. And non Motown: OC Smith with Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, some of the lesser known acts like Vanilla Fudge [I think that was their name? Did Groovin' (On A Sunday Afternoon)], etc - all amazing music. And talking of music, my Christmas present to myself this year occurred when I browsed the Jethro Tull website on Christmas eve - and discovered that Ian Anderson is doing an acoustic tour of the UK in late 2011. I now have a ticket for the second row at York Grand Opera House - wonderful! Can't wait! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Early Motown is ace, Caroline - I also liked a lot of th Atlantic stuff. Proper R&B/Soul really does it for me. I'm a massive Otis fan. Uncool musical confession: I love early Michael Jackson stuff, especially the "Off the Wall" album. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.70 |
Hubert, keep trying... ;-) | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 92.10.4.76 |
I know I'm a bit behind on this thread but going back to the arguments about musical crap...nothing, and I mean nothing can beat the musical crap of the seventies. While you had some of the best music of all time being produced on the one hand, you had unbelievabley, absolutely, undeniably, incredibly unbelievabley bad oufits like The Bay City Rollers on the other. You also had Top of the Pops, dear god, how dire could you get? How could that be the same decade that gave us Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and The Old Grey Whistle Test? And has anyone heard of the wonderful Junior's Eyes, who were Bowie's backing band on Space Oddity? A mate just lent me their "Battersea Power Station" album and it was fantastic. Also, Soft Machine's first album, a masterpiece, real groovy man. And your challenge? Who has heard of, and listened to, German jazz-bizzaros Can and also those head-on and brilliant Welsh rockers, Budgie? Cheers Tel | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
Terry - I've loved Can since seeing them perform 'Dizzy Dizzy' on The Old Grey Whistle test in the 'seventies, and have nine or ten of their albums. Budgie I recall listening to many (many!) years back, but being unmoved. Always loved their album covers though! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 89.194.4.169 |
60s & 70s soul is some of the greatest pop music ever recorded imo. Can are another one of my firm favourites. The remastered CDs are among the pride of my collection. They belong along side Zappa, Beefheart, The Fall & Julian Cope imo. Now that's music!! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Who has heard of, and listened to, German jazz-bizzaros Can and also those head-on and brilliant Welsh rockers, Budgie? I have that one Can album, but never listened to it. I have heard, speaking of "German bizzaros," Faust, on the prompting of a website that claimed the album Faust by Faust (? - think I'm getting that right) was the best "rock" album ever produced ever in the history of ever. The guy made a compelling case. But the facts fell apart for me under the actual listening (though to be fair, I only heard it once - and once is never enough when it comes to music). | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Speaking of guilty pleasures though? I think that's what we're doing here? Billy Joel's THE STRANGER I think is one of the greatest albums of the entire 70's, hands down. Ever more guilty is the pleasure I derive from GOD BLESS TINY TIM, which I will fastly maintain as one of the greatest albums of the entire 60's, and also hands down. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Craig - there's no guilty-pleasure factor about Billy Joel. I'm a huge fan - and, yes, The Stranger is a classic album. Two of my favourite songs of all time are Joel's Piano Man and Honesty. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.71 |
Billy Joel does little for me. I was given his best of album for Xmas last year and haven't listened to it yet. I do like the Show of Hands version of Down Easter Alexis or whatever it's called, though. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.21.234.214 |
And I learned how to play "New York State of Mind". Other than that I've never delved into the work of Billy Joel either. "Honesty" is a bit of a dirge, isn't it? Krautrock is an altogether different proposition. I'm sure practically no-one will have heard of Amon Duul. I can't listen to that kind of noise anymore (they were even more 'out there' than the Hawklords), but "Yeti" and "Yeti Talks to Yogi" have their moments. And how about French bands? Magma, anyone? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
A dirge? Are you insane? It's a beautiful, heart-aching song. Truly gorgeous. Elton John has always struck me as a poor man's Billy Joel. Whereas Joel's lyrics are authentic Americana, when Watford-boy EJ sings about America it's very fictional and sentimentalised. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.21.234.214 |
Brrr, no. Songs like that make me cringe. But sorry, Zed - didn't mean to spit in your cup of tea. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
Elton doesn't write the lyrics. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I know he doesn't. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Hubert - no worries. It doesn't bother me when someone doesn't like what I like. I don't need validation for my tastes. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
So it's Bernie Taupin who's at fault? I think Elton John is a frequently inspired composer. I never remember lyrics anyway. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
All I know of Joel is Uptown Girl. My loss, I guess. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Nobody's at fault. It's just that, to my taste, I find a Watford boy warbling faux Americana a bit insincere. I don't dislike his stuff - indeed, he's performed some fine songs and has a cracking voice, but my original comment was that I've always thought of him as a poor man's Billy Joel. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Uptown Girl is rubbish - totally unrepresentative of Joel, but sadly his biggest commercial hit. It's taken from a fine album, though: An Innocent Man. Both lyrically and musically, Joel is superb. He writes what I call "story-songs". I've always thought of him as being a bit like a less political Bob Dylan. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
Must give him a try, then. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I'll do you a CD, mate... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
Go for it. I'm always looking for stuff to listen in the car. Cheers. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.48.144 |
I like Billy Joel too, Zed. From the '80s, The Nylon Curtain is a good album. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Gary, Billy Joel is indispensable, but never more than on THE STRANGER, where there's not a bad song in the lot. In fact, some are painfully beautiful. Go to youtube (I'd post the links, but I think Ramsey'd not like that) and listen to "Vienna," or better yet, take about 8 minutes out of your day and listen to "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" - you'll be instantly on your back like a kitty-cat. Everything about this album is sublime. Billy Joel was given by God a voice that could melt rocks, and I mean that in a good way. I'm sure it had the power at the time to tear the clothes off women - hell, my own zipper's halfway down right now!  | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
Hubert - yep, I recall Amon Duul but heard very little of their stuff, and that would have been a long time ago. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Billy Joel's "Piano Man" is one of my all-time faves. The lyrics, the lilting tune - it actually makes you feel like you're in a pub listening to the piano man and getting steadily drunk. Wonderful words - "They're sharing a drink that's called lonliness, but it's better than being alone". A true classic! | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Although the type of music produced by Take That isn't to my taste, I'm willing to admit that (to these ears at least) the songs they produce seem to be superior to the crap produced by a lot of other boy bands. Probably something to do with the fact that they actually have a songwriter in their midst, even if he only appears to have two settings - schmaltz and soaring. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 92.0.142.240 |
Amon Dull, yes, never owner their albums but Alan Freeman used to play them a lot on his fantasic Saturday Afternoon Rock Show. The AF show was where I first heard "Bohemian Rhapsody", in fact I think the first time it was ever aired was on his show. Yes, I liked Queen, to certain extent, and remember the Christmas Eve 1975 TV film of their Hammersmith Odeon concert, one of the first full length telelvised rock concerts. I was never a fanatic though. So, another near-forgotten band - The blue Oyster Cult. Loved their first three albums. And back to dear old Alex Harvey. I saw SAHB live in 1976 and that man held the audience in the palm of his hand. He was a frightening character. When he said sit, you sat and when he said stand, you stood. Cheers Terry | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
>>So, another near-forgotten band - The blue Oyster Cult.<< (Don't Fear) The Reaper? That was them, wasn't it? Another of my all-time favourite songs. Queen's early albums - pre-Bohemian Rhapsody - are incredible IMO. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 92.0.142.240 |
I agree, the second one in particular, over-the-top, over-produced and over-done (but then I love Muse so I must have a soft spot for hystrionic rock)but unlike anything else out at the time. Along with Roxy Music, Queen didn't sweat but gently perspired! Blue Oyster Cult were also a bit different. It didn't always work but their early albums are definately worth a listen. Cheers Tel | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 89.194.22.133 |
If you're talking solo singer-songwriters then the order of merit (imo) runs something like this: Lou Reed (New York), Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps), Bob Dylan (John Wesley Harding), Leonard Cohen (I'm Your Man), Tom Waits (The Heart Of Saturday Night) & Joni Mitchell (Ladies Of The Canyon) - in roughly that order. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Is this thing degenerating into just another "I like this," "No I like this" thread? Fine, so be it. Then let me say, the very best "rock" band of the entire 70's on either continent?... Fleetwood Mac, the Buckingham/Nicks version everyone knows best. Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumors, Tusk, and Fleetwood Mac Live (1980, but I'm saying it's part of the 70's) with its own original gems - nothing better. Even the mighty mighty Zappa must contend with their (at that time at least) mightiness....  | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.186.114 |
Stevie – right people, wrong albums. I'd go for Reed's 'Berlin', Young's 'Tonight's the Night', Dylan's 'Highway 61 Revisited', Cohen's 'Songs of Love and Hate', Waits' 'Small Change' and Mitchell's 'Blue'. More obvious choices perhaps. I like 'em bleak. Some good work by at least some of those artists in recent years – Dylan's 'Love and Theft' is uneven but has some remarkable songs (especially 'Mississippi') and Cohen's return from retirement, 'Ten New Songs' (he was never good with album titles), is awe-inspiring (especially 'Alexandra Leaving'). Craig, I'm sorry, but Fleetwood Mac after Peter Green were nothing but slick, hollow commercial product. Their early London-based work is all that anyone needs to hear – as a blues guitarist, Green pisses over Clapton from such a height that the clouds get in the way. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
>>Craig, I'm sorry, but Fleetwood Mac after Peter Green were nothing but slick, hollow commercial product. Their early London-based work is all that anyone needs to hear – as a blues guitarist, Green pisses over Clapton from such a height that the clouds get in the way.<< I was just about to say that when I read Craig's post - only not as eloquently as Joel does! I think we all tend to prefer the music we grew up with, and it's Peter Green's bluesy Fleetwood Mac that does it for me. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
Fleetwood Mac after Peter Green were nothing but slick, hollow commercial product. Indeed. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.202.102 |
The same thing happened when Craig left Bros. The Goss brothers just couldn't hold it together. Ah, I see you guys are holding my coat out for me, but . . . hey, don't shove me so fast. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 178.116.52.199 |
I'd say Berlin and New York are the best Reed albums out there. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.48.219 |
Well, as nobody's mentioned the other half of the Velvet Underground's creative force, I will. A shout-out to John Cale, a fellow taff and a truly innovative artist. He was here in Taiwan a few weeks ago but I missed him (my girlfriend called me from the music festival to rub my face in the fact). Of Reed's albums, I would go for Berlin too. I like lots of his stuff. The earlier Transformer is good, and more accessible, but I think Berlin has more depth and is more affecting. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 217.20.16.180 |
I'll second Huw's praise for John Cale. PARIS 1919 and his Island albums are particularly strong, although I have a soft spot for SABOTAGE. As for Lou Reed, I agree that BERLIN is a major accomplishment, although sometimes a bit too grim for repeated listenings. CONEY ISLAND BABY is probably the one I turn to most often. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Maybe I shoulda put in "guilty pleasure" here then, with the Mac. Green Mac is superb, just so different from B/N Mac, that they might as well be two different bands one's talking about. "Slick" and "hollow"? Gosh, yeah, come the 80's, all slick and hollow. I dunno, I just think they produced gem albums in the late 70's, albums that have a staying power the others don't. And what's wrong with a bit of slick? Man does not live on anti-pop alone. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.230.65 |
That's true. Avanti popolo is more nourishing. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Joel, I love all the albums you listed as well but personally chose 'New York' because of the sheer density of the lyrics married to the entertainment value of the album (and Lou has never been more scathing or catchy), 'Rust Never Sleeps' because of the cohesive rawness and ambition of the acoustic/electric theme and storytelling beauty of Neil's lyrics, 'John Wesley Harding' because, for me, it is Dylan's most purely accomplished and affecting set of songs, both in their lyrical density and country/folk flavoured song composition, 'I'm Your Man' because it is Leonard's most beautifully produced and accessible album, in a career that doesn't have a single dud, 'The Heart Of Saturday Night' because it is the second greatest barstool blues album ever recorded, after Sinatra's 'In The Wee Small Hours', and 'Ladies Of The Canyon' because it the most varied and perfectly realised set of songs in her entire career imho. I love talking good music! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
As for John Cale... the man can do no wrong. Favourite solo album is probably his debut 'Vintage Violence' but fav album would be his Eno collaboration 'Wrong Way Up'. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
It's a travesty that John Cale's MUSIC FOR A NEW SOCIETY is no longer available. Along with the albums he did with Nico it renders about 95% of other music entirely redundant. |