Classic Albums I have never heard

Urban Hat€monger ? · 01-24-2014, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

I'd rather see a film of him trying to buy ecstasy.

YorkeDaddy · 01-24-2014, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hat€monger ?

oh my god hahaha

Trollheart · 01-25-2014, 05:29 PM

Um, why would I want to buy the band that wrote "Senses working overtime" and "Making plans for Nigel", and why would it heighten my enjoyment of "Screamadelica"? And what is Screamadelica, anyway?

James, I may look into those albums, though at the moment I have a long long list and much to write.

Urban Hat€monger ? · 01-25-2014, 05:44 PM

Screamadelica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Trollheart · 02-08-2014, 06:40 AM

Title: What's going on
Artiste: Marvin Gaye
Year: 1971
Chronological position: Eleventh album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Just his hits and I once saw part of a concert he gave transmitted on TV.
Why is this considered a classic? Probably due to the concept nature of it, its dealing with the return of a Vietnam vet to the “land fit for heroes” and the political message that sent for the times. Although there were of course protest songs, this was in the heyday of Motown records and I would hazard that for a black man to make such a damning, indicting record might have been quite a gamble in those times.

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great
One track in --- Great
Halfway through --- Great
Finished --- Great

Comments: I have never heard a Marvin Gaye album before but this was recommended to me by Surell (so should maybe find its way to the “Recommended by...” thread in due course) and I thought I may as well give it a shot. Interesting to say that it was eleven albums into his chequered career before Marvin Gaye wrote or recorded what is considered a classic album., preceding a strong of albums that all performed very well in the US --- and one or two in the UK --- right up into the early eighties, two years in fact prior to his untimely death. Not only a classic then, but a springboard, it would appear, for a career that really seems to have taken off from here.

Okay well I know the opener and title track and have always loved it. Soft sweet soul with a real late sixties/early seventies vibe to it, maybe a motown peacenik song? Nothing wrong with that, let me tell you. Gotta love those strings; takes me right back. Drug dependence raises its ugly head in “Flyin' high (in the friendly sky)”, sounds a little psychedelic in places. There's a sort of disconnect with the melody that ties in with the idea of being high (I assume) and being somewhat out of control but not really caring.

“Save the children” is an impassioned plea to help the disadvantaged children of the world, a chilling forecast as Gaye sings “There'll come a time when the world won't be singin', flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringin'”. I guess it could also be taken as a warning to save the world itself, though he later tackles this in “Mercy mercy me”. I do find --- and it's not a criticism --- that the same basic melody informs at least the first four tracks, but then this is meant to be a “song cycle” and the tracks to meld one into the other, so I can understand that.

And I now realise I know “Mercy mercy me”, though it's the Robert Palmer cover I've heard. This is of course far superior. One of the first environmental/ecological protest songs? I doubt it: there was much of this going on in the sixties. But this is certainly one of the most influential, and coming aboard a classic album like this --- and released as a single from same --- it obviously got to a lot more listeners than some of the other songs like Barry McGuire's “Eve of destruction” or even Dylan's “A hard rain's a-gonna fall”. The longest track is the first point, oddly, at which I start thinking this album could be less than perfect: just something about “Right on” doesn't speak to me. Maybe it's the flutes, dunno. Just sort of seems to break the mood, to these ears. Nice middle section but other than that it just doesn't do it for me.

The gospel tone of “Wholly Holy” gets everything back on track though, lovely little song, but short, and you can see where the likes of Prince found his inspiration here, and then ending on “Inner city blues” with a nice slow to mid-paced funk vibe, very nice.

Favourite track(s): Pretty much everything apart from Right on
Least favourite track(s): Right on

Final impression --- I think in general this album can be described in three words: smooth as silk. Just rolls along with effortless ease from one song to the other, the themes meshing and reflecting off one another, building up a picture of a man who truly cared about his fellow man, what was happening in the world around him, the injustices and man's inhumanity to man, and who harboured a -– perhaps naive --- hope that things would get better, that we would wake up and realise “what's going on”, and do something about it. Hey, at least he tried, and left us with one amazing album. God bless you Marvin. Rest in peace.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?

Yeah, I'd have to say A certainly.

Trollheart · 02-13-2014, 08:38 PM

Title: Screamadelica
Artiste: Primal Scream
Year: 1991
Chronological position: Third album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Zero
Why is this considered a classic? I have no idea. I'm doing this to get Urban off my back!

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great
One track in --- Great
Halfway through --- Great
Finished --- Great

Comments: I honestly have no idea what to expect. I have never even heard a song by Primal Scream before, so this could be anything from hip-hop to hardcore punk, but given Urban's devilish challenge to me I doubt it'll be soft acoustic rock or prog! Hmm. Oddly enough, the opener does sound acoustic and, er, pretty damn good. Kind of indie rock mixed with gospel chorus? Second track is ok, whistles on the third one bug me a little but not bad. Bit overlong I feel. Higher than the sun is good and Inner flight is just lovely.

Come together is damn long and sort of actually fails to get on my nerves, which I had expected it to, sort of a country style to the ballad Damaged --- you know, there's really nothing here (so far) that I don't like, and it's proving a big surprise to me. I did not expect this.

Favourite track(s): Movin' on up, Higher than the sun, Inner flight, Damaged, I'm coming down
Least favourite track(s): Higher than the sun (A dub symphony) --- yawn. Okay, the harpsichord/piano bit was nice, but the rest was just annoying and boring and dragged out like forever. Shine like stars was dreary too, so bad ending but overall really good album.

Final impression --- Really good album and totally different to what I had expected. Glad I listened to it. Thanks Urban!

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?

Think it's a solid F...

Urban Hat€monger ? · 02-14-2014, 07:08 AM

Why is this considered a classic? Because it's the first time anybody ever really attempted to mix rock music & dance music thus paving the way for most of the 90s.

That's why.

And I thought you'd be surprised, that's another reason why I was pushing you in that direction.

YorkeDaddy · 02-14-2014, 10:23 PM

yaaay and now the antlers are next!!

Paedantic Basterd · 02-14-2014, 11:57 PM

"Making Trollheart listen to stuff he'll most likely hate" has got to be one of my favourite journal concepts. Keep up the good work.

The Batlord · 02-15-2014, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

"Making Trollheart listen to stuff he'll most likely hate" has got to be one of my favourite journal concepts. Keep up the good work.

Indeed. I'd honestly be interested to know if he's ever listened to White Light/White Heat. He'd either love it or hate it and now that I've got the idea in my head it won't leave.

01-25-2014, 05:29 PM	#223 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Um, why would I want to buy the band that wrote "Senses working overtime" and "Making plans for Nigel", and why would it heighten my enjoyment of "Screamadelica"? And what is Screamadelica, anyway? James, I may look into those albums, though at the moment I have a long long list and much to write. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-25-2014, 05:44 PM	#224 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	Screamadelica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

02-08-2014, 06:40 AM	#225 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Title: What's going on Artiste: Marvin Gaye Year: 1971 Chronological position: Eleventh album Previous experience of this artiste?: Just his hits and I once saw part of a concert he gave transmitted on TV. Why is this considered a classic? Probably due to the concept nature of it, its dealing with the return of a Vietnam vet to the “land fit for heroes” and the political message that sent for the times. Although there were of course protest songs, this was in the heyday of Motown records and I would hazard that for a black man to make such a damning, indicting record might have been quite a gamble in those times. My thoughts One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great One track in --- Great Halfway through --- Great Finished --- Great Comments: I have never heard a Marvin Gaye album before but this was recommended to me by Surell (so should maybe find its way to the “Recommended by...” thread in due course) and I thought I may as well give it a shot. Interesting to say that it was eleven albums into his chequered career before Marvin Gaye wrote or recorded what is considered a classic album., preceding a strong of albums that all performed very well in the US --- and one or two in the UK --- right up into the early eighties, two years in fact prior to his untimely death. Not only a classic then, but a springboard, it would appear, for a career that really seems to have taken off from here. Okay well I know the opener and title track and have always loved it. Soft sweet soul with a real late sixties/early seventies vibe to it, maybe a motown peacenik song? Nothing wrong with that, let me tell you. Gotta love those strings; takes me right back. Drug dependence raises its ugly head in “Flyin' high (in the friendly sky)”, sounds a little psychedelic in places. There's a sort of disconnect with the melody that ties in with the idea of being high (I assume) and being somewhat out of control but not really caring. “Save the children” is an impassioned plea to help the disadvantaged children of the world, a chilling forecast as Gaye sings “There'll come a time when the world won't be singin', flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringin'”. I guess it could also be taken as a warning to save the world itself, though he later tackles this in “Mercy mercy me”. I do find --- and it's not a criticism --- that the same basic melody informs at least the first four tracks, but then this is meant to be a “song cycle” and the tracks to meld one into the other, so I can understand that. And I now realise I know “Mercy mercy me”, though it's the Robert Palmer cover I've heard. This is of course far superior. One of the first environmental/ecological protest songs? I doubt it: there was much of this going on in the sixties. But this is certainly one of the most influential, and coming aboard a classic album like this --- and released as a single from same --- it obviously got to a lot more listeners than some of the other songs like Barry McGuire's “Eve of destruction” or even Dylan's “A hard rain's a-gonna fall”. The longest track is the first point, oddly, at which I start thinking this album could be less than perfect: just something about “Right on” doesn't speak to me. Maybe it's the flutes, dunno. Just sort of seems to break the mood, to these ears. Nice middle section but other than that it just doesn't do it for me. The gospel tone of “Wholly Holy” gets everything back on track though, lovely little song, but short, and you can see where the likes of Prince found his inspiration here, and then ending on “Inner city blues” with a nice slow to mid-paced funk vibe, very nice. Favourite track(s): Pretty much everything apart from Right on Least favourite track(s): Right on Final impression --- I think in general this album can be described in three words: smooth as silk. Just rolls along with effortless ease from one song to the other, the themes meshing and reflecting off one another, building up a picture of a man who truly cared about his fellow man, what was happening in the world around him, the injustices and man's inhumanity to man, and who harboured a -– perhaps naive --- hope that things would get better, that we would wake up and realise “what's going on”, and do something about it. Hey, at least he tried, and left us with one amazing album. God bless you Marvin. Rest in peace. Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner B) I'm sorry I bothered C) I might end up liking this D) Have to wait and see E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic? F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic? Yeah, I'd have to say A certainly. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-13-2014, 08:38 PM	#226 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Title: Screamadelica Artiste: Primal Scream Year: 1991 Chronological position: Third album Previous experience of this artiste?: Zero Why is this considered a classic? I have no idea. I'm doing this to get Urban off my back! My thoughts One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great One track in --- Great Halfway through --- Great Finished --- Great Comments: I honestly have no idea what to expect. I have never even heard a song by Primal Scream before, so this could be anything from hip-hop to hardcore punk, but given Urban's devilish challenge to me I doubt it'll be soft acoustic rock or prog! Hmm. Oddly enough, the opener does sound acoustic and, er, pretty damn good. Kind of indie rock mixed with gospel chorus? Second track is ok, whistles on the third one bug me a little but not bad. Bit overlong I feel. Higher than the sun is good and Inner flight is just lovely. Come together is damn long and sort of actually fails to get on my nerves, which I had expected it to, sort of a country style to the ballad Damaged --- you know, there's really nothing here (so far) that I don't like, and it's proving a big surprise to me. I did not expect this. Favourite track(s): Movin' on up, Higher than the sun, Inner flight, Damaged, I'm coming down Least favourite track(s): Higher than the sun (A dub symphony) --- yawn. Okay, the harpsichord/piano bit was nice, but the rest was just annoying and boring and dragged out like forever. Shine like stars was dreary too, so bad ending but overall really good album. Final impression --- Really good album and totally different to what I had expected. Glad I listened to it. Thanks Urban! Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner B) I'm sorry I bothered C) I might end up liking this D) Have to wait and see E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic? F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic? Think it's a solid F... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-14-2014, 07:08 AM	#227 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	Why is this considered a classic? Because it's the first time anybody ever really attempted to mix rock music & dance music thus paving the way for most of the 90s. That's why. And I thought you'd be surprised, that's another reason why I was pushing you in that direction. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

02-14-2014, 11:57 PM	#229 (permalink)
Paedantic Basterd Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 5,184	"Making Trollheart listen to stuff he'll most likely hate" has got to be one of my favourite journal concepts. Keep up the good work.