The Explain Why You Like This Album ('cause i don't understand) Thread (lyrics, funk)

[sweet_nothing]

The Wall- Pink Floyd

[skips]

Originally Posted by Brad Stengel

Daydream Nation is more ambient than Sister, but what makes it better for me, is that the hooks placed in-between the noise are some of their best. 'Teenage Riot' is 'Baba O'Reilly' for the alternative generation, 'Total Trash' is one of the best riffs on the album, and for me, nothing is better than listening to it devolve over the course of seven minutes.

'Daydream Nation' is a riffy album, there are riffs I'd never noticed until over a year since I'd heard it, and from there they helped me appreciate it more. Take the riff during the breakdown on 'Hey Joni', it's fantastic, but I didn't notice it when I first picked it up.

You have to be in the right mood for Sonic Youth. What I find helps is putting albums on repeat when I go to bed, and when I wake up theres usually either some great part I never noticed stuck in my head, or this odd subconscious urge to listen to it more. I do this when I don't 'get' albums, and it works pretty well, usually on the more ambient stuff that I don't have the attention span to listen to straight through. Hope that helps.

Alright, thanks I'll try that.

Actually, there's two more I really can't get.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (it isn't bad, just I don't see what's so great about it).

and

Joanna Newsom - Ys (this is bad, the vocals bother me and I don't like the lyrics either).

[Brad Stengel]

Somebody explain Sebadoh- "III"

one of the only universally acclaimed albums I've ever listened to that I really didn't like. And it's not the lo-fi thing-I love early Pavement and Daniel Johnston and stuff like that-does anyone like this album?

[cardboard adolescent]

Sebadoh are painfully inconsistent, but a lot of their songs do grow on you. Finding the gems on their albums can be painstaking, but is probably worth it.

[Terrible Lizard]

Almost every album by the Residents is very hard to get into just off the bat.

[Brad Stengel]

Originally Posted by cardboard adolescent

Sebadoh are painfully inconsistent, but a lot of their songs do grow on you. Finding the gems on their albums can be painstaking, but is probably worth it.

I like "The Freed Pig" and a few others on Bakesale and Harmacy, but I really don't get anything on 'III', and it's supposed to be this great breakthrough album.

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

Apart from the title track I find this album to be totally forgettable. And I think it's influence on punk far too overstated and it's all a bit too muso to be considered in that area of music for my liking.

[Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

Apart from the title track I find this album to be totally forgettable. And I think it's influence on punk far too overstated and it's all a bit too muso to be considered in that area of music for my liking.

I agree that the last 3 tracks are pretty tame, but otherwise I love the album. The guitar solo in Elevation and the riff from Venus are just two examples of why I'd put it above average anyday. Each to their own though

[Roygbiv]

Originally Posted by Rainard Jalen

Alright, here's one. Somebody help meh out! Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Goin' On: heralded by many as one of the best albums of the 1970s, I don't see how it's even one of the best FUNK albums of the 70s. I'm not even sure it's the best SLY album of the 70s. I've listened to it at least a dozen times. All I took away from it is that:

- it has about 3 very good songs,
- and another 35 or so minutes of what might as well be background music for a bar or a movie, devoid of any real hooks or anything particularly memorable
- the icing on the cake is that all of those non-singles tracks seem like some sort of great shameless drug-infused mess - which was probably never supposed to happen in the first place

So...am I missing something? Enlighten me.

Apparently it's all about the story behind the album. It was an uncanny time for Sly, and a controversial statement back in the day, especially for a big record company. It's all about the mystery that surrounds it. I would definitely recommend reading Continuum's 33 1/3 series, the one that focuses on this particular record. I didn't, and perhaps that's why I share in your sentiment. The above is just what I've heard.

My contribution to the thread:

[Brad Stengel]

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

Apart from the title track I find this album to be totally forgettable. And I think it's influence on punk far too overstated and it's all a bit too muso to be considered in that area of music for my liking.

Marquee Moon is a grower. I loved 'See No Evil' when I first heard it, and thought 'Venus' was okay. Apart from that I held the same opinion as you. And then slowly over time, people would mention tracks, saying how awesome "Prove It" was. And I never noticed it before, but there it was! A great song tucked in at the end of the album. Same happened with the title track, and then I started listening to the album all the way through, and began to love every second of it.

It's much like Pet Sounds, another album you have a distaste for. Basically my favorite parts of Marquee Moon are those moments when the lead guitar, vocal line, and guitar chords merge perfectly to make a part in a song that gives you goosebumps, something you can't explain to someone, something you either feel, or you don't, and the same goes for Pet Sounds.

Originally Posted by Roygbiv

My contribution to the thread:

Sgt. Pepper's allure is the epicness of it all. It leads with the title track, the most 'rock' of the Beatles catalog at that point in time, flows brilliantly into the great "A Little Help From My Friends", which the chorus really makes from me, goes into the classic, "LSD", and then my favorite song, "Getting Better" with its army of out of tune guitars.

This album was never overplayed for me before I got it, somehow. And the majority of the albums I love follow this formula, First song sets things up, second song is solid, basically the first four songs are untouchable, and it closes with a massive epic. Lots of albums from 'Who's Next' to 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain' to 'Microcastle' do this, and its a great way to do a tracklisting for a great album.

Sgt. Peppers, basically, has alot of solid Bealtes songs, and even some greats you don't hear too often, such as the psychadelic carnival ride of "Mr. Kite" and the 'Pet Sounds' pandering of "She's Leaving Home". It's eclectic, has great melodies, and closes with the Beatles' best song, and that's why I love it.