YorkeDaddy

I've always wanted to do a journal, but since the music I listen to doesn't really warrant anything interesting worth making a journal about given the context of this forum, I've never really pulled the trigger on starting one. However, I've finally come up with a theme that's usable and might actually be interesting for everyone else and especially me.

You see, I'm quite young compared to the rest of this forum. I'll be 19 in a month. I haven't been around nearly as long as you guys and I definitely haven't hit the peak of my maturity yet. I still have been passionate about great music for about 6 years now, and have stared at internet screens for many a day looking for new music to check out. Over the years, I've certainly accumulated a list of albums that people recommended to me and I just did not like. That's what I'm going to do here. I've perused my iTunes for some albums that I used to hate, and I'm going to give them another close listen to see if my opinion has changed. For each album I cover, I'll give a brief paragraph describing what I used to think of that album, and then I'll write another paragraph describing my new thoughts. Hopefully I'll discover that I really can enjoy these albums!

To begin, I'll start with an album that's beloved by almost everyone to capture everyone's interest very quickly.


Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

What I Used to Think:

"10/10," says Jessica Hopper of Pitchfork, along with almost everyone else. "You have to listen to Fleetwood Mac," says my father. "It's probably the greatest album of the 70's!"

I can't tell you how many times people have told me I'm supposed to love Rumours. I love soft, catchy rock tunes with glorious harmonies. It's one of my favorite basic genres. I could just never enjoy any Mac tune besides "Go Your Own Way," probably their most 'mainstream' single-type song.

This album bored me. A lot. I didn't find the tracks catchy or interesting, and the latter half of the album blended together in a slew of slow-tempo tunes with a woman babbling uninteresting lyrics through a voice that I initially mistook as a man's. I didn't even get through the whole album upon my first ever listen, as I stopped around track 10 or 11, just not wanting to finish it. Needless to say, I disagreed with the general consensus regarding this album, as I found it horribly unremarkable.

What I Think Now:

That was about five years ago. Fast forward to today, and I've discovered that I have a lot more appreciation for the songwriting and production of this album. There are some really tight harmonies here and there are several displays of excellent musicianship. I find myself singing along to infectious tunes like "I Don't Want to Know" and "Don't Stop," the latter being a superb rock track with some rocking, classic solos.

When the album slows down, it's beautiful. "Oh Daddy" is powerful and can be related to. The record effortlessly mixes upbeat rock jams with mystical, thoughtful ballads, and it works exceptionally well.

Was I Wrong?

Simply, yes. This is a pretty magical record that I can't really stop listening to and I'm excited to continue this journal in hopes that the rest of my efforts are as fruitful as giving this album another chance was.

Arya Stark

This is an awesome idea!
It's interesting that your idea of the album has completely changed!
I wonder if it will be that way for the other albums you review.

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MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

YorkeDaddy

It won't be. I've already written up the next three 'reviews'. I'm just waiting for some comments before I post them :P

Powerstars

Awesome dude. I'll follow this journal mi hombre!

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YorkeDaddy

Boxcar - Vertigo

What I Used to Think:

"Whoo! Hell yeah! New Wave! Synthpop! New Order!!!"
-16 year old me.

There was a brief period where New Order was a slight obsession for me. I dug all of it; their earlier post-punk oriented stuff and their 90's-era electronica-esque jams. They were a gateway for me towards all sorts of awesome acts, most notably and obviously Joy Division (one of my favorite bands of all-time) and Talking Heads (also one of my favorite bands of all-time). There were some bands, however, that I was led to that I disliked. Enter Boxcar.

Boxcar was an Australian-based synthpop band that more or less copied everything good about New Order. I don't think you can go to a single discussion regarding Boxcar among any medium without finding gripes about how they're so similar to New Order. Regardless, I still flocked to anything New Wave-y, so I hunted down Boxcar's albums, notably their debut, Vertigo, excited for some new jams among the genre that I loved so much at the time.

Except it sucked. If you're going to copy one of the greatest bands ever, at least do it well. I thought this was some of the worst synthpop ever made. It's almost as if they were consciously trying to be "New Order for the Australians," except they just weren't as good at songwriting or production or any of that, and their vocalist paled painfully in comparison.

What I Think Now:

As someone that can still listen to New Order for days on end, I have to say...Vertigo by Boxcar still sucks. It's not just that this record is basically an attempt at an exact replica of 90's New Order, it's just that New Order was in a completely different dimension in terms of mastery of the genre, while Boxcar's songs are so primitive in comparison that I can't help but hate this record. There's not necessarily anything wrong with two artists sounding similar, but when one is eons better than the other and it's painfully clear that the lesser one is just trying to imitate the other, it's just hard not to hate the lesser album.

Was I Wrong?

Christ, no. Boxcar is a band I will continue to avoid, and whenever I need some New Wave I'll have New Order/Talking Heads/Depeche Mode to comfort me.

Trollheart

Great idea. I do something a little similar in my journal called Last Chance Saloon, where I look at an album I've never liked, or "got", and give it one more chance, just to see if as you say, time and experience changes my impression of it. To date, really none have. But it's still interesting to do. You feel like your're finally giving the albums a proper chance.

Great review of "Rumours", which is, of course, one of the greatest albums ever of the period. The vocal talents of Stevie, Chrissie and Lindsey just blow you away and the album is, as you say, a mix of ballads and uptempo rockers with quite a bit of the old bluesy Fleetwood Mac in there too. And then there's the picture of a young sexy innocent looking Stevie on the back. Whooarrr!

I love the fact that you've gone total 180 on this album, and I bet your dad is happy you finally get it. Interested to see how the next reviews turn out.

Oh, and welcome to Journal Land! You're in for Sunday's update, fo' sho', as they say!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Arya Stark

By the way, what kind of music DO you listen to?
I'm sure any kind of music deserves a journal, especially if there isn't one already about it!

__________________

MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

YorkeDaddy

Thanks for the kind words! I'm actually home from college and I immediately told my dad about my new opinion of Rumours. Needless to say, he was glad to hear it

It feels good to be a part of Journal Land now! :P Can't wait to keep posting more updates. I think instances like with Rumours where I do a complete 180 with my opinion will be fairly rare, but I think doing this is still very worthwhile.

I guess the kind of music I listen to is pretty similar to everyone else on this forum, except for the fact that I'm really not a fan of Progressive Rock. I can stomach Floyd and Jethro Tull's Aqualung is one of my favorites, but I just don't enjoy bands like Rush or Genesis. My favorite artists are The National and Elliott Smith, so I guess slow, soothing, moody indie rock type stuff are what I enjoy the most.

YorkeDaddy

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

What I Used to Think:

A bunch of shrill garbage with no real musical talent ever being displayed. There is not really any musicality to these songs, they're just heavy noise for the sake of being heavy noise. Trent Rezner thinks he's a genius, I think he's a talentless hack. People try and tell me that this album shows emotion, but other than "Hurt" I wasn't hearing any. In fact, this was the most dull, emotionless album I think I had ever heard, and I thought Rezner was pretty damn pitiful.

What I Think Now:

Genius. Yep, once again, I've completely flipped a switch on an album. Just like "Loveless" (which I will not be writing one of these for), I started to hear the intricacies in every single dark note on this album. Some of these tunes are pure brilliance, including the popular singles "Closer" and especially "Hurt," which is one of the most powerful songs I've heard (and Cash's cover was miraculous as well). The album dips down into emotions and thoughts that most people will never understand, and for that I commend Rezner nowadays. I'm not sure if many people can understand the dark place that songs like "Big Man with a Gun" go to, which may or may not hurt the first impressions of many listeners. It's a difficult listen, and that's because it's meant to be that way. This is a record for the ages.

Was I Wrong?

Incredibly. But I'm not ashamed, it's just an album that does not cooperate with many listeners on a first try, and true appreciation comes through via repeated chances.

Arya Stark

I loved Nine Inch Nails in high school.
Glad you like it now!

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MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.