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Post by Jordan on Nov 1, 2020 9:39:30 GMT 1
The M83 album is one I continuously go back to now and again, and it never lets me down. It's long, but nothing worth skipping for me.
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Post by blondini on Nov 1, 2020 16:46:59 GMT 1
Sleaford Mods are not jealous of Idles, not musically and i seriously doubt they are petty enough to be jealous of anyone commercially. To me (and to others), Idles were overrated noise until the new album where they branch out into more refined hard rock. For a better group of that almost-style i rate Pigs x7. Journalists hyping them up calling them punk when they weren't. They were not doing anything original or interesting enough to warrant all that attention. John Lydon knows what he's talking about (The Prodigy vs Green Day) and he usually gets drawn into a slagging match by journalists wanting a juicy quote. But at least now i'm following them and charting them. Would be nice if you could extend the same courtesy to Sleaford Mods as they stopped being "angry" a few albums ago. Would be nice if they were loved on Haven in general.
M83 album is a classic. The National great.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 1, 2020 20:01:36 GMT 1
Sleaford Mods are not jealous of Idles, not musically and i seriously doubt they are petty enough to be jealous of anyone commercially. To me (and to others), Idles were overrated noise until the new album where they branch out into more refined hard rock. For a better group of that almost-style i rate Pigs x7. Journalists hyping them up calling them punk when they weren't. They were not doing anything original or interesting enough to warrant all that attention. John Lydon knows what he's talking about (The Prodigy vs Green Day) and he usually gets drawn into a slagging match by journalists wanting a juicy quote. But at least now i'm following them and charting them. Would be nice if you could extend the same courtesy to Sleaford Mods as they stopped being "angry" a few albums ago. Would be nice if they were loved on Haven in general. M83 album is a classic. The National great. I'll chart the Sleaford Mods when they stop writing songs sounding like they were written by Harry Enfield's Mr-Don't-Want-To-Do-That sung by the bloke who did the I'd Rather have a bowl of Coco Pops ads. FFS I'd rather listen to Westlife.
The fact the socialist lefty-luvvie Maxine Peake is a huge fan of the Sleaford Mods speaks volumes. Thanks to Corbynism, Momentum, and their supporters we have a incompetent ultra right wing Conservative Government, because the alternative was an unpalatable disaster that did not work in the 1970s, and would have been more catastrophic in the late 2010s. Plus with added antisemitism thrown in for free.
Personally, I think the Idles world view that you need a consensus and a middle ground swell of people/support to achieve things is far more sensible & realistic.
..... As for John Lydon well recent interviews have outed him as a bit of a racist (as four separate black British music artists have since come forward with four separate revelations about unsavory dealings with the man & all his immediate band entourage verified by over a dozen of band members from 2000s onwards numerous indie white acts; & he was considerably rude to Diane Modahl - former UK Olympic middle distance runner on I'm a Celebrity all those years ago for no apparent reason .... but back then I and many others put it down to him just not liking her ..... as otherwise he was brilliant entertainment on it until he walked off the show when the bookmakers had him 3-1 odds on to win....) Donald Trump supporter.
But I guess he is merely staying true to his anarchistic roots, now that Black Lives Matter is in vogue.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 3, 2020 19:24:30 GMT 1
I've had some major PC desktop problems yesterday which meant my internet browser was not working properly, I'm not completely convinced they are all resolved, but I want to try and post the next two albums tonight to try and catch up. Both from the 1980s..... 212 Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982)
The fifth studio album by the Scottish artpop band fronted by Jim Kerr with guitarist Charlie Burchill. This album saw them at their most new wave sounding before they went more rock, and got more successful, yet less interesting, and later more bloated before drifting into the 1990s & beyond with a declining audience and sales.
This album captures them at the point their interesting arty sound was matched by an increased emotional engagement, with some great pop songs to match. It features the hit singles "Promised You A Miracle"; "Glittering Prize"; & "Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)". Plus the brilliant title track sampled by Usura on their early 1990s dance track; plus a great supporting cast of emotional, atmospheric soundscapes including "Big Sleep" & "Hunter And The Hunted".
At this point in time they were genuine rivals to Dublin's U2 ... except they were making better records then, but as the 1980s progressed they lost bassist Derek Forbes; keyboardist/synths Michael MacNeil; & drummer Mel Gaynor and lost their cohesiveness.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 3, 2020 19:47:27 GMT 1
211 Peter Gabriel - So (1986)
The fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter & former Genesis frontman, was co-produced by Daniel Lanois, with a supporting cast of quality musicians (Tony Levin; David Rhodes; Manu Katché; Jerry Marotta). Again, using the pioneering Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer, but with several more direct/commercial sounding tracks alongside two experimental tracks at the back end of the album. It became by far his biggest album of his career as he continued to make great arty videos, but this time had the MTV generation to appreciate them.
He hit the ground running with "Sledgehammer which peaked at UK #4 & USA #1. Musically, it borrowed elements of Howard Jones "Things Can Only Get Better". Pre-agreed as part of a deal for him not suing Howard's debut single "New Song" for ripping off his debut single "Solsbury Hill", but filtered through an Otis Redding Stax soul vibe. But proppelled by its 9 MTV Award winning video provided by Nick Park and his Aardman Animations.
Then you have his love song "In Your Eyes"; the environmentally themed "Red Rain"; the punchier, but not quite as good cousin of "Sledgehammer" about becoming famous "Big Time"; and the moving duet about unemployment "Don't Give Up" (which Dolly Parton turned down, before his friend Kate Bush gratefully accepted) and its powerful Godley & Creme directed video.
If the non single tracks were a bit better, then this album would be higher, But only "Mercy Street" feels like a single that never was (it actually had a video commissioned)... albeit a Sting meets Radiohead single that never was.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 4, 2020 19:32:53 GMT 1
210 Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
The fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo saw them incorporate elements of rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, world music, pop and other genres. It won a glut of awards & accolades including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, as well as for Best Engineered Recording, while its title track won the Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Contemporary Song of the Year and Instrumental Arrangement of the Year.
But the duo who had been friends for over 15 years were increasingly distant with each other, and it would be their last studio album together.
As for the songs, you have the first single "The Boxer"; the epic masterpiece of its title track which showcased Art Garfunkel's stunning vocals (& in doing so caused a resentment by its songwriter Paul Simon); then you have the song about sleeping with a hooker "Cecilia"; the Peruvian folk song lift which turned into a mini "My Sweet Lord" embarrassment for Paul Simon. Plus a supporting cast of album cuts "Keep The Customer Satisfied"; "Song For The Asking"; "Baby Driver"; & my favourite track (later covered by Everything But The Girl) "The Only Living Boy In New York".
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Post by Jordan on Nov 4, 2020 19:55:09 GMT 1
Love the quirk of Simon & Garfunkel following 'So' when it was Paul Simons 'Graceland' that pipped it to take the Album of the Year Grammy.
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Post by Whitneyfan on Nov 5, 2020 16:10:22 GMT 1
'Bridge over troubled water' is an absolute masterpiece of an album. There are a few albums I like just as much but I'm not sure it's ever been bettered.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 5, 2020 17:24:31 GMT 1
Love the quirk of Simon & Garfunkel following 'So' when it was Paul Simons 'Graceland' that pipped it to take the Album of the Year Grammy. It certainly was not intentional, in the same way my last three acts appeared with their 5th studio albums.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 5, 2020 18:11:33 GMT 1
209 Joan As Police Woman - Real Life (2006)
Connecticut born Joan Wasser debut album under her own moniker was co-produced with Bryce Goggin. It is a stunning, yet understated heartfelt album full of indie jazz influenced pop rock in a Tori Amos meets Rufus Wainwright vein.
Its highlights includes the opening stately piano torch ballad title track; "I Defy" is a duet co-written with Antony Hegarty; "Eternal Flame" is her musical & lyrical homage to the late Jeff Buckley; "The Ride" is a elegiac Norah Jones type jazz downtempo number; & "Christobel" is a Kid A type Radiohead number.
She has released many good to great albums worth the investigating (I recommend her 2019 "Joanthology"), but for me she never bettered this album.
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Post by Jordan on Nov 5, 2020 18:21:40 GMT 1
I think I was a bit late to the JAPM party, so my favourite of her LPs is easily The Deep Field
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 6, 2020 19:43:05 GMT 1
208 Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (OST) (1972)
The third studio album by American soul musician, after leaving The Impressions (he wrote their 1965 standard "People Get Ready"), was the soundtrack to the blaxploitation Super Fly film, where it put a more anti-drug, anti-crime, self-liberation tilt compared to the more machismo film. It features the USA #4 hit "Freddie's Dead" & the much sampled USA #8 title track as singles.
But like most great albums it has a strong supporting cast. The opening blaxpoiltation James Bond like "Little Child Runnin' Wild"; the similarly much sampled by Ice-T; Eminem; Chance The Rapper, etc "Pusherman". The soul-funk ballad "Give Me Your Love (Love Song)"; the Philly-soul like "No Thing On Me" .... to a pair of engaging instrumentals "Junkie Chase" & "Think".
This album topped the USA Billboard Album charts and sold over 12 million copies; and his career continued as a much respected socially aware soul singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer through the 1970s to the plateau of the 1980s. But the likes of Style Council "You're The Best Thing" & Lenny Kravitz "It Ain't Over Till Its Over" aregreat homages to his music. On August 13, 1990, Mayfield became paralyzed from the neck down, after stage lighting equipment fell on him at an outdoor concert at Wingate Field in New York State. Mayfield died from complications of type 2 diabetes on December 26, 1999.
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Post by smokeyb on Nov 8, 2020 0:39:40 GMT 1
I've had some major PC desktop problems yesterday which meant my internet browser was not working properly, I'm not completely convinced they are all resolved, but I want to try and post the next two albums tonight to try and catch up. Both from the 1980s..... 212 Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982)
The fifth studio album by the Scottish artpop band fronted by Jim Kerr with guitarist Charlie Burchill. This album saw them at their most new wave sounding before they went more rock, and got more successful, yet less interesting, and later more bloated before drifting into the 1990s & beyond with a declining audience and sales.
This album captures them at the point their interesting arty sound was matched by an increased emotional engagement, with some great pop songs to match. It features the hit singles "Promised You A Miracle"; "Glittering Prize"; & "Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)". Plus the brilliant title track sampled by Usura on their early 1990s dance track; plus a great supporting cast of emotional, atmospheric soundscapes including "Big Sleep" & "Hunter And The Hunted".
At this point in time they were genuine rivals to Dublin's U2 ... except they were making better records then, but as the 1980s progressed they lost bassist Derek Forbes; keyboardist/synths Michael MacNeil; & drummer Mel Gaynor and lost their cohesiveness.
I was a big fan of them through the 80's, being Scottish I always seemed to prefer them to U2 (although they came a close second), I have this album and most of the songs on this are great.
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Post by smokeyb on Nov 8, 2020 0:42:20 GMT 1
211 Peter Gabriel - So (1986)
The fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter & former Genesis frontman, was co-produced by Daniel Lanois, with a supporting cast of quality musicians (Tony Levin; David Rhodes; Manu Katché; Jerry Marotta). Again, using the pioneering Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer, but with several more direct/commercial sounding tracks alongside two experimental tracks at the back end of the album. It became by far his biggest album of his career as he continued to make great arty videos, but this time had the MTV generation to appreciate them.
He hit the ground running with "Sledgehammer which peaked at UK #4 & USA #1. Musically, it borrowed elements of Howard Jones "Things Can Only Get Better". Pre-agreed as part of a deal for him not suing Howard's debut single "New Song" for ripping off his debut single "Solsbury Hill", but filtered through an Otis Redding Stax soul vibe. But proppelled by its 9 MTV Award winning video provided by Nick Park and his Aardman Animations.
Then you have his love song "In Your Eyes"; the environmentally themed "Red Rain"; the punchier, but not quite as good cousin of "Sledgehammer" about becoming famous "Big Time"; and the moving duet about unemployment "Don't Give Up" (which Dolly Parton turned down, before his friend Kate Bush gratefully accepted) and its powerful Godley & Creme directed video.
If the non single tracks were a bit better, then this album would be higher, But only "Mercy Street" feels like a single that never was (it actually had a video commissioned)... albeit a Sting meets Radiohead single that never was.
Another one from my collection, I have liked him since his Genesis days, and this is a good collection of songs, with some really stand out ones.
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Post by smokeyb on Nov 8, 2020 0:45:19 GMT 1
210 Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
The fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo saw them incorporate elements of rock, R&B, gospel, jazz, world music, pop and other genres. It won a glut of awards & accolades including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, as well as for Best Engineered Recording, while its title track won the Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Contemporary Song of the Year and Instrumental Arrangement of the Year.
But the duo who had been friends for over 15 years were increasingly distant with each other, and it would be their last studio album together.
As for the songs, you have the first single "The Boxer"; the epic masterpiece of its title track which showcased Art Garfunkel's stunning vocals (& in doing so caused a resentment by its songwriter Paul Simon); then you have the song about sleeping with a hooker "Cecilia"; the Peruvian folk song lift which turned into a mini "My Sweet Lord" embarrassment for Paul Simon. Plus a supporting cast of album cuts "Keep The Customer Satisfied"; "Song For The Asking"; "Baby Driver"; & my favourite track (later covered by Everything But The Girl) "The Only Living Boy In New York".
Although I don't own this album I do have a greatest hits that contains most of the songs on it. Timeless.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 8, 2020 16:02:58 GMT 1
207 Lana Del Rey - Born To Die (2012)
The second studio album and major label debut by the New York American singer-songwriter born Lizzy Grant, whom kick started her career with this sadcore template of stylized, cinematic quality; themes of sadness, tragic romance, glamor, and melancholia; and references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960s Americana with this baroque pop and trip hop album.
She kicked her persona revamp with the haunting, enigmatic "Video Games"; and followed it up with the singles "Born To Die"; "Blue Jeans"; "Summertime Sadness" (the peerless original, not that godawful dance remake); "National Anthem"; "Dark Paradise". But a number of the non "single" cuts are equally as strong.
"Off To The Races" is the Nancy Sinatra original of Sheryl Crow's "Leaving Last Vegas" which you never heard; "Diet Mountain Dew" sounds like a Katy Perry song given a Leonard Cohen makeover; whilst I can't believe "Radio" was never a single.
If you wanted to be picky, the problem with this album is Emile Haynie production is possibly too immaculate so being over powering making the album a bit too sonically samey for its own good.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 9, 2020 21:48:10 GMT 1
206 Prince - Parade (1986)
The eighth studio album by the Minneapolis born musical genius and the third and final album where the Revolution is billed. It also was the soundtrack album to the not very good 1986 film Under the Cherry Moon.
This album was another music about turn seeing him move into jazz and baroque pop territory on this chameleon like album full of sparse funk pop.
This 12 track album was split into Side A with 7 tracks specifically taken from the film of which the proto Beck meets James Brown "New Position"; the UK #11 single "Girls & Boys"; & the funeral like waltz of "Under The Cherry Moon" are its highlights. But it is Side 2 where all the treats are.
Side 2 starts off with the jazz psychedelic piano led "Mountains" which unbelievably stalled at UK #45 & USA #23; followed by the Francophile "Do U Lie?"; the global blockbusting sparse funk USA #1 & UK #6 hit "Kiss"; the minor key off kilter downbeat, yet irresistibly catchy funk rocker "Anotherloverholenyohead"; and finishing with the devastating sad "Sometimes It Snows In April" where Prince as the narrator recounts memories of Christopher Tracy, after his death, which took on a whole new level after Prince's death on April 21, 2016, exactly 31 years to the day after its recording date. (Ten years earlier in 2006 Prince released the album "3121"......)
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Post by Whitneyfan on Nov 9, 2020 22:05:52 GMT 1
I was actually listening to 'Sometimes it snows in April' on my headphones one time during April, and out of the blue it started snowing! - True story.
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Post by raliverpool on Nov 10, 2020 20:10:33 GMT 1
205 Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
The massive selling second album by Manchester's BritPop indie rockers resulted in Noel Gallagher's compositions Being more focused in balladry and have a greater emphasis on "huge" choruses, with the string arrangements and more varied instrumentation contrasting with the rawness of the group's debut album.
If you were to go through the album track by track... it actually starts poorly with the Slade "Far Far Away"/ Gary Glitter "Hello Hello I'm Back Again" rip off (Noel got sued by both parties ... Glitter took the money, Slade took some royalties and an agreement Oasis cover one of their hits "Cum On Feel The Noize" on the Don't Look Back In Anger EP .. which was the better strategy) "Hello"; followed by the mediocre Oasis Quo effort "Roll With It"; but then things pick up with the worst two proper tracks out of the way, massively improving with the Liam sung anthem "Wonderwall"; followed by the Noel sung anthem "Don't Look Back In Anger"; followed by the underrated swaggering "Hey Now!".
Then we have their first UK #1, the triumphant "Some Might Say"; the Verve like "Cast No Shadow"; the ridiculously catchy the La's like "She's Electric"; the very loud defacto title track "Morning Glory"; finishing with a credible contender for the best finale to an album, and in my opinion their greatest track ever the 7 minutes 30 seconds of "Champagne Supernova"...
... Of course it was all down hill from here with one hell of a comedown with the Cocaine fueled "Be Hear Now", which wasn't that bad, just it showed they were not the new Beatles, but their legacy was assured, even though many (including George Harrison) at the time thought otherwise.
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Post by Whitneyfan on Nov 10, 2020 20:34:28 GMT 1
'Morning Glory' definitely wouldn't be far from my top 10. Every single track could be a top 5 single in my book.
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