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Post by nathanalbright on Mar 28, 2022 19:00:07 GMT -5
The Family Jewels, by Marina And The Diamonds
I must admit that this particular artist is one that has long flown beneath my radar. Although I have certainly heard other people praise her music, I simply have not listened to it, and as is often the case I was invited to rank her debut album and decided to take the opportunity because it provided me with the chance to listen to an album that I wasn't familiar with and which also allowed me to see what I thought about the album's themes and concerns. I must admit that going into the album I had some mixed thoughts about the approach of the artist and was curious to see how critical I could be about its perspective. So how did the album turn out?
The album begins with "Are You Satisfied?," which is a quirky and upbeat song about herself and her own struggles in life. "Shampain" is a song about problem drinking and the misery that happens when one focuses too much on contemporary social issues. "I Am Not A Robot" is an open discussion of the artist's vulnerability and weakness. "Girls" is a reflection of her lack of identification with standards of lady-like conduct, and her stereotypical views of other girls. "Mowgli's Road" is another song where she tries to differentiate herself from others and the path of life that they take. "Obsessions" is a song about the corrupt sort of thoughts we have about others that tend to threaten the health of relationships. "Hollywood" is a bit of a story song about the horrors of Hollywood that has spread to Europeans, making this a song about the corruption of American pop culture. "The Outsider" is a reflection of a titular person who views life as a spectator but who has a much darker side inside. "Guilty" is a song about self-loathing and guilt and a refusal to repent and be forgiven that seems unfortunately all too common. "Hermit The Frog" is a song about her struggle with the darker aspects of her thinking about how they hurt her reputation and relationships with those around her. "Oh No!" is a somewhat repetitive song that seeks to present the artist as knowing who she is and what she wants, but it's more about what she doesn't want instead. "Seventeen" is a whiny attempt to distance herself from those who would view her as a trophy wife. "Numb" then sings about the artist feeling numb most of the time, not an uncommon problem. "Rootless" is an expression of the sad state of contemporary youth who have been failed by those that did not root them into worthwhile and lasting history and tradition and truth. "Family Jewels" discusses patterns of family shame and division that is certainly relatable. The deluxe album then ends with five remixes, for Hollywood (1), Obsessions (1), and I Am Not A Robot (3), that are really of interest mainly to those who want slightly different musical arrangements (Hollywood) or a club mix (Obsessions, I Am Not A Robot), but are really inessential.
Ultimately, how you feel about this album will depend on how you feel about Marina's preoccupations as a person and her quirks as an artist. This album struck me as a real and honest discussion of the singer-songwriter's life and struggles, but while I had a great deal of sympathy for her, I found a lot that fell short of the mark as well. This album is a warts and all self-exposure by an artist who thinks that she is not like the other girls but ends up being a basic corrupt hipster girl. Some of the tracks here are so basic that they could have been made by an artist like Daya (Girls, Seventeen), and those who think of Marina as being a daring and original artist overlook the fact that this album is a better-produced and slightly more enjoyable listen than Lorde's Solar Power, but not as much as one might hope. There is surely an audience for self-absorbed young songstress singer-songwriter albums, but I am not the most obvious or most sympathetic of audiences.
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Post by nathanalbright on Mar 29, 2022 14:27:55 GMT -5
Platonic (EP), by Ryan Hurd
As is the case with a great many country singer-songwriters who have less familiar careers as artists, I am not really familiar with the music of Ryan Hurd, but an acquaintance of mine gave a rankdown opportunity for a couple of his EPs, some of which included the original versions of a few hits that were sung by other artists, so this gave me an opportunity to get to know his music a little better, and I looked forward to it. So, how does Ryan Hurd work as a performer of his own music? Is he a performer who deserves to be a lot better known or what?
The EP starts with the gentle "Down To A T," a breezy sort of love song that really sounds like a lost summer jam. "Half Hoping" follows with a song about not dealing well with a person one used to date that one half hopes will come and half hopes will not, a rather clever take on a very relatable feeling of ambivalence. "Platonic" is a song that expresses the relatable feeling of a guy who cannot feel platonically about a friend he is attracted to. "Florida With A Girl" is a bit underwritten of a song, but again it is a sentiment I have enjoyed hearing, about the joy of being with a girl in spring break, but not being able to hold on to the relationship. Finally, "Wish For The World," is a gentle acoustic song that reflects some basic but certainly praiseworthy desires for more love, music, grace, beauty and forgiveness in a world that can be cruel.
Overall this is an enjoyable EP. One could see this as being the source material for a pretty worthwhile album, or as a place where people look for singles, and all of the songs are at least a bit enjoyable, and most of them more than a bit. The EP has in general a relaxed vibe, solid production, and Ryan Hurd has a relatable approach here in writing songs about love and relationships. It's not clear to what extent this EP has a coherent theme and approach, but it is certainly an enjoyable listen full of good songs, and that is enough to enjoy.
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Post by nathanalbright on Mar 29, 2022 18:47:22 GMT -5
EOM (EP), by Ryan Hurd
The rankdown I was invited to do for Ryan Hurd included two short EPs, and since I found that pretty easy to listen to, I figured it would be worthwhile to listen to them both back to back to see if the feeling of an album length worth of material by the Nashville singer-songwriter was something I would appreciate more or not. There are some people, after all, that one can listen to more or less enjoyably on an individual song level or on an EP level but not when you move from a handful of songs to ten or more. Interestingly enough this EP includes some songs that were recorded by other artists as well as a cover. Does it hold up as well as his previous EP?
The EP begins with its title track, "Every Other Memory," which shows Ryan Hurd in relatable mode dealing with the aftermath of having memories of a past lover which simply do not fade away even after the relationship is over. "Heartless," which was covered by Morgan Wallen, is a far more gentle version than become popular by that singer-songwriter, reflecting on the desolation after a breakup. A cover of "False God" follows, with its melancholy reflections on bad communication and putting your faith in the wrong things. "Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset" is a song about enjoying the passage of time in repeating the same enjoyable activities of making love and enjoying creation. "Payback," featuring the Cadillac Three, is an enjoyable honkytonk stomp sort of song with some sleek production. "What If I Never Get Over You," which was also successfully covered by another artist, is performed here as a gentle and melancholy acoustic track. An acoustic and live version of "Wish In This World," from his previous EP, then closes the track.
Overall, most of this album is made up of acoustic songs, and while this song was certainly a goldmine for artists to pick songs to cover and turn into hits, I like these songs slightly less than the previous EP. For me, the difference between this EP and Platonic is that Platonic had more songs with radio-ready production and this song has a lot more stripped down acoustic tracks that may be cheaper to produce and that may compete less with the cover versions that other artists do, but it takes a bit more imagination to flesh out the sound that could come from these songs, leaving the songwriting of Hurd to do more work here. I prefer studio polish to rather austere and sparce acoustic tracks, but that is a matter of my own taste. Others may disagree.
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Post by nathanalbright on Apr 1, 2022 0:30:00 GMT -5
The Sensual World, by Kate Bush
Although I have long respected her music and cheered on her career and success, I must admit that I have never made myself as familiar as I ought to be with her discography as a whole. And, as is often the case, a rankdown invitation gave me the invitation to join in on a career retrospective that was wel in progress that I unfortunately had missed up to that point. Be that as it may, The Sensual World is an interesting place to begin a retrospective look at Kate Bush's career, as she had been a confirmed hitmaker in the UK before then and was already a highly respected artist. That said, this album has not received the same degree of commercial success as her previous album (The Hounds Of Love) did. Is it still a worthwhile album nonetheless?
The album begins with the title track, which marries Kate Bush's lovely lyricism with a gorgeous Celtic instrumentation, a real highlight that points out desire as well as a sense of haunting. "Love And Anger" is another song that marries interesting lyrics about a troubled relationship that is filled with ambivalent albums on the part of the narrator with some gorgeous and driving music. "The Fog" combines reflecting lyrics about someone picking up on the signals a loved one is sending out with some ominous and beautiful music, touched by gorgeous strings. "Reaching Out" is a beautiful look at the way that we reach out for intimacy to others and strive to overcome our own solitude, with multi-tracked vocals as well as gorgeous instrumentals. "Heads We're Dancing" combines an interesting story of a charged encounter between the narrator and a would-be lover with some music that sounds like it came straight out of a Peter Gabriel album with a driving and almost industrial sound, especially at the beginning. "Deeper Understanding" is a strikingly prophetic discussion of the turning away from intimacy to spending our time on computer devices, with intriguing vocal effects and somewhat anxious and tense production. "Between A Man And A Woman" is an exploration of intimacy and romance and communication, which is beautifully produced like everything else on this album. "Never Be Mine" is a more melancholy reflection on the lack of congruence between the dream of a lasting and passionate romance with the sadder reality. "Rocket's Tail" has an austere sound with lots of vocal production and no instrumentation to start, and deeply symbolic lyrics, making for a rather arresting and somewhat dark song before the rock guitars enter. "This Woman's Work" is a moving and encouraging song about the work and effort involved by men and women in the context of relationships and their end. "Walk Straight Down The Middle" is another song about relationships and communications and toeing a narrow line and being more resilient than one would expect.
It is difficult to know why this album was not popular upon its release, but it is not hard to see why it has been highly praised despite its lower commercial profile. This is an album with simply beautiful production and instrumentation as well as the (usual) highly literary lyrics from Kate Bush. As someone who is not familiar with her body of work as a whole, it is hard to tell if this album is representative of Kate Bush's body of work as a whole, but if you are a fan of lush and complex instrumentation and thoughtful lyrics that deal with questions of love and relationships, this album is certainly a good choice. Kate Bush may not be the most accessible artist, but if your tastes tend towards baroque pop there is a lot to enjoy here. I thought every song on this album was very good or great, and if nothing struck me as an obvious hit, this is an album that would be easy to listen to repeatedly depending on the mood.
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Post by nathanalbright on Apr 6, 2022 23:02:58 GMT -5
25, by Adele
By the time Adele released 25, she was one of the biggest pop stars in the world. It is hard to think of that being the case, because it would seem at first listen that Adele was out of step with the trends of music at the time, but her music has had massive appeal and several songs of this album managed to be immensely successful. When placing this song in the context of its times, the material on this album reflects a certain sense of minimalism that leaves a lot of space for the listener to project their own self-reflective tendencies and their own experiences into the confessional songs included. If this album was not quite as successful as 21--few albums in history have been--this is an album that clearly indicated Adele was more than a one-album wonder in the United States and she was a pop phenomenon that clearly had some sort of longevity. Does it stack up as an enjoyable listen, though?
The album begins with the austere and melancholy ballad "Hello," which was a deserved smash hit when it was released. "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" is similarly spare, but rather quicker in tempo, also it has a certain worrisome tendency to give a passive-aggressive avoidance of responsibility that can be hidden in the upbeat framing of the song that made it a hit. "I Miss You" is an open expression of heartbreak and longing with some excellent drumming that is a real slow burn. "When We Were Young" is gorgeous and languid song about nostalgia and reconnecting that was also a big hit from this album. "Remedy" is a lovely piano ballad that expresses Adele's wish to bring healing and restoration to a loved one, a noble and laudable sentiment. "Water Under The Bridge" is a mid-tempo song about an awkward and ambivalent relationship that seems to bode badly for the character of both people involved. "River Lea" offers a soulful reflection the artist's youth and the way that she has internalized her upbringing, a rather melancholy thought it must be admitted. "Love In The Dark" is an unhappy song about Adele's inability to love and her sense of shame, which takes a while to get started. "Million Years Ago" is an acoustic song about nostalgia and the desire to recapture the elusive joys and relationships lost in the past. "All I Ask" is a poignant piano ballad expressing Adele's final request of a lover in a relationship that is about to fall apart. "Sweetest Devotion" closes the album on an optimistic notion of lasting love, a mood that seems to be undercut by the generally melancholy tone of the rest of the album as a whole but expressive of the singer's hopes.
By and large, 25 is an album that suits my tastes for Adult Contemporary music about relationships and a complicated relationship with the past. Some of these songs resonate very well with me personally, and I suspect a great deal of the popularity of the album was the way that the song's material resonated widely with an audience that finds adulthood and contemporary life to be unsatisfying, and if not necessarily wanting the past to return, at least seeing the present world and our present selves as less than ideal. If this album presents Adele and her love life as less than ideal, it also presents her as struggling with questions of responsibility and self-awareness about her own role in the dysfunction of her life. One would want to see progress from this, but sometimes progress is elusive, and this album is certainly evidence of the fact that it is easier to admit the truth than it is to do something about it.
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Post by nathanalbright on Apr 8, 2022 1:02:18 GMT -5
21, by Adele
More than a decade after its release, this album is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold more than twenty million copies in the United States alone. Several of the songs on this album became absolute smash hits, with two of the songs on this album having been listened to more than 1 billion times on spotify, a very high level of achievement--although it must be noted that even so, not all of the songs on this album have even been listened to 100 million times, making it an album whose hits are well known but whose deeper album tracks remain a bit obscure to the general listening audience. This album is what turned Adele from a minor songstress to a massive superstar. Does this album still hold up, though?
This album begins with the stellar "Rollin' In The Deep," a song that captures an exciting but somewhat frustrating mood of missing what one thought one would be able to enjoy for a long time, perhaps even a lifetime, with someone. "Rumour Has It," follows with a storytelling song about a doomed romance in three acts that is so personal in its details that the person who the song is about probably slapped her with a restraining order if he felt too uncomfortable to sue for libel. "Turning Tables" is a moving mid-tempo song about problems of intimacy with someone who is unstable. "Don't You Remember" is a call to a lover to remember her, wondering behind some twangy instrumentation whether he has completely forgotten her--let us hope not because she will likely be singing about it for another decade or so. "Set Fire To The Rain," another big hit from this album, is a dramatic song about a toxic response to a relationship, but it's still beautiful all that. "He Won't Go" is a jazzy song about the struggle to build intimacy with someone who does not meet up to one's hopes and expectations and memories. "Take It All" is a mournful breakup ballad where the singer looks to be taken back by a partner for another try, the sort of sound and mood that would be pretty common after this. "I'll Be Waiting" is a rousing ode to commitment to getting better and enjoying love with someone one is not currently with. "One And Only" is another maudlin song about love and devotion that is a template of the sorts of songs that we would eventually get more and more often. "Lovesong" offers a cover version that is a tasteful piano ballad, as one would expect, of an alt-rock original. "Someone Like You" shows the singer abandoning a hopeless desire for someone but expressing the desire to find someone like him instead, rather than trying to move on for something different altogether.
If you like Adult Contemporary music that is on the spirited and energetic side, this album is a great one, and it is clear that there is a large audience for music like this. The only downside of this album for me is that it seems like an obvious commercial and creative peak. In the only two studio albums she has released since then, she has not moved on from this level of confessional lyrics about hopeless and dysfunctional relationships and the frustrated longing for lasting intimacy. Creatively speaking, Adele seems to have been spinning her wheels for years now, and she is still at the same level of growth and maturity now as a thirty-something as she was when she was beginning her third decade. This is somewhat distressing. Even more of a downer, the albums have gotten less upbeat and enjoyable to listen to with time, although all are at least modestly enjoyable to listen to that I have so far. There is only one album to go, though, so we'll see how it goes.
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Post by nathanalbright on Apr 8, 2022 19:26:42 GMT -5
19, by Adele
With this album, Adele's career begins at a young age, and though this album certainly was bigger in the United Kingdom than it was in the United States, it still made some impression on the American charts (particularly with "Chasing Pavements," the album's third song). We all know by this point how Adele ended up, as the adult contemporary artist who wrote songs about hopeless and dysfunctional romantic relationships. But how did she begin? Was her music any different as she was getting started in the music business during her late teens as it was when she made her breakthrough with 21 and consolidated the massive success with 25? Let's find out.
The album begins with "Daydreamer," a slow-paced acoustic storytelling song about an unfortunate man who happens to be rather bad at intimacy, alas. "Best For Last" starts slow but ends up being a jazzy and interesting tell-off to someone who tries to use lines of love and devotion on the cynical Adele that includes some aspect of self-criticism. "Chasing Pavements" shows Adele reflecting on the grind and seeming lack of progress that she was already (!) frustrated with in her life, a tendency that would become all the more notable in her body of work. "Cold Shoulder" shows Adele struggling with someone whose words and actions regarding love and romance do not correspond, a problem she seems to recognize easier in others than in herself. "Crazy For You" is a slow and austere acoustic guitar ballad about Adele's infatuation with someone who is likely not feeling equally infatuated with her. "Melt My Heart To Stone" is a mid-tempo but rather spare song that expresses how things are going in a dysfunctional romantic relationship. "First Love" is a music box-sounding song about an unsuccessful first love that Adele turns down for what appear to be rather shallow and unsatisfactory reasons. "Right As Rain" is a bit more upbeat than the average song that reflects on the loneliness and isolation that came to Adele despite her success, which she is already somewhat dissatisfied with even at this early stage of her career. "To Make You Feel My Love" is I think the fifth version of this song I ever heard, but it probably my second favorite version (after Garth Brooks', slightly ahead of Billy Joel's), a lovely and rather straightforward piano ballad. "My Same" is a somewhat upbeat discussion of an opposites attract sort of relationship that works for Adele (at least until it doesn't?) that details all the differences that Adele notices in her partner. "I'm Tired" is a rather tired song (with interesting production, it must be admitted) that discusses a love triangle that makes Adele tired. "Hometown Glory" then finishes with an interesting reflection on Adele's fondness for London relative to her hometown.
It is somewhat strange to think about it this way, but the album that most closely resembles 19 in Adele's body of work is 30. While 19 shows Adele being rather spare with most of her instrumentation and production here (there are both acoustic guitar and piano tracks, and even the more upbeat ones are rather simple for the most part on instrumentation), 30 shows Adele pulling back from the bigger sound on her previous two albums and adopting for a similarly spare approach long on slow love ballads about love gone wrong. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Adele is the lack of progress that she has shown in more than a decade of performing. In all of her studio albums one finds a similar blend of frustrated longings, bitter recriminations of exes, and attempts to examine herself that seem to go nowhere to actually changing her behavior. At no point does one ever feel throughout four studio albums over about a dozen years or so that Adele has finally gotten it, that she will find the right kind of man and have a happy and successful marriage and family life, and grow up and take responsibility for her own life without trying to blame or excuse it away. And though Adele's music is certainly beautiful and the sentiments of her song certainly relatable, this is a frustrating career to examine, it must be admitted.
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Post by nathanalbright on Apr 21, 2022 14:17:18 GMT -5
Electra Heart (Deluxe Version), by Marina & The Diamonds
If Marina & The Diamond's first album had a distinctive voice, it was harmed to a great extent by the singer's petulant dissatisfaction with her life and her failure to take responsibility for the course of life, instead seeking to blame other people for her problems and issues. It is admittedly easy for adolescents to through temper tantrums in their music (and indeed easy for artists far older to do so), but did Marina learn anything over the course of the time between her debut and her second album, Electra Heart, which ominously references a figure in Greek mythology known for her opposition to the authorities of her city? Let's find out.
The album begins with "Bubblegum B****", a song about a woman treating a man like she thinks she has been treated, always a dubious proposition. "Primadonna" then follows, a song that acknowledges oneself as having a difficult reputation but trying to avoid the responsibility of it, which falls a bit flat. "Lies" is a song about a dysfunctional relationship, which demonstrates again the singer's unrealistic approach to life and relationships--she only wanted the relationship to be "perfect," after all. "Homewrecker" is another song that acknowledges a bad reputation but fails to take responsibility for the dysfunctionality of her life and relationships. "Starring Role" reflects on the acting that is involved in being in love with someone who is not in love with oneself but who wants them as a supportive friend. "The State Of Dreaming" laments on the cruelty of the world as well as her escape from the unpleasantness of it in her dreams, again without acknowledging her role in the problem. "Power And Control" is about her simultaneous desire for these two things and her unwillingness for a partner to have them over her. "Living Dead" is another song about her living in fantasy and only living at night in her dreams of love and death, a relatable but hardly laudable message. "Teen Idle" reflects a desire to return to infantile irresponsibility and her frustration of the consequences of such behavior in adult life. "Valley Of The Dolls" moans the need to take sleeping pills and deal with identities one does not choose. "Hypocrates" moans the hypocrisy of others without self-reflection on the singer's own massive hypocrisy. "Fear And Loathing" tries to enlist the listener's pity about her mental health issues. Similarly, "Radioactive" blames others for the toxicity she feels in herself. "Sex Yeah" has a great misunderstanding of sexuality and its abuse. "Lonely Hearts Club" invites someone to be her partner so that they could join the lonely hearts club of people she has broken the hearts of. "Buy The Stars" is yet another song that refuses to accept the bonds of duty and obligation that should connect the singer to others. "How To Be A Heartbreaker" gives the singer's blinded and ignorant view of men, but it's admittedly catchier and more upbeat than most of the songs towards the back half of this album. "Electra Heart" offers a dark reflection of being unable to handle the scrutiny of the outside world. "E.V.O.L." is a reflection of the singer's chaotic and disordered life. Finally, "Just Desserts" is a somewhat random and contradictory kiss-off ode that is a duet with Charlie XCX.
Overall, this album must be praised for its production. The songs on this album sound beautiful--the instrumentation, beats, and vocal production are all superb. It is easy to enjoy how these songs sound if one is not paying attention to the lyrics. Unfortunately, when one is forced to pay attention to what these songs are saying and not just how they sound, the vibe is constantly disturbed by the fact that the singer is filled with resentment about other people but is completely lacking in any desire to accept responsibility for her bad behavior and its effects on herself and other people. The singer's obsession with dodging responsibility for the course of her life and her equally serious obsession with blaming and finger pointing other people is grating and demonstrates a major moral failing in the author, undercutting her own desire for moral authority that she constantly tries to push. The fact that so many songs hammer the same misguided themes and terrible approach over and over again without any sort of reflection or growth is a major shortcoming, making this album far less than the sum of its parts.
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Post by nathanalbright on Apr 25, 2022 14:35:31 GMT -5
Pang, by Caroline Polachek
There are a lot of artists and albums and songs that I would likely not check out unless I was asked to do so. There are a fair number of reasons for this, the most salient being that there is a lot of music that has been released and is constantly being released, and I only care about a certain subset of that and will only devote time to listening to new stuff that I do not already know and like unless I can get something out of it, namely at least a conversation with other people about such music. Sometimes I find such opportunities to be enjoyable ones in terms of discovering new songs, albums, and acts that I was unfamiliar with and want to get to know better, and sometimes I see music that other people like that I simply do not care for as much as they do. Caroline Polacheck is a pop/art-pop sort of artist who is popular among a certain amount of online acquaintances for various reasons, and though I only know of one her songs going into it, we will see if this is an album worth celebrating or simply worth knowing about.
The album begins with an intro, "The Gate," which sounds really interesting, with a bit of a haunting techno feel to it. "Pang," the title track follows, and isn't quite as good, appearing to be about the relationship between the singer and someone else where there appears to be reciprocity of some kind. "New Normal" is a reflection on the alienating experience of what appears to be a change of life, and the singer appears to find this new normal to be a bit unpleasant, it must be admitted. "Hit Me Where It Hurts" has a catchy pre-chorus and chorus but a pretty minimalistic and dull set of verses, it must be admitted. "I Give Up" sounds like the sort of song that Haim would do well, with a discussion of falling for someone and giving in to them. "Look At Me Now" is another fairly downbeat look at how a particular crush or relationship has made someone look skinny enough to concern their friends about the general decrepitude. "Insomnia" is a rather trippy song that expresses the unhappiness of not being able to sleep and is one of the most genuinely experimental songs on here, a lot like the intro in its vibe. "Ocean Of Tears" features more somewhat trippy moans and wails, and it again is one of the more interesting songs here at least. "Hey Big Eyes" seems to be a positive and loving sort of song, which is admittedly rare here. "Go As A Dream" is a slow, dreamlike ode to how a lover leaves her life as a dream, and the music really fits here. "Caroline Shut Up" is a song about a complicated set of feelings for a partner, including some worthwhile self-criticism. "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" is an upbeat and cute song about her interest in someone, and was the only song I knew before listening to this and certainly a standout. "Door" is a somewhat repetitive but also somewhat dreamlike song about the complexity of a partner who has a lot of layers that the singer is enthusiastic about running through. "Parachute" is another dreamscape of a song that hovers between a dream and a nightmare.
I have mixed feelings about this album, having listened to it. On the one hand, the production of this album is particularly spare, sounding like the music of 2018 (it was released in 2019, so it makes sense at least), and that is generally a bad thing, because the lyrics to these songs are so boring and monotonous and repetitive that one wants the music to give you something else to grab onto but instead you get this sort of dark, slow, dreamlike vibe in most of the songs that gives you lots of negative spaces but not a lot of positive sounds to distract you from the basic lyricism. By and large this is a pretty basic album that is not nearly as experimental as it thinks it is, but if you're looking for an album to help you feel calm and relax and ready to sleep, and you don't have something like Donna Lewis available, this will do in a pinch I suppose. It's more about vibes than bops, though, if that makes sense.
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Post by nathanalbright on Apr 30, 2022 1:52:00 GMT -5
50 Years Of The Piano Man, by Billy Joel
One of the more worthwhile things for music labels to do when their artists hit various thresholds in their career is to make retrospectives that allow for people to enjoy their back catalog. And it cannot be denied, not least by someone who has long been a fan of his work, that Billy Joel has an impressive back catalog and that it is no challenge at all to find 50 great songs from that body of work created over the course of decades in the music industry. While it is unclear what new song or takes on his songs are present in this compilation as opposed to the ones that already exist, one probably does not need too much of an excuse to listen to classic Billy Joel, so let us see if this is a worthy compilation of a truly excellent career.
As might be expected from a collection like this one, there are 50 songs to cover the 50 years of Billy Joel's career, and this review can hardly be expected to cover them all in detail. We begin with the requisite "Piano Man," and then race through a selection of hits and album tracks that includes "Uptown Girl," "We Didn't Start The Fire," "Vienna," "My Life," "Just The Way You Are," "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me," "Only The Good Die Young," "New York State Of Mind," "The Longest Time," "Zanzibar," "Everybody Loves You Now," "She's Always A Woman," "A Matter Of Trust," "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)," "The Downeaster 'Alexa',", "Don't Ask Me Why," "The Entertainer," "Pressure," "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," "Keeping The Faith," "Big Shot," "Say Goodbye To Hollywood," "The Ballad Of Billy The Kid," "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "The River Of Dreams," "Allentown," "Tell Her About It," " This Is The Time," "Sometimes A Fantasy - Single Version," "Prelude / Angry Young Man," "You May Be Right," "Captain Jack," "She's Got A Way," "Baby Grand (with Ray Charles)," "An Innocent Man," "I Go To Extremes," a live version of "All About Soul," "Goodnight Saigon," "Honesty," "Leave A Tender Moment Alone," "Streetlife Serenader," "All For Leyna," "Where's The Orchestra," "Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)," and "And So It Goes." The collection ends with live versions of "The Ballad Of Billy The Kid," "Summer, Highland Falls," "New York State Of Mind," and "Souvenir." Overall, it has to be admitted that the compilation contains a mix of live and studio, as well as a satisfying blend of very well-known songs, songs that should be better known and appreciated from Billy Joel's back catalog, as well as a blend between the different approaches that the piano man has taken to songwriting over the course of a long and productive career.
If there is a bit of repetition here in that a couple of songs appear as both live versions and studio versions, this album is overall a solid choice. It plays a mixture of songs that are already available on one of Billy Joel's many existing compilation albums with songs that have hitherto only been available on the studio albums, and the discoveries here are certainly worthwhile ones. If you're a fan of Billy Joel, this album is an easy one to appreciate, and should probably be on your radar, especially if you want to stream nearly 4 hours of music by the piano man, and you probably should want to be doing that.
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Post by nathanalbright on May 2, 2022 16:50:36 GMT -5
Every Shade Of Blue, by The Head And The Heart
If I have never listened to an entire album by group The Head And The Heart, I have at least been familiar with their singles over the past few years, which I have generally liked. In particular, in the run-up to this release, I have played the single "Virginia (Wind In The Night)" quite often, and as that song is on this album, I figured that I would like at least some of what there is to listen to here. As AAA artists and albums typically don't get a lot of exposure and so I thought this would be a good opportunity to listen to an act I enjoy while also seeking to discover some album cuts and perhaps an artist to explore in more detail. Is it with the effort?
The album begins with the title track, which is a melancholy song about the narrator's experiences with a sad girl at home. "Tiebreaker" then looks at the question of trying to resolve relationship problems with the need of a tiebreaker to resolve disputes effectively, and it sounds like a future single from this album with its excellent production. "Paradigm" is a rather spare, austere song about the dangers of the night. "Virginia (Wind In The Night)" follows with its melancholy feeling about the past and the memory of it. "Same Hurt" is a lovely song that sees in the shared suffering of humanity something that can draw people together. "Hurts (But It Goes Away)" continues this theme by looking at the hope that one's pain and suffering is temporary and that things will get better. "Don't Show Your Weakness" is a more driving mid-tempo song about the issue of self-protective instincts and how they can harm intimacy. "The Love We Make" is a gorgeous ballad about the joy of relationship, another song dealing with intimacy. "Starstruck" is a song about being swept away and caught up in infatuation with a partner. "Love Me Still" offers up a call for another chance given the admission of one's imperfections in communication. "Shut Up" points to the way that negative communication harms our ability to get along with others, asking for more thinking and reflection. "Family Man" is a reflection of honor and love for his father and a reflection on fatherhood in general. "Taking My Time (Wrong Woman)" is a reflection on the time wasted by bad relationships. "Enemy Lines" keeps up the mood of dealing with other people as if it is dealing with enemies. "Shadows" laments being stuck in the shadows and not able to come out into the light. "GTFU" is a song about encouraging people to get up, an interesting way to close an album that has been for the most part for rather sober and reflective.
Overall, this is a good album. It's unlikely that this album will light up the charts or sell a lot of copies, but if you're looking for a mellow album that wrestles with love and relationships and communication, and those are certainly in my own beat s a person, this album has a lot to offer. A lot of the albums are pleasant, with gentle instrumentation and beautiful harmonies, and there are a few standouts that deserve to be listened to in greater detail, especially in the first half of the album or so. This is an album that rewards listen and has some interesting details that allow it to leave an impression of honest people struggling with the difficulties of life and love, and especially the isolation and loneliness that have resulted in the past couple of years. If this album tends to look at the melancholy aspect of life a lot, it begins and ends in a hope of being able to rise above problems and that this is not the end, an appealing prospect and an encouraging one.
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Post by nathanalbright on May 5, 2022 15:05:52 GMT -5
Twilight (OST), by various artists
There are definitely cases where soundtracks are a lot better than the movies that they come from and that is definitely the case. It is a bit embarrassing to admit, but with a few friends I watched this movie in theaters despite knowing that it would be a cringeworthy experience and it met my expectations and more. It must be admitted, though, that this soundtrack demonstrates that at least someone involved with the Twilight movie deserves a great deal of credit in curating an enjoyable listening experience. If the writing and acting had been even close to the level of the music here, the movie would have been far more of a pleasure and far less of something that one could enjoy only by laughing at it and ridiculing it as was the case. Be that as it may, as a fan of soundtrack pop/alternative, this album really hits the right place for me personally, and likely for a lot of other people as well. Let's check it out.
This soundtrack begins with Muse's excellent "Supermassive Black Hole," a rousing alternative single that was popular on the rock charts. This is followed by "Decode" by Paramore, which is another excellent song and one of their standout tracks overall, an easy song to enjoy about trying to figure someone out. "Full Moon" from The Black Ghosts offers a piece of indie pop that has a beautiful sense of orchestral and vocal harmonies. "Leave Out All The Rest" is a standout track that also appears on Linkin Park's Minutes To Midnight, providing a rousing piece of alt rock. "Spotlight" from Mutemath provides a powerful and gorgeous song that fits the tone of the soundtrack well. Perry Farrell provides some glam rock with "Go All The Way (Into The Twilight)" that has a guilty pleasure vibe that again, suits this project well. Collective Soul's "Tremble For My Beloved" is a classic that is likely unfamiliar to many of the people who listened to this soundtrack but still a great tune. Paramore then returns again with "I Caught Myself," another standout track that is anchored in the themes of uncertainty and self-doubt that fill this album. "Eyes On Fire" by Blues Foundation provides a moody and rather simple indie pop song that is a pleasant album track. "Never Think" shows actor Robert Pattinson as a surprisingly competent acoustic wigwag musician. Iron & Wine have a quirky indie pop track in "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" that fits the laid back vibe of this part of the soundtrack. "Bella's Lullaby" by Carter Burwell provides a beautiful piece of piano instrumental to the soundtrack. Actor Robert Pattinson then returns with "Let Me Sign" which has a bit of distorted electric guitar to support another pleasant and competent acoustic number. O.A.R. close the soundtrack with "Love Is Worth The Fall," which is a pleasant indie rock love song that again, fits the mood of the album well.
Overall, given the quality of the movie, the soundtrack is a major achievement. Although the two tracks by actor Robert Pattinson might be considered to be vanity projects as his songs aren't quite up to the level of the rest of the soundtrack, they still fit into the indie pop/rock and alternative vibe of the soundtrack as a whole and offer some solid strumming even if the voice is a bit weak. The rest of the soundtrack, though, ranges from very good to excellent, and there are some real standout tracks here. If you are as fond of the alternative of the 1990's and 2000's as I am, there is a lot here to appreciate ranging from peak Paramore to some excellent Muse, Linkin Park, and Collective Soul, to say nothing about the more obscure but also excellent contributions from the rest of the acts here. You can probably find cheap copies of the soundtrack available or stream it for free online, and it's well worth the time if this music makes you feel nostalgic even a little bit.
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Post by nathanalbright on May 15, 2022 16:20:28 GMT -5
Why Not Me, by the Judds
Sometimes you don't appreciate an artist fully until they are no longer around. While the Judds only released six studio albums between the mid 1980's and the early 1990's, when Winona Judd started her own immensely successful solo career, the mother-daughter duo had a lot of success and frequently performed live tours together. In fact, they were almost ready to start a farewell tour when Ashley Judd, the mother in the duo, lost a long-term battle against depression and took her own life. The result of that was an invitation to some of us to rank down all of the Judds albums, and as someone who has never listened to a full album by the duo, I thought it was a good opportunity to make myself familiar with an act whose influence and importance within country music was great even if the group never had a hit on the Hot 100 charts.
The album is a short one at only ten tracks, and begins with the title track, which is a ballad expressing the frustration of a woman that a guy has looked for love everywhere except with her. "Mr. Pain" is an interesting song about the perspective of viewing suffering as an unwanted lover, especially ironic in light of the death of Ashley Judd. "Drops Of Water" is a pleasant but rather repetitive song that repeats its title lyric as a hook. "Sleeping Heart" is a lovely and gentle ballad that seems really underappreciated by streamers, for whatever reason. "My Baby's Gone" is a decent enough song that laments one's partner leaving. "Bye Bye Baby Blues" continues along the same lines as the preceding song, while "Girls Night Out" celebrates its titular idea of girls going out and having a good time at a bar. "Love Is Alive" was a hit single from the album, a lovely song about the endurance if seeming vulnerability of love. "Endless Sleep" is a somewhat ominous song about death and losing one's love, again, a song that appears particularly ironic in light of Ashley Judd's passing. Finally, "Mama He's Crazy" is a song that flips the question of craziness by pointing out how someone is crazy about the narrator.
By and large, this is an enjoyable album to listen to. To be sure, the album is not exactly groundbreaking. None of the songs are even close to all-time greats, but most of the album is made up of pleasing songs that reflect on life and love. There are literally tens of thousands of songs that deal with the same material as the ten songs on this album, and this song manages to do a familiar task well. I am not sure that I would have deliberately sought out this album were I not at least a bit of a country fan, and I would not think of this album as an all-time great, or this act as an all-time great, but all the same there are some solid songs here and the single choices, as well as songs like "Sleeping Heart" and "Endless Sleep," are definitely enjoyable. And that is enough to make this a solid album.
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Post by nathanalbright on May 19, 2022 16:11:39 GMT -5
Dream Into Action, by Howard Jones
When I was a teenager, I found a tape cassette of this album in a thrift store near where I lived and found it to be an enjoyable listen. It's been a while since I listened to the album and I was reminded of its existence (and greatness) by a recent video from the Professor of Rock, though I thought it would be good to listen to this album again, and perhaps add Howard Jones' classic studio albums to my list of material to listen to as part of a career retrospective. Whether or not I ever get around to that larger project, this album is itself fourteen songs long, and a significant amount of them became hits in the UK, United States, and other countries, including songs that I have talked about here in some detail like "Things Can Only Get Better" and "No One Is To Blame," a remixed version of the latter which became a top 5 hit in the United States in 1986. Is this album good listened to it nearly 40 years after it was released in 1985? Let's see.
The album begins with "Things Can Only Get Better," an early single from the album that was a smash song, which expresses a certain sense of optimism in the face of difficulty. "Life In One Day" reflects a wise determination to live life gradually rather than be in an impatient hurry, and it was a moderate hit in many places. "Dream Into Action," the title track, discusses the way that people engage in great effort to live out their dreams and plans and turn them into reality. "No One Is To Blame" provides a sober and reflective view of the tension between human longing and its often painful and unpleasant consequences. "Look Mama" is a somewhat resentful song about dealing with overprotective parents and reflects the limits of Jones' wisdom in dealing with previous generations and accumulated wisdom. "Assault And Battery" is a rather ominous reflection on violence and suffering, a beautiful and dark album track with a children's choir. "Automaton" reflects on the relationship between man and machine and is another solid album track. "Is There A Difference" demonstrates once again Howard Jones' hostility to tradition and his view that those who follow the ways of the past do so without reflection or consciousness, misdiagnosing the reasons for the suffering he abhors. "Elegy" is a melancholy and reflective song that reflects a strong sense of world-weariness. "Specialty" is a message song about the uniqueness and specialness of others, most likely the intended audience of the songs. "Why Look For The Key" is a story song that reflects on the resentment and unhappiness of a young man who seems compelled to seek to understand his unhappiness. "Hunger For The Flesh" is a rather melancholy and gloomy song about human longing and desire. "Bounce Right Back" is a quirky and upbeat story song about a strange encounter with someone seeking to dispense of wisdom. The album then ends with "Like To Get To Know You Well," a successful single and soundtrack pop song about the desire to get to know someone one is becoming attracted to.
Ultimately, Dream Into Action remains a worthwhile album to listen to and a New Wave classic decades after its release. Tonally, it has a strong U-shaped melodramatic mood with its best and most upbeat songs at the beginning and end and moody but still excellent album tracks in the middle. If there is one area in which Howard Jones falls short it is in the mood of resentment that is behind his lyrics in many of the songs. While Jones accurately captures the mood of wistful longing that has long characterized Generation X music--something that one can find in music like John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change," which has a similar mood to much that can be found here--he falls short when it comes to understanding the past and assigning blame for why the world is the messed up place he found it. Let us hope with some time that Jones himself has come to better understand his complex inheritance and come to some insight of how it is that the young are quick to blame those who are older for what is wrong with the world, not realizing that what is wrong has been wrong for a long time and is wrong inside all of us, something each generation seems to have to learn on its own.
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Post by nathanalbright on May 20, 2022 17:45:06 GMT -5
Turn Back The Clock, by Johnny Hates Jazz
It is rare when an album helps to create a new subgenre of music. It is even more rare when this album remains relatively obscure decades after it is released, and it is even more rare when the artists who help to create a genre are as unaware of what they are doing as was the case here. I have written about Johnny Hates Jazz before, but it bears repeating that a band named Johnny Hates Jazz was fundamental in the creation of the smooth jazz subgenre of music. How a band was unaware that it was making jazz music while claiming to hate it in their name is striking. The group is best known for their smooth song "Shattered Dreams," one of my all-time favorite songs, but the band's music was far deeper than this song. Is it a worthy if obscure classic, though? Let's see.
The album begins with its big hit, "Shattered Dreams," and this song of heartbreak still holds up more than 30 years later, a real standout track. "Heart Of Gold" continues the jazzy instrumentation and tells a story about an indiscreet but genuine young woman, a hooker with a heart of gold. The title track follows, with a smooth beat and a feeling of nostalgia that really hits the spot sometimes. "Don't Say It's Love" gives a mid-tempo tale of a relationship that has fallen apart due to infidelity and cruelty, a companion track to "Shattered Dreams," it seems like. "What Other Reason" deals with the frustrating reality of only one person wanting to fight to save a troubled relationship. "I Don't Want To Be A Hero" tells a story of someone souring on sacrificing themselves for their country given the horrors that result from trauma, an unusually catchy song about being a conscientious objector. "Listen" gives a jazzy exploration of someone whose changeable moods are easier to take when she communicates what is in her heart. "Different Seasons" then gives a reflective and melancholy perspective about the cruelty of missing a partner. "Don't Let It End This Way" is a jazzy tune about a breakup that seeks to deal with reality but change the way that it is happening. "Me And My Foolish Heart" closes the original album with a gorgeous and melancholy song about reflecting back on the mistakes one's heart has made in love and relationships. The next five songs after this are 12" dance remixes of Shattered Dreams, Heart Of Gold, Turn Back The Clock, Don't Say It's Love, and Me And My Foolish Heart that give longer dance-appropriate versions of the album's songs, and an unreleased version of Turn Back The Clock that is a pleasant demoish version.
It is really surprising to me that the group Johnny Hates Jazz were not aware that they were making jazz music with this album. In listening to this album nowadays, with the passage of time, it is clear that this album is truly a smooth jazz classic. Perhaps in the late 1980's, when this album helped to create smooth jazz as a viable subgenre and radio format, this was less obvious. The group may have only thought that they were playing sophisticated pop, not realizing what made it sophisticated was precisely the jazz elements that were included, especially in the instrumentation. There isn't a dud here on this album--even if every track is not as good as songs like "Shattered Dreams," "Heart Of Gold," "Turn Back The Clock," "Don't Say It's Love," "I Don't Want To Be A Hero," and "Me And My Foolish Heart," that still makes up more than half of the album, and the rest of the songs are at least solid tracks that are worth listening to and appreciating. If you like the sound that this album provides, there is a lot here to appreciate, and certainly enough to make it worthwhile to see the rest of the band's body of work--which includes four studio albums, a best-of collection that includes material from their first two albums, as well as a live album.
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Post by nathanalbright on May 22, 2022 18:28:09 GMT -5
The Dream Academy, by the Dream Academy
The eponymous debut album of the Dream Academy has gifted music with one sublime and beautiful and deeply melancholy song, "Life In A Northern Town," whose harmonies and message reflect a sense of nostalgia about a past that was lost between the 1960's portrayed in references to the Beatles and JFK to the 1980s when the album was itself made, and make sense as an ode to Nick Drake. Yet while the group produced three studio albums between the mid 1980's and the early 1990's, they remain remembered largely for their one biggest hit. Given my retrospective interests, I was suggested this particular album, and it is worth wondering, is the Dream Academy worth listening to apart from their biggest hit? Is this a group that deserves a deeper examination or is their bit hit a fair representation of all that they had to offer? Let's see.
The Dream Academy begins with the aforementioned "Life In A Northern Town," which is a gorgeous song full of yearning and nostalgia. This is followed by the single "Edge Of Forever," which is a love song that also plays to that feeling of nostalgia and yearning in a relationship that appears to be in a state of crisis. "(Johnny) New Light" gives a dream-like story song full of intriguing backing vocals and powerful instrumentation, especially percussion that, once again, is somewhat focused on looking back at the past. "In Places On The Run" provides intriguing instrumentation to a song that seems to reflect again back to a past filled with flight and exploration at the boundary of dream and nightmare. "This World" offers a poetic description of the unpleasant nature of "this world," with the moody lyrics somewhat undercut by the beautiful instrumentation. "Bound To Be" is an upbeat song of appreciation of love and appreciation for a loved one. "Moving On" provides another gorgeous song, this one about moving on, where the peaceful music and somewhat anxious lyrics are in tension with each other. "The Love Parade," the other single album, has dreamy harmonies and an optimistic message about love. "The Party" offers beautiful instrumentation but a singing approach that does not feel particularly festive and lyric that seem rather gloomy, ending with music from other songs from this album. The album closes with "One Dream," which is a short song expressing what the narrator hopes to enjoy and avoid.
While all of the songs on this album are pleasant enough to listen to, this album is not nearly as good at it could have been with a bit more variety in the music and some better singing and songwriting. This album is definitely a vibe, if your vibe is for gentle songs with hints of woodwind and brass instrumentation that usually have a low tempo and a bucolic, peaceful approach to them. The group's lead singer/lyricist, though, sees fit to fill this album with songs that are somewhat gloomy or anxious or in general a bit sour. While this song does have some standout tracks, "Life In A Northern Town" obviously, as well as Edge Of Forever" and "Bound To Be," most of this album does not rise to those heights, and as a result it is an album that can be enjoyed when the mood is right but it unlikely to be an album that one returns to often.
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Post by nathanalbright on May 27, 2022 19:03:02 GMT -5
Tall Stories, by Johnny Hates Jazz
After the success of Turn Back The Clock, which spawned a worldwide smash hit in "Shattered Dreams" and ended up providing follow-up top 20 hits in the UK and even one in the United States, one might think that Johnny Hates Jazz would follow-up their success with another album of sophisticated jazzy pop without any trouble, but no, there was trouble aplenty here. Shortly after the debut album became a smash hit, lead singer Clark Datchler left the band and moved to Amsterdam, and he was replaced by Phil Thornalley, a longtime veteran of the British pop and rock scene. The group had a one-off single and worked on their second album, but it was delayed by label politics which had pressured the group to carry on in the first place, and then two members of the band were involved in a car accident that made it impossible to do very much promotion for the album, and when the sophomore jinxed album was released, it failed to chart anywhere around the world despite two singles. The album flopped and the band broke up, not reuniting to make new music or even play old music for almost twenty-years. But was the album any good? Let's see.
"Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight," one of the album's singles, opens the tight ten-song set, and it serves as a beautiful opener to the album, a reflective and somewhat ominous song. "Money Changes Hands" offers a beautiful cautionary tale about the dangers of financial pressures, a relatable enough subject. "Your Mistake" tells the story of a guy unburdening himself from nice guy syndrome as he talks about someone who only wants to talk to him when something's wrong without seeking a genuine relationship. "The Last To Know," the second single from the album, gives a bitter presentation of a love gone wrong where someone is simultaneously the first to get to get hurt and the last to know. "Closer" flips the script on the usual Johnny Hate Jazz song and explores how it is that someone can get closer to someone who has been alienated by previous bad conduct. "Between You And Me" offers a hopeful look at how to pull through in a challenging spot in a relationship, providing a sense of optimism. "Shelter From The Storm" offers a short but lovely take on what one often seeks in love and relationships, namely a safe place from the world's troubles. "Fool's Gold" is a lovely if somewhat melancholy reminder that much of what we think is golden in life and love ends up being only fool's gold. "Keep Me In Mind" and "Now She's Gone" tell two different sides of a relationship, where in the first case the narrator wants the person to keep him in mind as a potential partner in the future, and in the second the narrator reflects upon a relationship that has ended where someone else is with the person and the first person is congratulating him for it.
Overall, this is a pretty enjoyable album to listen to. It is a bit mystifying that the album did not manage to chart at all upon its release, as it certainly has a lot of the same elements that made Turn Back The Clock an enjoyable listen. Perhaps this album simply fell through the cracks with band and label turmoil as well as the change to a new vocalist, who nonetheless sounded reasonably similar to their previous vocalist, along with the same kind of jazzy and soulful instrumentation that made their debut enjoyable as well. If there isn't anything here as catchy as "Shattered Dreams," the album as a whole sits well alongside the band's previous material and this album's songs would have made the music of 1991 a bit better, given how roughly that year has been viewed in retrospect. Overall, 1991 wasn't very kind to bands trying out new vocalists in either Foreigner's case or Johnny Hates Jazz's case, and that is a shame, as this is an album worth seeking out if you like their debut. It's a shame that this album nearly closed the door on the band altogether.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 1, 2022 20:22:39 GMT -5
The Very Best Of Johnny Hates Jazz, by Johnny Hates Jazz
I have always found it to be more than a little unusual when a best-of compilation comes after only a couple of albums for an act, but given that Johnny Hates Jazz had a lot of success and their second album was criminally ignored, it makes sense that a best-of compilation would provide the chance for more songs to be known and recognized than would otherwise be the case. While the most obvious way to appreciate the early material of Johnny Hates Jazz is to listen to their first two studio albums, the vast majority of people would only know the first album, which is a stellar one. The chance to play some of the better tracks from a second album that failed to chart, so far as I am aware, anywhere, as well as some of the more obscure soundtrack cuts and b-sides, would be a way for people to hear more Johnny Hates Jazz, which is always a good thing. Is this a worthwhile compilation despite being woefully premature? Let's see.
This album begins with the obvious choice, "Shattered Dreams," a song which retains its beauty and its power in any context, and one which signals the quality that this band could provide. After that comes "My Secret Garden," which contains lovely and jazzy instrumentation for what is one of the more obscure songs in the JHJ body of work. "Me And My Foolish Heart" is beautiful in this context, an early single that deserves to be appreciated for its melancholy beauty. "Living In The Past" is another relatively obscure song, and it similarly reflects the themes of nostalgia that filled both studio albums, containing some excellent instrumentation as well. The anti-war "I Don't Want To Be A Hero" follows, with its pointed message, followed by its b-side, the obscure "The Cage," is like the other b-sides we have seen so far, a jazzy mostly instrumental that is an enjoyable listen. "Turn The Tide" is a non-album single that introduces the replacement singer for the group, and presents an optimistic message of restoration in a love that has had some problems. "Heart Of Gold" is a jazzy and surprisingly upbeat contribution to the hooker with a heart of gold subgenre. "Don't Say It's Love," offers an ominous-sounding song of love gone wrong. "Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight" provides a standout single from the second album with a message of seeking a second chance with a partner. "The Last To Know," another standout single from the group's second album, provides a kiss-off anthem of betrayal and ignorance. "Fools Gold" reflects on the deceptive nature of love, and is an excellent track from the second album. The 12" Extended mix of "Shattered Dreams" simply adds more instrumental parts to an already stellar song. The Rogue Vogue mix of "Turn The Tide," perhaps the most obscure song here, also provides new instrumental parts to a smooth song. The album closes with a b-side, the tuneful but obscure "Cracking Up," as well as the beautiful "Turn Back The Clock," the title track of Johnny Hates Jazz's first album.
It is worthwhile in considering this album's worth as a compilation to ponder how this album was made. It includes the four singles of the first album as well as a non-album single and their b-sides, a remix of the group's biggest hit ("Shattered Dreams"), two of the best album tracks from their first album and the three best songs off of the band's second album, two of which were released as unsuccessful singles. The end result is an album of sixteen songs that contains both songs that fans of the group would want to hear in a new context, as well as songs that fans might be curious about because they were not on the original album. This is a good way for bands to construct best-of compilations, and it is a technique I have seen other bands try, especially among those acts which are big in the UK and thus have a solid trove of b-sides to include on their best-of compilations, something that cannot always be done in the United States given our absence of a singles-buying tradition that encourages acts to save some of their better material for b-sides that provide something worth paying money for. And this album is certainly worth paying money for, though it is also a lovely listen on streaming for those who are so inclined, like me.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 3, 2022 2:10:06 GMT -5
Now In A Minute, by Donna Lewis
Although this is by no means a new album to me, it is striking to me at least that I have never sat down to review this album. So, in listening to this album, I am not taking it fresh, as is common with me when I listen to an album, but rather I am listening to an album that I have liked for a while and which carries a certain feeling of nostalgia for the nadir of Adult Contemporary music in the mid-1990's when this album was released and contained the fluke #2 hit "I Love You Always Forever," which drove this album to success. It is noteworthy, though, that this remains an album that has not been streamed often, as no song on this album apart from the title track (or its remix) has been listened to on Spotify even one million times. Donna Lewis is a pretty true example of a one-hit wonder in the popular consciousness, but is that really far? Let's see.
This album begins with "Without Love," the second single of this album which narrowly missed the top 40 in the United States, a beautiful song about the value of love. It is followed by an ode of appreciation from Donna Lewis to her "Mother." "I Love You Aways Forever" follows, the big hit and a song full of innocent adoration that remains catchy even more than 25 years after it was released and hit #2 on the charts for months. "Nothing Ever Changes" has a melancholy feeling off lost innocence and youth that for all of its tranquility is still quite moving. "Simone" is soothing and therapeutic, just what you would want for a song that appears to be encouragement to overcoming childhood trauma and abuse. "Love And Affection" combines coy flirtation with instrumentation that is the closest thing to rock here on this album. "Agenais" continues the album's dreamlike sense of beauty and wonder that appears like a song about a jrpg. "Fools Paradise" is a song about wising up to a bad lover, a reminder of the downside of love and relationships. "Lights Of Love," perhaps the slightest song here, hints at Elie Goulding's better song on the same theme. "Silent World" is a beautiful if desolate song about reflecting on the aftermath of the death of a loved one, and the album ends with a lovely if inessential remix of "I Love You Always Forever," because why not.
It is striking that Donna Lewis released this album in her 30's. It is hard to listen to this album and to avoid thinking that it served as a template for the later efforts of Colbie Caillet, another artist who had a similar lane in releasing innocent love songs that seem at striking odds with starting a career in pop in her 30's. Be that as it may, this album is hypnotic and peaceful and therapeutic, and if the album is one that is obscure to contemporary listeners, it deserves to be better known, not least because its creation appears to be tailor-made to help ease anxiety and tension and allow one a peaceful and relaxing sleep. Some people might think it a bad thing to make an album that seeks to treat insomnia, but I get the feeling that Donna Lewis would appreciate knowing that her album remains, even after all these years, a beautiful and peaceful album whose sweetness and calmness does not entirely disguise its themes of love and loss, its reflection on time and on the boundary between dream and reality. There is a place in this world for an album like this, and a great many people whose life could be bettered by appreciating this album and what it brings to the ears and the mind.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 4, 2022 0:10:36 GMT -5
Blue Planet, by Donna Lewis
After the success of her debut album "Now In A Minute," Donna Lewis attempted to catch lightning in a bottle a second time with her follow-up album, "Blue Planet," which generally follows the same template of mixing gentle cooing lyrics with dance beats. By and large, the album was not a success, spawning one minor pop hit in "I Could Be The One" and a surprise Dance #1 hit with "Love Him," thus leading Donna Lewis to be dropped from a major label and to cease making music for mainstream pop audiences, although to her credit she continued to make music for those smaller audiences who continued to enjoy her music. Even if this album is not well known to be nostalgic for many, is it a worthwhile album for people to discover? Let's see.
The album begins with "Will Love Grow," which compares love to a plant that must be carefully cultivated in one's garden and that blossoms with care and providence, a lovely dance track. "I Could Be The One" is a flirtatious and lovely song about hoping that someone could be the one for someone, a song that is easy to enjoy. "Love Him" is a gorgeous and romantic dance pop track, the sort of song that should be a lot more common than it is. "Blue Planet" is a melancholy song about a vulnerable and melancholy earth in trouble. "Beauty & Wonder" is the opposite side of "Blue Planet," in being a song about the beauty of life and love with a bit more of a rock edge thanks to its guitar. "Heaven Sent You" is a lovely dance pop song that reflects appreciation for a beloved partner, along with a long mostly instrumental outro. "Harvest Moon" is a sensual call to a lover to come inside and enjoy the love and affection she has to provide, set to a rather gentle and even sleepy instrumentation that reminds one of the debut album. "Falling" is a lovely and gentle song about the uncertainty of falling in love, with some brassy instrumentation that certainly gives it some single potential. "Lay Me Down" is an upbeat and sensual song about lovemaking, another song that deserves a lot more attention than it receives. "Unforgiven" is a brief and reflective song that harkens back to her introduction, a melancholy but lovely song. "Take Me Home" closes the album with a long and beautiful song about love and relationships, ending with a hidden and beautiful instrumental track that brings the album full circle.
If Blue Planet has suffered in comparison with Now In A Minute, it is because there is no hit as inescapably cute and catchy as I Love You Always Forever. If you like the same sort of sound as the original album, though, this album has a lot to offer. It is not a retread of the original album by any means, and expands Donna Lewis' concern from love and relationships (which still get a lot of focus here) to a concern for the well-being of creation as a whole, and which demonstrate a maturation and development of her sound to make it more mainstream dance oriented, while still retaining the elements that made her material as cute as it was before. There is a lot to appreciate here, and it's a shame that this album is not better known among those who might very well like what it has to offer.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 4, 2022 1:48:48 GMT -5
Hounds Of Love, by Kate Bush
While I just barely missed the opportunity to do a rankdown for this album on an internet forum where I am a member, the sudden success of Running Up That Hill, which as I listen to this is poised to enter the top ten and become, somehow, Kate Bush's biggest hit in the United State by a huge margin, as only the original release of "Running Up That Hill" even hit the top 40 among her singles in the United States, which is shocking given the excellence of her body of work as a whole. Given that Hounds Of Love is experiencing a bit of a resurgence based on the popularity of its lead single, is the album as a whole poised to be worthy of greater reconsideration in light of the success of a big hit single. Given that Kate Bush is clearly an example of art rock, is this album one that is accessible enough to a listener like myself nearly 40 years after it was released?
The album begins with "Running Up That Hill," a song which reflects Kate Bush's attempts to come to terms with God and divine providence, all the more interesting given how catchy the song is despite its heavy material. "Hounds Of Love" follows with a sense of haunting and fear concerning love, reflecting an ambivalence to live and relationships on Bush's part. "The Big Sky" is a driving song that expresses Bush's frustration of not being understood by someone else. "Mother Stands For Comfort" is a lovely and gentle song. "Cloudbusting" is a catchy and driving song that definitely deserves to be better known and appreciated, with its metaphorical language about love and relationships. "And Dream Of Sheep" is a lovely and gentle piano ballad with spoken word samples that explores the loss of sleep that comes from having a troubled mind. "Under Ice" sounds ominous and insistent about a frozen river that is splitting and being cut. "Waking The Witch" contains intriguing stereo sound with lots of calls to wake up to open a gorgeous piano ballad that switches into a darker and moodier and far more experimental sound with tolling bells and other voices and effects. "Watching You Without Me" is another song that reflects on the melancholy side of love, as Bush seems to be a bit jealous, even a bit haunting, with plenty of interesting sound effects and musical effects. "Jig Of Life" combines an actual jig instrumental with Bush's evocative and expressive lyrics about life and entanglement with others. "Hello Earth" is a lengthy song, over six minutes, but it is a beautiful song about isolation and feeling out in space, as it were. "The Morning Fog" ends the album with a lovely song about communication and connection.
This album is definitely an enjoyable one as far as I am concerned. It is without a doubt an experimental artpop album with daring production choices, but it manages to be highly experimental without being deliberately alienating. To be sure, most of these songs would never be played on top 40 radio--and it is somewhat remarkable that "Running Up That Hill" is poised to become a top 40 hit twice over. This is an album that is going to be praised and critically approved, but not the sort of album that has obvious mass appeal. Yet it is accessible enough that if someone wants an album that is full of songs that are as intelligent and quirky as the hit single and a bit more weird, there is a lot more here where that came from. And that ought to be enough to ensure that this album remains at least a bit popular over time, given the fact that it has at least one song that resonates with the public and that encourages people to listen to the rest--and enjoy songs like "Cloudbursting" and the title track, as well as the rest of what this excellent album has to offer.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 4, 2022 12:45:54 GMT -5
Breakfast In America, by Supertramp
In 1979, after having released 5 studio albums in the course of nearly a decade, the group Supertramp released their magnum opus after months of recording and mixing, Breakfast In America. Mixing accessible and upbeat songs with a perfectionist approach to art songs, and with a dueling duo of singer-songwriters at the helm of the group, the album was recorded in great stress but was simultaneously an artistic and commercial triumph, selling more than twenty million copies to the present day. While I am familiar with much of the music from this album--it is hard not to be, since nearly half the album were massive hits--I have still never listened to the full album before and thought it would be worthwhile to do so given its importance as a template for FM radio albums released afterwards. So, despite its hype and considerable popularity, does the album hold up? Let's see.
The album begins with "Gone Hollywood," which discusses the disillusionment that people feel about fame and culture when they know more about it, opening the album with a dark mood but bright and beautiful instrumentation. "The Logical Song" is a beautiful but melancholy song about the effects of boarding school on the heart and mind of a sensitive boy. "Goodbye Stranger" is a song with ambiguous meaning but a beautiful and catchy musical structure nonetheless, despite its somewhat ominous lyrics. "Breakfast In America" hides pointed critique of America's materialistic culture in a sing-song effort. "Oh Darling" offers an apology to a lover for past behavior along with an expressed desire for reassurance and continued love. "Take The Long Way Home" captures the melancholy of being beloved by audiences but struggling with relationships on the home front, a pointed and moving examination of the gulf between public and private. "Lord Is It Mine" is a melancholy piano ballad about the struggles of coping with the difficulties of life, a moving if downbeat song. "Just Another Nervous Wreck" continues the theme of focusing attention on people whose lives are a mess, showing a sense of ambivalence about the success that the band was reaching at this time. "Casual Conversations" laments the failure of communication in a relationship but is uncertain about where blame is to be placed. "Child Of Vision" closes the album with a downbeat exploration of the cynicism and failures of communication in this world, pointing to the inherent conflict between people of different worldviews.
There is a lot to like and appreciate about this album. The meticulous care spent in recording and overdubbing shows in beautiful production and instrumentation and backing vocals all over this track, even the most obscure album tracks are crafted with obvious care and attention. Not only does the album sound great, so much so that almost any song on this album could have been a hit in the right conditions--Lord Is It Mine, Casual Conversations, Child Of Vision, and Gone Hollywood being real standouts among the album tracks, there being no duds here at all--but the album's songs work on at least three levels. Many of the songs appear to deal with the drama and struggles of the two lead singers in dealing with each other, many of the songs look at the relationship of people within their personal relationships with family and loved ones, and also larger questions about society and the conflicts and tensions that run within the larger world in which we are a part. Whether it is the sound, the meaning of the songs, or the larger context in which they exist, in which someone considers this album a masterpiece, there is a lot to appreciate and little wonder that so many have enjoyed this album so fondly, no matter the toll it put on the artists themselves.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 6, 2022 20:25:45 GMT -5
The Red Shoes, by Kate Bush
During the time after the release of The Sensual World, Kate Bush wanted to create an album that she could tour in support of, given that much of her relatively recent music up to that time had been created in the studio and was impossible to recreate in concert. Unfortunately for her, the four years between the late 1980's and the early 1990's when this album was released were a period of deep turmoil for her, including the deaths of her mother as well as her longtime guitar player. The end result, though, giving Bush her biggest album and last entry on the Hot 100 until this week. Throughout her career, Bush has given the public thoughtful songs about love and relationships, often about the desire to understand others (especially one's partner) and communicate better with them, so let us see if these themes of Bush's work find their way into a more accessible form here as well.
"Rubberband Girl" opens the album, and it was the big single here in the United States, making the Hot 100. It is a catchy and humorous and reflective song where Bush reflects on her femininity and how she could be. "And So Is Love" is a touching rock song with gorgeous vocals and a smoldering guitar. "Eat The Music" is nervy and upbeat, although I'm not fond of the suggestion to eat a mango, personally. "Moments Of Pleasure" is lush and sensuous and joyful and a true standout on what has been a very good album so far. "The Song Of Solomon" is a call from Bush for sexuality and poetry, looking at the literal meaning of the titular biblical book, and including some of the book's sensuous imagery. "Lily" begins with a vocal sample and then moves into a story song about women protecting themselves with references to angelology. "The Red Shoes" is full of Bush's focus on dreams and understanding others through imagination, with a gorgeous instrumental background. "Top Of The City" is a spare and austere song that again calls out to angels for deliverance. "Constellation Of The Heart" is a catchy song about investigating the meaning and importance of our own heart and mind and those of other people. "Big Stripey Lie" is haunting but filled with beautiful strings as Bush again reflects on sacred matters, a surprising focus of this album. "Why Should I Love You?" is a beautiful ode to love and an expression of appreciation. "The Only One" is a melancholy song about longing, a fitting but rather sad way to end a reflective album about love and relationships.
The Red Shoes may be a more accessible album than the majority of albums released by Kate Bush, and it certainly helped it be one of her more popular albums in the United States--with the highest peak until this week's return of Hounds Of Love, at least--but it is still a good deal less accessible than most pop albums released in 1993 or any other year. Not that this is a bad thing by any means, as Kate Bush has provided another set of strong songs about love and relationships that also dwell long on the issue of spirituality. If the making of this album frustrated Kate Bush's attempt to tour in support of an album, this album remains a beautiful and moving album that is well worth discovering.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 8, 2022 19:47:43 GMT -5
Confessions, by Usher (Expanded Version)
By the early 2000's, Usher had been an important figure in R&B for several years since his debut in the 1990's, and while he was never one of my own favorite artists, he certainly had a smooth R&B sound that I appreciated and still to this day enjoy from time to time. While I heard plenty of his songs on the radio, amazingly enough I never bought any of his singles or albums and so it was when I was invited to rank down his most successful album, I was quite enthusiastic to listen to his most successful era, one where he had numerous #1 hits as well as only slightly less successful hits, including with an extended version that included late-era singles that managed to prolong Usher's chart dominance long past its original period. In going into a project like this, therefore, I already know that I am going to like the hit singles. But is the project good overall? Let's see.
The album begins with a short intro track which shows off some smooth vocal effects and sets up the album's confessional theme. "Yeah" (featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon) follows, a massive smash about finding love in the club. "Throwback" (featuring Jadakiss) is a song about wishing to be back with one's baby, which also happens to be a throwback R&B track. "Confessions" is a smooth song in its instrumentation but its lyrics are rather wrenching in their sincerity about Usher's shady cheating, admitting all of his lies. This is immediately followed by a part two of the song, because the first part wasn't complete, now that he's dealing with a baby with his side chick and concerns about her faithfulness to him. "Burn" looks at the smoldering ruins of a broken relationship and was another massive hit. "Caught Up" is an excellent song about being infatuated with someone unexpectedly. An interlude precedes "Superstar" and then the song itself praises the singer's #1, who is not, let us remember, his only one. "Truth Hurts" continues with the album's confessional self-abnegation. "Simple Things" shows an appreciation of love and quality time apart from spending money. "Bad Girl" expresses Usher's taste in bad girls in the club and perhaps other places. "That's What It's Made For" is about a partner's insatiable appetite for love. "Can U Handle It" is a slow jam that focuses on loving and honest communication. "Do It To Me" focuses on the intimate lovemaking that follows intimate conversation. "Take Your Hand" then turns to wondering where it is that a partner wants to go with the singer. "Follow Me" calls upon a loved one to follow him. "My Boo" (with Alicia Keys) calls to a memory of the singer's first love. "Red Light" has an ominous beat and hints at Usher's fondness for ladies of the night and one night stands. "Seduction" talks about how Usher is being seduced by someone who is not his significant other despite the risk or because of it. The album then ends with a remix to part two of Confessions as a rap posse cut with Shyne (from prison), Twista, Kanye West, and Jermaine Dupri, which is more of an aggressive tone than the rest of the album.
Although admittedly this album is a bit long for my tastes, it certainly lives up to its premise and was a vital album in R&B that bridged the R&B of the 90's with the crunk sound that was dominating in 2004. By and large, the album demonstrates that the confessions of Usher are largely sexual in nature, and of the kind that reflect badly on Usher's morality but better on Usher's honesty. The singer, who was struggling through a scandalous time in his career, turned the need to be honest into a cathartic effort to reflect upon love and lust as he understood and experienced, struggling to be honorable in his dealings with other people but all too easy prey for seduction. His call to enjoy the simple things like spending time with a loved one is undercut by the fact that his lifestyle is fueled by popular success, giving him the money to have girls on the side and be able to pay child support for kids with women he hardly knows. Still, one gets the feeling after listening to this album that one knows what Usher is about. This is nothing particularly deep or praiseworthy, but it does appear to be sincere at least.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 10, 2022 2:01:09 GMT -5
Twelve Carat Toothache, by Post Malone
Fame is not kind to artists. For an artist to remain popular there are a lot of things that need to go right, not all of which are in the control of the artist. An artist can be on top of the world one year and then the next year can flop and no longer command a great deal of the attention that they received before. Such appears to be the fate of this album, one week after it has been released. Previously, Post Malone had a ubiquitous hit with the song "Circles" off of his previous album Hollywod's Bleeding, and took a bit of time off before revealing that he was having problems with his record label over a new contract, as he has apparently finished his previous album. In an atmosphere of insecurity and concerns about his future, this album was release to lower numbers than his last project had, all of which plays into how one views an album like this one.
The album begins with "Reputation," which begins as a slow and somber piano ballad where Post Malone bemoans his bad reputation and struggles against self-destruction. "Cooped Up" continues with a feeling of being trapped alongside another artist who has had some negative experiences with recent releases in Roddy Ricch. "Lemon Tree" languidly wrestles with insomnia and relationship problems, with some distressing audio-effects on Post's voice. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" is another song about dissatisfaction with a relationship where the singer feels trapped and manipulated, which can relate to either romance or business, obviously. "I Like You (A Happier Song)" shows Post Malone seeking a good girl, and his lack of skill in this important task can be demonstrated by the fact that he finds Doja Cat seeking to fill that role, which is wildly inappropriate. "I Cannot Be (A Sadder Song)" featuring Gunna is indeed a sadder song, but it's still more upbeat than most of this rather melancholy album so far. "Insane" tells a predictable story about a crazy woman and struggling to make sense of the negative changes in people as we still struggle with our longings. "Love/Hate Letter To Alcohol," featuring Fleet Foxes is an ambivalent ode to Post Malone's problem drinking and coming to terms with his own behavior, even while trying to blame alcohol itself. "Wasting Angels" is another song about dealing with frustration in a relationship, and has a feature by Kid Laroi which I normally hate but handles it well by burying him until later in the song to deal with the relationship melodrama. "Euthenasia" wallows in misery and despair and self-destruction and seeking to numb the pain of life. "When I'm Alone" has a lovely and driving instrumental as it wrestles with problems of loneliness and the desire of finding an escaping it, a feeling that seems to drive Post into bad relationships. "Waiting For A Miracle" expresses Post Malone hoping against hope for some way out of his misery and unhappiness. "One Right Now," featuring The Weeknd, is one of the catchier songs on the album and features Post Malone trying to pretend to be happy to overcome heartbreak. "New Recording 12, Jan 3, 2020," sounds like an unfinished fragment of an old-school Coldplay song in the best way.
If this album seems to lack a bit of energy, and a lot of catchy songs, it seems to be the sort of album that is ripe for a reassessment later on. Judged as a coherent picture a man determined to act as if he is happier than he is, and present an honest picture of where he is in 2022, this album reminds me a lot of Dawn FM by the aforementioned The Weeknd, another album that wasn't nearly as popular as Abel's previous album but one that has a great deal of worth in its honest reflection on the truth of life, even if that truth is somewhat bitter. This is an album that wallows in sorrow and misery, as Post Malone struggles with his character flaws, his self-medication with alcohol, and his cycles of bad relationship drama with both women as well as his record label. Beyond the moderate hit "One Right Now," there are few songs on this album that are obvious hits. "Cooped Up" has shown itself to be minor hit, and "I Like You (A Happier Song)" is likely to be a minor hit as well, but most everything else here is made up of moody album tracks that work better to tell a picture of a soul in despair. This album, far from being a flop, is a cry for help. Let us hope that someone listens.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 14, 2022 0:47:32 GMT -5
Tapestry, by Carole King
What is it that makes an album a classic? While I remember many of the songs of this album from my childhood, I remember it was not too many years ago when I finally listened to the album as a whole, and I instantly realized that it was a classic, but a peculiar kind of classic that depends greatly on Carole King as an artist. Before releasing this album in the early 1970's, Carole King had toiled for many years in the dark satanic mills of the pop songwriting world, where she wrote many songs for other artists and groups. When this album was released, she had long been famous as a pop songwriter, but this album established her as a singer-songwriter with considerable force. Among the considerable achievements of this album, besides its massive sales and critical appeal, is that it manages to reframe Carole King as both a songwriter and an artist. It takes songs that are new as well as songs that were already well-known and re-frames them so that what seemed at first to be harmless and superficial pop tunes are shown to have unexpected and moving depths, and thus provides a powerful statement of how songs can be woven together to tell a resonant story about the life of a woman who was well-known in the music industry as a pop writer for hire, but had not previously been known as a powerful artist in her own right.
"I Feel The Earth Move" is the opening song of this album, and begins with a driving piano and Carole King's urgent voice singing about the power of love and infatuation. "So Far Away" is a moving song about the loneliness of long-distance love, something that many artists have sung about regarding being on tour, but that few have sung about as movingly as Carole King. "It's Too Late" is a mid-tempo song about a broken relationship where both partners have tried but it doesn't work, without framing either of them as the bad guy. "Home Again" reflects on the enjoyment of home in the aftermath of traveling and work, a relatable song that deals with the stress of the music business but which is relatable to many others outside of it for their own reasons. "Beautiful" is an empowerment anthem, but one that is couched in a populist way that is, again, quite relatable through close observation of how ordinary people live, with grim determination but also humanity. "Way Over Yonder" is another song about distance and the search for home and refuge, which again is relatable. "You've Got A Friend" is a melancholy take on a song made much more famous by James Taylor. "Where You Lead" is another song about love and devotion, and one that sounds very winning coming from Carole King, it must be admitted. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" is a moving cover of a song she wrote that has far more devastating emotional depth when the production focuses attention on the lyrics. "Smackwater Jack" is a groovy sort of song that deals playfully with the limit of communication in the face of violence, which is a surprisingly dark theme for such a playful song. "Tapestry" is a reflective song about life and its rich complexity, with scriptural references and King's usual observational precision. "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" is another solid take on a popular song written originally for other artists, again pointing out to Carole King as a woman.
What makes this album a classic? It ticks off some of the usual boxes--it has a few songs that are well-known and immensely beloved, and is without any filler. Yet this album manages to rise above that of even the ordinary classic because it does something important in changing the context of how one viewed Carole King as an artist and also how one viewed her songs. Songs that appear to be lighthearted when viewed in the context of pop radio are full of deep sorrow when looked at through the context of a saddish girl with a piano--Will You Love Me Tomorrow? being the most obvious but far from the only such example here. If no album that Carole King released hit the same popular appeal as this album, this album alone is sufficient to place her among the elite of the singer-songwriters of her age, and gave her enough critical appeal to last up to the present day. Few albums are sufficient to make the reputation of their artists for so long, and Tapestry is one such classic among classics.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 15, 2022 18:00:20 GMT -5
Harry's House, by Harry Styles
What does it mean to be a pop star in 2022? Since One Direction went on hiatus a few years ago, Harry Styles has released three solo albums, all of which have been immensely successful, and has positioned himself to be someone deeply inspired by the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970's. As it happens, I happen to be quite a fan of this particular genre of music, and if it tends to be a bit rare of a phenomenon right now, it is interesting that Styles would lean into this sort of approach rather than into a pop star approach. Styles has often been accused of trying to appear to be more weird than he really is, because at his heart he is a slightly quirky but also generally relatively easygoing sort of persona. This particular album has already spawned a couple of hits and it is curious to see if it has lasting staying power like his second album did. But what does this album sound like to someone who is generally a fan of singer-songwriter materials but also someone who tends to underplay the quriky?
"Music For A Sushi Restaurant" begins the album with some really quirky instrumentation and this odd song is already getting some airplay and may be a potential out-of-left field hit. "Late Night Talking" was the second hit single off of this album and it is an appealing song about encouraging a loved one, and it's certainly relatable. "Grapejuice" is a song about devotion with an odd name, but easy enough to appreciate with a laid-back vibe. "As It Was," the smash first single from the album is a mid-tempo song about love and devotion, enjoyable to listen to but not particularly challenging, though with quirky elements in its music it must be admitted. "Daylight" is a beautiful and optimistic song about relationships. "Little Freak" is a strange song, an easygoing ukulele song that is mostly positive thinking about someone, but using some really weird language to discuss what is a generally inoffensive sort of musing. "Matilda" is an encouraging song to someone who grew up in a bad family and it is a gentle sort of song that is easy to appreciate and a standout here. "Cinema" is the beginning of the second-half of obvious album cuts, and it is a song with an odd metaphor that compares a relationship to the way things are in the movies. "Daydreaming" is a sweet song about the use of love of daydream fuel. "Keep Driving" is a lazy sort of summer driving song about moving to cope with life, and the joys of eating and intimacy. "Satellite" is a song about the awkwardness of communication that seems to circle what one really wants to address, unsurprisingly intimacy, and is possibly my favorite song on this album. "Boyfriends" is an interesting ode to the way that men tend to be taken advantage of and misunderstood, but told as a sympathetic song to women. "Love Of My Life" is somewhat ominous sounding song about love in the midst of touring and a dissatisfaction with the state of the world.
By and large this album is a relaxing, laid back album with a summer vibe that stays in a mode of love and intimacy through quirky detail and interesting production. If one is looking for evidence to say that Styles exaggerates his quirky elements, there is certainly plenty of that to be found here. But rather than the cool kid, Styles most resembles someone who tries very hard to get things right and if he is not always successful, he certainly comes off pretty sympathetically here as someone who loves food and affection, tries to communicate if he is not always successful, and tries to be honest to his own slightly quirky but also tryhard muse. His inspiration by 70's singer-songwriters appears sincere, he too is an artist in an insecure time trying to find in relationships the stability that is absent in the life of a pop star or in the world at large in a time of constant crisis. And despite that context, this album still appears to offer love and relationships as a shelter in the face of the storm. God knows we need some refuge from all this world inflicts on us.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jun 20, 2022 2:17:04 GMT -5
Heaven & Hell, by Ava Max
Long before the release of this album, Ava Max was the sort of artist that one would be concerned about ending up as a one-hit wonder. She broke into the mainstream with the hit song "Sweet But Psycho" which showed her as a cute but basic artist who made competent but hardly spectacular pop music. Throughout the course of the coming couple of years, she released lots of singles (many of them, thankfully, included on this set) which failed to chart but which demonstrated that she had a genuine sense of pathos for others. By the time she ended up getting her second hit, and a third minor charting hit, this album was secured as one that I would be interested in, without knowing if I would like all of the songs in it. So when a rankdown opportunity came for this album, I was very interested in listening to the album as a whole. So, is it basic, or somehow better than its first impression?
The album begins with the minor hit "My Head & My Heart," which has a great sample and a fairly typical (for this artist) pull between two opposite and basic forces. This is followed by H.E.A.V.E.N., which is a short song that focuses on spelling out and describing how heavenly someone is. "Kings And Queens" was Ava Max's second YE hit to keep her from being a one-hit wonder, and it too plays off the contrast between men and women, being catchy and basic. "Naked" is a gentle dance ballad about the contrast between Ava's willingness to be without clothes but her struggle to be vulnerable to a partner. "Tattoo" is a lovely but short song about the effect of love, while "OMG Whats Happening" is a short and basic song expressing disbelief about what has happened to her in a relationship. "Born To The Night" features a lovely sample and a reflection on how Ava Max was born and raised to be when it comes to life and relationships. "Torn" is a moving song with a great sample that looks at Ava's schizoid approach to love. "Take You To Hell" is a song that points to the "sweet but psycho" nature of Ava in love and relationships depending on how things go. "Who's Laughing Now?" has a catchy melody but a rather repetitive and vengeful tone about dealing with a former partner. "Belladonna" compares the singer to an alluring but dangerous poison. "Rumors" is a discussion of the poisonous nature of certain forms of communication. "So Am I," one of my favorite singles from this album, looks at Ava Max below the surface, encouraging others to see her as something other than she would appear as a pretty woman. "Salt" provides an interesting comparison of the singer to being without salt and thus unable and unwilling to cry for someone playing with her heart. "Sweet But Psycho" gives the first hit in a context with a lot of similar songs. Japanese bonus track "Not Your Barbie Girl" offers a dramatic reinterpretation of the Aqua hit.
Ava Max shows one set of tricks, but it's a good set of tricks. Start with a great sample, construct a simple opposition between two states or qualities or include a fairly basic metaphor, and then explore how these relate to love and relationships and provide repercussions. This general framework is present both within the album itself (divided into two sides, heaven and hell, both of which are namechecked in their respective parts) as well as on the level of the individual song. One might think that this trick would grow old, but this album is an example that even albums which are filled with somewhat basic songs with the same approach can nonetheless be enjoyable. This is a classic 4/5 album, and while one would hope that Ava Max develops some depth beyond the pleasant but basic pop of this effort, this is not an album to be ashamed of. It delivers what one wants in dance pop music, good samples and lyrics that show considerable self-awareness and pathos. One need not feel guilty about nodding one's head and singing along with the lyrics, and that is worth appreciating.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jul 5, 2022 21:59:45 GMT -5
Songs For The Saints, by Kenny Chesney
While I managed to buy Kenny Chesney's 2020 album and enjoyed it, the previous album to this one, recorded to provide some help to his neighbors in the Virgin Islands, slipped by my notice at the time when the album was released, and I thought it would be worthwhile to give the album a listen and to see if it is something that would resonate with me better for having been to the islands themselves. This album was certainly not a commercial high point for Kenny Chesney, but given that he is still making successful country music and building a new home on St. John, clearly he has a high degree of fondness for his adopted home in the islands.
The album begins with the titular "Song For The Saints," expressing his defiance against the hurricane in a gentle pop-rock song that lets everyone know that no storm is going to tell him where he can go. "Every Heart" reflects on some of the metaphorical state of hearts that are islands in a storm trying to survive, and recognizing the need to connect rather than remain isolated. "Get Along," the big hit from the album, is a laid back song about trying to cope with life's difficulties. "Pirate Song" expresses Chesney's desire to live a romantic pirate life, desiring to fly under his flag and live freely. "Love For Love City," featuring Ziggy Marley, shows Chesney's love for all of the people of the Virgin Islands and his commitment to their well-being. "Ends Of The Earth" is a standout track that calls upon a loved one to follow him in his life's journeys even as he finds himself increasingly concerned he will end up living alone. "Gulf Moon" provides a story of the denizens of a watering hole and their struggles. "Island Rain" provides a look at a gentle island rain that brings freedom, including freedom you might not be aware you were looking for. "Trying To Reason With Hurricane Season" features fellow Virgin Islands neighbor Jimmy Buffet, whose Margaritaville Resort is on St. Thomas. "We're All Here" provides an optimistic expression of the imperfection of human beings trying to make it. "Better Boat," featuring Mindy Smith, is an ode to friendship in the face of isolation and the goal of self-improvement.
"Songs For The Saints" provides a telling picture of Chesney's feelings about his neighbors and about his island home. If this album is by no means a commercial peak for the artist, it is a coherent album about flawed people trying to make it that expresses Chesney's own feelings of determination to live freely and to enjoy the peace of mind that island life has apparently brought him. This album finds Chesney both defiant but not in an unpleasant way, resolute, refusing to be overwhelmed by the weather, and determined to stand by his neighbors in the Virgin Islands. This album is a tangible expression of his commitment to his adopted island home, and it is a strong collection of songs that definitely deserves to be appreciated.
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Post by nathanalbright on Jul 14, 2022 23:05:53 GMT -5
Kill 'Em All, by Metallica
I must admit that while I am familiar with some music by the classic heavy metal band Metallica, that I have never listened to their discography in any kind of depth, and their earlier music from the 1980s is particularly unknown to me compared to their 1990s material that I know best. At any rate, I was invited to do a rankdown of their core albums starting with their debut and so it gives me the chance to see how I appreciate their earlier material that is better beloved among their musical community. I may never be a particular fan of St. Anger, but it is interesting to see if their early material is something that resonates with me, especially given that I have never been a particular fan of thrash metal. So, is this album one that I enjoy and appreciate? Let's see.
"Hit The Lights" begins the album with some powerful guitars and drums that hit hard even if the singing isn't to my taste. "The Four Horsemen" is a long song, but again its musical template is enjoyable to listen to. "Motorbreath" repeats the same thing with somewhat rough vocals but powerful instrumentation that is easy to enjoy and appreciate. "Jump In The Fire" seems to be encouraging people to appreciate and enjoy their music, which is easy enough to do. "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth" has some excellent distorted guitar riffs in the first half before transitioning to more straightforward guitar virtuosity in the second half. "Whiplash" is a pounding song with music made to mosh to, and lyrics that fit the theme of people thrashing around while listening to the song being performed live. "Phantom Lord" combines some powerful instrumentation with ominous lyrics. "No Remorse" again features powerful music that is combined with a relentless attitude in the lyrics about not caring about the consequences of one's behavior. "Search And Destroy" demonstrates the violent intent of Metallica towards--something--but again the music is spot on. The album ends with "Metal Militia" which is a fitting description of the band and its early fans.
I must admit that this music is not something I would expect to greatly gravitate to, but overall this album is a pretty strong 4 to 4.5 out of five for me. Every song has powerful music that is easy to enjoy and appreciate and bop your head to, and if most of the album has somewhat weak vocals and vocal production, the instrumentation is so solid overall that I genuinely like all of these songs. Some of the songs like "Jump In The Fire" are particularly strong and it is not a surprise that this particular album started out slow because it has no pop songs at all but ended up selling a lot of copies as people found out about it later on. And it is not a surprise either that this album has such strong streaming either. It is a well-deserved indie classic album, and a good introduction to Metallica and their influence on rock music.
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