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List #8


Sara

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i'm feeling slightly ignored. i'll try again, just copied and pasted my previous 2 entries:

I am going to insist with the cure, but this time, i'm choosing "staring at the sea" instead. This is a complilation of singles, so it is kind of a greatest hits album, which means it is a great introduction to the band for someone who is not familiar with them. the overall mood is quite dark, as expected from the cure, with songs such as "killing an arab" (very controversial, based on the "outsider" by albert camus)"forest" and "charlotte sometimes". however, their more playful and fun side is also present with songs such as "love cats" and "let's go to bed".

encouraged by the 100 greatest albums (posted in another thread) i am voting for radiohead "ok computer"

radiohead IMO are one of the most influential band of the 90s. they have certainly touched many people of my generation, whose life revolved around them at the time. "ok computer" is considered their greatest album, with songs like "karma police" and "paranoid android". apart from the classic guitar sound, they have played with electronic sounds and samples, which of course lead to their complete change in their next album, "kid a". Thom yorke has one of the most emotional voices in music today, writes some of the best lyrics, and the music is haunting, which is why they are so important for me, as they can accompany me though the tougher times in my life.

"You can laugh

A spineless laugh

We hope that your rules and wisdom choke you

Now we are one

In everlasting peace"

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Let me insist on Marillion's debut album Script For A Jester's Tear one more time, and suggest

Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') [1974]

A real Zappa classic which can also serve as a good, light introduction for those who are not familiar with his unique music and lyrics, as in his own words, "it is an album of songs and stories set to music performed for your dining and dancing pleasure." :-)

Includes the famous 4-part suite "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow", mandatory great guitar solos in just about every track but especially "Cosmik Debris", "Apostrophe" and "Stink Foot", and good piano work in "Uncle Remus".

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I second the Marillion nomination.. And I'll continue to do so till y'all pay attention. :)

As for my own ideas, I'd say Eileen Ivers - Wild Blue.

Eileen Ivers played the fiddle for the original riverdance tour, and is a musician in great demand in today's irish music scene. To quote Eileen "This album was recorded over four days in beautiful upstate Pawling, NY - a wonderful setting for playing music. They were an amazing four days. We put down all the music live - very live - the way I feel it should be."

Fantastic album of instrumental, celtic-inspired music.

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I knew it would happen someday, not making the list. I decided to just copy and paste my last post

Elephant" - The White Stripes

The White Stripes are one of the only good bands out now that really resonate classic rock. There are many great bands out right now, but most of them sound nothing like classic rock. The White Stripes are a true hard rock band. If you want to find out what the recent "garage rock revival" movement is about, this is the CD to buy. Now I'm sure that you have all heard Seven Nation Army by now, and are sick of it. But don't judge the rest of the album by that song. While it is a great song, it doesn't show all of what the CD is really about. It is a very diverse album. After 'Seven Nation Army', the next song is "Black Math." This is a song that shows what garage rock is all about. It's got a great punk rock riff. It's amazing how full and loud the sound is, seeing that it's a two person band. The next song is "There's No Home For You Here" which is a softer version of "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" which was on their CD before this one. It's got another great opening riff. "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" is a cover of the Burt Bacharach song. It is one of the most creative covers I have heard recently. It seems like it will stay true to the easygoing song at first (well, as much as you can stay true to a piano song using a guitar), but then once the chorus kicks in, it turns into loud rock. "In the Cold, Cold Night" is a slower song featuring just a guitar and the drummer, Meg White, singing. No drums in this song. "I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart" is a song done just by the lead singer/guitarist, Jack White, playing the piano. This ballad shows Jack's musical talent. After this comes "You've Got Her in Your Pocket." This song is another slower song, and it's done entirely with Jack singing and playing acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar riff played throughout the song is very nice. After this song comes "Ball And Biscuit." This song is the absolute best song of the album, and IMO, the best song of 2003. First of all, the order of this song is fantastic. It seems all the more heavier putting right after 3 slow songs. The intro resonates slow 60's blues, and so do the verses. Once the 3 solos come in though, it gets ultra-heavy. It sounds like Led Zeppelin meets Jeff Beck. It is one of the most exciting 7 minutes of hard rock in the past 5 years. "The Hardest Button To Button" comes next. It's a weird, catchy song. It sounds like what most earlier White Stripes songs sound like. After this comes "Little Acorns." It starts out with some guy telling a 50 second story of a woman who is inspired by squirells to start living a more optomistic life. Then, the heavy intro comes in. The verses are very creepy sounding, and then the loud chorus comes back in. It's great. After this comes "Hypnotise" which has a similar feel as their 2002 hit "Fell in Love With A Girl" and a similar feel as 60's guitar pop. "The Air Near My Fingers" starts out with another great rock riff, but ends up being very light. "Girl You Have No Faith In Medicine" is a rocking, fuzzy, fast song. It reminds you of bands such as Blue Cheer, only faster. The last song is "It's True That We Love One Another." It's a rather anti-climactic joke song. It's basically part of the joke of the White Stripes teasing fans, who weren't sure whether Jack and Meg were married or brother and sister. Overall, a great album. Highly recomended by Batman. If you have lost faith in modern music, and pine for the music of the 60's and 70's, listen to this.

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Rocket To Russia

- The Ramones (Nov 1977, Sire)

Rocket To Russia by The Ramones is one of the finest punk records that the short lived revolution ever produced. While the album is more polished and professional than previous Ramones releases, it still retains the true spirit of the punk movement combined with a wickedly dark sense of humour that made The Ramones the godfathers of punk.

Rocket To Russia is the album that SHOULD have made The Ramones a household name. It didn't of course, but things rarely went the way they should have for The Ramones. The album remains commercially the most successful for The Ramones, featuring singles from the 60's inspired 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', to the tongue-in-cheek anthem 'Teenage Lobotomy' and the surf rock inspired 'Rockaway Beach' appearing on the album.

Rocket To Russia is also home to a fantastic cover of The Trashmen's 'Surfin' Bird'. The Ramones rockin' rendition of the 60's favourite is absolutley inspired. The song sits perfectly alongside the fan tribute, 'Cretin Hop' ("There?s no stoppin? the cretins from hoppin?/You gotta keep it beatin? for all the happy cretins") and 'We're A Happy Family', a song that highlights The Ramones skill at using a song for social satire.

The Ramones remain one of the most influential bands in history, and Rocket To Russia is the cleanest, leanest and meanest punk record, essential listening for any music fan.

"We didn't sell a lot of records, but somehow we left an impression" - Johnny Ramone.

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featuring singles from the 60's inspired 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker'

MUSICAL INTERLUDE:

"Well the kids are all hopped up and ready to go

They're ready to go now

They've got their surfboards And they're going to the discotheque a go-go

But she just couldn't stay, She had to break away

Well, New York City really has it all

Oh yeah, oh yeah

Sheena is a punk rocker

Sheena is a punk rocker

Sheena is a punk rocker now

She's a punk punk, a punk rocker

Punk punk, a punk rocker

Punk punk, a punk rocker"

:afro: :afro: :afro: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

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Re-upping this late-arriving nomination from List #7.

Emphasizing the "must hear" guitar craft of the late John Cipollina

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Quicksilver Messenger Service ~ Quicksilver Messenger Service

Their 1968 self-titled debut and, in my opinion, their best non-compilation album.

From music writer Richie Unterberger

In the late 1960s, Quicksilver Messenger Service occupied an unusual position in the pantheon of major San Francisco Bay Area psychedelic bands. Not that most of those acts weren't unusual, even in relation to each other. Part of what set Quicksilver apart from their peers, though, was that they were not so much singer-songwriters as they were virtuoso players and creative interpreters and stylists. They were not the greatest of vocalists or composers, although they did pen some sturdy folk-rock tunes. Their strengths lay in the ziplocked tightness of their playing and arrangements; their ability to whip up a psychedelic brew from a diverse pool of sources encompassing folk, blues, improvisational jazz, and even Spanish and classical guitar; and their inventive rearrangements of unexpected, even left-field, blues, R&B, folk, and jazz classics.

Leading the way was the inimitable, immediately identifiable quaver of John Cipollina's sustain-fueled lead guitar. He was complemented by the support of Gary Duncan, less a rhythm guitarist than a repository of resourceful counterpoint riffs of his own, and one of the most skilled and underrated second guitarists in rock history. Together with the rhythm section of David Freiberg on bass and Greg Elmore on drums, they comprised the Quicksilver lineup that played on the band's first two Capitol albums ... that, by virtual consensus, represent the best work that any configuration of Quicksilver released.

They were most innovative ... when Cipollina and Duncan wove their guitars together in some of the finest psychedelic rock ever laid down, and the band managed to take some of the best elements from an array of disparate influences to create something new and intoxicating.

Later, keyboard god Nicky Hopkins joined (listen to Edward The Mad Shirt Grinder on Quicksilver's Shady Grove album), but after Cipollina departed and screeching vocalist Dino Valenti took center stage, the group was doomed. Valenti (Chester Powers) might have been an original member except for his drug bust and time in jail. Dino's Song (I Don't Want to Spoil Your Party) is included on this first album -- without Dino. He also wrote the Youngbloods classic Get Together. I prefer his songwriting to his singing.

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9lives.jpg

Nine Lives - Little Charlie & The Nightcats

I heard a few tracks from this brand new CD, and it sold me.

from various sources

One of the most popular live acts all across the blues circuit, Little Charlie & The Nightcats started out in the mid-70s, began recording around a decade later, and just kept on going strong. The two constants over The Nightcats' long history are co-founders Little Charlie Baty (guitar) and Rick Estrin (harmonica, lead vocals).

For Estrin, songwriting is an important art form. ?I like songs that tell stories,? he says, ?songs that are well-crafted and meaningful.? As a harp player, Estrin has few peers. ?Rick Estrin sings and writes songs like the brightest wise guy in all bluesland and blows harmonica as if he learned at the knee of Little Walter,? raved Down Beat.

Matching Estrin?s prowess lick for lick are Baty?s wild, seemingly impossible guitar excursions. Guitar World declared, ?Baty?s straight blues playing is eye-popping...he stretches solos to the breaking point, skittering on the edge, where one wrong note will bring the whole thing crashing down.?

The band's music relies chiefly on electric urban blues of the Chicago variety, but mixes in bits of many other styles, including early rock & roll, soul, surf, swing, jump blues, and Western swing. ?The blues needs converts,? noted The Village Voice, ?and Little Charlie & The Nightcats make a few new believers every night.?

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A big woo hoo for Rocket to Russia! :rockon:

Wait For Me

Susan Tedeschi

This was the follow up to "Just Won?t Burn", which earned Susan a Grammy nom for Best New Artist, which she lost to Christina Aguilera. That makes my head bleed, but let?s try not to think about it.

Here is the album description from Amazon.com...

?This 11-track collection is the follow-up to Tedeschi?s critically acclaimed, gold-certified 1998 release ?Just Won?t Burn,? an album that earned her a "Best New Artist" Grammy nomination in 2000. ?Wait For Me? features several new originals written and produced by Tedeschi, as well as inspired readings of songs by Bob Dylan ("Don?t Think Twice") and Paul Pena ("Gonna Move") among others. Veteran producer/engineer Tom Dowd (Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, John Coltrane) helmed some of the ?Wait For me? sessions, and contributors on the album include Tedeschi?s husband and young guitar hero Derek Trucks; southern music stalwart Col. Bruce Hampton; and legendary pianist, Chuck Berry collaborator, and rock & roll architect Johnnie Johnson.?

I love all the songs on this album. She has such an earthy quality to her voice. She doesn?t sound like a little girl singing songs of unrequited love...she sounds like a woman who has lived, loved and lost.

?In The Garden? is a beautiful song about heaven...

"When I wake up in the garden

Peaceful slumber wakes my eyes

The sun and moon are always present

There are no more crying people around

Love fills all up inside me

Filling my heart with wishful dreams

No more sorrow fills my canvas

Along this lonely sea

Ships fall off of the horizon

Bringing love, peace, and joy

No fire can ever harm us

Only music fills the air

Silver turquoise teardrops drip down

Into a window of your soul

Touching your emotions with sorrow

Of a thousand years of wisdom sold"

?Alone? is one of my favorites...I dare you to listen to this uptempo song about heartache without tapping your toe.

"Been sitting 'round here baby,

thinking 'bout our last long talk.

Been sitting here at this table at your favorite restaurant.

Been hoping I could meet you here

So that I could make this perfectly clear

That all I do is think about you since you went and left me on my own

I'm so alone, ohhhh,

I'm so lonely baby.

And I need to say that...

I know I was wrong, ohhhh.

And I'm asking you to come back home

Don't wanna be here alone"

Here are a few lyrics from ?Feeling Music Brings?. If you are a true fan of music, you know exactly what she?s talking about.

?I wanna feel, feel the love that music brings

And I wanna be a piece of life in all livin' things

I know what's in my heart and my soul tells me to sing

I'm gonna be thankful for this feeling that music brings.?

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

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Wait For Me

Susan Tedeschi

Oh baby...Susan was just in town last week and fortunately I went to see her. I am in love :googly: with this woman!!! (But I still love you too, Peaches) Incredible singer and she can play that Fender (she joined Dickie Betts on stage later). I loved every song she did. I am buying this CD as soon as I can get to the store. In fact, I'm buying her debut too. *major swoon*

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Oh baby...Susan was just in town last week and fortunately I went to see her. I am in love :googly: with this woman!!! (But I still love you too, Peaches) Incredible singer and she can play that Fender (she joined Dickie Betts on stage later). I loved every song she did. I am buying this CD as soon as I can get to the store. In fact, I'm buying her debut too. *major swoon*

Check out Amazon.(click the top of the page) You might be able to get a used one cheaper, while putting some change in the Songfacts piggybank in the process.

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Here's what we went with:

The Cure - Staring At The Sea ) I always thought The Cure was a great singles band. Their songs hold up very well and a lot of people will enjoy this album.

The Beatles - Abbey Road

The Ramones - Rocket To Russia

Susan Tedeschi - Wait For Me ) I've had this one for a while, and it's good stuff.

Little Charlie & The Nightcats - Nine Lives

Thanks for the suggestions. Marillion just missed the cut - we'll try to get them in the next one.

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