Jump to content

List #12


Elvish

Recommended Posts

THE WATERBOYS

"FISHERMAN'S BLUES"

Ensign/Chrysalis

JUST where do you begin? With the three year abscence? The re-location in Ireland? The numerous personnel changes? The fact that Mike Scott, a latter-day genius, constantly refuses to abide by the music business's self-set rules in any way, shape or form? Or maybe just the simple fact that "Fisherman's Blues", with its unlikely cover, its slightly misleading title and its "home-made" stamp of quality is quite simply the finest album of this, or perhaps any year.

--From Melody Maker , Oct .1988

The Waterboys are one of the greatest exports of the " Irish Invasion " that followed the success of U2's "Joshua Tree" . A fantastic blend of traditional and modern sounds and lyrics make this one of my favorite Celtic albums . These guys are superior to the more mainstream U2 in every way , except, perhaps , Bono's vocal strength !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i'm copying and pasting two of my older suggestions that got ignored, it seems that less people are suggesting stuff so there is more chance of beeing successful

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.

grandaddy the sophtware slump

grandaddy have replaced radiohead in recent years for me. their songs sound upbeat and happy but if you pay attention to the lyrics, they are quite sad. this album has the general theme of technology, the digital age and loneliness. my favourite track is "miner at the dial-a-view", which they have called a song about "digital loneliness" , with close favourites " jed the humanoid" and " the crystal lake". No one here seems to be a big grandaddy fan, if it's because you've never heard of them, give them a listen, you might fall in love!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Black cherry ~ Goldfrapp

476754.jpg

track listing

1. Crystalline green

2. Train

3. Black cherry

4. Tiptoe

5. Deep honey

6. Hairy trees

7. Twist

8. Strict machine

9. Forever

10. Slippage

Like putting a succulent, plump black cherry into your mouth, biting into the juicy flesh, tasting the sweet and slightly sour flavours, minding the hard inner pip - so this album is a taste dicovery!

From the synthetic, processed beats, to the jazzy razzmatazz in the mixing to the angelic, breathy sighs of Alison Goldfrapp - this album is naughty and nice all at once.

Sounding slightly like a hypnotically enticing Debbie Harry, Alisons vocals weave through the album like satin ribbon corset laces through silky drumbeats, plush orchestra and velvety lyrics.

Standout tracks:

"Tiptoe" is acidic, crass synths and beats with serene vocals.

"Twist" and "Train" are more urban and funky, and slightly risque.

"Hairy Trees" and "Deep Honey" will remind you of their ethereal album Felt Mountain. Very sensuous, light and dreamy.

"Strict machine" is my favourite track, slipping between the sheets of electronica and asexual, ambiguity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

kq.gif

King & Queen - Otis Redding and Carla Thomas

I reminded myself about this unmatchable classic album in another thread.

The renown Otis Redding ("straight from the Georgia woods") and Carla Thomas of Memphis R&B royalty, rewarded us with eleven superlative Soul duets ("Two can make just any place seem just like bein' at home").

The album features Stax horns and rhythm section (keyboards:Booker T. Jones & Isaac Hayes; guitar:Steve Cropper; bass:Donald "Duck" Dunn; drums:Al Jackson,Jr.; trumpet:Wayne Jackson; tenor sax:Andrew Love; alto sax:Joe Arnold) at peak performance.

The song Tramp is pretty much guaranteed to keep a spring in your step and a smile on your face all day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with Rachel - copying and pasting my nominee from last time. I think I was too late for consideration last time...

I hope it's not too late to nominate... I'd like to nominate Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers "Americano!" Roger Clyne is the most unbelievable lyricist ~ and most down-to-earth performer ~ I've ever met. Please see www.azpeacemakers.com. Some reviews below:

If you're sick of rage rock, tired of the melody-devoid primal screaming of bands such as Slipknot, Staind, Tool and Papa Roach (we can't all be Rage Against the Machine), let me suggest Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers. Here's what allmusicguide.com (the second-best Web site out there) says about his latest album, ¡Americano! : "¡Americano! is one fine album; it should be played at earsplitting volume in pool halls, bowling alleys and backyard bashes and on college radio stations. It should blare from the CD players of fast cars roaring down empty highways under the stars and just before dawn. Indeed, it should be savored and celebrated by those swaggering street denizens known as the rock & roll faithful as proof that the good stuff never disappears."

But don't listen to me. Or them. Listen to Roger. Try the tracks Counterclockwise and Switchblade . Then go ahead, raise your goblet of rock." -- John Walters

"¡Americano!" Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers

From the title track to the gorgeous "Your Name on a Grain of Rice" to the gut-wrenching "Switchblade," no other Arizona songwriter captures the Sonoran Southwest like Roger Clyne, and he and his band?s latest CD of classic, sweat-drenched American rock ?n? roll is the best work of his career. Here is one vote for Clyne to supplant Dolan Ellis as the state?s official balladeer. -- Chris Hansen Orf

"...rock 'n' roll is still out there...Americano! is proof that the crazy, reckless, restless, swaggering soul of American rock is still burning a hole in the night sky...guitars blaze, quake and quiver, drums slip, thud

and thunder with killer melodies and hooks and the occasional reggae or mariachi rhythm laced through the middle to keep it all honest and interesting" -- Thom Jurek

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My nomination is Starz - "Violation"

Starz-Violation.gif

I was first introduced to the band Starz in the late 70's. A friend of mine had this album and I was hooked from first listen.

This is definitely the cream of the crop of their 4 studio released albums. They also have a live album.

I don't believe the band received the promotion that they should have but one listen to this album and you'll agree that it's a lost classic.

I still play it over and over to this day. I just love the guitars in all their songs. They have some great licks on this album.

I had the pleasure of meeting "Richie Ranno", (one of the guitarists in the band) many years ago and he autographed my copy of their live CD "Starz - Live In Action".

Released in 1977, this album has many great tracks.

The most popular track that most people will recognize is:

" Cherry Baby " (This is the song that made the US Billboard Top 40 chart. Great song.)

Other great songs from this album are:

" Sing It, Shout It " (This song will have you singing along with the chorus in no time.)

" Cool One " (properly titled, as I think this is the coolest song on the album. It's so catchy and I just love the guitar parts in this song, especially the lead solo)

" All Night Long " (Another cool song. I love the lyrics in this song and the guitar parts again are just so cool.)

This album is definitely worth a listen and I guarantee you'll like it or you're a dork.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Blind Melon in my opinion, could have been the greatest rock and roll band of the century. I have seen very little to no mention of their names in previous posts, and when i searched their name less than 2 and a half pages came up. Anyone who has not heard Blind Melon should stop what their doing right now, anything, and go out and buy one of their albums, any of them. There is a mighty good chance you will fall in love.

Shannon Hoon, i think is one of the greatest writers of the 90's if not the century, he could express so many feelings, his own, such as New Life (Deep inside must defy arrangement

I've been a stumblin' from the startin' blocks 'til now), and more global minded themes such as Mouthful of Cavities (Send a lettewr to a friend of mine, tell him how much I used to love to watch him smile, Say I haven't seen him smile in a little while). His voice can pull you up when you are down, I doubt there is a better song than No Rain for that purpose. His death is almost unbearable for me, I could have seen him perform, I could have perhaps met him and told him that he is perhaps the only musician who has meant so muh to me, his lyrics mean something to me, all of his songs, and his voice just brings it out even more I miss you Shannon, Rest In Peace.

The rhythm section of Brad Smith and Glen Graham are a perfect match, as are Christopher Thorn and Rogers Stevens on guitar.

Thats why i pick eithr soup or their self titled album to be on list 12

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did a way too lengthy review of Queen II in the last list, but I'll just sum it up this time. Queen II is Queen's darkest album, and in my opinion, their best. There is absolutely no filler, the only average song is "Loser in the End." It has one of the best album intros of all time (Procession followed by Father To Son), and one of the best enders (Seven Seas of Rhye). The imagery and emotion created in the album is great, even without lyrics, the album can still tell a story of sorts. The album features some of Freddie's best vocals, especially on the songs "Nevermore" and "March of the Black Queen." It should also be noted that in the scheme of Queen, it is a very important album, as it is the album where Queen solidified their musical identity. Although each song stands on it's own well, it is similar to DSOTM, in that listening to it all from start to finish creates a unique musical experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lynyrd Skynyrd (Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-erd).

Please stop doing that! And provide reasons why you nominate the albums (write-ups), we could all just type out a long list of albums we like but that would serve no purpose. Fill us in on why they deserve to be in the top 10 so when can make a fair judgement on them :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pavement- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (super duper deluxe double secret probation gargantuan edition) ::

seriously tho it's called Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain LA's desert origins. This excellent find is a two disc set that contains the original CRCR album, plus every single b-side related to it, and some test tracks, the first disc contains the album and b-sides (the first 12 tracks are the original album) and the album is so freakin' good that I would nominate that as a stand alone in a heartbeat, but the extra 37 songs really add to the power of the disc. The second disc is all previously unreleased stuff, it's got some really great stuff.

Pavement is one of the great alt-post punk bands to come out in the 90s, and since they were from the NYC scene they sound remarkably like Sonic Youth, which is a good thing. CRCR is a highly acclaimed album (given a 5 star review by Rolling Stone, and according to Blender it is 'The album you should own before you die') Their sound is just amazing, screeching guitar 'Lou Reedy' vocals, and just so New York cool.

oh yeah the deluxe package comes with this really cool booklet of pics and interviews and stuff, and this whole 2-disc cool packet thing only cost me 20 bucks, and I imagine that it would be even cheaper on amazon.

I'm just gonna review the original CRCR, and point out some of the cool extra songs.

Silence Kid- This is a great song about gossip, and it just has these amazing heart-wrenching parts

Elevate Me Later- You have to hear this song to believe it, it's that freakin' good.

Stop Breathin'- This has become one of my faveorite songs, it starts out with this really out of tune chord progression, but ends with this hammering post-punky drum-guitar finale that *Jack Black voice* blows your mind right outta your ___!!!

Cut Your Hair- This song is fun, and songs should be fun, and it also contains some skilled guitar work

Newark Wilder- this song is really creepy, but they had a bunch of vintage amps that they could record with and they used 'em on this song, and it has a really cool effect.

Unfair- it sounds a bit like Silence Kid, in a way.

Gold Soundz- Super cool beat, and more post-punkiness

5-4=unity- This is a really great chiller song.

Range Life- This is such a great song, it has an almost bluegrassy country feel to it, but still retains it's post-punkiness, and it was the song that started the little 'Pavement-Smashing Pumpkins' feud, 'cuz Pavement was all about the simplicity of lyrical fun, and Smashing Pumpkins were totally serious, and Pavement wrote this song for the people that don't want to listen to serious Billy Corgan all day, and there's this line that sais (paraphrasing) "And as far as Smashing Pumpkins, I don't give a _____" needless to say Billy Corgan was not terribly pleased and when a reporter asked him his thoughts on this he replied "No one wakes up in the morning humming a Pavement song"

Heaven Is A Truck- this song is probably the most lyricly beautiful thing on CRCR

Fillmore Jive- This has such a great Sonic Youth jam feel to it, and is right up there with 'Stop Breathin' on my list of fave songs.

Those tracks are the original CRCR album, but the extras are really really great, but there's too many to mention, tho my fave extra song is 'Unseen Power of The Picket Fence' which is credited as the 'R.E.M. tribute song' and it appeared on the No Alternative compilation (and what a compilation that was!) but it's just a great quirky song about R.E.M.

This album would be perfect for the list 'cuz it's a band that a lot of people probably haven't heard of, and it just sounds too great for people to not pick it up, and plus it's got so much stuff on it (both discs are a full 80 minutes)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I may not be a big parrothead... but let me just say - 33 albums spanning over 3 decades ... Life's a beach, so slide into your sandals, don your wicker hat, grab a bottle of Rum in one hand, Tequila in the other and find a sunny spot on the beach to land in the suns glow -- drop a copy of Meet Me In Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection by Jimmy Buffett into your Bose CD player and let it play.

Life's way too short, enjoy it, if you own only ONE Buffett CD, make it this one!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...