Guitargasm!

A Realization

2007-05-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

I have to say, looking back at the archived posts on this blog, I looked like a real fool back when "Robotron2084" and "Count Smackula" were prancing around. Here I've been, the entire time, writing fawning, sycophantic album reviews and dealing in non sequiturs. I admit it, there ain't no such thing as objectivity and Led Zeppelin IV is at best, a mediocre record about dwarves and dragons, and at worst, a terrible record about Robert Plant's penis.

A Different Breed of Album Review

2007-05-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

Nirvana – In Utero

I’ll give Kurt Cobain credit for one thing – he didn’t try to make another Nevermind. The other predictable response would have been to make an artsy, pretentious record – he didn’t do that either. What he did do was make an album of grunge sludge where the hooks sink into the morass of detuned guitars and banshee howls. But it works mostly – the lyrics are direct and painful, the songs are still well-written, if lacking in the inescapable pop hooks of the album’s predecessor. Still, with only two outstanding tracks (the spiraling “Heart-Shaped Box” and the closer “All Apologies”), and too many slowed-down Nevermind retreads (“Rape Me,” “Dumb”), In Utero will only work for you if you really empathize with Cobain – personally, it ain’t my cup of (pennyroyal) tea.

7.7

Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

Of Montreal are polished purveyors of pop, there’s no doubt about that. They’ve updated the British pop sound of the 60s, with lush waves of electronics sparked with quirky rhythms and polyester sass. Word is that this is a break-up album, but apart from the 11-minute centerpiece “The Past is a Grotesque Animal,” the lyrics are too self-consciously clever to garner any real emotion. Therefore, I judge this album based on its hooks and according to my ear, the second half of the album has plenty of pomp, but drifts by without any really memorable melodies. After the emotional outburst of TPIAGA (fucking song titles) – Kevin Barnes and co. sound positively drained. Still, kudos to the first six tracks, especially the wondrous “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger” – now there’s a hook.

7.2

Wilco – Summerteeth

On this record, Wilco master the art of sounding like a great fucking pop band. Witness a song like “ELT” with keyboard lines straight from the heavens and the energy of a band that has mastered the art of rocking. Tracks like “She’s a Jar” do Brian Wilson proud by taking plaintive singer/songwriter tunes and twisting them inside out with haunting synthesizers and offbeat structures. We also get the anthemic side of Wilco with the opening rocker “Can’t Stand It” and the simple, but dreamy “I’m Always in Love,” built around another winner of a synth line. Wilco successfully integrates their alt-country sound with the ambitions of a Brian Wilson here – melding electronic soundscapes with Jeff Tweedy’s requisite honesty and directness. I’ll admit not all their songs live up to the sublime bliss of their arrangements, especially on the second half, but it’s still a worthy record.

8.8

Speaking of Ween

2006-11-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

GodWeenSatan: The Oneness is thought of as a bad album by some of my closest friends and other people I respect. Do they hear the same things I hear? Sure it's incredibly obnoxious, but how can one deny the art and feeling behind the music? Criticize it for being too sprawling, but don't ignore the positives altogether. I was intrigued by this album right away, intrigued by the band's unparalleled ability to turn the stupidest songs in the world into the best. Moreover, the position that Ween would be better if they weren't fucking around all the time is the position of someone who should stop listening to Ween. If they weren't fucking around, they'd just be Paul McCartney. What matters is their ability to bring something new, something interesting to the 1990s, and I'm convinced they did that with this album.
As far as I'm concerned, the first 15 minutes of this album are flawless. The most famous track on the album might be "You Fucked Up." What other band opens their hearts to the world by deliriously screaming "You fucked up, you stupid Nazi whore?" The screams Gene Ween emits (or is it Dean?) actually convey the intensity dozens of rock bands have tried for and failed. The irony is that Ween is parodying hardcore music, but in so doing, their instinctive grasp of art turn their parody into something that eclipses the genre from which it comes. The songs that follow immediately are no let down, if bizarre. "Tick" alternates between a snappy pop number and more frenzied screaming. The result: the catchiest song I've ever heard. From there, Ween hit up bebop, grunge, and whatever the fuck they want ("I'm in the Mood to Move"). In so doing, they make me grateful that the guitar is their primary choice of rock instrument. No flashy solos, but the perfect supplementary parts are chosen in every case. See the ringing guitar that comes in halfway through "Cold and Wet."
Just when you don't know what to think, Ween gives a glimpse to the other side with "Don't Laugh (I Love You)." Sung in an annoying high-pitched voice, it also happens to be a perfect pop song, and when they reach the obligatory guitar solo, and instead sing the solo in a guitar-like style, what should be an annoying vocal effect reaches through to my soul. Ween may seem unfocused and juvenile, but through the entire record, they hold a few things constant, great songwriting, a mastery of form, and most importantly, heart. Ween have a better approximation of heart than most groups. They don't wear it on their sleeve, they keep it under their ribcage where it belongs.
I'll admit, the album isn't totally consistent, but I don't care all that much, since they would go on to make albums that were consistent. I could say a lot more about the album, since it features two 9-minute songs that show that you can use one musical idea for a long song and get away with it. All you need is a vocalist and guitarist who don't know how to repeat themselves. And oh yeah, a vocalist and guitarist who are the best melody-writers since the Beatles. See the devastating "Birthday Boy," featuring the rarity of rarities, a sincere vocal delivery. But maybe more importantly, it's got a melody that tore my heart in two the first time I heard it. I still haven't stopped crying inside. And I'll never stop loving this album.

New News!

2006-10-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

a foul gem discovered on Amazon.com -- a Jim DeRogatis review!

Amazon.com
Those of us who worship at the Church of Ween (Hail to the great god Boognish!) know that skinny blond twerp Beck stole his whole shtick from New Jersey musical geniuses Dean and Gene. Always ahead of their time, the brothers Ween have responded by abandoning their traditional lo-fi four-track recording methods and giving us their lushest album yet, Chocolate and Cheese. Not that Ween's fourth effort is polished; that adjective could never describe an album that veers wildly from acoustic Mexican folk songs, to pure '70s disco, to the appropriately named single, "I Can't Put My Finger On It." But Chocolate and Cheese may come even closer than "Push Th' Little Daisies" to fulfilling Dean's goal of establishing Ween as the next Counting Crows. --Jim DeRogatis

Don't Drive Drunk

2006-01-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

No don't drive drunk
Don't drive drunk, no
Don't drive drunk
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers are mad!!!

Marquee Moon

2006-01-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how much I have to add to the Marquee Moon fellatio-fest, for what is my tongue worth really? It's pretty short and non-descript. But the hype is pretty well-founded as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure if it's necessarily one of my all-time favorite albums, which requires more months to decide and is also a more arbitrary selection. I am sure that this is the rare album where every track is really damn good, the rare album where almost nothing rubs the wrong way, where things seem almost flawless. This is indie before indie. Even though I try to make breathless proclamations like that R.E.M.'s Murmur was the first 'indie' album, it was really probably the Velvet Underground or someone like that. But at any rate, Television also falls into that 'indie before indie' vein, especially given their influence on the 107.1 playlist, an influence that seems even more pronounced than VU or REM's.
For those who don't know, Television was a 'post-punk' group who released two albums or so, and broke up, because they were never able to hit it big on radio. At any rate, like the VU's debut album, Marquee Moon, Television's debut, over time picked up a critical audience, picked up indie cred, and by now, you will see nothing below a 5-star review for it.
And unlike some sacred cows, I can't help feeling that it deserves all its praise. What's most often noted is its guitar work, and yeah, it's pretty much the best guitar album I've ever heard, although I'm just throwing praise around emptily. I haven't actually considered what albums I have that would rival it in guitarwork. Anyways, two guitarists, one to play rhythm, one to play lead, both on electric, and every song has riffs that grab you right away, but most impressively, soloes that mean something, that set mood, that build, that just don't wank around. Better yet, the guitar work is complementary, not the main focus. Each song is tightly-written, all with moments of introspective lyrical beauty. The album gets under your skin immediately with three thrilling, fast-paced rockers, but over the second half of the album, the mood becomes more slow and depressed, allowing Television to prove that they could write expert ballads ("Guiding Light," "Torn Curtain") as well as they could handle a jagged up-tempo number ("Friction").
The centerpiece of the album is its title track, which some have labeled one of the 10 or 20 best songs ever written. I don't know if I would go that far in the hype, although we'll see where I rank it whenever I get around to doing a Top 100 songs list again. It starts out in similar fashion to the fast songs, but moves at a much slower pace. Weirdly, this approach doesn't work on me quite as well as any of the other songs, although the melodies and riffs certainly aren't any less lacking. I'm just not as big a fan of the slowed-down rock song that isn't a ballad, but isn't the same thing as a balls-out rock song either. Whatever little criticisms I might have though are indeed wiped away by the solo section of the song. This is the one time where Television lets the solo dominate the song, as indeed, guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd solo for some five minutes. And yet, it's completely encapsulating. They use distortion at all the right moments, and Verlaine unleashes a solo that never stops building in intensity, as Lloyd and the rhythm section play louder and more frenzied. It hits its culmination with a thunderous riff, and then the band achieves a moment of utter majesty. The guitars fade away, pianos play softly in the background, and some instrument, maybe Verlaine's guitar, plays the most beautiful notes. It's maybe just two notes at a time, but even the sound itself is gorgeous. I guess what I'm saying is that about.com needs to revise their top 100 guitar soloes list and put this on there, and probably pretty damn high. To compare to another long solo, I think it makes "Freebird" look like a joke, and that was like #2 or #3 on about.com's list.
If you want some flaws in this album, there are a few, but you can find a flaw with anything. Each song does pretty much have the same structure, and although they keep things fresh with consistently great songwriting, Television definitely lacks in diversity. I feel like they use the same chord changes to switch to the pre-chorus buildup and to the chorus in just about every song, although it doesn't really bother me. Also, some people have criticized Tom Verlaine's singing voice, as he does sound fairly whiny, but I dig it. Sincerity matters more than skill, and his voice is hardly unlistenable. I will also allow that their choruses are just excuses to get back into riffing again, but sometimes that works really well, like on "See No Evil." All minor flaws, with songs so good, so basically, this is a great album, and highly recommended.

Postscript:
Should I do album ratings again? I'm torn. I don't even know what scale I would use. Definitely not the 15 scale, because I have no idea how to assign 14's and 15's. Marquee Moon is an obvious 5 star album, but that only makes it an obvious 13 on the 15 scale, and I have a terrible time deciding which 5-star albums are better than the others. I almost wouldn't mind a letter grading system. On the other hand, I wouldn't want the rating to dominate the review, but that assumes that I write anything worth reading to begin with.

Grace

2006-01-09T00:14:00.000-08:00

At 1:30 this morning, I decided to revisit Jeff Buckley's Grace, the defining album of a good year of my life back in high school; my sophomore year I believe. It was one of the big transitional records for me in terms of expanding my musical palette and not just listening to the same old 90's alternative retreads. However, when certain reviewing criteria became imprinted in my brain, I found myself dismissing the emotional charms of this album because I reasoned that when you got down to it, the album consisted of a bunch of slow, hookless songs that all kind of sounded the same. Well, I think I was wrong. Anyways, a review:

All great albums need a certain unquantifiable 'artistic vision'. Most albums have a generic sound, and other albums try to rebel against the status quo and fall flat on their faces. A good album will have at the least its own personality whereas a great album will have its own vision. Jeff Buckley's Grace very obviously has its own personality. If one tried to describe it, one would have a hard time pointing to a genre it was supposed to fit into. To a lot of people, it will sound like dull, meandering music, which in a certain sense it is. A lot of the album is based around pretty ballads that don't have any particular melody, forcing the listener to be enthralled by Buckley's voice and lyrics, or else suffocate from the boredom. Yet right away this initial description leaves a lot out of the picture. Jeff Buckley, as a songwriter, favored a sort of spontaneous catharsis, preferring to utilize a lot of heavy dynamic shifts. The ethereal backing on some of the songs suddenly gives way into a louder, rocking sound as Buckley moves from a whisper to a fiery wail. At this point, the genre is impossible to discern. Grace falls into the rock category somewhere, with its emphasis on intricate guitar lines, but moves everywhere from an atonal detuned guitar section in "So Real" to a cover of a 50's pop standard ("Lilac Wine"), while still sort of sounding the same.
Being so hard to mark down, Grace has personality, which is the first step towards a great album. However, Jeff Buckley (who drowned before releasing a 2nd album) did not secure a lasting legacy because of an album where he took a big first step towards being great. He commands a fawning fanbase of rock critics because this one album was indeed a great one. Why great? Because it manages to succeed without any hooks, any pop trappings. The melodies are not the point; Buckley's songwriting is based strictly around the ebb and flow of the song. He often eschews traditional song structure, following whatever the hell pattern he feels like. What results is that most of the songs on the album contain something intangibly magical; at least one sublime moment that suddenly transforms a boring love song into an emotional tour de force. Maybe it's the voice, as Buckley was a vocal talent without peer. Listen to "Lilac Wine," where he captures raw emotion in each note, taking his beautiful, but unsettling voice to new heights. Maybe it's the lyrics, which are fairly poetic, and tell the same old broken-heart stories in fresh ways. Most likely though, it appears that Buckley just had an inner sense that told him when (and how) to raise and diffuse the tension of a song, building things up to create masterpieces of mood, to capture the spontaneous catharsis that he had envisioned. And it is this vision that makesGrace a great album, even if the second half is weaker than the first, even if all the songs do kind of sound the same. It comes across beautifully on its own terms, and there's not too much more to ask for besides that.

Scandalous

2005-12-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

So with the beautiful thing that is iTunes music sharing, I have had the "pleasure" of listening to two fairly popular modern albums, thus making me "cool" and "hip." I will also use totally arbitrary "star" (out of five) ratings, thus making me ridiculous.

The Killers- Hot Fuss

You know, apparently someone makes shirts that say "Ms. Brightside" or something. That should tell me something, but it doesn't really. The Killers hooks are engaging in the sense that beach novels are engaging. Not teasing us with hints of greatness. Just some decent, poppy hooks that strut like a twelve-year old does- too much ego, and not well-deserved. The music's fairly catchy, but when trying to recall songs, they all blend together. Hot Fuss's texture is too consistent, dulling my senses, lacking sufficient awesomeness to really captivate my attention. But at least it's better than Weezer. (2.05/5)

Coldplay- X&Y

At least they lasted two albums until they sold out. Oh wait... Coldplay are deliberately and consciously trying to shed their modest, nice guy appearance. This album shows my darling Chris and the boys donning sunglasses, slicking back their hair, and turning on the bright lights. Problem is, the transition doesn't really work. After several listens, I find myself more than happy to get the album over with. The wholesomeness, purity, and touch of innocence that graced Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head have gone the way of the cute attempts at getting interesting guitar textures. Out of Coldplay's sound. Speed of Sound is an inferior Clocks. This is Coldplay's equivalent of U2's October. It's not really offensive, and still kicks the crap out of Maroon 5 or whatever the kids are listening to these days. I can only hope that there will be analogues to War and The Joshua Tree to come. (2.35/5)

On Ben Folds: I don't get the attraction of this guy. U2 were blowing their collective wads on every song on their debut, Boy, but Ben Folds trumps their ego and pretension. Everything oversung, as if every song has to both open and close a concert. And if we look past the bombast, we really don't find anything very useful. If "Rockin' the Suburbs" is intended as a hillarious, self-depreiciating, ironic blast of social commentary it doesn't work. It just sounds like a particularly egregious amount of wanking. (Ben Folds gets a 1.35/5 official rating)
(On wanking: Personally, I don't have much of a problem in principle with two-minute guitar solos or a sea of reverb. But without much good stuff to deal with, long solos and studio tricks are wasted.)

---

Point the Second: I really feel I lack Jerry's ability to make serious comparisons across the genres, specifically between "rock" and "classical." How am I supposed to compare Abbey Road to Dvorak's 9th? The ways I think about the two genres are too separate for me. I mean, if you put a gun to my head, I would say that I think that Radiohead's Kid A is about as good as Beethoven's 6th Symphony, but I can't make any comparisons.

Also, U2's "All Along the Watchtower" kinda sucks (Unabashed ego without Eno saving their behinds). But this is what comes from having Hendrix's tantalizing version.

The Top 100 Songs, Part Five

2005-12-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

Amazingly, I actually finished. I'm reasonably satisfied with the list, I suppose. There were some surprises, which is interesting, because can I ever really surprise myself? I guess I can because there were certain songs I expected to be in my top 5 that didn't quite hold up to such a high standard, and others that hit me fresh and supple, like a newborn calf.

The Final List:

20. "Moonage Daydream"-David Bowie

I feel that maybe the bottom of my top 20 is a little weak. "Moonage Daydream" is a great song, but I'm not sure it deserved to make it this high, especially looking at the run of songs between 21 and 26, almost all of which are probably better. The point of the story is that I feel differently on different nights, and some part of me saw "Moonage" as being above songs 21-100.

19. "Perfect Circle"-R.E.M.

Same goes for "Perfect Circle," which isn't really much better than "Pilgrimage" or "Talk About the Passion" on Murmur, two songs that I unfortunately had to omit to keep within my 5 songs/band rule. (And I was still overconcentrated in a handful of bands! It could have been a lot worse if I had gone with my actual preferences in all cases...) A top 30 song, sure, but I don't feel totally great about it winding up in my top 20.

18. "All Things Must Pass"-George Harrison

Enough second-guessing myself. Although I'm not totally certain that this is the best track on the album of the same name, it's a momentous album, filled with hugely cathartic songs. This gets the edge into the top 20 because I thought enough of the lyrics to quote them in my Senior Quotes. That means a lot, man, a lot.

17. "Let Down"-Radiohead

So far, it's been a lot of vapid commentary, and I haven't been talking much about the songs. "Let Down" is worth talking about, I suppose. It's subtly great, but the more I think about it, the more this stands out as clearly the best track on OK Computer. A great melody, but has a lot of layers, and most importantly, builds ecstatically and elegantly, culminating in a mind-blowing harmony.

16. "Rock n' Roll Suicide"-David Bowie

Starts out as a harmless acoustic ballad, but quickly balloons into the shortest epic you'll ever hear. At 3 minutes or so, it's an extremely gripping listen, slapping you in the face and leaving you wanting more.

15. "Mother"-John Lennon

Here is a song that is actually painful to listen to. It's achingly slow, depressing, and ends with Lennon showing off what he learned in 'primal scream' therapy. In other words, an emotional tour de force! Bravo, John John.

14. "Too Shy to Say"-Stevie Wonder

Arguably not as well-written or memorable as a lot of the other songs in the top 20, although there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's just not the sort of song that makes most people sit up and take notice. But this is about personal preference, and how can I deny the power of a song that has made me weep? Deceptively simple and totally disarming, Wonder just kills here.

13. "Sweet Child O' Mine"-Guns n' Roses

Here is a pretty well-known classic. I would imagine most people could predict that I might put this song on here. And why the hell not? It's just a little too bombastic to make the top 10, but otherwise it's a perfectly constructed power ballad, and one that leaves me with a lot of sappy memories.

12. "Here Comes the Sun"-The Beatles

Another entry is the "Makes me cry" sweepstakes, I never gave full credit in my head to this song, but it really is a wondrous number. I kept predicting that I would certainly cry when I heard it at graduation, but that didn't happen at all. I guess I had other things on my mind. The last gasp of George Harrison on this list, and proof that he wrote a lot of great ones.

11. "If I Was Your Girlfriend"-Prince

How far can a song based on a gimmick go? The gimmick, of course, is that Prince distorts his voice to make it sound feminine (yes, it's not a huge difference), and sings from the perspective of a woman. What's amazing is how well it's pulled off. What results is a creepy, harrowing song that's also touching and brilliantly-executed. I even get goosebumps at the spoken-word part at the end.

10. "Knocks Me Off My Feet"-Stevie Wonder

This is a song that should be a well-known American classic. Maybe it just wasn't released as a single, but of all the vaguely obscure songs on my list, this is one where I really don't feel like I'm stepping out of line. Just a quintessential love song.

9. "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)"-The Beach Boys

Another song to give you Gooooosebumps! Yeah, I think is Brian Wilson's masterpiece. It's just a short ballad, but one with an amazingly dark atmosphere, piercing harmonies, and a simple, but entrancing message.

8. "November Rain"-Guns n' Roses

I had initially projected this song to finish #2 in my rankings. However, when I listened to it last night, it didn't hit me the way it normally does. Maybe I was just in a bad mood, but for once in my life, it seemed a little fake. I still think this is the perfect epic, and the guitar solo always blows my mind. Very labored and elaborate, but it's a perfect song, man. How much can the pretentiousness really hurt it?

7. "When Doves Cry"-Prince and the Revolution

It has no bassline. I think that's about all I need to say.

6. "Layla"-Derek and the Dominoes

Another song that fell, albeit slightly. This was the rare song that I was totally captivated by on first listen. Ultimately a little too disjointed to crack the top 5, perhaps. But god, life is all about that guitar riff. That sounds like a Rob Sheffield-ism, shit. I better watch myself. I knew I shouldn't have been flipping through my Rolling Stone album guide over Thanksgiving.

5. "Losing My Religion"-R.E.M.

Here is a song that surprised me. I've loved this song forever, but recently, I had gotten a little bored with it, since at its core, its just a cute little four minute jangly pop song. But listening earlier today brought all the emotions back. As someone who's always been captivated by Michael Stipe's presence, this is a song where the emotion grabs me entirely, and the lyrics just slay me.

4. "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands"-Bob Dylan

So slow, so monotonous, so repetitive, this song is 11 minutes long, and repeates the same verse over and over again, yet if I considered just the best five minutes of this song, maybe it finishes #1. Dylan was probably the ultimate songwriter in a certain sense, and this is probably the most emotional song I know of. It has an amazing melody, but I'm not even sure if that's the point. It's all the singing, the love.

3. "Bohemian Rhapsody"-Queen

There's just something about that first half of this song. It might be my favorite slow song ever, just that part. Maybe the second half is a little bit of a letdown after that, but it's a minuscule letdown. This song defined at least 3 years of my life, and when I was 10, I would listen to it for hours over and over again, and I hate listening to the same song twice in a row. I thought it could never be unseated as my #1 song, although as you can tell, it eventually was. It still holds a lot of weight with me, and what can I say, even with the nonsense-part, which I do find ingenious, it's emotional.

2. "Love Reign O'er Me"-The Who

I wrote a review of Quadrophenia in my reading journal for Ms. Linder last year. In it, I said that this song came achingly close to being the greatest song of all time, which it clearly was trying to be. Ultimately, though, I reasoned that the godly bridge needed to climax in something a little more potent than a nice guitar solo and a heart-rending final run through the chorus. It's nit-picking, but the song is just a little anticlimactic. The build-up is unforgettable though, and the key change at the bridge always gets to me. Every time I sit down at the piano, I try to remember what notes are in the key of D-minor and I try to play the raining intro to this song. I never get it though.

1. "A Day in the Life"-The Beatles

To some of you who have talked to me about this song, this won't be a surprise. Naturally, I considered unseating this song, which I had held in the back of my mind as being the greatest song of all time all along. But to me, it's clearly better than all of the other songs on this list, much as I would love to go with the surprise choice. The only thing that's in its league is the Kyrie from Mozart's Requiem. It is the perfect song, and not only is each part perfectly-written, but each section has that intangible 'something extra,' from the cryptic lyrics, to the thrilling string sections, to the best part of all, where McCartney "goes into a dream", and Lennon wails over the pounding orchestra.

There we have it!

The Top 100 Songs, Part Four

2005-11-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well, this was a relatively short break between sections for once. In fact, I could have had this list up five days ago, since I've had the ranking ready for some time. My initial plan was to put off posting for a day so I would have a chance to look over it and make revisions, just like how English teachers recommend that you look over your completed papers at a later time. However, it took me awhile to get around looking over the list again, and when I did, I admit to making only one change. It was a big one, though! I dropped a song twelve places, when I realized it looked ridiculous to be ranking it ahead of so many classics. I'm happy with my list in terms of prioritizing my own tastes, but especially this high up, the songs are intensely concentrated in a handful of artists. Unfortunately, it's not in my means to get around this dilemma at this point. Thus, the initial impetus to do this ranking annually.
In other news, I purged the comment spammers from this blog. They all stemmed from scottmagill.com, so I went to the site, and I have to say, Scott Magill has an amazing knack for writing grotesquely bad lyrics.
One day I was walking, walking down the street
I thought to myself this would be so so sweet
So I took a deep breath and released it into the air
I looked at the world and I had no fear
I am flying high, really high tonight
And I don't know if it is because everything feels so right
---Scott Magill, "Never Change"
Verily, I have never heard the accompanying music, but I have strong suspicions that his work would belong on the opposite of this list! Now making a list of 100 worst songs would be an even more ambitious project, I have to say. I don't have the worst songs I know of lying around on CD, like I do with my best songs.
At any rate,
THE LIST:

40. “Fire”-The Jimi Hendrix Experience
This is supposed to be a lesser single compared to "Purple Haze," but Hendrix was never able to live up to the sheer energy of this song.

39. “Stairway to Heaven”-Led Zeppelin
I'm sure my loyal readers will give me shit for this, but I think it's worthy of some admiration. It's definitely overrated, but it's well-constructed in all parts, and as you will find out, I'm a huge sucker for epic songs.

38. “Roundabout”-Yes
However, this is a superior epic to "Stairway to Heaven" for certain. It's not as focused, but at least it's not actively trying to be the greatest song ever. All it has is the sickest keyboard jam ever. Thanks, Rick Wakeman!

37. “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”-Bob Dylan
The third epic in a row, although half of Dylan's songs are epics, I suppose. This song is quintessential peak Dylan, emphasizing all his strong sides, and with appealing melodies to make it one of his best.

36. “Pink Cigarette”-Mr. Bungle
This was actually the song that inspired my top 100. I was listening to California at 1 am and I thought, "Man, what a classic song." This is actually a ballad, and not near as avant-garde as almost all of their other songs, but it has such a melody and ingenious build-up that I still rank it as their best.

35. “Tomorrow Never Knows”-The Beatles
How far can a song based on backwards tape loops and cries of birds go? I'll tell you, screeching birds are way more cathartic than you could ever imagine. I always insist that this song is the rare aural recreation of a drug trip, except I don't actually know what I'm talking about.

34. “You are the Sunshine of my Life”-Wonder
This is an all-time great singalong. A good example of Wonder's melodic skills and his unique voice. Mostly ranked this high since I spent all summer singing it in the shower.

33. “Last Goodbye”-Buckley
I'm not near as high on Jeff Buckley when I was three years ago, when Grace was easily my favorite album ever. Then again, I was comparing it to the collected works of Live and Our Lady Peace, so maybe that wasn't such a great distinction. However, although this song is a little too slowly-paced, like most of his work, it moves through various sections excellently, eschewing a chorus, and of course, it has Jeff fucking Buckley singing, and even if I sometimes question his songwriting skills, he's still my favorite singer ever.

32. “God Only Knows”-The Beach Boys
An obvious Beach Boys classic, and worth the acclaim it gets. Perfect melodies and harmonies, and a unique approach, which is what I look for this high in the list.

31. “Somebody to Love”-Queen
Probably the best testament to Freddie Mercury's vocal acrobatics. Carried along propulsively by a call-and-response melody, it reaches startling heights in its mid-section with Mercury's frenetic improvisations.

30. “Isn’t She Lovely”-Wonder
For my money, Stevie Wonder is the best harmonica player I've ever heard. He may have been blind, but he sure did play a lot of instruments, and most of them he played well. I bring this up, because the bulk of this song is a four-minute harmonica solo, with plenty of ingenious melodic improvisations. He starts with the main theme, and then, jazz-style, he re-works the melody again and again over the same set of chord changes, sometimes paraphrasing, sometimes creating whole new melodies, and it all goes off excellently. It's one of those passages of music that I find myself humming again and again and again. He's got excellent tone and pitch control, too.

29. “Who Is It”-Michael Jackson
This is the sort of choice that makes me wonder if I'm stepping way out of bounds, but I think this is certainly the lost Michael Jackson classic, one of the few songs in his catalog that transcends pop to become emotionally resonant. Maybe it's just Mark and I, but it seems like a convincing, haunting epic to me. Plus, it's been one of my favorites since childhood. You can't account for nostalgia!

28. “One”-U2
U2 was nothing if not a great singles band, and even if Achtung Baby was inconsistent, despite the critical acclaim it received, "One" is one of the few classic ballads of the 1990's. I even adore Bono's lyrics here, especially in the bridge.

27. “Suffragette City”-Bowie
One of the three great songs that propel Ziggy Stardust into the upper echelon of classic albums, "Suffragette City" is the ultimate glam-rocker. (I suppose I overuse phrases like 'ultimate' and 'all-time great' in this list, but isn't that what it's for?) Notorious for its false ending, it's also got the rare drive and energy of the best pure rock songs.

26. “Baba O’Riley”-The Who
This is actually a perfect song, I think. It doesn't quite touch me enough to be ranked higher, but I can't find any faults with it. It's unique, melodic, and has an awesome violin solo by Keith Moon. Not to mention the synth loop intro, which proves that synthesizers were awesome, at least in moderation.

25. “Something”-The Beatles
George Harrison may have been the third songwriter in the Beatles, but you'll find more of his compositions in my top 25 than of Lennon/McCartney. In my "Nowhere Man" commentary, I pointed out that I often got the feeling that the Beatles were very detached and bored with their work. Maybe it was just their vocal style, but since I'm a lover of vocals first and foremost, all that is important to me. At any rate, a great Harrison song is often better than a great Lennon/McCartney song in my mind, because I definitely feel the pain in his work, and I hear the emotion in his voice when he sings. I definitely do not consider Harrison to be a better songwriter than either Lennon or McCartney, since even if his peak is arguably higher, he simply did not write near as many classics as either of them. But he's closer than most people think.

24. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”-U2
It's hard to pick the best U2 single, especially to represent the opening three songs of The Joshua Tree, which could be the best opening trio to any album ever. Seriously, I don't even like any U2 album all the way through, and I'm willing to hyperbolize like that. I guess this song gets the edge because of nostalgia again. I've loved this song forever, even if my misunderstood version of the lyrics happens to be better than what Bono actually sings. Seriously, "burning inside her" is way better than "burning desire" and you know it.

23. “Leave”-REM
In all honesty, I should be flayed for putting this song so high. I just can't escape R.E.M's unique emotional hold over me, and this is one of their most unique songs, which I always appreciate. Minimalistic, except for a wailing police siren, and seven minutes long, this is all about mood, atmosphere, vocals. It just kills me to hear it though, just makes me want to cry. And I like that in songs. I admire the song which has the power to move me so. That will become ever more apparent as I move into the top 20.

22. “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”-Buckley
The centerpiece of Grace, I will fully admit the first half of the song can seem achingly slow at sometimes, although the chorus is pretty hard-hitting, and the verses are quite delicate. The second half is all money, though, as Buckley goes for the dramatic ending, as he is wont to do, and totally nails it. This has its flaws, but even taking those into account, it used to be my favorite song of all time, so it does deserve to be ranked this highly.

21. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”-The Beatles
See, I proved my point. I didn't even remember that I had ranked this song here when I mentioned how I had so many Harrison songs in my top 25. This is even better than "Something," because even beyond Harrison's bleeding vocals, it has the famous Clapton guitar solo, which is everything it's cracked up to be. Great fade-out too, with Clapton playing riffs over Harrison's anguished wails. Bleeding vocals, anguished wails, guitar soloes, all that is enough to close out this section of the list in grand fashion. Hopefully 1-20 will be out soon, although this section was more exhausting than any of the previous three, meaning 1-20 will surely be the toughest of all. I should be done by the end of Thanksgiving break, though.

The Top 100 Songs, Part Three

2005-11-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

God, why is this taking me months to finish? Good thing I started early. At any rate, I have finally gotten off my apathetic ass, and produced #60-41. I'd like to say that #40-21 would be out shortly, since I'm raring to get started on it, but unfortunately, I don't trust myself.
The thought I have with this batch of songs is that I'm finally starting to delve into some music that just floors me. And it only gets better from here! I'm excited.

60. "The Beautiful Ones"-Prince

This is a tough one, because it certainly could rate higher, but also lower. It's a decent R&B ballad for 4 minutes, but hardly good enough to breach this list. However, Prince puts on one of the finest vocals these old ears will ever hear at the song's climax, with heart-rending screams galore. As one of my favorite moments of music, it's enough to put the song fairly higher, and it makes the early part seem much more haunting as well.

59. "Cygnus Vismund Cygnus"-The Mars Volta

Another tough one, because I absolutely love the chorus and the frenetic build of this song, not to mention the screams at the end. I'm a sucker for falsettoes, I admit it. At any rate, this song is also 4 or 5 minutes too long, but I still love it endlessly.

58. "You Shook Me All Night Long"-AC/DC

I hate to be so generic, but this is just one beautifully-crafted single. Perfect hooks and everything!

57. "Behind Blue Eyes"-The Who

Damn, man. Fighting cliche is like fighting AIDS! Oh well. I find this to be a rather effective ballad from the Who, with one of the ultimate sing-along choruses. Not good enough to avoid being terrible when Limp Bizkit covered it, but is anything?

56. "Wouldn't It Be Nice"-The Beach Boys

Proves that the Beach Boys were at least equal to the Beatles in terms of sheer, sunny melodicism. Buoyant and carefree, and with subtly scandalous lyrics!

55. "Heaven and Hell"-The Who

I choose this more as a track to represent the glory of the Who live, particularly at Leeds. No studio album could match the sheer energy of this track, and Pete Townshend never lived up to the scorching guitar soloes he puts down here.

54. "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)"-The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Part of the jaw-dropping "Rainy Day, Dream Away" suite on Electric Ladyland, this track proves that Hendrix could do more than just write great guitar riffs, although this song certainly has a great guitar riff. It mostly succeeds on mood, atmosphere, and songwriting skills, and showcases well Hendrix's extraterrestrial abilities.

53. "Adore"-Prince

Maybe too long, but the classiest R&B ballad you'll ever hear, and with a killer vocal, like any great Prince song. Makes 90's R&B look shameful in comparison, and features a great shifting song structure.

52. "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare"-Mr. Bungle

Quietly cathartic, this Bungle epic captures them at heights of creativity that few bands can match. Ignoring my breathless hyperbole, it really is hard to imagine any other band getting away with such a potpourri of sounds and bringing it all together into a truly special song.

51. "Heroin"-The Velvet Underground

The best thing I can say about that song is that it makes me feel like I just stuck a needle in my vein. Now that's storytelling for you! (And distorted guitars!)

50. "Shine A Light"-The Rolling Stones

The closest thing to a Rolling Stones power ballad. It works, though, and features a sick guitar solo. Sick! It's just fucking diseased, man.

49. "Billie Jean"-Michael Jackson

I'm convinced that this is the perfect 80's pop single. Works on every level! Multiple melodies, a bass line from Valhalla, I mean, if I'm throwing nonsensical Viking references around, you know it's good!

48. "Love In Vain"-The Rolling Stones

This is actually a Robert Johnson cover. It's probably some sin against blues that I haven't heard the original. I haven't, but I would be amazed if it was better than this version. Perfectly paced, and with a great mandolin solo, of all things.

47. "Nowhere Man"-The Beatles

I have a vague criticism of the Beatles, based in part on this song. Sometimes they have a certain way of sounding very detached, like the vocals are floating above the instruments, and it sounds mechanical, like they knew they were better songwriters than anyone else, so instead of infusing their music with passion and soul, they just lorded it over everyone by churning out melodies like some game. "Nowhere Man" fits into this, and yet... And yet the melody and harmony just slaughters me. I can't stand its brilliance. Maybe I'm copping out. But there's no reason for me to dislike the Beatles just because everyone likes them, much as I'd like to be the guy who comes up with a good explanation for why they're not so great. In the end, I have to go with my gut, and my gut says that the Beatles are unrivalled in rock music.

46. "Wah-Wah"-George Harrison

To think, George Harrison was the #3 starter for the Beatles. This track is a gorgeous example of Phil Spector production at its best; with a dense wall of sound that's also intricate and complex.

45. "Paranoid Android"-Radiohead

A muscular rock epic better than most of its 70's counterparts; Radiohead really had reached rarefied air in the mid 1990's. Has all of the sections I want in a song; fast and unsettling, solid guitar solo, slow and cathartic.

44. "Tumbling Dice"-The Rolling Stones

This is sort of a left-field choice, but I never really played much baseball. For some reason, the melody just totally grabs me in this song as something really interesting and unique. Maybe it's not the melody, but the vocal style.

43. "'39"-Queen

I don't care if the melody is supposedly poached from an obscure Bob Dylan song, because I've heard the Dylan 'version' and it doesn't really sound that similar. And did Dylan really write great folk melodies like this one? I guess he did, but he didn't exactly make them easy to grasp onto. Written by Brian May, this is a tender song with chilling harmonies by Mercury and the gang.

42. "Strawberry Fields Forever"-The Beatles

A late choice; I couldn't help but defer to the compositional majesty of this song. Goes through a variety of interesting dynamics, and of course, has a great melody, shifting through keys, but also contemplative lyrics.

41. "E-Bow The Letter"-REM

I'm still unsure as to the songwriting merit of this song, but in terms of emotion, REM has a certain hold on my heart. There's something about this song that's just so piercing and cathartic; even if it's practically a rap, with no real melody or song structure. It has a flow all its own, and that's a plus as far as I'm concerned.

Whoo!

The Top 100 Songs, Part Two

2005-10-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I didn't expect there to be a two-week gap between Sections 5 and 4 of the list. But that's the way I am with blogs now, I guess. It's not that I like blogging less, it's that I have an ungodly amount of homework.
But in other news...
This section of the top 100 songs I start to get into the songs that I will defend with all my heart. The last section was a bit of a joke, I admit. I started thinking too much about how it would be much too strenuous to make a serious, well-considered list, and I let my playful side get the best of me. I also started thinking in terms of generic 'classic'-ness, rather than with my emotions. Therefore came the high placements of songs like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Comfortably Numb." I also went totally random in many situations, including such unworthy candidates as "Jump" and "Civil War".
Anyways, on with the list!

80. "All Along the Watchtower"-The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Maybe a generic choice, but this was one of the first songs to get me into classic rock, and it's a great example of concise, effective guitar soloing.

79. "Child in Time"-Deep Purple

A ten-minute epic that holds interest throughout. It's especially potent in its live form, where Ian Gilliam perfectly hits the high notes in the frenzied wailing section, and the band moves masterfully through the jam section.

78. "In Bloom"-Nirvana

I think Nirvana is overrated, of course, but I do love this song. It showcases Cobain's knack for melody that won Nirvana such a huge audience and critical fawning.

77. "Rock With You"-Michael Jackson

It's time to admit that my Michael Jackson bias is one of my strongest biases. I've been listening to him constantly since I was 4. But I do really love this song. It's smooth, supple, and endearing.

76. "Mojo Pin"-Jeff Buckley

Buckley might be the best singer I've ever heard, and the music of "Mojo Pin" lives up to his voice. Also the namesake for my personal blog.

75. "Idiot Wind"-Bob Dylan

More straightforward than his previous work, but amazingly incisive. Harsh and biting, Dylan takes his personal problems and turns them into a larger-than-life epic.

74. "Think About You"-Guns n' Roses

Consensus between certain members of Guitargasm! seems to be that "Think About You" is in fact, the best track on Appetite for Destruction. I would rate it second myself, but who can resist the pop magic of a tune like this one?

73. "Another Star"-Stevie Wonder

Wonder totally owns this song with his passion. It's got a great melody, but the second verse of this song is godly, thanks to his bleeding vocals. Slightly overlong and repetitive, but hits amazing heights.

72. "They Punctured My Yolk"-The Flaming Lips

A slow dirge that builds into emotional crescendo quietly and effectively. It's tender and life-affirming, and stands as the centerpiece of the Lips' best album, Clouds Taste Metallic.

71. "Sweet Charity"-Mr. Bungle

This is probably the coolest song you will ever hear. By cool, I don't mean awesome, but laid-back, stylish, and sophisticated.

70. "(Just Like) Starting Over"-John Lennon

This is probably one of my favorite melodies ever. Only its shallowness keeps it from rising higher.

69. "The Show Must Go On"-Queen

Slightly marred by its cliched lyrics, this song still makes me tear up, knowing that it was written about Freddie Mercury's pending death. Reaches great emotional heights.

68. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"-Michael Jackson

A psycho Michael Jackson epic, even bettering "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." He may have been a pop star, but this song has a unique eccentricity that proves that he was his own man.

67. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"-The Rolling Stones

A proven classic and a well-made epic. Anthemic and hard-hitting.

66. "Gimme Shelter"-The Rolling Stones

Showcases the subtle guitar work of Keith Richards and co., and also wonderfully bolstered by the guest female vocalist.

65. "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man"-Prince

A little long, which seems to be the flaws holding down a lot of songs in this section. However, one of Prince's best pure pop songs, and features a killer guitar solo.

64. "I'd Have You Anytime"-George Harrison

Not particularly better than a lot of tracks on All Things Must Pass, but that only reflects on the greatness of that album. A great opener, displaying the unique emotional presence of Harrison from the first line.

63. "Killer Queen"-Queen

Queen celebrates their pomposity here with a melody to die for, and ridiculous, tongue in cheek lyrics. A song to make you smile.

62. "Creepin'"-Stevie Wonder

This is an underlooked album track; a dreamy ballad that takes my breath away. Also features a concise, but mind-blowing harmonica solo. Oozes melody and emotion.

61. "Fall On Me"-R.E.M.

To conclude this section of the list, I offer "Fall On Me," which has an amazing melodic build like most of the other songs here, but tops them all because of harmony and the humble R.E.M. aesthetic.

The Top 100 Songs, Part One

2005-09-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

Out of sheer ambition and pretense, I will tonight deliver installment 1 of the 1st Annual Jeremiah Methven Top 100 Songs Countdown, Songs #81-#100. Having recently decided that it would be a grand venture to conjure up big rankings of albums and lists annually, I decided now was a good time as any to begin unveiling the list. To keep up the suspense, I still have no idea myself of which songs will occupy positions #1-#80. I have chosen 80 other songs in addition to the 20 presented here, but I decided to weed out the comparatively weaker tunes first, and I will continue in this manner, until I get to #1-#20, at which point the truly arduous decisions will begin.
At any rate, let us begin!

100. "Say My Name"-Destiny's Child

Beyonce may have written a song superior to any God might have given her, but apparently God must not be a good enough songwriter to crack the top 100 whatsoever. For the record, I don't actually think that this is the 100th-greatest song of all time.

99. "Fake Plastic Trees"-Radiohead

Radiohead may have been unpolished on The Bends, but they were still close enough to their musical prime to uncork this gem, a ballad made great with clever use of dynamics, an approach Radiohead would refine to great success on OK Computer.

98. "Welcome to the Jungle"-Guns n' Roses

Emblematic of GnR, but pretty much the same as half a dozen other tracks on Appetite for Destruction. Still, I can never forget my star turn in Andrew Zukoski, Chris Breault, and the inimitable Kangway Chuang's 2005 film masterwork, "GorillaZilla 2".

97. "I'm Not the Man I Used To Be"-Fine Young Cannibals

Yeah, I am putting the Cannibals on this list. FYC is one of the best pop bands ever, and this track proves they could deliver a tender ballad with the best of them.

96. "Jealous Guy"-John Lennon

Lennon wins for the sheer sake of melodic ingenuity.

95. "Leave Me Alone"-Michael Jackson

To think, this was merely a bonus track on Bad. It's still arguably the best track on this album though and has an underrated video as well. A scary pop song.

94. "Femme Fatale"-The Velvet Underground

I always liked the tender REM cover of this track, but the VU version is better, for who am I to resist the German seductions of Nico? Seriously, I dig those cold Germanic vocals.

93. "Everybody Here Wants You"-Jeff Buckley

Jeff died before this track could ever be officially released, but it's a pretty damn good example of what his voice could do.

92. "Eruption"-Van Halen

Everyone's favorite guitargasm! I admire the sheer assholery of this song, especially in its live, six-minute version.

91. "Black"-Pearl Jam

Just to prove I'm hip with the grunge movement. This is actually a hell of a ballad, though; Vedder could at least sing, even if I'm still skeptical about the rest of the band.

90. "Spanish Bombs"-The Clash

Great because it sounds so effortless. Just brilliant songcraft and an epic enough pop song to make the list.

89. "Cicatriz ESP"-The Mars Volta

Slightly wounded by its long middle section of pointless sound effects, but is probably the band's finest hour as instrumentalists, with a mindraping jam right before the sound effects kick is.

88. "Jump"-Van Halen

Van Halen at their most endearing. What kind of man doesn't get a big grin on his face upon hearing the synthesizers start up "Jump"??!

87. "Civil War"-Guns n' Roses

Thanks Paul! Showcases the GnR mastery of the epic ballad at this point, and Slash could carry anything at this point in his career with his soloes.

86. "Comfortably Numb"-Pink Floyd

A generic choice, but I am a generic man. Well maybe I'm not, but I'm still a sucker for that guitar solo.

85. "London Calling"-The Clash

The genericisms are adding up now, but this is one track that gets here primarily on the strength of lyrics, and I'm often guilty of ignoring lyrics. It's got good music too, though. Don't forget that!

84. "Us and Them"-Pink Floyd

Choosing a track from Dark Side of the Moon is a fool's errand. I still did it though! Boo-yeah!

83. "Wild Horses"-The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger did have a romantic side, apparently. That's why he was a great, man! Versatility.

82. "Beat It"-Michael Jackson

Moves up 10 places for me having learned the riff three days ago. Also, the third Van Halen-related song so far. And you won't see any more from here on out. We'll miss you, Eddie.

81. "Everybody Hurts"-REM

And closing out today's installment, a lyrically questionable song. Fortunately, I ignore lyrics if I deem it necessary, and here I deem it necessary, for this is perhaps Michael Stipe's best vocal on record.

My monthly guitargasm

2005-08-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

In truth, my recent fixation with Stevie Wonder inevitably boils down to one album, Fulfillingness' First Finale. Lately, I've been considering what elements go into making my favorite albums. Admittedly, I used to rate albums by starting with the Starostin baseline rating, and deviating a point or two based on whether I liked it or not. For example, Quadrophenia by the Who. I used to give it a 15, because Starostin gave it a 15, and I really liked the album, so I figured it was a good candidate for a 15. Basically, I was extremely hesitant to give perfect scores when there was no precedent for it, even though I was at that point showing my ratings to no one, and only bringing them up in casual conversation. Now Quad is a great album, probably worthy of a 13 or a 14 on my personal scale now, so I don't mean to slight it. But I never should have bestowed the 15 rating upon it, because personally, the overblown aspect of the record does eventually get to me. 80 minutes of horn-dominated arrangements do wear thin after awhile, even with the record's torrent of masterful songs.
Considering this, I realized that my current ideal of an album is one that is great and complex, but is never a chore to listen to, like most of the overblown masterworks (Quadrophenia, Blonde on Blonde, even Wonder's own Songs in the Key of Life). My ideal of an album is one that drifts over me almost effortlessly, latches into my subconscious, smooth and rich, but also deep, with plenty of reasons to listen to it again. It would have to embrace seeming contradictions; namely being both simple and complex.
The closest thing I have to that ideal in the catalog of the twentieth century is Fulfillingness' First Finale. This album is usually overlooked coming in between Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life, given four and a half stars, and dismissed as another 'great Wonder album.' In a way, these throw-away compliments are extremely high praise for Wonder, since critics assume that a great album was par for the course for him at the time. However, I feel that FFF is better than his other albums of the period, and I actually feel that it is significantly better, that his more-acclaimed albums do not really hold up to it at all. See, FFF is simultaneously simple and complex. It gives off a calm, easy-going feel, and is great to listen to from the get-go, yet with each spin, the songs sink more and more into my mind. The more you listen, the more its subtleties are revealed. Gorgeous melodies, innovative bass and drum parts, spirited harmonies, etc. The greatness of the album is that it sounds so easy, so effortless, so humble, yet it is hardly those things at all upon close analysis of the music. FFF is where Wonder finally reached the perfect middle of his ambitions. His other albums sink just a little bit because he tries to get too complex, and occasionally loses his way. Yet FFF is the perfect middle; it is just as complex as his other albums, but more reserved; instead of being a chore to listen to, it puts me into a state of bliss from the beginning of the album.
Like all records, it has its weak points. "They Don't Go When I Go" does suffer from being a little too involved and overblown, and "Bird of Beauty" is pretty much a filler track. However, even these weaker songs are still pretty damn good. And the best material here I find totally cathartic. It's mostly the ballads that kill me. I suppose the other component of my ideal album is that I do tend to favor slow songs as my ultimate favorites. I need the ballads that will totally kill me to listen to, that will make me want to cry tears of joy. The other rock album I gave a 9.5 out of 10 in my recent ratings re-appraisal, the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds is similar to FFF in a lot of these ways. It too, is complex, but comes off utterly humble and simple, making it that much more personal. It too, has a handful of ballads that utterly slay me, led by "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)."
So last night, ruminating on all these things, I listened to FFF again, and it was one of the most rewarding musical experiences I'd had in months, confirming my decisions to give it my highest possible rating. For the record, a 10 is probably impossible. When the third track, "Too Shy To Say," came on I actually started to weep. Yes, I hadn't had enough sleep the night before, which I've found makes me prone to high emotions. But actually weeping upon hearing a song was something new for me. I've cried before when listening to music, but never so much as with that song last night.
The other album I gave a 9.5, Mozart's Requiem, is a different animal altogether, I suppose, not being related to the arc of twentieth-century popular music. It also meets my ideal of an album, although it's another type of ideal which capitalizes on my feelings that there may be nothing more cathartic than hearing a choir sing transcendent music.
I don't write this post as a recommendation of these albums, because I know there's not much chance that one of my friends would be as moved by FFF as I am, thus making discussion of the album with others a disappointment, in the long run. Most consider it to be an excellent album, though, but my opinion that it is one of the main candidates for greatest album of the twentieth century is definitely a minority one. It just strikes me personally, which is the best attribute an album can have. When I buy acclaimed albums, I know that I will probably be fascinated by them, at the least, and really enjoy a lot of the key tracks. But I always hold out hope that each album I buy will turn out to be the next album that resonates with me totally. When I find these albums, I never see it coming, and it becomes one truly tremendous surprise when I realize that I have found another record that will make me unspeakably happy.
Unfortunately, in the past, I've actually lost most of the magic of listening to the old records that used to move me utterly. Jeff Buckley's Grace, The Beatles' Abbey Road; these do not hold the spell over me that they once did. I hope that FFF isn't headed for the same fate; perhaps overexposure dampens my spiritual bonds to a piece of music. Maybe the best recourse is to try not listening to FFF or Pet Sounds for months, and see how I feel later on.

"Mexican Blood" by Thin Lizzy

2005-07-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

She was a mexican girl, she had mexican blood
I seen it the night that she died
She was a mexican girl, she had mexican blood
Oh how she could drive that mexican boy wild

He’s on the run near el paso
And he’ll cross all across america
He’s leaving behind old mexico
And his girl that pretty mexican girl that died

She had mexican blood

He was a mexican boy with a mexican smile
And he drank a little tequila
He was a mexican boy in a mexican town
And oh how he loved his young senorita

Now and then he’d cross the rio grande
And he’d come back a wanted hunted man
And his mexican girl was his mexican prize
And that girl was his girl that pretty mexican girl that died

She had mexican blood

He was a cowboy’s boy and a cowboy’s son
And on his side he had a gun
He was a cowboy’s boy, he was the law
He was out looking for someone

That night he rode into town
The mexican boy tried to gun him down
That’s when his heart broke up inside ’cause lying on the ground
Was his girl that pretty mexican girl, she died

She had mexican blood

He loved her and she loved him
And when he lost her
Oh how it hurt him

He loved her
I seen it the night she died
That’s when he lost her

Now his heart is broken
He loved her and she loved him
And when he lost her he lost everything

HOW DID SHE DIE, GODDAMNIT?

I'm just talking to myself anyways

2005-07-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today I sat through all 76 minutes of The Mars Volta's latest release "Frances the Mute" for my much-hyped 'critical listen.' This critical listen inevitably involves trading in my soul for my anus, eschewing emotion for total and careful scrutiny. I always figured that albums with the ability to stir emotions in me even at my most demanding would have to go down as winners in the best-selling Jeremiah Methven Book of Albums That Are Winners. "Frances the Mute," however, goes in the lesser-known book, the book of albums that contains now just three albums. These three albums are Use Your Illusion One, Use Your Illusion Two, and now Frances the Mute. These are the albums I find to be permanently scarred by their excesses, shaken from having reached the fatal nexus where pretension exceeds the limits of good taste. Hopefully my writing isn't on a collision course for that nexus, but judging by my excessive vocabulary, it probably is!
Anyways, as I have often proclaimed among friends and colleagues, a personally-crafted 40-minute edited version of the 150-minute Use Your Illusion behemoth would be a truly masterful album, one that would get a BIG GOLDEN STAR in the Book of Winners.
Frances the Mute does not quite smack of that unrealized potential in the same way that Use Your Illusion does, because verily, all the great music is already there. Re-making Use Your Illusion would require changes in production, cutting out numerous tracks, tasks more elaborate than what would be required to edit Frances the Mute.
All Frances the Mute needed to be a great album was someone to smuggle a time travel machine into the recording studio, take the Volta back to 1970, and force them to be restricted by the 40 to 45 minute LP running time. Sure, they could have been assholes, and just made a double LP, but I believe that bands were less willing to do that back in the day because a double LP was bound to be scoured by critics and rejected by the public in a way that an 80-minute CD is not. After all, a double album costs double, but an 80-minute CD costs the same as a 40-minute CD!
The Volta crafted five great songs for Frances the Mute with tons of great instrumental passages, bass lines so fast as to give the casual bassist permanent mindfuck, complex and hard to get into, but ultimately enthralling melodies, and of course, the heavy metal god (dess?) vocals of Cedric Bixler-Zavala to top off the pristine seven-layer cake.
Unfortunately half the CD seems to exist only to try and challenge such luminaries as Michael Jackson and Bono as the most pretentious artist (s) on the planet. I think Zuke said something along the lines of "It was alright until the cricket noises" in a heated conversation about the worth of the Mars Volta. Zuke, they're actually the coqui frogs of Puerto Rico, but I suppose you had the right idea either way. I'm not sure who the Volta was trying to impress by dropping their vast gallery of frog noises right in the middle of the album. I suppose the frog noises stand out as the worst example of the pretension on this record, but there is also a lot of pointless jamming.
I even think the Volta could get away with jamming, considering their technical superiority, except that their "jams" often consist of taking away the awesome rhythm section, maybe playing some jagged guitar, but more likely playing random notes on quiet synthesizers and keyboards. I could listen to them rock out forever, yet the longest instrumental passages here are quiet, and without the visceral carnage that they normally churn up, the Volta quickly turn into an aggravatingly mundane avant-garde band.
Hell, I even almost like the lyrics to this album. They still read like Mad Libs played only with SAT vocab words, but as allmusic.com pointed out, there is a strange beauty about them in places.
[insert your own conclusion here; it would just be a pointless re-hash of what I've already said, and besides, I need to go pick up Kirill for some bball!]

The Shifting (Ben) Sands

2005-06-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

With the long-anticipated rebirthing of George Starostin's Rock and Pop Album Reviews, now titled Only Solitaire, I am able to at last make peace with my past, and move Starostin into my growing heap of discarded intellectual idols. Now I see the flaws of his website. There are certainly a lot of positives; he clearly states his tastes, he has detailed, and occasionally interesting reviews of 2065 albums, a nearly mastodonic figure.
I suppose criticizing his tastes isn't a real way to critique his website. No one is going to have the same tastes as me. Perhaps it is just because his tastes are so clearly stated, that they seem foolhardy. On his Stevie Wonder page, the following quote especially irked me:
"When I say that Stevie's melodic skills do not match Lennon's, the meaning is not that Lennon's melodies are more complex - they are not - or more experimental - which they can be sometimes, but that's not often the case. The meaning is that Lennon is able to make a simple-but-great, almost spontaneous, melody, which will overwhelm in an instant without even taking much time to develop it, whereas with Stevie, labour is very much an essential component."
Although he is not totally such a person, this paragraph condemns him as the sort of man who is unwilling to really get into music, who decides for good whether he likes it or not after one listen. I also had a harder time getting into Stevie Wonder than John Lennon. But where most of John Lennon's songs, especially his solo career, wear thin after awhile, Wonder just sounded better and better to me. It should matter not at all how long it took you to like it, but how much you like it, right now, as you write the review.
A proper critique of George Starostin, however, should begin and end with his band rating system. Even to me, the man desperate to quantify all of life with numbers, his band rating system is far too neat and hierarchical to capture the raging tides of artistry, to capture the fluke great album that comes out of a merely good band. The Beatles, the Stones, the Who, and Dylan all get 5's on his system, which does make sense, but only if you're trying to cultivate a museum of rock history. Although I like and respect those four bands/artists, it is surely ridiculous to give 15's to every Beatles album after Revolver, just because they happened upon a style of writing vocal melodies that suits your fancy. All four have made albums that are among my personal favorites (Abbey Road, Let It Bleed, Quadrophenia, Blonde on Blonde), but all four have made albums that I respect, but that I would find better-suited for appreciation in a museum, rather than as the main emotional conduit of my life (Sergeant Pepper's, Beggars' Banquet, Who's Next, Blood on the Tracks). I respect those last four albums, but for whatever subjective reason, I never actually want to listen to them.
And this is ultimately where Starostin's vain attempts for 'objective subjectivity' turn from a positive into a negative. I have come to doubt that his ratings actually correspond with his personal tastes. Sometimes, he accounts for his tastes, by giving Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Police 4's, where most people might not. This is fine, even if I don't agree with giving either of those groups 4's. But most of the time, I think he strives too hard for objective subjectivity, and loses sense of what his gut is telling him, making him just a friendly automaton who happens to spend all his free time writing album reviews. I find it hard to believe that for every band, that he really believes that their album ratings always progress like a bell curve, starting mediocre, working up to their peak, staying there awhile, then going back to mediocre. I find it hard to believe that he really thinks that a 2-star band is incapable of sometimes making an album with a 14 rating. I find it hard to believe that five Beatles albums suit his fancy enough that he gives them all perfect scores, when he only gives 15 out of 2065 albums perfect scores. The Beatles are supposed to be so overwhelmingly amazing that they account for a third of the perfect scores? Maybe drooling airhead fans of bands think this is possible, but for a purported scholar, Starostin should know better.
Having realized the flaws of Starostin, I have realized my own flaws. When I had my own album reviews website, and later, when I just kept tabs of my own ratings on my computer, I too, strove too much for 'objective subjectivity,' ignoring my gut. My ratings were biased towards what other people told me what I should like, not towards what I was thinking. This didn't make a vast difference in rating, since I find critically acclaimed albums usually fall into at least my "I can respect them, if not live by them" category, which is still a solid rating. But my ratings tended to confuse the albums I greatly respected with the albums that I greatly loved.
To some extent, I needed this bias. I needed some guide to help me with my plunge into the wide world of rock music, and whether it was my huge MusicHound Buyers' Guide, or Starostin and the WRC, a lot of people helped shape my record-reviewing perspectives and what I should be really listening for in music. I learned to listen in detail, to unearth great vocal melodies, to understand guitar wizardry, and splendid band interplay.
But now I have finally shook off the influence of these guides, and I think I have become my own man at last. I no longer feel the urge to strive for 'objective subjectivity' in my heart, although I do think it holds some place in album-reviewing. I think the rating should perhaps be more subjective, but the review should be more objective. This way I can give a 14 out of 15 to Stevie Wonder's Fulfillingness' First Finale and say in the review that I totally identify with the vibe and passion of the album, so I will give it a great score, but it is not very diverse, which doesn't bother me, but it could bother you. This way I can give a 13 to Dangerous and talk about I adore the sound and how its a dark trip into the mind of Michael Jackson, but it does have some notable flaws like its long running time, and its McDonalds commercial-style ballads. I've adjusted some of my ratings in my personal file on my computer, and it is nice to see them corresponding better with my emotions.

A post

2005-05-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

Man, Stevie Wonder was almost on to something with his massive 104-minute Songs in the Key of Life album. The first disc is nearly flawlessly constructed; the only problem is that it makes you feel dirty to listen to it, because a lot of it is shameful pop product. There's this thin line between good catchiness and annoying catchiness, and although he comes close to teetering over, he stays on the good side throughout. However, as the disc progresses, one notices a bit of lyrical impotence, the sort of lyrical impotence you might expect from a blind man who grew up as a superstar; a nasty combination that probably prevents Wonder from actually knowing how real people act.

Smokin' cigarettes and writing something nasty on the wall (you nasty boy) Teacher sends you to the principal's office down the wall You grow up and learn that kinda thing ain't right But while you were doin'it-it sure felt outta sight-"I Wish"-Stevie Wonder

Who wants to hear this kind of thing? Not I, said the cow. "I Wish" is devastating musically, even if tarnished by being sampled in Will Smith's "Wild Wild West," but man, did Stevie Wonder even go to school? He had a #1 single at age 6, so I doubt it.
As far as I can tell, though, all the flaws dominate disc 2. I admire Wonder for his consistency, but disc 2 seems like a bit of a shit fest, with the horribly misguided "Black Man" stretching for nearly 9 minutes, and being followed by "Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing," where Wonder proves that yes, he can sing in three languages. Admittedly though, I have a hard time getting past tracks 3-5, and it's supposed to get better after that.

(Teacher: Who was the first american to show the Pilgrims at Plymouth the secrets of survival in the new world?

Children: Squanto - a redman! )-"Black Man"- Stevie Wonder

You know, though, the first disc is damn good. The string pattern of "Village Ghetto Land" brings me to my knees, and "Contusion" is the rare instrumental that works on all levels of pleasure; with catchy riffs, an excellently-managed synthesis of rock and funk, and weird tempoes and time signatures. Also, "Knocks Me Off My Feet" is the rare straightforward love song that turns into a masterpiece.

Revised Perspectives

2005-03-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

So last summer, Zuke was kind enough to burn me three CDs of music that I needed to be introduced to. He and Jerry recieved my initial reactions, many of which were not very favorable. Suffice to say, those feelings have changed a bit. Here's the roundup:

Jimi Hendrix (Purple Haze, Are You Experienced, Spanish Castle Magic, Rain Day Dream Away, All Along the Watchtower): Hendrix is a fantastic, lyrical guitar player and I don't mind his vocal weakness too much. When he's playing actual songs (eg. All Along the Watchtower, the famous Dylan cover), he sounds better than in his "looser" tracks (eg. Rain Day...). Pretty good.

The Who (My Generation, Pinball Wizard, Behind Blue Eyes, Baba O' Reily, I Can See For Miles): Sigh. Keith Moon exploding on drums! Moving bass bits from... uh, Entwhistle was it? My Generation is worth it for the drumming alone, and the vocal harmonics on I Can See For Miles are really awesome. The singer guy does the more biting songs better, I think (over Behind Blue Eyes). Unfortunately, their lyrics hamstring them. Pinball Wizard is a little ridiculous.

The Rolling Stones (Gimme Shelter, Street Fighting Man, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction): Oh dear lord, that singer is grating. And I dislike the guitar tone on Satisfaction. When there are other people singing in addition (Gimme Shelter), they're not so bad. Emotionally inaccessible, to say the least.

Led Zepplin (Good Times Bad Times, Communication Breakdown, Rock + Roll, Stairway to Heaven): Eh, you know, they exist, I guess. Not terribly offensive, but not terribly amazing. Stairway to Heaven is kinda cool, though the singer tries (and fails) to sound really sincere.

Bob Dylan (The Times They Are A'Changing, Like A Rolling Stone, Subterranean Homesick Blues): Ugh. Dylan's voice : My Ears :: Cheese Grater : My Skin. Nasal singer's aren't usually bad. But this, this is ridiculous. He would sound whiny normally, but his lyrics make him sound like The Official Whine-Master. Such ridiculously heavy-handed political sledghammering. Like a Rolling Stone comes across as pretentious moralizing in the worst way (and I sometimes like pretention!). Apologies to Jerry, I guess. His lyrics ARE better than Britney's or System of a Down's, not that that's saying very much.

David Bowie (Space Oddity, Young Americans, Suffragette City, Lady Stardust, Starman, Rock 'N' Roll Suicide): Hmm. Bowie sounds like he's being at least marginally creative with his music, as seen in the rather dark Space Oddity. Unfortunately, what I am sure are brilliant compositions are buried under a repulsive aura of Schmalz. Or being too sing-song-y, like Starman. Feh. His voice isn't that bad.

The Beatles (Back in the USSR, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Come Together, Eleanor Rigby): Back in the USSR is great fun, though I really wish they'd bend the bluesy formula even further than they already have. The guitar work on While My Guitar... is pretty awesome, even if the song comes across as a touch saccharine. Come Together's seamless blending of the bass into the percussion before Lennon shouts some brilliance at us. Eleanor Rigby is gorgeous and sad, with effective, though not brilliant, string work.

(There's a song from Steppen Wolf in the compilation, I was underwhelmed. Same goes for "Hot Rod Lincoln" by some band with a long name)

The Cars (Good Times Roll, Moving in Stereo): IT'S "GOOD TIMES ROLL", NOT "GOOD TIMES ROW", DAMMIT! Moving in Stereo is interesting for, oh, about two minutes with the weird voices and something about a shoe.

Boston (More Than A Feeling, Rock and Roll Band): Uh. Seems kinda overblown. Rock and Roll Band has ridiculous lyrics and doesn't even sound convincing.

The Doors (Take It As It Comes, LA Woman, Touch Me): Uh. Not quite as bad as Boston. They just sort of fail to rivet me with anything fantastic. Sort of like nitrogen, you know? The Doors are there, I guess. Doesn't matter to me.

AC/DC (Highway to Hell, Live Wire): On the occasions I can get past the singer's gravelly voice, I find, what? Repetitive power chords and uninspired solos? Great. At least they have more balls than, say, Weezer.

ZZ Top (La Grange): I don't like that singer very much. Almost comical. If I can get past the repetitive accompaniment, I find some vaguely cool guitar work.

Bad Company (Bad Company): Ridiculous. I don't buy it, not one bit.

Collective Soul (Precious Declaration): Big and commercial, but kinda fun in a non-amazing sort of way. Tangible hooks there.

Aerosmith (Rats in the Cellar): Oh goodness. I can't find anything redeeming about this song- pick an aspect and I'll probably say it's bad.

Flogging Molly (Devil's Dance Floor): Flogging Molly gets semi-props for theoretically trying to add something to modern powerpop. It doesn't work very well.

Queen ('39, Bohemian Rhapsody): Hee hee hee. Queen is/are funny when I don't take them seriously. Completely overblown, they manage to be very entertaining. Kinda like Opera, and Bohemian Rhapsody seems quite the satire of operatic things. Heh.

The Clash (London Calling): Kill me for ever liking a punk song, but this one's pretty good. It's really scary and ominous and creepy and such.

Creedence Clearwater Revival (Down on the Corner, Have You Ever Seen the Rain): CCR exudes a vibe of wholesomeness and purity. The first isn't amazing, but the second is quite cathartic. Nice.

U2 (Where the Streets Have No Name): I love this song. I don't care if Bono's couplets are kinda banal. They sound heartfelt. The one-and-a-half-minute buildup of gorgeous Eno synths plus a repetitve, chiming Edge guitar pattern, plus Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen's trademark dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum (etc.) driving backing is great.

Van Halen (Runnin' With the Devil, Ain't Talking 'Bout Love): The first isn't all that great. The second opens with a great riff (with a kind of ridiculous tone), but the singing is completely overblown. The secondary riff/solo thing is kinda cool.

George Harrison (Let it Down, Apple Scruffs): Let It Down is really cool with some great cascades of a ton of instruments doing cool stuff. The chorus is nice, too. Apple Scruffs, on the other hand, is terrible. Completely Ridiculous.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (True Men Don't Kill Coyotes, Throw Away Your Television): The first has one beautiful line in "Ridin' wild on a paisley dragon through the Hollywood hills". The rest of it is kinda crude. The second shows Mr. Kiedis and company at a more mature stage- all the layers are displayed on a vivid canvas: a wonderfully syncopated bass line meshing with a syncopated percussion line, Kiedis's cyclic, repetitive vocals and then guitar, synths (and other stuff?) puncturing in at the right moments. There's a really cool electronic-y solo thingy, too.

run the road

2005-03-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

I guess this might not be interesting to those of us who associate hip-hop with calc homework in the lounge, but whatever. I Ituned Run the Road, that UK rap, for the second time, and now I eat that shit up. I swear this album was made by hungry wolves or grumpy bears, I'm not sure which. It's like the Bizarro versions of American MCs got together and vomited furiously over beats that sound like robots being strangled and monster trucks crying. It's deliriously uncool, in ways that Americans don't dare; Lady Sovereign anti-rhymes: "I don't have a cat/It died," Kano tells us what we should be minding on "Ps and Qs," somebody named Ears recalls his "Happy Dayz" as sloppily as could be hoped. Dizzee Rascal is a better Jay-Z, Kano is a better Ludacris, Big E-D is a marvelously bad Lil' Jon impersonator. They all rap like starving orphans about to kill you for your ham sandwich. This album made me so hungry I ate a whole fucking horse.

Speaking of Mr. Bungle...

2005-03-26T12:51:00.000-08:00

1999's California is totally great. It is probably the best album I have ever heard from the 1998-2005 time period, a time period which I'm pretty critical of, but all the same, it is a testament to the fact that great albums can still be made, despite all my cynicism. It strikes the rare perfect balance of experimention/originality with strong melody/songcraft. Most groups forsake one for the other, or in the case of most bands of the last decade I've heard, possess neither, but Mr. Bungle just does an impressive job all around. The music is schizophrenic, but never loses itself in pretension or artsiness, keeping up a deluge of fine hooks and melodies. It's at least a 12, maybe a 13 candidate (13 = great album.)

I've been listening to the Mars Volta's De-Loused in the Comatorium, and it's grown on me some, although I still need to listen more. My initial reaction was not very good, because it seemed to be shifted way in the direction of experimentation/originality and low on the melody/songcraft. However, a third listen to the album found me finding the songs more appealing. I still think it leaves a bit to be desired. I have all the same problems with it that I did with Yes's Fragile, from way back in 1972, (see old post for details) but the Volta don't strike me as being as good of songwriters as Yes or even as good as players. On the other hand, the Volta kill Yes on density of arrangements, and I'm a sucker for any man who can sing as high as Cedric Bixler-Zavala while doing it with a lot more emotion than Yes's Jon Anderson. I gave Fragile a 12 on the old 1-15 rating scale (12 = an almost great album), and I'd love to give De-Loused the same rating, but I'd have to subtract at least a point for the lyrics. They are the kind of premium bullshit that sunk progressive rock in the first place, and are now preventing it from rising anew. Yeah, I know, I'm supposed to go to the website, and I'm sure it's an interesting story, but I have fundamental problems with having to go to a website to find interpretations of lyrics in the first place.
Again, it comes down to balance. There's too open, and there's too dense, and the Volta's lyrics don't come even close to the middle. What will I rate this album? I have no idea, at this point. Anywhere from 10 to 13, but probably more in the 10-11 range.

TV is good for now

2005-03-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from a Swedish interview with Mike Patton and that other dude from Faith No More (the Z in the corner of the screen stands for Zorba's!):

Patton: You're not supposed to think when you listen to music. You're supposed to fucking pickup on a girl. You're supposed to get drunk. You're supposed to listen to it in your car.

Gould: It's supposed to reinforce your life as a productive cow. As a guy who works his ass of all week, y'know, makes a shitty amount of money, gets fucked up on the weekends and listens to music that makes him feel better so that he can go back to work again and work like the drone he is without thinking about their lifes. That's a very cynical way, but that's how the (music)industry's based, y'know. That's the function it fills. You've got to think, you've got to think about who you are, you've got to think about what you're doing, you've got to think about what you think.

Gould: I think it's good to think about it, at least with our music..hey our music is different than a lot of other music, as cooking....and eating food. We're the cooks and we make the food. We use this spice and this spice and these spices, there it is. "Why did you use those spices?" Well taste it! This is why!

Patton: Is it good?

Gould: You like it? You don't like it? Ok.

Patton: You don't like it! Ok, I'm not gonna force it down your throat.

Gould: We use curry and pepper because curry is good with chicken. And when you cook chicken you should use curry and pepper.

Patton: We didn't go to school, we didn't go to cooking-school. There's no exact reason why that+that=that...

Gould: And we're all self-taught musicians too so we kinda like try to work things out on our own.

Patton: Sure. You know it's like you went in and you're eating something and it was *amazing* and afterwards you asked the cook what it was and he told you it was human balls. Would you be upset?

Gould: (Giggles)

Balogh: What do your fans see you as.

Patton: I dont know...

Gould: A lot of times, unfortunately, the fans tend to see us the way media writes about us. They go, like during 'The real thing': "Dear Faith No More, I really love the way you mix funkstyles and metalstyles together. I'm starting a funk-metalband"
During 'Angel Dust':

"You guys are really weird and really different and I like to drink my own piss"

Patton: "You inspired me..."

Gould: Yeah, I mean who the fuck knows. Unfortunately a lot of kids believe what they read.

Patton: Instead of believing what they hear.

Gould: People in the media, there's always an allusion that they know more than everybody else because they're famous and because they're on TV. Ther's a icon type of thing where a person watching TV can see somebody else and think that they know more because that's how they got where they are, that's how come everybody knows who they are. It's wrong to encourage that because people in the media are just equally stupid as anybody. There is no secret of life, nobody knows. All you can do is to comunicate. If you can get a comunication with somebody and you can have a mutual understanding, that's the best you can do.

See, famous people are stupid too. This becomes painfully apparent when you read Ozzy Osbourne's blog:

November 4, 2004
Back to Abbey Road today to record two more cover songs, “Rocky Mountain Way” and “Go Now,” better known to all of us as GONADS! Ha!

Bono, part 2!!!

2005-03-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

More "white supremacy".

Where the Streets Have No Name:
Obviously describing his white utopia.
"I want to feel sunlight on my face
See that dust cloud disappear without a trace."
Sunlight is light is white. Dust cloud is brown and yellow - nonwhite!

Bullet the Blue Sky:
Obviously lamenting the bad state of America due to the vareity of races.
"See it driving nails onto souls on the tree of pain" !!

Running to Stand Still:
White Resistance as heroic:

"Under black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen fromt he sea
She is raging..."

Despite the black cloud of oppression, Bono's heroine still delivers the promise of whiteness.

Twilight:
In his early years, he felt oppressed by the various "people of color" around him. Perhaps a bad experience with a male of this race?

"Twilight, lost my way
Twilight, can't find my way
...
In the shadows, boy meets man."

He is misled by racial propoganda, and has an experience with some man.

I Will Follow:
An homage to his long-departed heroes, perhaps?

Plus, the album "The Unforgettable Fire"... advocating arson!?!

Beautiful Day:
Hope for a new white future.

"See China right in front of you" (China as a new target for his movement!)

"See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light and
See a bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood, all the colors came out!"

Addresses the pacification of the middle east, but more importantly, he talks about all the "colors [coming] out!" After the "flood" (some violent campaign, no doubt), there will be no more races. There will be his race.

Vertigo:
His disdain for all Spanish-speaking people.

"Uno. Dos. Tres. Catorce!" Obvious.

"It's everything I wish I didn't know." He wishes there were no Spanish language.

Calculus is an interesting class. I mean, Bono is a threat to humanity and all that.

Gosh.

Bono the White Supremacist???

2005-03-14T17:04:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been infatuated with the idea of making unique lyrical interpretations of a band's entire catalog in the manner of literary criticism. If a feminist literary critic can interpret all literature in terms of feminism, then why can't I interpret all lyrics in terms of homosexuality? I suppose that analogy makes me a gay music critic, which isn't actually true, but that part is irrelevant. Anyways, another idea that sprung up in Calculus today was to interpret U2's work as the work of a group of white supremacists, in fact, Aryans. The textual and physical evidence is so massive.
It started with "Pride (In the Name of Love)," a song supposedly dedicated to the assassination of MLK Jr. Loui pointed out that there was a mistake in the lyrics, that it went "Early morning, April four/A shot rings out in the Memphis sky," but that MLK had been assassinated in the mid-afternoon. I suggested that maybe Bono knew perfectly well what he was doing, and that it was truly a song dedicated to the memory of James Earl Ray.
Things fell quickly from there. After all how can "Sunday Bloody Sunday" not be about the Holocaust?

"One":
"One love, one blood, one life"
"But we're not the same"

Oh Bono, why not just come out and say "One race?"

"Walk On":
"And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for one second you turn back
Oh no, be strong"

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For":
"You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross"

"Then all the colors will bleed into one"
(Note the use of the word bleed. It ain't a metaphor.)

live performance of "Zooropa"--- January 14, 2005:
I hate people of other colors
Other creeds and nations
My name is Bono---
Bono of Arya
Together we will put them all in cages
Put them in a zoo
A Zooropa

At any rate, it was perfectly obvious at our table that Bono is working on his Final Solution, a masterful plan that will work perfectly thanks to the power and prestige Bono has gained from being the leader of perhaps the world's most popular rock band. Why else would he have a guitarist called the Edge? More like the Straight-Edge...

2005-03-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

I worry sometimes that I overanalyze music and make it too hard for myself to really slip into the groove of a record. I wind up with albums like "Who's Next" which I know I should love, but I wind up thinking about it as an abstraction, a collection of great melodies, lyrics, and playing which means nothing to me.
This weekend I found a better secret to get into an album's core, and that is simply to just listen a lot. Stevie Wonder's "Fulfillingness' First Finale" was the album of choice, getting 4 plays over 3 days, which is a lot for me. 2 plays in 1 day is something I never do. Yet it really worked out. I don't think it's the best album ever, but I do think it's pretty great, and the songs have been playing through my head constantly. I don't get sick of them either, because they're great songs. Normally, I wind up with like 15 albums I want to listen to, and then I listen to each one before listening to one twice. So even though I have some new albums that amaze me, are bound to be near the top of my album rankings (Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, The Who Live at Leeds, W.A. Mozart Requiem), I don't listen to them anywhere near as much as I should. Time is a bitch that way.

Music- the diluted, flattened, and strung up to dry type

2005-03-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

As of late, I've been randomly skimming and playing through select bits of my parents' "Great Songs of the 60s" from the New York Times (both volumes). I am quite aware that the arrangements can differ wildly from the recorded versions of the songs (this is a piano + vocal book), but here are some impressions:

California Dreamin'- There's something disturbingly infectious about this one, no doubt about it. Maybe it's the bit when the prime vocal melody has a long held note and the chords won't change how I want them to. Maybe it's the (quarter plus 1/3 of a triplet tie) note early in the melody. Who knows? The recording, with the more pronounced harmonies, is much better anyhow.

Bridge Over Troubled Water- I can't say I particularly enjoy "Mrs. Robinson", but this song fits my tastes nicely. It is, very succinctly, an epic spiritual. A giant progression of harmony and whatnot.

Here Comes the Sun- The syncopation in both the vocals and the instrumentals is very cool. I can't say that the time signature changes do anything good or bad for me. The simple melody is pleasing, nonetheless.

A Day in the Life- Ooh! This is a very cool one. Especially when it changes to the dotted rhythm. I've seen similar little descending bass bits everywhere, but they're not a problem. Maybe it's just the dense arrangement of the whole thing, but it definitely piques my interest.

Hey Jude- I do like the melody on this one. The lyrics are nothing to sneez at, either. More later.

Moon River- I actually orignially heard this one as an old R.E.M. B-Side. It was butchered by Michael Stipe's weak vocals. Still, Macini and Mercer (one of the myriad song-writing duos of the time) have something effective. It's not terribly complex, but it definitely captures a sense of the elegiac and romantic (not the Cupid romantic, sir).

MacArthur Park- Say what you will about the lyrics, which I enjoy, this has a superb, driving bridge. The strong melody is almost too-well supported by some amazing instrumental passages. Oh, and the chord changes are kewl. Another bombastic song- I do so enjoy these.

Superstar- Yeah, the Andrew Lloyd Weber. The big-sounding sections with the giant chords and all seem kinda unremarkable to me. But the other, free, "soul"-y stuff is pretty cool- "Israel 4 B.C. had no mass communication!".
Digression: In my theoretically-humble opinion, Phantom, despite its campy-ness, has at least one good song in the splendid "Music of the Night". Methinks Sarah Brightman is one of the most worthwile things about the orignial (I think...?) cast recording of Phantom.

Note that I'm avoiding playing songs I dislike, like "Yellow Submarine", so these data should not be interpreted as representative of my perspective on their respective bands and composers.

My apologies, but considering my meager collection of classic-period recordings, it's better than nothing. It does offer a different take on the songs, with all the information thrown up on the page for me to interpret.

For the record...

2005-03-01T05:01:00.000-08:00

The only reasons not to like the Beatles are if you're pretentious, tasteless, or just a dick.

My Doubts

2005-02-19T06:54:00.000-08:00

Actually, I think it is because I have sort of a SYSTEM. Sort of. For a while, I really did have a much more blatant SYSTEM where I was grading albums in Excel, giving points for melody, diversity of mood, consistency, emotional resonance, and instrumental spark. I have little to say about this, besides like any album review system I've ever devised, it becomes a huge mental debate after about 20 albums, and insufferable to keep going after about 50.
Lately, especially after this discussion, I honestly think that whatever intellectual criteria I use are at least somewhat arbitrary, heavily influenced by reading hundreds of George Starostin album reviews. It's not like I say "I'm going to rip off this person's musical tastes"; it honestly happens subconsciously when you're naive about music as a whole and you want a quick way to gain intellectual respect.
"Objectivity in art assessing is only possible within a chosen subjective paradigm."
Okay, as best as I can tell my subjective paradigm starts with vocal melodies, usually the backbone of a song for me. I have a hard time describing which melodies are good ones; it's really something I know instinctively, making it more subjective than system-based, but it's mostly based on originality, the emotional content of the melody (Yes, when a melody builds tension properly, it can be very emotional just by itself.), and sometimes, the complexity of the melody.
From there, I suppose it gets a lot more in-depth, so I'll skip it for now. Ideally, what I try to do is listen to a piece of music, decide if I like or dislike it, and then figure out exactly why I like or dislike it. So maybe in truth, I don't really hate Led Zeppelin; I just think they're overrated. My actual problem with Led Zeppelin is that their vocal melodies usually suck, Robert Plant is a whiny asshole who often writes terrible D&D-ish lyrics (a type of lyric which I think has no place in emotionally charged music), and what's purported to be their best album (LZ IV) has four songs that I generally consider to be poor. And guess what, there's only eight songs! That album also shows some talent in them; mostly on the playing/arranging side. "When the Levee Breaks" is respectable and enjoyable for its great arrangement, Breault, because it effortlessly combines the best strains of blues and hard rock, and it sounds like a fucking earthquake, and it's enough for me to enjoy it even with the presence of Robert Plant.

people be talkin'/I feed dolphins

2005-02-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

Let me encapsulate this motherfucker for the kids who came in late. It seems that Zuke, Eric, and I agree that a critic is in essence evaluating a song's effect on him. I say that this is a personal critique, and a song's effect is an emotional one, though I'm not claiming that the intellectual merits of a piece can't stir up an emotional response in us. Jerry is claiming something else entirely, and I'll get to him later.

As I understand it, Zuke's idea of "uncountable subtleties" magicking up sensation is identical to my own definition of music's effect. I don't know what the point about music being great by any measure, yet still not sounding good to you, is supposed to mean. Things can be less than the sum of their parts. You are grading the thing, not the parts. At the least, Zuke seems to be saying that you should evaluate the two separately, which contradicts the view that a critic measures the effect of a song in total, and not the minutiae of its architecture, which I thought Zuke had accepted. Finally, his point about not viewing my favorite movie daily seems random; it would be a valuable refutation of the argument that "nothing is good unless you want to see it every day," an opinion I have never heard voiced by anyone. When I say that a song is bad because I don't enjoy hearing it, I am not saying "No, I would not like to listen to that every day," but "No, I don't want to hear that fucking thing again ever."

I agree with Eric almost unreservedly, whether he's poaching the argument from Starostin or not. My reservations are about Sigur Ros; as fun as "Svefn g englar" is, the band's schtick gets old. "We made up our own language" wankers.

Jerry, like Zuke, seems to be saying that there are "objective measures" of a band's quality. As Eric points out, it is tough to argue that one arrangement of notes is superior to another. Saying only that a section of a song hits the ear in the right way is arbitrary and unjustified, as is saying "that harmony is nice" or "that lyric is clever" or "that arrangement is perfect." Many "music people" get angry or loud when you question a statement like that; it then becomes suspect that there is any thought at all behind their appraisals. Nobody benefits from knowing that you like something; the reasons behind your evaluation art the only thing of interest. The easiest way to avoid actual consideration of these reasons is to pretend that we have absolute and objective ways of measuring a substance as undefinable as quality. The best example that comes to mind is that Amazon review of a Flaming Lips album -- that said it was like watching a parade -- which means a lot more than "their bass lines are juicy," or whatever.

It is highly unlikely that anybody but the Rolling Stone review dept. would not accept that Jerry does not like Led Zeppelin, were he a professional reviewer. Serious music critics, like virtually any other species of non-populist reviewer, do not agree on a canon, nor is there any album that all of them like. Then again, I do not read WRC reviews, and mostly stay with ones that I find nicely written (in the Village Voice, The New Yorker, Uncut, and Pitchfork), and maybe the WRC conforms more to the Rolling Stone/VH1 list of "great music." I have no idea why you would think someone who likes Led Zeppelin is more right about music than someone who enjoys critical darling Vitamin C. Too many people assert that Led Zeppelin rocks their world because "[insert track here] is really good," or "[album] is the best album ever," and they cannot fucking explain why. Their opinions are not made weightier by the fact that they like a popular favorite like Led Zeppelin.

Jerry's tiers and levels may help him keep track of his conclusions about music, but it does nothing to justify them, from where I'm standing. "Objective admiration" means nothing to me, and nobody has defined what "objective measures" are being made, and saying it is in your "top tier" is no argument at all. There's no reason to say that a "great arrangement" of instruments and vocals has a larger intrinsic value than a "great arrangement" of pubic hairs glued together -- they are both complicated and required some work to put together, neither of which has any bearing on their quality.

Finally, saying that you won't change the radio when something you don't want to hear comes on is not evidence of anything about the music itself. It may say something about the state of modern radio options, or something about you.

Something about music

2005-02-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

The way I see it, there is no "Led Zepplin IV" or "Revolver" or "Smile" and so forth. My "Revolver" is different from your "Revolver" because of how we see it. Perhaps we all agree about the exact notes and that it was released by the Beatles on such-and-such label on such-and-such a date, but what do they mean to us, hmm?

In short, musical discussion consists entirely of discussion of our differing perspectives.

I have yet to find proof that there are objective definitions of "good music" and "bad music". Are long phrases necessarily better than short phrases? Are seven-and-a-half minute guitar solos great or wanking? Do the presence of larger intervals in phrases make them better? Is the I-IV-V(7)-I pattern inferior to something involving more chords?

I don't really care, since all I evaluate is a musical work's impression on me.

If there is consistency to my tastes, I cannot describe it.
I do like what I've heard of this band, though.

A Long Rambling Comment that Became a Post

2005-02-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is true. If I were to become a professional critic, and talk about how much I hate Led Zeppelin, no one could have any respect for me. There have to be some standards to measure music by, and LZ qualifies as a good band by any objective measure I can think of. Ben may call this buying into the critical establishment, but the establishment doesn't get established for no reason at all. Without focusing on song construction and melody and playing, I am just like any other member of the public. It is important to recognize some fundamental components of music, the kind people had in mind when they came up with classical.
Therefore, I can say "Man, Led Zeppelin sure created great arrangements and should be respected as a good band just for that." However, even if I admire them, I'd rather listen to a band who I admire and subjectively salivate over, the latter qualification being one that Led Zeppelin does not meet. This means Led Zeppelin is in my 3rd tier of bands to listen to, but since I respect them, they don't get cast any lower. I say I hate them because they get splooged over in the music press way too much, not the reverse, as was suggested. The suggestion by either Breault or Ben, or perhaps both, I'm not sure, was that I don't like them, but because critics say they are great, I have to at least respect (i.e., pretend to like) them.
Well, sure, I suppose at a certain level, I like Led Zeppelin. For example, let me describe 3 quick tiers of Goodness. The first is "Objective" Admiration/"Subjective" Enjoyment, a devastating combo; the second is "Subjective" Enjoyment; the third is "Objective" Admiration. LZ falls into Tier 3, which means I hate them and respect them simultaneously, but they are still in a Tier of Goodness. They just happen to be in the Tier of Goodness which is for bands that I appreciate/generally dislike.
I think the conflict is this. My definition of dislike is me not wanting to listen to something with any frequency; but it doesn't necessarily mean I foam at the mouth when I hear LZ come on the radio. I probably wouldn't even turn the station. I am just uninspired emotionally by their music, but I wouldn't think too badly of someone who said LZ was a great band, as I would if someone said Vitamin C was the best musician of the 1990's.

Boogers are five cents at the snot market.

2005-02-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

It has been brought to my attention that some members of this blog are ill-versed in why music appeals to people. Music is the summation of uncountable subtleties, whose total effect is the sensation that the listener appreciates. The number of factors that contribute to an appreciation of a song are more then anyone can hold in their head at one time, and there will be things your ears notice yet you cannot bring into the front of your mind to quantize. And so, while a band or a song may qualify as great by any stick you can think of to measure by, the effect of the piece on you will be an unpleasant one. Besides, your favorite movie is good, but would you want to watch it every day? This is why I am confident stating that The Beatles are a good, even great band, yet I do not like listening to them.

corrections

2005-02-17T18:11:00.000-08:00

It has been brought to mine own attentions that some members of this blog are ill-versed in the pompous bullshit that criticism is built on. It sounds nasty serious, but here:

Reviewers are fascists, great and terrible in their power of opinion. An opinion is truth to the best of your knowledge at the time you think it. It changes later; it's true 'til then. It makes no sense to opine about anything unless you know you're right.

Digression 1: If we claim any music or film as art, every piece of music and film is art. Some of it's bad art, like the hairy penises I drew in Jerry's calc book when he wasn't looking.

When a critic says that he respects something but does not like it, he is doing one of two things. He could be saying he respects someone else's opinion more than his own; an album has a reputation, it is "important," it is difficult to understand, and Mr. Sensitive won't challenge it because he's scared, or some shit like that. He thinks other people know what he enjoys better than he does himself.

Digression 2: Any "art" that thinks it can teach you something is probably full of shit. Movies do not make you more moral, more witty in conversation, or better at karate. They teach you trivia, and give you a base of comparison, and everything else is pretension. This is why most message movies and protest songs are terrible.

The second explanation: Monsieur Critique is trying to give the fucking thing an "A" for effort. He praises an album's complexity, or its background, or its status as a breakthrough something. He believes that something is good just because work went into it. But let's recall: germs have to work to give you syphilis, Hitler had to work to engineer the Holocaust, and the New Kids on the Block had to work to make Hangin' Tough.

And that's why you don't say you can appreciate something that you don't like.

Random Thoughts

2005-02-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

I think it's important to note that just because art-rock isn't always rock, it's still art, and art often has a lot of value. A lot of people forget that. Most critics underrate Quadrophenia because they decry the lack of WHO rocking power on some of the songs, and I think that misses the point. For example, Captain Marvel gave Quadrophenia an A instead of an A+ because he said, "I think Pete Townshend is becoming too much of a composer on this album." So? It's just like poetry, I think. In poetry, people invent forms, but ultimately you have to break free from restrictions of that nature. Sometimes rock bands have to break free of the genre's inherent restrictions. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Zuke pointed out in the car the other day the importance of rhythm, something which I always overlook, although I notice it subconsciously. I tend to focus more on the melodies and the guitars, and less on the rhythm section, unless it's playing something out of the ordinary. But you know, even if your drummer is playing quarter notes in 4/4 time, he can still be effective if he brings a rhythmic drive. A band like R.E.M. for example, is hardly technically gifted on their instruments, but a lot of their early albums are still pretty rousing musically, in part because Mike Mills on bass and Bill Berry on drums are rhythmically solid. Loui, this is why I enjoy songs like "These Days" so much; the drive of their rhythm section is absolutely uncontainable at a brisk tempo, even though Bill Berry is mostly just banging pretty standard parts. This is also, I think, a big reason in preferring R.E.M.'s early work to their much-slower 90's material.

Now I wanna sniff some glue.

2005-02-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

Let's face it: Helen Keller was a better musician then Johnny Ramone. If you count dit and dat as chords, that's half as many as Johnny knew. But that's not why you listen to the Ramones. The Ramones did to Rock and Roll what the protestant reformation did to christianity. They said "fuck you" to fifteen minute guitar solos and went back to basics. Their music is instantly recognizable as a throwback to a better time, before rock and roll became art, four chords played in quick succession over a pulsing rythym section, songs rarely straying over 2 or 3 minutes. Their songs are repetitive and can become boring quickly, and you begin to wonder after awhile whether or not you heard the riff in this song in the last track, and you might well have. The formula doesn't allow for much variation.
Like it or not The Ramones launched Punk. The Sex Pistols, and the Clash fill out the orginal triangle of Punk, a sound pioneered by the New York Dolls. Of this (in?)holy trinity, the Clash knew their instruements the best, the Sex Pistols had the biggest balls, but The Ramones were the most enjoyable, with lyrics uncharged by the political statements that turned punk from being about enjoying the summer sun to whiny neo-markist shittyism. Ramones lyrics are often tinged with boredom, just weird most of the time, as if they were perpetually channeling the spirits of a half dozen perpetually bored 10th graders. Perhaps I gave this away too early, but I'm pretty sure all things calling themselves 'punk' after this are pretty devoid of worth. I am for once in agreement with good old Georgie.

Nerfherder: From what I'm hearing, Nerd Rock is better ground up, the 3 seconds of each song I like plucked out and assemebled into one song, and the rest burned on Darth Vader's funeral pyre. There are parts of all these songs I like. They are usually the parts wiht no vocals. The only thing that keeps me from praying before I goto sleep everynight that Parry Gripp have his vocal chords ripped out before he sings anything else is that I'm pretty sure that all "nerd-rockers" make their music as a joke, and it's only the fans of the genre that don't realize this.

alrighty then.

Transmissions From the Satellite Heart

2005-02-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

The Flaming Lips are one of the few modern bands who I wholly respect, and 1993's Transmissions adds a lot to that respect. They're really notable for their dense production values, something which I always appreciate. You can tell the arrangements have been given a lot of care, and they make sure to add in all sorts of treats for the careful listener. Lead singer Wayne Coyne was capable of regularly writing catchy and affecting melodies by this point in the Lips' career, and guitarist Ronald Drozd adds a lot of titanic riffs. But even with all their powers Transmissions shows a band not quite in full creative fruition. The album opens with a lot of boundless energy in "Turns It On," but quickly stagnates into "Oh My Pregnant Head," which doesn't have much going for it besides its title. At any rate, this album is a really good one, but it only serves to remind me what a masterpiece 1995's Clouds Taste Metallic is. Except right now I'm listening to Metallic and it's boring the shit out of me, which might mean I'm just tired and focusing too much energy into this bland review, or it means there's been some significant shift in my music tastes, which would be frightening.

I love student council

2005-02-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

's strange misguided generousity.

Today I was informed that I could salvage what I wanted from an old stereo (2 generations ago, and looks to be early 90s stuff). I got some drivers that mgiht end up being useful, including an old fourteen inch subwoofer. and I got an old stereo amplifier, looking to be broken. Looking up the amplifier (GFA-555 by Adcom) I was pleasantly suprised to find that it was described as revoltionary, in the 80s, is now described as one of the best entry level audiophile amplifiers since, and has a used sale value of 2-400 dollars. I was even more pleasantly suprised to find it in perfect working order. My parents were unpleasantly suprised to find it has no volume control, and that 200 watts come out of each of the stereo channels hell or high water. This amplifer could power a loud dance in a space the size ofthe attic. It's over kill for a bed(or dorm)room.

Christmas CD's

2005-02-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

Some thoughts on my Christmas CD's, with more to come later:

The Beatles-Let It Be (1968 or 1970)
Pretty obviously the weakest album of their 1965-69 period, unless I count Yellow Submarine or a toss-off of that nature. After all, they didn't release it until after they broke up. It's got oodles of perfect songs though, especially "Let It Be," which I believe has two good guitar soloes in the same key playing simultaneously, and "Across the Universe," a humble Lennon anthem. These are two songs which showcase Lennon & McCartney's melodic instincts really well. The album has a really hickish feel, with them embracing country and blues influences more openly. The country doesn't work too well, but the blues is top-notch, especially "For You Blue," which makes them seem like potentially great bluesmen. At any rate, having two tracks which amount to nothing, literally ("Dig It," "Maggie Mae") and having overly simplistic songs like "Two of Us" and "One After 909" is aggravating.

Yes-Fragile (1971)
I think this is pretty much the first 1970's progressive rock album I've really listened to. Yes is supposed to be one of the quintessential bands of prog, so if this album is any indication, I'm going to have a love-hate relationship with prog. There are some really great things about the album; mostly the playing, but the vocal melodies are sometimes engaging. Unfortunately, I can't get any resonance out of this stuff. The lyrics are uniquely bullshitty, which I sort of expected, but I'm a man for sound, so I can get past that. It's just that for every rocking or tender moment, you get something that sounds completely overblown and ridiculous. Lead single "Roundabout" is prog carried off rather successfully, though. It goes seamlessly through multiple parts, while maintaining melody, rhythm, and what not. The playing is stellar, especially Rick Wakeman on the most (and only) badass keyboard solo ever. When I downloaded the song before getting the album, I thought they would be a mindblowing group, but the rest of the album is really erratic, and often annoying. The album is sequenced so there are only four songs, and five solo pieces. Of the true songs, only "Roundabout" and the 10-minute closer "Heart of the Sunrise" really satisfy me, but hell, that's almost half the album right there.
I think the problem does lie in the playing, to some extent. A lot of the main riffs are played really fast and hyper, which sometimes works, but is just as much, really hard to enjoy. It's nowhere near as bad as Dream Theater, which sounds like bad video game music, but it's the same sort of problem. Yes at least sounds like good video game music at their worst. This may be caused by the weird time signatures and off-beat rhythms, but I'm not sure.
Most of the solo pieces are total wankery, too. I can go for Steve Howe's guitar piece "Mood For a Day," since it's really dextrous playing, with some nice themes, and on acoustic guitar, no less. But Jon Anderson's vocal harmony piece is dumb, and Chris Squire's bass symphony doesn't sound near as great as I would think a bass symphony would. It's too gimmicky.
I think I'm making Fragile sound worse than what I actually think of it. I definitely like the album; it's just not the sort of awesome experience I was hoping for, and I can sort of see the huge Rolling Stone-led backlash against prog-rock.

In pitch dark/ I go walking in your landscape...

2005-02-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

Contributing my musical perspectives should be an interesting excercize. I am quite aware that I am the junior member of this blog and have precious little experience with and exposure to the loosely-defined "Rock Music" or "Popular Music" genre.

After all, my main exposure was to other people's tastes at camps and the like. Because of my friends' tastes, my initial exposure was limited and sketchy. Groups and artists as diverse as Ben Folds, They Might Be Giants, R.E.M., Radiohead, Flogging Molly, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, NOFX and Tenacious D did not give me a good introduction at all. I've tried to experience more and different types of music, which has helped a little. What I want is a comprehensive history of the evolution of rock.

I know that there were rural blues and country and then there were Elvis and Buddy Holly. And the 60's expanded and diversified rock. And there was Art Rock, inspired by classical ideas and remembered for its platform shoes and light shows. And Punk reacted against Art Rock, getting back to far simpler arrangements. Post-Punk liked the DIY aesthetic, but went for a more artistically creative approach. Alternative Rock was the mainstream co-opting Post-Punk. Post-Rock was a reaction against Alternative Rock, subverting even basic rock formats.

Music Philosophy is an interesting subject, and I'm inclined to believe that everything is entirely subjective. I know what I like, but that doesn't mean I try to establish it as "good". Even when trying to be objective, every word, every bit of structure conveys an idea slightly differently than a different word or structure, differing with each person's interpretation. The best I can do is to compare and describe works, drawing recommendations, not judgements of worthieness.

On a side note, we need a "File Under:" system where browsers can view posts not by straight chronology, but by topic. I don't know if this is even possible on Blogger.

Music listened to while writing this post= Mogwai, Happy Songs for Happy People

writing about music is like dancing about architecture

2005-02-10T17:01:00.000-08:00

As I sat after an unfortunate harddrive accident re-ripping my cds, thinking of how the growing popularity of mp3 players and download services will continue to spell the death of the album, and the final rise of the single, I noticed one of the greatest singles ever sitting lonesome in my library. I don't like singles. It is pretenious of me, the attitude that idas should be large enough that they do not fit within a song, but should fit nicely in a 40 to 70 minute album.
However, a few songs jump out as being able to stand alone, apart from the rest, and still being worth listening too. Any Ramones song, as they're all the same. Some Dylan. And one song stands above these being just... great. House of the Rising Sun by The Animals is alive, possesing an ever moving, ever climbing feel driven by the repeptitive and quiet guitar arpeggios, Morricone style. The organ playing over this only further advances my theory that you can never go wrong an organ. And any song that has an organ solo also carries some large balls. The vocals follow the simple theme of warning against gambling, and nothing is overly complex. Nothing is left incomplete, and after four and a half minutes the song comes to it's conclusion, complete, and needing no album as a backing.

The idea of completeness within a song or album is something more bands should strive for.

2005-02-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

bed.

Introduction

2005-02-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

This will be a sanctuary for album reviews, musical commentary, etc... This is me killing a lot of skeet in one go; namely the need to be creative, to blog, to blab about music, and to discuss music. So yeah, I'm pretty much open to anyone joining, as usual. Just ask, and I will make your dreams come true.