Moonbeam said:

Then everything will just have to receive the de facto 4 & 1/2.

Mariah Carey - Emancipation Of...
A
Very solidified album. Probably the stongest album of cosistency without skipping since Butterfly. Mariah's voice is stronger than the last 3 albums and the production on the slow jams are marvelous, and the uptempo tracks are wonderful too for the first time in a while.

Rufus & Chaka Khan - Rufusized LP
N/A

Cameo - Single Life
N/A

Faith Evans - The First Lady
B+
Another very good album with lots of soul and sounds very different for her. Yet there should have been just at least 2 more tracks on there and left me wanting more...maybe that's a good thing.

Tweet - Its Me Again
B
Great sophmore album that didnt have the "jinx". Just as great as the original but doesnt have lots of 'i gotta play that song again' value.

The Game - Tha Documentary
A-
Pushing production values to the edge, thrown in with Game's top notch rap voice that makes you listen to him and not how it's definitley one of the most interesting rap albums out now.

GangstaFam said:

Stranded is indeed pretty great, but it would have a really tough time dethroning the first 2 for me.

Moonbeam said:

It's not my thread! LoL

HamsterHuey said:

Sussed all the same.

I love boring people by prattling on about my recent music purchases, and I've been on a bit of a purchasing tear recently:

Can - Tago Mago - A

I finally broke down and bought one of the remasters, and once again I have to eat my words. The difference between previous releases of this album and this remaster is stark - the sound is far brighter and immediate to the extent that I have to say it even sounds better than my vinyl. As for the music - it's fantastic, of course. The second half of this album is the greatest 'freak-out' music ever recorded.

Libertines - Libertines B-

I stumbled across a second-hand copy, so I thought "ah, what the hell, why not". Meh - I think Can't Stand Me Now was a great single, and the rest of the album sounds like its b-sides. I do like the doo-wop-ish vocals on What Katie Did.

Th' Faith Healers - Lido B

My Bloody Valentine influenced noise rock. It tends to be ordinary in places, but when this band stumbled across a groove, they really new how to ride it. Hippy Hole and Spin 1/2 are fairly awe-inspiring and could definitely be an appropriate soundtrack to your consciousness-altering experience, if you know what I mean.

Julian Cope - Floored Genius - the best of from 79-91 A-

I recently rediscovered Julian Cope when I dusted off my old copy of Peggy Suicide. He is probably the most eccentric performer in rock music this side of Syd Barret, and the weirdness can kinda overwhelm his music. But his first band, the Teardrop Explodes (peers and close friends of Echo and The Bunnymen, mentioned in an earlier post), produced one flawless album, and Cope definitely has a knack for producing great singles. Elegant Chaos is a great rocker with a haunting melody, and the Kinks-ish World Shut Your Mouth actually was a mid-sized hit in North America.

Everything But the Girl - Idlewild - C+

I kinda loved the later EBTG albums, but I'm definitely on the fence on most of their pre-Amplified Heart stuff. I really only bought this album because I love Oxford Street. The rest of it just veers a little too close to sounding like dish-water dull music for housewives or something.

American Music Club - Everclear - A

The album where Mark Eitzel finally perfected his sad sack persona. 40 minutes of moaning about how nobody understands him and how dreadful it is being a tortured, alcoholic genius. It's great, but it will test your tolerance of self-pitying indie-rock types.

Clinic - Walking With Thee - B

I'll be damned if I can form an impression of this album. It sounds just fine when it's playing - low key, light grooves with mopey vocals that make me tap my toe, but when the albums done I can barely remember one song from it. This may be a grower, so I might be reassessing that grade in the future.
[Edited 4/20/05 20:22pm]

i think 'peggy suicide' is a completely overlooked classic pop album. there's just so much music on there, and it's all great...or at least good...or at least, very interesting. on my very subjective and very personal list of Very Important Albums, 'peggy suicide' is definitely included.

Anxiety said:

Honest-to-God, I just name-checked Peggy Suicide in the overlooked albums thread. Hows that for a bit of synchronicity?

I love that album - I used to force it onto people. Definitely a neglected treasure.

There are actually a lot of albums that I have bought but have yet to listen to.

I figure that I trust the taste of those on this thread, so I'll ask for recommendations for listening to the following, all of which have gone neglected in my collection:

Busta Rhymes- It Ain't Safe No More
David Bowie- Diamond Dogs: 30th Anniverary Edition
Debbie Harry- Deaf, Dumb and Blonde
Debbie Harry- Debravation
Depeche Mode- Exciter
Devo- Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology
Human League- Romantic?
Human League- Octopus
James Brown- The Best of James Brown
Juliana Hatfield- Become What You Are
Juliana Hatfield- Everything
Kraftwerk- Autobahn
Kraftwerk- Radioactivity
Lou Reed- Rock and Roll Heart
Lou Reed- Growing Up in Public
Lou Reed- The Blue Mask
Lou Reed- Magic and Loss
Lou Reed- Ecstasy
Lou Reed- The Raven
Maxwell- Urban Hang Suite
Morrissey- My Early Burglary Years
New Order- Republic
New Order- BBC Live in Concert
No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom
Orgy- Candyass
Roxy Music- Country Life
Roxy Music- Manifesto
Roxy Music- Flesh + Blood
Stevie Wonder- Hotter Than July
U2- War
Velvet Underground- Bootleg Series: The Quine Tapes
Velvet Underground- VU

I know- I'm bad.

David Bowie- Diamond Dogs: 30th Anniverary Edition
Juliana Hatfield- Only Everything
Kraftwerk- Autobahn
U2- War

Go with these.

And I'm much, much worse.

paisleypark4 said:

I'll save you some time here.

A:

Each Rufus album stands strong in it's own right. They don't make albums like this anymore. You have to wonder when will the next Chaka ever come along. Might be never. And that would be alright because you have the original songstress and that is more than enough for one universe. That band was like fuel to Chaka's flame. The tracks under her engine.


I'm a woman and I'm a backbone. I'm a woman and I'm a backbone.....everybody needs one

I can't recommend this collection of music enough. Back to a time when music was lived and breathed and not contrived. The real deal

.
[Edited 4/21/05 12:49pm]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Hey! How's your ass riding coming along?

GangstaFam said:

Ima see my baby daddy tonight

Oh wait! You were talking about music



I haven't dragged my ass to the music store lately, although.....I did pick up Maria McKee's new album and you can look forward to my musings on it very soon

Moonbeam said:

Next to Bona Drag, this is my favorite Morrissey compilation. Prolly cos it marked the 1st appearance of "Michael's Bones" on a compilation.

But considering that you prolly have most of the tracks on another CD (or a homemade mix perhaps ) I would pass on it unless you find it used.

endorphin74 said:

No, no.

I already own the albums I listed. I just haven't listened to them yet!

Moonbeam said:

KEEP TRYING!



I don't know what it is about this band. You know, sometimes you just hunger for something new musically and the right band pops up. Interpol is that for me.

I love the fact that their sophmore album improved on their first. They are a TIGHT live act and have toured non-stop since appearing on the scene, allowing me to see them 5 (6?) times in the past couple years. Every show I've seen I've enjoyed more.

I don't necessarily think they are the best thing ever, they have just filled a gap I needed filled. LOVE IT. They were kinda the start of me searching out new bands again instead of listening to the same artists I've been a forever fan of. GOOD STUFF.

I am happy they at least earned a B+ from you

PS- "Take You On A Cruise" has been rising up to become my favorite song since their last appearance at the Ave. Give it some love

Moonbeam said:

woopskies! You are a BAD KITTY! Your "to listen to pile" is insane! It makes me feel less irresponsible about mine

well then, if you are in a Moz mood, give that bad boy a spin!

MIA, Arular: A-
A little overhyped, certainly--has anyone seen the video where she's cavorting with tigers? But really undeniably fun and danceable, and tracks like "Bingo" and "Amazon" are as good if not better than anything on "Geuro."

Beck, Guero: B+
I've sat with it for a while, and my feelings haven't really changed. It's Beck. So of course, it's solid and pretty. But I heard "Nobody's Fault" for the first time in a while recently, and it not only took my breath away, it reminded me that something's missing on Guero. But if it's not quite creative, soul-baring, or funny enough, it's still more of those things than most records.

Martha Wainwright: B+
LOVE her voice. Anyone who's worried she sounds like her brother--don't. Hasn't quite found her songwriting voice yet, but I'm sure she will.

The Roots, The Tipping Point: A-
Totally underrated this at first. Play it again. It's not Phrenology, but that's a good thing in some ways too.

And of course: Sleater-Kinney, "Entertain": A
From the coming album, available for free on sleater-kinney.com. They've entered some sort of New York Dolls phase.

paisleypark4 said:

I was quite shocked at the caliber of this album. I agree with the B+ rating. I am grabbing this sucker this weekend

I'll add a few comments on the albums I've heard

David Bowie- Diamond Dogs: 30th Anniverary Edition
This album's reputation seems to be undergoing a slight rehabilitation. I still don't think that highly of it myself. Rebel Rebel and the title track are pretty good Stones rips, but the rest of it still sounds pretty weak to me.


Human League- Romantic?
Human League- Octopus

I haven't heard Octopus - and all I'll say about Romantic is that I hope you didn't lay out a lot of money for it. Dare is a terrific pop record by any reasonable standard, the first two records are kinda interesting, but I don't really think this band is worth pursuing beyond that.


Kraftwerk- Autobahn
Kraftwerk- Radioactivity

I like both of these a lot - they're not quite as essential as Trans-Europe Express and Man-machine IMO, but they're still pretty good. I think Radioactivity is usually viewed as the weakest of the early Kraftwerk albums, but it sounds fine to me, though they could have picked up the tempo in a few spots.


Lou Reed- Growing Up in Public
Lou Reed- The Blue Mask

The Blue Mask is one of his best, I'd say. He had a great band in those days (Robert Quine is the punk rock Keith Richards IMO) and it really showed in the quality of work from this album through New Sensations. I'd say that, outside of his VU work, this is Lou's strongest era.

Growing up in Public was pretty half-hearted from what I remember - I sold my copy quite some time ago, and I simply can't remember one song from it, but I remember that album giving me the strong impression of a man going through the motions. Same thing with RnR heart - I haven't heard it in years, but my impressions of it are not positive.


New Order- Republic
New Order- BBC Live in Concert

I think Regret is their best pure pop single, but the rest of that record was pretty uninspired.

The live album is sloppy in spots, but it's a fun album for committed fans.


Roxy Music- Country Life
Roxy Music- Manifesto
Roxy Music- Flesh + Blood

Country Music is Roxy at their peak - only Siren is better, I'd say. I may be getting my chronology all messed up here, but I think this is the second lp after eno. They were a sleek, well-oiled machine at this time, and everything they did seemed effortlessly great.

Manifesto and Flesh and Blood are probably their weakest albums - manifesto's still pretty good, but they'd definitely run out of steam on Flesh and Blood.

Velvet Underground- VU

VU's good fun, absolutely excellent in spots - foggy notion is one of their greatest drones, Lisa Says shows that the band was capable of providing subtle support to a song rather than steamrolling over everything in their path with white noise.

damosuzuki said:

We definitely part ways here.

"Rebel Rebel" and "Diamond Dogs" are decent glam rock vamps, but I think they're among the least interesting on that album. I get a lot more enjoyment out of "Sweet Thing/Candidate", "We Are the Dead" and "Big Brother". But I can concede that it's one of his toughest to love. It took me awhile to appreciate it the way I do now whereas most of his classic era was an easy fit for me.

And "Country Life" in my opinion is the weakest of their first 5 albums. It's growing on me, but I think the others are stunning.

GangstaFam said:

I think there's a serious lack of effort on those songs. Maybe this is just due to me being a moderate fan rather than an afficianado, but most of that album outside of the rockers I mentioned sounded like they substituted bombast and pretension for craftsmanship.



Well, I guess we're of different minds here as well - that's alright, it's not against the law or anything.

I'm as big a Brian Eno fan as you'll meet, but I always thought the first two albums were the weakest of their initial run up to Siren. The first album has great moments but is somewhat spotty, and the second half of For Your Pleasure drags slightly. I'd say that Stranded, Country Life and Siren are fairly flawless albums - the differences in quality between them are fairly razor thin IMO.

GangstaFam said:

i think 'sweet thing/candidate' is one (two? three? ) of the most fantastic bowie tracks of that era, if not one of the most amazing of all his recordings. i think 'rebel rebel' and 'diamond dogs' are painted with a really broad brush compared to songs like 'we are the dead', 'big brother' and 'will you rock and roll with me'. i think i especially like 'diamond dogs' because he's got one foot in the 'plastic soul' he'd be exploring on his next two albums, and the other foot still wiggling around in the glam persona he was in the middle of shedding. it's a very transitional album to me, and i think the chaos of his in-between-ness is really appealing.

damosuzuki said:

I agree that Dare! is amazing. Travelogue left me scratching my head a little, but I enjoy it. Have you heard Crash? That one intrigues me the most of those I haven't heard.



I've heard a few songs from each and enjoyed them. I love The Man Machine and Computer World a great deal and also like Trans Europe Express a lot although I'm not as familiar with it.



The Lou Reed albums I have heard are fairly sporadic. I have been hesitant to listen to Growing Up in Public because The Bells was a bit unnerving. I have no impression of The Blue Mask yet, but I'm glad to hear something positive about it.



I love "World" a great deal, particularly the 7-minute remix on the maxi single. "Regret" is also wonderful. I'm sorry to hear that the album may not live up to those 2 songs.



See, the first 2 are my favorite albums of theirs- so raw and glam. I like Stranded and Siren a lot too, but they still fall a notch below the first 2 for me. I'm guessing Country Life will fit with those pretty well. Manifesto and Flesh + Blood scare me a bit.



I have no idea why I haven't listened to this yet. I was in a HUGE Velvets mode late last year and bought this but never got around to spinning it. I'm quite intrigued.

Thanks for you commentary.

damosuzuki said:

If anything I see it as maybe too much effort. It's obvious that he was trying to break out of the Ziggy trap he set for himself, but wasn't quite sure how yet. So he tried a soul song, and a disco song and a freaky electronic song. "Rebel Rebel" seems like a holdover from the previous couple albums and "Diamond Dogs" is a dirge-ier, messier "Jean Genie". If anything, those 2 show a lack of effort to me. I also see it as a transitional album and those always seem to suffer in the midst of more fully realized albums (Around the World in a Day anyone?). But I think he really put his all into that record. He plays more on it than on any of his other efforts and I think he really was trying to expand and grow with it. Of course he was getting into drugs in a bad way, so the paranoia and dreadfulness of his lifestyle seem to cloud his judgement on how to make a cohesive concept album. But I really do think he put his all into everything he did from '70-'80.

damosuzuki said:

It very well be more consistent, but I don't find anything on it as striking as "Mother of Pearl", "Ladytron", "The Bogus Man" or "Sentimental Fool". There are so many highs on those records that I never focus on the few so-so songs.

GangstaFam said:

Fair enough - I can't argue with an impassioned defense like that.Perhaps there's more to that album than I've allowed, and my perception of it probably has been coloured by the fact that it's not rated very highly critically. I do have to admit that I haven't listened to it in years - probably over a decade - but my impression of it, even when I was at the height of my Bowie fandom in my late teens and early twenties, was always very negative.

Moonbeam said:

I bought a copy of Crash at a flea market for $0.25 years ago - I've never listened to it beyond spinning Human a few times - that was a pretty good slice of AM cheese.



LOVE computer world.





The Bells is one that I like a lot. Coney Island Baby would be a good album to seek out as well: not as difficult or scary as the bells or blue mask - it's actually closer in tone to seventies easy-listening music in parts, with some unusually heart-felt and completely uncynical lyrics.

The Blue Mask is a fairly difficult album, but it's a rewarding listen if you can get into it. One Lou album I highly recommend is New Sensations - worth getting for the title track, which is an excellent rumination on becoming middle-aged and has a wonderful, low-key melody. The rest of the album contains some of his best songwriting outside of his VU glory days.

GangstaFam said:

I like all those songs you've mentioned, but i think out of the blue, all i want is you and prairie rose are all just as good. I will grant that Country Life may lack a really jarring, unique-sounding track like mother of pearl or sentimental fool, but song-for-song I'm pretty comfortable ranking it just below Siren.

damosuzuki said:

I think another problem with it is that it seems like a full-fledged album, but with all the parts to Sweet Thing adding up to one song, plus the intro and outro to the album, there really aren't that many songs. I don't know why that bugged me when I first realized that, but it did. Station To Station is short and sweet but I love it for that. I think Diamond Dogs presents itself as something epic and conceptual, when in fact it's really pretty schizo.