Author |
Message |
John B.
Member Username: John_b
Post Number: 18 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 11:36 am: | |
How many albums do we actually have in our collection that we enjoy from start to finish? Isn't there normally at least one song we prefer to ignore or skip on the cd player? My personal perfect albums include: Crowded House - debut Television - Marquee Moon Patti Smith - Radio Ethiopia Go-Betweens - 16LL Pink Floyd - Dark side of the moon Franz Ferdinand - debut Sigur Ros - () The Cure - 17 seconds Talking Heads - remain in light The Smiths - The Queen is dead Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the edge of town |
spence
Member Username: Spence
Post Number: 862 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 11:44 am: | |
Jon some nice choices. Mine: Television - Marquee Moon. Aztec Camera - High land hard rain Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Smiths - Meat is Murder Pixies - Dolittle Massive Attack - Mezzanine REM - Murmer Jam - All mod cons Beach Boys - Sunflower Best of Madness Recent: Nada Surf - Weight is a gift Go Betweens - Oceans Apart |
John B.
Member Username: John_b
Post Number: 19 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 12:03 pm: | |
that's quite cheeky of you, Spence, to sneak in the Best of Madness. Do best-of albums qualify? and live albums? - although Wilco's Kicking Television surely fits my perfect album criteria. And Christ, how could I have forgotten REM, but its Fables of the Reconstruction and Lifes Rich Pageant for me. |
abigail law
Member Username: Abigail
Post Number: 92 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 02:05 pm: | |
no other - gene clarke pink moon - nick drake forever changes - love after the goldrush marquee moon man machine - kraftwerk sweetheart of the rodeo |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 977 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 04:44 pm: | |
Elvis Costello - Armed Forces Marshall Crenshaw - debut Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark Pixies - Doolittle Otis Redding - Otis Blue Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers Bob Dylan - Blood On the Tracks Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks Tom Waits - Rain Dogs Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run Van Morrison - Moondance |
Kurt Stephan
Member Username: Slothbert
Post Number: 770 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 05:59 pm: | |
Good category--and some great choices, especially "Marquee Moon," which is my #1 but I won't repeat it below. I'd define perfect as "wouldn't want to change anything about it," not necessarily "every song is spectacular." Some albums might be "perfect" but contain minor or transitional songs--or just things you couldn't bear to leave off. Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights Elvis Costello & the Attractions - This Year's Model Go-Betweens - Before Hollywood Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic (sorry, Kev) Randy Newman - 12 Songs Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings at Food The Clash - London Calling Auteurs - New Wave Brian Eno - Another Green World David Bowie - Station to Station Jack Frost - Snow Job Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation |
kevin
Member Username: Kevin
Post Number: 1029 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 06:14 pm: | |
Kurt - No need to aplogise for the Steely Dan - in that case LK would be apologising for nearly all of his LK - you can decimate my list later! |
Kurt Stephan
Member Username: Slothbert
Post Number: 773 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 06:24 pm: | |
Looking forward to your list, Kevin! Two I forgot that might occur to you as well: Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures Gang of Four - Entertainment! |
andreas
Member Username: Andreas
Post Number: 262 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 07:13 pm: | |
oh my god, what a question. i think i could list hundreds of albums. i don't want to. nevertheless i have make some thoughts about and what came to my mind was, that some of my favourite albums has a song to skip for example pet sounds' sloop john b. (sorry john b.) and some albums that are not in my olymp of holy albums comply with the condition of a non-skip album. but what's the fuck: i never skip any album! |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 981 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 07:54 pm: | |
Kev, though I stand by my list completely and without exception - I sincerely think those are perfect albums - if they get up your nose a little bit, all the more good-natured fun! I do share Kurt's conception of the perfect album - it should be one you play all the way through without the urge to skip anything. And, it should be noted, that though some of the records cited above have some suspect passages, for instance some of the weirder, transitional things on Rain Dogs, I guess I've listened to them so many zillion times that they now seem perfect and I wouldn't change 'em! |
TROU
Member Username: Trou
Post Number: 50 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 08:05 pm: | |
The Associates - the affectionate punch |
Michael Bachman
Member Username: Michael_bachman
Post Number: 273 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 09:21 pm: | |
Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel Emmylou Harris - The Ballad of Sally Rose John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger Miles Davis - Kind of Blue The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains Kate Bush - The Dreaming Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates of Dawn Plastic Ono Band - Plastic Ono Band |
jerry hann
Member Username: Jerry_h
Post Number: 286 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 10:29 pm: | |
LK I'm with you on the Van, Bruce,Waits and Dylan also Marquee Moon Ben Folds_Songs for the Silverman Ron Sexsmith -Retriever Costello-This Years Model, and Blood and Chocolates GBs-LB Murmur Cash-American 3 Lloyd Cole-Rattlesnakes |
David James
Member Username: Broadmajestic
Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 12:54 am: | |
Orange Juice "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever" Freddie King "Getting Ready" Girls Against Boys "Venus Luxure No.1 Baby" Swell "Too Many Days Without Thinking" Go-Betweens "Liberty Belle" The Triffids "Born Sandy Devotional" A.C. Acoustics "Understanding Music" Califone "Roots and Crowns" |
kevin
Member Username: Kevin
Post Number: 1030 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 01:53 am: | |
Thats spooky James, I am currently listening to Califones album just as I read your post. Its a good album, but perfect? Maybe I havent heard it enough. Mine are REM - Murmer Joy Divison - Closer Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey PIL - Metal Box Pixies - Doolittle American Music Club - Everclear The Clash - London Calling Culture - 2 7s Clash Bowie - Low Kraftwerk - Man Machine The Fall - Grotesque Wilco -YHF Elvis Costello - Get Happy T Rex - Electric Warrior Wire - 154 Augustus Pablo -Original Rockers |
kevin
Member Username: Kevin
Post Number: 1031 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 01:54 am: | |
Sorry David, I called you James by mistake. Oh and welcome aboard by the way. |
Rob Brookman
Member Username: Rob_b
Post Number: 17 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 03:59 am: | |
Oh, crap, perfect records? I'm gonna screw this up. Here's a few, IMO: The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo Marshall Crenshaw - Field Day Fleetwood Mac - Rumours Franco and Rochereau – Omona Wapi The Go-Betweens - Tallulah Freedy Johnston - Can You Fly The Mekons - Fear and Whiskey Randy Newman - Good Old Boys Prince – Sign O’ the Times Lou Reed - The Blue Mask The Replacements - Let It Be Amy Rigby – Diary of Mod Housewife The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love The Who - The Who Sell Out |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 984 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 04:51 am: | |
Kev, it is impossible for me to decimate your list as I like everything you listed...at least the stuff I know. Frinstance, I don't know that particular Fall album, though I like them... Rob, great choices and great to see some of those names turn up. I think Amy Rigby is pretty much a genius songwriter - truly one of the greats practicing the art today. Great to see the Boss' name come up a few times, too. Particularly since he is a noted influence on GM. Speaking of "Tunnel of Love", Solomon Burke does a kickin' version of "Ain't Got You" on his new album. Tell me about Franco and Rochereau. The other things you list are so up my alley, I'm thinking they must be, too. Jerry, you and I have very simular (as George W. would pronounce it) tastes, too, but we knew that. Do you know anything about the new Lloyd Cole album? |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 986 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 05:02 am: | |
A few more come to mind: The Pernice Brothers - Overcome By Happiness Ray Charles - The Modern Sounds of Country and Western |
jerry hann
Member Username: Jerry_h
Post Number: 288 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 10:50 am: | |
The new LLoyd Cole Lp has got nmixed review over here, so It's on the back burner, it is suppose to have one glorious track on it, can't remeber which one but may download that and save a few quid. Forgot about London Calling,Paris 1919, Lou Reed New York. Hell I love Bruce's the River and Darkness and Elvis Costello from This Years Model Through to Spike, Born Sandy devotional and Calenture are pretty marvelous |
TROU
Member Username: Trou
Post Number: 51 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 10:56 am: | |
Jerry, I've changed my opinion on the new Lloyd Cole. Finally, it's a very fine record! |
Rob Brookman
Member Username: Rob_b
Post Number: 20 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 02:42 pm: | |
LK: Omona Wapi is African music - soukous, specifically. I'm a big fan of African music of all kinds. Franco and Rochereau are and were (Franco died of AIDS several years back) huge names on the continent, so Omona Wapi is kind of like Bono and Springsteen doing a record together (with, I'm just guess here, far better results). And yeah, Amy Rigby is a genius. I wish more people heard her stuff. She's at, what, six CDs now? And not a dud in the bunch. |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 989 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 06:47 pm: | |
Huh, I'll have to check them out...like a lot of African music, though I'm no expert. You, of course, are already into Amadou and Mariam (sic)? Yeah, AR is incredibly great, and her records just keep getting better and better, imo. I saw her about a year ago in, of all places, Birmingham, AL. She put on a helluva show - I mean she just filled the dweeby little folkie club with personality and music. |
Rob Brookman
Member Username: Rob_b
Post Number: 22 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 11:18 pm: | |
Yeah, I've seen her a bunch of times here in Chicago, and she's just great every time. Very approachable, very humble - no airs whatsoever, but those songs! It might be up to us to take her to the next level, LK. It doesn't seem anyone else is doing the job. |
Kurt Stephan
Member Username: Slothbert
Post Number: 779 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 - 11:57 pm: | |
Count me in on your Amy Rigby club! She's great, but she's never going to be more than a cult favorite because she's just too smart and down-to-earth. I've never had the chance to see her live, but I sent an email to the address given on her website and she wrote back saying she hoped to make it to Seattle soon. |
David James
Member Username: Broadmajestic
Post Number: 4 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 05:34 pm: | |
Kevin; Im pretty sure no Califone album is perfect but there are always at least two songs on any album of theirs that ring so perfeclty true the first time you hear them. That's why I listed them above, even though this latest release is way too new to qualify as perfect just yet! I'm curious, how would you rate London Calling vs. Sandanista! - two compmletely different albums but released consecutively only a year and a half apart. Talk about a prolific band. |
Elizabeth Robinson
Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener
Post Number: 11 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 06:30 pm: | |
Using the above criteria: My Go-Betweens CD's (of which I still only have five yet) would be perfect if I didn't sometimes have the urge to listen to certain songs over again. 'Todd Rundgren - With a Twist' would be perfect if the bossa nova version of 'Hello, It's Me' did not come on like an over the top monstrosity. 'Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head' falls into the same category as the Go-Betweens. I skip some songs and repeat others on Radiohead CD's -- ! Go figure.... |
Allen Belz
Member Username: Abpositive
Post Number: 54 Registered: 09-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 07:14 pm: | |
Another Rigby fan here...love the Shams "Sedusia" EP ,too. A perfect record I just pulled out and played yesterday (both discs): Gang of Four's "100 Flowers Bloom." Every song chosen and sequenced so well the recontextualizations go off like firecrackers, and as it rolls on and on I just continually marvel. A few others not yet mentioned in the thread: Al Green: "Call Me," "Livin' For You," "The Belle Album," "I'm Still in Love With You," "Greatest Hits" Chills: "Submarine Bells" (can't believe that one hasn't turned up yet). Soundtrack to "Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me" |
kevin
Member Username: Kevin
Post Number: 1036 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 08:07 pm: | |
David, I think London Calling wins over Sandinista. LC had better songs and no filler, Sandanista had great songs but tons of filler. Would have made a great 12 track album imo, select any 12 from these 18. There were 36 tracks on the album so thats a hell of a lot of filler! # The Magnificent Seven" # "Something About England" # "Rebel Waltz" # "The Crooked Beat" # "Somebody Got Murdered" # "One More Time" # "One More Dub" # "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" # "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" # "Corner Soul" # "If Music Could Talk" ("The Clash / Mikey Dread") # Police on My Back" (Eddy Grant) # "Midnight Log" # "The Equaliser" # "The Call Up" # "Washington Bullets" (The Clash) # "Charlie Don't Surf" # "Living in Fame" (The Clash / Mikey Dread) |
Rob Brookman
Member Username: Rob_b
Post Number: 25 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 10:08 pm: | |
Allen: Good call on "Submarine Bells." Didn't even think of it. "100 Flowers Bloom" is excellent, as well - even though it's a comp, I agree that its brilliant sequencing makes it a unique and creative document in its own right. It deinitely rescues some of the later songs from the so-so albums they were on. And I wish someone would hire Kevin to sequence the Great Clash Comp that's never been done. |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 991 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 11:01 pm: | |
4 Rigby fans! Shit, it's a wonder she's not climbing the charts...I'm thinking, at this point, her only hope of "hitting the bigtime" is to get one of her songs covered by a Nashville heavyweight, a Faith Hill, an Alison Kraus...she's actually joked about that in concert, shortly before playing her delightful, "I hate every bone in her body (but mine)"...Curious, Allen and Rob, do you guys like Loudon Wainwright III? (I think of Amy as the female LWIII - not being sexist, he got there first)... |
Allen Belz
Member Username: Abpositive
Post Number: 55 Registered: 09-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 11:27 pm: | |
Yeah, I'm a pretty big Loudon fan, though one of the things that makes him brilliant (his willingness to expose some of the ugliest, most self-centered parts of himself) can sometimes make him difficult to listen to. My wife and I saw him at a great show in Seattle performing with the McGarrigles, Martha Wainwright and Emmylou Harris, and afterwards he signed CDs out in the lobby. When we stepped up to the table he looked at my wife, his face slipped instantly into this almost feral "well hello there baby" look and he addressed every last comment to her, never looked at me once. It was funny and irritating at the same time, like much of his best material. We joked afterwards that I should have a t-shirt made: "Loudon Put the Moves on My Wife" |
Allen Belz
Member Username: Abpositive
Post Number: 56 Registered: 09-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 11:38 pm: | |
Question for Rob: are you big Christgau reader? |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 992 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 03:52 am: | |
Funny story, Allen. LW's probably already written a song about it. |
Rob Brookman
Member Username: Rob_b
Post Number: 26 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 05:20 am: | |
I do like Christgau, Allen. And I'm also a huge Loudon fan. I also think there are a lot of similarities between AR and LW III. AND, oddly, I actually had a very similar post-McGarrigle concert experience to your own. No kidding, although it happened here in Chicago. Suddenly, I feel like I'm part of a very identifiable, very specific demographic composed of you, LK and probably a few other folks here on the board. It's a bit unsettling, frankly. I feel a bit caught out... |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 993 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 06:21 am: | |
No way! Loudie came on to your "special lady", too? That's too funny! He's a serial lech, apparently. I feel strangely left out - that's never happened to me since I've never been lucky enough to see him, though the dweeby bass player from Too Much Joy (a band I was keen on for 10 minutes in the 90s and whose charm completely eludes me today) came on to my girlfriend in the bar they were playing at, so I can understand the annoyance factor... I think LWIII is seriously seriously great and sometimes when I listen to him he seems like the best songwriter in the world, even better than Dylan. Sacrilege, I know, but if art is meant to reflect life back at us in a way that moves or inspires us, you know, inspires those feelings of universality, then it's hard to think of anybody doing it better. And, I admire his courage in often painting that bullseye on his own forehead, something that he shares with Amy. They both also share that ability to go from the acid observation to the incredibly poignant, often in the space of one line from a song... I'm not sure how much can be concluded, demograpically speaking - I've brought LW III up before and no one has really expressed interest, though I think Kurt likes him a little bit... I am envious of you two for having seen him and if he comes to my area, you can be damn sure I'm taking my girlfriend, to see if he makes a pass at her! |
David James
Member Username: Broadmajestic
Post Number: 5 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 04:16 pm: | |
Kevin; Very tasty choices from that triple platter... BUT - I'm not sure about your inclination to shave 2/3 of the album in favor of just 12 songs to make it leaner and meaner. True, from day one "Sandanista" has frustrated those drunk w/ love on "London Calling" but what you call "filler" to me feels like breathing room for a band inclinded to stretch their creative muscle at a time when expectations were overwhelming. Beyond that, would you really leave off such nuggets as: The Leader, Hitville UK, Kingston Advice, The Street Parade, Silicone on Sapphire etc.?! Those are very cool songs, and sound great on a Friday afternoon at the local jukebox bar I can assure you! They are hidden within this intriguing record, but that makes the digging all the more satisying. |
Jerry Clark
Member Username: Jerry
Post Number: 461 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 06:03 pm: | |
A lot have already been mentioned. Dylan - Desire & John Wesley Harding The Sundays - Reading Writhing & Arithmetic Doves - The Last Broadcast Happy Mondays - Sqirrel & G-Man... Liberty Belle... |
kevin
Member Username: Kevin
Post Number: 1037 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 07:06 pm: | |
David, I would certainly leave off Hitsville UK, that song has always annoyed me To paraphrase the late great Joe Strummer "we were smoking far too much weed when we made Sandanista" Nothing on the album is really crap, apart from Career Opportunities, I just think their legacy suffers a bit with this release, although it could probably have been a double album with some careful editing. |
Little Keith
Member Username: Manosludge
Post Number: 994 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 07:14 pm: | |
Two more that occur to me: Rum, Sodomy & the Lash - the Pogues The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff & others |
Allen Belz
Member Username: Abpositive
Post Number: 58 Registered: 09-2006
| Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 - 08:46 pm: | |
That's it! A get-rich-quick scheme finally drops into my lap! All I have to do is make up plenty of "Loudon Came On to My [wife, girlfriend, etc]" t-shirts and just follow his tours around the country, waiting outside after the show with my little table. It'll be great! |
Aidan Brewer
Member Username: Uptowninvisible
Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - 03:46 am: | |
Shack - Waterpistol Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left The Lilac Time - s/t Moose - Live a Little, Love a Lot Love - Forever Changes The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane Television - Marquee Moon Jeff Buckley - Grace |
David James
Member Username: Broadmajestic
Post Number: 7 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 06:59 am: | |
Well....I don't know I love "Hitsville" I don't care what anybody says. It's so sublimely cheerful; 'no expense accounts...or lunch discounts' that line hits me hard every single time, the ascerbic lyics about the Top 40 and the machinations of the music industry. like i said, it sounds great and pisses off the joy division folk at the corner bar when the sun sinks just below the horizon on friday evenings in long beach... |
John B.
Member Username: John_b
Post Number: 23 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 08:09 am: | |
David, I am with you on "Hitsville" - but overall LC is definitely better than Sandinista, Kevin is right there. Sandinista has too many fillers. A double instead of triple-album would have probably been better. And as far as I can see, Marquee Moon wins the perfect album prize by a mile.... |
Michael Bachman
Member Username: Michael_bachman
Post Number: 285 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 05:09 pm: | |
I'll add some that also didn't occur to me and for some reason that escapes me now, they slipped thru the cracks!! Here are 10 for your consideration. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions Blue Rodeo - Five Days in July Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground(3rd album) Jane Siberry - When I Was A Boy John Prine - The Missing Years Slowdive - Souvlaki The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle Peter Gabriel - III (Melting Face) |
Andrew Kerr
Member Username: Andrew_k
Post Number: 150 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 06:18 pm: | |
Be honest Michael, do you really listen to 'The Murder Mystery' every time off the Velvets third? It may be an interesting and disturbing piece, but it gets skipped regularly in this household! |
Kurt Stephan
Member Username: Slothbert
Post Number: 800 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Friday, October 27, 2006 - 06:34 pm: | |
I was thinking that too, Andrew. It's really easy to stop listening to the third VU album after "That's the Story of My Life." And while "Afterhours" is a sweet little song, I wish it had been a B-side or something; it feels tacked on. |
Aidan Brewer
Member Username: Uptowninvisible
Post Number: 5 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 29, 2006 - 05:51 am: | |
A couple more: The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues Van Morrison - Moondance (although 'Astral Weeks' is virtually perfect as well) |
Donat
Member Username: Donat
Post Number: 203 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Sunday, October 29, 2006 - 10:40 am: | |
I know I've mentioned this album in another thread, but Lou Reed's Berlin album is perfect in many ways. More so now that he's going to perform the entire album in Sydney next year! Okay, it is quite a depressing concept album about a pair of junkies and the subject matter couldn't be more opposite to who I am. It's still a good yarn, with Reed putting the junkie-fag persona away for an album and just getting down to the business of making a good record, with some great lyrics and a touch of VU song recyling along the way (Oh Gin, Caroline Says). A lot of people bang on about Transformer being the pick of Reed's solo output, or even Metal Machine Music - but Berlin couldn't be more perfect. Another 'perfect' album in my books is Television's 'Adventure'. Marquee Moon is much like The Saints debut (I'm) Stranded, in the sense that they performed the bulk of the album's songs for three years before putting them down in the studio and that's too much time dedicated to perfection in my books. Adventure was something the group (Verlaine) put together from scratch and it's got some amazing songs. The best thing about it is - it's not Marquee Moon! |
spence
Member Username: Spence
Post Number: 882 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Sunday, October 29, 2006 - 04:23 pm: | |
Played The Clash singles CD yesterday, it was ok, but it does show you a consistent attention to quality which I loved. London Calling folloed. now that's a perfect album. Funny thing happened too, I was on the way to London with Clash on the CD player and TomTom sat navigation was tootling away and I went over/through the Westway!! Which, is where me old mucka Mick Jones came from, him in his Granny's high rise flat ! Funny in the sense i never knew where it was but on the sat nav you see the areas come up in type! |
Kurt Stephan
Member Username: Slothbert
Post Number: 810 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Sunday, October 29, 2006 - 06:29 pm: | |
Donat, Lou's planning to perform "Berlin" in its entirety? That's interesting, because I've wondered how that album would sound with a stripped-down band sound instead of the grandiose Ezrin production. His current band plus Jane Scarpantoni on cello could really do something with those songs. The "Berlin" cuts off of his last two live albums were the highlights for me. Still, it's odd for him to be indulging in such a nostalgic exercise. Has the songwriting well finally run dry for Lou? In any case, I hope he brings the show to Seattle. Also, you may have hit on something--"Metal Machine Music" is probably the most perfect album ever. Good or bad, that's for each individual to decide. |
Kurt Stephan
Member Username: Slothbert
Post Number: 811 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Sunday, October 29, 2006 - 06:52 pm: | |
And a quick visit to Lou's official website informs me that the Berlin performance in Sydney will be an all-out theatrical production, with special guests and (oh boy) Bob Ezrin brought on as musical director and Steve Hunter on guitar. (I guess after nearly 35 years, they can finally face working with Lou again.) So much for the stripped-down version of Berlin I wanted... However, you folks in Sydney are lucky, as currently that's the only place the show is being performed. |
Randy Adams
Member Username: Randy_adams
Post Number: 678 Registered: 03-2005
| Posted on Monday, October 30, 2006 - 05:31 pm: | |
This is an interesting thread. I can think of so many albums I love passionately that have at least one thing I either skip or mentally tune out. I honor Donat's against-the-grain take on the Television albums. If we disqualified everybody's first album on the theory that it's always that artist's personal "best of" collection for that point in his or her career, this could even get tougher. |
Jeff Whiteaker
Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker
Post Number: 426 Registered: 10-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 07:58 pm: | |
Here's my belated (and kind of lengthy) list: Go-Betweens - Liberty Belle Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels Japan - Tin Drum Love - Forever Changes Microdisney - Everbody's Fantastic Nick Drake - Bryter Layter Eno - Another Green World Momus - Circus Maximus Smiths - Louder than Bombs comp (does that count? - interesting that I'd choose a 2-LP comp over any of their 4 albums) Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain Bauhaus - Mask Beach Boys/Brian Wilson - Smile Cowboys Int'l - Original Sin XTC - Skylarking Slayer - Reign in Blood Prefab Sprout - Swoon Joy Division - Closer Durutti Column - LC John Cale - Paris 1919 I'll stop there. I'm thinking of way more than I thought I would. |
Kurt Stephan
Member Username: Slothbert
Post Number: 817 Registered: 04-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 09:14 pm: | |
Slayer? Good lord, Jeff, how'd that sneak onto your list? |
Jeff Whiteaker
Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker
Post Number: 428 Registered: 10-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 11:33 pm: | |
Wondering if anybody would catch that. Let's just say I have fairly eclectic tastes. I should've added Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" to the list. |