Who wants to hear some stone cold jams about my painful divorce?
#456
Marvin Gaye, Here, My Dear
Release Date: 1978
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: There's a unique backstory on this album. I know, most on this list have a story too, but this one is one of a kind. Marvin "gave" (half of the royalties) his ex-wife Anna Gordy in a weird divorce agreement. At first, Marvin tried to make a "lazy, bad" album for her, but then he got inspired by his conficting emotions from their distintegrated relationship … Continue Reading ››
Release Date: 2005
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: Don't know much about these dudes. This entry smells like an effort to get some new millenium representation on the RS list, but we shall put it on and give it a fair chance like every other album... Opens with a nice, slightly-off kilter modern track that confortably mixes R&B, dub, and trippy Flaming Lips-style production. Lead singer Jim James has got a clear, high voice that fits snugly into the lush dreamy tracks like "It … Continue Reading ››
Piano men have always been kinda like gunslingers, right?
#458
Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection
Release Date: 1970
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: Not well-versed in Sir Elton outside of the big hits. I considre myself a fan nor a hater. Let's give this a spin... Weird choice for only his third album: a very loose old-West-themed concept album by two guys (Elton John, lyricist Bernie Taupin) who had never been to the US at the time. Hubris (and drugs) can only be the reason they'd do this. Oddly, this fake country … Continue Reading ››
Release Date: 1994
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
I did! I did live through this!Impressions: We shall see if I can live though this... Snappy opening song "Violet" indicates the music and production is state-of-the-art for 1994, well into the grunge hayday. It goes without saying that Courtney Love is a mess vocally and personallly, but it kind of seems like by design? She also mimics her husband's Kurt Cobain's wounded hollering (or was it the other way around?) but adds a feminist edge. Harrowing songs like "Asking For It" … Continue Reading ››
It doesn't photograph well, but, man, is that a cool idea for packaging or what? METAL. BOX.
#461
P.I.L., Metal Box
Release Date: 1979
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: As a budding young graphic designer/music fan, I loved the branding of Public Image Limited. The logo, the generic "Album" conceit and even the name all seemed to be vaguely underground, but not obviously punk with stereotypical ransom lettering (like the Sex Pistols.) A nice bonus was that I even enjoyed their music. P.I.L. was still aggressive but more textured than the straight-forward assault … Continue Reading ››
You'd scream too if you were trapped inside of the cover of a terrible album for all eternity.
#464
Def Leppard, Hysteria
Release Date: 1987
Previously Owned: No. Unless I have a record hiding in my collection somewhere.
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: The path not taken. When I first was getting into music in the early '80s, Def Leppard's Pyromania was out. I was trying out a lot of different things and their hit single "Rock of Ages" momentarily intrigued me-- with that goofy count off at the beginning ("Unta glebin gloutin globin,)" … Continue Reading ››
I thought that was a dirty joke, but no, this album actually contains sixty-nine songs about love.
#465
The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
Release Date: 1999
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: I know almost nothing of these guys/this guy. Let's listen...Quirky, jaunty opener "Absolutely Cuckoo" then leads into the dour, but funny "I Don't Believe in the Sun." Kind of cynical, but affecting, interesting instrumentation. Sometimes the sound with rinky-dink keyboards, banjos, and ukuleles seems a bit too indie-cute, like something you'd see in a hipster movie or commercial, but still winning me over. Nifty songs with … Continue Reading ››
"The album cover will be done by next Friday. Oh, you need it today?"
#466
Coldplay, A Rush of Blood To The Head
Release Date: 2002
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: Ah, Coldplay. I find these guys very hard to get worked up about one way or the other. Listenable. Tasteful. Agreeable. Radiohead with the edges sanded off. Even the name, Coldplay, sounds like an apt description of their chilly post-U2 arena rock. Well, enough chatter, let's listen... From the beginning, "Politik" is listenable, tasteful, and agreeable. … Continue Reading ››
Impressions: Let's get this straight: I like Bruce. But, I'm not too knowledgable. I recall this album seeming like a weird deal at the time because it followed up Born In The USA, (which in hindsight seems impossible.) It still sold well, but sort of seemed like a disappointment. Let's fire up the Spotify and give this album a listen... Oddly, the spare, Bo-Diddleyish ditty "Ain't Got You" starts off the album a lot … Continue Reading ››
Impressions: Before he was doing the NCIS thing or battling sharks, L.L. (along with Run DMC) was one of the first big crossover rap stars that moved hip-hop from the secret mix tapes and 12" records we passed around at school to the mainstream. I haven't listened to this album since way back when. Let's take it for a spin... From the get-go, the sound is classic boom-bap minimal Rick Rubin production. "I Can't Live Without … Continue Reading ››
A guy tries to listen to every album on the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of all time list, and some other stuff
