Previously Owned: No
Nice of them to include a pillow with the album in case it's a snooze.
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: Peter Wolf,former J. Geils Band front man ("Angel Is A Centerfold,") and WXRT favorite, has never won me over as a fan. Like John Prine, Warren Zevon, and Boz Scaggs for me, He falls into that regular guy rock/blues singer-songwriter category of interchangable white dudes that get mashed up together in my head. Completely unfair of … Continue Reading ››
Release Date: 1971
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes
Impressions: I've mentioned this before, but I mix John Prine, Warren Zevon, and Boz Scaggs together for some reason, even though they aren't really musically quite alike. Maybe it's their demographic? WXRT seems to like him a lot, (reads his Wikipedia bio) and that's probably because he's from Chicago. Let's put this album on. Opens with a funny country drug number called "Illegal Smile." His voice is kind of plain to my ears. The album defininely got … 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 ››
Even the model in the album cover is super depressed.Impressions: Let's get this out of the way immediately:Morrissey isn't everyone's taste. I'm not even sure he's my taste, but I do love The Smiths. There's something about the sweet-and-sour balance of Johnny Marr's casual guitar brillance and Morrissey's literate moaning that works for me. Their consistent catalog and somehow side stepping of the dreaded '80s sound (probably by avoiding keyboards and dated references) further seals the deal. Their songs come out as timeless, … Continue Reading ››
The fake-Pollock cover that the US fans are familiar with.
#475
Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Armed Forces
Release Date: 1979
Previously Owned: Yes
Impressions: It's hard to imagine now, as Elvis' presence nowadays is merely tolerated or ignored by most people (his collaboration with The Roots sounds great on paper, but that sinking feeling is there.) When Armed Forces came out back in '79, Elvis was considered "cool," or at least he was at his personal coolest. He also seemed kind of dangerous, like a permanently-jilted version of Buddy Holly on speed. This angry, young … Continue Reading ››
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: No (I went to college that year, c'mon)
Impressions: Let's start with this: I don't hate Pearl Jam, nor do I love them. For whatever reason, they generally fail to leave a mark, but let's give them a fair shake shall we? Album ON! The dry, unadorned production helps the songs like the opener "Last Exit" and the punk-tempoed "Spin The Black Circle" and the hits like "Not For You" "Nothingman," "Better Man." But these songs seem like they are aiming for classic rock radio rotation twenty years in the future: solidly played, lean … Continue Reading ››
Those corncob condos in downtown Chicago are as weird on the inside as they look on the outside.Impressions: Nice. Well, I'll admit I'm a huge fan of this era of Wilco and I'm glad to see this album make the cut.
The oft-told back story of this record is enough to fill up this whole blog alone: longtime members fired, label initially rejected the album, Wilco bought the album back and, later, resold it back to the record company for more than initially … Continue Reading ››
Release Date 1972 Previously Owned: No First time listen? Yes
Bonnie Raitt's for no manImpressions: Having always heard Bonnie Raitt in the context of admirable but moderately boring blues/rock on WXRT, I was not really psyched for this one. But this record sort of hung in there as an admirable, nicely-performed California soft-rock/bluesy/folk/soul brew that went down pretty easily. The songs are short and had enough surprises to keep me interested (mostly in the form of fun New Orleans-flavored horns on tracks like "Give It … Continue Reading ››
Impressions: Before this came out in the late '80s, there was music created by bands and music created by DJs. If you wanted to dance, you listened to music made by machines or samples, and when you didn't want to dance, you listened to music made by people. Okay, I'm oversimplifying, but it sure seemed that way back then. Outside of New Order, rarely did both strands meet 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
