Reviews by socksonfire

I was wondering when I’d get hit with my first “art versus the artist” type conundrums in this project. My philosophy on the whole matter is that the art isn’t objectively changing. The only thing that changes is me, the listener. Every listen to an album may hit me in a different way from the other listens, but only because I am bringing something new to the equation. All the album can ever bring is itself, and all the bleeps and bloops always come in the exact same order as ever. So, on any given listen, thoughts or feelings about the artist may or may not be a factor, and it’s totally valid either way.

So for this particular listen of The College Dropout, I would say the artist was a factor, but only a minor one. A lot of tracks slap pretty hard, and some not so much, but generally a decent album. A bit overrated imo, but I thought that long before ‘Ye’s entire existence went in the toilet.

Cash’s Rick Rubin phase was incredible. I really loved them all. This one has tons of great tracks, and Cash’s delivery is so weighted with experience that it gets me thinking of my own life. I also love the spare simplicity of these albums.

I’ve known a couple true-blue Zepheads in my life. LZ is one of those bands with fans who are so sincere and worshipful, their advocacy can be contagious. I have a few fond memories of these passionate folks walking me through some very cool stuff late at night in their rustic living rooms, empties and roaches littered all around us, them handpicking tracks and loving them so much I started loving them. While I’m no Zeppelin super-fan like them, I did love those nights. I bought a pretty sweet little box set of all the Zep albums on CD back in 95 and got pretty familiar with all of them.

So Physical Graffiti. A pretty all-time-famous double album. Doubles tend to be describes as “sprawling”, and that certainly applies in this case. The key questions are: Are the songs good? And: Does the sprawl hang together as a unit? I will say there are some supreme favourite tracks on here, alongside a lot of forgettable music that tends to fade back to background. I think too inconsistent to hang together as a unit. But when the kick drum lands in Black Country Woman, it’s one of the best single moments the band ever had it the studio.

One of my critiques of this project so far has been a few of the odd choices included. This seems like one to me. The Smiths have two pretty unimpeachable masterpieces. This just ain’t one of them. In fact this one is one of their most mediocre. I guess I’d need to actually read the book to figure out the rationale, but I know there are loads of unsung great albums that would never get exposure on a list like this.

And let’s face it, Meat Is Murder is kind of a turd.

It makes me laugh that this came out in ‘87. It certainly makes me feel a certain age (13). But all that aside, this album is a real solid rocker. The production is so sparse it give that cozy homemade feeling.

Still a melancholy listen after all this time. But to have a band like Nirvana largely avoid their own massive hits to expose their fans to some great music that influenced them, all delivered by one one of the most recognizable frontmen ever, this album hasn’t lost any of its power or awesomeness.

It takes some effort to make 80’s synth-pop sound boring. It wasn’t a hate-listen, like my 1-stars tend to be, but not for me, in a genre I typically find very much for me.

When you take a bunch of wonderful things, put them together, don’t include anything not wonderful, and sprinkle it with wonder, you get something wonderful.

Not a favourite. If there were a perfectly middle-ground album, this is it.

I would hate to overstate this to one. MC Solaar’s French flow over funky jazz production is incredibly fun. I listened to it twice straight through back to back. I want to give it five stars very badly.

I have a friend who absolutely eviscerated Jeff Buckley in an e-mail awhile back. It is likely fortunate this individual was not called upon to deliver a speech at Jeff’s funeral.

For my part I am quite taken with this album. There is a lot going on and some big swings. Some swings hit, some not so much, but taken as a package, the willingness to do something quite strange, I just have to appreciate.

These songs made me think of all the elementary school teachers I had in the early 80’s who would fill our choir repertoires with the folk music they’d lived 10 years earlier. Every one of these songs could have fit easily into those duotangs. Even the ones about drugs.

Third assigned Radiohead album is the best by a long shot. When they are at this best they sound like they are tirelessly searching…for something. And I get go with them. Oak Computer and Kid A were their zenith, and it still works damn well on me.

It was baffling when it came out. I bought the cd on day 1 and have a fond memory of diving into Speakerboxxx on my long bus ride home. I was smitten. These albums are so jam packed with creative musical ideas it still comes across as incredibly refreshing. With this revisit, I think I might love them more than ever. Speakerboxx is a stone cold masterpiece. One of the best hip hop albums ever. Then there’s the bizarre The Love Below… My one quibble is that Andre’s lyrics are about as subtle as a cock in a popcorn tub. But the music he makes is just SO DAMN FUNKY. Damn.

There was a time in my life when I loved this album. It is clear today that time is past. It’s Clapton. The guy is simply uncool to the max.

Still, some all-time riffs.

Being a Sex Pistols agnostic, I never put any time or effort into PiL. Listened as I decorated for Christmas with my kids. A little evisceration of organized religion warmed my Christmas cockles, and the vague ska vibe on a couple later tracks got my head bobbin’.
Not 100%, but a decent first touch.

What the devil?

Ok, I will accept the premise that instrumental soundtracks are a part of music culture. While I didn’t hate this listen, music made specifically for a movie come across as a bit unmoored without the actual movie. I suppose these kinds of albums would resonate much more strongly for massive fans of the movie. To me, it sounded alright. I really hope (and pray) that the Star Wars soundtrack is not a part of this journey.

Sometimes these old timey rock albums by superstar personalities feel like greatest hits albums, even though they aren’t. All these tracks are ultra-familiar from countless sources over the years, never heard within the context of any kind of album. This is like a greatest hits album missing Lucille. Which is actually pretty impressive when you think about it. Except of course, Lucille is missing.
Still, pretty much a banger, performed to the max, even if the substance is on the shallow side.

I keep crossing paths with Antony and the Johnsons, a track here and a track there, and the hushed, tremulous style just captures my attention. But I’ve never really felt compelled to listen to an entire album. I just figured it’s a bit odd and maybe doesn’t weather an extended sit. Am I ever glad I listened to this one. A beautiful and intriguing spin, with some guest artists who I didn’t see coming, but who worked great.
I want to go listen to it again right now.

A couple years back I swapped 10-track sets with Groupmate using a baffling guideline where we had to pick a single track from one album chosen from every 50 albums in a long bunch of albums. We had to pick songs from albums we’d never listened to and swap the sets unheard or something. I don’t know, and I forget the details, and it’s all too convoluted to even try to explain here, but the sets were both demented.

The song Rattlesnakes was on my set.

This album is a good fun listen. It felt a bit long, and both spins I found myself checking the progress when there were two-three songs left.
I note that on the album cover the words “Contains 4 extra tracks” is written.

All this to say: I was right. It IS too long.