Too bad I didn't love any of it. Oh don't get me wrong friends, there's some good stuff to be found. Stevie Wonder put out a good disc, and Van Morrison tore it up with a live set. It's more a case of none of these blew me away, and I really wanted to be blown away. At least on the whole music is shaping up to be more consistently better and less consistently annoying. That murky 70's heroin sound seems to be a thing of the past, replaced with clear, crisp, nice sounding recordings.
Here's the round up, again with links to samples via Amazon so clickity click click!
0301 Eno, Brian – Here Come the Warm Jets - I was filled with dread prior to this. I expected another ridiculous "Tubular Bells". This however was real solid, sophisticated glammy pop. Which ends up being a very good thing.
0302 Bad Company – Bad Company (1st Album) - I thought there was a Bad Company prior to this that recorded for The Beatles Apple label. So I expected pleasant Brit pop. Ends up this is mostly pleasant Brit cock rock. It's the type of music that is kind of generic to me. If it comes on the radio, I wont flip the dial, but I'm not going to seek it out on my own either. (Note, I was thinking of "Badfinger" as far as the Apple records thing goes. Durrrrr)
0303 Genesis – Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - I was eager for this after being so pleasantly surprised by that other Genesis album on the list. I didn't like this one as much. It has a really strong start, but kind of loses it's way. That said, I missed the concept of this (I'm guessing there is a concept to be found here...) so I probably have to spin it 10 more times to fully appreciate it (probably not going to happen anytime soon).
0304 Otis, Shuggie – Inspiration Information - R&B that left no impact, and since it's been a few days since I listened to it, no memory! That's a fail. This is his last album unless the one he's been working on for the past 37 years actually arrives this year. So much for Guns & Roses taking a long time...
0305 Wonder, Stevie – Fulfillingness’ First Finale - Finally, Stevie's most famous album! What's that? You never heard of it? I hadn't either before it showed up here on the list. I actually like this one much more then the more famous "Songs In The Key Of Life" and "Innervisions". Maybe because I didn't recognize any of these songs from American Idol. Anyways, it's quite good and comes off more personal in a way.
0306 Clapton, Eric – 461 Ocean Boulevard - This was Eric's big comeback album. Not from a horrid accident, but from heroin addiction. It was ballyhooed with such talk as "Eric is back! He's speaking clearly!" So in celebration of being able to perform the most basic human functions, he put this out. It has his biggest ever hit that doesn't deal with child death ("I Shot The Sheriff", a cover song) and that's all I got to say about this since I still don't like Eric Clapton and his blues rock.
0307 Kraftwerk – Autobahn - Kraftwork whip out some more bloopy bleepy synth music, and it's pretty great. The title track anyways. The last track is a horrid, random selection of computer bird noises that is quite terrible. But that title track, "Fun fun fun on the Autobaun" indeed!
0308 Morrison, Van – It’s Too Late to Stop Now - Van the man puts out a dead solid live album with this. A bunch of hits are here, along with tracks I don't recognize, and all of them sound great. Vans in amazing voice, and the band is even better. It's a recommend!
0309 Mitchell, Joni – Court & Spark - Joni puts out a fine album here, and I will place money, without peeking, that's it's the last of hers to appear on this list. It really is a fine album, but not as good as "Blue". Her voice is starting to show some limits, and many of the arrangements veer from being too jazzy to being a bit corny. If you like Mitchell, this will be fine, but not as a first time go around.
0310 Queen – II - Queen make a glorious appearance on the list, with an album that has none of their hits on it. This is usually a black mark, but it ends up this was pretty good. It's completely over the top, because it's Queen, and that type of bravado is always appealing when it works. And it works here. Yay Queen!
0311 Roxy Music – Country Life - I still think that this album is popular more for the pervy cover then the actual music. Not terrible, but it's a little too full of itself .
0312 Tangerine Dream – Phaedra - This is more of an ambient soundtrack to a movie that never got made then a proper album. In my biased opinion anyways. I don't see the point of random sounding synth noise with little to no beat or melody.
0313 Sparks – Kimono My House - This is just what I needed after Tangerine Nightmare! A peppy little pop album that sounds bizarrely Asian despite not being Asian at all. I enjoyed it, and it will be getting a couple more spins which is about as highly rated as this list gets.
See? Nice surprises by wonderkind producer Brian Eno sets us up, and Sparks let us off the ride with a smile on our faces. Makes up for the Tangerine Dream and Eric Clapton!
Till next time
Sparks - did they do This Town Aint Big Enough For The Both Of Us?
ReplyDeleteAlso, you can't expect it to be great just because you were born. Musicians obviously wanted to wait until you would be old enough to enjoy their work.
Yup that's them. You can hear it by clicking on the album art. :)
ReplyDeleteI would of thought that my glorious appearance would of sparked won-ton creativity in 1974. So far, not really.