The Album Review Club - Week #196 (page 1316) - Aja - Steely Dan

I'll start by saying this is not their best offering but you have to start somewhere, right?

As an album I prefer Deceptive Bends and How Dare You! which are better written and have less of a teen America in the 50's vibe but that's not to say that I am not enjoying this album.

It starts off poorly, I have never liked Johnny Don't Do It, but then things pick up, although the do-wop style that I hate with the first song comes back in Donna. Then the brilliant Dean and I wipes out any memories of the start. I also love Speed Kills which is a nice prelude to the star of the album, Rubber Bullets. Fresh Air is another doozy, always liked that song, and it ends with Waterfall. A nice song to end.

An album I own, from a band I love, I have all their albums and listen to them quite regularly, should have a very high score. But there are songs I don't like and the whole album doesn't grab me. Still, they got much, much better later on.

6/10
 
BimboBob said:
I'll start by saying this is not their best offering but you have to start somewhere, right?

As an album I prefer Deceptive Bends and How Dare You! which are better written and have less of a teen America in the 50's vibe but that's not to say that I am not enjoying this album.

It starts off poorly, I have never liked Johnny Don't Do It, but then things pick up, although the do-wop style that I hate with the first song comes back in Donna. Then the brilliant Dean and I wipes out any memories of the start. I also love Speed Kills which is a nice prelude to the star of the album, Rubber Bullets. Fresh Air is another doozy, always liked that song, and it ends with Waterfall. A nice song to end.

An album I own, from a band I love, I have all their albums and listen to them quite regularly, should have a very high score. But there are songs I don't like and the whole album doesn't grab me. Still, they got much, much better later on.

6/10
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Funny how different albums from the same band grab you. Their first three were by far my favourites and I would be hard pressed to choose between them. It would be boring if we all agreed which were best though :-)
 
BimboBob said:
I'll start by saying this is not their best offering but you have to start somewhere, right?

As an album I prefer Deceptive Bends and How Dare You! which are better written and have less of a teen America in the 50's vibe but that's not to say that I am not enjoying this album.

It starts off poorly, I have never liked Johnny Don't Do It, but then things pick up, although the do-wop style that I hate with the first song comes back in Donna. Then the brilliant Dean and I wipes out any memories of the start. I also love Speed Kills which is a nice prelude to the star of the album, Rubber Bullets. Fresh Air is another doozy, always liked that song, and it ends with Waterfall. A nice song to end.

An album I own, from a band I love, I have all their albums and listen to them quite regularly, should have a very high score. But there are songs I don't like and the whole album doesn't grab me. Still, they got much, much better later on.

6/10
Click to expand...
Deceptive Bends was I think their finest work despite no Godley and Creme.

I was hooked by the album cover alone and I liked what was inside as well.

its one of the few bands that I know that IMO peaked without half of their original line up but nevertheless in my top 20 UK bands of all time.
 
BimboBob said:
I'll start by saying this is not their best offering but you have to start somewhere, right?

As an album I prefer Deceptive Bends and How Dare You! which are better written and have less of a teen America in the 50's vibe but that's not to say that I am not enjoying this album.

It starts off poorly, I have never liked Johnny Don't Do It, but then things pick up, although the do-wop style that I hate with the first song comes back in Donna. Then the brilliant Dean and I wipes out any memories of the start. I also love Speed Kills which is a nice prelude to the star of the album, Rubber Bullets. Fresh Air is another doozy, always liked that song, and it ends with Waterfall. A nice song to end.

An album I own, from a band I love, I have all their albums and listen to them quite regularly, should have a very high score. But there are songs I don't like and the whole album doesn't grab me. Still, they got much, much better later on.

6/10
Click to expand...
What’s the world coming to.
One listen so far and I find myself agreeing with BimboBob.
I really feel like I should like this better, but I don’t. I got a bit bored listening to so many high pitched falsetto vocals in a row and I never was into that Doo Wop American thing, although I did know Donna and a few others.
The thing is I can take any of their songs on their own, but am finding a whole album like this too much.

Knew Dean and I and Rubber Bullets obviously, but agree also about Speed Kills. My ears pricked up at that one.

You said it yourself @Saddleworth2 some might find it lacking in grit. I’m leaning that way myself. It all sounds very West Coast America to me, which is ok in smaller doses.

I’ll listen again at a different hour and mood.
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
What’s the world coming to.
One listen so far and I find myself agreeing with BimboBob.
I really feel like I should like this better, but I don’t. I got a bit bored listening to so many high pitched falsetto vocals in a row and I never was into that Doo Wop American thing, although I did know Donna and a few others.
The thing is I can take any of their songs on their own, but am finding a whole album like this too much.

Knew Dean and I and Rubber Bullets obviously, but agree also about Speed Kills. My ears pricked up at that one.

You said it yourself @Saddleworth2 some might find it lacking in grit. I’m leaning that way myself. It all sounds very West Coast America to me, which is ok in smaller doses.

I’ll listen again at a different hour and mood.
Click to expand...
You should like it better!

I like this album because they developed from it. Everything is there that I love about 10cc and culminated in 'The Original Soundtrack' which I think is their most developed album.
When all is said and done its just 40 minutes of joyful, upbeat, sly, well executed pop.
Grit? Its for the birds man ;-).
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
What’s the world coming to.
One listen so far and I find myself agreeing with BimboBob.
I really feel like I should like this better, but I don’t. I got a bit bored listening to so many high pitched falsetto vocals in a row and I never was into that Doo Wop American thing, although I did know Donna and a few others.
The thing is I can take any of their songs on their own, but am finding a whole album like this too much.

Knew Dean and I and Rubber Bullets obviously, but agree also about Speed Kills. My ears pricked up at that one.

You said it yourself @Saddleworth2 some might find it lacking in grit. I’m leaning that way myself. It all sounds very West Coast America to me, which is ok in smaller doses.

I’ll listen again at a different hour and mood.
Click to expand...
Wash your mouth out, agreeing with me!
 
Saddleworth2 said:
You should like it better!

I like this album because they developed from it. Everything is there that I love about 10cc and culminated in 'The Original Soundtrack' which I think is their most developed album.
When all is said and done its just 40 minutes of joyful, upbeat, sly, well executed pop.
Grit? Its for the birds man ;-).
Click to expand...
As you said yourself, they developed from it.
 
Some great and not so great tracks.
Terrible start in Johnny Don't Do It and Sand in my Face.Although I liked the guitar in Johnny Don't Do It.
Donna and The Dean and I pick it up.Although the high falsetto voice and the Hum drum days start I found annoying.
Headline Hunter and Speed Kills just album fillers.
Rubber Bullets a classic from my youth.
The Hospital song- nothing special bar the guitar playing.
Ship's Don't Disappear okay and last Fresh Air For Mama a decent finish.
A lot of promise for an first album but nothing special.
I will investigate further albums but got a feeling a best of playist from Spotify will do me. 5/10.
 
10cc

Where do I start, not only I’m agreeing with much of what Bimbobob and hence Mancity2012_eamo have written but also Mr Positive Bennyboy!


As I mentioned previously this was very much part of my early teenage years.



I remember a mate going out with a girl called ‘Donna’ at the time,I took
an instant dislike to her and we all used to sing the song to him ( most of our balls had’nt dropped so the falsetto was easy)until I couldn’t stand the song either.I met her some years later and she turned out to be a really nice girl so it must’ve been the songs influence back in the day.


I was never a big fan of 10cc , I liked most of their singles but only owned
‘The Original Soundtrack’ which as most of us agree was a better album.

I have to say they we’re all immensely talented, great musicians song writers and producers.

Apart from taking American influences and making them their own, especially Doo Wop on this album,they influenced many future artists with their sound and clever witty lyrics.Deaf School, B52s, The Devine Comedy and a band we’ve reviewed recently FOW, to name but a few.

This album was fun and nostalgic to listen to after all these years,so big thanks to Saddleworth2 .

However I found after a few plays Lol Cremes falsetto start to grate and as others have said there’s a few fillers.



6/10



Bit of trivia, Graham Gouldman used to work in a men’s fashion store ‘Manstyle’ and sit and write songs when the shop was quiet.

Lol Creme was a cousin of the late Richard Creme, whose high end Manchester fashion store ‘L,Homme was frequented by the likes of Bruce Springsteen;Prince and Bowie when they were in town.
 
What to make of 10cc and this album? I've always liked their singles and as a singles band they are up there with the best. Are they an album band though? Apart from the Original Soundtrack, which definitely makes my top twenty all time albums if not quite the top ten, I've never really listened to their albums, or if I have I may have dismissed them.

Since this nomination I've not only listened to this but am working my way through the rest and they possibly all suffer from the same problem. Are 10cc just a bit too clever for their own good? And did they really know what they wanted to be? When they are not being "clever" and even when they are they have turned out some absolute gems.

@Mancitydoogle mentions Fountains of Wayne who I think I might have said at the time I reviewed them, in relation to the line between pastiche/ tribute/ influence and being taken seriously that you have to like the sort of music being affectionately parodied to get most from the song.

So most noticeably Johnny Don't Do It and Donna in the doo-wop style. Not a genre I'm all that up on or into but Donna is in my memory as one of the first songs I heard regularly on the radio. I loved it hen, I love it now. Whether it's purely due to memory association who knows and who cares. Funnily enough Rubber Bullets I went through a phase of not liking at all. Maybe that was associated with the times I spent in youth penitentiary having joined the riots of the times... only kidding about that and anyway it's wormed it's way back into my affections.

Some of this album I could take or leave to be honest but there are glimpses of what they were working towards. I like Sheet Music better and Original Soundtrack obviously even more. I've skipped How Dare You for now as I vaguely remember having Deceptive Bends and indeed this is a very good album.

I think in the main though 10cc are going to remain a mainly singles band for me with the odd other album track thrown in. It feels a little early to score but we are away for a few days from tomorrow and I won't be writing anything lengthy. I will however have the chance to listen to this and their other albums on headphones while on the train so I'm going to reserve the final score till I've done that.

As an aside, there was a fantastic exhibition of memorabilia from Strawberry Studios in one of the Stockport museums a few years ago, that was quite a story. There was certainly more to these guys than clever pop songs.
 
journolud said:
What to make of 10cc and this album? I've always liked their singles and as a singles band they are up there with the best. Are they an album band though? Apart from the Original Soundtrack, which definitely makes my top twenty all time albums if not quite the top ten, I've never really listened to their albums, or if I have I may have dismissed them.

Since this nomination I've not only listened to this but am working my way through the rest and they possibly all suffer from the same problem. Are 10cc just a bit too clever for their own good? And did they really know what they wanted to be? When they are not being "clever" and even when they are they have turned out some absolute gems.

@Mancitydoogle mentions Fountains of Wayne who I think I might have said at the time I reviewed them, in relation to the line between pastiche/ tribute/ influence and being taken seriously that you have to like the sort of music being affectionately parodied to get most from the song.

So most noticeably Johnny Don't Do It and Donna in the doo-wop style. Not a genre I'm all that up on or into but Donna is in my memory as one of the first songs I heard regularly on the radio. I loved it hen, I love it now. Whether it's purely due to memory association who knows and who cares. Funnily enough Rubber Bullets I went through a phase of not liking at all. Maybe that was associated with the times I spent in youth penitentiary having joined the riots of the times... only kidding about that and anyway it's wormed it's way back into my affections.

Some of this album I could take or leave to be honest but there are glimpses of what they were working towards. I like Sheet Music better and Original Soundtrack obviously even more. I've skipped How Dare You for now as I vaguely remember having Deceptive Bends and indeed this is a very good album.

I think in the main though 10cc are going to remain a mainly singles band for me with the odd other album track thrown in. It feels a little early to score but we are away for a few days from tomorrow and I won't be writing anything lengthy. I will however have the chance to listen to this and their other albums on headphones while on the train so I'm going to reserve the final score till I've done that.

As an aside, there was a fantastic exhibition of memorabilia from Strawberry Studios in one of the Stockport museums a few years ago, that was quite a story. There was certainly more to these guys than clever pop songs.
Click to expand...
Really perceptive review. My better half and I share most musical tastes with a few notable exceptions , 10cc is one. She thinks they are too clever by half! Ask a 10cc fan which album is a favourite and you will get six or seven different answers. They are all good. I chose this because it was their debut and i was at a very impressionable age with a lot of stuff going on.
 
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