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

GornikDaze said:
Be interesting to hear your thoughts. I’ve never really got the Muse comparisons, although there clearly are for me.
Click to expand...
Yes we raised this when we had that album didn't we. I felt exactly the same. The only comparable similarities for me were they are both skinny pointy looking dudes with odd haircuts, and with high (arguably whiny) not particularly masculine voices. Maybe the fact they like to hold their guitars a bit high. Possibly also that after a handful of good albums, both went a bit shit.

But yea, beyond a crass surface level, never got the comparisons.
 
Like Rob I can say that I have never listened to any Radiohead album in its entirety...and after my first listen to this I can honestly say that I dont think I have missed much. Nothing grabbed me, a couple of interesting tracks but I shall give it the required 2 extra listens.

Just had this image of @FogBlueInSanFran & @threespires being backed into a corner as the mob closes in...Butch & Sundance perhaps shot down in a blaze of Paranoid Android
 
LGWIO said:
Like Rob I can say that I have never listened to any Radiohead album in its entirety...and after my first listen to this I can honestly say that I dont think I have missed much. Nothing grabbed me, a couple of interesting tracks but I shall give it the required 2 extra listens.

Just had this image of @FogBlueInSanFran & @threespires being backed into a corner as the mob closes in...Butch & Sundance perhaps shot down in a blaze of Paranoid Android
Click to expand...

At least they both know exactly why they dislike it. Which is more than can be said for many of us here at times, including me.

Their stances are not some off the cuff flippant dismissals based on momentary mood, attempting to be witty while missing the mark. And they do make for interesting discussion.
 
One thing I will say for this album, one listen in.

Putting aside whether it moves you or not, whether it lives up to its hype, whether it borrows, invents, is truthful or an act, and all that..

You absolutely can Not fault its delivery. Its production and execution are borderline flawless.

Its influence, even if second hand, on so many bands, many of which I happen to really like is also pretty evident and hard to argue.
 
denislawsbackheel said:
I didn’t understand your claim that there was a market for artistic criticism and I don’t give a rat’s arse what anyone else thinks about my tastes.
Click to expand...

BimboBob said:
I've never in my life taken stock of what someone who is paid to listen to an album writes about it.

Who cares? Trust your own judgement.
Click to expand...
I disagree with both of these comments - in the main.

I agree that in terms of how much you enjoy an album, you shouldn't give a damn what others think, especially somebody who you don't even know.

However, nobody exists in a vaccum - I find it interesting to see what other people have to say about the music I like. Not as some form of validation, but to see where there is agreement and if there are things they can point out that I may have missed.

As for music critics, they play a vital role. Nobody has time to listen to everything ever released, so why not let somebody do the filtering for you? Plus, by not reading reviews, you miss out on some witty critical putdowns.
 
BimboBob said:
I've never in my life taken stock of what someone who is paid to listen to an album writes about it.

Who cares? Trust your own judgement.
Click to expand...
Well, that's too bad, because you've probably missed out on some music you'd really like.

Criticism isn't prescriptive FFS. A critic isn't telling me what to think and feel. Critics are guides in a sea of product because they listen to more music than I have time for -- that's their job.

As such, by definition, they've heard more music that they've thought was either good or bad than I have. They're experienced.

They're also humans. If I read a critic's synopsis of something he/she really likes, and I listen, I either like it or don't. If I agree often enough over many years, than that becomes a "good critic" for me because I agree with him/her often after the fact, and they've turned me onto regular pleasurable experiences I wouldn't otherwise have had.

A good critic also educates me, and helps me understand context and motivation, and writes in an entertaining way, whether I agree with said critic or not.

That the critic I love and trust most disliked OKC was a validation of how I felt, not the other way around.

Anyhow it's not like these were somehow undiscovered. I already detested "Creep" and "High and Dry" before OKC.
 
Last edited:
RobMCFC said:
I disagree with both of these comments - in the main.

I agree that in terms of how much you enjoy an album, you shouldn't give a damn what others think, especially somebody who you don't even know.

However, nobody exists in a vaccum - I find it interesting to see what other people have to say about the music I like. Not as some form of validation, but to see where there is agreement and if there are things they can point out that I may have missed.

As for music critics, they play a vital role. Nobody has time to listen to everything ever released, so why not let somebody do the filtering for you? Plus, by not reading reviews, you miss out on some witty critical putdowns.
Click to expand...
Over many years here interacting with Brits, their serial distrust of "the press" and "punditry" is striking. It's also something that's only recently come to my shores, whereas it's been a staple to media-hate over there for years, so I understand the perspective they have.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
Well, that's too bad, because you've probably missed out on some music you'd really like.

Criticism isn't prescriptive FFS. A critic isn't telling me what to think and feel. Critics are guides in a sea of product because they listen to more music than I have time for -- that's their job.

As such, by definition, they've heard more music that they've thought was either good or bad than I have. They're experienced.

They're also humans. If I read a critic's synopsis of something he/she really likes, and I listen, I either like it or don't. If I agree often enough over many years, than that becomes a "good critic" for me because I agree with him/her often after the fact.

A good critic also educates me, and helps me understand context and motivation, and writes in an entertaining way, whether I agree with said critic or not.
Click to expand...

The best critic works or analysis, imo, are the ones that put into words that you maybe wouldn't use, something you already think/feel. The ones that resonate, stick with you, are quotable, and pop back into your head when you are listening to the material. Rob does it well imo, adding such wee nuggets into his reviews of someone else capturing what he felt. Spires generates a few creative ones of his own imo.

One such that stuck with me for example described 'overwhelming mutual empathy in the room when they played live, creating a sense of a crowd and band with their arms around one another.' They are not particularly complex words or metaphors that I myself couldn't have come up with, they are not beautiful deep poetry. It isn't even that peculiar or niche an observation. But it nails what I felt, gives someone else a bit of context.

There is a place for reading others' takes on music, juat as much as there is a place for talking about music, sharing views and experiences.

Which incidentally is why most of us are actually on this thread, right?
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
Over many years here interacting with Brits, their serial distrust of "the press" and "punditry" is striking. It's also something that's only recently come to my shores, whereas it's been a staple to media-hate over there for years, so I understand the perspective they have.
Click to expand...

I don't think those two things are interchangeable with music/film/book or art in general reviews and critic pieces. Quite different things.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
The rather amusing irony of this statement is that Thom Yorke comes pretty close on this record to suggesting otherwise.
Click to expand...
First one-and-a-half-listens in and so far it seems that everybody is right.

I was making a few notes on first listen (the advantage of working in front of a computer at home) and I'm quite pleased with a piece of irony I came up with for one of the tracks, which I'll save for my review :)

Just to note that it wasn't a terrible experience at all and there was certainly some stuff to like.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
And my problem is that I find scant evidence in many of the songs (save one) to support this conclusion, and yet the world has spun this unfocused lack of specificity into some universal narrative. This is the Great Mistake About OK Computer. “It doesn’t appear to be about any one person, so it must be about all of us!” as opposed to MY conclusion “It’s not about any specific one person because the artist either doesn’t really feel these things or isn’t very good at expressing them.”
Click to expand...

It's about a dystopian world, based on the situation at the time and I'd argue is still as relevant today in its themes as it was when it landed - which isn't often the case with an album. It's a complicated take, but it seems as though you're writing it off on the basis Yorke wanted to be a musician and comes from an affluent background as opposed to just listening to it. You're aiming your gun on the basis we've all read reviews and believed the hype, when you have read them alongside the bands bio and decided to use it against them.

It's also got to be commended that they didn't produce the Bends Part 2. Which is what they were told to do for commercial success. They fucked that off and did what they wanted to. Experimented, broke some rules and produced a brilliant album - albeit I preferred the Bends still.

Do you dismiss Erling Haaland as a footballer because he is the son of a former pro and has access to the best training? Some footballers can turn up and play, it's in them. Some footballers have to work their arse off. I wouldn't have found David Silva any less beautiful if I found out he'd had a private coach from the age he could walk.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top