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

BlueHammer85 said:
Seal - 1991

Indeed another couple of spins with Seal and couldn’t quite get out of 3rd gear - ‘Crazy' is a brilliant song that stands the test of time, I like the overall blend of sounds - pop, rock, R&B and he has a great voice - other notable tracks 'Killer', 'Future Love Paradise' and 'The Beginning' are standouts - found the rest pretty ponderous, repetitive and don't really go anywhere - In that video i posted he mentioned he grew up with and was influenced by so many great Artists - Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Prince, Bob Dylan... Yet it's lacking here, there's no trace of any of them, maybe Prince at times.
Still, i like him, i like his voice, It has that early 90's sound where the world seemed a calmer place and the singles here are good - if 'Kiss From A Rose' was on here then that would also notch it up a point. Good pick!

6/10
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I think "Kiss From A Rose" is his best song (of the limited number I've heard).
 
threespires said:
I was sad enough to check he had a song writing credit on this (which was my rational) before I posted it !

(and not gonna lie, it's still a guilty pleasure for me)
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I don't feel guilty about liking Yes. It's a lot of bombast and intricate technical mastery with no message (like Rush) and a lot of their stuff sounds great because so many members have incredible talent. I prefer certain songs rather than their albums overall but Fragile and 9-whatever are the records I like best. As long as no one thinks their music means anything. It's cheesecake.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I don't feel guilty about liking Yes. It's a lot of bombast and intricate technical mastery with no message (like Rush) and a lot of their stuff sounds great because so many members have incredible talent. I prefer certain songs rather than their albums overall but Fragile and 9-whatever are the records I like best. As long as no one thinks their music means anything. It's cheesecake.
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Yes are one of those bands i should like but everytime i go to look, i seem to get repulsed by a strange force.
I must listen properly to an album of theirs tbh.
 
Seal's debut album, Seal, scored an average of 5.73 from 13 voters. Certainly a refreshing change of a nomination that was different to a lot of what we listen to on here, and a good start for @Mr Grumpy. Based on the shellacking he's getting on the FTSE thread, I'd suggest that he spends more time in the calmer waters of the music threads.

Anyway, as you all know, @GoatersLeftShin has already dropped his clues and write-up yesterday, so now we are on to listening to/reviewing Heartbreaker by Free (see page 2179 for the write-up).
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Yes are one of those bands i should like but everytime i go to look, i seem to get repulsed by a strange force.
I must listen properly to an album of theirs tbh.
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You know, I get that. I've never gainsayed anyone who loves them or dislikes them. As long as we all acknowledge it's pretentious twaddle and not epoch-making or groundbreaking, I am totally cool with just enjoying it because it sounds fantastic or not liking it because it meanders, or Jon's voice is too high, or whatever.
 
RobMCFC said:
Based on the shellacking he's getting on the FTSE thread, I'd suggest that he spends more time in the calmer waters of the music threads.
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Meh, forums are full of radicalised cliques. This one is no different.

Back on topic.

I really enjoyed the submission process Rob, it had me revisiting, rethinking and re-liking much of my older stuff. I enjoyed all the comments about the album as well, both negative and positive. You learn much from both sides of the vote.
I felt a little sorry for @BimboBob , i'm sure i'll hit on a good album for him in future submissions. (He's a tough customer though!).
I particularly liked listening to this album as one of the reviewers would, with a critical ear, from front to back and 3 times round. It is an enlightening experience. I liked some of the tracks more than i did and some less so.
It's a fun thread. I like it a lot. Thanks for having me and my (apparently) wierd ways on board :)
 
RobMCFC said:
Seal's debut album, Seal, scored an average of 5.73 from 13 voters. Certainly a refreshing change of a nomination that was different to a lot of what we listen to on here, and a good start for @Mr Grumpy. Based on the shellacking he's getting on the FTSE thread, I'd suggest that he spends more time in the calmer waters of the music threads.

Anyway, as you all know, @GoatersLeftShin has already dropped his clues and write-up yesterday, so now we are on to listening to/reviewing Heartbreaker by Free (see page 2179 for the write-up).
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I assume we'll be having a where does Paul Rodgers sit in the pantheon of rock singers conversation? I'm still annoyed at myself for putting Plant as my one rock singer in PJ's top male vocalist poll.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Meh, forums are full of radicalised cliques. This one is no different.

Back on topic.

I really enjoyed the submission process Rob, it had me revisiting, rethinking and re-liking much of my older stuff. I enjoyed all the comments about the album as well, both negative and positive. You learn much from both sides of the vote.
I felt a little sorry for @BimboBob , i'm sure i'll hit on a good album for him in future submissions. (He's a tough customer though!).
I particularly liked listening to this album as one of the reviewers would, with a critical ear, from front to back and 3 times round. It is an enlightening experience. I liked some of the tracks more than i did and some less so.
It's a fun thread. I like it a lot. Thanks for having me and my (apparently) wierd ways on board :)
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It's a pleasure to have you aboard, sir.

You are correct, you do apply a more critical ear to stuff that you have listened to for years as a result of participation on here. It's also good to listen to one complete album by artists that you generally wouldn't listen to and to see what works and what doesn't work for you.

We have a very respectful group of posters on here and it is a lot calmer and more enjoyable than most threads because of it.
threespires said:
I assume we'll be having a where does Paul Rodgers sit in the pantheon of rock singers conversation? I'm still annoyed at myself for putting Plant as my one rock singer in PJ's top male vocalist poll.
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I think "Alright Now" is the only song of theirs that I know, so I'm probably not best placed to comment on Paul Rodger's vocal ability, but hopefully I'll be in a better position to do so after this week.

Was just about to say that I always get them mixed up with Bad Company and now of course I remember that he was vocalist in both, so I have heard more than one song with him singing.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
I keep getting Paul Young vibes from the singer.....
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Possibly Paul Young got his vibes from Paul Rodgers? I can understand why you say that because the thing about Rodgers is he's got soul in his kitbag as well as blues and rock. Lot's of singers have been consciously and unconsciously influenced by him. His vocal phrasing is just excellent and from what I remember of Paul Young (who I saw live early in his career) his phrasing was often not dissimilar. Interestingly Rodgers never sounds like he's over singing or really reaching but Young sometimes did and the last time I saw him on the TV it sounded like his voice was absolutely shot despite being a few years younger than Rodgers.
 
Having reread Goats introduction, I’m not sure there’s much I can add to it so I going to make one observation and just score it.

Objectively this is not the best Free album, but it has some of my favourite Paul Rodgers’ music and I can explain this by comparing the version of Easy On My Soul on here with the Bad Company redo. Nothing spectacularly clever happens on the song but it is just so well done in both instances. However the Free version is just so mellow, the slower tempo and the looseness just does it for me. The fact it’s propelled by the keyboards rather than the guitars adds rather than detracts for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like the punch of the Bad Company version, but I love both the low key restraint and the warmth of this version. If I was going to drive through the mid-west in a Skylark or something, this album would be part of the soundtrack. For me personally rock is best when it either has a rawness and abandon or when it has some real soul; and both this track and the album itself has soul. For a band that was in the process of falling apart it’s a brilliant way to go out, don’t let the vulnerability and fragility kill you, lean into it instead and make a great record. 9/10.
 
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RobMCFC said:
I think "Alright Now" is the only song of theirs that I know, so I'm probably not best placed to comment on Paul Rodger's vocal ability, but hopefully I'll be in a better position to do so after this week.

Was just about to say that I always get them mixed up with Bad Company and now of course I remember that he was vocalist in both, so I have heard more than one song with him singing.
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I suspect you'll know "Wishing Well" immediately.
 
Free are my favourite British band of all time. Nothing like them before or since imo. Ruined by bad management and overwork which was common in that era. No regard for wellbeing. If Koss had survived, we'd be talking a band as big as Zeppelin. If you want to hear them at their supreme, slinky, soulful peak, listen to the studio version of I'll be creepin'.

6 for Heartbreaker. They'd had it by then. Side one is strong though.
 
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I remember having a 7" with Alright Now, Wishing Well and I think it was a song called My Brother Jake on it. Two great songs and a good one. Beyond that never listened to them but enjoyed the first lsiten to this.
 
1st spin and it's clearly got something about it.
Pity about the recording though. It's heavily clipped. I looked for a remaster but i think i was actually listening to it. I read that the production on it was done for free.
 
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