Or punctuational!
The Album Review Club - Week #196 (page 1316) - Aja - Steely Dan
- Thread starter RobMCFC
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Or punctuational!
mrbelfry
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Im always on time
Apologies I realised your were posting on behalf of....
And there was me out and about earlier today and felt this sudden stab at around 10.30!
After the last couple of selections this one felt easy and enjoyable. All round quality, from musicianship to production, although as has been said, it is perhaps, maybe, just a tad over the top at times.
I think I first heard this on a holiday around the Ludlow area where my folks had this and Parallel Lines in cassette in the car. Easy listening for them and to keep the kids quiet in the back. Songs with hooks to hum along to and that has stuck with me to this day.
A couple of ones that you could skip by but overall quality and it has been enjoyed by the whole family in the car almost 50 years on from my introduction to it in the car.
It's so nice when I don't get any pushback on the musical choices and the nominator gets kudos from the rest of the passengers. So well done that man!
A very enjoyable 8 from the Derry jury.
RobMCFC
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I am genuinely shocked and surprised at the high scores ELO are getting here.
Every week there are comments about the current week’s album being “too bland”, “nothing special”, “Friends music”, “doesn’t take any risks” etc and along comes an album that, for me, is the very definition of all those things (well, maybe not Friends music) and everybody (except me) thinks it’s great!
Every week there are comments about the current week’s album being “too bland”, “nothing special”, “Friends music”, “doesn’t take any risks” etc and along comes an album that, for me, is the very definition of all those things (well, maybe not Friends music) and everybody (except me) thinks it’s great!
FogBlueInSanFran
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Hooks, mate. We have a very different view on the contextual value of hooks.
Oh. And you’re not quite the FOC most of the rest of us are :). ANWR gets at least a point because it was something I loved as a kid. Nostalgia counts.
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And pizza is just pizza.
But get a well made pizza, and something about it just makes you go oooohhh.
PS spires went a bit existential there, so i think he's with you on this one
BlueHammer85
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Surely ‘bland’ is just a generic rock group or some artist strumming a acoustic guitar - this has futuristic synths, strings, violins, layered guitars and pretty complex arrangements in a upbeat in your face Pop way - it’s the opposite of bland.
BimboBob
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To me, without the obvious distant listening memories, it's just a good record well made. And sing in the shower-able. Always a good sign.
And better than the so called magnum opus bloated offering that was to come.
threespires
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Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
flook
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To put it into context, at the time of its release, this WAS music taking risks. Violins and Cellos in a rock band, heavens above, whatever next, there'll be people with spiky hair and nose rings.
RobMCFC
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What, like Oasis? :)
I just thought the sound was so saccharine that it didn’t matter how complex it is, but clearly threespires and I are the outliers.
BimboBob
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A quick fact about Telephone Line. Jeff had an American girlfriend, he rang her whilst in England, she didn't pick up and he was so pissed off he wrote the song.
BlueHammer85
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threespires
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Not so much that it's bland; if anything the more I listened the more disturbing it became. I think if Bret Easton Ellis had been writing for a British audience, PB's activities could easily have had a different soundtrack.
It is funny, I shouldn't have liked this album. It isn't really my thing, I'm not one for added kitsch, and it is way too beatlesy sounding. Yet, something about it worked, and I enjoyed the week. Maybe it was good timing, maybe I've changed, maybe I just don't know myself.
Maybe it was a bit long winded, and I admit I was still a bit drunk when I wrote it, but the point in my review was there. Some albums make you want to dance, some upset you, some you admire the musicianship, some make you cry. This one made me wonder, and ponder. And I quite liked that.
Maybe it is that inherently semi philosophical time of year, maybe being coupled with a week of The Gritterman it was a perfect companion/antidote. Who knows mate.
I should have liked last week's choice. I wanted to, even. But I didn't really. I would have bet on not liking this the moment I guessed it. But music and my appreciation of it isn't numerical. It is emotional. Better albums than this have fared worse, sometimes something just hits the spot.
I stick with my pizza metaphor, it's most often the last thing I'd choose on a menu, but I like it when I do. This one has more Nutella than Mozzarella, but, I this week I happen to have a sweet tooth.
I read somewhere that there is a tarmac now that can de-ice itself. I'm not sure I want to live in a world where the B2116 doesn't need gritting..
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mrbelfry
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After I reviewed this I had it on in the car with my 12 year old. She had never heard the album before but was able to sing along by the time a chorus came around the second time. That's surely a testament to a great pop record.
I get that the relentless sweetness of it can be a bit uncanny and I can definitely imagine PB (Patrick Bateman and not Prestwich Blue) reviewing the album in preparation of killing someone as it works as a good juxtaposition. I think. I find it hard to describe it as bland but I guess it's all one flavour
This album is a good time. After my review I did actually listen to an entire Jive Bunny album. Yes it was stupid and kitsch and nostalgic and of little value except as a readers digest version of music but I tapped my feet and was put in a good mood. I had a good time
I get that the relentless sweetness of it can be a bit uncanny and I can definitely imagine PB (Patrick Bateman and not Prestwich Blue) reviewing the album in preparation of killing someone as it works as a good juxtaposition. I think. I find it hard to describe it as bland but I guess it's all one flavour
This album is a good time. After my review I did actually listen to an entire Jive Bunny album. Yes it was stupid and kitsch and nostalgic and of little value except as a readers digest version of music but I tapped my feet and was put in a good mood. I had a good time
FogBlueInSanFran
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I think some of you might be missing that the saccharine kitschy-ness of this is part of the joke. That’s one of the reasons it works. Rockaria! (note the exclamation point!) combines that operatic bit with big-standard old-fashioned rock-around-the-clock chords and is about an opera singer who wants to be a rock star. That’s patently silly. Jeff Lynne isn’t an idiot — he’s having a ball and laughing all the while.
threespires
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My favourite desert pizza is with thin pieces of citrus fruits, with an ever so slightly burnt orange being the dominant flavour.
This album has Nutella, crushed Oreos, marshmallows, smarties, nougat, peanut butter and is accompanied by a sherbet dib dab.
FogBlueInSanFran
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Correct. That’s the joke. If you don’t think it’s funny, that’s fine, but it might cause me to assume you believe Adam Horovitz really had a horsey named Paul Revere and did it like this and that to the sheriff’s daughter with a Wiffle Ball bat. :)