Album of the Year Thread - 2022 - Winner - For the Sake of Bethel Woods - Midlake

[Mancitydoogle]

My first two nominations

The Delines ‘The Sea Drift’

This is the fourth album by a band formed by Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine
Hes a great song writer and also a successful novelist.
His found an ideal vehicle for his songs which are each like short stories.
I’m not a fan of female vocalists but Amy Boone‘s voice is very suited to these songs
she sounds a bit like Bobby Gentry,anyways it’s a Bullseye in my opinion.

Eddie Vedder ‘Earthling’

I’ve always been a big fan of EV‘s voice, he could sing the phone book and it would still sound good.
This album like all his solo work is a departure from PJ
very AOR sounding with tracks sounding like Springsteen and Tom Petty, as Benmont Tench is on organ.Elton Johe Stevie Wonder and Ringo Starr also appear but don’t let them put you off.
imho it’s a hit!

 

[RobMCFC]

Well, John Mellencamp is one gravelly voiced fucker. I sensed he was enjoying himself immensely on One Eyed Jack and despite my limited expectations I enjoyed myself listening to it for the most part. I think it’s the fiddle/ violin accompaniment that made it for me and several songs I could see on the soundtrack of series like Deadwood and Hell on Wheels. Shades of Louis Armstrong too.

It’s not music I would buy and it won’t be top of my list of the years best albums but I like the mellow sound. And was that Bruce on one of the songs as well?

Well spotted - Bruce Springsteen appears on three tracks ("Did You Say Such A Thing", "Wasted days" and "Life Full of Rain"). Very fair comments - his voice is not a selling point - he never was as gravelly as Dylan, but like Mancitydoogle says, his voice is pretty much gone now. His musicians are outstanding on this album. For the most part, they are not the ones who appeared on his classic records between 1982 an 1996, but his later band are damn good here. One of his strengths, besides his songwriting, has been his ability to put stupendous arrangement together and in this case, that's why I rate this album so highly (albeit after only a month of listening).

I don't want to put words in your mouth, but if you've listened, you've got to declare HIT or MISS (of course you don't have to do it now as this is no weekly time limit).

General point for everybody: I'm making a point of asking people about ratings because it's Day #1, Week #1. Once we've been running a bit and everybody's used to the format, I'll be saying less on this subject and taking educated guesses, so keep your eye on the scoreboard!

 

[RobMCFC]

My first two nominations

The Delines ‘The Sea Drift’

This is the fourth album by a band formed by Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine
Hes a great song writer and also a successful novelist.
His found an ideal vehicle for his songs which are each like short stories.
I’m not a fan of female vocalists but Amy Boone‘s voice is very suited to these songs
she sounds a bit like Bobby Gentry,anyways it’s a Bullseye in my opinion.

Eddie Vedder ‘Earthling’

I’ve always been a big fan of EV‘s voice, he could sing the phone book and it would still sound good.
This album like all his solo work is a departure from PJ
very AOR sounding with tracks sounding like Springsteen and Tom Petty, as Benmont Tench is on organ.Elton Johe Stevie Wonder and Ringo Starr also appear but don’t let them put you off.
imho it’s a hit!

Two more for the list. I'm sure I've listened to a Richmond Fontaine album before and I enjoyed Edder Vedder's work for the "Into the Wild" soundtrack so hopefully something will hit home here.

 

[Innsbruckblue]

I’ll give it a go and nominate…

‘Soul Boy II’ by The Skinner Brothers

A definite ‘bullseye’ for me from the London lads, with a top mix of genres right throughout the album and a real urban sound to the lyrics about everyday life.

 

[Out on blue 6]

Think I'll keep my powder dry for a few weeks until the thread sorts itself out. Always busy at the start and as I buy a couple of new releases every week there's enough been put on already. Hopefully the thread has legs to go all year

 

[journolud]

Well spotted - Bruce Springsteen appears on three tracks ("Did You Say Such A Thing", "Wasted days" and "Life Full of Rain"). Very fair comments - his voice is not a selling point - he never was as gravelly as Dylan, but like Mancitydoogle says, his voice is pretty much gone now. His musicians are outstanding on this album. For the most part, they are not the ones who appeared on his classic records between 1982 an 1996, but his later band are damn good here. One of his strengths, besides his songwriting, has been his ability to put stupendous arrangement together and in this case, that's why I rate this album so highly (albeit after only a month of listening).

I don't want to put words in your mouth, but if you've listened, you've got to declare HIT or MISS (of course you don't have to do it now as this is no weekly time limit).

General point for everybody: I'm making a point of asking people about ratings because it's Day #1, Week #1. Once we've been running a bit and everybody's used to the format, I'll be saying less on this subject and taking educated guesses, so keep your eye on the scoreboard!

Oh it’s a HIT

 

[RobMCFC]

Think I'll keep my powder dry for a few weeks until the thread sorts itself out. Always busy at the start and as I buy a couple of new releases every week there's enough been put on already. Hopefully the thread has legs to go all year

Not a bad idea. I’m glad we have got enthusiastic posters and this is what I said about no pressure to listen to everything. We may all have to pick and choose and rely on each other to help filter everything.
I’m confident that between us most things will get a listen and a natural order will evolve.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

Two more for the list. I'm sure I've listened to a Richmond Fontaine album before and I enjoyed Edder Vedder's work for the "Into the Wild" soundtrack so hopefully something will hit home here.

RF were a great band ,WV song writing is top notch. He‘s a real story teller albeit depressing ,so I think you’ll like it!
The only negative about RF was WVs voice which is why I rate ’The Delines’ so highly.
His books are a good read too, a couple have been made into films.

 

[RobMCFC]

Great start for the first day. Lots of new stuff to listen to. As I said, I'm keeping the table updated on page #1, but occasionally I'll post updates in the thread. Here's the state of play:-

Date Added	Album	Artist	BULLSEYE	HIT	MISS
1st March	Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You	Big Thief	nickmcfc1	RobMCFC
1st March	Old	Alix Page			RobMCFC
1st March	Strictly a One-Eyed Jack	John Mellencamp	RobMCFC	Mancitydoogle, journolud
1st March	Resist	Midnight Oil		RobMCFC
1st March	Sinners Shrine	Dean Owens		RobMCFC, journolud, Mancitydoogle
1st March	The Monster Roars	Magnum		blueparrot
1st March	Carpe Diem	Saxon		blueparrot
1st March	Neptune Blue	Lara Lane		blueparrot
1st March	The Zealot Game	Jethro Tull		blueparrot
1st March	Fever Dreams Parts 1-4	Johnny Marr		journolud
1st March	The Voltarol Years	Half Man Half Bisuit		Barcon
1st March	Lucifer on the Sofa	Spoon		Barcon
1st March	Sea Drift	The Delines	Mancitydoogle
1st March	Earthling	Eddie Vedder		Mancitydoogle
1st March	Soul Boy II	The Skinner Brothers	Innsbruckblue

 

[bennyboy]

Alix Page.....Bullseye.
John Mellencamp....Miss.
Midnight Oil.....Miss..
Big Thief...Hit.
Dean Owens....Miss.