The Album Review Club - Christmas Break Until 8th January

bennyboy said:
Weirdly i'm the complete opposite with London calling.A single album and it would be an all time classic.Same with my favourite Beatles album,the White album.Far too many fillers but a single album would have been great.
Spotify cures this problem brilliantly.
That run of Stones albums from Beggars to Exile will take some doing to get beat for quality from me.
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I do agree with that last sentence for sure. Whether I like the songs or not, that was a HELL of a run of iconic music. Not many can match it; other than the Beatles, maybe no one.
 
OB1 said:
Zep can, which is why they are so popular in your homeland.
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I loved Zep at the time.For some reason now i find a lot of their songs too long with guitar solos and the like.
Something that never bothered me 40 odd years ago.
 
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OB1 said:
Zep can, which is why they are so popular in your homeland.
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IV, Houses of the Holy, Phys Graf — that’s only three in a row and I think as we all discussed PG has a bit of filler as it gets to the last two sides. Never cared much for the first three records (I know many disagree); Presence is a letdown. ITTOD is wildly underrated though IMO. That was THEIR response to disco/punk! Also I think it’s important to point out that they never had much to say about the world at large. And one of their all-time best tunes is a cover. Don’t get me wrong — I like the best LZ tunes more than the Stones’, a fair degree more. For iconography I think the Stones album run is better.
 
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On this discussion of greatest album runs I was trying to think of four iconic ones in a row. Pink Floyd? Dark Side, WYWH, Animals (which I think is uneven) and The Wall? I need to do some thinking. I can make a good case for Steely Dan having 6 but a lot of folks think Royal Scam is weak. I’d argue REM and Talking Heads are in with a shout in the 80s — both had very good four record runs (5 even). The Clash first four too. The Ramones? Prince? Others? Trying to think of mega-huge artists so we can call them staples or iconic.

I know no one here cares about Sleater-Kinney except me but their 2nd-5th records are basically 50 songs in a row with no clunkers, but that’s personal.

To @bennyboy’s point, topping the Stones will take some doing.
 
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So no history or back catalogue of memories for me to go along with this selection. As I mentioned when it was first revealed ...... and like many I would be more of a Stones GH listener.

Once again I think we also have to thank @BlueHammer85 for providing his almost obligatory helping hand video to accompany our considerations. It certainly does give you the feeling to understand at least some of the sounds that influenced the record, or at least what Mick was perhaps trying to latch on to make a bigger buck. But then there is the oddity of "Just My Imagination" amongst the rest of the album...... as @RobMCFC says...."Meh"

Since being welcomed into this little enclave of Bluemoon I think I have always been quite superficial with what I like or don't like, but over time have picked up on the nuances pointed out by my more discerning musical colleagues, so it was interesting that I was immediately drawn to the playing of Watts/Wyman on this. It does allow the rest of the band to get on and do what they do so well. The first two tracks being excellent IMO. Track 3 as stated, Meh.

The title track was enjoyable and was interesting to read of the controversy over the lyrics. Perhaps another attempt by Jagger to be abit more edgy or "punk", rather than the parody as stated.

With C&W not being my fave genre I did actually enjoy Far Away Eyes with the humour of it. After that I found the album enjoyable but not outstanding with Shattered standing out with its "new wave/punk" sound.

Overall, enjoyable enough but I think I will perhaps revert to my GH packages and also appreciate them more for being the sum of their parts, a great band with a great front man........... so its going to be a 7 from the Derry jury
 
So I listened to Sticky Fingers last night and I think I'm comfortable with the score for this one.

As someone who was too young to listen to Sticky Fingers when it was released it's hard to put yourself in what the moment would have been like but with the benefit of distance it strikes me that the more the The Stone's lean wholly into their American influences the less I like them in some ways*. I suspect this is to spectacularly miss the whole point of them especially when they were at the heights of their early powers. Nonetheless I can't help but shake the feeling that given all the music at our disposal these days, for a track like I Got The Blues I'd be better off just listening to a Stax album, whereas I don't feel that way with tracks like Sister Morphine where they are still clearly plying their influences but don't sound like they are doing a homage to something.

*Actually the caveat to this is when they lean in so far it's effectively deliberate but loving parody like Dead Flowers.
 
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FogBlueInSanFran said:
On this discussion of greatest album runs I was trying to think of four iconic ones in a row. Pink Floyd? Dark Side, WYWH, Animals (which I think is uneven) and The Wall? I need to do some thinking. I can make a good case for Steely Dan having 6 but a lot of folks think Royal Scam is weak. I’d argue REM and Talking Heads are in with a shout in the 80s — both had very good four record runs (5 even). The Clash first four too. The Ramones? Prince? Others? Trying to think of mega-huge artists so we can call them staples or iconic.

I know no one here cares about Sleater-Kinney except me but their 2nd-5th records are basically 50 songs in a row with no clunkers, but that’s personal.

To @bennyboy’s point, topping the Stones will take some doing.
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Fog, if you prefer 80's to the seventies overall your shouts are on the mark , but from sixties to now I cannot go past Steely Dan and you could make a case for Gaucho as well despite most critics canning it at the time of release when arguments and egos and differences in musical direction took over.

Royal Scam is loved by most ardent fans but yes not so by others it is somewhat polarising however it features Larry Carlton so for me it has to be included in the run of great albums.

Aja and Katy Lied for me are not only two of the best albums made in the seventies but both are in my top ten albums of all time and I am sure in many others top twenty if not top ten as well.

You can find faults or pieces of music in any album that make you think meh , or that doesn't do it for me but when you take Steely Dan from 1972 -1977 each album and each track stacks up , no fillers for me at all each track deserves its place on the album and many of the tracks not released into the market place as singles are as good if not better than those that were responsible for each albums commercial success.

Many would disagree I think most on this forum and most music lovers would disagree I know but if you could only have 6 albums on the spin by one artist / band / duet etc to listen to for all time for me it has to be Steely Dan.

Musicianship , sound , lyrics , production , humour even a dig at the Eagles and a preference for listening over great dance music its Steely Dan.
 
I raise you all.

  1. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan — May 27, 1963
  2. The Times They Are a-Changin’ — February 1964
  3. Another Side of Bob Dylan — August 8, 1964
  4. Bringing It All Back Home — March 22, 1965
  5. Highway 61 Revisited — August 30, 1965
  6. Blonde on Blonde — June 20, 1966
 
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