The Album Review Club - Week #145 - (page 1923) - Tellin' Stories - The Charlatans

FogBlueInSanFran said:
As noted previously I love Bastards of Young and I’m glad you enjoyed it MC1. I’m sure @RobMCFC will ask you score it (an integer out of 10).

Also as noted I would have been happy if just one person was introduced to something new that they liked a lot so it’s great to see folks finding songs or enjoying the whole thing. No one’s truly trashed it yet but I suspect that’s coming :) It’s easier to trash a randomly selected record but trust me my wife has screamed at me about how much she hates Superchunk and Archers of Loaf — two of my favo(u)rite 90s bands — and my whole family calls Husker Du “Husker Don’t” (formerly “Husker Poo”) so I have NO issues with criticism!
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I find it hard to be critical of good music Fog , this is a fantastic album and I have listened to it many times since I was introduced to the band in 1986 and it took a while to be critically acclaimed as a wonderful and inspirational piece of music as it should have been.

yes everyone has their own tastes but this was a big surprise for me that you included it as your introduced pieces of work into this forum as such and am looking forward to more as I know there is music that is dear and meaningful to you irrespective of what family think and friends think as your tastes are wide ranging and plentiful that I haven't heard.

the band and their music have a closet close knit bunch of devotees here in OZ and I am proud to say I am one of them.

I don't know why they are more widely known and appreciated in Australia we tend to be purely commercial when it comes to overseas bands and fail to discover music beyond out shores that is not considered mainstream with few exceptions but sometimes the best kept secrets are for those who fully appreciate them.

its clear music forms a dominate part of your life and amen to that , its a force that brings us together in the end and as you allude to divides opinion as well but as you have noticed it doesn't appear to get nearly as vile and full of personal abuse as say the political orientated threads interesting in itself.

FWIW I rate it a 7.5 out of 10.
 
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I had been listening to this in the car in low quality but last night I had it playing through speakers in high quality and I have to say I'm happy my revised score was a 7. I Will Dare is turning out to be a classic for me and its getting a bashing but other tracks are growing on me too.

Great left field choice.
 
John Cougar Mellencamp
Lonesome
4/10

New Score

The Replacements
Let it be
Does Gary still have a boner after all this time? ;-)

I really like the guys voice, fits some of the music perfectly (I'm thinking Unsatisfied here - which I enjoyed a lot and I caught myself singing to myself later in the day). I really appreciate 'effort' vocals (not to say I don't love artist's who don't break sweat hitting the high notes) and he does sound Cobainy in part.

There are elements of this album that don't appeal to me (bit too thrashy / punky for my ear) but it definitely fits the album as a whole (and wait for it @Bill Walker ), keeps within the overall 'feel' of the album). Some of it is on the face of it an erratic clash of styles, but it works for them.

Lovely change of pace during We're coming out. Not too enthralled with the first bit (although it could easily be repackaged as a 'We are the Mods' type thing), but in my head, would I have enjoyed the break in song without the first bit being so raw? Probably not, the sour and sweet.

Scoring is difficult on this one but after a few listens and consulting my previous efforts I have it in a similar place to Rush, pleasantly surprised of its likeability.

5/10 (probably more 5.5 but we aren't awarding half marks) may seem skinny for all of the above superlative however I've still only awarded one high mark of 7 to date (and that is for an album that I would have regularly chosen to listen to myself).

Two really good picks @RobMCFC and @FogBlueInSanFran as these are two acts I wouldn't have listened to. There is something about the way the music is presented in this and the Top 1000 @BlueHammer85 thread that gives me a different mindset to take in the music. It's not someone telling me that it's either the best thing since sliced bread (which I'm now realising must immediately get my back up) or that I will love it because of X, Y and Z. It's a different setting, this is the album pick go and have a go.

I think my picks will be a fair bit more mainstream for you guys and I await the accompanying fallout.

Selection-gate......... ;-)
 
Invisible Man's Bandage said:
Oh no.

Half marks reappearing... @RobMCFC will not be happy.
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Right, you awkward beggars! From now on, it's a new scoring system - you are only allowed to score in mathematical or scientific constants! Pi, Planks constant, freefall gravity, Avogadro, take your pick!
 
As previously stated, never heard of them or heard them.
I read foggys intro and obviously it meant nothing to me, (despite his, as it turns out, accurate description) I pretty much half read it if I'm honest, but reading it back today, having spent a bit of time with the record, It's quite scary how my notes bear similarities to his thoughts.

Talk of drunken performances and references to certain important musical figures definitely got my interest though. I almost liked them before I'd even heard them, ridiculous I know, but there we are. When someone is enthusiastic about a subject, that can often rub off on a receptive audience, in this case me.

Anyway, kicking off with the bountiful energy of 'I will dare' with It's snakey bassline and clever lyrics, "how old am I? let's count the rings around my eyes" and "fingernails and cigarettes a lousy dinner" it's pretty good punk pop straight in.
I can't be the only one to notice 'favourite thing' is quite clash- esque in its delivery? His vocals now ringing some bells. I'm thinking strummer/ burns. No bad thing.

'We're coming out' is just a great track, the messy attempts at guitar solo adding to the chaos, it slows down then goes again with great vigour. Top notch.

It's not without humour though, 'Tommy gets his tonsils out' and 'androgynous' both had me smiling, I like the shoulder shrugging "so what" attitude. Nice piano melody on the latter too.

When I first heard 'black diamond' I didn't know it was a kiss song, I still haven't heard the original so I don't know if this is a good cover or not. I do know however, that this and the next track 'unsatisfied' show off his vocal ability well.

On to my favourite track, the quite brilliant 'seen your video' it has a wonderously long intro (2.25 on a 3.08 track) some guitar feedback, then some mad piano clearly lifted from a completely different song. Fantastic.

'Gary's got a boner' blimey we're getting some punk rock n roll, and even some punk balledering on the chaos calming 'sixteen blue' (ok it's not a ballad but you get the idea)
It's a shame that the last track is my least favourite, 'answering machine' I like the guitars but the song doesn't really go anywhere.
They could have ended on a high by swapping this with any number of tracks, but this is just a minor niggle in a big fuck off ocean of positives.

Like all good records this took a few plays for it to get under my skin. But once there it ain't going nowhere.
It's a great album, and offers such a lot. Sounding like a true garage band, it's raw, full of energy, and well delivered. Most importantly, it's imperfect, and that's why I like it so much.
I know it's a keeper, thank you foggy, hope I did it justice.
9/10
 
I’ve played at home and I’ve played it in the car. Have the place to myself tomorrow so will give it another spin. I will say I can’t get the first track out of my head already and totally get the Strokes reference. It really sounds like something I’ve heard before although the band are totally new to me.

It still suffers from poor production for me although a lot of you seem to find this tinny garage sound part of the attraction, but I’m struggling with the all important lyrics it seems, that are totally indistinguishable from the rest of the noise at times.

Roll on tomorrow and a bit of volume added for the mood.
 
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