The Album Review Club - Week #147 - (page 1942) - Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

worse than Rush.

That is the most insulting thing you can say about any band.

 

[bennyboy]

That is the most insulting thing you can say about any band.

Sadly I have to stand by that statement.

 

[threespires]

They clearly have taste!!

Have to admit I didn't have Debaser and Monkey down as our autostrada sing-along songs, but that's where we are :-)

 

[threespires]

Quite an unusual experience listening to this pick. It sounds like what they were, a young band still exploring and seeking out their own identity. It hops about in style and ideas in a way that is perfectly reasonable for where they were, sometimes it's successful like Marcel and What Once Was and other times it misses the mark. Although Hers were at a much more advanced stage it put me in mind of my own son and his friends as they listen to lots of music, argue about influences and try out ideas for songs as they develop their own material and try to create their identify. And all that just made me think how sad and devastating their untimely deaths would have been for their loved ones and of all that unfulfilled potential. Sorry to be a bit maudlin but tbf having read their back story and heard how similar little snippets of it sounded to some of my sons doodling it ended up being quite upsetting to listen to. Don't feel inclined to score it but if I have to i'll go with 6/10.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

Sorry not for me, I agree with threespires it sounds like a young band making an album in their bedroom.
I don’t particularly like the vocals but he sounds definitely more listenable than Geddy Lee so not as bad as Rush imho
Marcel is an ok track but there is nothing I’d want to listen to again.
The back story reminds me of Viola Beach both very sad ends to budding musicians.

4/10

 

[journolud]

Unusually an album that made a good initial impression on me became less attractive the more I listened to it. Could have been the circumstances I was listening in I suppose because this mornings final listen found me warming to it again. A little. Probably not enough for it to survive in my "library" but some tracks wouldn't be unwelcome if they came up randomly.

It starts well enough with Dorothy and songs with a similar tempo are best as they offset the vocals which can be a bit grinding with the sense at times that they are almost deliberately over emphasised. I mentioned when I first commented that in parts they sounded a bit like how I would imagine New Order to sound if I liked them, it kind of made sense to me but I had a feeling at times as well that I was listening to a pastiche rather than a band influenced by, not necessarily New Order (I've no idea how their timelines run) but, well that sort of stuff.

The guitar on Marcel sounds maddeningly like another song that I can't bring to mind and for that reason I will probably have to listen to it a few times to try and catch it. Not quite in the Stairway to Heaven/ Taurus category of, erm coincidence, but it's there all the same. If anyone else has noticed it please let me know what song it so nearly mimics.

The slower songs are where it loses me. The delivery seems to over emphasise rather than mitigate the vocal shortcomings but then you have to go with what you've got I suppose.

As others have said, there's a sense of a band trying to figure out what they are about and there was promise of more to come. This is what we're marking though and for me it's a 6

 

[GornikDaze]

I had heard a couple of tracks by Her’s previously. I don’t seem to remember them being as hard work as listening to a whole album.
The up tempo tracks are reasonably pleasant without being memorable. The slower paced stuff is where it gets tough. I’ll give it a 5/10. It would have been interested to see how they developed, but sadly that didn’t happen.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Songs of Her's

Unfortunately I have to agree with the majority here, all of it just seemed to pass me by and just couldn't stick.
However, I did like the Indie vibe, the base is awesome and it has a clean modern sound.
'Dorothy', 'I'll Try' and 'Marcel' are nice tempo songs. I really liked the intro and sound for 'What Once Was'.
Melancholic and atmospheric in places but sadly i just couldn't get into it that much.
5/10

 

[RobMCFC]

Like Indiana Jones sliding under a falling stone door, BlueHammer just makes it in with his vote before the door slams shut. After being amazed by the recent high scoring, it's back to earth with a bump this week - Songs of Her's by Her's might have too many apostrophes, but it doesn't have many admirers - just the 9 voters scraping together an average of 4.89. Thanks to @Gaudion M for a brave nomination, but he now gets to see what life is like at both ends of the table.

And that's the end of the round. We seem to have had an attack of apathy these past few weeks, and despite some welcome votes from non-regulars, we are only hovering around 10 per week. So with this in mind, and allowing for summer holidays, I'm going to put the album voting on hiatus for a few weeks.

Here's the provisional dates for round #7, but we'll try and slot @BimboBob in when he's feeling a little better.

13/09/2023 @GornikDaze
20/09/2023 RobMCFC
27/09/2023 @FogBlueInSanFran
04/10/2023 @BlueHammer85
11/10/2023 @bennyboy
18/10/2023 @OB1
25/10/2023 @Saddleworth2
01/11/2023 @Coatigan
08/11/2023 @journolud
15/11/2023 @Mancitydoogle
22/11/2023 @threespires
29/11/2023 @GoatersLeftShin
06/12/2023 @Gaudion M
13/12/2023 @BimboBob

 

[RobMCFC]

So that everybody has plenty to listen to over the next few weeks, if everybody can PM me with TWO songs, I'll make up a giant playlist and we can listen/vote and guess as appropriate.

I'll aim to put the playlist up next Wednesday.