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

[RobMCFC]

I liked this review but how can a human with two ears that work fail to like "Cleveland Rocks"?

And I'm on record as saying Cleveland is my least favo(u)rite American city. It still rocks though :)

I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it - it’s just not up to the standard of some of the other songs, but that chorus is pretty lame.

The only explanation is that he has stated before and quite criminally in my opinion that he's not a fan of Bowie

Bowie didn’t play the kind of music that I like. And he doesn’t have a voice that I enjoy. What can I say? He’s one of those artists that loads of people love but I fail to see the hype.

I’m also very suspicious of any act that changes their appearance - and relies on that as part of their appeal - on such a regular basis :)

 

[BlueHammer85]

Bowie didn’t play the kind of music that I like. And he doesn’t have a voice that I enjoy. What can I say? He’s one of those artists that loads of people love but I fail to see the hype.

There's so much bowie influence and sound on this one though ?!

I would deem it a forum permaban, but we need you for this thread so you're lucky.

 

[Cityfan]

IAN HUNTER YOUR’E NEVER ALONE WITH A SCHIZOPHRENIC

I can remember exactly when I matured from a kid to a teenager, I was 14 years old going out with my first girlfriend who I’d met at a youth club , who coincidentally became a big city fan I discovered years later.We used to spend time in her parents lounge listening to her favourite band The Osmonds( The things we do for love).Her parents were pretty well off compared to my one parent family and they had a Stereo.! We just had an old Dansette my brother played his albums on.Anway I decided to sell my beloved bike and buy a second hand Sterero, it was’nt very Hifi, I’m not even sure the output was in stereo but it had two speakers and sounded a lot better then the Dansette.
The first two albums I bought were ‘Sing It again Rod’ (Great Cover) and ‘Mott’ by Mott the Hoople.
I played both albums to death,but Ian Hunter soon became my first musical hero.I went on to buy most of their albums when I could and watched them on Top of The Pops and other Tv shows.I then went to see them live at The Opera House supported by Queen.

MTH had been around as a rock band in the late sixties but only got a breakthrough after Bowie gave them ‘All The Young Dudes’ to record and shortly after they joined the glam rock scene and had hits with the likes of ‘Honaloochie Boogie’ ‘Golden Age of RocknRoll,’ Roll away the Stone’ and others.It was evident that IH knew how to write a pop hit but the albums showed he was an excellent song writer.
After leaving MTH he went on to record many solo albums a number with the late Mick Ronson, Bowies side kick.I was fortunate to meet them both after a number of gigs, two of the nicest rockers I have ever met.Ian’s 84 and still recording,!OB1 picked one from his latest for the Xmas playlist and despite suffering from Tinnitus he’s still got it.

Anways onto the album, I could’ve picked a number of IH albums but imo this is probably his best, The personnel backing him are superb,obviously MR is on it along with members of the E Street band.
It starts with a rocker ‘Just Another Night’ Co written by MR which has shades of MTH’s ‘All the way from Memphis’this sets the album up nicely on to two more rockers the third being ‘Cleveland Rocks’ which might be familiar as it was the theme song to ‘The Drew Carey Show’ but covered by ‘The Presidents of The USA’.Then we get a ballad which again should be well known as Barry Manilow had a hit with it.’When The Daylight comes features MR on dual lead vocal.The tracks continue to show case Mick’s guitar playing and Ian’s song writing which suits his voice, not the best vocalist in rock but very distinctive.The albums ends with the epic ‘The Outsider’

I think MR did a fine job with the production, it’s a rock album so play loud!

The bonus tracks are worth a listen too.

I'm going to have to find this and listen to it. For some reason I loved Ian Huner and bought his first two albums. All American Alien boy being an absolute favourite but got more into the punk new wave scene and then never listened to his later stuff including this album.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

I'm going to have to find this and listen to it. For some reason I loved Ian Huner and bought his first two albums. All American Alien boy being an absolute favourite but got more into the punk new wave scene and then never listened to his later stuff including this album.

Loved All American Alien Boy but don’t think its dated as well as this one.

 

[threespires]

I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it - it’s just not up to the standard of some of the other songs, but that chorus is pretty lame.


Bowie didn’t play the kind of music that I like. And he doesn’t have a voice that I enjoy. What can I say? He’s one of those artists that loads of people love but I fail to see the hype.

I’m also very suspicious of any act that changes their appearance - and relies on that as part of their appeal - on such a regular basis :)

I liked this post not because I agree with you but because I think it's good to say what you think especially with totemic figures that it's considered almost compulsory to like. If that's the way you feel then fair play. It's an interesting and quite contrarian position to hold, are you sure you're not related to Bimbo? ;-)

 

[BimboBob]

I liked this post not because I agree with you but because I think it's good to say what you think especially with totemic figures that it's considered almost compulsory to like. If that's the way you feel then fair play. It's an interesting and quite contrarian position to hold, are you sure you're not related to Bimbo? ;-)

Hold on a mo!

Even I like a bit of Bowie...

 

[threespires]

Hold on a mo!

Even I like a bit of Bowie...

Fair enough and in reality I like to think of you as more of an enigma than a contrarian!

 

[threespires]

I did eventually find a way into this album via a couple of routes:

1. Coatigans observation re. the Rolling Stones

Listening to both the similarities and differences allowed me to focus a bit. Overall, I think in comparison to the recent Stones album it lacked some of the highs but had an overall consistency and identity to it that Some Girls, deliberately, didn’t.

2. By listening to the demo/early versions of some of the songs on the deluxe reissue.

My brain is a bit fried at the moment and being able to listen to the stripped down versions was less complicated and allowed me to get familiar with the bones of the songs before listening to full blown versions. I really enjoyed some of them.

A couple of car journeys helped too as it sounds like driving music to me.

I only need so much music of this type but I’m happy for this to form part of that, it’s unpretentious and down to earth and overall, really well performed by the assembled players. Hunters voice is a bit ragged, but it suits the material well. The production is straight up and down with no frills that again suits the overall tone.

Personal favourites were Ships, which has an authenticity that makes Manilow’s version sound even more risible than it already was; When The Daylight Comes and Life After Death. I quite liked Cleveland Rocks too. That said it’s a pretty consistent set of songs overall and gets a solid 6.5 from me.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it - it’s just not up to the standard of some of the other songs, but that chorus is pretty lame.

I was about to come on here to simply post my review, and then I read about all of this, and now after a full day of drinking (and even successfully convincing the missus that we need to take a proper break and watch mid-afternoon EPL matches at the Old London Road English Pub), and now I think I need another???

Bowie didn’t play the kind of music that I like. And he doesn’t have a voice that I enjoy. What can I say? He’s one of those artists that loads of people love but I fail to see the hype.

Shot one just consumed in utter disbelief... :-)

I’m also very suspicious of any act that changes their appearance - and relies on that as part of their appeal - on such a regular basis :)

He didn't do it for you or the masses, he did it because he could, and damn if it didn't work too. Bowie was always his own person, and damn if he didn't influence and move more than most artists we'll review here ever will.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Ian Hunter - You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic

With an assist from @BlueHammer85, I was able to guess this album. Tomorrow, I'm on the windy (and wet?) road to Nashville, so I'll leave the next album guesses to your capable hands of @Coatigan. :-)

I'm running out of time to say more than I did already, but I found "side 1" to be really stellar, even though I had heard the first 4 tracks in some way, shape, or form. I thoroughly enjoyed them all. "When the Daylight Comes" was the first song I didn't recognise, and the E Street contributions were on full display there, especially by the Professor on keys.

Towards the end of the album, I must confess I really enjoyed "Bastard" the most. I didn't hear "Tusk" originally, but I do now after @RobMCFC astutely caught that sound. I guess Mick Fleetwood and the gang owe Ian a subliminal thanks, almost as much as Barry Manilow does? Still chafed his version tracked on the charts and Ian's didn't.

Anyways, this was a quite enjoyable listen and I think I'll be coming back to this. I also wasn't thinking of the Stone's Some Girls as this album reminded me more of a Bowie-influenced version than anything the Stones did.

It's 7.5/10 for me as there were much more hits than misses, and this was an enjoyable listen each time I cued it up. Thanks, @Mancitydoogle! Your memories of this album back in 1979 have just been passed on. And sometimes, that association is all we can ask for. ;-)