The Album Review Club - Week #195 (page 1310) - A New World Record - ELO

Supertramp - Crime Of The Century

I’m always weary of ‘prog’ , some classic prog rock stuff I find a struggle, with it’s constant shifts and changes in sound and all becomes a bit messy for my liking - however Supertramp manage to pull off ‘prog’ in a structural way blending an array of sounds - ‘School’ has a Pink Floyd feel with its harmonica intro, eerie and intricate sounds till it opens up half way through, this is followed up by Chas n Dave sounding ‘Bloody Well Right’, enjoyed singing this one to my wife but had to skip whenever it comes on. ‘Dreamer’ is a classic and enjoyed ‘Hide In Your Shell’ and the outro ‘Crime Of The Century’ especially the use of horns, sax and strings. All other tracks good. I couldn’t really get if there’s a concept here and overall deeper meaning but still a thumbs up either way, Good pick.

8/10
 
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FogBlueInSanFran said:
It’s clear to me folks are hearing some things that I’m not. The lightweight twinkly noodling, the mean length of the un-hits at about six minutes, and the relative pointless banality of the lyrics are all signatures of this band.

My longstanding scoring system suggests a few songs I like and a remainder that is tolerable earns a 6/10. That’s COTC to a tee. I can see a 7 for acolytes, but 8 and above baffle me as the English falling all over English prog (even poppy prog) always does.
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I was beginning to doubt my own sanity... either that or I would have to come to the conclusion that nearly all contributers to this thread had fallen victom to some collective delusion.

I'm sure Supertramp weren't the first or the last to rhyme school with rule and park with dark but this did set an early marker for the lyrical triteness of the album despite some potentally lofty themes. Still we can't all be masterful wordsmiths and if the music is OK...

Is the music OK? Well after an unpromising start School gets going and has potential before collapsing into turgidness at the mid point. Worse than that I'd say. Early in the nomination I'd variously posited Genesis, Yes, 10cc and Queen as potential comparisons. It is what we do. Well, there is nothing of the majesty of the former two in their pomp and there are definite shades of 10cc in the interplay between the vocalists, and the shifts of style in songs. But whereas something like the Original Soundtrack remains cohesive this just irritates. When we had 10cc up for review I suggested that they could at times be a bit too clever for thier own good. I'm not sure I'd call Supertramp clever but it certainly tries to be.

I'm not going to go through song by song but would say Asylum is a particular abomination. I'm not being all prissy when I suggest that themes of mental illness can be handled well and sensitively but quite what this song is trying to achieve I'm not quite sure. Dreamer is also terrible but pointing out the duffness of these two songs is also a little pointless because I can't point to any of the others and say, if only they'd all been a bit more like that...

I didn't like this album at all but everyone else seemed to. I'm sure there is craft to it, good musicianship or what have you. But it's an unlikeable mess. The Logical Song will remain the only Supertramp song I ever willingly listen to. My sensisitivity wants to give it 5 for trying but it is too bloody trying and only gets a 4.
 
The only track off this I had heard before the nomination was "Dreamer". An OK single IMO with some nice harmonies in there, decent and inoffensive, but also the voice not quite doing it for me.

That as the case across much of this offering, very much the curates egg.

I am surprised that so many seem to give so much praise to "School", I wondered if it was from listening at that very time and identifying with the "they" & "Them" that were referred to, but for me I could have done without the first 3 minutes of that.

Next up was "Bloody Well Right". Started quite well I thought and then the annoying chorus came in. Moving it from quite a funky track to something of a novelty track.

There then came, what for me was the highlight of the album, "Hide in the Shell", one that did have some quality throughout, but then I felt everything else after it was pretty "meh" save for the title track at the end which did give a sight lift.

There is obvious quality musicianship with the bass and keyboards being "nice" I just didn't get much heft, or enjoyment out of it, my feet certainly never got tapping or my head nodding.

After thinking that I had perhaps really missed out on something by never listening to a Supertramp album, I was slightly underwhelmed and so its a 5 from the Derry jury
 
I think most people have voted now but I'll leave it open for another couple of hours.

I'm doing the changeover between 12.30 and 1.00PM today as our next nominator has better things to do than hang around here with us lot :)
 
The good thing about going early and getting the album done before the last day or two, is there is more excitement and anticipation on changeover day for the next one.

Which, let me guess, will be more 70s classic-ish rock :)
 
RobMCFC said:
Another 1970s classic rock album from @OB1, another 20+ (OK, 20) member turnout and another 7+ average.
Crime of the Century by Supertramp scored an average 0f 7.17 from 20 votes.

OK, onto @Saddleworth2 for another slice of 70s classic rock dubstep, something .....
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It’s difficult to give clues to this one that aren’t entirely obvious but I’ll try.

1749037697172.jpeg
 
Smith and Burrows

Or Cypress Hill

Edit, rob's already ended the game
 
Jagged Little Pill - 1995.

Alanis Morissette


I have always been a sucker for female songwriters. Kate, Joni, Carol King, Patti Smith. I find the life perspective in their songs enlightening and honest and it’s difficult for me to think of a male artist that gets to the emotional truth quite as well.

I was driving back from a fishing trip in Rutland and I put this album on the more in an attempt to inject some energy as much as anything. I hadn’t listened to it for a long, long time and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it again and thought it would be an interesting nomination for this thread. I’m putting this forward with zero expectation that everyone will like it and indeed some may really really dislike it, but what the hell.

The album, released in 1995 is ‘Jagged little Pill’ by Alanis Morissette. I first heard the album through my 19 year old daughter who was playing it incessantly and I quite liked what I heard with its singable songs, mix of grunge and pop and a bit of country thrown in. So unlike most of the kids music I actually sat and listened to it and liked it even more. For a twenty year old unknown it was pretty astonishing. Some songs gentle, some absolutely spitting poison but all of them imbued with a refreshing honesty. As I listened to it again on the car system it struck me how well the music had stood up 30 years later

I think some people are a little prejudiced regarding ‘popular’ albums, and by that I mean evergreens that have sold by the truckload over many months or even years. How can music that’s loved by the masses be artistically interesting? Looking at the albums nominated in this thread I suspect that there is a little bias going on to avoid those type of albums although there are notable exceptions. Certainly back in 95, this album was overexposed - when it was released it was overplayed on radio and constantly on MTV, it spawned six hit singles as well. So I do get that maybe this will not float everyone’s boat. Jagged Little Pill was never meant to be hip or edgy, it’s more meaningful for what it represents — a smart young woman talking honestly about her feelings and finding herself as an artist. That’s a good starting point. In a more gentle way, Carol King did that with Tapestry, Joni with Blue, more recently the torch has passed to Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan.

All I ask is listen to it fresh as if for the first time and then make your mind up.

Also, as an aside, please god let’s not debate the meaning of ‘Ironic’ - that one’s been done to death :-).

A little background to the album; Just two years after Madonna co-founded the Maverick record label back in 1992, the company signed a then relatively unknown 20-year-old Morissette. Just over a year later and her debut album for the label had been released and proved to be as successful as the record label had envisioned. With total sales now in excess of 33 million units globally, the album not only cemented Morissette’s star status, but went 16x platinum in the US and garnered the singer five out of the nine GRAMMY Awards she was nominated for in 1996, not to mention reaching the number one spot in many charts around the world. The album has since been re-issued several times, has an acoustic version and even a broadway show. It’s been a double edged sword for her as although she has made some fine music since, Jagged Little Pill towers over her back catalogue like an albatross.

The production (and co- writing) was by Glen Ballard who had worked with Wilson Phillips, Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul (amongst many, many others). Ballard had collaborated very closely with Morissette with the demo recording sessions starting in 1994 at Ballard's home studio, and included only Morissette and Ballard as the producer, who recorded the songs as they were being written. Ballard provided the rough tracks, playing the guitars, keyboards, and programming drum machines and Morissette played harmonica. The duo sought to write and record one song a day, in twelve- or sixteen-hour shifts, with minimal overdubbing later. All of Morissette's singing on the album respects that rule, each recorded in one or two takes. The tracks that were redone later in a professional studio used the original demo vocals. Ballard also helped tout the demos round various record labels until Maverick agreed to sign up Morissette.

So to the album itself. Released on June 13th 1995. It was the first Morissette album to be released worldwide (her previous two featured dance music) and it marked a significant change in musical direction for her. On release it received mainly positive reviews regarding in particular the lyrics, vocal performance and emotional honesty of the delivery.

I’m not going to go through track by track. I don’t think there is a bad one on the album but some stand out for me in particular:

All I really Want
The opening track sets out what this young woman wants and doesn’t want. I read it as a reflection of an argument with her partner who refuses to engage in ‘intellectual intercourse’ Like most of the album it succeeds through the lyrics and the vocal delivery set over grunge guitars and a pulsing drum commentary.

I really like the literary reference as she compares herself to Estella, from Great Expectations.

I'm like Estella,
I like to reel it in and then spit it out,
I'm frustrated by your apathy."

You Oughta Know
This one still hits me between the eyes. The second best major-label debut single of the ‘90s, after “Smells Like Teen Spirit,”. The lyrics came from a diary entry Morissette wrote during what she described as a ‘very devastated time’ . In interview she said When I hear that song, I hear the anger as a protection around the searing vulnerability. I was mortified and devastated. It was a lot easier for me to be angry and feel the power from that anger versus the broken, horrified woman on the floor." She absolutely hammers the vocals which are spat out with such venom that you have to believe the song is based on personal experience. There was a lot of conjecture about who the song was about (she dated an American TV actor when she was 17) but that has never been revealed by her. Flea and Dave Navarro both play on this track which builds in intensity and anger both vocally and musically. The use of dynamics and loud/soft make the track even more effective.

‘And every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told me
You’d hold me until you died?
’Til You died
But you’re still alive…’

‘And every time I scratch my nails
Down someone else's back, I hope you feel it
Now can you feel it?’

Perfect
An anthem to overbearing parents chasing perfection. It’s a simple melody and again the vocals carry the song. She demonstrates what a pure tone she has in the first verse but her vocal mannerisms soon return to covey frustration, sadness and disappointment. The acoustic guitar backing, played by Ballard is unobtrusive but compliments the song perfectly.

This was the first song Morissette performed in her audition for Guy Oseary at Maverick Records. "Within, I don't know, 20 or 30 seconds into the song, I was done," Oseary recalled. "I was already blown away and never heard anything like it and wanted to sign her. That was really it, for me." Morissette said in interview that unlike some of the songs on the album, this one was not autobiographical.

‘We’ll Love you
Just the way you are
If you’re perfect’

Hand in my pocket
A far more optimistic song and another mega single hit. It was written by her and Ballard in 15 minutes. The lyrics in the chorus use a poetry technique, "rhyme juxtaposition", as its primary lyrical structure. That’s not carried through the song consistently but it does make it more interesting. There is also an ok mouth organ solo from Morissette.

Right Through You
A partner piece for ‘You Oughta know’ its a blistering biting critique of the sexism and objectification she experienced in the music industry. Aimed squarely at a particular executive who dismissed and underestimated her prior to her success. The lyrics are angry, direct, and unapologetically confrontational.

"You took me for a joke
You took me for a child
You took a long hard look at my ass
And then played golf for a while"

I particularly like the redemptive pay back of the last verse.

Forgiven
While not as commercially prominent as "You Oughta Know" or "Ironic," “Forgiven” is an honest confrontation with taboo themes. It resonates with those who’ve struggled with guilt and rigid religious upbringings. Alanis was brought up in the catholic faith.

Mary Jane
A song to a friend. Sang simply with more than a touch of sadness and poignancy. I like the bass line on this track

The album is an uncensored diary of a raw young adult experiencing life in all its messy, painful, glory for the first time. There’s a feminist potency to it that I found compelling at the time and still do today. One of the reasons the album so struck a chord with millions is its broad thematic content. She tackles life head on, exploring religious hypocrisy, jealousy, parental expectations, drinking, mental illness, co-dependence, the patriarchy, friendship, self-esteem, infidelity and on. Pretty Universal themes tackled honestly by a young woman of 20, who until then had produced bubble gum music. It’s not without its flaws, her vocals can sometimes teeter on the edge of being overwrought but to me it was some album and some achievement.
Hope you like it too.
 
I inadvertently found myself watching an Alanis Morisette set some years ago, she was relatively low down the bill at a festival so I assume her star had waned a bit at that point. The crowd consisted of fans and then people like me who'd sort of stubbled across it. The two things I remember were (a) despite being in a position where you could have forgiven her for dialling it in a bit, she put on a really decent show (b) everyone including all the people like myself who wouldn't have called themselves fans - seemed to know the words to quite a lot of her songs.
Had a bit of a soft spot for her ever since.

Recently there was a documentary about her (on Sky maybe?) and her early days in the music business, only caught a chunk of it but it was shocking and my initial thought was no wonder she sounds so pissed off on some of those songs.
 
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threespires said:
I inadvertently found myself watching an Alanis Morisette set some years ago, she was relatively low down the bill at a festival so I assume her star had waned a bit at that point. The crowd consisted of fans and then people like me who'd sort of inadvertently stubbled across it. The two things I remember were (a) despite being in a position where you could have forgiven her for dialling it a bit, she put on a really decent show (b) everyone including all the people like myself who wouldn't have called themselves fans - seemed to know the words to quite a lot of her songs.
Had a bit of a soft spot for her ever since.

Recently there was a documentary about her (on Sky maybe?) and her early days in the music business, only caught a chunk of it but it was shocking and my initial thought was no wonder she sounds so pissed off on some of those songs.
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I mentioned that JLP was an albatross around her neck. She made some decent stuff after it but never escaped it. She is still touring and JLP forms the spine of her set. There was even a recent broadway show based on the album that had very mixed reviews. Given the thrust of the album was so personal, maybe it was difficult for her to recapture the same intensity and angst on her other work.
 
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