Document – R.E.M.

 

Links

Album Review - Rolling Stone Magazine - 22 October 1987

Hear samples of the album HERE

My first REM album. I bought it whilst living in Liverpool on the back of hearing ‘The One I Love’. I loved everything about the song, the melody, the guitars (always the main attractor for me) and surprisingly, the voice. I’d seen REM a couple of years prior to the release of Document on ‘The Tube’ (Reckoning period), loved the music but hated the singer’s voice! Listening to Reckoning now I still try to work out what it was about Michael Stipe’s voice that I didn’t like, perhaps it was just a bad performance but to me he sounded like an Alabama Smurf!

As per usual, the purchase of this album lead to the purchase of the complete back catalogue. Listening to the albums you can really hear the bands development and trace the direction they were taking. These can be grouped into 3 phases;

1. Chronic Town, Murmur, Reckoning – Jangly arpeggio guitar. Songs like South Central Rain, (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville, Radio Free Europe

2. Fables Of The Reconstruction – Cross over between 1 and 3 – Heavier guitar sound introduces itself with Feeling Gravity’s Pull.

3. Life’s Rich Pageant, Document – harder guitar, edgier sound – Finest Worksong, Begin The Begin, Oddfellows Local 151.

Choosing between Document and Life’s Rich Pageant was difficult as both albums are brilliant but Document just scrapes it for me with songs like Exhuming McCarthy and Welcome To The Occupation, very tight!

In my opinion ‘Green’ was the last great REM album. They went downhill in my eyes after that. Even ‘Automatic For The People’ didn’t do it for me. It was not until  2008’s ‘Accelerate’ that REM caught my attention again. Let’s hope they have learnt their lesson! ;0)

The One I Love

 The Finest Worksong

Crocodiles – Echo and the Bunnymen

 

Links

Album Review - Rolling Stone Magazine - 16 April 1981

‘Surely you mean Ocean Rain’ I hear some of you say! Regarded by many as the classic Bunnymen album, but not for me, I never really liked it. There’s one or two good songs on it but for me it’s not the complete package.

‘Crocodiles’ on the other hand has everything! I listened to the album today whilst walking to work and again on the way home. The songs are as fresh as they were back in ‘81, they haven’t lost any of their edginess.

I suppose one reason why I prefer ‘Crocodiles’ to ‘Ocean Rain’, and this applies to a lot of bands, is that bands can move from new, fresh innovative sounds of there first recordings into a horrible MOR mainstream sounds pretty quickly. The sound on ‘Crocodiles’ is the sound that the band wanted when they started out as young musicians. The sound which attracted a following and eventual recording contract. An exciting sound! Once a band has an established career then they develop their sound and head in different directions, sometimes, as with Ocean Rain, in a direction that I don’t wish to follow. Good examples of bands who have fallen into this trap are REM, all that awful pushing of elephants up the stairs etc and my personal pet hate, The Killers! ‘Ocean Rain’ moved too far away from what I liked about Echo & The Bunnymen, ironically to the sound that they are best known for!

Reading back on this it sounds like I think that ‘Ocean Rain’ is dull MOR shit, which of course it isn’t , it just doesn’t have enough of what I like!!

Stand out songs are;

‘Crocodiles’ - first heard this when watching a televised concert in Liverpool, Crystal Day (see youtube clip below). Loved the way the band would bring the sound down whilst Ian McCulloch did his ’do you know how to dance like Bony Maloney, It goes like this, It goes like this, it goes like this, it goes like this!!!!’ the band building up until exploding into a guitar frenzy!! Goose bump time for me!!!

‘Rescue’ – Should have been number one in the hit parade, proper good song.

‘All That Jazz’ and ‘Villiers Terrace’ although this is not my favourite version, there’s a far better acoustic version on the B side of ‘Seven Seas’. (see youtube clip below.

I’ve seen Echo & The Bunnymen play many times over the years. Stand out performance for me was Glastonbury 1985 when they performed a set of covers. Television’s ‘Friction’, The Doors ‘Soul Kitchen’, The Velvet Underground’s ‘There She Goes Again’ and Dylan;s ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ to name but a few.

I also attended that final Echo & The Bunnymen gig (Liverpool Empire 1988) before Ian McCulloch left the band. This was a great gig and made even better for the fact that they played nearly all of ‘Heaven Up Here’!

Links

VilliersTerrace.com - Great discography, has the lot

Echo & The Bunnymen - Official Site

Rescue – Live in Sefton Park 1982

Crocodiles – Crystal Days – St Georges Hall

Villiers Terrace - Broadcast on 25/09/1984 as part of Channel 4's Play At Home series.

Bakesale – seBADoh

Links

Album Review - Rolling Stone Magazine - 1st December 1994

Hear samples of the album HERE

Bakesale is not going to be the only album by Sebadoh to be found in my top 50, in fact I’ll be surprised if I don’t end up including all of them! Sebadoh are one of my favourite bands of the last 20 years, to me they are the lo-fi equivalent of The Beatles! I really rate them that highly.

I first heard Sebadoh whilst sitting in a pub in Shepherds Bush, I think I was going to a gig at the Empire, possibly Buffalo Tom. My friend Jason Tilbrook came in for a pint, he got out his personal stereo and said listen to this. The track he played me was a David Crosby song called ‘Burned’, Sebadoh had covered it on the seBADoh Vs Helmet album. From that moment I was taken by them. My liking for them was cemented when I discovered that the singer, Lou Barlow had been the bass player in Dinosaur Jr, That’s right the floppy haired one in the Freak Scene video!!!!

Of course me being me, I went out and bought the whole back catalogue and continued to buy albums as they came out.

Bakesale splits the song writing talents of Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein. Both have very different styles, Lou is sensitive and intense whilst Jason provides the louder, rockier songs, delivered with a surprising sensitivity that Lou would be proud of. Bakesale isn’t so much poppy as catchy in a poppy/non poppy way. All they song have great hook lines and great melodies. For me this is the first album where Jason Loewenstein’s song writing comes to the fore giving Lou Barlow a real run for his money!

Stand out track for me are Magnet’s Coil, Not Too Amused, Drama Mine and the beautiful Together Or Alone.

Bakesale Tour

I saw Sebadoh at The Garage, Highbury on the Bakesale tour. It was the 8th April 1994 the day Kurt Cobain’s body was discovered. Sebadoh where due to support Nirvana on the In Utero tour later that month. I remember Sebadoh dedicating two songs to Kurt, Soul and Fire (Bubble and Scrape) and Junk Bonds (Rocking The Forest), the latter being a ferocious drone rock rampage, very apt, very ape.

Links

Sebadoh.com

Loobiecore - Lou Barlow website

Jakerock.com - Jason Loewenstein

Sebadoh – Rebound

Sebadoh – Skull

Unknown Pleasures – Joy Division

 

Links

Album Review - Rolling Stone Magazine - 28th May 1981

Hear samples of the album HERE

I got into Joy Division in a big way quite late on. I’d been aware of them for a long time but didn’t really know much by them and hadn’t taken time to really listen to them.

I first saw them on a Granada Tv compilation film featuring all the main punk bands who had played in the north, 1976 through to 1979. These included, amongst others, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks, The Jam, Elvis Costello and Joy Division.

The show included 3 Joy Division songs, Shadowplay, She’s Lost Control and Transmission all of which are included further down this blog. It was the first time that I had seen members of New Order in their previous band so gave all of my attention to them and not the man, centre stage doing the funny dance!

I had videoed the programme so watched it over and over again, switching my attention from Bernard Sumner’s guitar to the performance of Ian Curtis. The performances were so intense, so powerful and so exciting.

In 1988 I bought Substance – This is was my first Joy Division record, a ‘best of’ which was so accessible and immediate. Each song familiar on first listening. Songs such as Warsaw with it’s 3,5,0,1,2,5, Go! count in. The great thing about this ‘best of’ was that all the songs were pretty easy to play on my guitar. I spent hours playing along to the CD copying Barney’s guitar note for note. In fact I still play Leaders Of Men on my acoustic, Joy Division meets Fairport Convention!!

Now I finally arrive at Unknown Pleasures. Although I love Closer, this album is still fresh, still riveting. The build and layers of the music is simple and effective. It’s the kind of music that I would want to play if I was in a band. It’s inspiring and not at all miserable!

Ian Cutis liked this album, Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner did not! They were not happy with Martin Hannett’s production, taking away the biting guitars and the punk attitude. Listening to the Warsaw album (Demo’s and RCA sessions) I think Hannett got it right. Punk was on it’s way out, something new was just about to arrive…..

Recommended Reading 

Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures" (33 1/3) by Chris Ott

Touching From A Distance by Deborah Curtis

House Of Dolls by Ka-Tzetnik

Recommended Film

Control

Joy Division - Directed by Grant Gee

Joy Division – Shadowplay

Joy Division – She’s Lost Control

Joy Division – Transmission (although not on Unknown Pleasure I just had to add it!)

Hunky Dory – David Bowie

Links

Album Review - Rolling Stone Magazine - 6th January 1972

Hear samples of the album HERE

So why Hunky Dory by David Bowie?? Well I was actually listening to this album when I decided to put my list together. A brilliant album packed with great songs, in fact there is not one song on this album I don’t like as opposed to other classic Bowie albums which have at least one dodgy track (The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust’s ‘It Ain’t Easy’, Aladdin Sane ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ and Diamond Dogs’ ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll With Me).

Songs like Oh! You Pretty Things, Life On Mars, Quicksand and of course the song I love most ‘Queen Bitch’.

Mickey Mouse

I remember falling in love with Life On Mars as a kid all because of the line ‘It's on America's tortured brow that Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow’!!! I don’t think I really appreciated the song for what it really was, Mickey Mouse made the difference!!

Queen Bitch – Old Grey Whistle Test - 8th February 1972

Oh! You Pretty Things - Old Grey Whistle Test - 8th February 1972

Life On Mars?

Good Evening and Welcome.....

I'd never thought about doing a blog before, probably because no one would read it! But why not, something may come out of it, it might develop into something big, something important, who knows! So here goes.....

I live in Newbury Berkshire. Originally from Rainham Kent As yet I have not picked up the Bahhhhhk-shyer accent despite living here 29 years, although there is a developing twang when I say the number '5'!!
School was good, 3 years in Liverpool 85 - 88 even better. A time of pubs, clubs without the Wormwood Scrubbs, only regret is that I can't remember half of what I got up to, let's blame it on the boozey!

I like music.... a lot, and regard myself as a musical snob. Always judging people by their taste in music!! I have tried to judge people by their personalities, which is fine, until I find out that they own the complete Phil Collins back catalogue! And that's it, the end of a beautiful relationship!!!

If you've read Hi-Fidelity by Nick Hornby you'll know exactly what I mean! There's this bit where the 'hero' is taken by his girlfriend to a friends for a dinner party. She tells him that by no means must he look at the hosts record collection. Dinner is served, conversation is flowing, a good time is had by all. After dinner the girlfriend asks our hero what he thinks of the host, his response is positive. She then says 'OK, now look at his record collection', it's all Phil Collins, Chris de Burg, Elton John.

At that moment he realises that there is more to life........ Good for him, I still can't see passed the record collection!!!!