My apologies for my terrible tardiness at getting onto this great idea. I have learnt the error of my ways and will now bring it all up to date...
Interpol - can see why it's a favourite singalong album, it was enjoyable enough although indie/rock albums have to be pretty special for me to really like them and this one didn't grab me - agree with Hodge that after a while you do crave something different. I have a similar fave album which if I didn't like I'd think the same about so totally get the singalong vibe. Music is so often about the environment when/where you heard it and maybe that's a factor here.
Photek - not the sort of thing I would normally listen to and on reflection I think there are only 2 situations it would appeal - either last thing at night to get you to sleep, or driving late at night. Definitely makes more sense against a backdrop of darkness, but is subtle to the point of being sparse to these ears. No warm analog sound, very little basslines and even fewer melodies give this a post-apocalyptic industrial feel for me, all concrete and metal. The title track was the best of the lot for me but none of it comes anywhere close to the remix of 'lie down in darkness' which is a shame.
The Jam - again not my normal fare, and I have considered how much music I like that was around before I got into music properly, and it's not much. Some soul and disco mostly. However this is very enjoyable, Weller has a good voice and it wasn't as punk-influenced as I was expecting, which is all very fast beats and shouting as far as i can tell - thankfully this was far from that. Must have heard some of these before I guess but none I recall. Some really good tracks on here, well arranged and delivered with edge that makes it more listenable than say Interpol. Must have been massive when it came out. And Kingston Rifles has quite a bassline.
Dubnobass - I have never heard this album before. Seriously. The first thing that struck me is how good the 'dark train' version of dark and long is when you start from the version on here, which is also good. I imagine if you'd only heard this one then heard the remix you would be even more impressed than I was just judging it on its own merits. Also the Essex roots of these boys really comes out. I think Underworld see everyday things in an unconventional way and that helps make them different, and better. Skyscraper & DaL are both examples of this. Found this to be a very good album, surf boy is nice as is dirty epic which is certainly epic - especially loving the piano that comes in towards the end. Cowgirl is of course ace (even if the bedrock remix takes it to a new level). M.E. is a nice closer too - good album.
Richter is an interesting choice, I think it could well be the first classical album I've ever listened to (on the way home from Bath today) and so therefore have no immediate frame of reference. However music is music regardless of genre and can inspire the same feelings and emotions no matter what. It is certainly very emotive music, sometimes mournful, sometimes aggressive but always powerful and open to so much interpretation I think - will be different things to different people. I really enjoyed it and can see very obvious comparisons with dance music, certainly the pop end of it as the big parts are very immediate without too much build up. Easy to see why you rate this so highly Hodge, although as you were raised on this sort of music it would have more of an impact on you than it could on me because, like i said, i have no frame of reference but I really like it too - i even think he saved the best track to last. Excellent shout. This will be getting repeat listens.
I thought quite a bit about what album I should put up next, something that meant a lot personally to me and was firmly fixed in my roots was the order of the day I felt, and I went back to the very beginning, the album that left an indelible mark on me aged 10 years old. Now there have been other albums that maybe had more of an effect (at the time) in my formative years, like for example Bad by Michael Jackson, Bigger & Deffer by LLCoolJ, License to Ill by the Beastie Boys or Born in the USA by the Boss - all of which may appear here at some point, but nothing has lasted for me like this one. So its the album that first got me interested in music and indeed blew the world away - I am of course talking about Thriller by Michael Jackson.
After Jackson only received 1 grammy for 'Off the Wall' he stated that the next record he made would be the greatest album in music history. That's entirely subjective and up for huge debate, and I would even say is impossible to ever truly decide because different records mean different things to different people at different times. However that drive and hunger, coupled with the dream team of Jacksons undoubted singing and dancing talent and Quincy Jones' production genius created the biggest selling album of all time with estimates anywhere between 50 and 110 million copies sold. Lets think about that for a minute - 50,000,000 units of anything is a very big amount indeed.
The production of the record is so slick it could make me weep with its perfectionism - it's as if every note, every beat has been deliberately placed in the most optimal position for that track and indeed the record overall. The word genius is recklessly used and is rarely true, however this album is clearly a work of genius and that is why it is rightly the biggest selling album of all time.
Thriller is a devastating combination of talent, skill, audio and visual. An album so good that it changed the entire landscape of pop music. From the raw energy of 'Wanna be Startin' something' there is funk and soul dripping from every track - even with the almost twee 'the girl is mine' a little crowbarred in. To then have 3 of the biggest records of the decade and indeed in history one after each other on the same album is a feat that has never been matched. Thriller is a cracking track in its own right - original, creative and with a killer hook and juicy bassline. Throw in that video that aired on prime time national tv and suddenly everyone knew what was possible in a music video. Next up was Beat It and a guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen that won 'guitar solo of the decade' (whatever that means) and came with another video, also inspired by film. If that wasn't enough the 3rd track is the single greatest bassline in dance music history and a beat that personally I find impossible not to dance to. Another iconic video and a performance at the Motown 25th Anniversary show that blew everyone away and introduced 'the moonwalk' to popular culture.
Often copied, never bettered, Michael Jackson became the first black artist to have a video played on MTV and the mark he left on music history is as big if not bigger than any other recording artist. Aged 10 I simply could not have not liked it - I have no doubt I'll still be enjoying it in another 30 years, and this is my entry into the DHS-LP pantheon.
One love
No comments:
Post a Comment