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Post by Kapitan on Apr 22, 2020 15:24:01 GMT
True. Of course, if you take the risks of changing, you take the risks of failing in those changes. That's something Metallica did repeatedly through the '90s and beyond (though as you noted, their hardcore fans would date the "failures" back into the late '80s and earliest '90s, with their greatest success).
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Post by kds on Apr 22, 2020 15:39:21 GMT
In the case of Metallica, and heavy metal fans in general, most of the metal based social media pages and message boards are much like Yelp. Most people post solely to piss, moan, and complain.
It's funny that, in the grand scheme of heavy metal, you can almost consider Metallica "underrated."
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 22, 2020 15:45:29 GMT
It's funny that, in the grand scheme of heavy metal, you can almost consider Metallica "underrated." I think that could be true, depending on how you look at it. I think if you look at their entire catalog, it has a lot of inessential music. Pretty bad ratio of great:good:mediocre:bad, in fact. But their work up through the black album is as important as almost anyone else's music. You would really have a hard time overstating the importance and influence of, say, Ride the Lightning through Metallica.
Honestly the best analog I can think of off the top of my head fits into basically the same time frame: U2. The decades of (studio) irrelevance and pomposity make people forget the greatness of their peaks.
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Post by kds on Apr 22, 2020 15:58:01 GMT
It's funny that, in the grand scheme of heavy metal, you can almost consider Metallica "underrated." I think that could be true, depending on how you look at it. I think if you look at their entire catalog, it has a lot of inessential music. Pretty bad ratio of great:good:mediocre:bad, in fact. But their work up through the black album is as important as almost anyone else's music. You would really have a hard time overstating the importance and influence of, say, Ride the Lightning through Metallica.
Honestly the best analog I can think of off the top of my head fits into basically the same time frame: U2. The decades of (studio) irrelevance and pomposity make people forget the greatness of their peaks.
I think the U2 analogy is a good one. For Metallica, I'm probably in the minority, but I actually enjoyed much of their 90s output. Although, the Load and Reload albums each have quite a bit of filler (mid 90s CD era length issue). Since then, their 2008 Death Magnetic album was a really good return to form album. I found their 2016 double album Hardwired to be very paint by numbers. But, I do 100% agree that their post Black Album era can fall into the controversial non essential category, and they've really coasted on reputation over the past 25+ years.
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Post by jk on Apr 22, 2020 20:15:27 GMT
Simon Bookish, Everything/Everything (2008)Would you like Simon Bookish? Uhhhh...my guess is maybe jk will. But what do I know? He might not, and everyone else might. If the above sounds appealing, give it a try. Saw your shout, Cap'n. I have it bookmarked. For anyone else whose appetite has been whetted... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Bookish
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Post by jk on Apr 22, 2020 20:25:35 GMT
Metallica, Master of Puppets (1986) Years ago holidaying in Italy, I saw Masters of Puppets described in a music magazine as "flawless". Naturally I had to hear it after that. I was familiar with some Metallica stuff off Kill 'Em All, particularly "Jump In The Fire", "Pulling Teeth" and "Whiplash", which I thought were great but they never prepared me for my first exposure to the stupendous Masters of Puppets. Without doubt one of the best albums I have ever heard.
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Post by kds on Apr 24, 2020 14:45:19 GMT
RAINBOW - RISING (1976)
Rainbow is a band that's always kind of lurked in the shadows to a certain degree, as their work is always overshadowed by the other works of the core members. But, in 1976, the band's second album his paydirt.
Rainbow's debut was essentially Ritchie Blackmore, plus the band Elf. But, for the sophomore album, the personnel was shuffled. Jimmy Bain took bass duties, and Cozy Powell, a drummer that should be legendary, took over on drums. Tony Carey on keyboards completed the lineup that already included Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio.
Rising is a fairly short album, even by 1976 standard, clocking in at just around 35 minutes and just six songs. But, that's really the only critique of a near perfect hard rock record.
The album begins with some atmospheric keyboard washes before Ritchie and the band come in with a bit of a gallop on the opener Tarot Woman. Run With the Wolf is a bit more of a shuffle. The next two songs - Starstruck and Do You Close Your Eyes - probably wouldn't have been out of place on a MK2 Purple album, or maybe even Foreigner. These songs might be a short preview of the direction Blackmore would take Rainbow at the 70s ended.
The closing two tracks that make up Side 2 are epic, and make up peak Rainbow. For my money, the mid paced, Middle Eastern flavored, Stargazer, is the absolute masterpiece of two storied careers - Dio and Blackmore. An eight plus minute Kashmir esque (though IMO superior to the LZ classic), with some of Blackmore's finest playing and Dio's finest singing. So, yes, I think (unpopular opinion alert) this song is the crowning achievement for both men, better than anything released by the mighty Purple or Dio era Sabbath. Maybe Cozy too, with that opening drum fill.
The album closes with a proto speed metal song - A Light in the Black. Also over eight minutes, while it lacks the majesty of Stargazer, it makes up for it with sheer force and power.
Sadly, the dungeons and dragons vibe of early Rainbow meant that this version of the band would never really achieve mainstream success. That's a common theme in the career of Ronnie James Dio. But, it's a revered work among the metal crowd, and it often viewed as an early template of power metal, a subgenre of metal which is basically traditional metal with big singalong choruses and castle rock lyrics. For whatever reason, the US has never really embraced this form of hard rock or metal.
Also sadly, Rising is the lone studio album of the Blackmore / Dio / Bain / Powell / Carey. In fact, no two Rainbow albums feature the same lineup. I do wish the team of Blackmore and Dio had done more together, as I think they made a perfect pair. But, Ritchie wanted Rainbow to get radio play in the States, and Dio was never going to help him achieve that. So, Rainbow went into a more commercial direction, and Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath for a few years before forming his own band - Dio.
Ronnie James Dio has said there was talk of reuniting this version of Rainbow around 1998, but Cozy Powell's death in a car crash put a stop to it. Ritchie carried on with his medieval folk rock band, Blackmore's Night, and Dio continued with Dio.
In the 2010s, both Dio and Jimmy Bain would pass away. Blackmore put together a new version of Rainbow in 2016, and of course, Stargazer is usually the centerpiece of their festival setlists.
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Post by kds on Jun 23, 2020 15:34:58 GMT
Jimmy Buffett - Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977)
Back in 2006, when I bought my first Beach Boys album, I concurrently decided to add some Jimmy Buffett into my life. Much like the Boys, it was the ballads that made me gravitate to Buffett. I'd been to enough bars on the shore that I'd heard his Songs You Know By Heart comp pretty well, and it was songs like He Went to Paris, Son of a Son of a Sailor, A Pirate Looks at Forty, Come Monday, and Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes that drew me in.
I eventually expanded to the two disc Meet Me in Margaritaville comp, and that was all the Buffett I needed.
But, in 2013, when my girlfriend (now wife) and I decided to go to a show, I decided I wanted to expand my horizons. The previous summer, I'd discovered a wealth of great music in exploring The Beach Boys' catalog, so I figured I'd so the same with Jimmy.
I started with some of his 70s albums. The fact that I could get them brand new for $5 on CD helped. I started with A1A, but the one that really jumped out to me was Changes.
As I mentioned, I already loved the opener / title track. So, we were off to a great start. Then, a gentle acoustic guitar paired with a harmonica brings in Wonder Why We Ever Go Home, just the kind of Buffett ballad I was into. Other great ballads on this album include Lovely Cruise, Banana Republic, In the Shelter, and Biloxi, the later one of Buffett's greatest unsung triumphs.
The album has a nice balance with some of Buffett's uptempo songs as well with Landfall and some deep track called Margaritaville.
This album hits the perfect sweet spot for me when it comes to Buffett. It's a mostly acoustic album, with a little hint at the trop rock that would make Buffett a huge draw every summer, and it really shows off Buffett's songwriting / storytelling.
In seven years, I still have yet to hear his entire catalog (probably about 2/3 or more if you include what I've heard on comps / Pandora). The fact that I really only want to listen to his music in the warmer months hasn't helped that. But, I can't imagine hearing anything better than the Changes album.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
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Post by bellbottoms on Jun 23, 2020 17:33:20 GMT
I'm mostly only familiar with Jimmy Buffet's most ubiquitous songs, but when I listened to Changes in Latitudes a few weeks ago I really enjoyed it, not a bad song on it! As you said, it's really well balanced. The title track, Tampico Trauma and Miss You So Badly were the standouts for me. But I liked the album so much I've added it to my "albums to buy on vinyl" list, for the next time I do a spot of record shopping.
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Post by kds on Jun 23, 2020 17:49:32 GMT
I'm mostly only familiar with Jimmy Buffet's most ubiquitous songs, but when I listened to Changes in Latitudes a few weeks ago I really enjoyed it, not a bad song on it! As you said, it's really well balanced. The title track, Tampico Trauma and Miss You So Badly were the standouts for me. But I liked the album so much I've added it to my "albums to buy on vinyl" list, for the next time I do a spot of record shopping. And I neglected to mention Tampico Trauma and Miss You So Badly. I've noticed his earlier albums tend to be a little inconsistent at times, and maybe a little too country in parts (if that makes any sense), and some of his later albums veer close to self parody (particularly in the 1990s), but Changes is the perfect concoction of country, island, and rock.
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Post by kds on Oct 19, 2020 13:27:50 GMT
Well, it's been a while Album Thread. It's the Spooky Season (I've never heard this term until a year or two ago. Is it "problematic" to call it the Halloween season now? Or, are we just fans of alliteration....anyway). So, I figured I'd highlight one of the all time great horror themed albums.
Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (1975)
After riding a wave of success in the first half of the 1970s with Alice Cooper (the band), Alice Cooper (the man) went solo in 1975 and, with the help of producer Bob Ezrin who produced the last five Alice Cooper (the band) albums, hit it out of the park with a brilliant horror themed concept album.
One of the great things about the Nightmare album is the diversity, which calls to mind other essential albums like Sgt. Pepper's or A Night at the Opera. There's standard hard rock, a ballad, some vaudeville esque material, guitars, horns, orchestration, piano, and even a monolog from horror icon Vincent Price.
The opening title track perfect sets the stage for what's to come.
The next two songs are more of the kind of guitar rock that the original Alice Cooper band was known for. Devil's Food fades into a monolog on spiders by Vincent Price (seven years before Thriller), which segues into The Black Widow, featuring a great singalong chorus.
Some Folks sounds like a toe tapping showtune, about cannibalism. So, that's nice.
We deviate a bit from the theme with the ballad Only Women Bleed, one of Alice's most iconic songs. Then, the pop rock Department of Youth (featuring a hilarious Donny Osmond reference in the fade out).
We're back to the nightmare with the Stones-esque Cold Ethyl next. You can guess what the song's about by the title.
The album then gets geninuely creepy with the trifecta of Years Ago, Steven (the opening piano could easily be a horror theme), and The Awakening before wrapping up with the pomp rock of Escape.
So, here you have 11 songs about such scary things as nightmares, spiders, cannibalism, domestic abuse, necrophilia, Donny Osmond, murder, and death, and it's fun. Yes, it's a fun album. Credit Bob Ezrin's knack for melody, and Alice's appreciation for Broadway to take such horrific themes and making a romp.
Alice did bring the album to life with The Nightmare, an hour long promo visual companion to the album, and the Welcome to My Nightmare concert film, but I prefer to turn on the album, and let my imagination conjure up the monsters and mayhem.
A 2011 sequel, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, is also quite good, and Alice's best album in years.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 19, 2021 18:10:02 GMT
Jeff Lynne, Armchair Theatre (1990)
A few months ago, during the Petty and Dylan album threads, I meant to listen to Jeff Lynne's 1990 album Armchair Theatre. I forgot for a while. This morning I remembered, and listened to this album of which I think I'd heard nothing before today.
I've got to say I found it a little frustrating. Lynne is such a good arranger and producer that there are no "wtf?" moments of bad singing, clunky transitions, awkward tunes. He doesn't seem capable of the kinds of blunders attributable to sloppiness or laziness. Whatever he does, whether it's to your taste or not, seems to be done well.
The album's better moments, including the Beatles-meet-Motown single "Every Little Thing" or the very pretty, Dylan-with-harmonies "Save Me Now," are really nice. But all too often the songs feel like sketches, incomplete ideas, solid but unspectacular refrains beaten into the ground with repetition.
It's good enough that I'm sure if I were a bigger Lynne fan, I would argue with this little recap. I'd point out this cool flourish on that song, or that strong chorus on this song--the same way I go to bat for the Beach Boys or others of my favorite bands when people point out the mediocre points. But I'm not that kind of fan, and I'm going in listening to Lynne with the bulk of my expectations set by his famous collaborations.
My biggest takeaway from listening to the album is that Lynne probably was better suited to be the "legend whisperer" he became in those years, adding his talents to other people's work. He could do what he does best, which is arrange, perform, and produce, but in terms of songwriting, just contribute ideas where he had them without being required to be the songwriter.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 20, 2021 16:35:28 GMT
Deep Purple, Machine Head (1972)
Prepare for my admission of apostasy: this morning was the first time I've ever listened to Deep Purple's classic album Machine Head. I knew several of the songs--a larger percentage of them than I'd have guessed, in that there are only seven songs on the album--but I've never listened to it straight through.
I'm not sure how much I can say about the album that wouldn't just be repeating what has been said about it already (for decades by now). It is indeed a great album, probably the best old album I've given a first listen in quite some time. I'm not exactly surprised by it, because I already knew the basics of their sound, the general vibe. But I was pleasantly surprised by "Pictures of Home" in particular.
If there was a surprise, it might be that the album wasn't quite as heavy as I'd guessed it would be, and to me that's a bonus. It is often considered a cornerstone of heavy metal, spoken of in the same breath as the likes of Black Sabbath's early classics ... and I don't like Black Sabbath. Never have. But this is miles away from that, more a progenitor of hard blues rock than metal proper. I guess I'd always figured the album tracks I didn't know would be heavier, less commercial. But they're of a kind with the ones I knew, diverse, sometimes funky or groovy, and balanced in a very good way.
I haven't mentioned the performances but that's mostly because it almost goes without saying: Paice, Glover, Lord, Blackmore, and Gillan? Obviously the playing and singing are good.
The world doesn't need me to rate Machine Head, but after a couple of listens, I'd nestle it somewhere comfortably between 9 and 10.
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Post by kds on Jan 20, 2021 16:46:49 GMT
Purple definitely have a few heavy moments in their catalog, but they're, like you said, more of a hard blues based rock band.
Pictures of Home is one of those songs that's kind of a victim of being on such a great album. It tends to get lost in the shuffle with Highway Star, Space Truckin', and that one about the smoky water. But, I think it's probably in my Top Ten DP songs.
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