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Post by Kapitan on Aug 5, 2021 12:25:20 GMT
I remember exactly where I was when I first heard it. Well don't leave us hanging!
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Post by kds on Aug 5, 2021 12:58:07 GMT
AAAAAAAAAAyyyyyyy!!!!! Sorry, I've been watching old reruns of Happy Days with my son! So my pick for A would be Asia.IMO, they only had one classic album--their self titled debut. That was one of the soundtracks to my early 80s late teens life. I played the cassette of that album quite regularly in my first vehicle as I cruised the streets of the city I grew up in. Asia the album starts off with a 1-2-3 punch of radio-aired tunes: "Heat of the Moment", "Only Time Will Tell" (which melted the hearts of a few of my girlfriends, even though it was a break up song), and then my personal favorite "Sole Survivor". The rest of the album sags just a bit as it settles into kind of a medieval synth-fest, although "Wildest Dreams" is a pretty energetic rocker. And then we end on a high note with the finale "Here Comes the Feeling". I always liked how that song sums up the album with an-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach with different riffs coming and going. None of the rest of their albums ever had the cohesiveness of that debut, IMO. Sure, they had some great songs over the next few years: "Don't Cry", "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes", "Go", "Too Late", etc, but there was a lot of filler in between. The debut album and "The Very Best of Asia" pretty much satisfies my music library. That first Asia album is absolutely killer.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 5, 2021 13:17:47 GMT
My Round 2 of the letter B is Beulah. The San Francisco-based band only existed from around 1996-2004, which is actually a pretty long time considering the two founding members recognized from Day One that they didn't really get along at all, but just shared musical chemistry. Their first, and worst by far, album was a lo-fi mediocrity produced by Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider, which led to them being lumped in with Elephant 6 bands, but it was their only real association with that universe.
Their third and fourth albums were fantastic, really sounding like albums full of classic singles. But when the third wasn't doing well and the band members were at one another's throats as well as going through personal issues, they decided their fourth album would be their last (barring unexpected success: they set the goal as a gold record, which they did not achieve).
That album--recorded as many members were going through divorces and knowingly as their last album, so doubly a breakup album--was aptly if nastily titled Yoko. They followed it with a farewell tour and then a tour DVD, "A Good Band is Easy to Kill." (Dark humor, those guys.) I saw them live twice around 2003-04, and they were really a fun live band. There was something really exciting about seeing a kickass rock band's guitarist suddenly whip out a trumpet to play a majestic flourish from the album in some small, dank, smoky rock club.
Here is the song "A Good Man is Easy to Kill."
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Post by jk on Aug 5, 2021 13:20:34 GMT
I remember exactly where I was when I first heard it. Well don't leave us hanging! It wasn't anything spectacular! I was having breakfast at my parents' place, some cereal with milk, before leaving for work when on it came. After that, I often had that song on my mind on my way to work...
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Post by kds on Aug 5, 2021 13:38:35 GMT
B
I'm going with one of America's greatest bands. Sure, they're not very prolific in the studio these days, and they're down to just two classic members, but they still tour each summer.
You guessed it, Blue Oyster Cult. Last year, they released their first studio album since 2001, The Symbol Remains. I was a little skeptical that the current BOC could pull off a really good record in 2020, but Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma, with the help of longtime touring member Richie Castellano (who joined the band in 2004), knocked it out of the park. Castellano wrote and sang a few songs, and his voice is somewhat similar to former bassist Joe Bouchard's, so his vocals fit right in (along with his ability to write a good song about vampires in Tainted Blood).
The album's a little fat on the back end, running around 60 minutes, but it's really solid all the way through, with Tainted Blood, Nightmare Epiphany, Edge of the World, and The Alchemist, as songs that I'd say are new BOC classics.
On a personal note, last fall into early winter really was not a great time for me personally. I don't really want to go into details, but I did listen to this album pretty constantly once it dropped on Spofify, and eventually got a tangible copy for Christmas. The new BOC album helped me through a difficult time. So, this album is a little more personal than some of their classic past albums like Secret Treaties, Spectres, or Fire of Unknown Origin.
Plus, I figured I'd offer a bit of a change of pace for me in not selecting an album that's 30, 40, or 50+ years old (even if the band's long in the tooth).
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 5, 2021 13:41:36 GMT
Plus, I figured I'd offer a bit of a change of pace for me in not selecting an album that's 30, 40, or 50+ years old (even if the band's long in the tooth). We can't all have such modern tastes as me, with bands and albums that are often only 25-10 years old!
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Post by jk on Aug 5, 2021 22:37:23 GMT
Let's see... My primary B candidate is Syd Barrett. One's tempted to choose The Piper at the Gates of Dawn but that might seem a little presumptuous! So I'll go for The Madcap Laughs... My secondary candidate (with a self-titled album that's every bit as unsettling as Madcap) is The Beta Band, who introduce themselves in "The Beta Band Rap": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beta_Band_(album)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2021 23:52:50 GMT
My pick for B would be....wait for it.....
Joe Bonamassa. There's not too much that I can add to what I discussed in my Bonamassa thread. My choice of albums (and it's so hard to pick a favorite out of so many) would be You and Me (2006), which as I mentioned has the bluesy-standard-ish sounding "So Many Roads" and an excellent cover of Zep's "Tea for One". The track just before "Tea for One" is a real standout, too. An instrumental called "Django".
My secondary pick for B would be Boston, who, just like Asia had a smashing debut, but nothing to write home about after that except a handful of great songs scattered amongst mediocre albums. Boston (1976) is a powerhouse lineup of great songs from start to finish. Check out Rick Beato's video "What Makes This Song Great" where he dissects "More Than a Feeling" with isolated tracks. It's quite a revelation:
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 6, 2021 0:28:34 GMT
Check out Rick Beato's video "What Makes This Song Great" where he dissects "More Than a Feeling" with isolated tracks. It's quite a revelation: Thanks for the tip, that was fantastic. I've seen a bunch of those videos, but never that one. What a production. To think, that was the first song on the first album... Talk about making an impression.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 6, 2021 0:46:30 GMT
I almost let B walk on by...
Artist: Burt Bacharach - I've been listening to a lot of Burt's (and Hal David's) work with Dionne Warwick. Great stuff! And, Burt is still kicking at age 92.
Songs: I recently made a Burt Bacharach comp - all timeless 60's songs including "The Look Of Love", "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head", "Wives And Lovers", "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "Don't Make Me Over", "What's New Pussycat", "Close To You", and "What The World Needs Now Is Love" (I wonder if that inspired BW's "Love And Mercy"?)
Artist: Bruce! Bruce! Bruce! - No, NOT Bruce Johnston. The Boss, Bruce Springsteen! Never mind his huge catalogue of great music, I've been obsessing for over a year on "Girls In Their Summer Clothes".
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2021 2:03:36 GMT
Artist: Bruce! Bruce! Bruce! - No, NOT Bruce Johnston. The Boss, Bruce Springsteen! Never mind his huge catalogue of great music, I've been obsessing for over a year on "Girls In Their Summer Clothes".
Bruce is certainly a good choice, although he is hit and miss with me. My Springsteen obsession is this (and Johnny Cash did a pretty heartrending cover of it later on) :
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Post by jk on Aug 6, 2021 11:56:06 GMT
Onward and upward to C with a study in contrasts:
A: Captain Beefheart/Trout Mask Replica
B: Culture Club/Kissing to Be Clever
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Post by kds on Aug 6, 2021 13:36:56 GMT
C
I'm going to go with CCR on this one.
And, the album is Cosmo's Factory. Back in 2013, I got tickets to see John Fogerty. In this tour, he was alternating playing different CCR albums in full (although not in sequence). I'd mistakenly thought that the Baltimore show I was attending featured Cosmo's Factory, and I just happened to find a copy of my local Walmart.
Until then, my CCR knowledge didn't far beyond the two Chronicle compilations. But, I listened to Cosmo's Factory, and loved it. Especially some of the tracks like their version of Before You Accuse Me and Ramble Tamble.
I bought the other CCR albums soon after, well, except for Mardi Gras, still don't have that one.
Funny thing, it turns out the Washington DC Show was Cosmo's Factory, and the Baltimore show was Bayou Country. But, John still played Ramble Tamble.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 6, 2021 20:36:23 GMT
I almost forgot to chime in on C, Round 2.
I'm picking one that's not exactly a favorite, but somebody who deserves a bit more attention (including from me).
Eric Carmen. Former frontman of the great power pop group the Raspberries in the early '70s and then a somewhat successful solo career. By my count, he wrote or co-wrote and sang 12 Top 40 singles and had another 8 Top 40 singles of his songs sung by others. I'd say the Raspberries were one of the bands to best define power pop, with the combination of really strong, hard-rock guitars, great melodies, and excellent transitions between softer pop and harder rock, often in the same songs.
Yet after this, I have to admit I have only one album related to Carmen, and that's a Raspberries greatest hits CD. I also have a couple of his solo songs (the Beach Boys related ones, "Hey Deanie" and "She Did It," both fantastic). But that's it. My assignment for myself is to dig into both the Raspberries and Carmen's solo music.
This all comes to mind in part because I put in that best-of CD on my drive to the vacation cabin a couple weeks ago. Talk about great summer driving music. For that purpose, especially this one (which the Beach Boys certainly could have covered well):
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2021 23:36:14 GMT
C....hmmm....C....."C C Rider"? Sorry, I wandered off there.
But seriously....I'm tempted to go back to my round 1 Cars entry. Yet another group with "a smashing debut followed by mediocre so on and so forth". Maybe I need to start a thread on just that.
Anyway, now for something completely different.
Chicago. I really really like early Chicago. I used to like some of their 80s and 90s hits, but I find that the older I get, the less I like those. But early Chicago had some real brass (see what I did there?) My pick for an album would be Chicago Transit Authority (1969). This debut starts off strong with "Does Anybody Know What Time It Is", "Beginnings", and "Questions 67 and 68", but here's my favorite, the underrated tune "South California Purples":
And speaking of California, my secondary pick is the more contemporary instrumental combo, California Guitar Trio, a group that did mostly covers of songs from all kinds of genres (including classical) about 10-15 years ago. Here's a rock cover for you Queen fans:
Btw, they also did a killer recital of Bach's "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor". That was the first tune I ever heard by them, in the car on a local college radio station. I was so blown away, I called the station to find out who it was when I got home.
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