|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 27, 2023 15:14:22 GMT -6
Houses of the Holy edges out IV for me, strictly because of Stairway to Heaven. Stairway is like the 6th or 7th best song on IV, but would be the 3rd or 4th best on Houses of the Holy. This is now my HotH review, which may sneak onto the bottom of my list. No Quarter > The Ocean is probably my favorite back-to-back sequence in their discography. A few other real bangers, but also a few tracks that are variable upon my mood / tolerance for Robert Plant fuckery (The Crunge, D’yer Maker). Still a great record! Would rank 3rd in my overall LZ list. |
|
|
|
Post by ten15 on Jun 27, 2023 15:43:23 GMT -6
Stairway is neck and neck with Hotel California for the most overrated song of all time. I almost never listen to it.
|
|
|
|
Post by chvrchbarrel on Jun 27, 2023 17:14:45 GMT -6
I don't disagree that it might be the most overrated song of all time but I also don't think its a bad song.
|
|
|
|
Post by doso on Jun 27, 2023 22:03:19 GMT -6
“Stairway” is great. Untitled is great. But straight up I think I prefer Houses of the Holy.
|
|
|
|
Post by kb on Jun 28, 2023 9:54:09 GMT -6
your post made me look up whether jorge ben had ever played live in chicago, and apparently the only time was a two night span at Hothouse in the south loop in February, 2005. Too bad I didn't know shit about Brazilian jazz then, monastery. speak of the devil, never had heard of hothouse but just read that it's being reincarnated in bronzeville. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 28, 2023 13:58:41 GMT -6
 Scolding myself for leaving this one off my original master list. I was trying really hard to stick to a 2-albums per artists rule, but between Sabbath, Neil, and Bowie... this is gonna be extremely tough to trim. Anyways, this one's nothing short of a miracle. A 34-minute blast of some of the much lurching, menacing, fucking heavy music you've ever heard. Tommy Iommi downtunes his guitar to make it easier to play thanks to an industrial accident, then basically invents doom/stoner/sludge metal in the process. I love reading the stories behind the first five or so Sabbath records. Like, these guys were fucking idiots - doing all the drugs, pulling moronic pranks on each other, wasting scads of money. But then creating some of the most electric music seemingly out of thin air. They remind me of the Replacements in that sense. Anyways, the riffs on this are bone-shaking. Shout-out to Geezer Butler here too. I mean, "Into the Void," GODDAMN. Another perfect record - and also, I might add, a nice soundtrack to the Shirley Jackson novel I'm currently reading. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 28, 2023 14:05:32 GMT -6
Scolding myself for leaving this one off my original master list. I was trying really hard to stick to a 2-albums per artists rule, but between Sabbath, Neil, and Bowie... this is gonna be extremely tough to trim. Anyways, this one's nothing short of a miracle. A 34-minute blast of some of the much lurching, menacing, fucking heavy music you've ever heard. Tommy Iommi downtunes his guitar to make it easier to play thanks to an industrial accident, then basically invents doom/stoner/sludge metal in the process. I love reading the stories behind the first five or so Sabbath records. Like, these guys were fucking idiots - doing all the drugs, pulling moronic pranks on each other, wasting scads of money. But then creating some of the most electric music seemingly out of thin air. They remind me of the Replacements in that sense. Anyways, the riffs on this are bone-shaking. Shout-out to Geezer Butler here too. I mean, "Into the Void," GODDAMN. Another perfect record - and also, I might add, a nice soundtrack to the Shirley Jackson novel I'm currently reading. Something I forgot to mention: Geezer Butler's little bass entrances on the main riff of "After Forever" is maybe the coolest moment in the Black Sabbath discography. It's either that or the entirety of Bill Ward's part on "Supernaut" |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 28, 2023 14:38:49 GMT -6
 This was the album where I first really "got" Black Sabbath / heavy metal in general. It's not their heaviest, or the one with the coolest riffs - tho, believe me, there are plenty of good riffs here. Nah, it's basically a hard rock album going 110%, but I think I needed that to ease my way into the genre. I want to continue in praise of "Supernaut," cuz, damn, what a song. Obvs the riff and solos are killer, but Bill fuckin' Ward is the hero here. It's my favorite use of cymbals ever - dude is hammering the living hell out of those things. In fact, the cymbals here are largely carrying the momentum of the song. The only other example I can think of is about as far removed from Sabbath as you can get... Bedhead - Liferaft, where the cymbal entrances carry the emotional weight of the song. Anyways, the rest of Vol. 4 is awesome. Snowblind wins the Riff of the Record award. Wheels of Confusion is an epic. And it has "Changes," a track that - despite the 5th grade level poetry - manages to work anyway. Check out the Charles Bradley cover if you haven't already: |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 28, 2023 15:11:47 GMT -6
 Also, it brings me no joy to have to do this, but I decided to eliminate Little Feat's seminal live record Waiting for Columbus from my list. There's just too much good stuff that I need space for, and if I decided against Europe 72 under my personal (semi-arbitrary) criteria (i.e. compiled from multiple shows, largely career-spanning material from older albums), then this one should be axed too. It's a beaut tho, recommend for any sunny summer days and cookouts. The perfect intersection of southern rock, arena rock, and boogie. Def check it out. |
|
|
|
Post by nanatod on Jun 28, 2023 18:13:09 GMT -6
monastery not "Willin'" to put Waiting for Columbus on his 70's list.
|
|
|
|
Post by goodson on Jun 28, 2023 19:25:34 GMT -6
i mean, it's future days #1
we can just wrap this up now
|
|
|
|
Post by goodson on Jun 28, 2023 19:41:26 GMT -6
made my list
exile on main street
histoire de melody nelson
music for 18 musicians
clube da esquina
20 jazz funk greats
another green world
future days
exuma
third
on the beach
heart of the congos
court & spark
suicide s/t
grevious angel
innervisions
street hassle
tusk
cowboy in sweden
blonde on blonde
astral weeks
bitches brew
live at the old quarter
|
|
|
|
Post by nanatod on Jun 28, 2023 21:18:23 GMT -6
made my list blonde on blonde astral weeks these two came out in the 1960's |
|
|
|
Post by krentist on Jun 29, 2023 10:16:36 GMT -6
is goodson the first person to mention Lee Hazelwood in this thread
that album fucking rules
|
|
|
|
Post by brainloading on Jun 29, 2023 10:25:52 GMT -6
made my list exile on main street histoire de melody nelson music for 18 musicians clube da esquina 20 jazz funk greats another green world future days exuma third on the beach heart of the congos court & spark suicide s/t grevious angel innervisions street hassle tusk cowboy in sweden blonde on blonde astral weeks bitches brew live at the old quarter hmmm seems to be missing something by a certain band from Jacksonville Florida. Think they had a big album in 1973. |
|
|
|
Post by kb on Jun 29, 2023 10:27:53 GMT -6
Also, it brings me no joy to have to do this, but I decided to eliminate Little Feat's seminal live record Waiting for Columbus from my list. There's just too much good stuff that I need space for, and if I decided against Europe 72 under my personal (semi-arbitrary) criteria (i.e. compiled from multiple shows, largely career-spanning material from older albums), then this one should be axed too. It's a beaut tho, recommend for any sunny summer days and cookouts. The perfect intersection of southern rock, arena rock, and boogie. Def check it out. had never even heard of this band before i met my dude but it's his fave and he sings it all. the. damn. time. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 29, 2023 10:39:43 GMT -6
 More Songs About Buildings and Food was my favorite Talking Heads studio LP for a long time. Basically, since I stumbled on it in our college record library. It's so sleek and minimalistically groovy. I used to love playing the killer segue from The Girls Want to Be With the Girls > Found a Job on the radio. The first nine songs just skitter and slide along, Byrne sounding freaked out as ever. Then the last two songs are gorgeous full-band statements. Their iconic cover of Al Green's "Take Me To The River" and then "The Big Country," absolutely the best track on this record, and also one of the funniest songs in the Talking Heads canon. "Look at all this rural landscape! I'd rather die than move there!" A fantastic record and one that tends to get overlooked in their discography. It was only recently eclipsed in my personal rankings by Fear of Music, which I'ma revisit next. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 29, 2023 10:41:51 GMT -6
is goodson the first person to mention Lee Hazelwood in this thread that album fucking rules Never heard of him outside of his Nancy Sinatra duets - may check out Cowboy in Sweden this afternoon |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 29, 2023 11:10:32 GMT -6
 Yeah this is def my favorite Talking Heads record at this point in time. Features their best song ("Heaven"), some of their best deeper cuts (Air, Drugs), and is loaded with some of the strongest, mercury-quick songs in their catalogue (I Zimbra, Cities, Life During Wartime). Brian Eno produced their last album too, but this is the first time you can really hear his impact on the band / on Byrne's writing and arranging. "I Zimbra," of course, being the principal example of the sound they would further explore on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Remain in Light. Tina is stellar throughout the album too. Sonically, her bass is the Talking Heads most important attribute, in my mind. All in all, Fear of Music captures the band at their most potent - top tier songwriting, arranging, and individual contributions from each of the quartet. |
|
|
|
Post by krentist on Jun 29, 2023 11:37:22 GMT -6
made my list exile on main street histoire de melody nelson music for 18 musicians clube da esquina 20 jazz funk greats another green world future days exuma third on the beach heart of the congos court & spark suicide s/t grevious angel innervisions street hassle tusk cowboy in sweden blonde on blonde astral weeks bitches brew live at the old quarter hmmm seems to be missing something by a certain band from Jacksonville Florida. Think they had a big album in 1973. Surprised noted snowflake thebosma liked this post. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 29, 2023 11:46:20 GMT -6
is goodson the first person to mention Lee Hazelwood in this thread that album fucking rules Never heard of him outside of his Nancy Sinatra duets - may check out Cowboy in Sweden this afternoon  Daaaaaaaamn - this is amazing. I've been trying not to do too many "new listens" during this project, but this is immediately getting added to my list. I love that saccharine, but sort of displaced, out of time sound. You need to have the right amount of presence and pathos to make those arrangements work as a vocalist, and Hazlewood and the other singers here nail it. Forget Marie, No Train to Stockholm, and For a Day Like Today all stopped me in my tracks. One of these days I'll make a playlist of this sound - thinking like, Skeeter Davis, Jim Reeves, Glen Campbell, Kristofferson, etc. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 29, 2023 12:33:17 GMT -6
 Lou Reed's Berlin, one of the great Bad Time albums of all time. His maudlin rock opera of a failing marriage, drug addiction, domestic abuse, and even the sounds of children crying while CPS takes them away. Plus you get to unspool for yourself how much of it is based on true stories. Sounds like a great summer album! Unsurprisingly, it's not an album I return to with much frequency. But whenever I do, this thing hits like a ton of bricks. Lou's vocal styling works exceedingly well as a detached narrator, something his best songs often do, but here he plays that role throughout an album-long arc. The songs themselves are deeply moving too. Lou just knew how to write grimy, bummer songs that somehow manage to move you with their glimpses of grace and delicacy. Here that's most obvious in both Caroline Says I and II, as well as "The Bed" and the closing number, "Sad Song." Jesus Christ, "The Bed" is such a beautiful song, but one you'll never see me playlisting anywhere lmao. Give this record a listen if it's new to you. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 29, 2023 13:49:43 GMT -6
  You heard of Kris Kristofferson? Time to figure out which of these remarkable albums full of string-ladden, hard luck, country troubadour ballads will make the cut! I've been stuck deciding between Kristofferson and The Silver-Tongue Devil for a bit, and I think I'm coming down in favor of the latter, but it's really neck-and-neck. Both have some of his best songs (To Beat the Devil / Me and Bobby McGee / Sunday Morning Comin' Down vs. Silver Tongued Devil / Loving Her Was Easier / The Taker / The Pilgrim). It's pretty evenly matched, but with a slight advantage to the self-titled record. But I really appreciate how the Silver Tongued Devil is a tighter collection - 10 songs, every song hits, more tempo/stylistic variation. It seems to flow by a little more smoothly than the self-titled, even if both are pretty languid listens. Nothing on Kristofferson is any less than good, but it does lose my attention a little bit during the middle section. And I think that is enough to edge Silver Tongued Devil into the final list. Ideal, you could throw the best tracks onto their own record - his hits from the 70s are unmatched. But the deeper cuts deserve their shine too, so yeah - maybe that dream hits record would score higher here, but that doesn't make either of these albums any less essential. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 29, 2023 14:27:43 GMT -6
 Talked about this one briefly in the jazz thread at the beginning of last year. Since then, it's a record I'll often turn to at night before bed, or if I find myself reading or doing the crossword on a lazy weekend morning. An easy, breezy, beautiful solo LP of Jarrett's compositions, and a great jumping off point into his discography after you get hooked on his long improv solo concert albums (look out for The Koln Concert in this space sometime soon-ish!). "In Front" has some gorgeous melodies, as does "Lalene" and "Landscape for Future Earth." I still have a tremendous amount of Jarrett listening to do in this lifetime, but it's hard to deny the power and compactness of this LP. |
|
|
|
Post by nanatod on Jun 29, 2023 15:57:38 GMT -6
is goodson the first person to mention Lee Hazelwood in this thread Never heard of him outside of his Nancy Sinatra duets - may check out Cowboy in Sweden this afternoon At her show at the Park West around 1995, with a full orchestra, she brought him out in the middle of the show to duet on a couple of tunes, including Jackson. It was a complete surprise to me and most, if not all of the rest of the audience, because I did not remember that he was in the Chicago Reader advertisements of the show. I have however seen, on the facebook page of a guy I don't know personally, but whose job for years was to design the ads for Jam Productions, an ad for the Park West that includes him -- his name may or may not have been removed before the final printing and appearance in the Reader. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jun 30, 2023 13:24:46 GMT -6
 This one's been getting a lot of play lately. I adore the Kinks, and I don't think the breadth of their catalogue is anywhere as deep as the Beatles/Stones, but sometimes I think the highlights are on that level or better. This is one of them - a tight 34-minute journey from obscurity to stardom and the jarring reality that entails. One of those great "This fame isn't all it's cracked up to be?" records, a theme that - whether its music, comedy, film - takes a really compelling writer to pull off. The Davies Brothers nail it here. Half by the charm of their British wit and harmonies, and half because the songs are really fucking good. Truly some of the best melody writers of all time, look no further than Strangers, This Time Tomorrow, or A Long Way From Home. Not to mention to jangly closing epic "Powerman," and perhaps the best pop hook of all time - "Lola." Will be high on my list. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 1, 2023 7:38:10 GMT -6
 Starting off this Saturday like I do many weekend mornings - by listening to Ram, something of a comfort album for me. I love Paul so much, and this is the perfect distillation of his personality, songwriting chops, and weirdness without ever dipping too far into any extreme. It's roughshod but not too cheeky. It's just polished enough but not saccharine. It's goofy but poignant. For every "Uncle Albert" there must be an equal and opposite "Admiral Halsey." For every "Monkberry Moon Delight" there is a "Long Haired Lady" (far and away my favorite solo Paul / Wings song). Okay that's enough writing - time to post some thirst traps of post-Beatles era Paul:   /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69285747/RamAt50_Feat_Getty_Ringer.0.jpg) |
|
|
|
Post by dij22 on Jul 1, 2023 11:58:32 GMT -6
Starting off this Saturday like I do many weekend mornings - by listening to Ram, something of a comfort album for me. I love Paul so much, and this is the perfect distillation of his personality, songwriting chops, and weirdness without ever dipping too far into any extreme. It's roughshod but not too cheeky. It's just polished enough but not saccharine. It's goofy but poignant. For every "Uncle Albert" there must be an equal and opposite "Admiral Halsey." For every "Monkberry Moon Delight" there is a "Long Haired Lady" (far and away my favorite solo Paul / Wings song). Okay that's enough writing - time to post some thirst traps of post-Beatles era Paul: My list is going to be one album and it's going to be Ram |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 3, 2023 9:19:06 GMT -6
 A weekend listen for me, did some reading with this one in the background. I hadn't done a full listen of Music for Airports since college, where it was a frequent guide through frustrated essay-writing sessions or poker games. Unsurprisingly, it's still a remarkable piece of music, and one that I can appreciate in different ways with the changes in my listening habits over the years. There's moments of ambience in stuff like Bennie Maupin's Jewel in the Lotus, or perhaps even in the late-night grooves of In a Silent Way. Surely in the extended compositions of LaMonte Young & Marian Zazeela. But those all crackle with an energy that is absent in Eno's first ambient work. And that's not a diss. It's remarkable how languid this piece is. How patiently it unfurls, seeming to slow down time itself while the motifs burrow into your brain. Like if the minimalists were actually - ya know - minimal. It's not something I return to often these days (actually, I've preferred Eno's Ambient II with Laraaji latetly), but the sheer power and audacity of its call to slow the fuck down and look around you will be enough to land it on my list. |
|
|
|
Post by monasterymonochrome on Jul 3, 2023 9:37:40 GMT -6
 And from one remarkably forward-thinking album to another - it's Wire's Pink Flag! Can you believe this one came out in 1977? Like, The Clash came out only 8 months earlier. Never Mind the Bollocks predated it by just a month. And yet here Wire have absorbed everything UK punk had to offer, ripped it up, and started afresh. The songs are shorter, punchier, crunchier. The lyrics have dispensed with fruitless missives on Society - embracing the cool, chaotic distance and dada-leaning tendencies that would define the post-punk era. The music could pummel you, then turn on a dime and slow to a sludging crawl. Vocals could be anthemic in one measure, then collapse into a ramshackle cacophony the next. It was fucking genius. And it basically threw down the gauntlet on the UK scene. Sure enough, weirdos like the Mekons, Pop Group, and Slits followed in their wake - and across the Atlantic they were revered by upstarts from REM to Minor Threat. It was still 1977 - the flagship year wasn't even over yet - but punk was already dead. |
|
