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Revisiting old albums

Saw them on the Monster tour at the Milton Keynes Bowl, supported by Blur which was a bonus...
 
Hot take: New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the better album...

Yeah it's up there with their best.

Automatic beats it IMO as there isn't a bad song on it, New Adventures has a few iffy ones....

I used to play Find the River and Man on the Moon on guitar at parties - guaranteed singalongs
 
I best not let you know I've seen REM at Glastonbury twice and I've seen Blur there as well...
Don't care about that just that I couldn't get tickets for the concerts in MK.
 
never really liked blur tbh.

Anyway, today; Son of Dave - 03
https://open.spotify.com/album/3Kpyg6o7TfAc5noyzwS7O2

Benjamin Darvill, formerly of the Crash Test Dummies (famous for "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm") has a one man show. It involves 50's style suits, old microphones, various footpedals, and some harmonicas.

Back when Jools Holland was good, I caught the following performance that was a proper "fuck me!" moment. Simply put, how does one fella make that noise? Well, he beatboxes, samples and loops, and it is just immense. Look at the faces of the coral in the background! :icon_lol:

It was a proper jaw on the floor moment. I had to hear more, and bought the album.
Give the album a blast. It'll honestly be a fun half an hour. You'll have a smile on your face. We have an intro segueing into Old Times Were Good Times, sounding like a blues standard. Nike Town brings the lyrics into the modern age, but the feel of the album and (one man) band is from the past, causing a fun dissonance. Lover Not a Fighter is a sexy pacifists delight, followed by a cover of Low Rider, that is great fun (Darvill also does the tractor and crickets sounds himself). Hellhound (as the above performance shows) is a nuts take on a relationship, and boy the tune has a kick! I'm not your friend no more is almost the baby sister to hellhound. The intro is revisited with Your Mercedes, then a play on a Muddy Waters track comes along with I Just Wanna Get High With You. The album comes to a rollicking end with Squat That Rabbit - a frenetic live take that goes at 90 miles an hour, and ends with the aptly titled Roller Boogie, one of the best album closers I have ever heard.

This is just a great blues themed collection. Treat yourself, I dare you.
 
Garbage - Version 2.0

https://open.spotify.com/album/5eYSzDwSzpEeXdtriTTrnI

Garbages first album kicked ass. Plus, I'd have quite probably done anything Shirley Manson suggested I do.

Their 2nd album, it's a dark album, undercurrents full of sexiness too. Manson took control lyrically, and listening now it makes me realise how her perspective makes this record. The vibe from much of the lyrics has such a different feel, and a different humour being from a female perspective.

I listened to this album and its predecessor a lot in the late 90's. The first album has a quirkiness that this one lacks. This album has a truckload more edge to it.

Manson spends most of the album almost goading the listener in one way or another. The drum sound is excellent, and the guitars are chunky (though I did feel on a few tracks the guitar sound would have benefited from being a bit louder.)

In spite of all the above, it is astonishing how poppy this album is.

Only Wicked Ways is a weak track listening back. Special was always a track I skipped at first, but is one I have come to like in time. Hammering in my Head is a tour de force. Indeed hammering/Push It/The Trick is to keep Breathing/Dumb/Sleep Together is quite a run of intense tracks.

And then an album closer of the quality of Milk.

An odd juxtaposition of a lot of teenage angst done in a poppy almost happy music kinda way.
 
Garbage - Version 2.0

https://open.spotify.com/album/5eYSzDwSzpEeXdtriTTrnI

Garbages first album kicked ass. Plus, I'd have quite probably done anything Shirley Manson suggested I do.

Their 2nd album, it's a dark album, undercurrents full of sexiness too. Manson took control lyrically, and listening now it makes me realise how her perspective makes this record. The vibe from much of the lyrics has such a different feel, and a different humour being from a female perspective.

I listened to this album and its predecessor a lot in the late 90's. The first album has a quirkiness that this one lacks. This album has a truckload more edge to it.

Manson spends most of the album almost goading the listener in one way or another. The drum sound is excellent, and the guitars are chunky (though I did feel on a few tracks the guitar sound would have benefited from being a bit louder.)

In spite of all the above, it is astonishing how poppy this album is.

Only Wicked Ways is a weak track listening back. Special was always a track I skipped at first, but is one I have come to like in time. Hammering in my Head is a tour de force. Indeed hammering/Push It/The Trick is to keep Breathing/Dumb/Sleep Together is quite a run of intense tracks.

And then an album closer of the quality of Milk.

An odd juxtaposition of a lot of teenage angst done in a poppy almost happy music kinda way.

Love this album, its probably the most 'modern' album I own, imo no weak tracks on it. Mansons feral, antagonistic style really shows through....sedy as fuck (if a bit scarey)
 
I loved Garbage and was slightly obsessed with Shirley Manson. I was in the front row when they played the Civic and I was mesmerized by her.

The third album was really good too but I never got into the 4th one. They made a comeback recently didn't they?
 
Think they were due to play a gig at some venue in digbeth last summer I think. They released an album in 2016.

I never saw them live sadly. I think they peaked with the first 2 albums personally, and their stuff was always quite heavily produced, so a strong chance unless the sound was spot on that I might have been disappointed by them live.
Edit, also shame on me for my memory. The album closer is You Look So Fine. Milk is off the first album...
 
The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole

https://open.spotify.com/album/0FjHy5dCyVROqDUl6f2VTK

Following Exit Planet Dust, The Chems released this quite interesting, analogue sounding (and looking - black and white cover art etc) album that seemed to want to be deeper than their debut. There's a lot more focus on breaks and beats on this album (in some ways more than most of their others).

The intro into block rockin beats sounds dark and dangerous, setting a tone for the album. Familiarity had got me to a stage of going off BRB, however it does set a standard/theme for the album, and having had a break from it for many years meant I was able to enjoy the intensity of the track. It wants to be a bit abrasive.
The title track, then elektrobank and piku confirm this. They're a series of deep, dirty tunes, heavy on the basslines. It was quite a joy to re-engage with these 3 tracks, as they aren't ones that have been played live recently. They have a strong undercurrent to them.
Setting Sun is so well known now. I'm pleased that the live version has become something quite different to the album track. Important to remember how defining that track was at the time though.
It doesn't matter is such a better track than I recall. Again there is a triumvirate of it with don't stop the rock and get up on it like this that is an awesome 20 or so minutes of great quality music.
Lost in the k-hole and where do I begin are the only real 2 downbeat moments on the album. In a way, the final 3 tracks give a hint at where they will go next - there next few albums contained much of the intensity, but with more melody, and more psychedelia. k-hole is a fun dubby/bassy trip around the place, but the beth orton vocalled where do I begin is a very psychedelic wig out of a track, that whilst fun can be equally disconcerting if you're on a bad trip.
The Private Psychedelic Reel is a buzzing finale. At the time the album came out I was much more used to 5 min or less songs being the majority. There were very few exceptions up to then, so this almost 20 minute wig out, that would build, then fall, then build again was an amazing experience. And to be fair, it really hasn't lost any of its lustre for me.

Even though I knew this was a good album, I enjoyed this listen a lot more than I expected to.
 
Reef - Replenish

https://open.spotify.com/album/0Irvtke3sM7WMJMsMrhN6H

Reefs first album. Bouyed by a levis advert, the first album is a blues tinged rock n roll fest. It's always suffered from a poor quality production - the mix is all too muffled for me. Some might argue it is an attempt at authenticity, but if that were so, how come the rest of their albums are so much more polished? And is that where they went wrong?
Feed Me/Naked/Good Feeling are 3 solid 3 minute tracks, with the elongated repulsive stretching things out. A decrease in speed with mellow, back to rock with together , then a bit of a hippy wig out with the title track. Four 70's style tracks complete the album in under 43 minutes. Easily fitting on one side of a c90.

Such a lot of promise, so what happened to them? I blame it's your letters personally. The fact they have released 10 albums, of which 2 are compliations, and 4 are live albums is an odd mixture. 2nd album was pretty good to but they fell of a cliff after..
 
Such a lot of promise, so what happened to them? I blame it's your letters personally. The fact they have released 10 albums, of which 2 are compliations, and 4 are live albums is an odd mixture. 2nd album was pretty good to but they fell of a cliff after..

I think the record company screwed them. After the success of Place Your Hands and Glow, it seemed like the band wanted to carry on doing their own thing but the record company wanted them to recreate the same album again and lost interest in them when they didn't.

I still really like all of their first 3 albums. Rides has some great songs on it. The 4th album is a bit hit and miss. They were making a 5th album but the record company pulled the plug and they ended up putting 5 (?) new tracks on a weird Best Of collection instead.

They made a comeback recently with a new album but I haven't listened to it.
 
I remember buying this Reef EP for about £4 second hand from Mike Lloyds - https://www.discogs.com/Reef-Consideration/release/3822208

I basically bought it for the live version of Come Back Brighter as we were going to cover it in our band. Oh before the days of YouTube and Spotify :icon_lol:

Ended up loving it. Great collection of tunes that I listened to loads!
 
Primal Scream - Screamadelica

https://open.spotify.com/album/4TECsw2dFHZ1ULrT7OA3OL

The memory is definitely better than the reality in this case (though see the caveat later on...)
Never liked movin on up, and it's a poor opening track. Aways used to skip it and remember why. A quality cover of the 13th floor elevators track, don't fight it feel it, and higher than the sun is pretty much the pinnacle of the album. These 3 are a decent pinnacle, as they're all very good tracks. But inner flight meanders and loses the momentum.
Come together is the only really good track left, and during listening this gives a sense that a recovery is in place, but the rest of the album is just weak.

This was heavily lauded when it came out. I went to see the scream once, and they played the same song twice, and it really pissed me off. I've never forgiven them for it, and it has tainted how I view them, and possibly the above. That said, I've never fully got the adulation the scream and bobby Gillespie ever got.
 
Primal Scream - Screamadelica

https://open.spotify.com/album/4TECsw2dFHZ1ULrT7OA3OL

The memory is definitely better than the reality in this case (though see the caveat later on...)
Never liked movin on up, and it's a poor opening track. Aways used to skip it and remember why. A quality cover of the 13th floor elevators track, don't fight it feel it, and higher than the sun is pretty much the pinnacle of the album. These 3 are a decent pinnacle, as they're all very good tracks. But inner flight meanders and loses the momentum.
Come together is the only really good track left, and during listening this gives a sense that a recovery is in place, but the rest of the album is just weak.

This was heavily lauded when it came out. I went to see the scream once, and they played the same song twice, and it really pissed me off. I've never forgiven them for it, and it has tainted how I view them, and possibly the above. That said, I've never fully got the adulation the scream and bobby Gillespie ever got.
Not a massive Primal Scream fan, although I do think Come Together is a great track, but if you haven't seen it Google Bobby Gillespie This Week
 
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

https://open.spotify.com/album/0lw68yx3MhKflWFqCsGkIs

I really want to like Muse, but they haven't released a whole solid album for me.
Case in point, 4 brilliant tracks to kick off, but then soldiers poem, and especially invincible are dull and I switch off. The rest of the album slips by in-noticed. I briefly re-engage in Knights of Cydonia, but it is too late...

I don't get why they get such huge crowds. Is it the stage show?
 
Muse live show is fantastic, well it was last time I saw them which was quite a long time ago. Think they lost their way on record, Showbiz is my favourite album and that was a long....long time ago
 
Muse live show is fantastic, well it was last time I saw them which was quite a long time ago. Think they lost their way on record, Showbiz is my favourite album and that was a long....long time ago

Showbiz was brilliant.

I used to play Unintended on the acoustic. Matt Bellamy can write a great song, I just think his vocal style ran away with the hype over the years
 
Showbiz was brilliant.

I used to play Unintended on the acoustic. Matt Bellamy can write a great song, I just think his vocal style ran away with the hype over the years

First 3 albums were really good, good songs and showcased all their talents but think everything all got a bit overblown after that
 
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