Revisiting old albums

[Jolemai]

+1 to St.Anger being tripe

 

[lemonjelly]

came here to post a review of blue lines by massive attack, but saw I'd done that previously.
will have to find another album instead, but blue lines really got me in the groove because it is so good.

 

[prawnking]

Listened to some vintage 1994 this morning for the first time in a looooong time with PWEI Dos Dedos...and NIN Downward Spiral...way too middle-aged for that shit now!!

 

[lemonjelly]

Downward Spiral is a phenomenal album. There's very little of NINs output I dislike tbh.
Last 8 words of your post are just wrong imo. Those experiences and albums shaped who you are and your tastes. Although these can change, part of them remains.
I mean, I think that was the original point of the thread.

 

[sycophantia]

Listened to Version 2.0 by Garbage yesterday for the first time in ages, set me off for the rest of the day listening to a 'female' playlist such as Imelda May, Kirsty Macoll, The Pretenders and No Doubt.

 

[prawnking]

Downward Spiral is a phenomenal album. There's very little of NINs output I dislike tbh.
Last 8 words of your post are just wrong imo. Those experiences and albums shaped who you are and your tastes. Although these can change, part of them remains.
I mean, I think that was the original point of the thread.

Oh I agree, a lot of stuff I was into in my teens and 20s I still regularly listen to now (Depeche Mode never age for me, for example), and early NIN are really seminal for me. But perhaps I just associate them with my adolescent self so much that I can't fully connect with a lot of it anymore, or at least don't get as much out of it as I used to.

 

[nimrod]

40 years old next month!

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Been listening to Troublegum by therapy quite a bit over the past month, still a mighty fine album.

 

[Keef]

40 years old next month!

I intensely dislike the clash, don’t really know why, whether it’s posh boy strummer being all man of the people, or the we aren’t selling out by going on top of the pops, then going on top of the pops, or whether it’s everyone banging on about how good a punk band they were, I just don’t know, best uk punk bands are
1. The damned
2. Buzzcocks
3. Gbh

feel free to argue the list, you’ll be wrong mind, but I’ll let you all have the pistols, and the banshees.

 

[sycophantia]

I intensely dislike the clash, don’t really know why, whether it’s posh boy strummer being all man of the people, or the we aren’t selling out by going on top of the pops, then going on top of the pops, or whether it’s everyone banging on about how good a punk band they were, I just don’t know, best uk punk bands are
1. The damned
2. Buzzcocks
3. Gbh

feel free to argue the list, you’ll be wrong mind, but I’ll let you all have the pistols, and the banshees.

Liked all them, personally was drawn to the pub rock bands that got tagged with punk bands
such as Stranglers, Dr Feelgood, Nine Below Zero etc

 

[Tom Hark]

Whatever you think of Weller's subsequent exploits, no one could hold a candle to The Jam as a punk band imv. I was listening to In the City again just the other week. Not UK, but Boomtown Rats, too. Loved the Feelgoods, though I'd have put them more in the R&B genre than punk (for the kids, there was a time when R&B actually comprised both R and B. I've no idea why it's called that now.)

 

[nimrod]

I intensely dislike the clash, don’t really know why, whether it’s posh boy strummer being all man of the people, or the we aren’t selling out by going on top of the pops, then going on top of the pops, or whether it’s everyone banging on about how good a punk band they were, I just don’t know, best uk punk bands are
1. The damned
2. Buzzcocks
3. Gbh

feel free to argue the list, you’ll be wrong mind, but I’ll let you all have the pistols, and the banshees.

not a massive clash fan - a little early for me - but love straight to hell. i know people that totally love them and some that hate them. i'm not sure their total output stands up but they have their moments. a damned fan i know once said i looked a bit like vanian - it was a long time ago though. 'punk' has a pretty broad spectrum given your list and the bands syco threw in. i'd struggle to know what to include other than just being late 70s era specific, never mind rank them.

but just listening to 'punk junkies' while working

 

[sycophantia]

Whatever you think of Weller's subsequent exploits, no one could hold a candle to The Jam as a punk band imv. I was listening to In the City again just the other week. Not UK, but Boomtown Rats, too. Loved the Feelgoods, though I'd have put them more in the R&B genre than punk (for the kids, there was a time when R&B actually comprised both R and B. I've no idea why it's called that now.)

Yeah, I don't understand the R n B tag anymore, the stuff tagged with that nowadays is more soft soul imo.
The Jam were fantastic, Weller wrote some great stuff in his youth. Again I wouldn't class them as punk, closer to the R n B bands you mention. Think it gets classed as punk cos it was quite 'angry'

 

[lemonjelly]

punk discussions have to include the anti nowhere league for me.
i consistently wonder whether punk is a style of music, an attitude, or a style of fashion. I remain unsure.

 

[sycophantia]

punk discussions have to include the anti nowhere league for me.
i consistently wonder whether punk is a style of music, an attitude, or a style of fashion. I remain unsure.

It can be all of them, I'm only really interested in the music, I've never had any fashion sense or attitude, or any interest in those.

 

[lemonjelly]

back to the topic, Bryan Adams, Live Live Live

fuck me, released in 1988! Think I saw BA live 3 or 4 times between 88-93. Have to say every show was amazing, such well crafted and rehearsed shows. All done simply - basic lighting rig, no massive stage props or shite, jeans and a tshirt, and a band that knew what they were doing.
Might be middle of the road shite for some, but the man has a talent for writing catchy tunes, and puts on a really good show.
The album includes 90% of reckless, which still stands up as a solid album imo, and it is a raw live recording which makes things feel right.
Found myself enjoying this a lot and grinning, as well as remembering seeing him at milton keynes, or cardiff arms park.
I drifted away after waking up the neighbours was released (still recall enjoying it at the time) though I did acquire a couple of his subsequent releases his 1983-1992 was his heyday for me, and probably where my head remains.

 

[Paul]

Mate, I love you and respect you but I would rather teabag a beartrap than sit through Bryan Adams, if you want catchy try Billy Squire, the Don't Say No album

 

[lemonjelly]

Pure Phase - Spiritualized

interesting listening to something like this now, with the not too distant spell of drone music. Pure Phase is a really good album, albeit one that could do with a remastered release. But although the mastering is dated, the music really isn't.
J Spaceman has a number of themes that repeat through most of his albums. LAGWAFIS seems to be his triumph, but pure phase and lazer guided melodies are class albums, and for my money there's a lot of his other work that has some sincere merit. His latest album is getting a lot of praise in the press, and I need to make time to listen.
Back to PP though, it's a proper journey, and listening to it now almost at times feels transcendental. Found it to be a great album to listen to in the car whilst driving. These Blues absolutely rocks for example, and the "Woah Woah" of Let It Flow is superb and a proper earworm at times.

 

[lemonjelly]

Kinda amazing how something that at the time felt so revolutionary now almost seems a bit mundane. I guess that shows how things have changed, as well as my own tastes and experiences.

I can recall at the time experiencing a certain level of “woah!” hearing this. Listening back, it’s an album with peaks and troughs, but enjoyable. And the peaks are quite high. Land of Sunshine is bizarre yet huge. A Small Victory is probably an understated classic. Be Aggressive is hilarious, and combined with RV, displays Mike Pattons abilities as a lyricist. Indeed, when listening I thought a lot that I appreciated the lyrics a lot more than I did back in 1994.

The band properly progressed with this album, Midlife Crisis being an impressive step up from the excellent work they did on the real thing. The fluctuations in sound, and use of contrast is really good in places.

There are lower points – smaller and smaller sounds a bit bland/repetitive to the modern ear, but didn’t back then. But the high points are really really good!

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The Real Thing was miles better.