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The first two albums I listened to as a kid were New Order’s Republic and Madonna’s Ray of Light, which manages to explain 95% of my music taste today.
Hell of an album to start with. Just my 2c.
edit: When you are done with your excursions here, listen to Marquee Moon by Television, if you haven't already.
The first two albums I listened to as a kid were New Order’s Republic and Madonna’s Ray of Light, which manages to explain 95% of my music taste today.
Hell of an album to start with. Just my 2c.
edit: When you are done with your excursions here, listen to Marquee Moon by Television, if you haven't already.
I have listened to Marquee Moon, but I did briefly consider adding Adventure.
That album had been on my mental list of "Albums to listen to" for a while and one night last fall I randomly decided to listen to it on a subway ride and was left speechless. But sad music and acoustic guitars are also right up my alley, so I'm curious to see what it does for you.
"Pink Moon" - I know I spent the entire "Preconceptions" section talking about how I don't like sad music or whatever, and of course I get played a fool with a major-key opener that has a piano bridge. Go figure. I like this song.
"Place to Be" - Okay, I'm starting to get major All Hail West Texas-era Mountain Goats vibes with the guitar. I'm also very surprised with how metaphorical the lyrics are. I had assumed that he was going to be more direct in his songwriting.
"Road" - The guitar here is different, but since I know basically nothing about guitars I absolutely cannot explain it. I do like it, though. This is so far my favorite guitar melody on the album, which is good because this track is very lyrically light. Also interesting: his singing isn't often mixed very highly (though, to be fair, it's not like he's belting, either), which seems to suit the more introverted nature of this album.
"Which Will" - Speaking of his singing, Nick Drake's range is interesting. The Range Place forums tell me that this song contains both one of his highest notes and one of his lowest. therangeplace.forummotions.com/t573-nick-drake Also, I was talking earlier about how a lot of this work sounds introverted, but it's also sentimental in a way
"Horn" - No horns. 0/10
"Things Behind the Sun" - Again, I can't identify them so it's a bit of a moot point, but the beginning of this song seems like it has a really odd chord progression. Given the past few songs, though, I certainly don't mind and it's almost kind of refreshing. This is the kind of melody I was expecting more of from this album.
"Know" - Hey, speaking of odd guitars! This one goes the opposite route, though, which a very repetitive riff that almost sounds bluesy. I'm not a big fan! I would like it more if this song just had the verse and didn't have the vocalizations surrounding it.
"Parasite" - Easily the saddest song so far. I really feel for this guy.
"Free Ride" - I know it's almost entirely because of my lack of appreciation for folk music generally, but almost every song I keep on waiting for something to sound like Bob Dylan and it never does. This isn't supposed to mean anything, just an observation. I think this song is kind of unremarkable, but it's certainly not bad.
"Harvest Breed" - One thing that I do like about a lot of the songs on the album is the impressionistic lyrics, and this song is one of them. It gives the album more of a poetic quality. I keeping these songs short is a good idea, too - it allows for some more direct emotional expression in a way that a more traditional verse/chorus song format wouldn't allow.
"From the Morning" - An interesting decision to end the album on a more optimistic note with another major key song! (Though it's still pretty contemplative). I like albums with strong closers, and while I don't think I would put that song in that category, I appreciate its stylistic similarities to "Pink Moon"; I like the idea of having the opening and closing tracks being thematically parallel.
Impressions: I was very surprised by this album in a lot of ways. I knew it was only 27 minutes long, but I had no idea that a lot of its songs would be in the 1-2 minute range with more impressionistic lyrics. On the other hand, I was also surprised by how many of the songs also followed more traditional song structures and were in major keys and were overall more...positive than I was expecting. I certainly didn't like every song on the album, but I think if anything this album is better off listened to all in one sitting anyway. I go back and forth between wishing there were more flourishes on the album like the piano melody on "Pink Moon" and appreciating the album on its own for clearly being the work of one very reclusive person working through a lot of personal issues. I don't think I'll be able to connect with this album on a level that it seems that a lot of you have. But I certainly understand more why it's so perennially popular and appreciate it for the way people are able to connect with his songwriting here.
Background on Ice Cube: O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor, screenwriter, and entrepreneur. One of the founding artists of gangsta rap, Ice Cube initially gained recognition as the primary songwriting and performing member of the seminal hip-hop groups C.I.A. and N.W.A, the latter of which gained extreme notoriety for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music, as well as visual imagery in music videos.
After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, Ice Cube embarked on a successful solo career, releasing the albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990) and Death Certificate (1991), both of which have attained platinum certification in the United States, while also being classed as defining albums of the 1990s. Much of his musical output has contained harsh socio-political commentary and storytelling, which has earned him several accolades from multiple publications and artists, often being cited as a consistent influence, as well as one of the best rappers of all time.
Following the release of Death Certificate, Ice Cube's popularity was further enhanced by his role in the critically acclaimed film Boyz n the Hood (1991), while also writing and starring in the Friday film series, largely reinventing his public image as a movie star. Ice Cube also featured in the Barbershop, Ride Along, and XXX film series, while also serving as a producer to several other films, including Straight Outta Compton (2015), a biographical film depicting the career of N.W.A.
Background on AmeriKKKA: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted is the debut studio album by American rapper Ice Cube. It was released on May 16, 1990, by Priority Records. It serves as his first solo album, after his acrimonious split from his former group N.W.A. The album was primarily produced by Public Enemy's production team The Bomb Squad, and the album was an unexpectedly large critical and commercial success, and remains one of the defining hip hop albums of the 1990s.
After departing from Ruthless Records and the West Coast–based group N.W.A, Ice Cube immediately moved to record his own album. Cube maintains that originally, he and N.W.A producer Dr. Dre still wanted to collaborate for Cube's debut solo, but the move was nixed by label powers. Linking up with Sir Jinx, Dr. Dre's cousin, Cube made use of pre-written notebooks of songs meant for N.W.A member/Ruthless co-founder Eazy-E.[9] After relocating to New York, they worked on the songs, which included "Once Upon a Time in the Projects", "Get Off My Dick & Tell Yo' Bitch to Come Here" and "Gangsta's Fairytale", among others. Under fire from his former group with the song "100 Miles and Runnin'", from the EP of the same name, he also recorded the song "Jackin' for Beats", using beats allegedly planned for use on the next N.W.A album,though he would use this several months later on the Kill at Will EP. After contacting Public Enemy's production team The Bomb Squad, they completed the album. The album received a fair share of production credited to various Bomb Squad members, with an appearance by Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, despite Jinx's claims that the only Bomb Squad member fully present was Eric Sadler.
With socio-political conscious and gangsta rap content, its songs delve into the issues of ghetto life, drug addiction, racism and poverty. Throughout the album, Ice Cube incessantly attacks institutions for perceived or actual racist tendencies, as well as social norms which directly or indirectly allowed the oppression of those living in the ghettos of Los Angeles to continue. On "Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)," he predicts that his neighborhood would become a flash point for violence before 1992's scandal over the beating of Rodney King, and takes police to task for the policies that would later lead to the L.A. riots that resulted.
Throughout the album, Cube takes some controversial stands, referring to certain types of African-Americans as "oreo cookies", an epithet implying that they appear black on the outside, but have, internally, negative white tendencies. Arsenio Hall is specifically mentioned as being a "sell-out." Cube also heavily criticizes R&B and hip hop radio stations for watered-down broadcasting. The title song directly parodies the television show, America's Most Wanted, alleging bias and glee the program displays in arresting Afro-American men.
My preconceptions: Well, first of all, it's been a long time since I listened to Straight Outta Compton. I think what's most odd about reading up on the background behind this album is how violent and shocking Ice Cube and N.W.A. were considered at the time, considering that in the past 25 years or so lyrical standards have shifted considerably and also Ice Cube has starred in several children's movies. Time marches on, I suppose.
Beyond that, I think I'm most interested to hear what Ice Cube sounds like with the Bomb Squad. I really like the early Public Enemy albums but had no idea they did production for others besides Public Enemy, and I'm curious to what extent it'll be different or not different. I think mentally I still compartmentalize earlier rap albums into their geographic categories ("west coast", "east coast", "southern", whatever), and I don't think that's really fair because that's clearly not always the case. In spite of this, I'm excited to listen to this one.
"Better Off Dead" - I love an album with a good intro, and this is a good intro.
"The Nigga You Love To Hate" - The production on this sounds dated, but not in a way that's bad. I guess it's just interesting to see how much rap has changed in the past 25 years or so. What a great hook, though.
"AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" - I know I said the production is dated in that kind of 80s/90s hip hop way, but I love looking at the sample list for songs like this. There are 16 samples in this song!!! Even today, it's nothing but impressive that production teams were able to shape samples into complete unique styles like this.
"What They Hittin' Foe?" - This was pretty funny! Not much else to say, I guess.
"You Can't Fade Me/JD's Gafflin'" - Nah.
"Once Upon a Time in the Projects" - It's cool how Ice Cube switches up song formats in a lot of these songs. Don't know how I feel about this one, though.
"Turn Off the Radio" - I'm certainly not in any place to talk about this, so I won't.
"Endangered Species (Tales From the Darkside)" - I think Ice Cube is way better of a political than a personal lyricist. idk.
"A Gangsta's Fairytale" - I like the lyrical conceit here.
"I'm Only Out for One Thang" - I can't remember what the other guest features were on the album before this one, but it's kind of funny how immediately recognizable Flavor Flav is. God bless.
"Get Off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here" / "The Drive-By" - I don't know, I don't have much to say here!
"It's a Man's World" - My least favorite parts of this album are its most misogynistic, so this song is interesting! It doesn't make me like any of those other songs more, and I don't think it makes Ice Cube look any better (though Yo-Yo is really great on this song!). But at least there's a different perspective that's acknowledged. I like the use of the James Brown sample, too.
"The Bomb" - There's a lot going on here and I think it sums up the rest of the album pretty well. It's got violence, it's got great samples, it's got references to the rest of the album, and it's got the misogyny! What more could you ask for? Maybe a less abrupt ending.
My impressions: There's kind of a lot going on here. I think if there's a few takeaways here, it's that Ice Cube is a very talented lyricist and rapper, the production on this album is a good example of really heavily sample-based 80/90s hip hop, and also the misogyny is very hard to ignore. It's easily the most off-putting part of the album, but that certainly doesn't mean that it's not worth listening to - sadly, a lot of its more political lyrics still ring true today, and beyond that Ice Cube has a very good ability to weave his storytelling abilities in his songs. I'm a bit conflicted about how I feel about this album, but I definitely understand why it has its fans.
Background on Bruce Springsteen: Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his work with the E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Boss", he is widely known for his brand of poetic lyrics, Americana, working class, sometimes political sentiments centered on his native New Jersey, his distinctive voice, and his lengthy and energetic stage performances—with concerts from the 1970s to the present decade running at up to four hours in length.
Springsteen's recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more somber folk-oriented works. His most successful studio albums, Born to Run (1975) and Born in the U.S.A. (1984) find pleasures in the struggles of daily American life. He has sold more than 120 million records worldwide and more than 64 million records in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award as well as being inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1999. In 2009, Springsteen was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, in 2013 was named MusiCares person of the year, and in 2016 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Background on Nebraska: Nebraska is the sixth studio album by Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on September 30, 1982, by Columbia Records. Sparsely recorded on a 4-track cassette tape Portastudio 144, the songs on Nebraska were originally intended as demos of songs to be recorded with the E Street Band. However, Springsteen ultimately decided to release the demos himself. Nebraska remains one of the most highly regarded albums in his catalogue.
The songs on Nebraska deal with ordinary, down-on-their-luck blue-collar characters who face a challenge or a turning point in their lives. The songs also treat the subject of outsiders, criminals and mass murderers with little hope for the future — or no future at all - as in the title track, where the main character is sentenced to death in the electric chair. Unlike previous albums, which often exude energy, youth, optimism and joy, the vocal tones of Nebraska are solemn and thoughtful, with fleeting moments of grace and redemption woven through the lyrics. The album's reverb-laden vocals and mood combined with dark lyrical content have been described by music critic William Ruhlmann as "one of the most challenging albums ever released by a major star on a major record label." Because of the album's sombre content, Springsteen chose not to tour in support of the album, making it Springsteen's only major release that was not supported by a tour.
My preconceptions: Bruce Springsteen is one of those artists who I've liked but whose discography I've never finished. Prior to this project, when I wanted to get into a new artist, I'd usually just listen to their entire discography from start to finish. But Bruce Springsteen has remained elusive and I'm not entirely sure why. As such, I'm excited to finally listen to at least one album I haven't gotten around to, and it sounds like one of the most unique albums in his catalogue. This is a bit of an odd connection, but I'm also excited to listen to this one after listening to Pink Moon last week. Of course, they're very different lyrically, but I also want to see how they stack up musically. In addition, if I have time, I may get around to a few other Bruce albums this week. Who knows!
Post by Dale Cooper on Jan 22, 2018 10:36:22 GMT -5
Just listened to Pink Moon for maybe the 3rd time after visiting this thread. Damn do i love the atmosphere Nick Drake can conjure with just his voice and guitar. Grows on me every time.
Nebraska is a stunning album. The title track, atlantic city, johnny 99 and reason to believe are some of the best lyrics Springsteen ever wrote. If you enjoy, i recommend searching out the live versions of some of them on the Live 75-85 collection.
Just listened to Pink Moon for maybe the 3rd time after visiting this thread. Damn do i love the atmosphere Nick Drake can conjure with just his voice and guitar. Grows on me every time.
Nebraska is a stunning album. The title track, atlantic city, johnny 99 and reason to believe are some of the best lyrics Springsteen ever wrote. If you enjoy, i recommend searching out the live versions of some of them on the Live 75-85 collection.
My friends mom gave me that live collection on vinyl a couple years ago and it's what finally got me into Springsteen.
Nebraska is probably my second favorite studio album of his. Darkness on the Edge of Town is #1
"Nebraska" - Oh, nice, we get a harmonica right out of the gate. Not to use the word Dylanesque, but, you know. Oh shit, and Bruce even sings (almost) like Dylan on this track! The recording quality on this seems not particularly good, which is charming in its own way? Lyrically, this isn't what I was expecting at all, but I like a lot. There's a xylophone too? I know I'm not the biggest fan of acoustic music, but I love this a lot? And the harmonica's back! Nice. I kind of love this already.
"Reason to Believe" - Oh, we're getting a lot of harmonica on this one, aren't we? Interesting that the guitar is more rhythmic than on "Nebraska", though. What is up with this accent that Bruce is affecting? Interesting side note: the Genius 'biography' to this song reads "Before you venture into these lyrics, be aware: Bruce Springsteen is one of the most talented poets alive today, and when he wrote this song, he focused all of that talent into convincing the listener that the world is bullshit." lol? Anyway, I just realized I accidentally had shuffle on. Oops!
"Atlantic City" - A few things. One, the use of reverb on this track is kind of mesmerizing in its own way. Second of all, that chorus. Wow. Third of all, not to talk about the chorus again, but the shift from third to first person from the first verse to the chorus is pretty unique!
"Mansion on the Hill" - Not to bring it up again, but oh my god, this is so much more harmonica than i was expecting.
"Johnny 99" - No, seriously, WHAT is going on with Bruce's accent here. Also, I briefly thought to myself at the end of "Mansion on the Hill", "you know what, I'm half expecting an ooh-ooh-ooh' vocal outro", and guess what? I got it at the beginning of this song! I'm also surprised how many murder ballads/prison songs are on this. Eat your heart out, Johnny Cash and Ice Cube.
"Highway Patrolman" - I think in general, I was expecting more slow songs like this and "Nebraska". Lyrically, this seems a lot more nuanced than the other tracks. Maybe not. Who knows.
"State Trooper" - You know what song this reminds me of? Nicolas Jaar's "Three Sides of Nazareth". Also, apparently this song was inspired by Suicide? Interesting.
"Used Cars" - On an album full of sad songs, this has probably been the saddest so far.
"Open All Night" - I think this song would be a lot better with a full band.
"My Father's House" - Not to make it seem like I'm making light about a serious song about a serious personal difficulty, time I hear the word 'darkness' on this album, I think, "Oh, cool, that's an oblique reference to Darkness on the Edge of Town."
Impressions: Not that I'm terribly surprised by this, but I really liked this. I think it's interesting that this album came up shortly after Pink Moon, because it's really interesting to contrast them as sad acoustic guitar albums heavily inspired by folk music: Pink Moon is deeply introspective and unadorned (save for one piano melody), whereas Nebraska is colder, with more additional instrumentation and a more outward perspective. Of course, the less introspective lyrics isn't inherently why I liked this album a lot (and, to be honest, maybe a bit more than Pink Moon), even if I do love a good murder ballad. Perhaps most simply, I think this album really highlights Bruce Springsteen's abilities as a songwriter and a lyricist, even if he does ape a lot at Bob Dylan on here. Besides that, Bruce Springsteen is one of a few people I can think of who could pull off a sudden sharp turn to acoustic music this well.
On an unrelated note: sadly, the closest thing to the Live 75-85 compilation on Spotify seems to be a shoddy playlist incorporating two more anemic live albums, so without access to my regular computer, I don't think I'll be listening to that any time soon. I've made a note of it in the infinite mental file cabinet of "Stuff to Listen to One Day", though.
Background on Miles Davis: Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music. Davis adopted a variety of musical directions in his five-decade career which kept him at the forefront of a number of major stylistic developments in jazz.
Born and raised in Illinois, Davis left his studies at The Juilliard School in New York City and made his professional debut as a member of saxophonist Charlie Parker's bebop quintet from 1944 to 1948. Shortly after, he recorded the Birth of the Cool sessions for Capitol Records, which were instrumental to the development of cool jazz. In the early 1950s, Davis recorded some of the earliest hard bop music while on Prestige Records but did so haphazardly due to a heroin addiction. After a widely acclaimed comeback performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, he signed a long-term contract with Columbia Records and recorded the 1957 album 'Round About Midnight. It was his first work with saxophonist John Coltrane and bassist Paul Chambers, key members of the sextet he led into the early 1960s. During this period, he alternated between orchestral jazz collaborations with arranger Gil Evans, such as the Spanish music-influenced Sketches of Spain (1960), and band recordings, such as Milestones (1958) and Kind of Blue (1959). The latter recording remains one of the most popular jazz albums of all time, having sold over four million copies in the U.S.
Davis made several line-up changes while recording Someday My Prince Will Come (1961), his 1961 Blackhawk concerts, and Seven Steps to Heaven (1963), another mainstream success that introduced bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and drummer Tony Williams. After adding saxophonist Wayne Shorter to his new quintet in 1964, Davis led them on a series of more abstract recordings often composed by the band members, helping pioneer the post-bop genre with albums such as E.S.P (1965) and Miles Smiles (1967), before transitioning into his electric period. During the 1970s, he radically experimented with rock, funk, African rhythms, emerging electronic music technology, and an ever-changing line-up of musicians, including keyboardist Joe Zawinul, drummer Al Foster, and guitarist John McLaughlin. This period, beginning with Davis' 1969 studio album In a Silent Way and concluding with the 1975 concert recording Agharta, was the most controversial in his career, alienating and challenging many in jazz. His million-selling 1970 record Bitches Brew helped spark a resurgence in the genre's commercial popularity with jazz fusion as the decade progressed.
After a five-year retirement due to poor health, Davis resumed his career in the 1980s, employing younger musicians and pop music sounds on albums such as The Man with the Horn (1981) and Tutu (1986). Critics were generally unreceptive but the decade garnered the trumpeter his highest level of commercial recognition. He performed sold-out concerts worldwide while branching out into visual arts, film, and television work, before his death in 1991 from the combined effects of a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure. In 2006, Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which recognized him as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz". Rolling Stone described him as "the most revered jazz trumpeter of all time, not to mention one of the most important musicians of the 20th century," while Gerald Early called him inarguably one of the most influential and innovative musicians of that period.
Background on Kind of Blue: Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It is regarded by many critics as jazz's greatest record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded. The album was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and in 2003 it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Kind of Blue was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released later that year on August 17 by Columbia Records. The album featured Davis's ensemble sextet, consisting of pianist Bill Evans, drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, together with pianist Wynton Kelly on one track. After the entry of Evans into the sextet, Davis followed up on the modal experimentations of Milestones (1958) by basing Kind of Blue entirely on modality, in contrast to his earlier work with the hard bop style of jazz.
In 1953, the pianist George Russell published his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, which offered an alternative to the practice of improvisation based on chords and chord changes. Abandoning the traditional major and minor key relationships, the Lydian Chromatic Concept introduced the idea of chord/scale unity and was the first theory to explore the vertical relationship between chords and scales, as well as the only original theory to come from jazz. These insights helped lead the way to the "modal" approach in jazz. Influenced by Russell's ideas, Davis implemented his first modal composition with the title track of his studio album Milestones (1958). Satisfied with the results, Davis prepared an entire album based on modality. Pianist Bill Evans, who had studied with Russell but recently departed from Davis's sextet to pursue his own career, was drafted back into the new recording project, the sessions that would become Kind of Blue.
Though precise figures have been disputed, Kind of Blue has been described by many music writers not only as Davis's best-selling album, but as the best-selling jazz record of all time. On October 7, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it quadruple platinum, indicating sales of at least four million copies.
My preconceptions: Considering how widely beloved and respected this album is, I'm not even going to try and say anything.
I feel like I don't know enough about jazz, music theory, or really, even Miles Davis to respond to this album properly, but I will say that as soon as this album finished on Spotify, one of Davis's 1992 songs played and the effect and difference were so jarring I had to stop and make sure I wasn't listening to the drums from a Bruno Mars song.
Background on Fugees: Fugees (sometimes The Fugees; formerly Tranzlator Crew) was an American hip hop group who rose to fame in the early-1990s. Their repertoire included elements of hip hop, soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group were rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer/producer Lauryn Hill, and rapper/producer Pras Michel. Deriving their name from the term refugee, Jean and Michel are Haitian, while Hill is American.
The group recorded two albums—one of which, The Score (1996), was a multi-Platinum and Grammy-winning success and contains their hit single "Killing Me Softly"—before disbanding in 1997. Hill and Jean each went on to successful solo recording careers; Michel focused on soundtrack recordings and acting, though he found commercial success with his song "Ghetto Supastar". In 2007, MTV ranked them the 9th greatest Hip-hop group of all time.
Background on The Score: The Score is the second and final studio album by the hip hop trio Fugees, released worldwide February 13, 1996 on Columbia Records. The album features a wide range of samples and instrumentation, with many aspects of alternative hip hop that would come to dominate the hip hop music scene in the mid-late 1990s. The Score's production was handled mostly by the Fugees themselves and Jerry Duplessis, with additional production from Salaam Remi, John Forté, Diamond D, and Shawn King. The album's guest raps are from Outsidaz members Rah Digga, Young Zee and Pacewon, as well as Omega, John Forté, and Diamond D. Most versions of the album feature four bonus tracks, including three remixes of "Fu-Gee-La", and a short acoustic Wyclef Jean solo track entitled "Mista Mista".
Upon its release, The Score was a commercial success, peaking at the number one spot on both the Billboard 200, and the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart (it was a number-one album on the latter in 1996 on the year-end chart). The singles "Killing Me Softly", "Fu-Gee-La", and "Ready or Not" also achieved notable chart success, and helped the group achieve worldwide recognition. On October 3, 1997, The Score was certified six times platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In addition to receiving mostly favorable reviews upon its release, the album has garnered a considerable amount of acclaim over the years, with many music critics and publications noting it as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s, as well as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. In 1998, the album was included in The Source's 100 best rap albums list, and in 2003, it was ranked number 477 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
My preconceptions: My knowledge of the Fugees basically starts and ends with Lauryn Hill. I've listened to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (though not in a while!) and maybe one of my biggest festival regrets is not seeing her at Bonnaroo 2014 (lateness aside). Glancing over the background on this album, I don't think I've even ever heard "Killing Me Softly" in full, somehow (I know). Because of the neo-soul associations with Lauryn Hill, I'm probably going to listen to this assuming it's going to be neo-soul adjacent even though I know full well it's almost certainly not going to be. But it'll still be interesting! Not that they're really related at all, but considering that this came out six years after AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, I think it'll be interesting to note the stylistic similarities and differences between the two. How has 90s rap changed since we last visited it? Let's find out!
"Red Intro" - In my background information, I talked about contrasting this with Ice Cube (god, this sounds so nerdy already!). Anyway, I hear the differences already - would Ice Cube have had a piano intro like this? I don't think so.
"How Many Mics" - I love that keyboard melody. It sounds like something out of a horror movie, which is great, considering the intimidating mood of the track. The Alec Baldwin reference kind of took me out of it for a second before I remembered that yes, in fact, he did have a long career before 30 Rock.
"Ready Or Not" - This song is really good, largely due to Lauryn Hill. This is half-related, but I think it's interesting how many women rappers are also good singers - Lauryn being the obvious example here, but also Nicki Minaj, and lesser-known ones like Cupcakke, Lizzo, and Tkay Maidza. I can't think of many male rappers who can do the same (Pharrell and André 3000 come to mind and that's about it). Anyway, Lauryn's singing and rapping is really great on this track. I'm probably going to be talking a lot about her.
"Zealots" - That's an...interesting sample. The song kind of sounds like A Tribe Called Quest to me, but that sample betrays that idea.
"The Beast" - I think this is the first track I really hear the reggae influence that I was more expecting from this album. also, it's not a great line but lol @ "Newt Gingrich sucks dick".
"Fu-Gee-La" - This is another keyboard melody I love? There's been a lot of those. I think this may have been my favorite Wyclef Jean rap so far. Also, Salaam Remi produced this? That's cool. I can see a linear progression from this to, say, Frank-era Amy Winehouse.
"Family Business" - So we go from a cool keyboard melody to a cool guitar melody. This track has probably been the most lyrically harrowing on an album with a lot of lyrically harrowing tracks.
"Killing Me Softly" - Okay, I had no idea that in the context of the album, this is a weird tonal shift.
"The Score" - Wyclef's sound effects are kind of goofy. That's kind of a cool callback to "Ready or Not", too.
"The Mask" - This is another song where I don't feel it's my place to comment on the lyrics, but this gives you a lot to think about.
"Cowboys" - The skits in this album are...interesting.
"No Woman, No Cry" - I think this song ties together a lot of the themes throughout the album (violence, harsh lives), but with a much more optimistic tone.
"Manifest/Outro": I guess the difference is that that and other 90s rap albums this is less sample-based and it's not just one guy who gets to show off his rapping skills. The credits at the end are kind of funny...I guess? Okay, it gets funnier towards the end.
Impressions: I think it'd be tough to compare this to AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted: The Score has a similar tone lyrically, but musically they're night and day, with The Score having far fewer samples, clear (but not consistent) reggae influences, and far more keyboards. The one thing they do have in common? A singular commanding presence: in the former, Ice Cube, and in this one, Lauryn Hill. It's a bit of a cliché since she's had the most enduring legacy of any of the Fugees, sure (though it also depends on how you feel about Wyclef Jean's brief stint as Haitian presidential candidate), but a significant part of this album's character comes from Lauryn's vocal skills, and her strong raps, especially on songs like "Ready Or Not". Despite its long length and unnecessary skits, I still felt intrigued and surprised a lot by this album, and although its sharp left turns on "Killing Me Softly" and "No Woman, No Cry" may not be widely loved, I think it adds a lot of dimension and uniqueness to the album. I think in the long term, I still may feel fonder about The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, but as a dark and ultimately rewarding showcase for three different talents, this works spectacularly.
Zealots is my favorite song on this album (one of my favorite rap songs in general). But the theme, and Lauryns verse "See my rhymes, are the type of fly rhymes, That can only get down with my crew, And if you try, to take lines or bite rhymes, We'll show you how the refugees do", is particularly puzzling on a track that samples another track, on an album a few interpolated hooks, and two full on covers.
Background on Slint: Slint is an American rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums and vocals), Todd Brashear (bass on Spiderland), and Ethan Buckler (bass on Tweez). They formed in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, in 1986. Slint's first album Tweez was recorded by engineer Steve Albini in 1987 and released in obscurity on the Jennifer Hartman Records label in 1989. It was followed two years later by the critically acclaimed Spiderland, released on the independent label Touch and Go Records. They have reunited sporadically since 2005.
Background on Spiderland: Spiderland is the second and final studio album by the American rock band Slint. It was released on March 27, 1991, through Touch and Go Records. Featuring dramatically alternating dynamics and vocals ranging from spoken word to shouting, the album contains narrative lyrics that emphasize alienation. Spiderland was Slint's first release on Touch and Go, and the group's only album to feature Todd Brashear.
By the time Tweez was released, most of the group had gone off to college and would return to Louisville during breaks to write and practice new material. Returning to the Walfords' basement, the group would spend hours repeating the same guitar riff and then adding in layers of nuance on top of it.[17] After rehearsals, McMahan took practice tapes home and worked on vocals with the use of a 4-track tape recorder. Sitting in his parents' car made it possible to record softly spoken vocals over the band's loud music. After developing these new songs, Slint's members wanted a cleaner sound than that of their first LP, and approached Minneapolis producer Brain Paulson who had recorded two albums with McMahan's former bandmates' group Bastro. On a trip to visit Bastro and Paulson during the recording sessions for their final studio album, Sing the Troubled Beast, McMahan was in a near-fatal car accident. While in the ambulance, a paramedic called in "Code 138" and the immobilized McMahan regained consciousness singing the Misfits song "We are 138." McMahan's brush with death left the young musician feeling depressed, a condition that would affect the recording and aftermath of Slint's next album.
Paulson and Slint met over a weekend to record Spiderland in Chicago. All of the music was recorded live, with vocals overdubbed afterward in no more than two takes and with little to no rehearsal on the part of McMahan. The group used two different microphones to record vocals: one for softer, spoken voices, and one for louder, sung voices. During mixdown, Paulson and the group would try adding different effects, but all these were rejected, resulting in a very pared-down production sound. The day after Spiderland's recording session ended, McMahan checked himself into a mental hospital where he was diagnosed with depression, and subsequently left the band.
Longtime friend of the band Will Oldham took numerous photos of the group as potential album covers. Some of these were taken in a nearby quarry and one was chosen with Slint's four member's heads bobbing above the surface of the water. Touch and Go released Spiderland in 1991. The album was unlike anything else that the label had released to date. Slint was to have gone on a European tour after its release, but with the band no longer together, there were no tours, interviews, photo or video shoots to promote the album. Despite this, the album's repute grew and it continued to sell several thousand copies annually in the years following its release, a considerable feat for an indie record by a defunct group and a mystique around the record, and the artists who made it, began to grow.
Spiderland is considered a seminal work, characterized by dark, syncopated rhythms, sparse guitar lines and haunting subject matter. The record's impact was such that many fans and critics have suggested it is the first true post-rock album, helping to usher in a new wave of bands seeking a move away from the unfettered aggression of hardcore punk but not its underlying ethic.
My preconceptions: I've had this in my iTunes forever. I've just never gotten around to it. I'm ready.
"Breadcrumb Trail" - The opening riff/rhythms remind me of something, and I'm not quite sure what. Something post-punk? Television? Can? I have no idea. Spoken word is interesting. This song is about a rollercoaster? (Yes, I know, it's not really about a rollercoaster.) The subject matter certainly matches the song structure, though!
"Nosferatu Man" - Okay, if we're still playing the comparison game, the vocals here kind of sound like Iggy Pop. I'm playing this album on my speakers and I'm very worried that screeching guitar riff is going to not make my neighbors happy. I should've put this song on my Halloween playlist. The vocals are so quiet! Thank god for lyrics websites.
"Don, Aman" - Genius says this song is a fan favorite. It's not my favorite so far, but it's effective at what it does. I can see why people would relate to this.
"Washer" - Update: Overheard my neighbors saying "You can wear yoga pants, but you can't wear...yoga leggings." in between tracks. Don't think they're bothered by this too much. I kind of missed the intro but I do like this beginning guitar part. This track is very beautiful. I like the dynamics at the end a lot!
"For Dinner..." This was nice.
"Good Morning, Captain" - What an ending. Again, I don't really relate to the lyrics, but I understand how and when people do. Even in spite of that, who could deny that ending? Wow.
Impressions: In a lot of ways, this is exactly what I expected it to be, and regardless of how some jokes on my writeups may make it seem, I did like this. Lyrically and musically, it's thematically strong and incredibly moody. To be honest, I should've probably listened to this in a snowy field (or at least with headphones). If anything, I wasn't the biggest fan of "For Dinner..." (I can't help but feel like it interrupts the overall tone of the album), but it's short and it's not like it's a terrible instrumental or anything. Regardless, this is one I'll definitely be coming back to.
61. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music by Ray Charles/15. Betty Davis by Betty Davis
Background on Ray Charles: Ray Charles Robinson, known professionally as Ray Charles, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray." He was often referred to as "The Genius." Charles was blind from the age of seven.
He pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He also contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.
Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by country, jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues artists of the day, including Louis Jordan and Charles Brown. He became friends with Quincy Jones. Their friendship lasted until the end of Charles's life. Frank Sinatra called Ray Charles "the only true genius in show business," although Charles downplayed this notion.
In 2002, Rolling Stone ranked Charles number ten on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and number two on their November 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time." Billy Joel observed, "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley".
Background on Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter and musician Ray Charles. It was recorded by Charles in February 1962 at Capitol Studios in New York City and at United Recording Studios in Hollywood, then released in April of that year by ABC-Paramount Records. The album departed stylistically from the singer's previous rhythm and blues music. It featured country, folk, and Western music standards reworked by Charles in popular song forms of the time, including R&B, pop, and jazz.
As his fifth LP release for ABC-Paramount, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music became a rapid critical and commercial success as it brought Ray Charles further mainstream notice, following his tenure for Atlantic Records. With the help of the album's four charting singles, Charles earned recognition in the pop market, as well as airplay on both R&B and country radio stations. Modern Sounds and its lead single, "I Can't Stop Loving You", were both certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1962, as each record had shipped 500,000 copies in the United States.
Regarded by many critics as Charles's best studio album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music has been considered by several music writers to be a landmark album in American music. The album's integration of soul and country music bent racial barriers in popular music, amid the height of the Civil Rights Movement. In the process of recording the album, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to exercise complete artistic control over his own recording career. The album has been called one of the greatest albums of all time by publications such as Rolling Stone and Time.
Background on Betty Davis: Betty Davis is an American funk and soul singer. She is known as one of the most influential voices of the funk era and a performer who was known for her memorable live shows. After the end of her marriage with Miles Davis, Betty moved to London, to pursue her modeling career. She wrote music while in the UK and returned to the US around 1972 with the intention of recording songs with Santana. Instead, she recorded her own songs with a group of West Coast funk musicians. Her first record, Betty Davis, was released in 1973. She had two minor hits on the Billboard R&B chart: "If I'm in Luck I Might Get Picked Up", which reached no. 66 in 1973, and "Shut Off the Lights", which reached no. 97 in 1975. Davis released two more studio albums, They Say I'm Different (1974) and her major label debut on Island Records, Nasty Gal (1975). None of the three albums was a commercial success.
Davis remained a cult figure as a singer, due in part to her open sexual attitude, which was controversial for the time. Some of her shows were boycotted, and her songs were not played on the radio due to pressure by religious groups and the NAACP.
Background on Betty Davis: Betty Davis is the eponymous debut studio album by American funk singer Betty Davis, released through Just Sunshine Records (an upstart label) in 1973. The album was produced by Greg Errico and features contributions from a number of noted musicians such as Neal Schon, Merl Saunders, Sylvester, Larry Graham, Pete Sears, and The Pointer Sisters.
The songs,all written by Davis herself, are mostly built around funk grooves, driving percussion and heavy guitars. Davis' vocal stylings are expressive and boisterous (as on "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up"), but also playful and sensual (as on "Anti Love Song"). On the former she boldly sings "I'm wigglin' my fanny, I'm raunchy dancing, I'm-a-doing it doing it". "Steppin' In Her I. Miller Shoes", tells the story of a talented young woman who comes to the 'jungle' with big dreams, only to end up a tragic victim of the entertainment industry. The up-tempo song features hard rock guitars and backing vocals by The Pointer Sisters. In a 2007 interview, Davis revealed that the song was based on the life of Devon Wilson, a one-time girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix with whom Davis had been close friends. With their hard-funk/rock-fused sounds, few of the songs catered to radio play; perhaps the closest is "In The Meantime" featuring prominent organ and the most restrained and straightfoward performance on the album.
In a retrospective review, Popmatters called Betty Davis "funk like no other. Its closest musical relation is Sly Stone's early '70s molasses" and praising her performance on the album as "a slow cooker of unbridled lust that teases and passes each beat, and flicks and licks each chord." The magazine noted Davis' "frequent reversing of gender roles and expectations to demonstrate control and strength" Likewise, John Bush of Allmusic called it "an outstanding funk record, driven by her [Davis'] aggressive, no-nonsense songs". In his 1990 biography, Miles Davis said of his former wife's musical legacy: "If Betty were singing today she'd be something like Madonna, something like Prince, only as a woman. She was the beginning of all that when she was singing as Betty Davis."
My preconceptions: I cheated a little bit. Looking over the tracks, I listened to a bit of "I Can't Stop Loving You". I didn't know it was on this album (or, really, didn't know much of anything about Ray Charles' albums) and so I thought, "Oh, that's odd. I get this is supposed to be a fusion of genres, but this...doesn't sound particularly country or western." As such, I really look forward to listening to the rest of it. Is my mind about to be blown? I hope so.
As for Betty Davis, I picked this one partially because I saw it on a greatest albums of the 70s list somewhere, and mostly because I've wanted to listen to it since I saw an ad for its reissue on Facebook. I don't know what else to say about it other than a lot of the descriptions of it sound super interesting!
I know I'm behind on this but it turns out Modern Sounds isn't on Spotify and I haven't really had the patience (slash time, kind of) to sit down and listen to it on YouTube (also, there's like 5 different versions of it on there). So here's my thoughts on Betty Davis in the meantime (I'll probably post another Spotify album soon just to catch up):
"If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up" - I knew this album was short, so I'm kind of surprised it opens with a five-minute long song. I do like the riff, though. Hmm, this is going to sound a bit weird, but vocally Betty Davis reminds me of Brittany Howard? Not in range or anything like that, but more in delivery or attitude. I hear it in the yelping quality her voice can take on.
"Walkin Up the Road" - I love the backing vocals in this song. And those horns! The riffs seem kind of samey so far but I'm going to chalk that up to half just being the nature of funk.
"Anti Love Song" - "'Cause I know you like to be in charge/But with me, you know you couldn't control me, don't you?" seems to sum up this album in a nutshell.
"Your Man My Man" - I like that this song starts off with that brief solo at the beginning. I shouldn't be too surprised by this since this probably is one of the more obscure albums on the list, but there's almost no lyrics for this album out there online? Weird. It makes a lot harder to follow along with what's going on lyrically when I'm trying to do other things at the same time.
"Ooh Yeah" - I was genuinely surprised to hear a guy's voice at the beginning of this song, lol. Oh, and this is a fast one! I don't know how quite to describe it, but there's a surprising amount of stylistic variation on here for an album that traffics in a pretty singular aesthetic. In other words, I'm glad that this song is a lot faster than the others.
"Stepping In Her I. Miller Shoes" - On this song, vocally she reminds me of Mick Jagger. Or maybe this entire thing sounds like it could be a Stones song.
"Game Is My Middle Name" - I read some people describing this album as 'funk metal' and I didn't really hear it until this track.
"In the Meantime" - How about one more voice comparison? I think she kind of sounds like Mavis Staples here. This song definitely feels like an appropriate ending - it's a unique contrast from the previous songs without losing any of its particular charm or character. I mean, if you're going to go for a heartfelt ballad, you might as well still make it funky as hell, right?
My impressions: The progression of my thoughts on this started with "Oh, this sounds like a lot of the 70s funk I've listened to", followed by, "Oh, this album is very same-y in a way", followed by "Oh, this is actually really good". But maybe it's not good in the way I expected. I was expecting harsher sounds, more memorable riffs, and maybe just less funk. What I got instead were killer vocal performances, interesting variations on a pretty singular aesthetic, and some unique melodies. Given Betty Davis's control over the creation of this album, that's impressive on its own. I know funk as a genre is perhaps relatively underappreciated, but it surprises me that she wasn't bigger then or that she isn't more well known today. I understand she's more of a recluse now, but I can't help but wonder what it would be like if she returned to the stage today (I mean, George Clinton is older than she is and is still trucking along). We'll probably never know, but at least we have the album.
This is actually the first time in two weeks I've had to sit down and listen to an album on YouTube and write about it and blah blah blah. So here it is for Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music!
"Bye Bye Love" - So this really has more of a big band sound than I was expecting. I think this is already going to be stretching the definition of 'country' a bit (which is the point, I know).
"You Don't Know Me" - So, after some quick googling, it turns out I know absolutely nothing about countrypolitan. I have no idea if this truly falls into that or not, though, since I haven't really listened to it much! (after writing that, I just found out "Rhinestone Cowboy" is a countrypolitan song and now I have no idea what genre is anymore or whatever). Anyway, I love the vocal harmonies on this.
"Half As Much" - I feel like I need to wear a tuxedo, sipping a cocktail in the back of an old car, heading down the Las Vegas strip to listen to this album.
"I Love You So Much It Hurts" - God, all the arrangements on this album are immaculate. And those harmonies!!! What the fuck.
"Just a Little Lovin'" - I've been preferring all the ballads, which usually never happens on an album? Hmm. I think it's mostly the drums on this one I don't like as much.
"Born to Lose" - Yeah, the ballads are better.
"Worried Mind" - It seems like there's been less piano on this than I would have thought.
"It Makes No Difference Now" - I love immediately being proven wrong.
"You Win Again" - Something about it being "You win again" instead of "You've won again" bothers me, but that's okay.
"Careless Love" - major lol @ all the references to blindness on this song. (reminds me of that one part of one of the quincy jones interviews where he talks about how Ray Charles would pretend to need help doing things only when he was trying to get with a woman)
"I Can't Stop Loving You" - Even I already knew this one. What else is there to say?
"Hey, Good Lookin'" - Oh, is this where that phrase comes from?
Impressions: I feel like this primarily works as another document. As a document of what R&B and country look like together, as a document of a black man redefining a genre primarily associated with white musicians, as a document for nearly pristine arrangements. This album is immensely beautiful and it really shows on the ballads - it sounds like an album that had a lot of care put into it, regardless of how quickly it was constructed. And while Ray Charles certainly didn't write any of the songs, it's clear that through his voice and piano playing, he's made them his own, too. Of course, even the most beautiful, immaculately manicured roses have their thorns - and I think in this case, that's mostly with the swinging and thudding "Just a Little Lovin'" - but even as a document of many things, I think this album mostly wins out as a collection of incredibly soulful, tender ballads.
Background on Carole King: Carole King is an American composer and singer-songwriter. She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the USA, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1999. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005.
King's career began in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists, many of which have become standards. She has continued writing for other artists since then. King's success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts. After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.
King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist for more than 20 years. Her most recent non-compilation album was Live at the Troubadour in 2010, a collaboration with James Taylor that reached number 4 on the charts in its first week and has sold over 600,000 copies. Her records sales were estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide.
She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her songwriting. She is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honored. She is also a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree.
Background on Tapestry: Tapestry is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Carole King, released in 1971 on Ode Records and produced by Lou Adler. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, with over 25 million copies sold worldwide. It received four Grammy Awards in 1972, including Album of the Year. The lead single from the album — "It's Too Late"/"I Feel the Earth Move" — spent five weeks at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts. In 2003, Tapestry was ranked number 36 on Rolling Stone list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
King wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album, several of which had already been hits for other artists such as Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (in 1960). Three songs were co-written with King's ex-husband Gerry Goffin. James Taylor, who encouraged King to sing her own songs and who also played on Tapestry, would later have a number one hit with "You've Got a Friend". Two songs were co-written with Toni Stern: "It's Too Late" and "Where You Lead".
The album was recorded at Studio B, A&M Recording Studios during January 1971 with the support of Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, plus various experienced session musicians. Several of the musicians worked simultaneously on Taylor's Mud Slide Slim album. The cover photograph was taken by A&M staff photographer Jim McCrary at King's Laurel Canyon home. It shows her sitting in a window frame, holding a tapestry she hand-stitched herself, with her cat Telemachus at her feet.
My preconceptions: To start with, I had no idea Carole King co-wrote "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". That's pretty cool. Anyway, I never really got into 70s singer-songwriter albums; my notion is that they're largely full of piano-based ballads, which, while I certainly respect as an art form, isn't exactly what I want to go for when I want to listen to any music. But in a big way, this album definitely has its place in the history of popular music (as do many of the singer-songwriter albums, like Blue, whenever that comes up), so regardless of whether I like it or not, this is another one of those albums that sort of demands being listened to. That, and I have a few friends who really like it, so hopefully they're not wrong on this one.
My parents did the first dance at their wedding to a Carole King song, and I feel like a bad son because I can't remember which one it was
Update: The song was actually Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce. However, they used to play So Far Away to each other over the phone when they were dating long-distance (what I'd been remembering)
"I Feel the Earth Move" - Yep, there's the piano, but this isn't what I expected. This seems more in line with soul music than the kind of balladry I was expecting, and the backing vocals seem to confirm that (though they also sound 60s girl group-ish in their own way, too). That interplay between the piano and guitar in the bridge is pretty cool. I like this song.
"So Far Away" - I guess this is more what I was thinking the album was going to be like. But there's still a twist - that guitar is very unique (though maybe a lot of that is just the way it's mixed). I do like the bass in the song, too. The flute at the end seems like it's pushing the sentimentality a bit too much, but I'm getting the sense that many things on here are supposed to sound pleasant, so I'll let it slide.
"It's Too Late" - There's more of that soul influence again! Maybe not quite soul. Definitely pop.
"Home Again" - I stood up, went to get a glass of water, and by the time I came back, the song was over, so that's that.
"Beautiful" - There have been almost no ballads so far. Color me completely shocked. I think this may be the first album on the list where my understanding of it turned out to be completely wrong. I still don't know how I feel about this album yet. As for this song, this totally predicted Christina Aguilera.
"Way Over Yonder" - So is this song about dying or what?
"You've Got a Friend" - This is a song I feel like I'm obligated to say a lot about but I honestly don't have...uh, anything to say, really.
"Where You Lead" - I know it's not, but after "You've Got a Friend", I kind of envision this a friendship song, too. There really should be more of those.
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" - "This line ["Will you still love me tomorrow?] caused a few radio stations to ban this song, objecting to the innuendo of a “one night stand”. Nevertheless, the song sold over a million copies and made it to he top of the charts." wow, things have changed a LOT in the past 40-50 years.
"Smackwater Jack" - this is, uh, timely.
"Tapestry" - What is that sound in the background? A synth? Whatever it is, it's very weird and I love it.
"(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman" - It's weird how I can see how this works both for Aretha Franklin and Carole King in two completely different words. I think Aretha's the stronger singer, but I do like the soft arrangement here.
Impressions: I thought this was going to be a collection of boring ballads and boy, was I sure proven wrong! There was even a borderline risqué moment on one of these songs! In that sense, I feel like my perceptions of what 'singer-songwriter' meant back in the 70s has changed. Of course, Carole King's songwriting abilities are exemplary here, but not in the way I thought: she's a really good pop songwriter! Who knew? (Not me, which is I guess why I undertook this 'project' in the first place.) While I can see how some songs on here may have more fans in the hands of other artists ("You've Got a Friend", "(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman"), it's interesting how all these songs fit so neatly together into one compact package all on their own.