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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph What Album Did You Just Hear?

Discussion in 'Community' started by Rogue1-and-a-half, Oct 7, 2014.

  1. EHT

    EHT Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2007
    Moving is another amazing song from The Kick Inside. Even the intro and outro parts with the whales give me chills sometimes.
     
    Count Yubnub and Darth Punk like this.
  2. Beef_Sweetener

    Beef_Sweetener Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2005
    International Orange! by Firewater
     
  3. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    [​IMG]

    20 Best Hits of the ‘50s (2004) – Various

    So, this compilation album is, like fascism, exactly what it says on the tin. It’s 20 songs by artists including Little Richard, Gene Vincent, The Platters, The Coasters, The Del-Vikings, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, etc. There are a couple of things that mark this album out as being different from a lot of these kind of cheapo compilations. Number one is the sound quality, which is amazing, on most of the tracks anyway. Number two is that note on the cover that these are “new stereo recordings by the original artists.” I don’t know if that means that they went back to the masters and turned the mono recordings into stereo recordings or if that means these are later recordings done by these artists and not the original releases of these songs. I mean, some of them sound like the original to me; on the other hand, there are some that are just obviously not because they’re live recordings and not the original studio recordings. So, I’m a bit puzzled by that. But setting that to side this is just a tremendously great compilation of great songs rendered, as I say, in really pristine musical quality. With, actually, just a couple of exceptions; the Jerry Lee Lewis tracks are live recordings and they’re of very poor sound quality. But honestly those are maybe my favorite tracks on this CD because they are just absolutely insane. He’s playing so fast and so violently that it kind of blows my mind and at one point in Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On he just kind of starts scatting in this weird slurred thing . . . they’re amazing recordings really. So, yeah, I’m behind this CD all the way actually; this isn’t one of those cheapo bargain bin compilations. This one is really fun and crackling with energy. 4 stars.

    tl;dr – compilation boasts a great slate of songs, surprisingly excellent sound quality and some great high-energy live recordings; not from the bargain bin. 4 stars.
     
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  4. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    Don Henley's Building the Perfect Beast. Fantastic solo album by the former Eagle. Boys of summer and Sunset Grill are on there.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2020
    Rogue1-and-a-half likes this.
  5. Dark Ferus

    Dark Ferus Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 29, 2016
    Listening to Evermore by Taylor Swift.


    So far it outdoes Folklore while retaining the same style.


    I’ve been taking it slow with this album. Track 1’s music video is very impressive.

    I caught it when it premiered on Youtube a few hours ago, but I once again missed the livestream part where she answers questions. I’m much less salty about it than last time, maybe because I’m so immersed in the magic.
     
  6. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    I received the deluxe, 40th-anniversary edition of Ultravox' "Vienna" in the mail earlier today, and I'm a happy camper. Great surround mix too.

    [​IMG]

     
  7. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000


    Still hard to believe they were 15 when it was recorded!
     
  8. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
  9. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    McCartney 3.
    Very good album with Paul playing all the instruments and producing. Kind of out there like M2 with Paul experimenting in the studio. His voice isn't what it was but the songwriting is top notch. Recommend When Winter Comes, an lovely acoustic song originally recorded in 92, which sounds like something off the White Album or Ram.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2020
  10. MotivateR5D4

    MotivateR5D4 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Huge fan here. I've seen them live several times. If you ever get the chance to do that, I would highly recommend it. I grew up on all those bands from that era and still listen to them regularly.
     
    cubman987 likes this.
  11. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    I've seen them twice, 2nd time in particular was fantastic.
     
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  12. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    The Mute Gods - “Tardigrades Will Inherit the Earth”

    The Mute Gods are a prog/hard rock band (not usually my favorite genre, but OK in limited doses) centered around singer/bassist/Chapman stick-ist Nick Beggs.
    In the early ‘80s, Beggs played in a bubblegum pop band called Kajagoogoo, who had a big hit with a song called “Too Shy”; currently, he also plays in Steven Wilson’s band.

    Anyway, I listened to this because (1) Beggs is a great player, and (2) because I found the album’s title amusing. The music is, well, proggy, and more than a little Zappa-esque; the lyrics are clever and amusing throughout. The whole thing is a bit marred though by very murky production.

    One of the songs is called "The Dumbing of the Stupid," which hereby receives the Count Yubnub Award for the Greatest Song Title That Ever Lived.

    Verdict: worth listening to (because, as I said, fun lyrics and great musicianship), but not sure if I'll revisit. Time will tell. I'll definitely check out their other albums though.
     
  13. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    [​IMG]

    Cuz I Love You (2019) – Lizzo

    Slow songs, they for skinny hoes
    Can’t move all of this here to one of those


    So, I don’t even really know how to talk about this album, which is just a towering, thunderous, astonishing, full-throated, full-throttle knock-out punch of pure musical genius. It opens with the title track, which lets Lizzo invoke all of her soul-gospel powers and when the musical backing comes in, it’s a swaggering, bellowing sound, percussive and powerful and devastating. And that’s maybe my least favorite song on the record. It only gets better from there. The album is a grab-bag of genre mish-mash, but every single bit of it works, from the club bangers to the soul anthems to the sexy funk, from the gospel choir to the sultry guitar, from the swaggering kiss-off swagger to the aching heartbreak to the seductive come-on. Lizzo has a powerful diva voice with a big range, but she’s also adept at tongue-twisting patter/rap and no one can sell a funny aside quite the way she can. Jerome has some genuine ache to it, but at one point, she just drops a joke in the lyrics that she’s singing in a very soulful way and then just kind of murmurs as an aside, “I’m sorry.” I was going to say that moments when her personality shines through like this are sprinkled through the album, but really “salted” is a better word than “sprinkled” because they’re all through here. I could probably write a solid two sentences about every song here, but I won’t. Just . . . every song is great. She gets great support from Missy Elliott on one song and Gucci Mane (no, I’m not kidding; he’s excellent) on another, but this is Lizzo’s show from word one and she owns it. The album has a great ending with the deeply sensual Lingerie, as smooth a joint of sexy-time music as I’ve heard in ages, but if you get the deluxe edition, you get three extra songs, including her magnificent single Truth Hurts. If you get the Super Deluxe, you also get her also very excellent single Good as Hell, which was the first time she really popped on my radar. The Super Deluxe, rather unfortunately, ends with the Ariana Grande remix of Good as Hell and, while I’m, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, actually kind of a Grande fan, she’s out of place on this track; her vocal feels lackluster and a bit listless next to Lizzo’s energy. But that’s okay; I still say the Super Deluxe is worth it so you’ll have the original Good as Hell, Truth Hurts and this album all in one place. And believe it or not, you’re still at under 50 minutes with the Super Deluxe. So the album just flies by; but that’s a compliment, not a slam. Even at under 50 minutes, there is more than your money’s worth here; this is pure, concentrated, knock-you-right-on-your-butt musical genius, courtesy of Lizzo. 4 stars.

    tl;dr – astonishingly great album proves that Lizzo isn’t a star, she’s a whole constellation, capable of more genius in more styles than a host of others; musical genius in a concentrated form. 4 stars.
     
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  14. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
  15. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    Until This Shakes Apart, the new album by my all time favorite band, Five Iron Frenzy.

    FIF has always been leftist Christians and socially conscious. But in this album, they are just plain pissed off at the Evangelical church and Trumpism. Away from any label, this album was backed heavily on Kickstarter. Definitely by me, and I am not disappointed with the result. I need to listen a lot more, but so far I love it.
     
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  16. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
    I've been exploring more synthwave lately and discovered;

    [​IMG]
     
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  17. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    Phil Spector has died in prison. Horrible human being, pioneered the Wall of Sound.
     
  18. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    It's always great to go back to albums I was a fan of in my teenage years.
    Talk Talk - "The colour of spring"
    Come on, admit it; everybody knows that Talk Talk were the best '80s band -- which is ironic because they didn't really sound like an '80s band.
    Someone should go back and remaster these albums in surround sound. They would sound fantastic in that format.

     
    christophero30 likes this.
  19. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    I was listening to Pyromania by Def Leppard, a great 80's band until their songs all started sounding the same.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2021
  20. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    [​IMG]

    The Serpent (in Quicksilver) (1981) – Harold Budd

    Harold Budd was a minimalist/avant-garde composer beginning in the early 1970s and continuing right up to 2020, the year he died at the age of 84. In 1980, Budd collaborated with Brian Eno on Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror, the follow-up to Eno’s very successful Ambient 1: Music for Airports. Hot off of the highest profile work of his entire career to that point, Budd released this EP, six tracks adding up to just under twenty minutes of music. The entire thing revolves around Budd’s piano and it’s a quiet, atmospheric little album. This isn’t transcendently beautiful or anything, but it’s nice. Afar, the opening track, is distinct from the others because it features a mournful pedal steel guitar. The best track probably is the final one, the title track; Budd said it was inspired by an apocalyptic image of a world devastated and poisoned where almost all life is gone because of the toxic environment. The image that haunted him was, as he termed it, “a lethal viper gliding glacially in a pond of mercury.” Wow. Brian Eno said of Budd that he was a poet trapped in a composer’s body and a line like that makes you believe it. The track itself is dark and brooding and beautiful, the perfect way to end this bite-sized little piece of minimal music. 3 stars.

    tl;dr – eighteen minute EP of quiet, calm piano compositions isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s a nice little bite-sized piece of minimal calm. 3 stars.
     
    Count Yubnub likes this.
  21. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    BE by BTS

    My billionth time listening to this album all the way through since it came out in November. This is an album that is expressly about the pandemic, and what it's like to be an artist during it. There's the longing for fans in "Fly to My Room", the realization of virtual connection via "Telepathy". But nothing beats the old school hip hop styling and honest lyrics of "Dis-Ease", which is all about realizing you may be a workaholic when the pandemic separates you from your art.

    Possibly BTS'S best cover to cover album. Love this one.
     
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  22. EHT

    EHT Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2007
    Me too... I loved this album back when it came out, even though I didn't like any of their stuff after it. And ironically I just noticed today that this album and some others of theirs are now finally available on iTunes.
     
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  23. SteelLepp

    SteelLepp Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 1998
    Def Lep is my favorite band. After they did a bit of a 180 soundwise on Slang, I think they really only touch on the "Hysteria sound" on 1999's Euphoria album. They kind of touched on different sounds from "pop" on X to a bit more left field (for Def Lep) on Songs From the Sparkle Lounge and the self titled album. Yeah, you never forget they are Def Lep listening to it, but I think they've moved past trying to constantly recreate Hysteria. Of course live they still have to play 6 songs from Hysteria (unless they do the whole thing), so they can't get away completely.
     
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  24. EHT

    EHT Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2007
    Hysteria just didn't engage me at all... after Pyromania I just couldn't get into much of anything on Hysteria, and I don't think I really kept up with them after that. And pre-Pyromania, Bringin' On the Heartbreak in particular is a great song. But Pyromania was huge when I was ten, in 1984... lots of people at school wore Union Jack t-shirts like Joe Elliott wore in the videos. [face_laugh]
     
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  25. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    @Rogue1-and-a-half thank you for humoring me by liking my BTS posts :p I truly hope we do another round of playlists so I can force a few songs on the masses.