Bringing It All Back Home

Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone Magazine's #31

exile staff consensus: Awaiting Votes

the breakdown: Awaiting Votes

the essays:
None Yet

some of the album (covered):



the introduction:
When one of our esteemed colleagues Dr. Ancient Scientist told us he was using Bringing It All Back Home as a part of one of his college lectures we thought "What a perfect time to feature this classic album on exileonblogstreet.com!" Hopefully he'll post his lecture later on in the month.

But getting back to Bringing It All Back, this album has been lionized, adored, immortalized, and canonized countless times in film, print, and probably podcasts. It's when Dylan fully emerged from his folk tradition and became the greatest American rock artist of all time. Is that fair to say? We're sure to figure that out. In the meantime check out some of the above covers of the album's iconic tracks. There are a few we wanted to include - like Caetano Veloso's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), Ricky Nelson's "She Belongs to Me", and a Grateful Dead version of any of the songs but neither imeem.com nor the venerableseed had a copy. Please note that imeem did have William Shatner's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its exclusion is intentional.


click here to
read it all...

Murmur

Murmur, R.E.M., Rolling Stone Magazine's #197

exile staff consensus: awaiting votes

the breakdown:
4.0 cannons - venerableseed
3.5 cannons - eurowags

the essays:
3/19 @ noon - what took me so long to like R.E.M.?
3/14 @ noon - eurowags unexpectedly takes a Southern journey with R.E.M. and Murmur.
3/8 @ noon - jb makes perfect (circle) sense of Murmur

the album (minus two songs):



the introduction:
25 years ago today the #1 album in the United States was Thriller. That shouldn't come as a surprise given this week's (2008) second best selling album: the Thriller 25 anniversary release. And rightfully so. 1983 was the year of the Thriller. The year of the Motown moonwalk, the year of the red zipper jacket, the year of pop, the year Michael made MTV.

Thriller was, of course, one of the two finalists for Rolling Stone Magazine's 1983 Best Album. Its win was a no brainer. Who could beat its perfect nine songs, seven! of them top ten hit singles. Who could match its grip on the cultural zeitgeist and lasting historical impact?

It's unlikely challenger was a Byrds-y debut album from an Athens, Georgia four piece with mumbled vocals, mysterious lyrics, blurred cover art, limited sales, no MTV exposure, and only one released single which peaked at #78. Its melodic, beautiful music, though, was just as catchy as Jackson's Thriller but, the Album of the Year judges must have deliberated: "It's a nice little album but with its tiny label and small impact we can't give it the title; we'll look silly. Thriller is an epic, industry-changing, music-shaking event. Let's go with it."

Thing is, they didn't think that at all and Murmur was unexpectedly crowned 1983's Best Album. Turns out that opaque masterpiece has been just as influential as Thriller and its songs have been just as timeless. Thriller might have defined what music looked like in the eighties but Murmur defined what music would sound like. It invented college rock, it invented alt-rock, it was the future, it was our music. Let's listen 25 years later and see again how good it sounded. click here to
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Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963

Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963, Sam Cooke, Rolling Stone Magazine's #443

exile staff consensus: Top 400 album





the breakdown:
3.5 cannons - eurowags
2.0 cannons - venerableseed
1.5 cannons - polchic

the essays:
NEW POST (scroll back up)
2/27 @ noon - Sam Cooke makes Wags sweat. Just try and listen to the album without perspiring. We dare you.
2/19 @ 9 a.m. - Sam Cooke, the sixties, and segregation.

the introduction:
Fourteen live albums make the Rolling Stone 500 list but Sam Cooke's Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 is the only one not to have been released within a year of its recording. Cooke's legendary January 12 Miami, Florida performance did not see the light of day until 1985!

The obvious question is why did it take so long to appear?

Cooke's Live at the Copa album was released shortly before his December 1964 murder but was the antithesis to Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963. At the Copa was recorded in an upscale conservative establishment in front of a largely white audience. Neither Cooke nor his audience seem energetic, excited, or legendary and for 21 years At the Copa served as the only audio documentation of a man history widely honors as the greatest soul singer of all time. How could "the greatest" have so little soul? Those who had seen Cooke in person attested to his brilliance but the was no evidence. Enter Live at the Harlem Square, 1963.

Its been just over 45 years since Cooke's Harlem Square performance. Does the album hold up? Should it rank in the top 15 live rock albums of all time? Does it belong in the canon? Let's find out.

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Odelay

Odelay, Beck, Rolling Stone Magazine's #462

exile staff consensus: Top 200 album





the breakdown:
3.5 cannons -eurowags, lenbarker
3.0 cannons - venerableseed

the essays:
2/27 @ 9 a.m. - Beck brings eurowags back over the pond to California. With today's record euro conversion rate to the dollar his money will go far.
2/13 @ noon - Odelay is hip and not edgy? How could that be?
2/8 @ 2 p.m. - Nonsense Nonsense Nonsense!
2/6 @ 9 a.m. - I wonder what I missed way back in 1996.

(some of) the album:



the introduction:
Perfect welcoming catchy melodies. Easy listening sounds. Dada-ist lyrics. Hurricane Novocane derelicts, puzzles, pagans, devil's haircuts, jackasses, strange invitations, discos quebrados, Sergio Valentes, Sassoons, hand-me-downs, flypaper towns, lily-white cavity crazes, leperous faces, garbage man trees, odelays, and, of course, two turntables and a microphone.

Beck's precocious magnum opus Odelay dropped on June 18, 1996, manna from the heavens to an unsuspecting hipster world still yearning for the next Paul's Boutique and a perfect pop treat to the needy MTV-watching masses. Even those who fell in between these extremes found the album irresistible, a perfect fun soundtrack for a breezy carefree age where everything seemed to be going right. An inclusive melange that could be seamlessly played on any radio station, r&b, alternative, pop, hip-hop, adult contemporary, whatever.

Just last week, on January 29, the Odelay - Deluxe Reissue was released giving us a perfect time to listen again and recapture the magic.

Check back here for more posts, but in the meantime be sure to browse the online encyclopedia of Beck, http://www.whiskeyclone.net, which could possibly be the internet's most exhaustive musical artist overview.


click here to
read it all...

Here, My Dear

Here, My Dear, Marvin Gaye, Rolling Stone Magazine's #462

exile staff consensus: awaiting votes

the breakdown:
2.0 cannons -eurowags
1.0 cannon - venerableseed

the essays:
1/28 @ 9:00 a.m. - Marvin and Anna. I take sides.

the album:



the introduction:
Just found that love of your life? Thinking about getting married? About to walk down the aisle? Are you happy on account of love?

Then DON'T LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM!

Just kidding. But be careful nonetheless.

Marvin Gaye's 1978 Here, My Dear had no marketable singles, no lasting memorable tracks, clocked in at a (pre-CD) 72 minutes, was poorly reviewed and was unbearably confessional as well as bizarrely bitter and caustic. How did it make Rolling Stone's Greatest 500 Albums list?

There must be a great story. Indeed there is. Keep track here to read it! (or just google)

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read it all...

War

War, U2 Rolling Stone Magazine's #221

exile staff consensus: Top 400 album





the breakdown:
2.5 cannons - venerableseed, eurowags
2.0 cannons - the angry young man, lenbarker

the essays:
1/16@ 9:00 a.m. - What's my favorite U2 song? It must be on War, right?

1/6 @ 12:00 noon - I wonder whose War is it anyway?

Christmas is over and we all know what that means...New Year's Day.

On War, U2 tells us that "nothing changes on New Year's Day" and on The Battle of Los Angeles, Rage Against the Machine tells us that "everything can change on a New Year's Day." Are these politicized artists really that much different? Are their combat-related titles the only things the album's have in common?

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The Battle of Los Angeles

The Battle of Los Angeles, Rage Against the Machine, Rolling Stone Magazine's #426

exile staff consensus: Top 200 album





the breakdown:
5.0 cannons - polchic
4.5 cannons - venerableseed
2.0 cannons - eurowags
1.5 cannons - the angry young man

the essays:
1/18@ 9:00 a.m. - The Fire in the Master's House is Set

1/10 @ 9:00 a.m. - I rage about Rage.

Christmas is over and we all know what that means...New Year's Day.

On War, U2 tells us that "nothing changes on New Year's Day" and on The Battle of Los Angeles, Rage Against the Machine tells us that "everything can change on a New Year's Day." Are these politicized artists really that much different? Are their combat-related titles the only things the album's have in common?

click here to
read it all...

A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector

A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, Various Artists, Rolling Stone Magazine's #142

exile staff consensus: Top 1000 album

the breakdown:
2.0 cannons - venerableseed
1.5 cannons - lenbarker and the angry young man
1.0 cannons - polchic and eurowags

the reasoning:
"Just because an album sets a precedent that doesn't mean the precedent needed to be set" - polchic

the essays:
12/31 @ 9:00 a.m. - I chime in on the many Sons of Spector and make some startling admissions.

12/29 @ 9:00 a.m. - polchic speaks on "how Phil Spector has provided a perfect soundtrack not for Christmas, as many claim, but for Saturnalia."

This week we will all be listening to A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector. Will we get around to writing about it? Hard to say. Right now we're to busy opening presents. click here to
read it all...

With the Beatles

With the Beatles, The Beatles, Rolling Stone Magazine's #420

exile staff consensus: Top 1000 album

the breakdown:
2.5 cannons - the angryyoungman
1.5 cannons - lenbarker and eurowags
1.0 cannon - venerableseed

the essays:
12/24 @ 3:00 p.m. - The Ancient Scientist bats clean up and knocks it out of the park once more ably answering his question: "What was it about the Beatles and this time - 1963/4 - when they took over the American imagination and launched themselves as icons of an era?" Read on to find out!

12/23 @ 6:00 p.m. - Len Barker encapsulates many of our feelings (at least me and the mrs.) about the Beatles. "We love 'em but why does Paul have to be so corny?" Want musical proof? Listen to his Music Man cover on these albums.

LB also brings us into the Christmas season with a rousing youtube video of Paul's Simply...Having...a Wonderful Christmas Time. You want to sing, you know you do!

Next week this blog moves onto the only Christmas album on the list. Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift From Me To You.

Happy Christmas everyone!

12/20 @ 9:00 a.m. - The Angry Young Man belies his name with a terrific, sweet post about his Beatlemania and what makes the Fab Four so great: the songs.

12/19 @ 9:00 a.m. - History and nostalgia have changed how we view the Beatles and their Ed Sullivan Show performance. The usual culprits being "it ended our post-JFK assassination malaise" and "it asserted the Baby Boomers place in the world." Let's read what the NY Times said the day before that famous show as well as the day after.

12/16 @ 9:00 a.m. - I wonder how Beatlemania happened? And what would Meet the Beatles! have been akin to if it had been released in 2007, 2000, or 1976.

***

the introduction (done with Meet the Beatles!):
On the surface Meet the Beatles! and With the Beatles appear to be the same album. The covers are nearly identical and a quick look at the track listing reveals nine duplicate songs. Meet the Beatles! was released in the United States in January, 1964 while With the Beatles saw a November 1963 UK release.

End of story, same two albums, two different releases. Right? Wrong.

Now look through your Beatles CD collection. Odds are you have you UK release With the Beatles. How could that be? Well, when the Beatles albums were first released on CD in the 1980's Capitol standardized their CD output with only UK releases. Hence Meet the Beatles!' digital disappearance until 2005.

What did this CD standardization do for multiple generations of US music lovers? It erased the first great self-produced and self-written rock 'n roll album ever released on American soil from our memory and musical conscience. Meet the Beatles! is a juggernaut of Fab Four songs broken up by only one cover while With the Beatles trips and falls over seven non-Beatles tracks.

Does the "new" (to younger American ears) Meet the Beatles! belong in the Beatles pantheon alongside Rubber Soul and Revolver? Is it really the first great rock album Americans ever heard? And why exactly is With the Beatles on this list? Let's listen again and find out.

click here to
read it all...

Meet the Beatles

Meet the Beatles!, The Beatles, Rolling Stone Magazine's #59

exile staff consensus: Top 200 album

the breakdown:
4.0 cannons - venerableseed, polchic
3.5 cannons - the angryyoungman
2.5 cannons - lenbarker
2.0 cannons - eurowags

the essays:
12/24 @ 3:00 p.m. - The Ancient Scientist bats clean up and knocks it out of the park once more ably answering his question: "What was it about the Beatles and this time - 1963/4 - when they took over the American imagination and launched themselves as icons of an era?" Read on to find out!

12/23 @ 6:00 p.m. - Len Barker encapsulates many of our feelings (at least me and the mrs.) about the Beatles. "We love 'em but why does Paul have to be so corny?" Want musical proof? Listen to his Music Man cover on these albums.

LB also brings us into the Christmas season with a rousing youtube video of Paul's Simply...Having...a Wonderful Christmas Time. You want to sing, you know you do!

Next week this blog moves onto the only Christmas album on the list. Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift From Me To You.

Happy Christmas everyone!

12/20 @ 9:00 a.m. - The Angry Young Man belies his name with a terrific, sweet post about his Beatlemania and what makes the Fab Four so great: the songs.

12/19 @ 9:00 a.m. - History and nostalgia have changed how we view the Beatles and their Ed Sullivan Show performance. The usual culprits being "it ended our post-JFK assassination malaise" and "it asserted the Baby Boomers place in the world." Let's read what the NY Times said the day before that famous show as well as the day after.

12/16 @ 9:00 a.m. - I wonder how Beatlemania happened? And what would Meet the Beatles! have been akin to if it had been released in 2007, 2000, or 1976.

***

the introduction (done with With the Beatles):
On the surface Meet the Beatles! and With the Beatles appear to be the same album. The covers are nearly identical and a quick look at the track listing reveals nine duplicate songs. Meet the Beatles! was released in the United States in January, 1964 while With the Beatles saw a November 1963 UK release.

End of story, same two albums, two different releases. Right? Wrong.

Now look through your Beatles CD collection. Odds are you have you UK release With the Beatles. How could that be? Well, when the Beatles albums were first released on CD in the 1980's Capitol standardized their CD output with only UK releases. Hence Meet the Beatles!' digital disappearance until 2005.

What did this CD standardization do for multiple generations of US music lovers? It erased the first great self-produced and self-written rock 'n roll album ever released on American soil from our memory and musical conscience. Meet the Beatles! is a juggernaut of Fab Four songs broken up by only one cover while With the Beatles trips and falls over seven non-Beatles tracks.

Does the "new" (to younger American ears) Meet the Beatles! belong in the Beatles pantheon alongside Rubber Soul and Revolver? Is it really the first great rock album Americans ever heard? And why exactly is With the Beatles on this list? Let's listen again and find out.

click here to
read it all...

Radio

Radio, LL Cool J, Rolling Stone Magazine's #478

exile staff consensus: Top 300 album

the breakdown:
4.0 cannons - venerableseed and polchic
3.0 cannons - lenbarker
2.0 cannons - eurowags
1.0 cannons - angry young man

the essays:
CONGRATULATIONS to our own LB, who became the proud papa of LB, Jr. on 11/28/07. The little guy will be a lead guitarist in no time!

12/10 @ 9:00 a.m. - It's good to see that fatherhood hasn't dimmed LB's fiery analysis. He's back with an open letter to will.i.am of all people.

In summary: will.i.am, you're no LL.

Perhaps Mr. Black Eyed Peas' PA will find this site on his/her daily google-my-boss rounds. And if that happens : will.i.am, you're no OK Krupka.

In other quasi-LL Radio sound bites here's a link to Stones Throw records BADD Santa Mixtape. Song two uses LL's "Rock the Bells" beat and will surely get you into the Yuletide spirit. Yes, it's "Rock the Christmas Bells" and it must be heard to be believed.

12/7 @ 9:00 a.m. - Wags drops knowledge on LL's Radio giving the seminal album its just due while ably placing the album in its proper (and often forgotten) historical context.

11/26 @ 9:00 a.m. - A celebrity sighting and near riot in NYC! Was it Johnny, LL, or the Chili Peppers? Click here to find out.

11/20 @ 4:00 p.m. - I'm up first and I'm going in chronological order. Here are my memories of LL and of radios.

the introduction (done with Johnny Cash's American Recordings and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik):
LL, the Chili Peppers, and Johnny Cash. Their Rolling Stone connection: Rick Rubin. Yes, all three albums were produced by that genre defying, Def Jam creating, minimalist producing workhorse. Two more of his hip hop albums and another Chili Peppers album appear on the list. That's right. No Slayer, no Danzig, and no System of a Down. Nevertheless seven ain't bad on such a 60's and 70's-centric list. And the man shows no signs of stopping. In the last two years he's recorded with eight more artists who made the RS500 list: Neil Diamond, U2, Green Day, Nas, KRS-One, Metallica, Weezer, and Jay-Z. Are those eight more disparate than the three albums we're about to hear? Let's see. click here to
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Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stone Magazine's #310

exile staff consensus: Top 500 album

the breakdown:
2.5 cannons - venerableseed
2.0 cannons - polchic and the angry young man
1.5 cannons - lenbarker and eurowags

the essays:
CONGRATULATIONS to our own LB, who became the proud papa of LB, Jr. on 11/28/07. The little guy will be a lead guitarist in no time!

12/3 @ 9:00 a.m. - polchic speaks on the wear and tear of her precious Blood Sugar Sex Magik tape.

11/29 @ 9:00 a.m. - I'm up with some memories from the bridge.

11/27 @ 9:00 a.m. - Len wishes for more brevity in Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Would that be less blood, less sugar, less sex, or less magik? He also managed a dig at The Joshua Tree. On its 20th anniversary no less!

the introduction (done with LL Cool J's Radio and Johnny Cash's American Recordings):
LL, the Chili Peppers, and Johnny Cash. Their Rolling Stone connection: Rick Rubin. Yes, all three albums were produced by that genre defying, Def Jam creating, minimalist producing workhorse. Two more of his hip hop albums and another Chili Peppers album appear on the list. That's right. No Slayer, no Danzig, and no System of a Down. Nevertheless seven ain't bad on such a 60's and 70's-centric list. And the man shows no signs of stopping. In the last two years he's recorded with eight more artists who made the RS500 list: Neil Diamond, U2, Green Day, Nas, KRS-One, Metallica, Weezer, and Jay-Z. Are those eight more disparate than the three albums we're about to hear? Let's see.

click here to
read it all...

American Recordings

American Recordings, Johnny Cash, Rolling Stone Magazine's #364

exile staff consensus: Why is this on the list?

the breakdown:
1.5 cannons - venerableseed
1.0 cannon - angryyoungman, eurowags, and lenbarker

the essays:
12/9 @ 9:00 a.m. - LB's back with a lukewarm reception of American Recordings

12/8 @ 9:00 a.m. - National Geographic, Helen Mirren, and fellating Rick Rubin. Who would have thought those three images could be used in the same post?

12/4 @ 9:00 a.m. - Am I the only one who made it through American Recordings? If so, that's fine. I don't want to bring anyone else down.

the introduction (done with LL Cool J's Radio and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik):
LL, the Chili Peppers, and Johnny Cash. Their Rolling Stone connection: Rick Rubin. Yes, all three albums were produced by that genre defying, Def Jam creating, minimalist producing workhorse. Two more of his hip hop albums and another Chili Peppers album appear on the list. That's right. No Slayer, no Danzig, and no System of a Down. Nevertheless seven ain't bad on such a 60's and 70's-centric list. And the man shows no signs of stopping. In the last two years he's recorded with eight more artists who made the RS500 list: Neil Diamond, U2, Green Day, Nas, KRS-One, Metallica, Weezer, and Jay-Z. Are those eight more disparate than the three albums we're about to hear? Let's see.

click here to
read it all...

Tunnel of Love

Tunnel of Love, Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stone Magazine's #475

exile staff consensus: Top 1000 album

the breakdown:
1.5 cannons - , venerableseed, polchic, and eurowags
1.0 cannon - lenbarker and the angryyoungman

the essays:
11/15 @ 1:00 p.m. - Eurowags captures the general malaise all but one of us have had regarding Tunnel of Love. We all really wanted to like it; we really did.

11/13 @ 8:00 a.m. - It seems there is someone else who is not enamored by Tunnel of Love; the album is too reminiscent of the Colonial Park Mall food court.

11/11 - A dissenting view from Len Barker. If he didn't like Tunnel of Love than what will he say about Don Henley's contribution. We shudder to think.

11/9 - Jahidi Hoya counters the doubts (but then adds to them in the comment section of post 1!). Oh, Julianne, poor Julianne.

11/9 - In our last poll, Bowie beat Bruce by a 2 to 1 count. Anglophiles all of you! We now have two retrospective poll on the albums listened to thus far. One question positive one negative. Just look to your right and vote.

11/8 - I'm up first, wondering about the veracity of Bruce's personal Tunnel of Love. (Note that in less than 14 hours! Springsteen's diligent cyber-sleuths found and removed the embedded Tunnel of Love music video from this site. If you wish to watch the video follow this link to youtube.)

the introduction (done with Don Henley's End of the Innocence):
It's 1985 and two 70's classic rock heroes had just found staggering success on the MTV and with a new generation of fans.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. and its remarkable string of seven top 10 singles were ubiquitous on radio and television.

Don Henley's single, Boys of Summer, seemed to usher in an era of artistry to the fledgling video network. Its constant play and VMA Video of the Year only cemented this fact. So how did our heroes respond?

Both released albums adored by critics but met with modest comparative commercial success. Springsteen strayed from his usual themes of social and political despair and moved onto a personal vision of love while Henley moved away from love and towards a message of political and social despair. Neither recorded their next album with their familiar band; Bruce's minimalist tracks featured few E-Streeters and Don continued Eagle-less (but not Axl-less) for at least the time being.

But most importantly, on their album cover both artists beckon the listener longingly with steely glares, "I'm the more sensitive one." "No, I'M the more sensitive one!" Do we still like these albums? Or better yet, which one is the most sensitive.

click here to
read it all...

The End of the Innocence

The End of the Innocence, Don Henley, Rolling Stone Magazine's #389

exile staff consensus: Why is this on the list?

the breakdown:
1.5 cannons - angryyoungman
1.0 cannon - polchic, lenbarker, venerableseed, and eurowags

the essays:
11/19 @ 9:00 a.m. - Hold up. Wait a minute. Just when you thought it was over Len lends us another fitting tribute to the end of The End of the Innocence. Can he bring himself to listen to the album? Let's see.

11/17 @ 9:00 a.m. - A Don Henley supporter? Amazing! Even more amazing is that someone named the Angry Young Man is calling for an end to the hate.

11/14 @ 9:00 a.m. - Is this the end of The End of the Innocence? It's hard to believe how much discussion old Don has stirred up and at this point my post just feels like piling on.

11/13 @ 2:00 p.m. - The Ancient Scientist gives The End of the Innocence its just due.

11/12 @ 1:00 p.m. - Jahidi Hoya discusses his many memorable Don Henley concerts.

11/12 @ 8:00 a.m. - Newcomer JB is the first to capture the essence of the Walden Pond warrior's most acclaimed album.

the introduction (done with Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel of Love):
It's 1985 and two 70's classic rock heroes had just found staggering success on the MTV and with a new generation of fans.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. and its remarkable string of seven top 10 singles were ubiquitous on radio and television.

Don Henley's single, Boys of Summer, seemed to usher in an era of artistry to the fledgling video network. Its constant play and VMA Video of the Year only cemented this fact. So how did our heroes respond?

Both released albums adored by critics but met with modest comparative commercial success. Springsteen strayed from his usual themes of social and political despair and moved onto a personal vision of love while Henley moved away from love and towards a message of political and social despair. Neither recorded their next album with their familiar band; Bruce's minimalist tracks featured few E-Streeters and Don continued Eagle-less (but not Axl-less) for at least the time being.

But most importantly, on their album cover both artists beckon the listener longingly with steely glares, "I'm the more sensitive one." "No, I'M the more sensitive one!" Do we still like these albums? Or better yet, which one is the most sensitive.

click here to
read it all...

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, David Bowie, Rolling Stone Magazine's #35

exile staff consensus: Top 200 album

the breakdown:
4.5 cannons - eurowags
3.5 cannons - lenbarker and venerableseed
3.0 cannons - angryyoungman and polchic

the essays:
11/5 - Our last Ziggy Stardust post is an Ancient Scientist banger meditating on the end of the 60's, the end of childhood, and a new awakening. Amazing stuff. Now if only I could find a picture of that Ziggy Stardust poster... (UPDATE: I think I did!)

Note that the winning Halloween Bowie persona was Ziggy Stardust and that a new poll is up involving our next (beginning on Wednesday 11/7) album: Springsteen's Tunnel of Love. The question is simple: Bruce or Bowie?

11/3 - LB wonders why Ziggy Stardust fails to completely blow him away, which leads to a few questions and some terrific answers.

11/1 - How about that. The Angry Young Man snuck in with a post about organization which is soooo fascist Bowie. (the organization part, not the post itself) It lingered down at blog bottom for a day or so but now it's up to its rightful place!

10/26 - next up is eurowags invoking another English star of the gilded stage: Laurence Olivier.

10/25 - up first, me, and Why I Blame Andrew Lloyd Webber



the introduction:
A martian, a miscast Messiah, music mythology. Ziggy Stardust. If you can follow the album's story I suppose it makes perfect sense. But what does it mean, man? Well, what does it mean to you? The album's been adored, venerated in film, and played on jukeboxes in the most unlikely and likely of places. Let's listen again.

Poll Question:
which David Bowie persona would you most like to be for Halloween?
Ziggy Stardust - 25%
Halloween Jack - 8%
Aladdin Sane - 8%
Thin White Duke - 16%
Fascist Bowie - 0%
80's R&B Bowie - 25%
Jareth, the Goblin King - 16%
Tin Machine Bowie - 0%

Poll Question:
Bruce (Springsteen) or Bowie?
Bruce - 33%
Bowie - 66%

click here to
read it all...

Double Nickels on the Dime

Double Nickels on the Dime, The Minutemen, Rolling Stone Magazine's #411

exile staff consensus: Top 400 album

the breakdown:
3.5 cannons - venerableseed
3.0 cannons - lenbarker
2.0 cannons - polchic and eurowags
1.0 cannon - angryyoungman

the essays:
10/22 - And our last post about these two albums is Dave's tale of glue ear, hippies, erotic sandwiches, John Goodman, and laundromat theft. (I bet you've clicked (or scrolled down) already.

10/19 - First time poster Audrey has a terrific zinger about the essence of Double Nickels: driving around, youth, and, er, other bodily essences.

10/16 - Then comes my personal Double Nickels lament.

10/12 - First up is Mr. Barker's terrific look at Double Nickels and its '80's emo punk brother-in-arms Zen Arcade.

the introduction (done with the Funkadelic's Maggot Brain):
After a week of OK Computer's numbing familiarity (a/k/a no alarms and no surprises) the next two albums, Funkadelic's Maggot Brain and the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime are sure to jolt us back to their disparate realities. Just how disparate? Lets just look at the raw facts:

Origin:
DNotD: San Pedro, California
MB: Parts unknown

Band Members:
DNotD: Three permanent members. Drums, Guitar, Bass
MB: Too many to count

Album Length:
DNotD: 81 minutes
MB: 37 minutes

Number of Songs:
DNotD: 45
MB: 7

Average Song Length (Longest Song):
DNotD: 1:46 (3:05)
MB: 5:15 (10:20)

And that's before we get into the sound, the politics, the album covers, the spirit, the time, the genres, the dance-ability, the audience, the attitude, and the legacy.

Despite all their surface differences, these albums both rock, are both underappreciated, and have both become wonderful treasures for legions of devoted fans. They both also carry on the message of the forthcoming apocalypse that OK Computer began so well.

Why else did we connect the two? Believe or or not Minutemen bassist Mike Watt covered Maggot Brain's title track on his own debut solo album, with J Mascis on guitar and Funkadelic's own Bernie Worrell on keyboards. (We'd be a lot prouder of our combo if we'd have known that fact before the choice was made.)

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Maggot Brain

Maggot Brain, Funkadelic, Rolling Stone Magazine's #486

exile staff consensus: Top 500 album

the breakdown:
3.5 cannons - lenbarker
2.0 cannons - angryyoungman, venerableseed, and eurowags
1.0 cannon - polchic

the essays:
10/18 - LenB is up again with his more complimentary take on Maggot Brain along with a 1983 video performance of the title track done from Columbia, Maryland.

10/17 - Its me again: tell us what you really think about Maggot Brain.

10/15 - Next up the Ancient Scientist's Rising from the Sh!t: Is a guitar solo enough for canonization? Well, is it?

the introduction (done with the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime):
After a week of OK Computer's numbing familiarity (a/k/a no alarms and no surprises) the next two albums, Funkadelic's Maggot Brain and the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime, are sure to jolt us back to their disparate realities. Just how disparate? Lets just look at the raw facts:

Origin:
DNotD: San Pedro, California
MB: Parts unknown

Band Members:
DNotD: Three permanent members. Drums, Guitar, Bass
MB: Too many to count

Album Length:
DNotD: 81 minutes
MB: 37 minutes

Number of Songs:
DNotD: 45
MB: 7

Average Song Length (Longest Song):
DNotD: 1:46 (3:05)
MB: 5:15 (10:20)

And that's before we get into the sound, the politics, the album covers, the spirit, the time, the genres, the dance-ability, the audience, the attitude, and the legacy.

Despite all their surface differences, these albums both rock, are both underappreciated, and have both become wonderful treasures for legions of devoted fans. They both also carry on the message of the forthcoming apocalypse that OK Computer began so well.

Why else did we connect the two? Believe or or not Minutemen bassist Mike Watt covered Maggot Brain's title track on his own debut solo album, with J Mascis on guitar and Funkadelic's own Bernie Worrell on keyboards. (We'd be a lot prouder of our combo if we'd have known that fact before the choice was made.)

Poll Results
question:
is Maggot Brain's title track:
pantheonic - 75%
overindulgent - 37%
so amazing - 25%
unending (in a good way) - 12%
unending (in a bad way) - 37%

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read it all...

OK Computer

OK Computer, Radiohead, Rolling Stone Magazine's #162

exile staff consensus: Top 50 album

the breakdown:
5.0 cannons - lenbarker
4.5 cannons - angryyoungman, venerableseed and eurowags
4.0 cannons - polchic

the essays:
Me: Hysterical and Useless. Is there ever a time to say no?
LB: Kicking Screaming Raving Drooling. Is Radiohead our Pink Floyd?
Dave#1: OK Krupka. How does obsessive fandom (see first article) affect those who just don't get it. Let's just hope he changed her name to protect the innocent.
AYM: Exit Music (for a Dodge Neon). Technological angst revealed.
Wags: Out With the Old. Read how OK Computer opened up a new world.
Gab: This is What You'll Get. Understanding what it means.

Who doesn't own this album? It's one of the defining LP's of our generation, it's ubiquitous in Greatest Albums of All Time lists and immediately recognized as brilliant and ahead of its time. But what about the stunning, meaningful, apocalyptic, complex, baroque, moving, abstract but wholly relate-able music. Can you listen to it 10 years later for enjoyment? Could you ever? Let's see...

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