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Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

I agree you Nicolas about Roy Orbison, what a romantic singer.
Without him, there won't be any Richard Hawley these days.
Songs like "Blue Bayou", "In dreams", "It's over" or "Crying" are wonderful.
Roy Orbison, with Sam Cooke, are definitely the two best singers of the sixties and even probably of the whole pop music history.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (10/10)

Well, what to add?
- Heard the album over hundred times now
- Album of the year
- Perhaps album of the decade
- Surely one of the most beautiful albums ever ...

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

JAMC - Psychocandy - 9/10

I was inspired to listen to this by the recent attention enjoyed by Glasvegas. They look like JAMC (now that they are fat and middle-aged, not at their peak) but sound like a less challenging Snow Patrol.

Psychocandy, on the other hand, is an album worth rescuing from the established canon. I presume to suppose that everybody here recognises it as a classic but - like me - has not listened to it for a while. It is even better than you remember.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

I'm running a 60s poll on another site, so I've been inspired to listen to some 60s classics for the first time:

Scott Walker - 4
The Kinks - The Kinks Are Village Green Preservation Society
Love - Forever Changes
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

What I've come to discover is that I am open to a lot more music than I used to be, but I still have clear glass ceilings for certain genres/eras. While I like all of these albums, none of them seem to be threats to enter my top 100. I can recognize that they are good, but none seem like they'll grow to become huge favorites.

So...

4: 8.3/10
The Kinks Are Village Green Preservation Society: 7.5/10
Forever Changes: 7.9/10
Pet Sounds: 7.3/10

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Jeff Buckley - "Grace"

Rating: 10/10

I picked up the album a few weeks ago, finally listened to it in full over the weekend, and I was blown away. Easily one of my 20 favorite albums ever. I can't stop listening to "Hallelujah".

The Rolling Stones - "Exile on Main Street"

Rating: 7/10

I picked this one up with "Grace", because I found it on sale, and i'm glad I didn't have to pay for it at full price. I don't see the hype over this one. It's definately not the Stone's best album. However, "Tumbling Dice" is a classic.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

The Avalanches "Since I Left You" 6/10

Once I really loved electro. Now I find it only pleasant at times. This record is full of invention, but it's a mess at the same time. The collage-like songs are a bit tiring in the end. Only "Frontier Psychiatrist" is a masterpiece the rest is interesting but too unfocused IMO

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Sonic Youth - "Goo"
Rating = 8.6

I'm probably one of the very few who would pick up "Goo" over "Daydream Nation" on any given day. "Sister" as well, probably.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Wow...this is "Take a piss on a classic" day.


Last album I heard in full:

PJ Harvey- Stories From the City, Stories from the Sea (8/10):

I've never been quite as receptive of this album as some people on here. To me, this is streamlined, dumbed down PJ Harvey. The songs lack the edge of her early stuff, without displaying a new complexity that most artists who successfully go soft tend to display.

Still, dumbed-down PJ Harvey for soccer moms is better than no PJ Harvey. There are still a lot of songs on here to love. "The Big Exit" and "This is Love" are the closest that she comes to rocking out old school, and the duet with Thom Yorke, "The Mess We're In" is of course a stand-out track.

Still there aren't moments that blow me away like "Rid of Me", "Long Snake Moan", "50 Foot Queenie" etc. A Good album, yes, but not the classic it's made out to be imo.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Listyguy
The Rolling Stones - "Exile on Main Street"

Rating: 7/10
Give it a few more spins; it'll grow. A lot.

My last two albums listened in full:
The Verve - Urban Hymns: 9.0 (old favorite, just felt like listening to it yesterday)
Michael Hurley, The Unholy Modal Rounders, Jeffrey Frederick, & The Clamtones - Have Moicy!: 8.5 (listened to it per recommendation from Loophole, and it's fantastically hilarious)

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

I've been listening to a lot of albums from 2001 ahead of next month's poll. My favourite new discovery has to be The Radio Tisdas Sessions by Tinariwen. One review I've come across mentions how this ablum makes you feel like you're in a metaphorical Sahara with ancient-sounding rolling guitars washing over you like water. That pretty much describes the feeling I get from it.

8.5/10

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Beck's Sea Change. This one goes deep. the melodies are gorgeous so are the lyrics. It's like the album that Beck always wanted to make and was inside of him all the time, Mutations almost anticipated it in tracks like Nobody's Fault But My Own and Odelay's Jack-Ass. Beck really delivered it on that one. Beck sounds like the successor of Nick Drake in some tracks. The strings in tracks like Paper Tiger are breathtaking, so is the producing of the whole record. Genius. ★★★★1/2

I'm also listening to other albums. Albums that i've heard once or two times, but unfortunately i wasn't able to build something more, only admire. Hopefully this topic will remain alive and i'll be able to discuss while getting some tips with you guys.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die

9.0/10

This album has simply grown on me with every listen. "Djed" is of course a masterpiece, but the other songs are excellent in their own right, particularly "Glass Museum" and "Along the Banks of Rivers." Though this album is really slow, it has such a captivating, cinematic feel to it. It also goes perfectly with studying.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Just got into Lou Reed's Berlin. My God it's brilliant. The last three songs are surely one of the best album ending trios ever. It's weird; I would never consider him a good guitarist, or a good singer. But when it's just him and that acoustic guitar, no one does it better. 10/10. Top 20 all time.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Rush- Moving Pictures 8/10: I've never been a prog guy but Rush... at least Moving Pictures stays away from most everything I hate about the genre and turns out to be an album I should have listened to a long time ago.

Doors- Strange Days 5/10: The Doors are a singles band. It feels weird to say but they are. All of their best songs are scattered throughout their catalog. The rest of the albums consist of filler and over the top, flat out bad poetry. But then there's the great songs and you wonder how they were never able to produce one amazing, no filler album.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

John


Doors- Strange Days 5/10: The Doors are a singles band. It feels weird to say but they are. All of their best songs are scattered throughout their catalog. The rest of the albums consist of filler and over the top, flat out bad poetry. But then there's the great songs and you wonder how they were never able to produce one amazing, no filler album.


What about their self-titled? Sure, some songs are clear standouts, but I don't think you can call any song on there flat-out bad.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Urge Overkill - Saturation:
6.9/10

As brainless guitar rock goes, this is actually pretty good. I won't go so far as to say that the album is a hidden classic or anything like that, but it's fun to listen to, and has a chill aura that reminds me of summer and the early nineties.

The first half is definitely better than the second half, though. If you take about six of these songs and combine them with the band's Stull EP from the previous year, you'd have a really good album. Unfortunately, this is as far as the band got. Saturation is their only rated album in the Top 3000, and I don't expect it to go higher on the next update.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Jackson


What about their self-titled? Sure, some songs are clear standouts, but I don't think you can call any song on there flat-out bad.


You're right, the first album is a good album.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

John
Jackson


What about their self-titled? Sure, some songs are clear standouts, but I don't think you can call any song on there flat-out bad.


You're right, the first album is a good album.


I actually think Strange Days and L.A. Woman are solid all the way through, too.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

I can't remember ever listening to Strange Days, but I agree with Moonbeam about LA Woman.

I listened to Transference by Spoon - it's excellent. One of my 2-3 favorite Spoon albums, and it did so poorly on the EOY lists. It sounds exactly how you expect a Spoon record to sound, maybe it was forgotten due to its January release. GaGaGaGaGa is still my favorite, but this one is solid through and through.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?

This is by far my best late discovery from 2010. It really belongs in my year end top ten. I would draw a comparison to Lindstrom, instrumental electronica that doesn't rely on loops. Or perhaps Mike Oldfield.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Hole - Live Through This (9/10)

The second album of Hole took me by surprise. Doesn't sound at all like their debut. It's accessible and pure alternative rock bliss. Not much forward thinking, what you got are great lyrics and deliveries juxtaposed with catchy melodies. She blames herself for rape stage in Asking for It, she disses a chick that copied her style in She Walks on Me and even speaks of her childhood and teenage years as a social outsider in Softer, Softest. Violet might be one of the most impressive album openings of the 90s and it is instantly followed by Miss World and the "i made my bed and i lay in it" sing along chorus. Love and her bandmates make her pain and feelings palpable and relatable and she never sounded as much honest and heartfelt as in this album. She can't sing, but her delivery if flawless. It's easy to feel sorry for her state during the time of the release and her marriage with Cobain and Live Through This gives the perfect imagery of who she is, that marriage and her life - aside the fact coming out a few days after Cobain's death it became something like a prophetic album. There's not a dud in the whole record and she disses three different artists during it. Love is never as raw as PJ Harvey or feminist as Bikini Kill or as sincere as Liz Phair, but with this album she created a niche of her own and justified her place not only as the first lady of Grunge, but the queen of it.

Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out (8/10)

America's favorite all-girl band, one of the best thing about Sleater-Kinney is that they actually wrote about themselves and their lives before going politic or feminist. Dig Me Out is considered their opus. There's One More Hour about the breakup of two of the integrants; Words and Guitar, an ode to music and the title track and its amazingly jaw dropping riff. The three being some of the instant highlights. It's sad that though Dig Me Out is their most acclaimed release and maybe more consistent, some tracks just fail to match the greatness of others -It's Enough, The Drama You've Been Craving, Not What You Want to name them. These tracks slow the album down a little and sound downright Sleater-Kinney calculated by the numbers, being too damn repetitive and lacking the hook or soul of other tracks like Turn It On, sing along Little Babies. Fortunately the highs are so impressive, fun and full of energy that they out-do the lows by a considerable distance. The lyrics are not amazing, but smart enough to do their job and a little more. What really make this a strong record are the simply-produced hooks and melodies and Corin's divisive, but otherwise unique vocals, best showed off in Buy Her Candy. I admit that it's hard to pick a favorite SK album, but even with its considerable flaws, Dig Me Out is a fresh winner and near such a status.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Moonbeam
John
Jackson


What about their self-titled? Sure, some songs are clear standouts, but I don't think you can call any song on there flat-out bad.


You're right, the first album is a good album.


I actually think Strange Days and L.A. Woman are solid all the way through, too.
There's not even one half weak song on L.A. Woman.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

R.E.M. - Up

I'm a big fan of R.E.M. but I've avoided their post-Berry work (aside from Accelerate) because of a supposed drop off in quality. I have enjoyed every R.E.M. album I've ever listened to, and even love a few. So today I finally talked myself into giving Up a listen, and I hated it. It's sterile, joyless and seems to go on forever. There are a couple of songs scattered on the album that are alright. Walk Unafraid/Why Not Smile/Daysleeper is a decent 3 song stretch near the end of the album, but it's not worth sitting through 40 minutes of crap to hear 20 minutes of o.k. R.E.M. Now the bottom end of my R.E.M. album list looks like

Monster
Accelerate
Out of Time
Up*

*did not like

Should I ever give Reveal or Around the Sun a listen?

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Nirvana- "Nevermind"
An excellent album, almost every track is of a 5 star quality. The song I really got into this time was "Polly".
Rating: 10/10

Note: I gave "Exile on Main Street" another listen. I was definatley too harsh on it with my rating earlier.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

beefsupreme
R.E.M. - Up

I'm a big fan of R.E.M. but I've avoided their post-Berry work (aside from Accelerate) because of a supposed drop off in quality. I have enjoyed every R.E.M. album I've ever listened to, and even love a few. So today I finally talked myself into giving Up a listen, and I hated it. It's sterile, joyless and seems to go on forever. There are a couple of songs scattered on the album that are alright. Walk Unafraid/Why Not Smile/Daysleeper is a decent 3 song stretch near the end of the album, but it's not worth sitting through 40 minutes of crap to hear 20 minutes of o.k. R.E.M. Now the bottom end of my R.E.M. album list looks like

Monster
Accelerate
Out of Time
Up*

*did not like

Should I ever give Reveal or Around the Sun a listen?


Definitely give Reveal a listen. It's a gorgeous album. But stay far far away from Around the Sun.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

The one pro of having an essay to write: Lots of time to listen to albums!

The Rolling Stones- "Sticky Fingers"

Rating: 10/10

An excellent album, a real nice listen. May be their best guitar album. with songs like "Sway", "Can't You Hear Me Knocking", "Brown Sugar" and "Bitch". Those songs are probably my favorites on the album. which is probably my favorite of their albums.

Nirvana- "In Utero"

Rating: 10/10

After rating "Nevermind" yesterday, I decided to give my favorite album of the 90's a spin. It still owns the title. Songs like "Heart Shaped Box", "Rape Me", and "All Apologies", my personal favorite, make this album.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

cLOUDDEAD - cLOUDDEAD

I listened to this one in preparation for the 2001 nomination round, and it is a very unique listen. Not sure what to call it, maybe ambient hip-hop? Whatever it is there were certainly drugs involved.

I'll go 8/10 for now.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

nj will like this one...

Comateens - Comateens

After the band finally made this affordable to get on CD, I ordered it, and my copy arrived in the mail yesterday! It's really fun, quirky new wave on a shoestring budget. The eerie synth lines, healthy bass lines and cheap drum machines are right up my alley!

8.8/10

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

The Gun Club - Fire of Love
9/10

I had listened to this before and enjoyed it, but yesterday I had one of those experiences when an album just perfectly suits my mood and it seems like nothing else matters. This album is the perfect mix of excitement and restraint, and it sounds completely unlike its contemporaries. "She's Like Heroin to Me" and "Ghost on the Highway" are just absolute jams.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

My massive album listening continues (as does the essay)...

Aerosmith- "Toys in the Attic"

Rating: 10/10

Another favorite of mine. Every song kicks @$$!! Song of my favorites are on this album, including "Walk This Way" (my second favorite song of all time), "Sweet Emotion", and pretty much anything else on the album!

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

My problem is that a lot of the new music I listen to is in my car on crappy speakers usually half on the way to work, half on the way back. It's hard to make a good judgement on an album like this.

That said I think I'd give Darwin Deez- ST a 7/10 and Cloud Nothings new album a 6/10.

Darwin Deez is kind of repetitive and on tinny speakers that repetiveness gets annoying. But, the songs are really strong so I'm giving it a 7 with a chance for an 8 after I listen to it at home.

Cloud Nothings album is just a rehash of 90's California punk with a couple of songs going strangely in a completely different direction. If you like 90's Cali punk though I'd definitely recommend it.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Joan Jett - Sinner

I've had this album for 4 years but had never listened to it before. It's pretty good! The middle of the album is a bit preachy, sounding a bit like a hard rock PSA, but the beginning and end are what I love about Joan Jett - melodic, rawking thrillers. A few of the songs near the end are more musically diverse and rewarding - "Baby Blue" and "Bad Time".

Overall: 7.3/10

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Cosmogramma- Flying Lotus

8.1/10

Great album. After hearing the new Radiohead a few times I felt compelled to listen to this album again. It's really pretty and technical, but I wish Flying Lotus combined some of the songs together, making a couple long songs instead of a bunch of short ones. As good as the album is though, it just missed my top ten of 2010.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

David Bowie - Hunky Dory (10/10)

The material masterpieces are made of. Hunky Dory might lack the glam rocking of Ziggy and posterior works and the highly experimental trend that Bowie would create and follow with his Berlin-trilogy, but it totally pays you back in terms of melody and lyrics. The impact of this album on his carrer, the influence on other artists. The beautiful piano playing, the strings. Bowie makes magic going big on "Life on Mars?" and then in simple numbers like the tender "Kooks" and "Eight Line Poem". "Changes" owns one of music greatest chorus and is beautiful written, a reflexion of the role of chameleon that Bowie would assume with each record. "Song for Bob" and "Andy Warhol" are among the many highlights of the record and the concept of "Queen Bitch" has been remade by many over the years, but few time equaled. Hunky Dory is the gigantic leap forward that Bowie gave in 71 and 40 years later, it still sounds like a hell of a one.


Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (8/10)

Excluding a fun skit about Morrissey, Ryan Adam's debut album kicks off impressively with the unabashedly Dylan homage "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, To Be High)". It takes 10 more tracks until we listen to another upbeat track as such, but until there Adams pulls off beautifully the slow numbers. "AMY" and "Call Me On Your Way Back Home" are two of the best examples of Ryan's gift for melody and simple, yet fully formed lyrics. The production of the record never overtakes his voice, even the ones accompanied by a band - most of the songs are accompanied only by strings or harmonica. The banjo makes an appearance in "Bartering Lines", the centerpiece of the record; Dylan's shadow is present in "Damn, Sam" and there's also the beautifully executed ode to Carolina "Oh My Sweet Carolina" - with background vocals by Emmylou Harris, even used more impressively in "Why Do They Live?". Still is when Adam's mixes all of this together on standout "Come Pick Me Up" that you know you're facing something truly special. The album does slow down a little after "Shakedown On 9th Street" and even if they don't quite match the beauty of what it came before, are still worthy and great on their own - also "Lil Gal" is an excellent close number. Some people and music critics recognize "Gold" as Ryan Adam's definitive effort, but Heartbreaker is his one-of-a-kind carrer highlight. A landmark of american alternative country music and of the last decade. He might have record a better fully formed follow-up, but he never quite crawled under your skin like this again.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

7/10

I saw a few recommendations of it on here, thought I'd give it a listen. The ideas are definitely cerebral and unique but I didn't find it really gripping. Probably a grower.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left: 7/10

I don't often rate albums out of 10 but if I did I reckon 7 would be pretty high. Apart from the obvious River Man and Thoughts of Mary Jane, which make the album, it's the consistency and ease with which Drake maintains an atmosphere from start to finish. Great to listen to in any sort of mood, and one of the most enjoyable albums to listen to while doing other stuff at the same time.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

I see people are rating albums that aren't new to them, so I'll add this review I wrote about Debbie Harry's KooKoo, which I listened to this morning.

8/10

The fate of solo careers is not easy to predict. While many artists make a seamless transition going out on their own, many others struggle to find their voice. Blondie had been a great vehicle for Debbie Harry's meteroic rise to fame in large part due to her striking presence as a smart style icon, but it remained to be seen whether her talents would translate outside of the framework of the band. Enlisting the help of bandmate Chris Stein as well as the production gold of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, Debbie offers a fascinating glimpse into what makes her tick with a peculiar hybrid of styles and themes in the appropariately titled KooKoo.

From the opening moments, it is clear that this not a Blondie record. While moments like "Rapture" suggested a courtship of a black audience, KooKoo dives headfirst into a veritable buffet of black styles. The main singles of the album, "Backfired" and "The Jam Was Moving", feature prominent funk bass lines dueling with sassy horns and eerie buzzing synths, respectively. The spritely "Jump Jump" and midtempo swagger of "Surrender" follow the same blueprint, while "Military Rap" and "Under Arrest" feature manic synth pop, "Inner City Spillover" wouldn't sound out of place on a Grace Jones album from her halcyon Sly and Robbie period, and "Now I Know You Know" is a smoldering soul ballad that meanders into toe-tapping jazz. The most bizarre tracks are the alien, metallic atmosphere of "Chrome" and the clash of Middle Eastern mysticism and sultry, almost Spanish boogie of "Oasis". While Blondie had made a career out of blending genres effectively, they never sounded as quirky as they do on KooKoo.

Coupled with this wild array of sounds is a set of highly neurotic lyrics. While Debbie had shown an inkling of weirdness in previous tracks like "Atomic" and "Victor", being unfettered by the Blondie brand allows her imagination to run wild, and it is a wonder to behold. "Inner City Spillover" depicts a girl whose brain is smashed by a falling brick in the urban sprawl, "Jump Jump" features a section about puppy-training school, undercover agents investigate the origins of a dance craze ("The Jam Was Moving") and a nebulous murder mystery ("Under Arrest"), and a sequence of non sequiturs set to a military cadence predominate "Military Rap". "Chrome", meanwhile, is an incomprehensible collage of chameleons, dresses and flowers while "Oasis" serves as the album's title track with an exposition on the phrase "koo koo". Peppered throughout are generous doses of humor, such as the sardonic interplay of "Backfired", the hyperbole of "Surrender" ("I'd rather lie down in the street and get hit by a big Mac truck"), and the confession "I can be annoying" in "Under Arrest". Moreover, some random lyrics seem to come out of nowhere - "Can you tell me why that guy is on the roof?" or "The brick that smashed her brain is now a road in Maine" or best yet "Answer ding dong do you play ping pong?" and "Was that a... Are you a... Are you?" in "Oasis". As she excitedly shrieks in "The Jam Was Moving", the album is one giant slab of "CRAZY! CRAZY! CRAZY!"

Complementing this vibrant album is a set of noteworthy visuals from the renowned H.R. Giger. The strikingly skewered and sci-fi headbanded Harry against an electrical storm backdrop is an appropriate representation of the album's contents, while the hypnotizing Giger-directed video of Debbie emerging out of a mummy's tomb decked out in skeleton skin seductively dancing in catacombs is also a must-see. So strong was this imagery that it ended up upstaging the music itself!

It isn't difficult to see why KooKoo did not fare well, as it is drastically different to the polished power pop anthems that made Blondie famous. It feels like going on a date with the hottest, most popular girl in school and discovering that she yodels Cheerios through her nostrils. Well, suckers like me become smitten by such vivid displays of unabashed weirdness, and it endears me to Debbie Harry in away that her work with Blondie does not. While it may not be to everyone's taste, KooKoo is nonetheless a bold record worthy of the attention the iconic album cover promises.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Evan
cLOUDDEAD - cLOUDDEAD

I listened to this one in preparation for the 2001 nomination round, and it is a very unique listen. Not sure what to call it, maybe ambient hip-hop? Whatever it is there were certainly drugs involved.

I'll go 8/10 for now.
I'm interested! Thanks for the recommendation.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

I'm on a Debbie Harry kick!

Def, Dumb & Blonde (1989)

7/10

With Blondie dead and buried for 7 years, Deborah Harry had more or less eased into the role of an aging icon of yesteryear with sporadic ventures into music alternating with a notable, if not flashy, secondary career as an actress. At 44 in an increasingly youth-oriented music scene, it would have been understandable if she made acting her primary gig. As she was no longer at the forefront of the music industry, it would be likewise understandable if her musical dabblings amounted to little more than victory laps. While this is indeed partially apparent in Def, Dumb & Blonde, the album contains enough charm and invention to be worthy of exploration.

Released in 1989, Def, Dumb & Blonde fits comfortably in the era. By and large, it feels as if a concerted effort was made to update her previous successes for production standards and mainstream tastes of the time. At times, this is to the detriment of the album. "Kiss It Better", for better and for worse, sounds as if it was taken straight out of a Top 40 station in 1989, with little of Deborah's unmistakable imprint noticeable. "Bugeye" is likewise a limp attempt at a sultry rock come-on. "Maybe for Sure" fares a little better, but is still stripped of much of its potential through needless gloss. The worst offender is "Get Your Way", which amounts to little more than a collage of mailed-in seduction, a trademark rap that populates every album after the success of "Rapture", and a shiny guitar solo fitting of the zeitgeist. Unfortunately, it is not the only attempt to cash in on previous hits, as the obligatory homage to "The Tide Is High" comes in the form of the forgettable "I'll Never Fall in Love", which could explain why it is not available on either cassette or vinyl editions of the album.

Thankfully, some of these attempts to update Deborah's sound work well. The shimmering dance pop of "I Want That Man" is so catchy and anthemic that it is easy to forgive the requisite guitar solo thrown in. Nods to Blondie's punk roots come in the welcome form of "Bike Boy", "Comic Books" and "Forced to Love", which both remain true to form in clocking in under 3 minutes. The first in particular sees a vintage '77 Harry vocal, proving that she still had the voice for spiky punk pop in her mid-40s. Even better is the delectable confection of "Sweet and Low", full of sassy swagger and innuendo that climaxes with a fantastic chorus.

The greatest rewards come when Deborah stretches herself. "Calmarie" can best be described as a jungle new age lullaby sung half in Portugese and half in English. Somehow, it works, and the song achieves a gorgeous serenity. Equally disarming is the ballad "He Is So", in which guitars and synth strings illicit a lush atmosphere fitting for Harry to let down her guard, enraptured in an ecstasy that leaves her, for once, at a loss for words. Best of all, though, is the bonafide electro-ballad "Brite Side", a synth pop sunburst so good that it warrants comparison to Yaz's "Only You". In fact, it is so thrilling that it renders superfluous an epic and rather poignant look into her past in the form of "End of the Run", which threatens to become a power ballad at every turn, but manages to rein in the hairspray.

In the end, Def, Dumb & Blonde is a mixed bag. Nevertheless, the pedestrian style updates and feckless homages to Blondie's glory days are far outnumbered by worthy gems of the late 80s and exciting new avenues. Curiously for a pop album, most of these highlights are found in the second half, giving it the effect of ending with a bang. It adds up to a record that succeeds despite its flaws, and while not a knockout, it is the best album Harry would be associated with since The Hunter and until The Curse of Blondie.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Beck - Sea Change (10/10)

I know, i already post about it and i gave it a 9, but it happened: Sea Change became part of me. I've been playing since last week non-stop, when he moans on "Little One"... it could last forever, many moments on this record could last forever. Beautifully produced, executed, written, the voice, his voice, you can totally feel the pain. It became part of my life, part of me. Yeah this comment is a little more personal than what i've written before here on this topic, but i can't help but feel that words won't ever express how i fell when i listen to this record. A masterful tour de force. My favorite album of 2002 and it is ranking pretty high inside my 00s, and hell, of all time. Masterpiece.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

I usually have 3 or 4 albums in my cd player at a time and listen to them in full 2 or 3 times and then replace them with another set.

This week:
Nashville skyline- Bob Dylan: 8.4
More songs about buildings and food-Talking Heads: 9.3
Blues and the abstract truth-Oliver Nelson: 8.7
Closer-Joy Division: 9.1
Let it bleed-Rolling Stones: 9.3

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

DMX - The Definition of X Compilation

WHAAAT!
UUUH!
COME ON!
WOOOOO!

10/10

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Bob Dylan- "Bringing It All Back Home"

Rating: 10/10

Bob Dylan is in a constant battle with himself ("Highway 61 Revisited") over which of his albums I like more. It's so close, because both albums are sooo great. I think it may be H61R, but not by much. This album has some really great sutff, like "Subterreanean Homesick Blues", "Outlaw Blues", "Maggies Farm", "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", and on the other side, "Gates of Eden" and my personal favorite, "Mr. Tambourine Man". Dylan may have lost his striaght up accoustic-harmonica mentallity, but he was begining one of the greatest runs an artist would ever have.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Kaya - Bob Marley & the Wailers

Its good, its laid back, its a little homogeneous but I like it. Not my favorite by them but I can't complain.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

A good friend of mine recommended Betty Davis, and I recalled it being on nj's list as well, so even though I'm not generally the biggest funk fan, I gave it a try.. and was blown away.

I started with "They Say I'm Different", which was a good choice since it's probably the most accessible album of the three, and the voice, the instruments, the just.. fantastically nasty lyrics just blew me away. 8.5/10 (~#200 all time)

Next up was the self-titled debut, which is even better with songs like Anti Love Song and Walking Up The Road, even better musicianship (you should take a look at the lineup for this album, amazing). 8.5/10 (~#150)

Finally, I got to Nasty Gal, the album my friend liked the least but made a few appearances on AM forum lists, including nj's, and what an album it is. It starts out with the titletrack, which sort of prepares you for what's coming next: some of the best funk of all time. Talkin' Trash and particularly "Dedicated to the Press" are truly stunning tracks with Betty delivering line after line of what must have been revolutionary lyrics at the time in a voice that is unlike anything else. And then comes "You and I", a funk ballad unlike anything else on the album (or any of her albums), you simply have to hear it to believe it. The rest of the album is not quite as good as those 3 tracks, but with tracks like "F.U.N.K." and "Shut Off The Light" you definitely won't be disappointed. 9.0/10 (~#75)

I am now going to go through all the funk albums I didn't love before, because Betty may have just opened my eyes. Is there anything similar to this out there? And the 2009 release of the 1976 recording, is it of the same quality?

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

David Bowie's 70s albums: Diamond Dogs and Young Americans

Diamond Dogs (6/10)

Although Diamond Dogs is pretty uninspired glam rock the first half really surprised me: the songs hold themselves and kept a consistency that i wasn't expecting after reading a few reviews. The production is not as exciting as Aladdin Sane - let alone Ziggy and Dory - and the Spiders from Mars are missed throughout the record. A part of me believed that the reason this album was placed onto the upper reaches of AM's 1000-2000 range was the simple fact that it contained "Rebel Rebel", but side A proved to be worthy, even if not as worthy as the track. Later half is a train-wreck. After "Rebel" things go from merely great ("Rock N Roll With Me") to messy, all over the place, nonsense stuff (everything that follows). It's like Aladdin Sane's "Time" on repeat and Ziggy Stardust gone wrong conceptually. There's simply no cohesion whatsoever. The latter tracks are more attached to the original "1984" concept based on the book - whose rights were denied to Bowie. They are utterly affected by this small fact and the songwriting just gets confused and out of place. The melodies are not as strong as previous tracks - let alone previous albums - and they sinks Diamond Dogs down. We could argue that Bowie sounds tired through the album, but i guess is more a matter of frustration for not being able of recording the album he intended to and that also frustrates the listening. There's potential here, but it's not the material that classic records are made of.


Young Americans (4/10)

Young Americans is Bowie's first (and only) adventure into plastic soul. It kicks off amazingly well with the classic title-track and David is almost unrecognizable compared to everything that came before. It's a step out of glam rock and the Diamond Dogs album, but unfortunately it is not a leap forward neither. The album has a key classic track like it predecessor's "Rebel, Rebel", but the others that can't keep up the moment. Young Americans is as messy as Diamond Dogs, tough cohesive production-wise. We could forgive Bowie for that since he was experimenting a new genre, but with tracks as bad as "Can You Hear Me?" and the horrific cover of The Beatles's "Across the Universe" it gets hard. The production of the record is clean and accessible and helps many of the song to go above average status, but the lyrics are cringe-worthy sometimes, the sexiness is not as exciting as it could be and the major problem of the songs themselves are the simple fact that they just drag too long for they own sake - even an awesome riff like Fame's is damaged by this. Only the title-track is overall safe from all of this. Soul didn't fit David as well as the high AM ranking might suggest. The genre is wearing David Bowie, not the other way around. The album doesn't have a personality, not a single reminder of what the singer was thus far or a new identity - like Station to Station would form and rescue in parts afterwards. That's a fatal weakness in this case. Maybe It would have been largely dismissed originally if it wasn't a Bowie classic-era record or maybe i don't get it and other people truly enjoyed it enough to be a top 800 album. I found it to be pretty much overrated. This is not even a hit-or-miss kind of album, it's a needle in the hay game in the form of music and he weakest 70s album by far.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

Mark Lanegan - The Winding Sheet (1990) 4-4.5/5

Bubbling Under

The man has one of my favorite singing voices, and he's a good songwriter to boot. Every time I listen to one of his solo albums I'm thinking it has to be the best album he's ever put out, then I put one another one of his and think that album is the best one he ever did. It's a big continuous circle. The Winding Sheet is mostly acoustic, unlike a lot of Screaming Trees stuff he was doing at the time. Kurt Cobain lays down guest vocals on Down in the Dark, and a cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night? shows up towards the end.

Re: Rate the last album you listened to (in full)

* R.E.M. - Reckoning (9/10)
* The Replacements - Let It Be (10/10)
* My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything (9/10)
* My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (10/10)

My Bloody Valentine were back in the day - and still are these days - peerless and unmatchable in shoegaze. People throw the term "unique" around too much these days. Loveless is a pure sheer of genius and uniqueness.