What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

DAVID BOWIE "the man who sold the world" cd, 1970

career stats:
studio albums...........27
singles....................121

this album..............#24 UK...#44 AU...#105 US
singles:
no singles issued off this one.

Mr.Bowie's third studio album and he was yet to make his mark
on the music world....
lots of blues rock in the music on this one, in fact, the title track is
a bit out of sorts on this one, it just doesn't fit in musically or lyrically IMO...
but that one track shows he is on his way to developing his unique style...
so, we have a lot of blues rock, a touch of psychedelic rock and very abstract lyrics
for the most part...
im hearing distinct Black Sabbath sounds on this one as well as very early Genesis, am I wrong?...
a few more listens and this one will be up there with his best for me with two or three extra
tracks bordering the 'love' rating...
strange that there were no singles lifted off this one but a couple of tracks did make it on the flipside
of other singles...
back to the title track...
there are two other superb covers of this song floating around the music world,
one from UK female vocalist Lulu, that peaked at #1 on the UK charts in the early 1970s and an equally
good one from grunge band Nirvana from their "mtv unplugged' set.
all up, a different side of Bowie to what we all know and love.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: she shook me cold
best track: the man who sold the world

[video=youtube;HSH--SJKVQQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSH--SJKVQQ[/video]

tracks:

1...the width of a circle **
2...all the madmen **
3...black country rock **
4...after all **
5...running gun blues **
6...saviour machine **
7...she shook me cold *
8...the man who sold the world ***
9...the super man ***

3s=2
2s=6
1s=1

rating: 2.0

[Music Head]

from the cd room



his 5th album
reached #5 here
got 2 Grammy nominations but failed to take them home
he was starting to get boring for me
includes I Hung My Head which is much better by JC

only thing I really like is this country flavored number

[video=youtube;c9LsgjW_1uA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9LsgjW_1uA[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Sting got boring for me well before you by the sounds of it...
was around the "nothing like the sun", his second solo set that I started to go of him...

I can also barely bring myself to listen to Police now also...their songs are just so repetitive,
the exceptions being "syncronicity" album and his first solo set "dream of the blue turtles"

as for "i hung my head"....his version lacks the dread, shame, fear factor that Cash gave it,
you'd swear it was a JC original if you didn't know Sting's version, likewise, the JC cover of Nine Inch Nails "hurt",
that song was surely written with him in mind

[Music Head]

from the cd room



his 6th album
reached #9 here
nothing here I like yet it got him 2 Grammy awards
I gave up after this one
5 albums since and I haven't even been tempted
several Arab influenced tracks

[video=youtube;C3lWwBslWqg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lWwBslWqg[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Did you hear his last album, that shipwreck one?
It was a good cure for insomnia.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL WELLER "more modern classics" cd, 2013

solo career stats:
studio albums.......12
singles.................39
ep's......................8

total career stats:
studio albums.......24
singles.................79
ep's.....................19

this album............#6 UK

I only picked this one up because it was in a discount bin last year...
I didn't really need it because I have all the material he has released since 1977...
but for $5 and the fact it completed the collection I got it....
anyway,
Weller's second compilation album from his solo career...
this one includes all the singles from 2000-2012...
theres still some great material on here but theres also a lot of filler also(almost half the album)....
all the tracks are in chronological release order, and that's the way I like to see compilations released, that way, we hear
the progression of the artist and their changing styles/influences...
lots of different sounds on this one, no one can say Weller is not eclectic, aterall, during his almost forty years of recording
he has recorded everything except metal/hard rock...
anyway,
this onedoes have a lot of filler as I have already said, the guy is trying too hard to remain relevant to a younger audience
and tries too hard to reinvent himself, much like Neil Young in that respect, thus, often releases a lot of crap in this, the second
half of his solo career....
not one for the casual listener by any means IMO...
I would suggest two solo albums of his in "Stanley road" and "wild wood" if you want to hear Weller at his finest...
the aboe mentioned albums pre date this collection and were released in the mid 1990s...
the album does make the pass grade but that's from a Weller-phile's point of view

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: flame out
best track: its written in the stars

[video=youtube;XtxMeqC7YaM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtxMeqC7YaM[/video]

tracks:

1...he's the keeper *
2...sweet pea, my sweet pea ***
3...its written in the stars ***
4...wishing on a star **
5...from the floorboards up ***
6...come on/lets go ***
7...wild blue yonder *
8...have you made up your mind? ***
9...echoes round the sun *
10.all I wanna do ***
11.push it along **
12.22 dreams **
13.no tears to cry ***
14.wake up the nation **
15.fast car,slow traffic **
16.starlite *
17.that dangerous age *
18.when your garden's overgrown *
19.the attic **
20.flame out *
21.brand new toy *

3s=7
2s=6
1s=8

rating: 1.9

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL KELLY & THE COLOURED GIRLS "under the sun" cd, 1987

career stats:
studio albums.......20
singles.................53

this album stats..............#19 AU
singles:
"to her door"...................................#14 AU
"forty miles to Saturday night"..........#85 AU
"dumb things".................................#36 AU
"don't stand so close to the window....no chart action

Kelly's fifth studio album....
was issued as a double vinyl set back in the day....
for those who don't know, his music is folk tinged, mixed with a bit of country
along with some, what we'd call now, alt-rock, I guess?....
his lyrics are detailed with imagery and almost poetic for the most part...
they tell stories of everyday life, mundane working class man stuff like
relationships, breakdown of relationships, the old trying to get somewhere in life
and of/for the downtrodden, but the music is usually upbeat to counteract the dark
nature of his lyrics...
he has a twang in his vocal style, slightly nasally...sort of like an in tune Dylan, LOL!....
this is his best album IMO, not that I have that many, maybe four or five from memory...
its not very often you find a double album with little filler, but this one has no filler at all.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

worst track: pastures of plenty
best track: to her door

[video=youtube;Vzd_bcVDnJQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzd_bcVDnJQ[/video]

tracks:

1...dumb things ***
2...same old walk ***
3...big heart **
4...don't stand so close to the window ***
5...forty miles to Saturday night ***
6...I don't remember a thing ***
7...know your friends **
8...to her door ***
9...under the sun **
10.untouchable **
11.desdemona ***
12.happy slave **
13.crosstown ***
14.bicentennial ***
15.bradman ***
16.pastures of plenty **

3s=10
2s=6
1s=0

rating: 2.6

[Music Head]

from the cd room



debut album
they only had 2
I don't have the other one
I like this one

the best song

[video=youtube;4D2qcbu26gs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2qcbu26gs[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

"fools gold" was my favourite single of theirs,
I have the debut album on vinyl, yes, I still bought a few vinyl after the advent of cds and this one was one of them...
thought I had both their albums on cd also but I cannot find them, theyre either not where theyre supposed to be
or they are casualties of the moving house process over the years/decades!

[Ruby]

The Fixx. Never owned anything other than the seminal Reach the Beach, so decided to listen to 2003’s Want That Life and some of Beautiful Friction, released in 2012. I’m sorry to say I am forced to invent yet another new genre called ‘intellipop’ which has conscious, coherent and thoughtful lyrics rather than just being vapid ear candy (or something less sweet!).

They combine a number of different styles and at the time of Want That Life had progressed way beyond new wave (which is old wave now isn’t it?) - can’t really be called rock either, but bubblegum it most certainly is not. I enjoyed the album – it grows on you, although I may not go out of my way to procure it. Track of choice – “Are You Satisfied?” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLJElYXQLEw.

They still appear to be on top form and it’s impressive that the four core members have stayed and played together over 30+ years. I’m admiring of the fact that they haven’t strayed too far from their signature sound. This is what started it all … “One Thing Leads to Another” –

[video=youtube;eaLro_un4bo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaLro_un4bo[/video]