What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE POLICE  "outlandos d'amour" cd/vinyl  1978

their debut of five...
a decent punk edge to most of the tracks,
a hint of the psuedo ska/reggae of their latter material also...
title loosely translated means "outlaws of love"....
almost conceptual in terms of theme with the title being it...
songs range from being in love, losing love, unrequited love, even love with a blow-up doll (of all things!)...
contains the two big hits "roxanne" and "cant stand losing you"...
album is their lowest seller but still clocks in at over 6 million physical sales to date!...
the album ranks as my second favorite by the band ranking a high 2.6
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

not sure if its my favorite but its an interesting song about love for a blow-up doll:






Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my, be my
Be my girl....


I was blue and lonely
I couldn't sleep a wink
And I could only get unconscious
If I'd had to much to drink.

There was somehow, something wrong somewhere
And each day seemed grey and dead
The seeds of desperation
Were growing in my head.

I needed inspiration
A brand new start in life
Somewhere to place affection
But I didn't want a wife.

And then by lucky chance I saw
In a special magazine
An ad that was unusual
The like I'd never seen.

"Experience something different
With our new imported toy
She's loving, warm, inflatible
And a guarantee of joy".

She came all wrapped in cardboard
All pink and shrivelled down
A breath of air was all she needed
To make her lose that frown.

I took her to the bedroom
And pumped her with some life
And later in a moment
That girl became my wife.

And so I sit her in the corner
And sometimes stroke her hair
And when I'm feeling naughty
I blow her up with air.

She's cuddly and she's bouncy
She's like a rubber ball
I bounce her in the kitchen
And I bounce her in the hall.

And now my life is different
Since Sally came my way
I wake up in the morning
And have her on a tray.

She's everything they say she was
And I wear a permanent grin
And I only have to worry
In case my girl wears thin.

Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my, be my
Be my girl

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE POLICE  "reggatta de blanc" cd/vinyl  1979

their second of five...
the translation from Froggy to Brit means "white reggae"....
songs arent so urgent and ferocious as their punky debut,
more mellow and ska/reggae-cum-pop here...
the instrumental title track sounds a lot like 'syncronicity II' in places, it also won the band their first Grammy for best rock instrumental.
track9, Contact, has a genuine New Wave groove happening.
album contains the hit singles "message in a bottle" and "walking on the moon" but theres far better tracks on here than those like singles three and four: "the beds too big without you" and "bring on the night"
album sold an impressive 8 million copies to date
all up though a great album that rates 2.4 on the MH rating system but only ranks as my third favorite of theirs
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE POLICE  "zenyatta mondatta"  cd/vinyl 1980

their third of five...
and the title means nothing they are made up words...
lots of different elements on this one,
some jazz,funk,new wave, pop and raggae/ska fused together...
'voices in my head' has a Spandau Ballet 'chant #1' feel to it, 
'bombs away' has a pre Duran Duran feel to it,
'shadows in the rain' was later re-recorded for Sting's "dreams of the blue turtles' album a few years later,
personally i prefer the re-recorded version but i still love the original also...
'behind my camel' won a Grammy for best rock instrumental which i like but do not love...
could just about pick any one of nine tracks here as favorite as thats as many as i love on here...
album sold an impressive eight million units worldwide...
this album comes in as my favorite album of theirs clocking in an impressive 2.7 rating
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

lets go for this one this time round:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE POLICE "ghost in the machine" cd.vinyl  1981

their fourth of five...
a more rock/pop album than a psuedo ska/reggae album...
Sting adopts a social conscience here with his lyrics...
the tracks seem a lot more complicated and developed than previous efforts both musically and lyrically IMO....
album sold an impressive ten million copies over the decades...
liking or love every track, liking just more than i love gives a rating of 2.4 overall.
album clocks in as my fourth favorite album of theirs...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

the singles were the best trackson this album so here's one of them...

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE POLICE  "synchronicity"  cd/cassette  1983

their fifth and final album...
the meaning of the title:  
the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.
and that sums up the album as a whole for me...
although a 'disjointed disorganised mess' is a harsh description it does fall in line with the meaning...
theres no consistancy in the music or lyrics, it appears to flit from one thing to another thus giving the ultimate impression that things were not at all well within the band, i dont think Sting's vision of the band were at all in sync with Andy and Stewart's.
but apart from the apparent negatives i have mentioned the songs do work as individual tracks, they all have interesting subtle nuances, none moreso than on Andy's "mother", that could almost be a part of a Monty Python skit with the way he yells out 'mother' during the song...
that said there is more than enough on here to keep the listener interested in varying degrees and any album that contains a track as great as Every Breath You Take deserves investigation IMO.
all up love just under half of this album, liking the rest, best tracks by far are the four hit singles: every breath you take, king of pain, wrapped around your finger and synchronicity II.
album did win three Grammy's and has sold close to 20 million copies since its release and it does rate an impressive 2.4 using MH's rating system but it is still my least favorite album by the band.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

favorite by a long shot:





Hmmm...
which band to revisit now??

[Ruby]

Nostalgia seems to kick in with the cold! This album is 50 years old now and to me, it doesn’t date – still stands up. They were excellent musicians.
 
Audience – The House on the Hill



Some favourites - 
 
“Raviolé” – written by Howard Werth – him on guitar – brilliant stuff … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4nLcoQ9Iro

They do a fab version of "I Put a Spell on You" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUu5KFua5H0 

“You’re Not Smiling” –

[CRAZY-HORSE]

KINGS OF LEON  "youth & young manhood"  cd,  2003

rock band from Tennessee...
debut album of eight, i own all eight....
on this one we hear garage rock mixed with blues rock and southern rock, put them in a tumbler and then shaken, not stirred...
im hearing Rolling Stones, White Stripes, even some ZZ Top boogie in places...
sounds nothing like their polished 'sex on fire' material which is to come later....
the UK was on board from the get-go with the album peaking at #3 there, Australia to an extent, #48, and Ireland #18,
multi platunum in the UK/AU, album didnt even make the top100 in their homeland...
four minor hits in the UK also...
all up a fantastic album which just keeps on growing on me over time and comes in at an exceptional 2.6:
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

lead off single

[CRAZY-HORSE]

on Audience....
never heard of them so i gave the tracks a go,
good stuff Ruby, thanks.

[Ruby]

^Cool. That's the only album of theirs of any note, IMHO.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

KINGS OF LEON  "aka shake heartbreak" cd, 2004

their second...
a follow on from their southern rock/blues rock sounds of the debut...
cover has always reminded me of "a night at the opera", not sure if it is by design or accident???...
album peaks at #3 in the UK, an improved #25 in Australia,#3 in Ireland 
but theyre still to make any serious inroads on the Billboard charts (#55 US). again, stupid Americans!
the equal to their debut and just gets better with age IMO and ranks a great 2.6 on the MHRS...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

the lead off single: