What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

GREEN DAY  "american idiot" cd, 2004

a revisit...
their seventh of thirteen...
one of the best bands of the last thirty years IMO...
good solid album as they border 'rock opera' with this masterpiece...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

favourite on this listen:





[Part I: Jesus of Suburbia]

I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus of Suburbia
The bible of "none of the above"
On a steady diet of
Soda-pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in Hell
As far as I can tell
'Least the ones I got away with

And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make-believe
That don't believe in me

Get my television fix
Sitting on my crucifix
The living room, or my private womb
While the moms and Brads are away
To fall in love and fall in debt
To alcohol and cigarettes and Mary Jane
To keep me insane
Doing someone else's cocaine

And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make-believe
That don't believe in me

[Part II: City of the Damned]

At the center of the Earth, in the parking lot
Of the 7-Eleven where I was taught
The motto was just a lie
It says "home is where your heart is," but what a shame
'Cause everyone's heart doesn't beat the same
It's beating out of time

City of the dead (Hey! Hey!)
At the end of another lost highway (Hey! Hey!)
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned (Hey! Hey!)
Lost children with dirty faces today (Hey! Hey!)
No one really seems to care

I read the graffiti in the bathroom stall
Like the holy scriptures of the shopping mall
And so it seemed to confess
It didn't say much, but it only confirmed
That the center of the Earth is the end of the world
And I could really care less

City of the dead (Hey! Hey!)
At the end of another lost highway (Hey! Hey!)
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned (Hey! Hey!)
Lost children with dirty faces today (Hey! Hey!)
No one really seems to care (Hey!)

[Part III: I Don't Care]

I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care (repeat 3x)


Everyone's so full of shit
Born and raised by hypocrites
Hearts recycled, but never saved
From the cradles to the grave
We are the kids of war and peace
From Anaheim to the Middle East
We are the stories and disciples of
The Jesus of Suburbia!

Land of make-believe
And it don't believe in me
Land of make-believe
(Said it's, it's another lie!)
And I don't believe

And I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care!

[Part IV: Dearly Beloved]

Dearly beloved, are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented, or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure

Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh

(Ooh, ooh) Oh, therapy, can you please fill the void?
(Ooh, ooh-ooh) Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed?
(Ooh, ooh) Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
(Ooh, ooh-ooh) For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse

Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh

[Part V: Tales of Another Broken Home]

To live and not to breathe
Is to die in tragedy
To run, to run away
To find what you believe

And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies

I lost my faith to this
This town that don't exist
So I run, I run away
To the lights of masochists

And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
And I've walked this line
A million and one fucking times
But not this time!

I don't feel any shame, I won't apologize
When there ain't nowhere you can go
Running away from pain when you've been victimized
Tales from another broken

Home
You're leaving
You're leaving
You're leaving
Are you leaving home?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ALEX LLOYD  "black the sun" cd 1999

a revisit...
Aussie musician,
debut of six...
dude plays most of this himself and co-produces the album also...
even after all this time this still leans towards alternative...
good solid album IMO...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

favourite this time round






Broken hearts will never meet again
We can try sometimes we'll pretend
Back inside, inside of you again
My soul is lost and now i will pretend

And now there's nothing left
There's nothing known
There's nothing seen
And no more

All i ever wanted was love
All i ever wanted was something special

Here we go we're going in the rain again
The storm is raging green envy with my friends
Black in the night back in another day
We creep up and we sum the sun away
Not known

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PJ HARVEY  "let England shake" cd, 2011

her eighth of nine,
i only own the last two...
purchase this after it ended up high on the EOY lists that year...
i didnt like it much, time has changed that for me...
this is a very good alt rock album, not as good as the follow up which i love though...
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

lead off single, something in the performance reminded me of Lene Lovich for some reason??





I've seen and done things I want to forget;
I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat,
Blown and shot out beyond belief.
Arms and legs were in the trees.


I've seen and done things I want to forget;
Coming from an unearthly place,
Longing to see a woman's face,
Instead of the words that gather pace,
The words that maketh murder.

These, these, these are the words-
The words that maketh murder.
These, these, these are the words-
The words that maketh murder.
These, these, these are the words-
Murder...

These, these, these are the words-
The words that maketh murder.

I've seen and done things I want to forget;
I've seen a corporal whose nerves were shot
Climbing behind the fierce, gone sun,
I've seen flies swarming everyone,
Soldiers fell like lumps of meat.

These are the words, the words are these.
Death lingering, stunk,
Flies swarming everyone,
Over the whole summit peak,
Flesh quivering in the heat.
This was something else again.
I fear it cannot be explained.
The words that make, the words that make
Murder.

What if I take my problem to the United Nations?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

R.E.M  "automatic for the people" cd, 1992

a revisit...
Wiki still call these guys "alternative"...
still cant decide whether this or "out of time" is my favorite of theirs...
loving just about every track on here...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

still impossible to go pass this classic IMO:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

EODM aka Eagles Of Death Metal "zipper down" cd, 2015

a revisit...
American alt rock/pop band...
their fourth of four...
hearing Regurgitator and Sparks mainly but other influences also...
most famous for being the band caught up in the terror attack in the Parisian Bataclan Theatre later that year...
one cover on the album, Duran Duran's "save a prayer", of which their version is pretty good...
a good foot-tapper of an album with lots of catchy material...
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

favorite if still the lead off single: (even the video has a Sparks' Mael Brothers vibe happening IMO)





You didn't want to scratch but then you got the itch
You only wanted Stoa but you got the witch
You know you're always paying for the shit that's free
It's not easy with this complexity.


I tried to make it easy never stop the flow
Just keep between simple let a little skin show
My socks and underwear I like to keep them clean
It's so easy without complexity.

You say you want to finish but you never start
You want to get it finished but you just try hard
It don't take nothing fancy it's just ABC's
It so easy without complexity.

You want the good stuff
You want the big hit
Found out it's simple come on and take it
But if you close your eyes then you won't see
That it's easier without complexity

[CRAZY-HORSE]

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD "paper mache dream balloon" cd, 2015.

a revisit:
their fifth of twenty (debut released in 2012 !!)..
Aussie psychedelic rock band...
some of their material on other albums is just so 'out there' it would make the '60s bands blush!
this one is more acoustically sounding than their other albums and easier to listen to.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

favourite:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL McCARTNEY "McCartney III" cd, 2020.

had this one on in the car over the last four or five days to really give it a good listen...
recorded in 'rockdown' as Paul called it...
given the "McCartney" title because he did everything (well, had another muso on one track)...
eleven tracks ranging from folk to pop thru rock, grunge, funk and 'drum & bass' type tunes...
typical McCartney for the most part (as in highly catchy, infectious and full of simple riffs)...
so, eleven tracks, three i do not like and havent since it was released...
five i love ("winter bird/when winter comes", "long tailed winter bird", "seize the day", "the kiss of venus"  and "deep down"),
the rest are good.
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

okay, so i get it, his voice isnt what it was but this is still a gorgeous love song:






The kiss of Venus has got me on the go
She's scored a bullseye in the early morning glow
Early morning glow

Packed with illusions, our world is turned around
This golden circle has a most harmonic sound
Harmonic sound

And in the sunshine where we stand alone
We came together with our secrets blown
Our secrets blown

Now moving slowly, we circle through the square
Two passing planets in the sweet, sweet summer air
Sweet summer air

And in the sunshine where we stand alone
We came together with our secrets blown
Our secrets blown

Reflected mountains in the lake
Is this too much to take?
Asleep or wide awake?
And if the world begins to shake
Would something have to break?
We have to stay awake

Packed with illusions, our world is turned around
This golden circle has a most harmonic sound
Harmonic sound

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS  "carnage"  cd, 2021

both longtime collaborators in Bad Seeds/Grinderman....
album is very atmospheric, deep, dark and foreboding with ominous musical overtones...
lyrics are about loneliness, sorrow, isolation...
think of "skeleton key" and "ghosteen" for comparisons...
songs could, for the most part, be about Cave's continued grieving for the loss of his son or equally, the whole Covid lockdown dramas, or a combination of both....
an excellent album indeed and up to what would be expected of Nick Cave.
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

favourite: 






The white hunter sits on his porch
With his elephant gun and his tears
He'll shoot you for free if you come around here
A protester kneels on the neck of a statue
The statue says "I can't breathe"
The protester says "Now you know how it feels"
And he kicks it into the sea

I am a Botticelli Venus with a penis
Riding an enormous scalloped fan
I'm a sea foam woman rising from the spray
And I'm coming to do you harm
With a gun in my pants full of elephant tears
And a seahorse on each arm
With my elephant gun of tears I'll shoot you all for free
If you even think about coming round here
I'll shoot you in the fucking face
If you think of coming around here

I'm an ice sculpture melting in the sun
I'm an ice sculpture with an elephant gun
I'm an ice sculpture made of elephant-sized tears
Raining gas and salt upon your heads
The president has called in the Feds
I've been planning this for years
I'll shoot you in the fucking face
If you think of coming around here
I'll shoot you for just for fun
I'm a statue lying on my side, in the sun
With the memory of an elephant
Evaporating before your eyes
And becoming a great grey cloud of wrath
Roaring my salt upon the earth
I will shoot you all for free if you so much as look at me

A time is coming
A time is nigh
For the kingdom
In the sky
Don't ask who
Don't ask why
There's a kingdom in the sky
We're all coming home
For a while
A time is coming
A time is nigh

[CRAZY-HORSE]

DROPKICK MURPHYS  "going out in style"

a revisit:
from Boston,
their seventh and my favourite...
punk rock meets Celtic folk...
thrashing punk guitars and attitude mixed with banjos, fiddles and accordions (think Slade's "run runaway" as a comparison)...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

lead off single and title track:





I've seen a lot of sights and traveled many miles
Shook a thousand hands and seen my share of smiles
I've caused some great concern and told one too many lies
And now I see the world through these sad, old, jaded eyes

So what if I threw a party and all my friends were there?
Acquaintances, relatives, the girls who never cared
You'll have a host of rowdy hooligans in a big line out the door
Side by side with sister barbara, chief wells and bobby orr
I'd invite the flannigans
Replace the window you smashed out
I'd apologize to sluggo for pissing on his couch
I'll see mrs. mcauliffe and so many others soon
Then I'll say I'm sorry for what I did sleepwalking in her room

So what if I threw a party and invited Mayor Menino?
He'd tell you to get a permit
Well this time tom I don't think so
It's a neighborhood reunion
But now we'd get along
Van Morrison would be there and he'd sang me one last song
With a backup band of bass players to keep us up all night
Three handsome four string troubadours and Newton's old Fat Mike
I'll be in the can having a smoke with Garv and Johnny Fitz
But there's a backup in the bathroom 'cause the badger's got the shits

You may bury me with an enemy in mount calvary
You can stack me on a pyre and soak me down with whiskey
Roast me to a blackened crisp and throw me in a pile
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
You can take my urn to fenway spread my ashes all about
Or you can bring me down to wolly beach and dump the sucker out
Burn me to a rotten crisp and toast me for a while
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style

Make me up dress me up, feed me a big old shot
Of embalming fluid highballs so i don't start to rot
Now take me to Mcgreevy's, i wanna buy one final round
What cheap prick would peel an orange in his pocket
Then hurry up and suck 'em down

If there's a god the girls you loved will all come walking through the door
Maybe they'll feel bad for me and this stiff will finally score
You've got the bed already
And nerve and courage too
Cause i've been slugging from a stash of desi queally's 1980s bathtub brew

You may bury me with an enemy in mount calvary
You can stack me on a pyre and soak me down with whiskey
Roast me to a blackened crisp and throw me in a pile
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
You can take my urn to fenway spread my ashes all about
Or you can bring me down to wolly beach and dump the sucker out
Burn me to a rotten crisp and toast me for a while
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style

You may bury me with an enemy in mount calvary
You can stack me on a pyre and soak me down with whiskey
Roast me to a blackened crisp and throw me in a pile
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
You can take my urn to fenway spread my ashes all about
Or you can bring me down to wolly beach and dump the sucker out
Burn me to a rotten crisp and toast me for a while
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style....

[CRAZY-HORSE]

DAVID BOWIE  "EART HL I NG" cd, 1997.

his 21st solo album (23rd if you count the two Tin Machine albums)...
album is really alternative as it just doesnt fit anywhere else but also could fit everywhere..
drum n bass, disco, hard rock, alternative, electro-punk, this album has it all...
basically i tell people this is his version of Prodigy's "fat of the land" to sum it up...
album must be played loud to totally appreciate it and it just gets better with age...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

lead off single is not my favorite on the album but i thought others on the forum might be more responsive if it is mentioned this track was co-written/produced by Brian Eno.






Johnny's in America, no tax at the wheel
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
No-one needs anyone, they don't even just pretend
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Johnny's in America....


I'm afraid of Americans
I'm afraid of the world
I'm afraid I can't help it
I'm afraid I can't
(repeat)

Johnny's in America
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Johnny wants a brain, Johnny wants to suck on a coke
Johnny wants a woman, Johnny wants to think of a joke
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Johnny's in America (ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah).

I'm afraid of Americans
I'm afraid of the world
I'm afraid I can't help it
I'm afraid I can't
(repeat)

Johnny's in America, Johnny looks up at the stars
Johnny combs his hair and Johnny wants pussy in cars
Johnny's in America (ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah)
Johnny's in America (ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah).

I'm afraid of Americans
I'm afraid of the world
I'm afraid I can't help it
I'm afraid I can't  
(repeat)

God is an American