|
Unsung Forum » Great Commercial Suicide Albums |
Log In to post a reply
|
|
|
|
| Topic View: Flat | Threaded | |
|
Daniel 277 posts |
May 12, 2011, 18:41
|
||
Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs. Don't panic it's a good album.
|
|||
FifePsy 540 posts |
Edited May 12, 2011, 19:57
May 12, 2011, 19:56
|
||
|
Stevo wrote: Piquiod wrote: Muddy Waters - Electric Mud...either unifying the blues w/ the 60's kids, or alienating from his older mainstream base...wild album Funny this, think it was an idea from the record company to make him seem more current. So, it had the opposite intention. Not sure why it would be 'needed' at that point? Black audience not counted? possibly getting more into Soul etc at the time. & young white audience much more relevant? Think it sounds better if you forget it being about the singer. Backing band grooves are very interesting & feature a pre-Miles Pete Cosey. They repeated the experiment about 6 months later with Howlin Wolf which i just found out has been reissued on cd on Get on Down, thought it was vinyl only on Light In The Attic. Was the Endless Boogie lp a further attempt at something similar tried with John Lee Hooker? Stevo I love this album but then again i'm not a lover of purist Blues. I was reading the sleeve notes to this recently which were quite illuminating. It came about at the behest of Marshall Chess who was the 26 year old son of Chess founder Leonard Chess. Marshall had embraced the psych age - he mentions Leary etc - and started the Cadet Concept label whose first release by Rotary Connection was a huge success for Chess Records. As he says it gave him 'the keys to the studio'. The sleeve notes suggest that Waters career had peaked in the 50s and it had been 10 years since he had any major hit. Marshall had noticed that Hendrix was performing Hoochie Coochie Man and so came up with the idea of Electric Mud using the Chess studio band (Cosey/Upchurch/Satterfield etc). Apparently the album was a big success financially and revived Muddy's career when he was in danger of becoming an elder statesman who couldn't sell to his own community and was revered by a small coterie of collector purists. Of course it was the latter (and the critics) who hated it. Marshall Chess considered the studio band as by inclination one of the most avant-garde black group of musicians in Chicago and not really blues guys. I've just started to read George Lewis's book 'A Power Stronger Than Itself - The AACM and American Experimental Music' and its interesting how these guys were all part of this scene as well. Good news that the Howlin Wolf one is re-released on CD as well - thanks Stevo.
|
|||
|
FifePsy 540 posts |
May 12, 2011, 19:58
|
||
|
Daniel wrote: Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs. Don't panic it's a good album. Fripptastic!
|
|||
Fatalist 1123 posts |
May 12, 2011, 20:20
|
||
Funny, I've been away for a few days, but found myself pondering a similar subject - 'next biggest thing' bands that utterly failed to deliver - that led me onto a prime example a band taking a glorious wrong turn: Mansun's Six album. I wasn't a huge fan of their debut (Attack of the Grey Lantern, rubbish title) but I really liked the lead single from Six (the distinctly Police-like Being a Girl), so took a punt... Blimey, with a sound that's Pro-Tooled within an inch of its life, it swings wildly between genius and unlistenable, often within the same song, but it ain't half ambitious/odd - imagine if the Manics had done OK Computer. Topped off with this atrocity of a sleeve http://www.a-reminder.org/music/?p=2425 - like Pendragon, only worse - it's no surprise that it sank their chances of before they'd even really got going. Their third and final album was lacklustre, tail-between-the-legs wimp rock - lead single 'I Can Only Disappoint You' said it all...
|
|||
IanB 6761 posts |
Edited May 12, 2011, 21:18
May 12, 2011, 21:16
|
||
|
Fatalist wrote: Funny, I've been away for a few days, but found myself pondering a similar subject - 'next biggest thing' bands that utterly failed to deliver - that led me onto a prime example a band taking a glorious wrong turn: Mansun's Six album. I wasn't a huge fan of their debut (Attack of the Grey Lantern, rubbish title) but I really liked the lead single from Six (the distinctly Police-like Being a Girl), so took a punt... Blimey, with a sound that's Pro-Tooled within an inch of its life, it swings wildly between genius and unlistenable, often within the same song, but it ain't half ambitious/odd - imagine if the Manics had done OK Computer. Topped off with this atrocity of a sleeve http://www.a-reminder.org/music/?p=2425 - like Pendragon, only worse - it's no surprise that it sank their chances of before they'd even really got going. Their third and final album was lacklustre, tail-between-the-legs wimp rock - lead single 'I Can Only Disappoint You' said it all... I love Six. It is an absurd record but packed with tunes and ideas that range from genius to idiocy. Not sure if they were going after the Marillion / Porc Tree audience but the cover suggests as much. Whoever did it was no Mark Wilkinson though. Still, if Radiohead had turned in a record like that after The Bends the chairs of every rock critic would have been wet with excitement but Radiohead would never have dared to risk being that uncool. I am not even sure they had the collective musical talent to make a record as ridiculous as Six. A limited arsenal can certainly help rein things in.
|
|||
|
Fatalist 1123 posts |
May 12, 2011, 21:34
|
||
|
IanB wrote: Fatalist wrote: Funny, I've been away for a few days, but found myself pondering a similar subject - 'next biggest thing' bands that utterly failed to deliver - that led me onto a prime example a band taking a glorious wrong turn: Mansun's Six album. I wasn't a huge fan of their debut (Attack of the Grey Lantern, rubbish title) but I really liked the lead single from Six (the distinctly Police-like Being a Girl), so took a punt... Blimey, with a sound that's Pro-Tooled within an inch of its life, it swings wildly between genius and unlistenable, often within the same song, but it ain't half ambitious/odd - imagine if the Manics had done OK Computer. Topped off with this atrocity of a sleeve http://www.a-reminder.org/music/?p=2425 - like Pendragon, only worse - it's no surprise that it sank their chances of before they'd even really got going. Their third and final album was lacklustre, tail-between-the-legs wimp rock - lead single 'I Can Only Disappoint You' said it all... I love Six. It is an absurd record but packed with tunes and ideas that range from genius to idiocy. Not sure if they were going after the Marillion / Porc Tree audience but the cover suggests as much. Whoever did it was no Mark Wilkinson though. Still, if Radiohead had turned in a record like that after The Bends the chairs of every rock critic would have been wet with excitement but Radiohead would never have dared to risk being that uncool. I am not even sure they had the collective musical talent to make a record as ridiculous as Six. A limited arsenal can certainly help rein things in. Yes, Six is deeply uncool, which somehow defines its appeal to me. It did get some very serious reviews at the time, but it was clearly too much of a right turn for their pre-existing fanbase, while being too proggy and downright challenging even for the post-OK Computer audience.
|
|||
Dog 3000 4611 posts |
Edited May 12, 2011, 21:38
May 12, 2011, 21:38
|
||
|
Actually the Monkees started pissing away their careers with "Headquarters", their third LP which is the only one where they really do "play their own instruments" (except for the bass by producer Chip Douglas.) They had hit after hit with the Don Kirshner assembly line, but got it into their heads they should actually be the band on the records since they were a band on TV. Their career just gets wackier (and less popular) from that moment on -- second season of the TV series is a lot weirder than the first, that crazy "HEAD" movie, and then their final TV special "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" -- they didn't have much career left by 1969 (TV show cancelled), and after that psychedelic mess was presented, the 2nd and 3rd of their proposed primetime specials were canceled. Peter Tork quit, their singles stopped charting, and they ended up appearing as a trio doing lame comedy skits on Johnny Carson . . . out with a whimper! But I love it that they "got in the spirit of the sixties" and rebelled against the Hollywood suits in the name of "ART". Hey, they were young and stoned all the time!
|
|||
|
Dog 3000 4611 posts |
Edited May 12, 2011, 21:50
May 12, 2011, 21:49
|
||
|
Walker Brothers "Night Flights" (just the Scott songs) Liars "They Were Wrong So We Drowned" MC5 "Back In The USA" (sounds like a "sellout" to me! Tiny, tinny pop tunes like a more subversive version of The Monkees. Didn't sell nearly as well as the debut.) The Guess Who "So Long Bannatyne" (their weirdest LP from 1971, though it did score a minor hit "Rain Dance" -- after the huge run of top 10 smashes leading up to this, it was end of the line for big hits.) Bob Dylan "John Wesley Harding" (not at all what fans expected in 1967 and containing no hit singles. I would further say THIS is the album that started the whole "softer adulter rock" movement that leads to "Sweetheart of the Rodeo", Crosby Stills & Nash, The Eagles, James Taylor, etc. BUT "JWH" is a great Dylan album in spite of what in inspired . . . ) Lou Reed "Metal Machine Music" (of course!) Neil Young -- lots of times!! ;-) Emerson Lake & Palmer "Works Vol. 1" (no actually it stinks! "Love Beach" is much more enjoyable!) Styx "Kilroy Was Here" (just kidding! It ended their career cuz it SUXX.)
|
|||
|
keith a 9574 posts |
May 12, 2011, 22:50
|
||
Yeah, a glorious single. Bad timing maybe, the album coming out a few months after this was a hit?
|
|||
|
keith a 9574 posts |
Edited May 12, 2011, 22:59
May 12, 2011, 22:55
|
||
|
Fatalist wrote: Funny, I've been away for a few days, but found myself pondering a similar subject - 'next biggest thing' bands that utterly failed to deliver - that led me onto a prime example a band taking a glorious wrong turn: Mansun's Six album. I wasn't a huge fan of their debut (Attack of the Grey Lantern, rubbish title) but I really liked the lead single from Six (the distinctly Police-like Being a Girl), so took a punt... Blimey, with a sound that's Pro-Tooled within an inch of its life, it swings wildly between genius and unlistenable, often within the same song, but it ain't half ambitious/odd - imagine if the Manics had done OK Computer. Topped off with this atrocity of a sleeve http://www.a-reminder.org/music/?p=2425 - like Pendragon, only worse - it's no surprise that it sank their chances of before they'd even really got going. Their third and final album was lacklustre, tail-between-the-legs wimp rock - lead single 'I Can Only Disappoint You' said it all... Whoaaa!! I love that third album! It might not be as proggy as Six but there was nothing wimpy about it. I Can Only Disappoint U was a truly fabulous 45. Reminded me of the Associates for some reason! Edit: Six actually did well - top 10.
|
| Pages: 8 – [ Previous | 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 8 | Next ] | Add a reply to this topic |
|
|
|
| Unsung Forum Index | |
