This is an album from the early 90s, when I was still in high school. Back when music was in a downward/inward vibe. I loved this album but I had it on cassette. I remember seeing the videos for the singles on MTV. Yes they actually played music videos on Music Video Television. I liked the first single, Losing My Religion, but it was so down. The video was especially interesting though. I don’t want to dissect the video but it was not as much of a story but more of a video collage. I liked the second, Shinny Happy People, single more because one of the girls from The B-52’s did a guest appearance on the track. I really liked her voice. I think that it was the fourth single, Radio Song, that I liked after that. It did not do very well here in the USA. It featured KRS-One doing some backing vocals and he did some rapping in the song too. I had some respect for KRS-One. He was one of the pioneers for the late 80s rap scene. I never purchased any of his solo work but I had heard it and liked what I heard a lot. I was a kid at the time and could not get everything I wanted. This is a great album and there are songs that touched my heart and made me happy. There are a lot of people out there that are putting this band down right now. But, If you go back and listen to the albums that they put out you will realize that they are brilliant albums and are important to the history of music.
Cream – Wheels of Fire
Obviously the greatest song off this album is White Room. It really is a great song. The rest of the album comes in second to me. There are some really great jams on this album but they are shadowed by this one song. There is a second LP of live music included with this album. I think that this was included because they are more of a live jam band than a studio group. The four songs that are on that second disk are really great versions of their songs but they can get a bit tiring because they are so long. There are some great parts in those live songs but you have to live through some of the lagging stuff to get to them. There are some ridiculously long drum solos for example. It is all in all a great album. I want to get its predecessor. There are some great tracks on that as well.
R.E.M. – Fables of The Reconstruction
The first single from the album is a jumpy danceable pop song called Can’t Get There From Here. It is a reference to the rural colloquialism used to give directions to travelers. The second single from this album is called Driver 8. This is an abstract reference to train stations. Since trains are a big point in most American rock the group decided to give it a go. It went with great success on the radio. I was a young kid at the time of this songs release and I remember it very well. There was a third single from this album but it did not do very well and was only released in the UK. I loved the singles off this album but the rest of the album is only OK. It is hard to give any reference to any of the other tracks when the singles stand out so much.
R.E.M. – Murmur
Although Chronic Town was the bands first release, it was an EP, Murmur was the bands first full length album. I was so excited when I found a copy of this album used at Half Priced Books. My knees almost gave out on me. It is not that I need to have these records. It is more that I am chasing after a feeling that the music gives me. It is easily categorized as nostalgia. I had a conversation with a friend of mine a while back. He said that there are three things that he is trying to accomplish right now. I should re state that. There are three categories that things are falling under for him at the moment. One, projects that fall under for the maker or for god. Two, personal projects for today or the now projects. These things may be physical fitness or planning for the future. The third thing is “the feeling” or nostalgia related things. Music has always been important to me. I think that my chasing after music falls under the third thing but writing music falls under the first thing. This is difficult for me because it is so easy to just sit back and listen to music but it takes so much more effort for me to sit down and write and record some music. This is the way that life is though. Work is hard and nothing gets done if you just sit around and listen to music. Anyway, Radio Free Europe was the only single released from this album.
Led Zeppelin – I
I listened to this album with my son for the first time. It was a fantastic experience. The both of us had never heard the album from start to beginning. I had heard the songles off the album of course but never the whole album let alone all the way through. From the first riff off the first track my son says, “Wow, I like this. No, I mean I really like this a lot!” I said to him that this is what rock and roll is supposed to be. He then said to me that he wants this on his iPod. I told him that we had to record it first. Then we can put it on your iPod.
They were formerly The New Yardbirds because of a contractual obligation to tour Scandinavia. After that obligation was fulfilled they changed their name to Led Zeppelin. There was only one track, Good Times Bad Times, that was officially released as a single but every song is well known enough off the album that they all could have been released as singles.
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
The same can probably be said about this album. There was only one track, Trampled Under Foot, that was officially released as a single but every song is well known enough off the album that they all could have been released as singles. The song that, IMHO, everyone knows around the world is Kashmir. There is something so sexy about this song. It just washes over you. To me it is the sonic equivilant of soft red velvit. I couldn’t wear it but I love to touch it and there is something about a deep red color that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also really like that first single that was released off this record. I have a thing for the disco sound and Trampled Under Foot has that great sound. I think that it is because of the clavinet that was used on the track. It gives it that cool funk feel. John Paul Jones gives credit to Stevie Wonder for the song Superstition.
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
I listened to this album for the first time ever today. I recognized 2 tracks from the album. They were Ziggy Star dust and Suffregette City. I remember the first because of the guitar riff in the beginning of the song. There is something about that riff that is so simple and brash at the same time. I couldn’t pin this on any other artist. I mean, I don’t think that any other artist has done any thing with that type of riff and that sound together. On the other track, Suffergette City, this song has been used as an influence for many artists. It has that smooth swagger but pushes forward or chugs along. Kiss has this feeling frequently through their rock songs. I read that there is a line on the back of the jacket that reads, “TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME”. This line was removed from the re-released in 1999. Luckly, my pressing still has that line. I think this is hilarious and it now makes for a great collectors piece. The rest of the album is good and I am sure that it will get better with time. This is the way it is usually for me. By the way, I know the two singles that I mentioned very well but I could not place where or when I had heard them the most. I think that I have probably heard Suffregette City on the radio because of my dad but can’t pin it on that exactly.
That is it for now.
Signing Off
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