Post #100

Are we doing anything special for post #100?  Absolutely not. 


Instead, these albums were supposed to be reviewed in 2010 but somehow I never got around to it. So now I am.  

• Bad Religion - All Ages (1995).  This is one of those bands I can't get into as a whole, but they have moments of complete, transcendent political punk rawk brilliance.  Matz would hate this review, but I doubt he reads this thing (although Tommy might give him the heads up).  It has been claimed that this is the best of their first six albums; if so, I'm thankful I never bought any of them.  Quite simply, this album pisses me off because I really want it to be great, and it's just not.  Even "The Answer" slogs in comparison to the brilliant live version that came on the bonus disc of Recipe for Hate.  It's not Peaches-level terrible, but there is simply nothing remarkable or memorable about this album in the least, with the exception of "Generator" and "Faith Alone."  
  Verdict:  It angers me further that I can't even get the satisfaction of throwing this coaster into the Pile of Death because of two songs.  The final affront to me:  Sell-back Pile 1.

• John Cale - Black Acetate (2005).  Most musicians start as aggressive and noisy, and slowly mellow over time.  Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale is one of two notable artists (Richard Thompson being the other) who have gone in the opposite direction.  (One note:  you need to listen to this album loudly, and in order, for this review to make sense.)  This album is quirky:  it starts out as a little experimental and warbling, and rolls along a smart, cool, light guitar/electronic ambient groove. You're getting ready for your warm milk and bunny slippers after seven songs; Cale is in the pocket and it's just thoroughly pleasant.  Song 8 ("Perfect") starts in the same vein... and then Cale launches the album into rock.  It's jarring; in context of the album it is a lawnmower being dropped into a field of bunnies.  And then the second phase of the album begins -- he has your attention front and center now.  "Sold Motel" -- solid rock now, no muss, no fuss.  "Woman" -- he lulls you in with a quirky, soft open, as if returning to the ambient portion of the album, then brings back the jackhammer and starts bellowing again.  It's like a moth that's now been drawn to a flame:  the lilty electronics are still there, but he cannot escape drowning it in electric guitar.  By the time the second last track ("Turn the Lights On") plays, you find yourself out on the sidewalk, yelling Gealic curses at random passers-by.  "Mailman" mercifully ends the onslaught with a slow, jangly dirge to end the album.  And, somehow, the whole damn thing works together.  Out of context, is this the rockiest album ever?  Absolutely not -- it's low to mid tempo -- but in context it's pretty heavy and inexorable.  Wash the dishes on the first listen and see what I mean.  
  Verdict:  Where'd that truck come from?  Car CD Changer.

• Editors - The Back Room (2006).   Eric Lax got me into these guys in 2009, so I went backwards to this album.  It's great from the very beginning.  Think dreamy pop meets Joy Division, essentially, with guitar delay/echo effects.  Lyrics:  "Lights" -- "If fortune favors the brave/I am as poor as they come"; "Munich" -- "People are fragile things/you should know by now/Be careful what you put them through"; and "Blood" -- "Blood runs through your veins/That's where our similarities end."  This album is worth it for "Munich" and "Blood" alone, but it's so much better than just that. 
  Verdict:  Car CD Changer.
  
  
• King Crimson - Discipline (1981).  A cult legend, Discipline is the album equivalent of a couple of famous song makeovers in the early 80's:  Golden Earring producing "Twilight Zone" in 1982 (eight years after "Radar Love") and Yes creating "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (nine years after "Roundabout").  In King Crimson's case, this album was twelve years after their opus In the Court of the Crimson King.  It also starts the industrial meets prog rock focus for Crimson over the next 15 years (through four albums).  Why it's revered:  it's a complete re-start of the band, plus technically Fripp's guitar playing is simply masterful.  Why it doesn't hold up against 1982's Beat or 1984's Three of a Perfect Pair:  it's not as cohesive a storyline.  So while Discipline may still be more historically relevant to fans who heard it in 1981, when it was completely out of left field (say, like The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band), I'll still go back an listen to Three of a a Perfect Pair first because it holds up better as an album over time (like The Beatles' Abbey Road or the good half of The White Album).  In other words:  still an excellent album, but they improved as time went along.
  Verdict:  Portable CD Case.

• Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family - Na Teef Know the Road of Teef (1973).  It's really tough to confuse Boston, MA, with Paris, France, but Amazon managed to do so. I'm sure they straightened this out for the world music fan in France who was supposed to get it, but in the meantime Amazon told me, "Just keep it."  I see why now.  I exaggerate, as it's not terrible; just not my cup of tea.  
  Verdict:  Pile of Death.

• The Sheila Divine - Where Have My Countrymen Gone (2001). Moira and Kevin turned me on to these guys a few years back, this was their second album.  I'd say "final," except that they released an EP in 2002, and will be releasing a new album this year (the first video from it is here).  This album is a well produced, smart, generally laid-back exercise in indie rock; one great song ("Ostrich"), plenty of very good ones, and overall not a dud in the bunch.  Definitely something I'll be listening to again soon.
  Verdict:  Portable CD Case.

• Social Distortion - Mainliner:  Wreckage from the Past  (1981, 1995). Social D's answer to All Ages.  It's better than that, but is really for Social Distortion completists only who want to hear the band in its infancy, or what their cover of "Under My Thumb" sounded like 15 years before they put it on a proper album.  It's not as raw as you'd expect, which means the lack of polish is less forgivable.
  Verdict:  CD Rack.  

• Sun Dial - Libertine (1993).  I'm not sure whether I love this band or not, but I certainly own a lot of music from them.  They're mostly psychedelic rock, except when they're not.  They're both prolific and obscure (at least in the U.S.).  And they're the proud owner of one of the all-time great psychedelic albums, Other Way Out.  This is yet another great album by these guys:  a variety of sounds, capturing "their" sound without being completely repetitive.  That being said, this album requires patience -- it does not immediately open up on the first listen.  It's actually the third post I've pushed this review back to, as I kept coming up inconclusive.  It's smart and well-thought out, well-placed sounds throughout.  I think I like it.  Maybe a few more listens....
  Verdict:  Portable CD Case. 

- Snilch (now known as "Snilch 100")

Face-Off!

Well, I just made this format up, so we'll see how it goes. The premise here is that I've recently listened to two albums by either the same band or bands that have something in common, and I'll tell you which one is better, worse, or just lame out and push. (I'm good like that.)

Here we go, in completely arbitrary order:

• King Crimson: Beat (1982) VS Thrak (1995). In this corner, in the blue and pink trunks, we have Beat -- part two of the three part Discipline/Beat/Three of a Perfect Pair troika that King Crimson offered from 1981-1984 as part of a re-found identity of progressive rock meeting industrial pop. In the other corner, in the midnight blue and gunmetal grey trunks, is Thrak -- their first album since 1984 and ostensibly the partfour continuation of the three part series. At its simplest level, the comparison is as easy as their one-word titles: Beat is a real word; Thrak is made up. Beat sounds like a band in their prime making vital music; Thrak sounds like a band imitating their former selves. Beat is self-indulgence with a means to an end; Thrak is just self-indulgence.
  Verdict: TKO. Beat goes into the Portable CD Case; Thrak goes into Sell-back Pile 1. (Note: If I had never heard TOAPP or Beat, I'd keep Thrak; I've just heard them do better than this album.)
• Billy Duffy side projects: Circus Diablo - Circus Diablo VS Coloursøund -Coloursøund (1999). We match The Cult guitarist Billy Duffy's side projects: both self-titled offerings that begin with the letter 'C.' Circus Diablo (which includes The Cult and Guns 'N Roses' Matt Sorum) sounds like it was intended to blow off steam more than anything; it's literally The Cult meets mainstream pop. It's a pretty safe attempt musically, harmless and inoffensive but fun. Coloursøund (which includes The Alarm's Mike Peters) sounds like it was intended to blow off steam more than anything; it's literally The Cult meets The Alarm meets unbelievably clichéd lyrics. It's a pretty safe attempt musically, harmless and inoffensive but fun; the lyrics really hold this album back.
  Verdict: There are no winners here, only a reviewer who has wasted time and money. Coloursøund wins a split decision over virtually identical twin Circus Diablo, but we stopped caring long ago. Better lyrics would keep Coloursøund in the CD Rack; instead it crumbles to Sell-Back Pile 1.
• J Church: Nostalgic for Nothing (1995) VS Arbor Vitae (1995). The late, greatLance Hahn (who I reviewed here) will never get his due. He passed away a little over a year ago, and it's too bad that the music he brought to the world (as J Church is really just Lance with various rotating band members) still resides in virtual obscurity -- he really added a great melodic element to hardcore, or a nice hardcore edge to grunge, however you want to slice it. These two albums are a couple of his best efforts (although 2000's One Mississippi is [IMHO] his opus) but have very different approaches. Nostalgic for Nothing is consistently good for all 26 tracks; Lance tells weird off-kilter stories throughout an album that does not have his typical highs and lows (although "Hypothesis" is a standout). But a consistently excellent album with covers of Nick Lowe, Duran Duran, and Morrissey is a formidable beast. Arbor Vitae, on the other hand, exposes one of Lance's pet writing tricks: start with a typical 3-chord riff, then throw in an unbelievable hook and/or harmony waist-deep into the song. You go from generic to transcendent in 3.2 seconds -- I've never quite heard anything like it done so successfully AND repeatedly. "Church on Fire" is epic; "Waiting on the Ground" and "Sinking Seas" are also great. But the album is also good overall; not as consistent as NFN, but a good album nonetheless.
  Verdict: One ring, two champions. You really can't go wrong either way (or with One Mississippi), but the edge (and controversial Don King-influenced decision) goes toNFN. Both go into the Portable CD Case.
• Rich Hopkins and Luminarios: Devolver (2000) VS The Best and Worst of the Luminarios (2004). Now it may seem odd to pit an individual album against that same band's greatest hits, but I think it's justified in this case. Devolver is supposed to be Rich Hopkins' (former Sand Rubies lead guitarist) opus -- so both should be equally good. The first three songs of Devolver start off with a lot of promise, but at this point the album could still go either way. Track four ("Elaine") is not a good turning point: Rich Hopkins' pet trick is a guitar lick that I've heard him use a dozen times on a dozen different albums. I draw one of two conclusions for this: 1) he wrote this lick when he was eight, and has been trying to (unsuccessfully) write the perfect song for it ever since, or 2) he includes a song with it on every album as his "signature." Either way... it's not very interesting or inspired to hear it over and over again. By track eight ("Tres Amigos") it's clear the album is not a great one; it's all fallen apart by this point. By the time The Best and Worst enters the arena, Devolver has collapsed in the corner as a self-indulgent puddle of gelatin. The Best and Worst is all you'll ever need.
  Verdict: The Best and Worst wins without throwing a punch. It ends up in the CD Rack;Devolver in the pile of death.

- Snilch