R.E.M. R.E.M.
My first introduction to R.E.M. were the songs So. Central Rain and (Don't Go Back to) Rockville, two perfect popsongs with a high goose flesh factor. But I never got around to buying an R.E.M. album until 1988. Got this one later, mainly because of those 2 songs. The album sounds clear and open, but that is deceptive because Stipe's lyrics are obscure and unintelligible as always, and when you listen more closely, the songs are more complex than you first thought. This album is R.E.M.'S garage pop at its best, with a combination of melancholy and more rocking songs. It became a hit on the American underground college radio stations, and sowed the seeds for the band's later success. My favourite R.E.M. album.
R.E.M.'s breakthrough album with the hitsingle The One I Love, a song misunderstood by a lot of people, just like The Smashing Pumpkins' Today... both songs sounding deceivingly happy but with very dark lyrics. The production of this album sounds far more polished and mainstream, but underneath that shiny surface you will find political statements, jangling guitars, beautiful melodies and Stipe's weird lyrics. The album offers a wide variety of songs and sounds, going from the very poppy The One I Love to the energetic stream-of-conscious rant It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine), from the dark Fireplace to a King of Birds with citar and bells. A sound always embelished by Mike Mills' sparkling backing vocals.
Again an album with a wide diversity of songs, but this time a bit too inconsistent. Some of my favourite R.E.M. songs are on this album, but also a few that didn't stand the test of time. The album goes back and forth between poppy, upbeat songs like Pop Song 89 and Stand, and intimate, beautifully arranged songs like (a favourite) World Leader Pretend and Hairshirt. Get Up has a combination of wonderful Beatle-esque aaaaaaah backing vocals, a rather irritating guitar and verse, but a beautiful chorus. You Are Everything and The Wrong Child are acoustic songs that teeter on the edge of being plain boring. In conclusion, too much ups and downs to be a really good album.
I don't really know what to say about this album, as I never really managed to get into it, and didn't really feel the urge to listen to it enough to really understand. It sounds dark and depressed to me, and what I miss most are those typical perfect R.E.M. popsongs, with the jangling guitars, the good hook and the wonderful harmonies. But well, this special edition CD is nice to have with its box and beautiful booklet, Suspicion is a beautiful song after all, and there's also the single Daysleeper. R.E.M. wants to go into another direction, but the turn sounds a bit forced.
Radio Birdman
Even though The Saints are considered to be the godfathers of Australian punk, this rather obscure band was far more influential for the Australian punk scene. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger (a name that often pops up when Australian music is concerned) were heavily influenced by MC5 and The Stooges, also judging by the opener of the album, a cover of The Stooges' T.V. Eye. Unfortunately that is the only song on this album that I don't like (too raw, too loud), but other than that I was completely blown away by it. An enormous power goes out from the raw but warm voice of Rob Younger and the hurricane force of the guitars. The music is at the same time warm and chilling, and slightly frightening. My absolute favourite song is Man With Golden Helmet, a song with the aforementioned warm sound, but rather disturbing lyrics, provoking images of scorched Australian landscapes and child molesters. The song is followed by another highlight, Descent into the Maelstrom, sounding as overpowering as its title. There's no way of describing this music accurately... it's not only punk music, it's also bluesy and swampy with a soft melancholy edge sometimes. Even though the album is more than 20 years old, it doesn't sound dated at all, and is worth a listen. It used to be hard to find, but now there is a Radio Birdman compilation on CD available.
No matter how overwhelmed I was by Radios Appear, this album didn't click with me at all. I later found out the story of this album: recorded in Wales, but when the band went back to Australia and broke up, the master tapes went missing. The album has been mastered from a cassette tape. Later the master tapes were discovered in the recording studio, and a proper release was done. Apparantly the new polished up release just screams out of your speakers, but this album version I got sounds rather flat. Nevertheless, More Fun is an archetypical punk-surf-song with that Radio Birdman twist, t p b r combo does refer back to Radios Appear, Iskender Time and Time to Fall give a hint of what this album would be when mastered properly, and Smith and Wesson Blues is a chilling song in the true style of Man With Golden Helmet (without the scorching heat). Maybe I should try to find that Radio Birdman compilation...
So I went after that The Essential Radio Birdman compilation, and found it at Amazon. The Sub Pop record label released it for the American market, as the Americans hadn't seen a proper Radio Birdman release for 20 years, which means they still had to do with somtimes crappy vinyl. This compilation offers 22 songs, most of the material of Radios Appear, a few tracks from the E.P. Burn My Eye, a selection of Living Eyes and a few live songs from the More Fun E.P. The only minus point of this compilation is that the tracks aren't sequenced in chronological order, but if you don't know the Radio Birdman albums, you won't even notice that, as it all melds together very well. And a big plus point is that all the songs have been meticulously remastered by the Sub Pop people, and boy, it sounds GREAT!! Now I have overcome my dislike of the material of Living Eyes, and my thesis in that review that my dislike was caused by the bad sound quality, has been proven right. The sound quality here is so good, that if you were told these songs were recorded last year instead of 20 years ago, you would believe it without a doubt. But of course it's not only the remastering that can take credit for this, there's also the quality of the songs themselves. There isn't one dud on this compilation, all the songs are strong and powerful, from the opening eruption called Aloha Steve & Danno to the three excellent live tracks that close the album. And even though this band has always been referred to as 'the Godfathers of Australian punk', there's so much more to their music than just punk. It's always punk drenched in pop, with hooks that get chiseled in your brains, but with the pure and raw energy of punk. And when they go for the slow songs, you're always in for a treat, Love Kills and especially Man With Golden Helmet (more blues than punk, sounding a bit like The Doors) definitely belong to the best tracks of the album. It makes you wonder why Radio Birdman weren't more successful as far as sales figures are concerned, this band could have made it big time. But apparently they were the right band at the wrong time, as they earned a lot of respect. Just browse through the catalogue of Australian 70's and 80's independent rock music, and you'll see the names Younger, Tek and Masuak pop up nearly everywhere. One final thing about this CD that I enjoyed very much, is the beautiful artwork with interesting liner notes. I cherish my vinyl albums of this band, but this compilation is a valuable and usable acquisition for my collection.
Radiohead Radiohead doesn't have the effect on me that it appears to have on lots of other people, I think it's great music but it doesn't really click with me on an emotional level, apart from a few songs here and there. I don't think this debut is that impressive... listening to it now reveals the seeds of what Radiohead would become, but some songs and instrumental sections are somewhat long-winded, and here and there Yorke loses track of the song structure. And there's of course the Radiohead anthem of self-hate Creep, but to be honest I've heard that song a bit too often. The duo Thinking About You and Anyone Can Play Guitar makes up for a lot though.
This is an EP (but a long one, with 8 tracks and a length of more than half an hour) with outtakes from the recording sessions of The Bends, with tracks that are not available anywhere else, apart from the title track. And the intro of that title track always makes my heart skip a beat... it's soooo beautiful. Another absolute absolute highlight is Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong, a melancholic song with beautiful guitars, Thom Yorke's powerful voice and a magnificent building up. Permanent Daylight is a bit weird with distorted vocals and a loud guitar but a soft melody, another magnificent song. You Never Wash Up After Yourself has a brilliant title... and a brilliant intro. The Trickster and Lewis (Mistreated) are outstanding rockers. The only minus point is the inclusion of a weak acoustic version of Creep.
The Radiohead masterpiece. After all those years of hearing the singles on the radio, I've become a little bit tired of Karma Police and Paranoid Android, and opener Airbag isn't my favourite song, but it only gets better. Subterranean Homesick Alien is moody and spacious, followed by the absolute highlight with the strange title Exit Music (for a Film). This is a Radiohead song that does have a very strong emotional impact on me, a song like a sledgehammer blow. Songs like Let Down, No Surprises and The Tourist are excellent songs, but not like Lucky. Lucky, just like Exit Music (for a Film), has that little extra that lifts it up to an extraordinary level, that wonderful guitar line behind an already wonderful chorus makes the song, again, hit you like a sledgehammer. The Tourist is a worthy closer of an excellent album.
Radiohead's sincere attempt to move away from their oh-so-typical guitar oriented rock results in an album with enormous ups and downs. There are staggeringly beautiful songs on Kid A, but also absolutely tedious soundscapes and sequences of noises. Especially the first half of the album is quite strong, and it opens on a strong note with the hypnotising Everything in Its Right Place, a moving piece of electronica. Title track Kid A doesn't exactly make a profound impression. The National Anthem hits the nail right on the head with a pumping bass and rhythm, haunting keyboards, chaotic wind section, and an eerie Thom Yorke. How to Disappear Completely is the only song that sounds rather 'traditional', and is another emotional highlight with the I'm not here disappearing trick. Treefingers is a redundant piece of woolly new age sound carpet, forgotten even before it's finished. Optimistic is my favourite on this album, repetitive, with beautiful contradictions between sadness and optimism, and the lyrics You can try the best you can/the best you can is good enough. Couldn't agree more. But that was the last highlight on Kid A, the remaining 4 songs are nothing to write home about. In Limbo is still good enough (as the best you can is good enough, right?), with a beautiful guitar and keyboards. Idioteque is slightly irritating electro-pop and has Yorke singing with a monotonous voice. Morning Bell doesn't amount to much, and Motion Picture Sountrack is plain boring. There are some really good songs on Kid A, but all in all the album convinced me not to buy Amnesiac.
The Rainmakers An album a bit hard to pin-point. While the music is sometimes party-music at its best (Let My People Go-Go, a frantic rocker with the lyrics I did not put you here to suffer/I did not put you here to whine/I put you here to love one another/And to get out and have a good time wham-bam-bam), the lyrics often offer a not-so-pretty image of the United States in the mid-eighties, culminating in the angry and provocative Government Cheese. Bob Walkenhorst's voice is striking, and that's an understatement, sometimes balancing on the verge of hysteria. The album is energetic and full of life, but sometimes it's all a bit too much. Doomsville is an outstanding track.
The Ramones A double compilation album with the best of the first 10 albums of the Ramones, with songs sounding as great as their titles (Teenage Lobotomy, I Wanna Be Sedated, Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment, Beat on the Brat and so on and so forth). One-two-three-four let's go for some catchy headbanging to Beat on the brat beat on the brat beat on the brat with a baseball bat oh yeah.... Most of my favourite Ramones songs are songs with funny lyrics like this, or like We're a Happy Family (We ain't got no friends/Our troubles never end/Daddy likes men, lovely!). Or songs with a little bit more, ahem, melancholy, like the Jackie DeShannon cover Needles and Pins or Howling at the Moon (Sha-la-la). Another outstanding song is Rock and Roll High School with the notorious Phil Spector wall of sound. A great collection... one of the last vinyl albums I bought.
Pet Sematary was one of the biggest hits the Ramones ever had, but unfortunately it's one of the few good songs on this very uninspired album. It opens on a good note with I Believe in Miracles, then you have to sit through the next five songs (All Screwed Up alright) to get to the song written for Stephen King's movie Pet Sematary, and then you're just waiting for the closer Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight). What a shame.
Red Hot Chili Peppers I'd been resisting buying albums from this band attracting the attention with their good music/sock act (you choose), despite my profound love for the song Fight Like a Brave. But then that frantic and energetic cover of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground came around, together with that somehow touching Knock Me Down, and I surrendered. The album doesn't have the constant quality of the two aforementioned songs, but sure is worth getting. Taste the Pain is another highlight. Pretty Little Ditty is, well, a pretty little ditty. Crazytown woohoo!!
Um yes, what hits. Fight Like a Brave, Higher Ground, Knock Me Down, and of course Under the Bridge. This album is a compilation of the three first RHCP albums, plus Under the Bridge from Blood Sugar Sex Magik, released by another record company. It gives a good overview, leaving off the weaker tracks and going for the Peppers' best moments. The album also features Show Me Your Soul, recorded for the Pretty Woman soundtrack. It's party time!
Lou Reed A classic compilation of the RCA years of Lou Reed's career, spanning 5 years and 8 albums. It shows the many sides of Lou Reed, from the glam-rocker of Walk on the Wild Side, to the more straightforward singer/songwriter material like Coney Island Baby. Of course all the classic Reed songs are here, Walk on the Wild Side, Sweet Jane and Satellite of Love, but also less well-known songs like New York Telephone Conversation and Nowhere at All.
After three years of silence, Reed came back with a new band (with amongst others Maureen 'Mo' Tucker on drums) and a new album, about the city that has been so prominent in his life and work. And, unlike his previous work, this album is consistent, of a constant quality and very powerful until the last note. The social consciousness never stands in the way of the music. Even emotionally charged themes like AIDS (Halloween Parade), child abuse (Endless Cycle) or homelessness (Xmas in February) never get in the way of the music. That music is extremely powerful, has an enormous impact, and the message never outshines the music. Romeo Had Juliette, Dirty Blvd. and Beginning of a Great Adventure (there's even some humour on this record!) are the absolute highlights of an excellent album.
The Replacements Young and angry and drunk and sloppy and stoned and unsatisfied and chaotic... this E.P. gives the impression that The Replacements are a hardcore band, which they are not. Westerberg's songwriting still needs improving, but the seeds of what's to come are there. Especially the first half of the album is good, with Kids Don't Follow, Fuck School and Stuck in the Middle as songs that can rise above the noise.
My first acquaintance with the Replacements was realized by a couple of raving DJ's on Dutch VPRO radio on Wednesday afternoon, who introduced me to I Will Dare, and of course the purchase of this album followed suit. Garage-rock with the addition of teenage angst, hardcore, post-punk (there are quite a few similarities with fellow townsmen Hüsker Dü), pop, country, folk... Sometimes their early noise is too prominent (We're Coming Out), some songs are not strong enough (Seen Your Video), and the cover of Black Diamond is a bit redundant, but other than that this album shows the potential of The Replacements. The rockers I Will Dare (as I'm writing this, my daughter is singing along to this song she's never heard before) and Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out with its catchy chorus... the painful ballads Androgynous and especially Unsatisfied are showcases of Westerberg's songwriting skills... he shouts out the dissatisfaction of his generation, but no one hears it. Answering Machine is probably the pièce de résistance of this album, and has Westerberg with only his acoustic guitar voicing his anger towards answering machines: how can I say I love you to your answering... I hate your answering machine.
First Replacements album on major record label Sire, with as a consequence a more polished production (by former Ramones man Tommy Erdelyi, even the band would have loved to get Alex Chilton). Even though the sound is a bit too polished at times and hence some of their original energy gets lost, it also means that the band sounds tighter and less sloppy. Alex Chilton is present with backing vocals on the college radio hit Left Of the Dial after all. Kiss Me on the Bus is a sweet poppy lovesong and another highlight of the album. There are still a few leftovers (Lay It Down Clown, Doses of Thunder), but enough strong material (Here Comes a Regular, Swinging Party to make this a really strong album.
Even though they had thrown out Bob Stinson because he wasn't capable of following the band's aspirations, Pleased to Meet Me wasn't the musical or commercial breakthrough Paul Westerberg had hoped for. There are too many inconsistencies in this album, both in the quality of the songs as in the production work. The homage to Alex Chilton with the same name, the very intense song about suicide The Ledge, the beautiful acoustic song Skyway, the rocker I.O.U. for instance are highlights of a very high level, but songs like Red Red Wine and Shooting Dirty Pool are absolute lows. The production work of Jim Dickinson is even more polished than the sound on the previous album Tim, and the addition of odd pieces of saxophone and keyboard here and there just doesn't fit in. Which doesn't mean that a song like Alex Chilton doesn't get stuck in your head forever, and it's good to hear a band like this honour the underestimated genius of Alex Chilton.
Bought for old times' sake, but I shouldn't have bothered. The single I Won't was irritatingly stuttering away, and that should have said enough. And where the other albums always had at least 3 or 4 gems on them, this one has to do with Achin' to Be and I'll Be You, and that is not enough to save a complete album. So exit the Replacements, but let's not forget the impact they had on the later grunge scene.
Henry Rollins I'm not really a Henry Rollins fan, but I couldn't resist to this humorous excursion as Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters. Filled with dark and sometimes morbid humour, on the verge of tasteless... Drive by Shooting is an apt description of the fringes of society in the United States in the second half of the eighties. Rollins' lyrics are witty, aggressive, open, snappy, and full of self-mockery as always. The EP ends with a 'song' that still is a favourite here... Men Are Pigs... in... out... in... out... now reach higher... underneath the pillow... get the knife... cut it off!! the whole thing!! do it tonight!! put it in an envelope, send it to me, Rollins, P.O. Box 2461 Redondo Beach California 90278 USA... men are pigs yeah... cut it off... do it tongiht!! ladies, no one understands you like i do...
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