546. Born in the USA

Born in the USA
Bruce Springsteen
1984

Tracks
1. Born In The USA
2. Cover Me
3. Darlington County
4. Working On The Highway
5. Downbound Train
6. I'm On Fire
7. No Surrender
8. Bobby Jean
9. I'm Goin' Down
10. Glory Days
11. Dancing In The Dark
12. My Hometown

I like albums like this, ones that seem light and fun on the surface but conceal something darker underneath. "I'm Goin' Down" has the joyous cadence of a love song, but actually expresses the opposite sentiment. The entire album contains this curious element of paradox, with "Born In The USA" sounding like an anthem and being anything but.

Every song on this album is catchy and worth listening to, with my favorites being "I'm On Fire" and "Dancing in the Dark." I feel like we needed this album to inject a bit of life into the proceedings. Now I feel refreshed and ready to take on 1985.

RATING: 4/5

409. Darkness on the Edge of Town

Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
1979

Tracks
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy's Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

It seems that my eyes are a bit bigger than my frequently purged stomach and I was unable to start writing daily album posts.  I have been having trouble with my painkillers, as they make me too nauseated to do anything, even listen to late 70s rock music.  I am now taking less pain meds, which has significantly cut down on my vomit output.

I thought that Bruce Springsteen would be a bit hard for me to relate to, as I am not a working class man who just wants a nice car and a cold beer (although I do a great impression of one at cocktail parties).  However, I found the songs to be quite enjoyable and actual lyrical beauty.

I personally recommend "Streets of Fire" for anyone interested in exploring more Springsteen.  This is probably the first you are hearing of Bruce, but apparently he is a big deal.

RATING: 4/5

349. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
1976

Tracks
1. Rockin' Around With You
2. Breakdown 
3. Hometown Blues
4. The Wild One 
5. Forever 
6. Anything That's Rock 'N' Roll 
7. Strangered In The Night 
8. Fooled Again (I Don't Like It) 
9. Mystery Man 
10. Luna
11. American Girl

I listened to the song "American Girl" a lot when I was younger.  Then I saw the movie Silence of The Lambs and came to the conclusion that if I ever heard that song again, I would be murdered shortly afterward.  If you don't believe me see for yourself:

This is just like when Stanley Kubrick ruined "Singin' In The Rain" for me.

Anyway, Tom Petty introduces us to 1976 with a well known album that apparently is classified as heartland rock, which means rock and roll that is aiming at a blue collar audience and trying to convey a message.  See, you learn things from reading my blog.

Petty was good at coming up with catchy songs, but his voice became a little grating after awhile, particularly in "Fooled Again" when the singing transitioned into screaming.  He also doesn't seem to be very photogenic, although I guess I can't blame the album for that. In fact, his photo on the album looks like my middle school photos.  I think we had the same haircut.

Anyway, it was a fun album and it was refreshing to get something that wasn't so pretentious.

RATING: 4/5

270. Exile On Main Street

Exile On Main Street
Rolling Stones
1972

Tracks

1. Rocks Off 
2. Rip This Joint 
3. Shake Your Hips 
4. Casino Boogie 
5. Tumbling Dice 
6. Sweet Virginia 
7. Torn And Frayed 
8. Sweet Black Angel 
9. Loving Cup 
10. Happy 
11. Turd On The Run 
12. Ventilator Blues 
13. I Just Want To See His Face 
14. Let It Loose 
15. All Down The Line 
16. Stop Breakin' Down 
17. Shine A Light 
18. Soul Survivor

Yay!  We are officially done with 1972! This is a big deal to me, at least; since we have been stuck in this year since Randy Newman.  We are finishing this year off with some Rolling Stones, who I believed were bound to disappoint once again.

However, I was pleasantly surprised with this album.  Apparently the band was a total mess with drugs and wedding plans (a lethal combination) during the making of this album but you would never know it from listening to this album.  Everything just seems to fit.  Not innovative in the least but still some fun classic rock and roll.

RATING: 4/5

152. From Elvis in Memphis

From Elvis in Memphis
Elvis Presley
1969

Tracks
1. Wearin' That Loved On Look
2. Only The Strong Survive 
3. I'll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)
4. Long Black Limousine
5. It Keeps Right On Hurtin'
6. I'm Movin' On
7. Power Of My Love 
8. Gentle On My Mind
9. After Loving You 
10. True Love Travels On A Gravel Road 
11. Any Day Now
12. In The Ghetto


Amanda: Elvis is back everyone!  Did you expect to see him again?  I sure didn't.  This album came out after a series of...interesting movies.  Brie, did you ever see any these movies?  I can tell you, they are just awful.  Not Jim Carrey movies awful but still pretty bad.


Anyway, like I said in previous posts, I have been trained to like Elvis from an early age, so I always love listening to his songs.  "Only the Strong Survive" was actually pretty good.  Not the best album ever, but not awful.


RATING: 4/5

48. Live at the Star Club, Hamburg

Live at the Star Club, Hamburg
Jerry Lee Lewis
1965

Amanda: I feel obligated to say how creepy Jerry Lee Lewis is. He married his thirteen-year-old cousin (once removed; does anyone know what the hell that means?) and all his wives died in mysterious ways.  He actually inspired me to try to find out when statutory rape laws were enacted.  I couldn't find any starting dates, but most cases seemed to be recent.  Oh well, I guess he would have been arrested.

Since this blog is not modeled off Virginia Woolf's writing style, I should probably get to the matter at hand (A-O!).  This album is actually the style of music I usually love but it is probably my least favorite rock and roll album so far.  Of course, you have the cliches of "Great Balls of Fire" (I saw a dance routine to that once) but you also have some unexpected ones like "Your Cheatin' Heart". Good, not great.

RATING:

Brie: I know no one is going to get this, but every time I hear "Great Balls of Fire" I think of the book Rising Sun by Michael Crichton. One of the characters mouths the words to that song throughout the book.

The album got off to an overwhelming start. "Money" and "Matchbox" are very fast songs and it takes a bit of time to get used to. Once you get to "What'd I Say" it isn't as crazy, and you can take a breather. With "Good Golly Miss Molly" it got crazy again and then I was left thinking about Little Richard. Overall, the album was good but it wasn't a stand out as far as rock 'n' roll goes. I wouldn't seek it out again.

RATING:

25. Elvis is Back!

Elvis is Back
Elvis Presley
1960

Amanda: Yay! Elvis is back! Now this might be similar to the feeling the monarchs had when Napoleon returned to some people but to me it is exciting.  My name is Amanda and I am an Elvis lover.

This album is fantastic for many reasons.  Elvis' voice in some of the songs (particularly "Fever") is a lot less flashy and much more tender in these tracks.  The songs are also less recognizable so it wasn't like you were listening to something you have heard a hundred times.  Overall, great album and great songs.

RATING:

Brie: Some of you may remember my extremely unfavorable review of Elvis' debut album. This album was a bit better than the first one we listened to, but not much better for me. I kind of feel bad not liking such an iconic singer, but maybe I will have my breakthrough with the next album. My favorites included "I Will Be Home Again", and I actually found myself smiling and dancing along with "Such A Night".  I agree that because this album wasn't filled with hits that I've heard a thousand times growing up (my dad is a huge Elvis fan) it was much more interesting. Maybe Amanda will make an Elvis fan out of me yet. :)

RATING:  

14. Here's Little Richard

Here's Little Richard
Little Richard
1957

Amanda: Little Richard is on my "roll my eyes whenever his name is mentioned list."  For those of you who don't know, Little Richard was gay.  Notice the word was.  He claims he "found Jesus" and is an exgay (??).  He has been "repenting" since then.  That pisses me off.

But I am trying to do an objective review on this particular album.  Luckily for me, I was not too much of a fan.  I do like his voice; I have always been interested in different kinds of voices (like Regina Spektor).  The songs, however, have been rerecorded so much that it was hard to sit through "Tutti Frutti."  A couple of tracks I liked but I like Elvis better.  Sorry pretentious music people.

RATING:

Brie: I had never heard any of Little Richard's music before this. And in my mind I have always had high expectations of him because Little Richard was one of the musicians that greatly inspired Bob Dylan when he was still Robert Zimmerman living in Hibbing, Minnesota. I am as equally upset about he whole "ex-gay" thing as Amanda.

I, personally, love Little Richard for his over the top ways. The book says that in 1955 the whole rock 'n' roll genre really burst open with artists such as Fats Dominio, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddly all having number one hits around the same time. Add to that list Little Richard.

I loved this record! It was all such fun to listen to, and Little Richard brings so much energy to these songs. My favorites are "Ready Teddy" and "Slippin' And Slidin'".

Also, we have listened to Fats Domino, and a Ray Charles album is coming in the near future. Where is the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly music? I would prefer a 50% jazz, 50 % rock 'n' roll ratio.

RATING:

8. The Chirping Crickets

The Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
1957

Amanda: Immediately when I started listening to this album, I fell in love with it.  The whole thing kind of reminded me of Dion, who is one of my favorites.  The songs are short, catchy, and all written by The Crickets themselves.  Up until now, I kind of feel like we haven't gotten the right cross between moving lyrics and snappy songs.  This album comes very close to hitting both marks. My personal favorites were "That'll Be the Day" and "Oh Boy".  Sadly, we lost Holly to a plane crash (just like Carole Lombard).  It was a truly tremendous loss then and it still is now.

RATING:

Brie: This album, "The "Chirping" Crickets", is the shortest album we have reviewed by far. It runs at just under 26 minutes. I also fell in love with the album as soon as I started listening to it! The first track, "Oh Boy", is exactly what I wanted out of this album, and exactly what I expected rock 'n' roll to be in 1957. Some fun facts for you: Andy Warhol used to play the song "Not Fade Away" in his early days in New York City. This was before he found success as a pop artist. Also, Bob Dylan went to a concert (in Duluth, maybe?) and was sitting near the front of the stage when Buddy Holly made eye contact with him. That night Buddy Holly died in a plane crash. I think this experience profoundly affected Bob in some way, as he has referred to the experience several times throughout his career.

RATING:

5. This Is Fats Domino

This Is Fats Domino
Fats Domino


Amanda: I see that Brie has not written a review yet, but I am going to plough ahead anyway; got to stick to a schedule (if we want to finish in like six years).  I really enjoyed this album.  Some of the songs were like familar friends; I had heard them before but never knew the name of the song or who had sang them.  The songs made me laugh and want to dance.

So it was enjoyable.  But was it quality?  I think the answer is yes.  It was jazz and I could listen to the instrumental versions of the songs all day.  The music was definitely influential on genres of music such as ska and the Beatles even recorded some of his songs.  Definitely worth a listen.

RATING:

Brie: This album is proof that quality jazz does not equal boring! Who thinks that jazz is boring, you might ask? Answer: my entire school. Well it is their loss! I agree that these songs were very enjoyable, fun, and paved the way for artists of all genres. So just set aside some time and treat yourself to a little Fats Dominio!

RATING:

4. The Wildest!

The Wildest!
Louis Prima


Brie: Okay, thank goodness for this album! I needed something fun and light after the past three albums. This album is full of fun, jazzy, gotta-get-up-and-dance songs! My favorites include "Jump, Jive, An' Wail", and "Buona Sera". Even though this album isn't as serious and technical as Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours" and the Louvin Brothers' "Tragic Songs of Life", I still love it, as it is the epitome of Italian Jazz! If you haven't seen any videos of Louis performing, I suggest you do so! The man knew how to entertain!

RATING:

P.S. When I clicked on his videos on YouTube, I would get videos for mobs, and the Sopranos. Someone should really look into this more...

Amanda: I agree with what Brie said about needing an upbeat album after that piece of shit we listened to last time (not naming any names).  Well, I never have been to New Orleans, but this album certainly made me want to book it to Louisiana.  Granted, the songs really don't make any sense (here's looking at you, "Jump, Jive, and Wail") but they are still very enjoyable.  Prima is one of those singers that puts half his effort in making a quality song and the other half in showing off to the audience and entertaining the crowd.  Definitely an experience to watch him perform.  As a sidenote, you most likely have heard his songs in movies like Elf, Casino, and The Jungle Book (there are probably more; these are the movies I have seen).

RATING: