383. Rumours

Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
1977

Tracks
1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don't Stop
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Songbird
7. Chain
8. You Make Loving Fun
9. I Don't Want To Know
10. Oh Daddy
11. Gold Dust Woman

I skipped my senior prom to go to a Fleetwood Mac concert with a friend.  Zero hearts were broken with that decision since no one asked me in the first place and I had no desire to hang out with the numbskulls in my high school.  And let me tell you, Stevie Nicks' voice is not what it used to be.  It is fantastic here, though, so I guess that is what counts.

A lot of people say that this album is completely overplayed.  I think that is a weak argument to begin with; why does that detract from quality?  But even still, there are plenty of more obscure songs on this album, like "Chain" or "Gold Dust Woman".

Okay, so "Don't Stop" is a bit cheesy.  But the other songs are great and the fact that they detail the band members' various break ups just makes it juicy. 

If I could, baby I'd give you my world; how can I, when you won't take it from me?  Those are damn good lyrics, I don't care what anyone says.


RATING: 4/5

382. Talking Heads: 77

Talking Heads: 77

Talking Heads

1977

Tracks

1. Uh Oh Love Comes To Town
2. New Feeling 
3. Tentative Decisions 
4. Happy Day 
5. Who Is It 
6. No Compassion
7. Book I Read 
8. Don't Worry About The Government
9. First Week/Last Week... Carefree 
10. Psycho Killer
11. Pulled Up

I couldn't resist going ahead and listening to the album after this one, Rumours, so I had to double back and get through this one.  How much does that make the music connoisseurs cringe?  Be sure to yell at me in the comments and let me know!

The lead singer, David Byrne, sounded completely crazed to me.  I looked him up to try to count how many drugs he might have been on when he was singing this album.  However, he seemed relatively normal, compared to other people I have dealt with on this List.

The standard of normality

I decided to categorize this as "art punk", which is a genre that I didn't even know existed until I listened to this album.  I can't say I was altogether too impressed.  I judge music most harshly on lyrical quality.  And lyrics like "so many people...have their problems/I'm not interested...in their problems....my interest level's dropping, my interest level is dropping" don't really impress me.  But maybe that is just because I am 99% wrote those lyrics about me.

I gave it a shot but ultimately, didn't fall in love with it.

RATING: 3/5

381. One World

One World
John Martyn
1977

Tracks
1. Dealer
2. One World
3. Smiling Stranger
4. Big Muff
5. Couldn't Love You Anymore
6. Certain Surprise
7. Dancing
8. Small Hours

After having to endure the noisiest album on The List so far, we get to enjoy a soothing, folk rock experience.  While the end of this album was a bit of a disappointment, it is definitely worth the listen.

As soon as the album started, I felt calm.  I have been doing work all day, so it was certainly a welcome effect.  Then the vocals started.  Was anybody else expecting a gentle, calm voice?  Instead, Martyn sounded very rough and gravelly.  I think this was absolutely great, since it stopped the album from simply being "easy listening."

The lyrics?  Not so impressive.  Maybe I have become too spoiled from this List and expect to always find pure poetry.  But the lyrics to songs like "Small Hours" (Keep on loving while your love is strong, keep on loving until your love has gone away) aren't exactly outstanding.  Speaking of "Small Hours", did anyone else feel like he was building to something fantastic the entire album, then felt a bit let down?

Also, apparently parts of the album were recorded outside.  How...revolutionary?  Was there a demand for more outdoorsy albums?

RATING: 4/5

380. Pink Flag

Pink Flag
Wire
1977

Tracks
1. Reuters
2. Field Day For The Sundays
3. Three Girl Rhumba
4. Ex Lion Tamer
5. Lowdown
6. Start To Move
7. Brazil
8. It's So Obvious
9. Surgeon's Girl
10. Pink Flag
11. Commercial
12. Straight Line
13. 106 Beats That
14. Mr Suit
15. Strange
16. Fragile
17. Mannequin
18. Different To Me
19. Champs
20. Feeling Called Love
21. 12XU

I knew we would hit a snag eventually in this string of great albums.  This album legitimately gave me a headache.  There was absolutely no talent behind the vocals and the music was incredibly loud and obnoxious.

I don't have too much to say about this album, except that after such a great patch, this was extremely disappointing.  The songs were sometimes only thirty seconds long, but I could have had sworn it was just one long, drawn out track.  I seriously considered taking a break since my head was pounding so much.  I stuck it out, though, and was counting down the seconds.

A sucky suck fest that essentially broke my brain.  Hence the term, sucky suck fest.

RATING: 1/5

379. Aja

Aja
Steely Dan
1977

Tracks
1. Black Cow
2. Aja
3. Deacon Blues
4. Peg
5. Home At Last
6. I Got The News
7. Josie

I returned to this project again today but I am afraid that I might be gone for about a week, since I have roughly a zillion movie posts to write.  I am actually a bit annoyed about that since we are going through such a great string of albums right now.  Self-imposed rules are the worst.

Anyway, I remember enjoying Steely Dan in the past, but I couldn't really recall any particular song that really stuck with me.  But I really don't think that will be the case here.   I absolutely adored "Black Cow" and "Home at Last".  I didn't really have a lot of faith that a jazz rock album would have great lyrics, but I was proven wrong here.  It was also refreshing; we have to deal with a lot of pretentiousness on this List but it didn't seem like Steely Dan was putting on airs here.  They were simply making great, accessible music.

So another great album.  Keep it up, please.

RATING: 4/5

378. Low

Low
David Bowie
1977

Tracks
1. Speed of Life
2. Breaking Glass 
3. What in the World 
4. Sound and Vision 
5. Always Crashing in the Same Car 
6. Be My Wife 
7. New Career in a New Town 
8. Warszawa 
9. Art Decade
10. Weeping Wall 
11. Subterraneans

I apologize for not posting in awhile, but I have been feeling quite Low.  I also apologize for saying that.  Without this blog, I haven't had an outlet for my terrible puns.  I had surgery in early February which the doctor said would have a weekend recovery time.  Translation: huge fucking nightmare and never-ending pain.  It is my fault for not being fluent in doctor-speak.  You would think I would have a lot of time to listen to albums and write but I have been too busy complaining and taking medication.  

Anyway, I finally listened to this album yesterday and it certainly reignited my interest in this project.  I am not exactly sure how many albums in The Book that Brian Eno has been involved in, but it has to be at least a hundred; his name is always cropping up everywhere. Apparently, the first half of this album is very "Bowie" while the second half has "Eno" written all over it.

In my typical plebeian fashion, I really preferred Bowie's side.  The song "What in the World" really struck a chord with me (more music humor; well, calling it humor might be a stretch).  I probably felt connected to the song since I am stuck in bed all the time and Bowie is describing someone who never leaves their room.  A little on the nose.  Anyway, the second side was a bit more...avant-garde and dare I say, offensive?  One of the tracks sounded like they were trying to do something tribal, which was a little uncomfortable.  Did anyone else feel that way?

Anyway, this album definitely deserves all of the attention it gets.  Bowie continues to impress.

RATING: 4/5

377. The Clash

The Clash
The Clash
1977

Tracks
1. Janie Jones 
2. Remote Control
3. I'm So Bored With The USA 
4. White Riot
5. Hate And War
6. What's My Name 
7. Deny 
8. London's Burning 
9. Career Opportunities 
10. Cheat 
11. Protex Blue 
12. Police And Thieves 
13. 48 Hours
14. Garage Land

I expected a lot of these songs to sound familiar, since The Clash is such a well known band.  However, I only recognized "White Riot".  It was an exciting moment, since for the first time I could actually understand what they said: white riot!  I wanna riot.  White riot! Something...something...you get the point.

I have really been enjoying our punk kick lately.  It is always fun to have punk music blaring while you do manual labor (which for me means taking out the trash).  Still, this album was a bit more special to me than the usual punk music.  Maybe it is because this album actually thoughtful content and was more than just catchy screaming.  I would recommend listening to "Police and Thieves" if you want to listen to a song with meaning.  Definitely worth its place on The List.

RATING: 4/5