The Official Pop and Rock Music thread

[Bilbo 3,709]

On 4/30/2021 at 11:39 AM, Sweeping Strings said:

Noel would agree with you ... he has said that all he hears in it nowadays is 'people on too much cocaine'. 

You actually have to blow a layer of cocaine off the disc before you play it. It is an album that gets exponentially better the louder you play it and/or the more drunk you are. 

But it is over long and there’s just too much going on at once. There are some good songs in there as the Mustique demos show but… eh, it’s a good document of where the band were in 1997. 

[Sweeping Strings 2,344]

The stadium swagger in 'D' You Know What I Mean?' is kinda irresistible. And if the Halifax reckon 'Stand By Me' is fine for their latest ad campaign, then who am I to argue? 

[Bilbo 3,709]

11 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

The stadium swagger in 'D' You Know What I Mean?' is kinda irresistible. And if the Halifax reckon 'Stand By Me' is fine for their latest ad campaign, then who am I to argue? 

Don’t Go Away is a good tune too:

but stuff like Magic Pie bring the album down again. 

[Bellosh 3,369]

 

[bruce marshall 1,314]

All a proggy needs!😊

The Nice!

[A24 4,326]

 

Alan Parsons admits they became more commercial (poppy) and less progressive during and certainly after Pyramid. I knew there was a reason why my interest waned (to put it mildly)!

[Thor 7,457]

I KNEW you would say that. It's so "you" (and I obviously disagree -- not that they were getting more poppy, I agree with that - but the value inherent therein; I love that stuff too). 

 

Thanks for the interview, though. Hadn't seen that before. Pretty nice, despite the goofy interviewer.

 

And while we're at it, you inspired me to play this:

 

 

 

Basically a Woolfson solo album from 1990; he had departed the band at that point. But still with Parsons involvement. Drop-dead gorgeous from beginning to end. The title song is one of my favourite songs of all time.

[A24 4,326]

To me, Thor, adoring the commercial poppy direction indicates that you might not love their initial beginnings/ventures as much as some others. Am I right?

 

Same goes for our Richard. I mean, if Richard quotes Parsons (or rather Woolfson, of course), it's almost always from the fourth album onward.

 

Isn't that suspicious?  

 

Anyway, it really felt good to hear him actually say it and that there was indeed a push from the label. I will never forget the shock when I first listened to Eve.  I was so happy while I was walking home with the latest Alan Parsons Project LP under my arm, even though the cover had me slightly worried. Wait! The new concept was about women?! This can't be ... Way too earthy for APP!

[Bilbo 3,709]

Any Weezer fans out there? Do you know if a bootleg of this gig exists? 
 

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/weezer/1998/unknown-venue-santa-barbara-ca-53d88b69.html

[Thor 7,457]

5 hours ago, AC1 said:

To me, Thor, adoring the commercial poppy direction indicates that you might not love their initial beginnings/ventures as much as some others. Am I right?

 

Not at all. That's their best stuff. But it's possible to like two things simultaneously, for different reasons.

[GerateWohl 4,322]

My favourte Alan Parsons song used to be "Let's Talk about Me". It has partly this "Litte Shop of Horrors" vibe.

But just re-listened to it and some tracks and think now, maybe I am not so much in Alan Parsons anyway.

[A24 4,326]

I mostly loved them during my teenager years. APP, together with Santana, have opened a world of music for me that had nothing to do with the hit charts. And mind you, the hit charts of the '70s were sublime (for the most part), where even intellectual pop bands like Steely Dan were appreciated. 

[Thor 7,457]

 

Again, tricky to find a proper cover online, but this will do. JNH's rare 1983 solo album that is - in effect - more like an instrumental Toto album, really. Lots of fusion styles going on over the course of a breezy 27 minutes.

[Omen II 1,235]

A rare venture into this thread for me to recommend the harmonies of Wildwood Kin - a Devon folk rock trio consisting of sisters Beth and Emillie and their cousin Meghann.  My favourite songs of theirs are Never Alone, Beauty in Your Brokenness and Headed for the Water.  They're ace!

 

 

 

 

[Thor 7,457]

 

Sometimes, I'm a sucker for these super-produced 80s pop hits. Album includes frequent Moroder collaborators Joe Esposito and Paul Engemann (of SCARFACE fame). Also includes Sylvester Levay and Harold Faltermeyer among the personell, so it's all pretty starstudded. Moroder is kinda unrecognizable on the cover, methinks (his moustache-free period).

[Thor 7,457]

 

Their last studio album from 2002. More bluesy/R&B, per Davies' preference. Love that New Orleans trumpet. Hard to believe it's almost 20 years ago. Davies has been ill for the last 5-6 years, so the lack of activity in that period is understandable, but he's allegedly better now so I keep hoping for at least another studio album (that goes for Hodgson too, btw, who hasn't released any new material in the same amount of time).

[Bilbo 3,709]

After 2.5 million ticket applications, 250,000 people over two nights, and 25 years later…

https://deadline.com/2021/05/oasis-film-knebworth-documentary-liam-gallagher-jake-scott-1234753786/
 

Finally!! 

[A24 4,326]

What do you see in this hooligan?! Stop it and change your avatar!

[Bilbo 3,709]

16 minutes ago, AC1 said:

What do you see in this hooligan?! Stop it and change your avatar!

No.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Not that the Rock Hall of Fame really means anything, but it's nice that Todd Rundgren has finally made it in.  He is after all a Wizard, a True Star!

 

What an amazing song, one of many.

 

[A24 4,326]

That's the absolute favorite Todd Rundgren album of an old friend of mine and it's even one of his all-time favorite albums. But personally, I never got into his music, but at least I tried.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Something/Anything? and A Wizard, A True Star are definitely the core of his status as a music legend.  I assume you also tried the former?  It's certainly the more accessible one.  If I'm being honest it's also the better album, but I'll always have greater love for the gonzo eccentricity of A Wizard, A True Star. 

[A24 4,326]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

Something/Anything? and A Wizard, A True Star are definitely the core of his status as a music legend.  I assume you also tried the former?  It's certainly the more accessible one.  If I'm being honest it's also the better album, but I'll always have greater love for the gonzo eccentricity of A Wizard, A True Star. 

 

I have Something/Anything?, A Wizard , A True Star and Initiation on CD. I definitely listened to Something/Anything the most. Now that I've got new speakers, I will give the other two another spin.

[A24 4,326]

[GerateWohl 4,322]

On 5/11/2021 at 9:34 AM, Thor said:

 

Their last studio album from 2002. More bluesy/R&B, per Davies' preference. Love that New Orleans trumpet. Hard to believe it's almost 20 years ago. Davies has been ill for the last 5-6 years, so the lack of activity in that period is understandable, but he's allegedly better now so I keep hoping for at least another studio album (that goes for Hodgson too, btw, who hasn't released any new material in the same amount of time).

I feel a little embarrassed. For some reason I don't know, I thought Rick Davies had passed away. Good to hear that he recovered.

[Thor 7,457]

 

A classic, smooth album to light up an otherwise boring, grey Sunday.

[bruce marshall 1,314]

Someone once cracked that Stevie Wonder designed that cover himself!😝😜😛😅

[Thor 7,457]

 

Some rare Woolfson songs I've collected over the years (most of them pre-APP). Great stuff! There's still a lifetime of searching involved to find all of the songs he penned over the years. I've been in touch with his daughter Sally, and even she doesn't have total overview of his entire output.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

On 5/11/2021 at 8:34 AM, Thor said:

 

I'm not familiar with this record, but I absolutely love SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!

It's A Hard World is outstanding.

[Thor 7,457]

SOME THINGS is a more varied album; SLOW MOTION is more hardcore bluesy/R&B.

 

By the way, in relation to the Woolfson playlist I posted earlier, I think some of you fellow APP fans might recognize this 1968 song he penned - or rather, which later Woolfson song it turned into:

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

It's definitely got Wolfson all over it, but I can't hear what it became.

 

(edit) Hold it!!! It's THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO! 

[Thor 7,457]

 

[Edit: Well done, NOF!] 

[Bilbo 3,709]

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I'm not familiar with this record, but I absolutely love SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!

It's A Hard World is outstanding.

So His Royal Noelness is a problem but fucking Supertramp!! Are ok?!?!? You really are an old fart!!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

I don't mind Noel, if truth were known, and I like High Flying Birds.

[Bilbo 3,709]

I’ve always preferred Noel to Liam but Liam’s voice from 1994-1997 was just 👌 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

On 4/30/2021 at 3:23 PM, Thor said:

Oasis, Shmoasis, let's get back to some REAL music!

 

 

This 1983 album is the latest one I own of 10CC (I own 8 in total), and it's obviously not on par with their earlier albums. But it's still Godley/Creme goodness without that actual dynamic duo, IMO.

Any 10cc record is worth a listen, but HOW DARE YOU is my favourite. Don't Hang Up is gorgeous.

Godley and Creme aren't bad, either. An Englishman In New York is wonderfully acerbic.

Thor, do you like CONSEQUENCES?

[Thor 7,457]

43 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Any 10cc record is worth a listen, but HOW DARE YOU is my favourite.

 

Mine too. Followed by BLOODY TOURISTS.

 

Quote

Thor, do you like CONSEQUENCES?

 

I heard it many years ago, but I don't own it (I have 8 other 10CC albums, though).

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

It's worth a listen. Five O'clock In The Morning, is a beautiful song.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Thor said:

Mine too. Followed by BLOODY TOURISTS.

Fantastic cover, for that.

[A24 4,326]

I checked out a 10CC album a few years ago, gave it several listens, only to find out 10CC is not doing it for me, unlike their hits from the time when I was a youngster. So yes, I classify them as a hit band, not an album band.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

Some bands - some individual records - capture lightning in a bottle, and come to represent a certain time, in one's life. They fit, perfectly, never to resonate, again.

Perhaps for you, @Thor, 10cc is one of those bands?

[A24 4,326]

On 5/6/2021 at 4:57 PM, AC1 said:

 

Alan Parsons admits they became more commercial (poppy) and less progressive during and certainly after Pyramid. I knew there was a reason why my interest waned (to put it mildly)!

 

And here's part 2:

 

 

[Nick Parker 3,040]

1 hour ago, AC1 said:

 

And here's part 2:

 

 

 

On the tangentail subject of Pink Floyd, I've been fixated on these ten seconds for the last few days: 

 

 

 

The nonstop major chord phrases cascading into that B minor resolution, the bass synth punctuating them until it finally holds at that chord, the lyrics (I also love how the music opens up with the words "clear blue sky").........

 

I'm not a Pink Floyd fan, but this might be one of my favorite little musical moments ever.

[A24 4,326]

 

Well, I would never have guessed that! 

 

So what's wrong with PF? Too depressive?

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Nothing's wrong with them, just never been really compelled by what they've got, musically.

 

What I have been compelled by lately though is Thundercat's "Them Changes"! I love how the chord progression and off-kilter tone offsets a story about heartbreak. And true to my forum title...boy do I love that bass.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

On 5/16/2021 at 7:10 AM, AC1 said:

Mulder looks like the guy from Johnny Hates Jazz, and Scully looks like a cross between a young Gary Numan, and Clare Grogan.

[Holko 9,491]

I bought The Wall way back when, but couldn't really get through it or make sense of it. Never tried again until last night, with the new context of the movie. And hot damn was it good! Not the type to pick highlights and singles to listen to a lot from, though, it needs to be witnessed as a whole. Love the way the Wall melody's present all throughout, the sound effects between tracks building to the show, the climax kicks ass. Of course Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2 was the first PF I've ever heard, but here I got a whole new appreciation for it. After the movie I was afraid I wouldn't like it because of the kind of singing not necessarily being musically pleasing, but thankfully those were movie-specific takes and overdubs. I love it like this, the album more musical, the movie more manic and almost acted in the way it's sung. I usually prefer the more performance-heavy film vocal takes of musicals over the more vanilla album takes, but this is of course a special specimen.

[Marian Schedenig 8,159]

Well, I would say that songs like Hey You, Comfortably Numb, and The Trial (with its glorious Kamen excesses) are perfectly serviceable as highlights, and Is There Anybody Out There?, In the Flesh, Run Like Hell, and Waiting for the Worms are also fine diversions for the playlist when you don't want to put on the whole thing. That's actually more individual highlight tracks than you get on most PF albums. Yes, Echoes is longer, but it's just one track.

[Thor 7,457]

I never play individual tracks from THE WALL. Always the whole thing; from start to finish.

[mstrox 6,637]

On 5/8/2021 at 5:31 AM, His Royal Noelness said:

Any Weezer fans out there? Do you know if a bootleg of this gig exists? 
 

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/weezer/1998/unknown-venue-santa-barbara-ca-53d88b69.html

I am a weezer fan but only within the confines of studio albums.  As far as artists who I have love tapes of, Elliott Smith has done Supersonic and Ben Folds (Five) has done Champagne Supernova.

[Bilbo 3,709]

3 minutes ago, mstrox said:

I am a weezer fan but only within the confines of studio albums.  As far as artists who I have love tapes of, Elliott Smith has done Supersonic and Ben Folds (Five) has done Champagne Supernova.

Yeah I’ve heard both those.

 

The Weezer one would be fascinating to hear, like the full album! That’s mad.