What are you listening to?

[Josephus]

King Crimson Starless and Bible Black (1974)

[mongers]

King Crimson Starless and Bible Black (1974)

 

How I will have to dig it out and give it a listen, but I don't think my current headphones are upto the job of giving the album it's full credit.

[Savonarola]

The Doors - LA Woman (1971) 

The end of the line for the Doors.  This is their blusiest album, but most of the blues songs ("The Changeling", "Cars Hiss by my Window", "Been Down so Long" and the John Lee Hooker cover "Crawling King Snake") are forgettable, with the exception of "WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" which Jim gives more poetic lyrics to than the others.  This has two of the best Doors longer pieces "LA Woman" and "Riders on the Storm"; I think those are the best since "The End" on their debut album.  "Love Her Madly" is the other big hit off of this; it's pure Robby Krieger, but in my opinion, having the guy who could write the pop tracks is what made The Doors The Doors.  The other tracks are "L'America" which was written for an avant-garde film, and sounds like it; and "Hyacinth House" which starts out promising, but really doesn't go anywhere.

I don't think The Doors ever lived up to their first album; they had a number of good songs, but it just never seemed to come together the way their "The Doors" did.  Dying at 27 was probably the best career move for Jim; they may have been able to make a couple more albums, but I can't imagine them surviving on into the late 70s.  The rest of the band tried to soldier on and Ray Manzarek does sound remarkably like Jim Morrison, but they could never bee The Doors without Morrison.

[Gups]

Recorded a couple of old 'Top of the Pops' earlier, watching them, there's some good singles amid some real dross, but the real stand out was:

Donna Summers - 'I Feed Love'

I can't remember it's impact at the time, but it sounds near revolutionary compared with the other singles on the programme.

It was, really.

Have a listen to this to get a feel for the production approach by Moroder

https://youtu.be/ZFZM6jDTWd4?si=kWf1EN4KGM_xBRX3

[Savonarola]

Madonna - Ray of Light (1998)

Holy cow!  Madonna can actually sing. 

 

Okay, I think we knew that since "Like A Prayer."  Still this album surprised me, there's no ear-worms, some of the songs are challenging and it's consistently good.  The album combines the 90s era techno with Middle-Eastern rhythms (Madonna had recently converted Kabbalist Judaism), it struck me as Madonna's most "Detroit" album (although I think she was trying to be British at the time.)

It's not on this album, but in the song "Open your Heart" if his heart is closed shouldn't he have the lock and Madonna have the key? 

[Josephus]

Madonna - Ray of Light (1998)

Holy cow!  Madonna can actually sing. 

 

Okay, I think we knew that since "Like A Prayer."  Still this album surprised me, there's no ear-worms, some of the songs are challenging and it's consistently good.  The album combines the 90s era techno with Middle-Eastern rhythms (Madonna had recently converted Kabbalist Judaism), it struck me as Madonna's most "Detroit" album (although I think she was trying to be British at the time.)

It's not on this album, but in the song "Open your Heart" if his heart is closed shouldn't he have the lock and Madonna have the key? 

The last Madonna album I bought. Some really good tracks on it. The title track, Frozen, The Power of Goodbye.

[mongers]

Madonna - Ray of Light (1998)

Holy cow!  Madonna can actually sing. 

 

Okay, I think we knew that since "Like A Prayer."  Still this album surprised me, there's no ear-worms, some of the songs are challenging and it's consistently good.  The album combines the 90s era techno with Middle-Eastern rhythms (Madonna had recently converted Kabbalist Judaism), it struck me as Madonna's most "Detroit" album (although I think she was trying to be British at the time.)

It's not on this album, but in the song "Open your Heart" if his heart is closed shouldn't he have the lock and Madonna have the key? 

The last Madonna album I bought. Some really good tracks on it. The title track, Frozen, The Power of Goodbye.

Is that the album with the alternative full length remix?

If so I thought it pretty good.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSA-SY5Hro

Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond."  I checked this at the suggestion of a bartender buddy in one of my karaoke hangs.  The bartender is pretty Trumpy and this song is pretty Trumpy.

Then I just saw on Joe Rogan it's the #1 song in the world.

[Jacob]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSA-SY5Hro

Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond."  I checked this at the suggestion of a bartender buddy in one of my karaoke hangs.  The bartender is pretty Trumpy and this song is pretty Trumpy.

Then I just saw on Joe Rogan it's the #1 song in the world.

I think his anger and rage at economic inequality is genuine and well expressed - and it obviously resonates across the world.

I think placing the blame purely North of Richmond - and on tax-funded fudge rolls for the obese - is misplaced.

[Tamas]

Yeah I agree with opinions that this song is evidence of the triumph of far right ideologies. The way out of economic downtrodeness? Remove welfare from people I don't like and leave me alone to struggle on.

[Savonarola]

Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets (1973)

Sort of Glam Art Rock; knowing Eno's story you can imagine this being the missing link between early Roxy Music and David Bowie's Triptych.  (He does try to sing like Brian Ferry on a few songs, not all that successfully.)  The lyrics are suitably weird, including, among other things, a celebration of A.W. Underwood a man from Paw Paw, Michigan who could allegedly set things on fire with his breath.  (Paw Paw is Michigan's answer to Macondo. )  The music is pretty cool, especially the title track; I like that because it sounds like a series of different musical ideas which eventually unite.

[mongers]

Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets (1973)

Sort of Glam Art Rock; knowing Eno's story you can imagine this being the missing link between early Roxy Music and David Bowie's Triptych.  (He does try to sing like Brian Ferry on a few songs, not all that successfully.)  The lyrics are suitably weird, including, among other things, a celebration of A.W. Underwood a man from Paw Paw, Michigan who could allegedly set things on fire with his breath.  (Paw Paw is Michigan's answer to Macondo. )  The music is pretty cool, especially the title track; I like that because it sounds like a series of different musical ideas which eventually unite.

Man I used to love that album, some ace contributing musicians on it, a few of whom I've met.
I shall have to go and listen to it.

[mongers]

Incidentally there should be more focus on "the Birmingham sound" there's some excellent musicians on this list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musicians_from_Birmingham,_West_Midlands

And if you throw in Wolverhampton, with the likes of Beverley Knight and through in the wider West Midlands I think it rivals the Mersey Beat and could mount a challenge on London as the heart of modern English popular music.   

[Admiral Yi]

A barren wasteland. 

A quick scan, I recognized three names.

[Jacob]

A barren wasteland. 

A quick scan, I recognized three names.

I'm not good with the names of musicians, but looking at the linked list of bands the following are standouts:

The Beat (aka the English Beat in the US)
Black Sabbath
Dexys Midnight Runners
Duran Duran
Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
Fine Young Cannibals
GBH
Judas Priest
The Moody Blues
Napalm Death
UB40