I'm the king of the bongo - the king of the bongo bong
Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...
#470 : 400 Degreez - Juvenile (1998)
From the moment Juvenile asked, “That’s you with that bad ass benz?” and punctuated the bar with a cocky, dismissive “Ha,” rap’s axis tilted. The New Orleans rapper’s third album reorientated hip-hop toward a new Southern sound, driven by producer Mannie Fresh’s intergalactic beats. “Ha” and “Back That Azz Up” were earthshaking singles, and Juvenile’s young-but-old growl brought out the blues in “Ghetto Children” and Dickensian horror in “Gone Ride With Me.” 400 Degreez added new sonic textures that pop music is still mining.
I'd never heard of Juvenile, so can't say I had any expectations for this record. And having listened to it, I'd have to say I'm unsure as to what my verdict should be. The singles are OK (not sure I agree with Rolling Stone's description of "earthshaking") but to my unknowledgeable ear the album mostly sounded pretty generic (verging on self-parody in places) so it would be easy for me to write it off. However, given that it was released in 1998, it's more than possible it was just ahead of its time and has therefore suffered from countless imitations following it.
I would normally look to Wikipedia for guidance on the matter but, for some unclear reason, the entry for this album is surprisingly short (probably the shortest I've seen so far) with the track listing being the largest contributing section. This is unusual because it seems like there's always someone prepared to make the argument that any particular album is an essential entry in the canon of human achievement so far. A quick search of other internet sites turns up the argument that this album is notable for not having been recorded on the coast which, whilst true, doesn't strike me as a particular reason for it being essential. It has, however, sold over 6 million copies since release, so I guess there are plenty of people out there that took to it.
So, I would say the jury is still out on this album - "customers also listened to" Ludacris, who (with my limited experience) I can see has a similar sound and a load of other people who I would be unable to comment on. One thing I would also say in passing is I don't understand why Amazon Music would only have a clean version of this album available - whilst I agree with the argument that clean versions should be available (although in some cases you have to wonder what the point is), being forced to listen to them doesn't do anyone any favours.
#469 : Clandestino : Manu Chao (1998)
Born in Paris to Spanish parents, Manu Chao is a true citizen of the world on his 1998 debut. Clandestino, was a tribute to “clandestinos” everywhere: a derogatory term for undocumented migrants. Running on an internationalist platform of peace (and legalized pot), Chao was a digital busker (“a clown making too much dirty sound”), strumming his acoustic guitar as he moved effortlessly between languages and styles, singing with a playfully light touch as he made feel-good reggae rock for global nomads like himself.
I'd heard the name, but couldn't have told you anything about Manu Chao - and after having read the description above, I was not really any clearer. "Feel-good reggae rock" anyone?!? But, having listened to it, to be honest that's probably as good a description as any - despite the fact that it's not really reggae or rock. "Harmless noodling" is another description that springs to mind - it all feels a bit busker-ish, but not in an unpleasant way. Nothing particularly jumped out at me, but I found myself humming and foot-tapping along, so that's instantly putting it in the top half of albums so far.
Interestingly, having said that the previous album had a uselessly short WIkipedia entry, this album's entry is even shorter - 5 sentences! Manu Chao's entry is considerably longer though and he sounds quite an interesting chap - apparently, "he sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek and occasionally in other languages" which suggests he'd be a useful resource whilst listening to some of the albums on this list. Surprisingly (considering some of my comments on previous albums), the use of many languages didn't seem to affect my enjoyment of the album - if anything, I found the English language tracks more annoying than the others.
"Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of, but not Gypsy Kings apparently, which I think is the closest touchpoint I'm aware of. Overall, I didn't mind this album but I am intrigued as to why it's sold so well (almost 5m copies worldwide, apparently) when there must be a load of similar albums that have sold 10 copies to family and friends. It's funny how things work out (or don't) sometimes.
#468 : Some Girls : The Rolling Stones (1978)
Why did the Stones call their big comeback album Some Girls? Keith explained, “Because we couldn’t remember their fucking names.” The Stones sounded revitalized on Some Girls, with Mick at his bitchiest, reveling in the NYC sleaze of “Shattered,” “Beast of Burden,” and the disco hit “Miss You.” It became their all-time biggest seller. Keith was in rough shape at the time — as Mick fumed, “Christ, Keith fuckin’ gets busted every year” — but he stands unrepentant in his outlaw theme song, “Before They Make Me Run.”
Everyone has their cultural blindspots and for me, The Rolling Stones are squarely in the centre of it. Whilst I appreciate some of their earlier stuff (and I'm fully expecting and looking forward to listening to a few of the albums from that period later on in this exercise), it would have been around this time that I first became aware of them and I couldn't for the life of me understand why everyone thought these REALLY OLD guys were so great (bearing in mind they would have been in their mid thirties!). And as time has gone, my opinion has not changed whilst everyone else seems to have got keener. So I wasn't expecting an awful lot from this album...
And, to be honest, it was more listenable than I was expecting but I'm still pretty "meh" about the whole experience. The playing generally sounds pretty tight, but there is an odd mix of styles involved and Jagger's vocals annoy me in all of them. I didn't mind "Miss You" (although I'm not entirely sure I'd describe it as disco) or "Some Girls" but I have to say I particularly hated "Far Away Eyes" - the country sound does not suit them (and it seems a very brave way to start the second side of the album).
"Customers also listened to" Lynyrd Skynyrd (who I must admit have completely passed me by) and Aerosmith, which seems like a good fit to me. I guess I can take some positives that this album wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I'm hoping for better from other entries in the list.
So well done to Manu - a worthy not-loser if ever there was one.
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