Phoebe, Io, Elara, Leda, Callisto, Sinope Janus, Dione, Portia - so many moons
Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...
#440 : Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn (1971)
Loretta Lynn crossed over into pop with the autobiographical “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” in which she proudly recalled her meager upbringing amid weepy steel guitar — her mother read the Bible by “coal-oil light,” her dad sold hogs to buy her shoes. That resilient spirit carried over into the Coal Miner’s Daughter LP’s tunes about feeling jilted (“What Makes Me Tick”) and loving another woman’s man (“Any One, Any Worse, Any Where”), and the album, as well as the like-titled memoir and biopic, secured her place as one the most important country singers ever.
I was expecting this to be "classic country" - the sort I don't like. What I wasn't expecting was for this album not to be available on my streaming platform of choice, so I had to "simulate" it by listening to whatever tracks I could find in various random corners of the internet - and that was quite enough to tell me I don't like it. Oh no, I don't like it at all. It's just too twangy, whiny and yee-ha for my liking.
Customers also listened to Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton - and nobody expected that now, did they? The Wikipedia page for the album is reasonably dull, but her page is well worth a diversion - she's coming up to 90, has released 49 studio albums and 36 compilation albums by herself, and another 10 studio and 6 compilation albums with Conway Twitty and only stopped touring a couple of years ago. So I think we can safely say she's a tough old bird - so hopefully she be able to cope with the fact that I don't like her music. Let's hope so, eh?!?
#439 : Sex Machine - James Brown (1970)
Kicked off by its hypnotic 11-minute title track (a studio jam, to which Brown added fake crowd noise), Sex Machine signaled a new funk renaissance for Soul Brother Number One, thanks in part to the groovy skills of bassist Bootsy Collins and his guitarist brother Catfish, who had just joined the band. Pairing “Sex Machine” with a legit live set recorded by Brown’s previous ensemble (“It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” sounds devastating), the LP continued his legend as one of the all-time greatest live showmen.
I was pretty much expecting this to sound like classic James Brown and I think it's fair to say it does. It's not quite my sort of thing, but I can appreciate the craft and it doesn't really feel dated - although I did find the 11 minutes of "Sex Machine" somewhat of a drag. I can also imagine that he was particularly spectacular live back in 1970 (and the live tracks on this album back this up), but I can unfortunately confirm that in 2004 he was not in the slightest bit spectacular live, so my view is somewhat tainted on the matter. Yes - I got to see James Brown and Paul McCartney at Glasto that year - it's amazing I ever went back really.
His Wikipedia page is a thing of wonder, but it's fair to say "Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law". There's a "few" hints that he might not have been the nicest man ever but he was certainly a busy one - 61 studio albums and 60 compilation albums! Different people have different views on how much you can separate the man and the music - personally, I struggle to do so, but we all know I'm a sensitive flower. Either way, the music isn't really my cup of tea so I won't be rushing back to the album, but I can appreciate it's "greatness" without enjoying it.
#439 : Parklife - Blur (1994)
Blur improbably burst into the mainstream with Parklife‘s “Girls & Boys,” a five-minute disco-rock barnburner about cross-dressing, bisexual libertines. They also sang about the joys of slacking (“Parklife”) but also how boring it is to conform (“End of the Century”), and they transformed a map of England into a metaphor for surviving rough patches (“This Is a Low”). Frontman Damon Albarn’s gifts for storytelling, singalong melodies, and Anglophilia set up Blur as heirs apparent to the Kinks and fierce rivals to Oasis for Brit pop’s crown.
Another album I own and another group I've seen live (around this time as well) - we must be getting to the properly great albums now! I remembered liking the album, but can't say I've listened to it in ages - I think I just internally shout "Parklife!" and think I know the whole album. Which, having listened to it again, is very much not the case - there's a lot more variety on here and the songs are crafted and executed better than I remembered. Yes, there's definitely some Kinkiness going on here - I'm also reminded by bits of Queen from A Night At The Opera era (which my dad owned back in the day!). "Parklife" still somewhat overshadows the other tracks on the album, but "End Of The Century" and "Far Out" work for me as slightly less frenetic tracks.
It was interesting looking at Wikipedia and reading all the stuff about Britpop and Blur vs Oasis - it feels like such a long time ago (it's ONLY 25 years, after all). "Customers also listened to" Pulp (hopefully another album we'll see on this list) and the album coming up next as well (no spoilers!). It was somewhat surprised to see this album on this list because it didn't do all that well in the US but I'm pleased I got the opportunity to revisit it to remind myself it's not all about the title track. I also love the album cover - an iconic image of the time.
Only one winner out of this lot because "confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as"...
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