The walls are always speaking

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

#379 : Moving Pictures - Rush (1981)

On Seventies albums like 2112 and Hemispheres, Rush mastered the high-prog epic. Moving Pictures was the record where they proved they could say as much in four minutes as they previously had in 20. Songs like “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight,” and the Police-like “Vital Signs” showcased the trio’s superhuman chops in a radio-ready framework, while more adventurous tracks like the Morse code–inspired instrumental “YYZ” and the synth-heavy suite “The Camera Eye” found them tastefully streamlining their wildest ideas. Said Geddy Lee, “We learned it’s not so easy to write something simple.”

Rush were one of those groups I was aware of and suspected I didn't like, but wasn't entirely sure whether I did or not - I guess that's an improvement on me just assuming I hate them.  So well done me - and I was intrigued to listen to this album.  I also have to say the comment "they proved they could say as much in four minutes as they previously had in 20" gave me more hope for this album than I would otherwise have had.

And yeah, it's OK - it was certainly more pared-back than I was expecting and there is a lot of instrumental skill on display.   It reminded me of Yes in quite a few places - good Yes, not god-awful Yes, I hasten to add.  Did I actually care about any of it?  Not really, but I'm not sure they'll overly mind - there are plenty of people who disagree with me.

As Wikipedia points out, it shifted 4m copies in the US alone - and it was voted #10 in "Your Favourite Prog Rock Albums Of All Time" (which is not a list I will be rushing to review).  I was far more interested in the section on the album art work - firstly, it cost nearly $10k dollars to produce, which the record label refused to pay for.  And secondly, it's a "triple entendre" - you what?!?  Actually, it makes sense when you read it all (the pictures are both moving and moving - and someone's making a moving picture of it all) but you do have to ask whether the effort and expense was worth it.  "Customers also listened to" a load of other groups who I assume I don't like without really knowing for sure - except for Guns'n'Roses, who I know I don't like.  So, an interesting excursion to plug a gap in my musical education, but not one I'll be rushing to revisit.

#378 : Run-DMC - Run-DMC (1983)

The Hollis, Queens, crew kicked off the golden age of hip-hop with their debut — the first great rap album, built to blast out of boomboxes on city streets. “Before us, rap records were corny,” Jam Master Jay said. “Everything was soft. Nobody made no hard-beat records.” Run-DMC changed that with the B-boy bravado of “Sucker MC’s,” the metal guitar of “Rock Box,” and the political realism of “Hard Times.” As they boast, “Just snap your fingers and clap your hands/Our DJ’s better than all these bands.”

I can't claim to be a Run-DMC expert, but I was expecting this album to sound like Run-DMC... 

...and it's like that and that's the way it is.

It would seem rude to attempt to say anything more after that.

#377 : Fever To Tell - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)

These New York art-punk brats blew away the doldrums of the early 2000s with a true rock & roll goddess in Karen O. She knew how to work her sneer like a pair of ripped fishnets, trashing any room in sight. Yet the tender ballad “Maps” became a surprise hit, with Karen pleading “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you” over Nick Zinner’s warped guitar fuzz and Brian Chase’s drum thunder. “There’s a lot of loooove in that song,” she said. “But there’s a lot of fear, too.”

I quite like Yeah Yeah Yeahs - they managed to liven up a very wet Glasto afternoon for me back in the days when going out was allowed.  And Karen O most definitely is a true rock and roll goddess.  This album is totally not for everyone, but I quite like it (although it didn't sound so good playing it quietly because it was early in the morning and I didn't want to wake the house up)

Wikipedia has a few facts about the album, but this Karen O quote about how Dave Sitek came to produce the album amused me - "We didn’t know anyone else. That was probably one of the biggest reasons we worked with him, because we didn’t know anyone else."  I guess that's as good as reason as any!  Wikipedia seem unclear as to whether the band as still going or not - either way, 4 albums in 20 years isn't exactly prodigious.  "Customers also listened to" a load of different groups, some of whom I remember fondly from back in the day - and some not so fondly.  I think you'll either like or hate this album - and I very much like it.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs for the win (although I nearly gave it to Run-DMC to make up for their somewhat curtailed review!)

#382-380 - Two pleasant surprises
#376-374 - I don't get the blues