Cobain can you hear the spheres singing songs off Station To Station?

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

#288 : The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers (1976)

Jonathan Richman moved from Boston to New York as a teenager in hopes of sleeping on Lou Reed’s couch. That influence shows on the two-chord anthem “Roadrunner.” Recorded in 1972 but not released until 1976, Lovers turned the tough sounds of the Velvets into an ode to suburban romanticism. “Rock & roll was about stuff that was natural,” Richman said. “I wasn’t about drugs and space.” Songs like “Pablo Picasso,” “Girl Friend,” and “Dignified and Old” touched generations of punk and indie-rock innocents.

Jonathan Richman is one of those names that pops up reasonably frequently in discussions of music around this period, but I must admit his output has passed me by, but that didn't stop me having a suspicion I wasn't exactly going to like it.  And having listened to it, I can confirm I exactly don't like it - and the reason for this is that it's shit.  OK, so I've only listened to it once, but I can't see anything that anyone would say that would ever draw me back to listen to this again.  I've tried to think of a description that would help crystallise my thoughts on it, but all I can come up with "it's just really bad" - for once, my famed powers of description fail me.

Wikipedia tries tell me I'm wrong, but it's all feeling a bit half-hearted and I'd have to say I'm not entirely convinced it believes what it's saying.  It doesn't even bother mentioning record sales - it's much more interested in how it was recorded in 1972 but not released until 1976 and I'd have to say I still don't really understand how that came to happen.  It feels like they spent ages making a decision as to who they were going to sign for and when they'd done that, they realised they all hated each other, so split up, at which point the record label lost interest as well.  Their main page is much more interested in what Jonathan Richman did next, although it does point out that they all went on to do other stuff - for instance, I never knew Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads was part of the original Modern Lovers line-up.

"Customers also listened to" all sorts of people, most of whom I've never heard of but I was surprised not to see The Velvet Underground in there - it feels like everyone was listening to them around them.  In case it's not clear, I will not be listening to this album again - unless I'm in need of cheering up, in which case I will play it to my daughters and ask them what they think of it.

 #287 : Mr Tambourine Man - The Byrds (1965)

“Wow, man, you can even dance to that!” said Bob Dylan on hearing the Byrds’ harmonized electric-12-string treatments of his material. Their debut album defined folk rock with L.A. studio savvy and ringing guitars. The Byrds hit Number One with their jangled-up “Mr. Tambourine Man,” but as they soon proved, they were a whole band full of brilliant songwriters. Gene Clark wrote most of the album’s highlights, like the moody “Here Without You” and the irresistible “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better.”

I was aware of some of The Byrds output - particularly their jangled-up "Mr Tambourine Man" and generally quite liked the sound, but had never settled down to listen to a whole album's worth.  But 32 minutes later, that was exactly what I'd done - I think this is the shortest album so far.  And my impression is you're either going to like all them tambourines and harmonies or you're gonna hate em - and I'm pleased to report I liked 'em!  Having said that, I would never ever take Mr Dylan's advice and try dancing to any of them - I would look like a character from one of those Woodstock videos (although I would keep all my clothes firmly on).

Wikipedia makes the interesting point that four of the tracks are Dylan covers - three of them coming from one album.  It's almost impossible to imagine anyone doing that these days, let alone have it resulting in a top 10 album - they'd be far more likely to be just playing in the local pub.  There's also an interesting section on how none of them were all that great on their instruments when they started the album and the record label just assumed they'd use session musicians - but instead they spent the time learning how to play until the producer decide they were good enough to make a whole album.  There's also a rare section on "Release History" for this album because it's been released 17 times across 7 record labels - it's also interesting that the initial release was a dual release, one mono and one stereo.  Was that a thing back in the day?!?

The Wikipedia entry for the group is surprisingly lengthy and goes into great depth as to how influential they were on both the "folk rock" and "country rock" genres and there are a lot of famous names involved.  I'm not the person to comment though, because I didn't even know David Crosby was one of the founding members - it's obviously an area in which my musical education is somewhat lacking.  I also chuckled at Jim McGuinn deciding Jim was too plain a first name for someone as rock and roll as he was - so he changed it to Roger.  Yes, that's much more in keeping with the spirit of rock and roll.  "Customers also listened to" a lot of names from around that time that I recognise but can't tell you too much about (although I definitely know more about them than I did a couple of months ago).  All in all, a pleasant listen and although it sounds of its time, it hasn't dated badly - being far preferable to many of the entries from that time period on this list so far.

 #286 : Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999)

Turning their focus completely to songs instead of jams, the Red Hot Chili Peppers steered frontman Anthony Kiedis’ voice into a radio-friendlier wail on Californication. That, and the reappearance of guitarist/secret weapon John Frusciante, helped form beautifully composed songs such as “Scar Tissue.” “When John gets excited, he’s like 8 billion volts of electricity,” said Kiedis. “He was knocking things over — it was absolutely chaotic, like a little kid trying to set up a Christmas tree.”

And we're back around the turn of the century, which certainly feels for me personally to be one of the more productive timeframes featured in this list.  I own this album and remember liking it, although I can't say I've listened to it in a fair few years now, so was looking forward to revisiting.  And, if anything, I'd say it was better than I remembered it - the title track is probably still my favourite with its intriguing and tricksy lyrics, but the rest of the tracks stand up well with the voice, guitar, rhythm and bass all blending together nicely.  My only complaint about re-listening to it was that I did it too quietly, but I don't really feel I can blame the Peppers for that.  My 11 year old even pronounced it to be "not bad, although I don't really like the singing".

Wikipedia both has a lot and almost nothing to say about the album, although I was surprised to see it didn't make it to #1 in either the US or the UK.  It was around a lot over here and it feels very US-centric, but maybe there were better albums out at the time - ah yes, Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin kept it off the top in the US, so what chance did it stand?!?  The Wikipedia entry for the band is also quite lengthy - and some of it actually talks about stuff other than drugs or John Frusciante either joining or leaving the band.  But not much.  "Customers also listened to" a very bizarre mix of people who really only relate to the era - which just suggests to me that there are a load of people out there who like this album but aren't really RHCP fans, and I think it would be fair enough to include me in this bunch.  But I do really like this album and will be attempting to listen to it again very soon - but much louder.  I'm sure my wife can't wait.

To be honest, if I don't give this round to the Chilis, then Mr Nestors will be on my case - and those of you who know Mr Nestors will agree this isn't something anyone needs.  However, they're easy winners for me, even though I enjoyed The Byrds way more than I was expecting.

#291-289 - 3 from mid-90s to mid-00s, which is definitely one of my sweet spots. #285-283 - Three albums I didn't hate, but didn't exactly like either.