Dialled about a thousand numbers lately - almost rang the phone off the wall

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

#285 : Third/Sister Lovers - Big Star (1978)

Big Star’s first two albums were crisp power-pop full of bright Sixties melodies. Their third album very much wasn’t. The band recorded it, their final LP, in 1974, but it didn’t get released until 1978, in part because singer Alex Chilton sounds like he’s having a nervous breakdown. It’s a record of gorgeous, disjointed heartbreak ballads such as “Take Care,” “Nighttime,” and “Blue Moon.” Even when they’re more optimistic, the songs almost seem to disintegrate as they unfold, finally collapsing into the sublime apocalypse of the album-closing “Kanga Roo.”

Our third visit with Big Star, who I was previously unaware of but I'd enjoyed their melodic pop efforts.  But, as Rolling Stone says, "one of these things is not the same" - whilst it sounds reductive to say he's having a nervous breakdown, it does feel like it wouldn't have hurt for someone to check in on him.  I didn't completely hate the album, but it's certainly not so immediate and definitely harder to like on first listen.  I'd also say that my version of the album didn't end with "Kanga Roo" (which was a perfectly fine track) but with "Downs" (which most definitely was not).

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album - it seems to have been released late because nobody could really be bothered with it.  Interestingly, it partly blames this on "Alex Chilton's declining mental state" but there's no further explanation anywhere on Wikipedia, but other internet sources claim he suffered with issues throughout his life.  As with all Big Star albums, it received no interest at the time but its reputation has grown over time - but I'm not so convinced by this particular album's worth other than as a reference point in the life of Big Star.  "Customers also listened to" Pretenders, The Waitresses and Spinal Tap - which seems a particularly weird selection to me.  Not an album I'll be revisiting, I'm afraid.

#284 : Down Every Road (1962-1994) - Merle Haggard (1996)

Haggard’s tough country sound was born in Bakersfield, California, a.k.a. Nashville West. His songs are full of drifters, fugitives, and rogues, and this four-disc set — culled from his seminal recordings for Capitol as well as MCA and Epic — is the ultimate collection from one of country’s finest singers. Songs like “Mama Tried” and “All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers” are archetypal statements of lonely tough-guy individualism, and like James Brown’s Star Time, the quality stays rock solid over four CDs.

Oh good - a 4 disc greatest hits box set.  You know how much I LOVE these.  Fortunately, Amazon was unable to provide me with this album - so I went for one of his greatest hits albums working on the principle that they were probably pretty much the same.  And I generally liked the tracks individually (they're very "Dukes Of Hazzard" theme tune, if that means anything to you) but a whole album of them was far too much, so I can't even begin to imagine what a 4 disc set (weighing in at nearly 5 hours) would have done to me.

Wikipedia tells me this is actually "one of the greatest box sets ever released" which personally I'm struggling to imagine, but each to their own I guess.  Amusingly, considering how large some of the personnel listings are for some albums (Outkast's recent effort stretches to over 150) there are just 25 people listed for this boxset covering 100 songs over 22 years - I guess once you were in with Merle, you were in.  

His Wikipedia entry is quite interesting - he had what you'd call a tricky start to life, but decided to turn things around after going to a Johnny Cash concert - in San Quentin prison, so he didn't have a lot of choice about attending, I guess.  But he generally comes across as a decent bloke and very "I ain't perfect but live and let live" - which is definitely an attitude I admire.  "Customers also listened to" a LOT of other Merle Haggard albums and also some Willie Nelson albums with some TERRIBLE cover art.  Whilst I'd say this album is generally pretty cliched, I'd also say we've not seen a lot like it so far on the list, so I'm happy to have listened to it (or at least some of it) even if it's not for me.

#283 : Bad Girls - Donna Summer (1975)

The Boston-born Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco by the end of the Seventies — but she wanted more. With her double-vinyl epic Bad Girls, she set out to conquer every corner of pop music in the name of disco, along with her longtime producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. “Hot Stuff” was her rock anthem, while “Bad Girls” found the sweet spot where the toot-toot meets the beep-beep. The underrated highlight: “Sunset People,” her post-Steely Dan snapshot of L.A. malaise.

Obviously you know what to expect when you see her name, but after reading the above, I wasn't so sure what to expect.  And what a peculiar album it is - "every corner of pop" isn't a bad description, but it's not really done in the name of disco (or not all of it anyway).  There's a strong synth feel to the album - with both Georgio Moroder and  Harold Faltermayer involved, this isn't a huge surprise.  "Hot Stuff" was the obvious highlight to me, both because it's a strong track and because it reminds me how good a film "The Full Monty" is.  The other tracks are generally fine (although some do outstay their welcome) but overall I'm not entirely sure who the album is aimed at.  I'd also say that in places her voice doesn't come across as particularly strong, which somewhat surprised me - and the album didn't endear itself to me by boldly stating on the cover "Over 70 minutes of music" - cheers, Donna.

Wikipedia tells me this is widely considered as one of the greatest disco albums - but provides surprisingly little evidence to back that view up - although the fact that she had two singles in the top three in the US charts in June 1979 does give you an idea as to how much of a big deal she was at the time.  Her Wikipedia entry is slightly more interesting and the section about the reaction to her death in 2012 is lovely with lots of people saying just the nicest things about her.  A little hint that she might have been quite nice as a person is that whilst she's been married twice, she was married to her second husband for 32 years up until her death - some of the less nice people we've met so far struggle to make these things last 32 days!  "Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of - and whilst I didn't hate this album, I was a bit confused by it all so I won't be rushing back to it.  The cover art is amusingly of its time though.

This could have been a tricky one, but it can't go to Merle (that's totally a greatest hits) and it's not a good Big Star album, so that only leaves Donna - it's not a great album but it is at least an interesting one.  And it's got "Hot Stuff" on it (even if it's not entirely representative) so who can argue with that?!?

#288-286 - Two good albums and one very, very bad album
#282-280 - Three albums spanning 47 years featuring men in very different outfits on the covers