It wasn't me she was foolin' - coz she knew what was she was doin'

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

#209 : Raising Hell - Run-DMC (1986)

Working for the first time with producer Rick Rubin, the Hollis, Queens, crew of Run, DMC, and Jam Master Jay made an album so undeniable, it forced the mainstream to cross over to hip-hop. “Peter Piper” kicked the rhymes over a jingling cowbell sampled from an old jazz-fusion record. On “My Adidas,” “It’s Tricky,” and “You Be Illin’,” Run and DMC talked trash while the DJ made their day. They even hit MTV with a vandalistic remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.

Our second visit with Run-DMC - and last time they probably considered themselves somewhat short-changed on account of me being oh-so-very-clever (I get so few opportunities, I have to take them where I can).  I promise to give them a fairer crack of the whip this time though.  Expectations were pretty much what I expect everyone else would be expecting from an album with "Walk This Way" on - and I'd say that's basically what was delivered.  The high points are good and surprisingly numerous, although "Walk This Way" and "It's Tricky" do obviously stand out.  I would also say however that the less good tracks are obviously less good - there are one or two that you're left thinking "what was that?".

"Walk This Way" holds a special place in my heart because it was often played in the Uni bar in my first year - alongside "Word Up" and "Layla" (which skipped very badly, but people still put it on anyway).  Us Bath lot were soooo street, you know - but it's hard to believe that's 35 years ago now.  Pop quiz question - who had a UK #1 hit with the song?  (and you can obviously guess what the answer isn't, can't you?).  Wikipedia tells us that the critics and the general public agreed with the Bath Uni barometer of popular music - it's a very highly regarded album credited with bringing hip-hop into the mainstream.  And yes, I realise that not everything thinks this is a great thing - but it's certainly a thing nonetheless.

The group's Wikipedia entry doesn't have a lot more to say about the group other some interesting stuff about their early career and some unfortunate stuff about Jam Master Jay's murder - which happened nearly 20 years ago now.  If nothing else, this album has not been good for reminding me how old I am.  "Customers also listened to" a load of people I'm not entirely sure Run-DMC would be happy to be included with - Vanilla Ice, Sir Mix-a-lot and Vanilla Ice.  But I'm most definitely not an expert, although I generally liked this album and have enjoyed reading up about how influential it is considered to be.

And obviously, it was Sugababes and Girls Aloud that had the UK #1 with their Comic Relief effort.  And "effort" is being generous here.

#208 : Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne (2008)

By 2008, Lil Wayne contained multitudes: Best Rapper Alive, Pussy Monster, Martian, Weezy F. Baby (and the “F” is for, well, pretty much any word starting with “F”). Tha Carter III was a monument to this multiple-personality menagerie. “A Milli,” a glorified freestyle, fully crossed over to the mainstream, while “Lollipop,” a robotic R&B jam, rightly bet that an audience was ready to invest in Wayne’s croaky, syrup-addled singing voice. More than a decade later, even Wayne’s most outré personalities are still birthing musical descendants.

And a second visit with Lil Wayne - last time I was somewhat perplexed by Tha Carter II and said if I had to listen to I, III, IV or V then I doubted I'd be able to tell the difference, but hoped I wouldn't have to find out.  Oh well, be careful what you wish for, I guess - let's find out, shall we?  Well, well, well - to my surprise, I found this considerably more interesting than the previous effort with a good mix of sounds, amusing lyrics (in places, when you catch them) and acceptable use of vocoder (unlike Kanye later in the same year).  

I also get the impression that multiple re-listens would reward the effort - the use of multiple "personalities" (although voices might be a more accurate description) on different songs shows up on a first listen, but I'm certain I haven't picked everything up.  What I did pick up though was some of the lyrics - let's just say they are "questionable" at best.  Yes, they're backed up with intelligence and humour in places, but that doesn't stop them being EXTREMELY dubious (for example, however bad you'd imagine "Pussy Monster" might be - believe me when I say it's worse than that).  I also really didn't need 88 minutes of it - do these people never have someone there just to say "OK, you can stop now"?

The Wikipedia entry for the album lists a "few" well-known people that worked on the album - it's like a who's who of that sort of person, some of whom I've even heard of.  It actually has very little else to say about the album other than that the critics loved it and the general public didn't mind it, with 6 million sales in the US and 207,969 sold in the UK.  And we've covered Trump-loving (and pardoned), feuding Lil Wayne already, so I don't feel the need to revisit him.  "Customers also listened to" a load of people who look like they'd get on with Wayney boy, but I've never heard of them.  But overall, I quite enjoyed the sounds and ambitions shown on the album but I did have a problem with the words.  And yes, I know sticks and stones and all that, but I really don't need to feel dirty when listening to this stuff.

#207 : Eagles - Eagles (1972)

This debut created a new template for laid-back L.A. country-rock style. Behind the band’s mellow message — “Take It Easy,” “Peaceful Easy Feeling” — was a relentless drive. “Everybody had to look good, sing good, play good, and write good,” Glenn Frey told Cameron Crowe in Rolling Stone. Beyond the album’s three hit singles, songs like the somber waltz “Most of Us Are Sad,” the pickin’ and grinnin’ “Earlybird,” and the down-home rocker “Nightingale” showed a band that had perfected a sound right out of the gate.

Yes, I've heard of Eagles.  Who are Eagles, despite them often being called The Eagles (in fact, Wikipedia generally refers to them as "the Eagles", which seems even more confusing).  I knew and liked "Take It Easy" so was expecting something along similar lines and was expecting to like it.  But, to be honest, for me it was all taken a bit too easy - I just found myself slightly bored by the whole thing.  I can imagine it being on in the background in a Seventies dinner party, but I currently there's no danger of me bothering to sit down and listen to it again - there was just nothing to draw me back in.

I was sure Wikipedia will tell me I'm wrong - but actually, it doesn't go overboard on the album, claiming it's fine country-rock, but seeming unsure whether that's a particularly good thing to be. I suspect they've saved up the superlatives for Hotel California, which I suspect we might well be seeing later.  The album sold well enough, but it didn't set the world on fire.  The band's Wikipedia entry is as long as a long thing - I flicked through it, but very little jumped out at me except for the fact that they're still touring (or will be when they're allowed to).  "Customers also listened to" Fleetwood Mac and The Steve Miller Band - yeah, I can see the fit there.  But I'd have to say I'm hoping for more from Hotel California than I got from this.

So, not Eagles which leaves the very different hip hop offerings.  I think Lil Wayne would probably have won it if not for his lyrics, but I'm happy giving it to Run-DMC for "Walk This Way" and the memories of playing pool in the uni bar.  A long, long, long time ago.

#212-210 - They're oldies, but are they goodies?
#206-204 - Not hip-hop.  Not hip-hop.  Hip-hop