You know I dealt with you the nicest

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

#230 : Anti - Rihanna (2016)

After dominating the Top 40 for years, Rihanna wanted to make an ambitious album-statement, brilliantly sustaining the tipsy two-in-the-morning vibe of this moody midcareer reinvention. “I just gravitated toward the songs that were … the things I want to listen to,” she said. “The things that I want to smoke to.” On Anti, she recast pop as her own hazy playground, referencing Dido and hair metal, covering Tame Impala, and merging dancehall and torch ballads.

I'd heard one Rihanna album before, which the one where she decided she was a bad girl - I didn't mind it, but it did all get a bit "oooh - look at me doing stuff that Madonna did 20 years ago".  I therefore wasn't expecting to mind this one, but I was slightly perplexed by the description above which sounds a bit "after being brilliant for years, Rihanna put this shit out, so we had to say it was great".

And well, I guess it's OK - "hazy" isn't a bad word for it, although unfortunately "forgettable" also applies to large chunks of it.  I liked "Work", despite the presence of Drake who I often find has the reverse Midas touch for me.  For some strange reason, this album felt really long - despite it only allegedly being 43 mins long.  I checked whether something weird was going on with Amazon - turns out I was listening to the specially extended version, but even so that's only 50 minutes long.  So I'm not sure what was going on - it wasn't that I was hating it or finding it really dull, it just seemed to go on for years.  I would also have to say that the closing track "Sex With Me" is not the work of a singer-songwriter using the full extent of her abilities.

"Sex with me, sex with me, sex with me
So amazing, so amazing, mmmm"

Wikipedia (again) explains to me how I'm missing the point - this is the best selling album by a black female artist of the 2010s.  "Work" was her 14th(!) number one in the US - I reckon I could name 2 of them at a push, but I think it's fair to say I'm not the really the sort of fan Rihanna is going after.  To be fair to the lass, Wikipedia makes it sound as though this album was very much her product, so if she's happy with it, I'm happy for her.  I suspect she "may" have been somewhat bossed around on previous albums and she seems to have pretty much got her shit together now whilst having a good time doing so, and they are plenty that haven't fared so well over the years.  

Her Wikipedia page is looooong - the girl has done stuff but seems to have her head screwed on and has a much larger section on "Philanthropy" than most other artists (I suspect she can afford it!).  "Customers also listened to" Fergie - really?!?  Oh well, if that's what they want to do with their ears, who am I to stop them? (it saves me having to, after all).  I would listen to this again - I can imagine it sounds quite good late at night, but won't be rushing to do so (mostly because I'm generally fast asleep at that time).  It's quite a cool album cover though - it made me go "Huh?".

#229 : The Ultimate Collection - Patsy Cline (2000)

Her career was cut short when she died in a plane crash at 30, but Patsy Cline made her mark as one of country’s great singers. “Even though her style is considered country, her delivery is more like a classic pop singer,” Lucinda Williams has noted. Her hits “Walkin’ After Midnight” and “I Fall to Pieces” also made it to the pop charts, establishing the template for country crossover that pointed the way forward for generations; her version of “Crazy” was a godsend to the song’s struggling writer, a young Willie Nelson.

Now, I like "Crazy" - I think it's a very fine song and her version is iconic.  But, if you think I'm going to sit through 32 tracks of Patsy doing her thang, you are sadly mistaken - let's just say her delivery is very much her own, but she doesn't stray far from it.  In fact, if I wanted to be harsh (which we all know is not in my nature) I'd say this is invalid because it's a greatest hit collection.

Wikipedia has pretty much nothing to say about the album other than being very careful to point out that you should, in no way, confuse this with the 1998 Ultimate Collection edition - which only features 30 tracks, but I struggle to imagine is wildly different apart from that.  Her Wikipedia page is more interesting and highlights how she paved the way for others - including this gem "In 1973, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame".  

So would you like to guess in which year people were first inducted into the CMHoF?  1961!!  It took them 8 years and 20 men before someone had the wild idea of including a woman (although to be fair to them, 2 women did sneak in 1970 as part of a group - lead by a man, of course).  It really does sound as though Patsy fought hard for her place and also supported other women along the way - she may not have been around for long, but she made a big difference.   "Customers also listened to" all the women she paved the way for and whilst I can't consider this album for inclusion, I'm happy to consider her a great artist - even it's not exactly in my favourite musical genre.

#229 : De La Soul Is Dead - De La Soul (1991)

The cover of De La Soul’s second album — an overturned flowerpot of dead daisies — was as subtle as a sledgehammer. After the sunny 3 Feet High and Rising, the confrontationally pessismsitic De La Soul Is Dead was a shock; songs dealt with sexual assault (“Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa”) and drug abuse (“My Brother’s a Basehead,” based on member Posdnuos’ brother’s crack addiction). But the fun wasn’t totally over (see “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’”) and producer Prince Paul gave the dense LP a sample-delic flow.

I didn't mind 3 Feet High And Rising (and I realise that such faint praise is sacrilegious to some people) but a large part of my opinion was down to their cheery nature - and the description above suggested we weren't in for such a treat this time around, so i was approaching it with some trepidation.  And, well - it all turned out to be a much mysterious exercise than I was expecting.  De La Soul Is Dead is not on streaming services (and neither is 3 Feet High And Rising) - the last time we came across this sort of thing was with Aaliyah, which I could kinda comprehend because of the potential for issues with her estate (but I was very much of the opinion that they should have been able to sort it out in 20 years).  But De La Soul are all still very much alive - they're all younger than me (so pretty much in the first flush of youth) and they've had 30 years.  What's going on?!?

Wikipedia to the rescue!  Initially the problem was "The samples used in De La Soul's music were only cleared for physical media distribution; the wording of their contracts is not vague enough to enable them to distribute the music digitally on unforeseen technologies" - remember to keep your contracts as vague as you can in future, kids!  That problem was finally resolved but now the company that owns the rights want's 90% of the revenue, to which DLS went "errr - no" - so it's all still in limbo.

So - I had to resort to YouTube, which I don't like using anyway but, even more bizarrely, the album isn't available as a full version on YouTube - it's only there as a playlist which, upon further inspection, is only about a third of the album and has a load of other random stuff in there and adverts, which were just too annoying.  So, basically what I'm saying is, I gave up.  The bits I heard sounded (as described) like a more downbeat 3 Feet High, which I suspect I wouldn't mind but I don't really feel I can comment on the album more than that.

The Wikipedia entry for the album is somewhat odd, going into some depth on the concept of the album and how it plays out and giving absolutely no detail on anything else to do with it.  Which is somewhat bizarre considering that it makes the "List of hip-hop albums considered to be influential" page.  The group's entry gives more detail on the album, but basically just confirms what Rolling Stone said.  The rest of their entry says they're hanging in there, but you can't help but feel their streaming issues aren't hurting their ability to keep their name out there.  I'm not sure (from what I've heard) this album is exactly what the world is looking for at the minute, but I feel 3 Feet High And Rising (which I'm sure we'll come back to) would help us all feel a bit more like facing the world.

All of which leaves us in a slightly unusual place - it pretty much has to go to Rihanna.  So well done her for winning by default!

#233-231 - Not a lot of common ground here
#227-225 - The lads let me down somewhat