Another train of thought too hard to follow
Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...
#109 : Transformer - Lou Reed (1973)
David Bowie counted the former Velvet Underground leader as a major inspiration — and paid back the debt by producing Transformer. The album had glam flash courtesy of Ziggy Stardust guitarist Mick Ronson as well as Reed’s biggest hit, “Walk on the Wild Side” — which brought drag queens and hustlers into the Top 20 — and the exquisite ballad “Perfect Day.” It was Reed’s first producer, VU impresario Andy Warhol, who inspired the lead cut when he suggested “Vicious” as a song title. “You know, like, ‘Vicious/You hit me with a flower,’” Warhol elaborated. Reed took him at his word, penning the song and cribbing the lines verbatim.
I had heard this album back in the day and so wasn't as scared of it as I would otherwise have been. There are at least tunes on it and whilst he's not what anyone would call the best singer ever, he conveys emotion well with his growl. "Perfect Day" is a fine song - "I thought I was someone else, someone good" - and you can't fault "Walk On The Wild Side" either. Unsurprisingly, there's a strong Bowie influence - "Satellite Of Love" in particular could easily have been sung by him. My major complaint would be that the lyrics in places are, to say the least, somewhat out there eg "Andy's Chest" has the following offering (amongst several I could have chosen)
Yesterday, Daisy Mae and Biff were groovin' on the street
And just like in a movie her hands became her feet
Her belly button was her mouth
Which meant she tasted what she'd speak
But the funny thing is what happened to her nose
It grew until it reached all of her toes
Now, when people say her feet smell, they mean her nose
Wikipedia tells us that the success of this album was at least partially down to Bowie's involvement - the critics weren't entirely convinced, with Rolling Stone deeming it "artsyfartsy kind of homo stuff" (how very enlightened of them, I must say). Apart from that, there isn't a lot of content about the album. His page is somewhat fuller, but is also somewhat meandering - he doesn't appear to have been a man who stuck with things, happier trying a bit of this and that before getting bored with it. However, let it not be said he hasn't left a lasting impression on this world - "Spiders with furry bodies are known as velvet spiders and one which was recently discovered in Spain is named Loureedia, because it has a velvet body and lives underground.". Mic drop - I thank you.
"Customers also listened to" all those early 70s staples - and The Police, for no obvious reason at all. Overall, I didn't mind this but I'd have to say a big part of that was that I didn't absolutely hate it, which is a step up from the Velvet Underground albums I've had to endure so far.
#108 : When The Pawn... - Fiona Apple (1999)
Following the success of her precocious debut, Tidal, and saddled with a pop audience that didn’t quite know what to do with her, Fiona Apple took her critics to task on the mature yet daring When the Pawn … Backed by her expressive piano playing and impressionistic production from Jon Brion, Apple makes resentment seem almost fun on songs like “Fast as You Can,” “Paper Bag,” and “The Way Things Are.” In years to come, Apple would make peace with her outcast status, leaving far behind the MTV-generation gatekeepers who once gave her so much grief. For generations of young fans, the raw, hard-won triumph of When the Pawn … will always feel timeless.
Ah, the snappily titled When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right which is, as Wikipedia puts it, frequently abridged to When the Pawn...
I own and quite like this, but hadn't listened to it in yonks, so was pleased to revisit it. I still enjoyed it, although I did find it a bit clever-clever in places (but not nearly as bad as Pass The Bolt Cutters, her album from last year). I particularly liked "To Your Love", but most of the tracks are to my taste - it also sounds pretty current for something that's 22 years old now.
The Wikipedia entry for the album tells us that the album title is a poem that Fiona wrote in response to an unfavourable article. As she puts it (with unerring hindsight) "It came from being made fun of, and then, of course, it becomes a thing I'm being made fun of for". It's no longer in The Guinness Book Of Records though because Chumbawumba gave one of their albums a title nearly twice as long. Oh well, whatever keeps them happy, eh? Wikipedia also tells us that the album got to #1 in the US Internet Album charts - which of course made me go "you what?". Apparently it's a chart based upon the number of physical albums ordered over the internet - and I can't begin to imagine why anyone would actually care about such things.
Her Wikipedia entry leads us to a fine pub quiz question - "What do Fiona Apple, Kendrick Lamar and Ray Charles have in common?" You have one paragraph to work out the answer. Apart from that I think we've suitably covered her arty life in enough detail in previous entries.
"Customers also listened to" a load of US female singer-songwriters - some good, some bad. I enjoyed listening to this again but, like Janet Jackson in the previous round, 3 entries for Fiona in the list feels excessive - like Janet, I feel that she probably deserves one entry in the 300s or so and personally, I'd go for this one or Extraordinary Machine.
And the answer is that their "surnames" are actually their middle names, with their full names being Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggert, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Ray Charles Robinson.
#107 : Marquee Moon - Television (1977)
When the members of Television materialized in New York, at the dawn of punk, they played an incongruous, soaring amalgam of genres: the noirish howl of the Velvet Underground, brainy art rock, the double-helix guitar sculpture of Quicksilver Messenger Service. As exhilarating in its lyrical ambitions as the Ramones’ debut was in its brutal simplicity, Marquee Moon still amazes. “Friction,” “Venus,” and the mighty title track are jagged, desperate, and beautiful all at once. As for punk credentials, don’t forget the cryptic electricity and strangled existentialism of guitarist Tom Verlaine’s voice and songwriting
Oh dear, I'm not going to like this one, am I? Approaches the headphones with caution...
Actually, I didn't mind it - there's a reasonable amount of skill on display (some really impressive guitar work in particular) across an acceptable selection of songs. His voice is slightly annoying, but only slightly - there's a definite David Byrne vibe going on, along with a touch of Jagger. Lots of indie bands from the 90s must have listened to this - if you like that sort of thing, then you might like this. I fully realise though that most people will hate it!
Wikipedia tells us that the critics (and, later, many musicians) loved the album but very few people bought it, except in the UK where it got to #28 in the charts. Quite why a NY "art-punk" band struck a chord over here is unclear, but they did. Amusingly, some critics described them as "post-punk" despite this album being released a few months before Never Mind The Bollocks. The band's entry has to be one of the shortest we've seen so far - the time period covering their two initial studio albums and subsequent break-up is given two paragraphs. Which seems odd since everyone seems to agree how influential they were.
"Customers also listened to" a load of people I don't have a lot of time for - and The Minutemen who I actually quite liked. As I did this - a pleasant and totally unexpected surprise.
All in all, an interesting mix. I actually suspect I could grow to love the Television effort - some of that guitar playing was mighty impressive, but I might also tire of it quickly, so it feels like it hasn't done enough yet to win. Lou has the best tracks, but he also has the worst tracks, which puts me off declaring him the winner - so that leaves us with Fiona, which I enjoyed, but she can consider herself quite lucky to win this round. And exceptionally lucky to somehow walk off with a hat-trick of wins, but she did at least have some decent competition here.
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