I once was lost, but now I'm found

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

#155 : The Black Album - Jay-Z (2003)

By 2003, Jay-Z was out of antagonists to dominate and his Roc-A-Fella label was a true dynasty. So he pulled the rap version of Michael Jordan’s 1993 retirement, with his much vaunted “farewell record.” Backed by a phalanx of superproducers (Kanye West, the Neptunes, Timbaland), he proved himself, once again, “pound for pound … the best to ever come around.” As you might expect, The Black Album is a towering feat of melodramatic self-mythologizing, tracing his birth (“December 4th”), hustler peak (“99 Problems”), and afterlife (“Lucifer”). Apparently, Jay wasn’t too happy with the eulogy, because three years later he was back.

I've never really "got" Jay-Z - whenever I've tried listening to anything of his, I just get a couple of songs in, think "huh?", turn it off and go and find something more interesting to do instead.  But I didn't have that luxury this time, I had to listen to the whole thing.  I still thought "huh?" though.  He structures a song well, giving plenty of shout-along moments that such things are often sorely lacking.  But - and I appreciate some of you (in the 1% of readers that don't hate all rap with a passion) will find this truly heretical - is he actually any good at this rapping thing?  Personally, I don't feel I have enough experience across the genre to say he isn't, but I also don't feel he's given me enough evidence to convince me he is.  He is also VERY convinced of his own genius, which gets somewhat tiresome to say the least.  "What links The Damned, Prince, The Dandy Warhols, Jay-Z, Weezer and Metallica?" is a good pub quiz question though!

Wikipedia has surprisingly little to say about the album - it feels like exactly the sort of thing they'd generally go on about for ages.  It notes the mostly positive response from the critics and public, although it only really went down a storm in the US, with other countriies paying somewhat less attention - it reached the heady heights of #97 in the Belgian album charts.  Robert Christgau manages to be funny for a change - "[Jay-Z] raps like a legend in his own time—namely, Elvis in Vegas".  The most interesting section for me was all the kerfuffle about Dangermouse's Grey Album, which reworked this along with The Beatles White Album - everyone involved was perfectly happy with how it all turned out except from EMI, who got very sniffy about the whole thing which obviously resulted in the whole thing being much more widely distributed.  Jay Z's Wikipedia entry is lengthy and I couldn't be bothered with most of it, but I couldn't resist looking at the "Relationship with Beyoncé" section given some of the shenanigans in that area recently - so imagine my surprise when it tells me "They generally avoid discussing their relationship".  Hmmm.

"Customers also listened to" all them hippy-hoppy types - some of which I like more than this, and some less.  Personally, I found this mostly bearable but generally tiresome - there's no danger of me coming back to it.

#154 : Amazing Grace - Aretha Franklin (1972)

“I don’t think I’m alone in saying that Amazing Grace is Aretha’s singular masterpiece,” Marvin Gaye observed. Recorded in an L.A. church with her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, on hand and Mick Jagger dancing in the back of the congregation, this return to Aretha Franklin’s gospel roots remains the bestselling album of her career, containing, arguably, the greatest singing she recorded. Part of this is because it didn’t sound like it took place in a church; Franklin approaches sacred songs as if they were soul standards, and delivers Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” like it’s a hymn. “How I Got Over,” her fervent thank you to Jesus, must have made the Lord blush.

Our second visit with Ms Franklin on this list and last time she produced a selection of mostly covers I admired rather than enjoyed.  I'd never heard this album, but I did watch the documentary a couple of months ago and so was expecting to enjoy this whilst mentally replaying the excellent video images of the 99.9% black congregation dressed up in the Sunday best whilst Aretha and the most excellent gospel choir get incredibly sweaty.  And that's how it worked out, people.  Her voice is excellent as you'd expect and works really well with the choir.  There are some cracking songs as well - "You've Got A Friend" is an excellent reworking of a very human song as a religious experience. Some of the songs could do with some pruning for me, but running things longer than they need to be is quite a gospel thing, isn't it?  The section with her dad talking is cute though - the man is super proud of his baby (as he had every right to be!)

Wikipedia doesn't have an awful lot to say about the album, other than noting this is Aretha's best selling album.  The section on the documentary is quite interesting - it was planned to be released by Sydney Pollack in 1972 but, for some completely unclear reason, he forgot to use a clapperboard which meant that the sound and video weren't aligned, so it sat in the studio vaults until just before his death when he handed it over to some other guy, who spent 2 years cleaning the whole thing up to make it watchable.  At which point, Aretha steps in and says "I don't think so" launching several legal cases to prevent it being shown - so it had to wait until she died. before it saw the light of day.  

Her Wikipedia entry reinforces the impression she was a lady you didn't mess with - and I'm quite sure that she had to be like that in order to maintain such a lengthy and successful career in a business that's not exactly renowned for treating women well, especially one who'd had two kids by the age of 15.  She's obviously remembered with fondness by a lot of people - I've just rewatched her section from The Blues Brothers and it's fair to say that acting wasn't her strong suit, but the lady could certainly sing ("a powerful mezzo-soprano voice" according to Wikipedia).  The upcoming biopic with Jennifer Hudson should be an interesting watch as well.

"Customers also listened to" a lot of soul types - most of whom I can tell you nothing about, but I doubt they're in the same league as Aretha.  Overall, I enjoyed it although I don't feel I'm likely to bother revisiting the whole album, but I'd sample sections from time to time if I was in need of some uplifting - particularly "You've Got A Friend".

#153 : Rid Of Me - PJ Harvey (1993)

“I very much wanted to write songs that shocked,” Polly Jean Harvey said years after releasing her second album. The shock came partly from her lyrics, which were often proclamations of sexual compulsion, and also from the intense dynamic shifts in her music, which careen from blues to goth, often in the space of one song. Harvey was under the influence of Howlin’ Wolf, Tom Waits, and Flannery O’Connor, and her singing, writing, and lead-guitar playing coalesce into something marked by flames. The lyrics have lots of licking, moaning, bleeding, stroking, open mouths, and dismembered body parts. The songs spew viscera as they build to a sticky ecstasy.

Our second visit with PJ and last time was an album I knew and liked but I'd never heard this album, so was quite forward to being shocked by her.  But, and this surprised me, I just didn't get it - I just found it a bit dull, which was the last thing I was expecting.  It's all pretty well crafted and her voice performs some of the vocal gymnastics I was expecting - but the whole thing feels a bit understated, which isn't something she'd generally be accused of.  

Wikipedia has quite a lot to say about the album with very little actual content.  I was amazed to see the album got to #3 in the UK - I totally don't remember it doing so well.  The section I found most interesting was on the album artwork - the picture was taken in pitch blackness in a room so small that the photographer couldn't look through the viewfinder, so it's an impressive result (and I imagine there were a lot of less successful attempts involved).  Her Wikipedia entry is lengthy and interesting, but you don't get the impression she's someone you could have a good giggle with.

"Customers also listened to" Sonic Youth (boo!), Sleater-Kinney (better!) and Throwing Muses (yay!).  All in all, I was very "meh" about the whole thing - it feels like I'm missing the point to something, but I'm not sure what.  Which annoys me, so I might revisit it, but I think it more likely I'll just stick with Songs From The City, Songs From The Sea in future.

So the oooh-I'm-so-scary Jay Z took on the properly scary ladies and didn't stand a chance, I'm afraid.  The round has to go to Aretha, particularly when combined with the documentary because it gave a fascinating insight into the times (and yes, I know that's unfair).

#158-156 - But is it really all that great?
#152-150 - The 80s take over!