Please allow me to introduce myself - I'm a man of wealth and taste

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

#185 : Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stone (1968)

“When we had been in the States between 1964 and ’66, I had gathered together this enormous collection of records, but I never had any time to listen to them,” Keith Richards recalled. “In late 1966 and ‘67, I unwrapped them and actually played them.” After the wayward psychedelia of Their Satanic Majesties Request, and with guitarist Brian Jones largely AWOL, Richards’ record collection led the Rolling Stones back to their version of America: country music on “Dear Doctor,” the blues on “Prodigal Son,” and urban riots on “Street Fighting Man.” And “Sympathy for the Devil,” of course, is an anthem for the darkness in every human heart.

Our third visit with the Stones, this is another album almost as old as myself and I actually had reasonably high expectations for this given its fine reputation and my opinion of their 1966 album, Aftermath.  And you'd have to say "Sympathy For The Devil" is a very strong opener (with a particularly strong intro) and "Salt Of The Earth" is a strong closer - and there's not really a dip in quality in between.  I think it mixes rock, blues, country and gospel pretty well and whilst obviously Jagger is a strong presence, the other guys do a get a look in (which I feel isn't always the case).  So, I liked this a lot and that feeling was doubled down by the pleasure in experiencing a first listen of classic album and not spending any time thinking "what is this shit?"

Wikpedia has a couple of interesting stories about the album - this was the last album released during Brian Jones lifetime and his contribution was, shall we say, variable due to his increasingly erratic behaviour and the corresponding lack of patience from the rest of the band (with the produced saying "I used to try to accommodate him. I would isolate him, put him in a booth and not record him onto any track that we really needed. And the others, particularly Mick and Keith, would often say to me, 'Just tell him to piss off and get the hell out of here'").  His Wikipedia entry is not a happy one, but quite fascinating in places - far too many to go into here.  Back to the album, the band's original choice for the album cover (which was used for later versions) featured a toilet and was rejected by the record company which resulted in the released being delayed - for months!

OK - that's quite enough from Wikipedia for the time being since we're going to have plenty of opportunities to review the group's entry later.  "Customers also listened to" all the names you'd expect from that time.  But, unlike a lot of those albums, I really enjoyed this and may well listen to it again by choice - and there's no higher accolade I can award an album!

#184 : She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper (1983)

With her garish thrift-store fashions and exaggerated Queens accent, Lauper had a kooky image that was perfect for MTV. But she also had a superb, clarion voice and a pack of great covers, including “Money Changes Everything” (originally by Atlanta New Wave band the Brains) and Prince’s saucy “When You Were Mine.” Lauper co-wrote four songs, including the lovely ballad “Time After Time” and the masturbation call-to-arms “She Bop.” But her smartest move was to change the lyrics of Robert Hazard’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” until it became a “very blatantly feminist” song about equality. “For a minute, I made it popular to be the odd guy out,” she said.

I obviously know and love "Girls..." and "Time After Time", but don't think I'd ever listened to this album - I'd assumed it was all pretty much along the same lines and was expecting to enjoy it, but tire of it quite quickly.  And yeah, it is but no, I didn't - it's got a higher quality level throughout than I was expecting.  There are arguments to be had as to whether her voice is individual or annoying, but she can certainly sing and the songs are well selected and crafted - yes, they sound dated in places now, but they are coming up to 40 years old!  

In addition to the well known tracks, I also particularly liked "All Through The Night" and "Money Changes Everything", but they're all pretty good examples of "that sort of thing" and I enjoyed it more than I was expecting (although I could have lived without "Yeah Yeah").  I also revisited the video for "Girls..." and I dare anyone of a certain age not to smile at the scene where her dad is lecturing her with finger pointing (it's hard to imagine that's me now!) or the "head-tilty" thing they do.  I was also reminded that, for no obvious reason, it features Dan Akroyd in his Conehead get-up.

Wikipedia has a good entry for the album - lots of interesting stuff in there.  I was fascinated to read that "She Bop" made the PMRC's (the people responsible for the "Parental Advisory" stickers) "Filthy Fifteen", which was a list of the most objectionable (in their opinion) songs at the time.  I mean, the song is pretty clear what it's on about, but it's hardly youth-corrupting and considerably more subtle in its lyrical content than fellow entries like Prince's "Darling NIkki" or WASP's "Animal (Fuck Like Beast)" (such clever wordplay!).  The entry is somewhat coy about the critical reception which leads me to believe at least some critics were massively sniffy about it at the time, but with global sales of over 16 million, I'm guessing she got over it.

Her Wikipedia entry is lengthy and well worth a read - in short, I think there are plenty of worse things we can do than live our lives in the style of Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper!  And happy 30th wedding anniversary to her and her husband this year - one of the longer marriages we've seen on the list so far.  "Customers also listened to" The Bangles (who I think are very under-rated), Hall & Oates (remember them?), Toto and a LOAD of other well-known 80s albums.  And, unlike some of those other albums, I think this album has stood the test of time well and I really enjoyed listening to it.

#183 : Brown Sugar - D'Angelo (1995)

A minister’s son from Richmond, Virginia, who performed in a hip-hop group as a teenager, D’Angelo was just entering his twenties when he released his debut, a visionary fusion of Seventies soul and Nineties R&B that paved the way for neo-soul. D’Angelo did nearly everything on Brown Sugar, layering his own dazzling harmonies while displaying a studio command that recalled Prince and Stevie Wonder, whether on the down and dirty “Jonz in My Bonz” or psychedelic soul of “Me and Those Dreamin’ Eyes of Mine,” sounding so warm and chill you almost don’t notice that “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” is a did-me-wrong double-murder fantasy.

Our second visit with D'Angelo on this list and last time it kinda washed over me, so much so that I'd completely forgotten it was by him.  So, coming to this "fresh", I was expecting this to be bearable 90s R&B which I would find pretty dull.  And I wasn't far off - I wouldn't quite call it dull, but again it washed over me in a kinda wooh-aah kinda way and I was thoroughly bored of it after 53 minutes that felt like 503 minutes.  In places, I found it better than a lot of this kind of thing with a higher soul content than I was expecting, but I'm afraid I wouldn't go as far as recommending it or ever listening to it again - if this is your sort of thing and you haven't heard this album then feel free to check it out and tell me I'm wrong.

The Wikipedia entry for the album is longer than I was expecting, but basically just seems to say "man, this is smooooth".  It was well received both critically and commercially, but there appear to be no facts of any interest relating to the album at all.  His entry is somewhat lacking in interest as well and suggests that his life is pretty quiet at the minute, given that it mentions he spent some time playtesting Red Dead Redemption 2.  "Customers also listened to" a load of people I've never heard of who I suspect make similar noises which would provoke a similar reaction from me - it wasn't an unpleasant experience, but it's not one I'd choose to repeat.

So, Cyndi or The Stones?  Part of me wants to give it to Cyndi for the joy on display and the obvious skill that went into being so joyous - she would totally have won many other rounds and we're not going to be seeing her on the list again, but I think The Stones' effort probably shades it in terms of "greatness" (whatever that is) and the probability of me listening to it again.  So well done to them - but they were run close!

#188-186 - No girls allowed!
#182-180 - The lads do not impress here