Better call Becky with the good hair
Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...
...and, in a WILD change to the format, I'm including a pre-round write-up to describe my "going-in" expectations for the winner - not so much for this round, where I pretty much thought I knew what was going to happen, but more for some of the rounds coming up which are, shall we say, "interesting". I've listened to both of these albums once and I was expecting Beyoncé to emerge victorious without too much effort.
#32 : Lemonade - Beyoncé (2016)
"Nine times out of 10 I’m in my feelings,” Beyoncé announced on her heartbreak masterpiece, Lemonade. She dropped the album as a Saturday-night surprise, knocking the world sideways — her most expansive and personal statement, tapping into marital breakdown and the state of the nation. It was a different side than she’d shown before, raging over infidelity and jealousy, but reveling in the militant-feminist-funk strut of “Formation.” All over Lemonade she explores the betrayals of American blackness, claiming her place in all of America’s music traditions — she goes outlaw country on “Daddy Lessons,” she digs blues metal with Jack White on “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” she revamps the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on “Hold Up.” Ashes to ashes, dust to side chicks — all hail the queen.
Before I was even aware of his music, I was always under the impression that Jay-Z was, well, a bit of a dick. The three albums of his I've had to endure for this list haven't exactly done anything to change my mind - if anything, I'd suggest I was leaning towards him being a dick of questionable talent. However, I wasn't expecting an album from his wife to confirm I was correct - oh boy, there must have been some interesting conversations after she released this. I had listened to it before and remembered quite liking it, but after revisiting it, I realise I really hadn't LISTENED to it.
And woah - there's a lot to unpack here. So much so that I had to revert to Wikipedia halfway through to see how much I was missing (answer - A LOT!). The first four tracks are the easiest to follow with their general theme of infidelity - the opening line to the album is "You can taste the dishonesty, it's all over your breath" but there are so many great lyrics across those songs conveying a wide range of emotions and you can totally believe she's been there. But once we're done with "Becky with the good hair" (the internet had a lot of fun trying to decide who she was, I can tell you) the album opens up to consider a lot of vaguely related topics - family, friendship, feminism, slavery and African-American history and culture. Did I pick up on all of this? Did I bollocks. But, you do kinda know there's some serious shit being talked about here and it feels like it wouldn't hurt you to understand it all a bit more. The songs are surprisingly varied (there's even some country on there) and her voice is undoubtedly impressive and she uses it to good effect in a number of ways. And It's a cool album cover as well.
OK, OK - but did I like it? Well, I didn't NOT like it and I suspect I could grow to like it, but it also feels like it would be effort to do so - like you'd have to do your homework on the album in order to truly appreciate it. Which isn't a bad thing, but I'm also not convinced it's something I'll be queuing up to do. My favourite tracks so far were "Hold Up", "Daddy Lessons" (the country one) and "Freedom" - but I didn't like "All Night" because it sounds like she's forgiving him and almost blaming herself. He don't deserve her, I tell ya...
Wikipedia has sooooo much to say about the album that it's overtaken Adele's effort as the longest entry so far. It's an interesting read in places and utterly up itself in others - and impossible for me to do it justice, so I'm not even going to bother. It does make this point though "Lemonade has been credited with reviving the concept of the album in an era dominated by singles and streaming" which does seem entirely plausible - the songs hang together well and I can believe there is benefit in playing them in the given order (but it should be noted I haven't tried any other order). You'd also have to say that considering it was a surprise release there are a very large number of people involved on it - that girl is good at getting people to keep a secret. But I guess if you don't then you'll end up as the subject of her next album and I think we can safely say that would be awk-ward...
Last time we visited the lass, I noted there was hardly anything in her Wikipedia entry and, to be honest, I'm going to stick with that bare-faced lie and hope I get away with it. Safe to say, the girl has lived. "Customers also listened to" Destiny's Child, Janelle Monae (who, with my experience of the list so far, I consider unlucky not to have featured), Cardi B (who I wouldn't make the same argument for) and Rihanna - some slightly strong women there.
I think that on first (or second) listen, I preferred her previous entry on the list - but I can quite believe there is a very good argument that this is the "greater" of the two albums (after all, we do need to remember this exercise isn't ENTIRELY about me). She's obviously a very intelligent lady though who has done a lot of thinking and shit - I'd suggest her only area of questionable talent appears to be in the husband-choosing department.
#31 : Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis (1959)
This painterly masterpiece is one of the most important, influential, and popular albums in jazz. At the time it was made, Kind of Blue was also a revolution all its own. Turning his back on standard chord progressions, trumpeter Miles Davis used modal scales as a starting point for composition and improvisation — breaking new ground with warmth, subtlety, and understatement in the thick of hard bop. Davis and his peerless band — bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb, pianist Bill Evans, and the titanic sax team of John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley — soloed in uncluttered settings, typified by “melodic rather than harmonic variation,” as Davis put it. Two numbers, “All Blues” and “Freddie Freeloader” (the latter featuring Wynton Kelly at the ivories in place of Evans), are in 12-bar form, but Davis’ approach allowed his players a cool, new, collected freedom.
Wow - 57 years between these two albums! I had listened to this before and remembered it as being bearable and atmospheric, but not really my thing. And yes, that's exactly where we are - it's extremely atmospheric and if I lived in a cool house in LA, overlooking the city (like Bosch does) then I'd play it all the time (like Bosch does). But I don't, so I don't. I'm afraid it all passed me by and I struggled to tell one track from the other. I realise this is probably jazz heresy - but I think we all know that if jazz is a religion, then I am most definitely a heretic. I found this to be considerably more bearable than a lot of jazz we've had on the list - but for me the bar really hasn't been that high. It's got a very cool album cover though - that counts for something!
Wikipedia has quite a lot to say about the album but, if I'm being honest, I didn't understand an awful lot of it - it's a lot more technical than for instance, Britney's was. I don't know, it's almost as if they don't want me to understand it. The stuff I do understand basically says "Oi Reed - you don't know nuffink" - I've got used to that over the past 6 months. It's sold well though - 3,495,572 in the US at the last (very specific) count, although Wikipedia does also say "precise figures have been disputed" (but I'd have to say if you're going to be quite so precise then you are somewhat inviting that discussion). We covered all the interesting points from his Wikipedia entry last time - mostly that for at least some of his life he had a much finer wife than he deserved, which is not necessarily the best way to be remembered.
"Customers also listened to" - yup, all them names. Although Dave Brubeck also pops up who is another name that can probably consider himself unlucky not to appear on the list. Although, the small amount of Dave's stuff I've heard I didn't mind, so he probably lost his shot by being a bit too accessible for mere mortals such as me.
This is our last jazz entry on the list and this is certainly towards the top for me, but "not even close to being the worst jazz album" isn't exactly a whole-hearted recommendation from me. I think Charlie Mingus probably takes the title of "least hated jazz album" (why, I even liked some of it). It's a crowded place at the bottom of the list though - I think Miles' other album probably takes the wooden spoon, but Alice Coltrane's jazz harp was also extremely challenging at times (I mean, who really needs "jazz harp" in their lives?).
So, we're on "apples and oranges" again - and I actually suspect that Miles has the greater album of the two in terms of impact and legacy. But it's also surprisingly dull and same-y to my ears, which is certainly something you wouldn't accuse Queen Bey's offering of being. I also think that Lemonade had a huge impact in a crowded field and last time out she lost to the Sex Pistols, which I wasn't massively happy about, so she's totally getting this round.
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