With a word she can get what she came for

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

#58 : Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin (1971)

“I put a lot of work into my lyrics,” Robert Plant told Rolling Stone in 1975. “Not all my stuff is meant to be scrutinized, though. Things like ‘Black Dog’ are blatant let’s-do-it-in-the-bath-type things, but they make their point just the same.” On their towering rune-titled fourth album, Led Zeppelin matched the raunch of “Black Dog” with Plant’s most poetic lyrics on the inescapable epic ballad “Stairway to Heaven,” while guitarist Jimmy Page veers from the blues apocalypse of “When the Levee Breaks” to the mandolin-driven “Battle of Evermore.” (“It sounded like a dance-around-the-maypole number,” Page later confessed.)

I had listened to this back in the day, but didn't remember too much about it - I think I might have heard "Stairway To Heaven" before, but I'm not sure.  It's the one with the guitar, right?  And, having listened to it, it's very much a mixed bag - some of which I liked, and some of which I very much did not.  "Black Dog" and "When The Levee Breaks" were fine tracks - top examples of Led Zep output in my opinion.  Most of the rest was the usual slightly muddled mush which I don't mind but find a bit annoying.  Three "honourable" mentions - "The Battle Of Evermore" was somewhat incongruous - it isn't a bad track but I'm not sure too many Led Zep fans were screaming out for mandolins and Sandy Denny (although it's always good to try new things, kids!), "Rock And Roll" sounded a bit too close to Status Quo for comfort for me and "Misty Mountain Hop" is really not a good track - wtf is going on there?!?  And it turned out I had heard "Stairway To Heaven" before - yeah, it's "quite nice".  It reminded me that this cover came up on in relation to one of their previous albums and if you weren't paying attention then you should really check it (and the members of Led Zep enjoying it) out now.

Wikipedia tells me it's not really called IV - it's untitled and should be known by the four symbols on the cover, each one chosen by a member of the band (and this has resulted in the album sometimes being called "ZoSo" since Robert Plant's symbol appears to spell that).  The album is given the full track-by-track breakdown - amusingly, that tells us that "Black Dog" (often used as a term for depression - apparently coined by the Roman poet Horace) was actually written about a dog.  Which was black.  Apart from that, there's surprisingly little here other than how massively successful the album was - 37 million copies sold globally (although it was kept off the #1 spot in the US by Santana and Sly And The Family Stone).  I'll finish up about the album and the group (their entry is toooo long!) with an amusing comment from Steven Hydan (a US music critic) - "There are two unwritten laws about the album. The first was that a listener must claim a track from side two, the "deep cuts with credibility" side, was his or her favorite, and the second was that one should never say it was their favorite among the band's albums".

"Customers also listened to" The Steve Miller Band - really?  Cream, Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath and The Who - they seem more likely candidates to me.  So, this was our fifth and final trip with Led Zep on this list, we've had I, II, IV, Physical Graffiti and Houses Of The Holy  - and what a mixed bag it's been.  I liked PG, hated HOTH and found the rest to be an annoying combination of the good, the bad and the ugly.  For me, they're definitely a band to check out the "best of" methinks because there have been some high quality tracks in there - but I know some people consider every note of every song a sacred moment and so I can only apology for not having declared them the winner of any round.  Yet...

#57 : The Band - The Band (1969)

The Band was four-fifths Canadian — drummer Levon Helm was from Arkansas – but their second album was all American. Guitarist Robbie Robertson’s songs vividly evoke the country’s pioneer age — “Across the Great Divide,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” — while reflecting the state of the nation in the 1960s. The Band’s long life on the road resonates in the brawn of Garth Hudson’s keyboards and Helm’s juke-joint attack. But Robertson’s stories truly live in Helm’s growl, Rick Danko’s high tenor, and Richard Manuel’s spectral croon. “Somebody once said he had a tear in his voice,” Helm said of Manuel. “Richard had one of the richest textured voices I’d ever heard.”

Our 2.5th visit with The Band - and last time I was, I think it's fair to say, somewhat underwhelmed, so my expectations weren't high, although I did know "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and thought I liked it, so maybe this would be better.  Well, having listened to it, it turns out I don't like that track (I'm not typing it out again!) as much as I thought and I liked the rest of it even less - they're all pretty inoffensive tracks played well, but I just can't see why I would invest any time in them.  Also, the singer has an interesting, plaintive voice ("richly textured" indeed) but it did get a bit too whiny for me over the course of the whole album, so by the end I'd definitely had enough.

Wikipedia has remarkably little to say about the album.  The critics generally liked it - Robert Christgau was all ready to hate it, but ending up declaring it "better than Abbey Road" and I suspect I'm going to be given the opportunity to compare it soon enough (and yes, I've never listened to Abbey Road in my life).  The band's Wikipedia entry still does nothing to convince me they're as great as everyone else thinks they are - and I'm still tempted to check out The Last Waltz.

"Customers also listened to" a lot of very 60s names, most of whom we've seen at some point on this list so far - but I've found The Band one of the least interesting candidates from that period.  I may not (generally) like Dylan, but at least he gives the impression of trying.

#56 : Exile In Guyville - Liz Phair (1993)

“Watch how fast they run to the flame,” Liz Phair sang, and true to that promise her debut double LP set the underground on fire. Phair and co-producer Brad Wood built off the bedroom demo intimacy of Phair’s Girly-Sound cassette releases, creating a loose response record to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street (“I had a lot to say on the subject matter they put forth,” she told Rolling Stone). Her strikingly frank sex talk caused a media stir unheard of for a “low-fi” artitst, but it was the caffeinated drive of songs like “6’1” and “Never Said,” the painterly sonic impressionism of the piano piece “Canary” or the sunset majestic “Stratford-On-Guy,” and the real hurt and hunger of “Fuck and Run” and “Divorce Song” that made Exile hit home.

I'd heard of Liz Phair but. despite me being aware that she was kinda the thing I like, I wasn't aware I'd ever heard any of her stuff.  I was also completely unaware that anything she'd done was considered to be of a calibre worthy of inclusion on a list of the 500 greatest albums ever, so I was somewhat surprised to see it appearing here - and was looking forward to listening to it.  

And yeah, on first listen it seems to be exactly the sort of thing I like.  There are interesting lyrics (possibly a little more honest than some may feel the need for at times) on top of a simple, but well done backing track - often the two don't particularly seem to go together, but it still works well.  Similar touchpoints for me would be Aimee Mann or a slightly more relaxed Juliana Hatfield - there's a definite Lemonheads feel to some of the songs.  In places, it also reminded me of early Billy Bragg but whereas his lyrics from those days tended to reflect wry, often unfulfilled love, Liz is very much more into the in-your-face, often unsatisfactory, sex angle - I think it's fair to say "Flower" does indeed feature "strikingly frank sex talk", amusingly so with lines such as "I'll fuck you 'til your dick is blue".  "Dance Of The Seven Veils" also features the c word (which has been surprisingly rare on albums on this list) and I'm also amazed that she got away with a hint of nipple on the album cover in early 90's US - very rock and roll, indeed!  No one track really stood out for me, but I enjoyed most of them - it's probably worth checking it out if, like me, it had passed you by and you can tolerate some of the artists I've mentioned.

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album - but it does give the impression there wasn't huge amounts of money floating around because "initially, there were many time constraints because Phair had moved into her parents' house which was far from the studio, and Wood (the producer) had to manage his time between his work at the studio and his work as a janitor".  The album sold well enough though - 200,000 copies in the US at the time, up to 500,000 sold since then.  It was also interesting, given my comment above how the vocal and music often don't seem to go together, to read that the vocal and guitar were recorded first and then they'd fit in whatever other instruments they felt they needed - "It was more like collage work than really playing with a band".  Finally, let me offer the following comment in despair - "Phair commented in interviews that the album was a song-by-song reply to The Rolling Stones 1972 album Exile On Main Street Some critics contend that the album is not a clear or obvious song-by-song response".  Could there be anything more "guyville" than telling the female artist that her album isn't THE VERY THING SHE SAYS IT IS!?!

Her Wikipedia entry gives the impression of things heading somewhat downhill after this album, with critics falling over themselves to slag off everything she's done since (although Whitechocolatespaceegg from 1998 is liked by some, although probably not for the title) until her record company gave up on her and she released her 2010 album herself, before deciding even she didn't like it and removing it from circulation.  She's hanging in there though and due to release an album later this year and go out touring with Alanis the minute they're allowed out to play.

"Customers also listened to" Sleater-Kinney, Fiona Apple and Juliana Hatfield (I told you!  First up was the intriguing Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John, which I might just have to check out).  Overall though, I liked this, was pleased to have been made aware of it and will be making an effort to listen to it a bit more.

So, I think it won't surprise you to hear I'm not giving this round to The Band - but should I annoy the Led Zep fans (both of them) by declaring an album that I've only heard once the winner?  No, that wouldn't be fair - but I also think Liz's offering is much more likely to be something I'll listen to on a regular basis so I'm going for another tie.  But I'll give Led Zep the page title - I feel they've earned it.

#61-59 - Some amusingly dated album covers
#55-53 - Another "quite well known" album