From this moment - how can it feel this wrong?
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
20.06.02 : Parachutes - Coldplay (2000)
I liked this back in the day, but feel my view of it suffered somewhat once A Rush Of Blood To The Head came along to replace it in my affections and so I can't claim to have listened to it as a whole in many a year, so was interested to revisit it. And yeah, they're nice enough tunes - I quite like them although i can understand some people were offended by their inoffensiveness (people are like that), although the haters did go somewhat over the top, I seem to recall. I particularly like "Yellow" but there are a fine selection of tracks on there, if maybe not as much variety as you might hope for.
The channel introduced the album as "very not edgy", but it resulted in a good long chat, some fond memories and very little sniffiness about the group, which was nice to see. Obviously the comment "This album always reminds me of being a kid" made me sigh given that I was 32 when it came out. It also sent me down an internet rabbit hole by talking about "Video Killed The Radio Star" - was it by Buggles or The Buggles? I always thought there was no "The" and the record covers would seem to back me up, but a lot of the internet includes the definite article. Some people might suggest it's not the biggest issue facing the world right now, but what do they know? The other thing that annoyed me is that the channel had the perfect opportunity to let Chris Martin pick the next album - and fluffed it!
Wikipedia has a reasonable amount to say about the album (231 milliPeppers) - it doesn't quite get the full fanboy track-by-track breakdown, but it does go into surprising (and pointless) depth about the recording process. It tells us the album was generally well received critically (although I hope the critic who went "they're OK, but they're no Travis" has sat himself down and had a good think about what he's done). It also reminded me how incredibly well this album did - if I thought the previous one did OK for a debut album, this one left it for dust, getting to #1 in the UK (and Norway, obviously) and selling over 13 million globally. Also (and I'm sure you know this already) "As of July 2020, Parachutes has sold 31,922 copies on cassette in UK, making it the 33rd best-selling cassette since 2000" - it's bizarre some of the things people decide to include on these pages. It also tells me the album cover is a photo taken on a disposable Kodak camera (ask your parents, kids) of a £10 WH Smith globe - they really blew the budget on that one, didn't they? However, I think we probably need to leave the last words to Chris Martin (their one, not our one) - "Despite the album's success, Chris Martin said that the band doesn't like it". Oh, OK - thanks Chris.
"Customers also listened to" Snow Patrol and Keane - nobody expected that now, did they? This is up there with the best of the offerings from the "mild-mannered guitar bands" (as Wikipedia puts it) and I was pleased to be made to revisit it.
20.06.03 : Hold Your Colour - Pendulum (2005)
I think I've listened to some Pendulum in the past, but can't remember a thing about it, so going in blind. And, oh dear, it's starts ever so earnestly ("staring upwards at the gleaming stars in the obsidian sky") that I'm sure I'm going to hate it - but things do improve. I wouldn't describe myself as a huge drum and bass fan, but this album does a reasonable job of starting each track differently (before it reverts to the norm, obviously) with some tracks being jazzier, some funkier and one track was particularly Prodigy. So overall, the 73 minutes passed surprisingly tolerably! However, there's absolutely no excuse for using the Gene Wilder psychedelic stuff from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory ever.
The channel liked this choice - lots of positive comments for it. Wikipedia doesn't have a lot on the album, but does mention that it did pretty well over here - reaching #29 in the charts and selling 300,000 copies. It was nice to see they're still going as well (picking up after a 10 year hiatus) and, completely coincidentally, they've released a new EP today, so if you're a fan, then maybe check it out.
"Customers also listened to" a load of bands I've never heard of - let's just assume they're drum and bass outfits, shall we? Which isn't really my cup of tea, but I found this generally to be surprisingly enjoyable, without probably feeling the need to revisit it.
20.06.04 : Dummy - Portishead (1994)
Ah - the 131st greatest album ever made, apparently - although it's safe to say it features slightly higher on my list of the greatest albums.
The channel liked this one a lot as well with lots of alternative recommendations as well - they've been a very chatty channel in this round!
And, for the first time in a long time, I've actually got a decision to make because I know and actively like two of the albums. But, it's not that difficult really - although the Coldplay effort is a perfectly fine album, Portishead have the much more interesting offering for me, so they get the win.
Comments
Post a Comment