Mixing my emotions throws me back again
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
21.01.18 : Cheer - Drug Church (2018)
Never heard of the album or artist - and that album cover really isn't giving me any clues either. And I can't say the opening track gave me a great deal of confidence I was going to enjoy it, but I'd have to say it grew on me. It fair barrelled along and at 32 minutes stood no chance of outstaying its welcome - I particularly liked "Conflict Minded" with the guest female vocalist (Carina Zachary, apparently) giving it that little bit extra. I'd have to say they've really been listening to their Nirvana and Pixies albums a lot though - but there are definitely worse references to call upon out there.
The channel gave this one bowing and two raised hands emoji, one positive comment, one comment expressing surprise that someone had picked Cher and one new joiner. Wikipedia has nothing on the album and not a lot on the band, but it does accuse them of sounding like Black Flag - but I can assure you if they sounded like this (which was probably the worst 3 album round in the whole of the Rolling Stone list) there would have no danger of me saying anything nice about it.
"Customers also listened to" Higher Power, Angel Du$t and Fucked Up - all lovely lads, I'm sure. I can't say I'm going to be rushing back to this, but it was a surprisingly pleasant passing experience nonetheless.
21.01.19 : Stanley Road - Paul Weller (1995)
I like Paul Weller and most of the musical journeys he's been on over the years, but, putting my cards on the table, this album was always going to win the round because we had "You Do Something To Me" as our first dance at our wedding. Well, once we'd worked out what we were going to do about the DJ not turning up - but that's a story for another day...
The rest of the album is pretty fine as well - it's just a strong combination of songs and skills for me, although I can understand the criticism that it's all a bit muso. Something I only learned recently is that "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" is a cover, albeit a very reworked one. More details here, but I really wouldn't bother listening to either the track or the album!
The channel gave this five thumbs up and one raised hands, one positive comment and ANOTHER new joiner. Wikipedia has surprisingly little to say on the album, other than noting it's considered to be the peak of his solo career and the use of some reasonably well known collaborators (Stevie Winwood, Carleen Anderson, Noel Gallagher and Dr Robert, amongst others). It also tells me the cover was done by Peter Blake - a man with some experience in doing such things. The album wasn't all that well received critically - "Weller takes his musical bombast to Springsteenian levels at points. And his attempt to return to populist roots sinks well below Springsteenian levels of banality". Ouch. It also doesn't mention how it was received commercially, which is somewhat odd given that it got to #1 in the UK and #34 in the US.
"Customers also listened to" Ocean Colour Scene (one of OCS also plays on the album), Manic Street Preachers and Happy Mondays (which seems a slightly odd pairing). I like this album though and hadn't listened to it in ages, so was pleased to revisit it.
21.01.20 : Samba Rock - Trio Mocoto (2001)
Never heard of album or artist but the title isn't filling me with expectations of enjoyment - I find samba music just annoying. But maybe it wouldn't be samba or it wouldn't be annoying. Oh no, it's definitely samba and definitely annoying. And a whole hour of it. And it's also punctuated by some even more annoying sounds. Let's just move on and leave this to the sambaristas out there.
The channel gave this one heart and one thumbs up, a few positive comments but no new joiners. Wikipedia has nothing on the album but surprised me by telling me that the band actually formed in 1969 - although quite why that surprised me is unclear because I think I've already proved I can't tell one end of a samba track from the other.
"Customers also listened to" a load of samba artists I can't tell one end of from the other - all of which I'm happy to leave to the fans.
Drug Church might have proved a surprising winner in other rounds, but I'm afraid they came up against an album that would have won most rounds for me - thanks Paul.
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