Who put the chemicals in the food chain?
Continuing my trip up #album-of-the-day...
And with that, we've got to the point where I joined the channel - so in theory I've listened to all the albums now (although I must admit that I didn't fully keep up whilst I was on holiday - yes, I know I need to get my priorities straight). This is going to result in a slight change of focus because I can no longer claim I know nothing about the album, but I can say how much I remember about the album and whether I needed to relisten to it to remind myself. And starting here, I remember this one quite well because I wrote it up properly in the channel...
Hmmm - like The 1975, I want to like Metronomy but just can’t bring myself to do so. I didn’t think it was a hateful album (with the possible exception of “Call Me”) and there are some interesting enough beeps in there, but there’s not enough to draw me back in and, for some reason, every 4 minute track felt like it lasted half an hour. Also, the lead singer wants to be Bowie, but (spoiler alert) he ain’t. I liked “Boy Racers” (quite possibly because it was an instrumental) - it was very familiar, however I can’t quite place what it’s ripping off (sorry, strongly influenced by). Bonus points to “The Most Immaculate Haircut” for the fine title though.
So, it's a "no" from me. The channel gave this two thumbs up, four hearts and a few positive comments. There was then some discussion as to who this new guy thought he was, an apology from Narj for introducing me to the channel and a request for a review of every album in the #AOTD back catalog - job done up to the time of request (and it's been fun - for me at least!) and I'm hoping to catch up by Xmas. Wikipedia tells me the critics liked the album (it feels like their sort of thing) and it did well enough commercially as well - #7 in the UK and some lesser traction across Europe as well.
"Customers also listened to" Hot Chip, Wild Beasts and Caribou - all there or thereabouts when compared with Metronomy. I wanted to like it, but didn't quite manage it, I'm afraid.
Another one I've previously written up - they've been thick on the ground recently. And it's a very odd album indeed - both interesting and boring at the same time.
The channel gave this two thumbs up and a comment there were major Chris de Burgh vibes, which isn't an unreasonable one in my opinion. It then kicked on from "Without You" to discuss songs that have been covered a lot of times - "Yesterday" is top with over 2200 versions.
Another one I remember pretty well and had been quite chatty about in the channel...
I'd not listened to this album in ages and was pleased to be reminded of it. I don't think it quite hits the highs of their debut album ("Dare" & "Feel Good Inc" are particularly fine tracks though), but for me it has a higher quality bar throughout (although it does tail off a bit towards the end). It is a bit "everything but the kitchen sink" in places, but it mostly works (although I'm not the biggest fan of Damon's vocal style) and it does indeed have some fine bass on it. Interestingly, the internet seems pretty convinced that Plastic Beach is their best album and I've made a few efforts to get into it over the years but never quite managed it. I blame the Glasto experience for that though (I saw them instead of U2 and very much didn't enjoy the experience)
The channel gave this eight hearts, four thumbs up and a lot of positive comments. Wikipedia has a massive 311 milliPeppers on the album - and having read it, I'm not entirely sure what makes up the volume. Part of it is listing all the guest artists appearing - and it's an eclectic mix to say the least with Neneh Cherry, De La Soul, Ike Turner, MF Doom, Martina Topley-Bird, Roots Manuva, Shaun Ryder and Dennis Hopper. It also tells me that "Demon Days is now considered to have left an indelible mark on alternative music" - I'd have to say I'm not entirely convinced by that, but it's fair to say the critics generally loved it and it did well commercially - #1 in the UK and #6 in the US.
"Customers also listened to" MIA, Foster The People, The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand - an odd mix to say the least. But Gorillaz are kinda hard to categorise, so it's probably not that much of a surprise. But even if it's kinda hard to categorise, I'm happy to say I can definitely categorise as something I liked.
Quite an arty selection this round - an easy win for Gorillaz personally, but they all definitely had their creative vision and stuck to them.
21.05.18 - Another round with two I've previous seen
21.05.26 - Three from the early(ish) 2010s
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