I'd rather be nowhere with you than somewhere without you

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

25/09/26 : Pylon - beabadoobee 

Our second visit with beabadoobee - last time I apparently really liked it, but I don't remember it in the slightest. So I'm wondering if this is going to stick in there any better...

In my head, I always think her music is more left-field than it really is - this is very reminiscent of Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish or similar. And not obviously in a lower league, so it's done pretty well and I liked it OK enough - but I'm not sure it's going to get any further opportunities to impress me. Those that love this sort of thing (and there are many of them) will have listened to it multiple times already though and I suspect they'll continue to do so.

And once again, we're at #1 with a new entry (our twelfth in a row) and the rest of the top five are Michael Jackson  (I'm amazed this is hanging in there - someone is gaming the system somehow), Olivia Rodrigo, Sienna Spiro and Olivia Dean, so that's a good top five for the young ladies. The next new entry at #6 is most definitely not a young lady though...

Roger Taylor (#6)
Yup - it's a 77 year old man. I was fully expecting this to be either surprisingly good or absolutely dreadful - and it falls a bit short by only being surprisingly bearable. It sounded like something Roger Waters would come out with and is perfectly listenable - yes, it's all very pretentious and takes itself far too seriously, but I'm sure his fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Miley Cyrus (#13)
Back to the young (relatively - she's 33) ladies - and I can't imagine she'll be too pleased with this chart position after three top five albums in a row. And having listened to it, it's not clear why this one hasn't clicked with people because it's the typical Miley sound - not one I love, but not one I hate either. Perfectly fine.

Beck (#15)
I've heard this is good, so am looking forward to it. And well, it's not at all what I was expecting with it being quite laid back, acoustic and melancholic - continuing the "Pink Floyd solo artist" theme, I'd say this reminds me of a David Gilmour offering. There's an argument it could maybe do with a bit more variety across the album but it's all well put together and I can see me actually quite enjoying this after multiple listens.

David Bowie (#17)
This is a collection of tracks he did before he was Bowie and still old plain Davie Jones. And if you're a massive fan of him or you particularly like mediocre tracks from the mid 60s then I reckon this will be right up your street - otherwise, avoid. One for the completists.

Echo & The Bunnymen (#19)
I'm intrigued as to what this is going to be like - it feels like another one which has the potential to be great or terrible. And it's OK - a decent EATB sound so if you like their old stuff you'll probably like this.

The Cheap Thrills (#23)
I've never heard of this lot, but I can now report they do some perfectly fine indie which has absolutely no outstanding qualities. There's nothing wrong with it, but that doesn't mean there's anything right with it. 

Lizzy McAlpine (#44)
I know Lizzy through my eldest daughter, generally because if I like a track she's playing and I ask who it is, then 90% of the time it's by Lizzy - I really like her voice. And I like it on this album as well, but she could really do with a bit more variety across the tracks.

Anthrax (#46)
I had no idea this lot were still around (they formed in '81 and it's mad that's 45 years ago now!) - I used to hate them, but I suspect they and I have both mellowed with age. And yeah, it's still heavier than I need or like, but there's nothing particularly wrong with it - I won't be revisiting it though. 

Corella (#47)
I'd never heard of this lot either and couldn't even begin to guess what they might sound like - and I was pleasantly surprised to hear they sounded halfway between The Cheap Thrills and Anthrax, taking the best bits of both. Unfortunately for them, I think they're just as likely to get a further listen, but this was certainly towards the top end of the albums we've had so far this week.

The Mary Wallopers (#50)
I know they're one of them Oirish bands, but I've always viewed them with suspicion because I don't know how authentic they are. But I'm pleased to report they sound pretty authentic and Wikipedia confirms they are actually Irish and seem to have a decent sense of humour - apparently they arranged a counter-demo to an anti-5G protest by wearing tin foil hats using the slogan "Bring Back Dial-Up: the internet is too fast!". A whole album of it was a bit too much for me, but it was pretty well done.

Palace (#59)
Another lot I've never heard of - apparently this is their fifth album so I guess I should have. And it was quite nice downbeat indie - I didn't mind it at all

Tove Lo (#63)
The young ladies are getting older with Tove being 38 now and she'd have been hoping for better than this, I suspect. And I've no idea why it's done so poorly because it feels pretty ToveLo-like to me - I didn't love it but it was perfectly fine. Although, having said that, her last album didn't chart here at all so I guess maybe she just doesn't bother promoting some of her stuff.

Wasia Project (#80)
Nope - not heard of them either and it's another unguessable name. And I really liked this - it's piano-driven indie-pop with some obvious musical skills on display. 

Carly Rae Jepsen (#86)
Talking about the young ladies - can you believe she's 40 now?!? You'd never guess it from the sound because she still sounds pretty young - I can't say I loved it, but it was done well enough.

Orville Peck (#90)
A name I recognised but I've no idea where from - apparently, he's a gay US country singer who's renowned for wearing a mask (which isn't exactly up my street). And he's got a nice voice and interesting songs (they're not just "Man falls in love, man loses love, man drinks whisky") - I was reminded of Scott Walker both in terms of his voice and the level of melodrama involved. 

Sixteen new entries in the chart all told, which is certainly up there amongst the most we've ever seen. All of which means that we had zero re-entries this week - the most interesting thing I've noticed is that Bob Marley's Legend is at #100 and if it drops out next week it will end a streak of over 6.5 years in the chart. Last week I said that Ezra Collective would be a one-and-done and I'm pleased to say I was wrong because they're at #82 - beabadoobee is going to do better than that, but I can't say I have any idea exactly how much better, so let's just randomly pick #21.

Wikipedia has an entry for the album but all it really tells us is that she's released four singles from it - tbh I'm not entirely sure what "releasing a single" involves these days. The only other information of any interest is that Hayley Williams appears on "Nothing To Prove". The critics liked it well enough without going overboard on it but it's done well commercially, getting to #1 in Australia and #7 in the US. 

discogs.com tells us you can pick up a CD version for £15, a cassette version for £18 or a vinyl version for £24. Obviously, £24 is only going to get you the oyster or the sea foam vinyl options - if you want the transparent sky blue and black ripple version it's £55, the coke bottle/olive split version is £70 or the limited edition brown/white/black marble with black bird shit splatter (with the Foil O-Card sleeve) is £75! The album is a perfectly fine album in a sea of perfectly fine albums this week, so I feel the album of the week award needs to go to the albums that stand out of the pack this week - which for me were Beck, Wasia Project and Orville Peck, all of which are interesting offeringgs.

18/09/26 - Fine, but I'm not sure I understand the fuss