Tuesday, May 24, 2005 A.D.
Post-birthday Bleargh (part 2)
To say that the aforementioned lactic compound smells like bad cheese is an understatement. It smells more like partially digested cheese jammed between your toes. I have a forehead plied with this miraculous stuff... I say, if it does wonders for worse cases, then it should work for my hairline.
For those who care to read, here's the conclusion to the bit about the ten birthday albums.
6.) Shelter (The Brand New Heavies) - My former bandmates turned me onto this particular band. BNH are essentially three British guys (a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist) with a revolving door setup for the vocalist. Before I discovered BNH and the Acid Jazz genre/label, I was listening to contemporary rock for the most part. It did help me to have a broader taste in music, and BNH in turn made me appreciate their influences (being classic American soul and funk). This album was the last proper BNH album released here in the Philippines (the greatest hits album doesn't count). The vocalist for Shelter was Siedah Garrett, better known for singing with Michael Jackson on 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You.' She brought a different, mature sound to BNH, where, despite their evident musical skills, they used to sound less confident on previous albums. This was the only album that featured her on vocals, and it's almost a shame when you listen to the tracks 'Sometimes,' 'Crying Water,' 'Last to Know' and especially 'Stay Gone,' being my absolute favorite on this one. The band is in fine form throughout the album as well, and the songwriting is consistently good. Jan Kincaid's relaxed vocal turns on 'Shelter' and 'After Forever' also deserve special mention, providing a stark contrast with Siedah's vocal gymnastics. The great thing about BNH is that they manage to own their genre without losing the essential elements that defined their influences. It must be noted that the genre is also sometimes called 'rare groove,' which is a more appropriate one, I think, especially if you took it literally. It is somewhat ironic that a British band ended up carrying the American-pioneered sound better than their stateside counterparts. I also have to point out, lastly, that this is the only album that the girlfriend and I can listen to in the car without any disagreement, thus ensuring me with a quick fix during bad moments.
7&8.) Back in Black & Highway to Hell (AC/DC) - It's been said that AC/DC has pretty much been playing the same song for more than 20 years, except it's been a particularly good song. This is rawk at its rawest and raunchiest, and AC/DC is arguably Australia's best contribution to rock music. I can't point out particular favorites on these two albums because I often play them from start to finish. I remember listening to these two albums in sequence while driving to and from my current office just when I was starting work there (yes, the drive took that long but they were both really short albums). AC/DC broke through internationally with Highway to Hell after taking on producer Mutt Lange (aka Mr. Shania Twain). Vocalist Bon Scott, who one can describe as a drunk, lecherous, juvenile bastard in a complimentary way, was one of rock's sharpest lyricists, weaving barroom humor with nasty double entendres and extolling the nihilistic virtues of rock 'n' roll. Not surprisingly, he died a few months after the album got released from alcohol poisoning. The timing couldn't have been worse. The band then took on new vocalist Brian Johnson, who shared a similar vocal style with Scott (think gargling broken glass), and the resulting album, Back in Black, became an even bigger hit. It was a mourning album, with a minimalist black sleeve and funeral bells opening up the first track, but in many ways it was also a great example of a career-reviving achievement. Of course, it would be wrong not to mention AC/DC's two guitarists (being brothers Angus and Malcolm Young), who serve as the core of the band. Angus, in his schoolboy attire is certainly one of rock's most recognizable icons, while Malcolm is considered to be one of the best rhythm guitarists ever. The rock-solid rhythm section, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams, deserve mentioning for providing the excellent musical bed for the band. AC/DC wasn't able to outdo this album, but being the classic that it is, it hardly gets any better than Back in Black anyway.
9.) Zenyatta Mondatta (The Police) - The power trio of Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland were lumped up with the punk movement despite having developed their musical chops from playing more technically demanding genres (jazz-rock, classical, and prog-rock, respectively). They pioneered a 'white reggae' sound, which as Eurospeak, became the title of their second album (Regatta de Blanc). Zenyatta Mondatta, the third album, is then Eurospeak for 'top of the world,' and despite having only a couple of hits ('Don't Stand So Close to Me' and 'De Do Do Do De Da Da Da' ), all the tracks are brilliant (including two instrumentals). I personally like 'Canary in a Coalmine,' 'Man in a Suitcase,' and 'When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around,' probably the longest song title I have in my collection. The songs were mostly penned by vocalist/bassist Sting, who was acknowledged to be the best songwriter in the group, but Andy Summers' guitars and Stewart Copeland's drumming were generally responsible for the familiar Police sound. The guitars were obviously an inspiration for the Southern California Ska/Punk movement that became popular during the 90s, while the drums, despite a certain restraint, betray Copeland's progressive leanings. I started liking the band after I got into Sublime and 311 (who were more or less part of the Southern California Ska/Punk movement). Message in a Box was the first boxed set I bought... it was eventually stolen during a break-in on a summer trip to Baguio, so the replacement set I got a few months after became the second boxed set I ever bought. I sometimes wonder if that first set ended up with someone who became a fan of the band afterward, but it would've been ironic for a low-life thief to have become a fan of a band called The Police, of all things.
10.) C.M.B. (Color Me Badd) - I know you think that I've inhaled too many of those psychedelic dust mites, but the truth is, if I were to do some form of regression, this album will be my time machine. I actually owned three cassettes of this album. The first one was a defective copy given to me by my grade six seatmate, while the second one was one I actually bought then handed off to another classmate. The third cassette I kept, and it's still stacked somewhere in the house, although it's in pretty bad state. I did find a CD copy around 2001 in the previously owned section of Music One Megamall, and I found the actual CD to be thicker than the ones that I was familiar with at that time. It also included a lot of unusual marks and rings on the silver side of the disc, and I realized that it must be one of the older-generation CDs. The album itself generated three hits for the group, 'I Wanna Sex You Up,' 'I Adore Mi Amor,' and 'All 4 Love.' C.M.B. was a good debut album by 90s standards, dishing out sleek throwaway pop via a commercial blend of R&B and hiphop (which is now referred to as 'urban' music). What's funny is that, 'I Adore Mi Amor' actually predates the pseudo-Latino fad that came about during the late 90s. The actual group dynamic more or less conforms to the typical boy band configuration, even featuring a multi-racial lineup. Color Me Badd can't possibly be musical trailblazers, can they? I also can't possibly sing praises about the actual songs without sounding like a retrophillic retard. Truth is, my life was as boring as watching a cluster of lichens growing on a rock face. I had plenty of time to listen to crap without actually realizing that it was crap. Thinking about it, ignorance was indeed bliss, and maybe that's what actually makes this album a guilty treat for me. Life was really simpler then, and given the random complexities that I find myself going through sometimes, I sometimes wish I can just pop in a CD and feel whatever I felt 14 years ago. I may not like it, but this album can do that for me, if anything can.
If I expanded the list, I probably would have included some Black Sabbath (maybe Master of Reality), Aerosmith (Toys in the Attic), Electric Six (Fire), Tenacious D, some 90s alternative/grunge, and a bunch of Incubus albums. Among these, only Electric Six can come close to being a bookmark, but that is a chapter that has yet to close.
This has been my most ambitious post in the span of a week (it was an eventful one though). The albums are not listed in any particular order, except for C.M.B., which would've looked even odder if not placed last. They are not the top 10 albums that I will take with me to a desert island nor the top 10 albums I want played during my wake. The songs on the list merely serve as captions for moments I remember from my life so far, and I find it something of a privilege to be able to even do this sort of traversal using easily available cues. It's still cheaper than asking a psychiatrist for a regression session, after all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For those who care to read, here's the conclusion to the bit about the ten birthday albums.
6.) Shelter (The Brand New Heavies) - My former bandmates turned me onto this particular band. BNH are essentially three British guys (a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist) with a revolving door setup for the vocalist. Before I discovered BNH and the Acid Jazz genre/label, I was listening to contemporary rock for the most part. It did help me to have a broader taste in music, and BNH in turn made me appreciate their influences (being classic American soul and funk). This album was the last proper BNH album released here in the Philippines (the greatest hits album doesn't count). The vocalist for Shelter was Siedah Garrett, better known for singing with Michael Jackson on 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You.' She brought a different, mature sound to BNH, where, despite their evident musical skills, they used to sound less confident on previous albums. This was the only album that featured her on vocals, and it's almost a shame when you listen to the tracks 'Sometimes,' 'Crying Water,' 'Last to Know' and especially 'Stay Gone,' being my absolute favorite on this one. The band is in fine form throughout the album as well, and the songwriting is consistently good. Jan Kincaid's relaxed vocal turns on 'Shelter' and 'After Forever' also deserve special mention, providing a stark contrast with Siedah's vocal gymnastics. The great thing about BNH is that they manage to own their genre without losing the essential elements that defined their influences. It must be noted that the genre is also sometimes called 'rare groove,' which is a more appropriate one, I think, especially if you took it literally. It is somewhat ironic that a British band ended up carrying the American-pioneered sound better than their stateside counterparts. I also have to point out, lastly, that this is the only album that the girlfriend and I can listen to in the car without any disagreement, thus ensuring me with a quick fix during bad moments.
7&8.) Back in Black & Highway to Hell (AC/DC) - It's been said that AC/DC has pretty much been playing the same song for more than 20 years, except it's been a particularly good song. This is rawk at its rawest and raunchiest, and AC/DC is arguably Australia's best contribution to rock music. I can't point out particular favorites on these two albums because I often play them from start to finish. I remember listening to these two albums in sequence while driving to and from my current office just when I was starting work there (yes, the drive took that long but they were both really short albums). AC/DC broke through internationally with Highway to Hell after taking on producer Mutt Lange (aka Mr. Shania Twain). Vocalist Bon Scott, who one can describe as a drunk, lecherous, juvenile bastard in a complimentary way, was one of rock's sharpest lyricists, weaving barroom humor with nasty double entendres and extolling the nihilistic virtues of rock 'n' roll. Not surprisingly, he died a few months after the album got released from alcohol poisoning. The timing couldn't have been worse. The band then took on new vocalist Brian Johnson, who shared a similar vocal style with Scott (think gargling broken glass), and the resulting album, Back in Black, became an even bigger hit. It was a mourning album, with a minimalist black sleeve and funeral bells opening up the first track, but in many ways it was also a great example of a career-reviving achievement. Of course, it would be wrong not to mention AC/DC's two guitarists (being brothers Angus and Malcolm Young), who serve as the core of the band. Angus, in his schoolboy attire is certainly one of rock's most recognizable icons, while Malcolm is considered to be one of the best rhythm guitarists ever. The rock-solid rhythm section, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams, deserve mentioning for providing the excellent musical bed for the band. AC/DC wasn't able to outdo this album, but being the classic that it is, it hardly gets any better than Back in Black anyway.
9.) Zenyatta Mondatta (The Police) - The power trio of Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland were lumped up with the punk movement despite having developed their musical chops from playing more technically demanding genres (jazz-rock, classical, and prog-rock, respectively). They pioneered a 'white reggae' sound, which as Eurospeak, became the title of their second album (Regatta de Blanc). Zenyatta Mondatta, the third album, is then Eurospeak for 'top of the world,' and despite having only a couple of hits ('Don't Stand So Close to Me' and 'De Do Do Do De Da Da Da' ), all the tracks are brilliant (including two instrumentals). I personally like 'Canary in a Coalmine,' 'Man in a Suitcase,' and 'When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around,' probably the longest song title I have in my collection. The songs were mostly penned by vocalist/bassist Sting, who was acknowledged to be the best songwriter in the group, but Andy Summers' guitars and Stewart Copeland's drumming were generally responsible for the familiar Police sound. The guitars were obviously an inspiration for the Southern California Ska/Punk movement that became popular during the 90s, while the drums, despite a certain restraint, betray Copeland's progressive leanings. I started liking the band after I got into Sublime and 311 (who were more or less part of the Southern California Ska/Punk movement). Message in a Box was the first boxed set I bought... it was eventually stolen during a break-in on a summer trip to Baguio, so the replacement set I got a few months after became the second boxed set I ever bought. I sometimes wonder if that first set ended up with someone who became a fan of the band afterward, but it would've been ironic for a low-life thief to have become a fan of a band called The Police, of all things.
10.) C.M.B. (Color Me Badd) - I know you think that I've inhaled too many of those psychedelic dust mites, but the truth is, if I were to do some form of regression, this album will be my time machine. I actually owned three cassettes of this album. The first one was a defective copy given to me by my grade six seatmate, while the second one was one I actually bought then handed off to another classmate. The third cassette I kept, and it's still stacked somewhere in the house, although it's in pretty bad state. I did find a CD copy around 2001 in the previously owned section of Music One Megamall, and I found the actual CD to be thicker than the ones that I was familiar with at that time. It also included a lot of unusual marks and rings on the silver side of the disc, and I realized that it must be one of the older-generation CDs. The album itself generated three hits for the group, 'I Wanna Sex You Up,' 'I Adore Mi Amor,' and 'All 4 Love.' C.M.B. was a good debut album by 90s standards, dishing out sleek throwaway pop via a commercial blend of R&B and hiphop (which is now referred to as 'urban' music). What's funny is that, 'I Adore Mi Amor' actually predates the pseudo-Latino fad that came about during the late 90s. The actual group dynamic more or less conforms to the typical boy band configuration, even featuring a multi-racial lineup. Color Me Badd can't possibly be musical trailblazers, can they? I also can't possibly sing praises about the actual songs without sounding like a retrophillic retard. Truth is, my life was as boring as watching a cluster of lichens growing on a rock face. I had plenty of time to listen to crap without actually realizing that it was crap. Thinking about it, ignorance was indeed bliss, and maybe that's what actually makes this album a guilty treat for me. Life was really simpler then, and given the random complexities that I find myself going through sometimes, I sometimes wish I can just pop in a CD and feel whatever I felt 14 years ago. I may not like it, but this album can do that for me, if anything can.
If I expanded the list, I probably would have included some Black Sabbath (maybe Master of Reality), Aerosmith (Toys in the Attic), Electric Six (Fire), Tenacious D, some 90s alternative/grunge, and a bunch of Incubus albums. Among these, only Electric Six can come close to being a bookmark, but that is a chapter that has yet to close.
This has been my most ambitious post in the span of a week (it was an eventful one though). The albums are not listed in any particular order, except for C.M.B., which would've looked even odder if not placed last. They are not the top 10 albums that I will take with me to a desert island nor the top 10 albums I want played during my wake. The songs on the list merely serve as captions for moments I remember from my life so far, and I find it something of a privilege to be able to even do this sort of traversal using easily available cues. It's still cheaper than asking a psychiatrist for a regression session, after all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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