The Stooges are a band I've always wanted to know more about. I'm aware that their back catalogue has always appeared as hugely influential with songwriters and performers I admire, but I know more songs from Iggy Pop's solo projects than from the band where he cut his teeth.
The album is a very good one, and if I were into one word summaries, it would be "energy". The record bristles with intensity and vigour, and the recording took place in as close to a live setting as possible, with the original individually isolated instrumental recordings being discarded.
I actually knew two of the tracks via cover versions; Down on the Street and Dirt by Rage Against the Machine and Depeche Mode respectively. Whilst the first is a great album opener for the Stooges, and really sets out their agenda, it is the second of these tracks that I found myself most enjoying. Chloe had the same response - it really is the stand out track on the album, with its appropriately filthy bassline and lyrical content, and some excellent solo performances. TV Eye is a very catchy tune, and 1970 has some excellent moments. LA Blues is the only track on the album that seems to lose its way a bit, and lose a bit of the vitality so prevalent elsewhere.
I've always wondered what it must be like to be in a band that transitions from being named "X" to "Lead singer and the Xs". However, from the very outset of this album it is apparent that Iggy is the star of the show. It is impossible to listen to it without picturing him prowling around the studio, frantically gyrating, screeching and stomping. This is one album that works much, much better on speakers than headphones, as the soundstage really opens up.
Overall this was a very enjoyable album, and I can see why it was so influential. I will definitely return to a few of the tracks, but it's not quite consistently engaging enough to get a higher score.
Chloe's rating: 7
Chloe favourite track: 4. Dirt
Olly's rating: 7
Olly's favourite track: 4. Dirt
Next week's album is 415. Q: Are we not Men? A: We are Devo! by Devo, a band I have read a lot about in Simon Reynold's superb "Rip it up and start again".
Another new band to explore, and one with a rather bizarre name, and indeed sound. The Electric Prunes were around in the late 60s, and then split before reforming in 1999. They were part of the burgeoning psychedelic scene, of which an early Pink Floyd were very much part. They had some early success, but when signed they were presented with a pair of songwriters (Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz) who dominate the material contained on this album.
The album is only 29 minutes, and is a bit of a mixed bag. The title track is very good, with waves of psychedelia washing over you, and an array of sounds and instrumentation that works together much better than it has any right to. It reminds me of the 13th Floor Elevators; certainly that's no bad thing. There are other good songs, such as the brilliantly titled Are you lovin' me more (but enjoying it less), which is very catchy, and the impassioned Get me to the World on Time, which is toe-tappingly addictive. These cannot offset the frankly terrible Onie and Toonerville Trolley, the latter of which proves that catchiness is no indicator of quality.
The title track peaked at Number 11 in the US, and the follow up Get me to the World on Time managed to get to Number 27, so they had some commercial success. However, their experimentation was a bit too wild for commercial tastes, and a follow up album that linked Gregorian chanting and pop music was never destined to be a breakthrough into the full mainstream.
The album is far too mixed for me to issue it with a particularly high score, as I can't imagine revisiting much of it. There are three good tracks, which is not really sufficient to sustain interest, even when the whole experience lasts only 29 minutes.
Chloe's rating: 5
Chloe's favourite track: 4. Are you lovin' me more (but enjoying it less)
Olly's rating: 5
Olly's favourite track: 1. I had too much to dream last night
Next week we have 186. Fun House - Iggy Pop and the Stooges, which promises to be a fairly visceral experience.
Released in 1999, myself and Chloe knew most of the singles from this album, and a couple of other tracks too, but I would say 60% of this album I didn't know at all. Given the acclaim in which it is held I was looking forward to getting to know it.
After the first couple of listens I realised that I felt deeply uncomfortable listening to it. I get the idea that Eminem was trying to court controversy to increase sales, as well as being genuinely angry from some pretty tough times. However, listening to the violence and brutality that he espouses is very not a pleasant experience. I am so far removed from his target demographic that trying to get into the mindset of an angry young twenty-something with a huge chip on his shoulder is beyond challenging.
I appreciate some of the clever devices used, such as the back-and-forth nature of Guilty Conscience and the quality of some of the backing tracks, but as soon as I find myself start to enjoy a track, there's a line about "slitting throats" or "shooting that bitch", and I lose all interest. The story-telling is pretty compelling, again until something deeply offensive is said.
I understand that art should be provocative, and maybe Eminem was filling a need in society for people to let off steam without actually hurting anyone. I understand that this album is a product of of where Eminem came from, and that he was a mouthpiece for thousands of people. But that doesn't mean that I have to like listening to it, and I don't.
Chloe's rating: 5
Chloe's favourite track: 2. My name is
Olly's rating: 4
Olly's favourite track: 3. Guilty Conscience
Next week's album is 90. I had too much to dream last night - The Electric Prunes. No, me neither.
After the debacle that was Sepultura, it was nice to listen to something far more accessible. I Against I is completely seeped in 80s nostalgia, which is of course no bad thing. There is a veritable feast of different noises, from screeching guitars to an almost constant snare and hi-hat combination.
Chloe and I were not familiar with the group before listening, although it transpired that I did know one song, House of Suffering, from a Guitar Hero game or something similar, and the riff from Re-ignition is used by Hive on Ultrasonic Sound from the Matrix soundtrack, an album that was a fixture from my youth.
Bad Brains are a hardcore punk band from Washington DC, but this album also has strong elements of funk, metal and even reggae running through it. The album is an enjoyable, not very serious romp through similar sounding tracks. Some work well, and others are decent enough but slightly forgettable. I wouldn't say that this album is life-changing, but I'm sure it's influenced a fair few bands, and it does have some very catchy hooks. Secret 77 can easily get stuck in your head for days, and the licks from She's Calling You will remind you of a melodic Van Halen, which can only ever be an amazing thing. Sacred Love has a guitar sound that is filthily distorted, whilst being very addictive.
Overall I enjoyed this album, but I don't think either of us expect to revisit it very often in the future. I view it as one that fills in some gaps about the development of music in the late 80s, but hasn't reshaped how I view that era for the better or worse.
Chloe's rating: 6
Chloe's favourite track: 8. Sacred Love
Olly's rating: 6
Olly's favourite track: 7. She's Calling You
Next week's album is 898. The Slim Shady LP - Eminem. Solid.
I think that it would be fair to say that this was not an album either of us was particularly looking forward to. However, as a bit of a Metallica fan in my youth (pre-St Anger, obviously), and with some knowledge of the Metal genre, I thought that I may be pleasantly surprised.
I wasn't.
I'm sure that there are fans of this band who would be able to talk at length about the intricacy, intensity and attention to detail of it, and wax lyrical about how they have managed to combine South American influences naturally within the Thrash Metal genre. To be honest, aside from a couple of uses of non-traditional instruments, I can't hear that myself. I get the intensity, but the majority of the songs do end up sounding the same. For every interesting chord progression, there are a few dozen that just follow a very standard pattern, albeit very quickly and with a lot of distortion.
The two songs that were palatable were Dead Embryonic Cells and Orgasmatron. They had an element of melody to them that was more interesting. The rest I would genuinely struggle to describe to you, and I listened to the album at least seven times all the way through. Perhaps it is me getting old and soft, but with Metallica I enjoyed the variety of the music they produced, and this just doesn't have that range. I can appreciate the technical demands of such playing, which probably explains the fact that it did get a score above a two, but virtuosity is not alone enough.
There is one more Sepultura album in the book, Roots, which is supposed to be the better of the two. however, I still can't say I'm much looking forward to that number coming up, if I'm honest.
Chloe's rating: 3
Chloe's favourite track: 10. Orgasmatron
Olly's rating: 3
Olly's favourite track: 2 Dead Embryonic Cells
Next week we have selected 569. I against I - Bad Brains from 1986. Unfamiliar with this group, so looking forward to it, especially as the description doesn't use the term "Thrash" at all.
