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Post by soundandvision on Mar 13, 2008 10:03:53 GMT -5
This is a highly subjective topic. We all bring our personal stories to these kind of selections. For me, there's a strong emotional attachment to this band and at least 2 of their albums. I've often felt like if I were able to follow through with my teen-age dream of being a film director, there's one movie that I would absolutely have to make first and without going into that too much; the soundtrack would have to be comprised completely of the Afghan Whigs "Gentlemen". Convsersly, their next record plays out like a film soundtrack, in and of itself, in many ways. For my money, it's one of the true lost masterpieces of my era (1990's/2000's).  From Pop Matters: So what's yours? |
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Post by Mod City on Mar 13, 2008 16:39:54 GMT -5
Gentleman is a heck of an album. Haven't thought about it in a long time. Am not familiar with Black Love.I guess it's kind of hard for me to pin down the exact definition of a "rock record," but I'll give it a shot. Mine would have to be something by Dramarama – and just because I can't decide I'm going to go with Vinyl. Easdale is a grossly under-appreciated lyricist and these guys could just flat-out play. And since Uncool included an album cover...  You can't go wrong with most of their catalog ( Box Office Bomb, Cinema Verite) but this one might be their most polished.
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Post by Shep on Mar 13, 2008 18:28:24 GMT -5
You don't often hear The La's debut cited as one of the great alt rock records (at least not in America), but it certainly is IMO. Lee Mavers = Genius.  |
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Post by mrcleveland on Mar 13, 2008 23:21:40 GMT -5
Shine On Brightly by Procol Harum. (Yes, I'm a Procol Nut!)
1-"Quite Rightly So", Most of the lyrics are quoted by William Shakespeare and there's a lot of good organ solos.
2-"Shine On Brightly", Another good song with an organ solo. Not as powerful as "Quite Rightly So" but...
3-"Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)", Very haunting song. It starts with a 2/4 beat, then has a piano play and soon other instruments cresendo. And before the song stops, they play in a style of Eastern European Folk and the organ plays like a sci-fi style.
4-"Wish Me Well", actually a straight-blues song. (Well, they were known as The Paramounts and they would play some Ray Charles songs.)
5-"Rambling On", This is about a guy who wants to fly. The instrumental break is very interesting with Robin Trower's crunching guitar solo.
6-"Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)", This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. The lyrics are very poetic, the snare drum throughout makes it feel like a Military song. And the ending is orchestrated with mellotrons and the organ.
7-"In Held 'Twas In I", This song is divided into 5 songs. 'Glimpses of Nirvana' is about someone who seeks wisdom (which was very common in the 60's) and it features the sitar. 'Teatime at the Circus' is about being at the circus. 'Autumn of my Madness' is my favorite part of this song because it seems like It's one of the few songs outside The Beatles that has 'Paul is Dead' quotes. First, you will hear a car horn, second you will hear an amblance, third you will hear people say 'Where is he'? 'Help'! 'Paul! Paul! Paul!', and some crying is heard as well. Also "Homburg" is played backwards at the end. 'Look to your Soul' has one of the best Harpsichord peices in rock music, it sounds like something from "The Addams Family". And 'Grand Finale' has one of the best work of Robin Trower.
This album influenced The Who and Genesis, but for some...they wanted "A Whiter Shade of Pale".
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Post by soundandvision on Mar 13, 2008 23:30:13 GMT -5
Shine On Brightly by Procol Harum. (Yes, I'm a Procol Nut!) 1-"Quite Rightly So", Most of the lyrics are quoted by William Shakespeare and there's a lot of good organ solos. 2-"Shine On Brightly", Another good song with an organ solo. Not as powerful as "Quite Rightly So" but... 3-"Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)", Very haunting song. It starts with a 2/4 beat, then has a piano play and soon other instruments cresendo. And before the song stops, they play in a style of Eastern European Folk and the organ plays like a sci-fi style. 4-"Wish Me Well", actually a straight-blues song. (Well, they were known as The Paramounts and they would play some Ray Charles songs.) 5-"Rambling On", This is about a guy who wants to fly. The instrumental break is very interesting with Robin Trower's crunching guitar solo. 6-"Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)", This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. The lyrics are very poetic, the snare drum throughout makes it feel like a Military song. And the ending is orchestrated with mellotrons and the organ. 7-"In Held 'Twas In I", This song is divided into 5 songs. 'Glimpses of Nirvana' is about someone who seeks wisdom (which was very common in the 60's) and it features the sitar. 'Teatime at the Circus' is about being at the circus. 'Autumn of my Madness' is my favorite part of this song because it seems like It's one of the few songs outside The Beatles that has 'Paul is Dead' quotes. First, you will hear a car horn, second you will hear an amblance, third you will hear people say 'Where is he'? 'Help'! 'Paul! Paul! Paul!', and some crying is heard as well. Also "Homburg" is played backwards at the end. 'Look to your Soul' has one of the best Harpsichord peices in rock music, it sounds like something from "The Addams Family". And 'Grand Finale' has one of the best work of Robin Trower. This album influenced The Who and Genesis, but for some...they wanted "A Whiter Shade of Pale". I promise to check this out. The only thing outside of the 'Whiter Shade' single that I've heard of theirs is the 'Salty Dog' album. I wasn't really moved either way on it. 'Whiter Shade' certainly is a great single though, despite Lawrence Kasdan forever ruining it. Luckily, Scorsese recovered a little bit of its mystique. I'll be sure to check this record out though. |
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Post by soundandvision on Mar 13, 2008 23:31:27 GMT -5
You don't often hear The La's debut cited as one of the great alt rock records (at least not in America), but it certainly is IMO. Lee Mavers = Genius. Definitely an underappreciated gem. |
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Post by soundandvision on Mar 13, 2008 23:34:12 GMT -5
Gentleman is a heck of an album. Haven't thought about it in a long time. Am not familiar with Black Love.I guess it's kind of hard for me to pin down the exact definition of a "rock record," but I'll give it a shot. Mine would have to be something by Dramarama – and just because I can't decide I'm going to go with Vinyl. Easdale is a grossly under-appreciated lyricist and these guys could just flat-out play. And since Uncool included an album cover... You can't go wrong with most of their catalog ( Box Office Bomb, Cinema Verite) but this one might be their most polished. I kind of remember this band, I'll head on over to Amazon and sample it see if I recognize anything. Seems like I remember them getting some play on 'college radio' in the early 90's. |
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Post by hopesfall on Mar 14, 2008 0:47:35 GMT -5
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Post by soundandvision on Mar 14, 2008 9:03:37 GMT -5
Wow. That is one hell of a cover. It reminds me of the Red House Painters 'Rollercoaster' album (a personal favorite of mine). Looking at allmusic, I like their influences, I was into many of those bands a decade or more ago. I'll definitely check this out. |
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Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 14, 2008 10:07:41 GMT -5
Does this mean Underated as in fans and critics didn't like 'em, or is this more directed toward obscure or unkown bands? Unheard of (outside of Seattle)  The Day That Didn’t Exist, the Fastbacks (1999) If the Ramones and Weezer had a baby, this is what it would sound like. Unloved...  Electronic Eden, The Brains (1981)Fellow Georgians REM got all the attention while the Brains faded away. |
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Post by Bix Dugan on Mar 14, 2008 14:13:10 GMT -5
I thought of an album no one else had at the time, and stayed in my tape deck all summer. Ron Wood: Gimme Some Neck
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Mar 15, 2008 9:17:26 GMT -5
You don't often hear The La's debut cited as one of the great alt rock records (at least not in America), but it certainly is IMO. Lee Mavers = Genius. It's a very much appreciated album over here and rightfully so. For me it would be this:  A Walk Across The Rooftops by The Blue Nile It could have been anything by them really, although third album Peace At Last didn't quite measure up to everything else but it's still wonderful. The Blue Nile are one of the most criminally overlooked band ever. They emerged in the eighties on the wave of Scottish Indie like Orange Juice but never quite made it, no matter how good the reviews were. But anyone who has ever heard them seems to become completely enamoured by them. Personally the failure to sell records probably came about because no matter how brilliantly constructed the pop it's just a bit too clever and not always immediate enough. There's so much happening in the songs on this album especially that it's breathtaking. This comes thanks to their approach to the synths. Whereas everyone else was drowning their songs in waves of synthesised presets, The Blue Nile used them sparingly, peppering their songs with wonderfully experimental sounds. There are things on here that don't re-emerge until the whole Warp Records Artificial Intelligence early nineties dance movement. Yet the sounds are being used to accentuate some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful songs ever. Paul Buchanan's lyrics and voice are exceptional and the construction of the songs is perfection. Tinseltown In The Rain is one of the finest songs I've ever heard! Here's them doing it live on Later with Jools Holland (the only decent music show on British telly): www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0wkO0aTtecIn this area of the world they're legends to people of a certain age. I just wish more people elsewhere had heard of them. Oh and they've only ever made four albums. They tend to put out one every eight years or so. The last one, High, is an absolute cracker. They play live even less but I've just found out they're playing three nights in July at the Glasgow Concert Hall. I'm trying to twist my mate's arms into going as I may never get another chance. High came out in 2004 and this is technically the gigs to support it! |
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Post by mrcleveland on Mar 17, 2008 22:48:21 GMT -5
Another Underrated Album is S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things.
This album led the Rock Opera. As a matter of fact, this album also influenced Pete Townshend to make Tommy.
This album basically is an oblivion album in the states.
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Post by xmattxyzx on Mar 18, 2008 19:25:51 GMT -5
Elliot is one of those bands that everyone should like but very few people actually do.
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Post by hopesfall on Mar 18, 2008 23:39:18 GMT -5
Elliot is one of those bands that everyone should like but very few people actually do. Exactly. It's pretty unfortunate. |
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