Day 0938 - A Rush of Blood to the Head

Coldplay "A Rush of Blood to the Head" (2002) - got it

It would have been easy enough for Coldplay to do "Parachutes MKII", to bust out sound-alikes of "Yellow" and "Trouble" but they did seem to be resisting that and trying to push their sound to other places.   From the thumping relentless rhythm of "Politik" to the on-edge "God Put a Smile on Your Face", to the almost Echo and the Bunnymen vibe of "A Whisper".   

Even a big hit like "In My Place" seemed to be moving towards a new more stadium-friendly vibe which, though the band would lean on more as they went on, was a bit of a change from their debut.   

The band had been feeling an urgency after the huge success of Parachutes, both to follow the album and to not just repeat what they'd done.  The recording process stopped and started as they went through stages of self-doubt and not being happy with the songs.  I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd be happy enough for them to have pulled the plug then, but I'm happy they got this one out.   I've kind of lost track of them for the last four or so albums, but I definitely enjoyed the first couple and their fourth album "Viva la Vida, or Death and all His Friends"

 

Another one that I own thanks to my wife.

Day 0877 - Devil Without a Cause

Kid Rock “Devil Without a Cause” (1998)

 

These days it can be easy to just think of Kid Rock as the grinning grease-stain in ‘stars and stripes’ pants playing golf with Donald Trump and forget that he used to be a musician.

Rock’s association with Trump seems appropriate as his lyrics dwell in misogyny, greed and lashing out at those who he felt had not helped him or had held him back.  On the title track he classily invites his detractors to “shut up or put his balls in their mouths”.

Rock’s lyrics reflect his reinvention from straight hip-hop to his ‘cowboy pimp rockstar’ persona.   Revelling in his sleaze and trashiness as he goes on about ‘bitches’ and ‘hoes’ and a ‘hose’ (a garden hose made of solid gold, don’tcha know).

Lyrics aside though, I do find it hard to fault the album musically.  From the opening chant and stonking riffs of single “Bawitdaba” into the mix of styles on the twangy country “Cowboy” which almost feels like it could be a Beck song.   There’s the Rage Against the Machine-esque but ridiculously titled “Fist of Rage”.   All in all, the music is an interesting mix of hiphop, metal, country and even a touch of funk.  

The main issue then (aside from the lyrics) is that the runtime is in excess of 70 minutes (ditto with a few of the albums in this part of the list).  It’s hard to maintain interest for that length of runtime unless it’s a release from one of your absolute favourite artists.

Day 0809 - Fuzzy Logic

Super Furry Animals "Fuzzy Logic" (1996)

 
I am smitten.   This is another band where I'd heard their name enough but wasn't really sure who they were or what they were about.

Turns out they're a band from Wales who had initially been into techno, got signed by Creation Records (along with every second Brit-rock band at the time, it seems) and then produced an album of brilliant pop rock.

"Fuzzy Logic" is equal parts David Bowie and Blur.   Fuzzed out guitar in "God! Show me Magic" collides with the gentle folk-pop of "Gathering Moss" which itself sounds suspiciously like something that Damon Albarn might have borrowed from for his the "Good, the Bad and the Queen" album.   The most prominent sound though is glorious baroque pop like on tracks "If you don't want me to destroy you" and "Fuzzy Birds".   

The album closes off with a strident slice of singalong fuzz-rock that wouldn't sound out of place on an early Weezer album.

Definitely interested in checking out more from SFA. 

 

Spoiler: because I'm further through the list in my listening than my posts here show.   There is another SFA album in the list and it is somehow even better!

Day 0394 - Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols" (1977)

 
Well this one was really always going to show up, wasn't it. This album gets held up as one of the most influential, the one to really 'put punk on the map'.  Quite frankly though, with so many punk artists and albums around at the time, the 'revolution' would have happened whether this band released an album or not.

I can see why this one got seized on though: for a start, it was hugely publicised with the Pistols being assembled and marketed by Malcolm McLaren.  The band had gone on the Bill Grundy show and dropped the F-bomb.  But aside from all of that, where a lot of the other artists at the time, such as the Clash or Suicide or whoever were punk, mixed with other musical elements the Pistols seemed to be designed as some kind of punk shorthand.  The album has simplistic 3 chord songs played fast, noisily and with a large dose of sneery, smirking attitude.  There's not lot of variation so it almost reflects the later more "pure" underground and American hardcore punk that followed over the next decade or so. 

Day 0345 - A Night at the Opera

Queen "A Night at the Opera" (1975) - got it

Although I did listen to the album again for the 1001 albums (twice in fact) I'm mostly just going to plagiarise another review I wrote when I was re-listening to all of the Queen albums a few years back. ~apologies, this will be a long one~

Queen started with a fairly cohesive 'band' sound over their first couple of albums, but the work of the individual songwriters (mostly) became easier and easier to pick.

On night at the opera they're kind of in a middle ground, you can pick the different songwriters but this is still such a cohesive 'album', right from the opening piano flourishes through to the big finale of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "God save the Queen".

"Death on two legs" is such a great opener, Freddie belting it out with real venom before the wall of voices comes crashing in to back him up.  Mercury then performs a compositional 180 with the light and cheery 'Lazing on a Sunday afternoon'.

Roger Taylor's "I'm in love with my car" is such a musically strong slice of rock (some great lead guitar) that I'm actually able to ignore the fact that he used the lines:

"Told my girl I just had to forget her, Rather buy me a new carburettor

So she made tracks sayin' ths is the end now 

Cars don't talk back they're just four wheeled friends now"

The rock calms down into John Deacon's much lauded 'You're my best friend'.  It's not my favourite of his ("spread your wings" holds that spot) but I have succumbed to its charms over the years.

Brian May's '39' is an odd mix of old and new.  It kind of has an olde timey folk feel, yet lyrically it is a sci-fi story.  Roger Taylor's eerie falsetto in the middle section is particularly stunning. "Sweet lady" is one that I never really used to like, but listening to it now, I'm not sure why as the verses sound kind of like David Bowie rock tracks or maybe the rolling stones, while the chorus riff... it's like part funk, part metal ...like extra heavy Hendrix (makes sense as Roger, Brian and Freddie were all big fans of Jimi, with Freddie in particular following him around on tour in the UK)!

Side a is rounded out with another jaunty little music-hall number , complete with a kazoo horn section and Freddie and Roger doing a tap dance routine by wearing thimbles and drumming on the recording console!

Side B kicks off with 'The Prophet's song' (the longest song Queen released while Freddie was alive) which has always been a favourite of mine.  I would be surprised if some 90s alt-rock bands like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains haven't heard this song, the riffs and vocal harmonies are very ahead of their time.  The vocal/delay section in the middle is still mind-blowing... almost literally, I was listening to the album while walking home from the gym and I just fell over, I was getting so disorientated trying to follow the different parts as they flicked from one ear to the other.
"Love of my life"... I really kind of prefer the live version of this song, just acoustic guitar with the power of Freddie's voice and the quality of the songwriting brought to the fore, but this song is beautiful in any form.

"Good company"; I'm guessing it was Brian aiming for a George Formby sound, but to me it kind of comes off sounding more Paul McCartney and not necessarily in a good way. "Bohemian Rhapsody"... this song is still amazing no matter how many times I've heard it, seen the video, sung it at karaoke, or watched it in Wayne's world. The album's outro of 'God save the Queen' is a brilliant cheeky little touch and really does make it feel like you've reached the end of a journey or sorts with the album.