Day 0752 - Doggystyle

Snoop Doggy Dogg "Doggystyle" (1993)

Snoop's debut hit the ground running, thanks to hype created by his contributions to Dr Dre's "The Chronic" album, and by the fact that Snoop himself had been arrested in connection to the murder of an associate of a rival gang.   For many it would have given that hint of authenticity to Snoop's rhymes that other 'gangsters' might have been seen to be lacking.

Other than a few of the bigger tracks I hadn't really heard this album before. Great music, some of the best basslines around, thanks to Dre and his G-Funk sound.  

Snoop's delivery has so much attitude... not so fussed on some of the more misogynist lyrics, but then 80s and early 90s hip-hop, that's unfortunately par for the course.

Day 0280 - Selling England by the Pound

Genesis "Selling England by the Pound" (1973)

Was surprised to find that this was Genesis' 5th album.  I didn't realise that they'd recorded so many with Peter Gabriel.

There seems to be a thing about prog albums using paintings as their album covers rather than photos or some other such thing.  Definitely bands like Gentle Giant, Genesis, some of Crimson's got on in on it.   Similar to the 50's jazz scene's flirtations with the modern artists.   It works for this album matching the parochial English vibe of the album.

Much as it's popular to jump on the 'Phil Collins bashing bandwagon', his drumming, while nowhere near as exploratory or virtuosic as some of his prog peers, is still pretty damned fine. Synths that sound like they're soundtracking a fox hunt, guitars that are at time frantic and unsettling and at others, majestic and grand, vocals that verge on the theatrical and playful.  This is definitely a long way from the poppy, sometimes slightly too-serious-for-its-own-good, later-era Genesis.

I would not be surprised if John Frusciate was into Genesis either.  There seem to be a lot of sounds that would not be out of place on some of his later work with the Chili Peppers or some of his mid-era solo work.