Day 0772 - Copper Blue

Sugar "Copper Blue" (1992)

After Hüsker Dü called it a day, frontman Bob Mould released a couple of acoustic-y solo albums that didn't fare too well.   His record company released him from his contract and he set about writing the music for what would become Sugar. 

Mould returns to his favoured style of distorted guitars with melodic vocals.  I'll be honest, his stuff doesn't do much for me.   It's generally listenable enough, and I can hear his influence on a few bands I know and like, but these songs really just passed me by without leaving much of an impression.  Same with much of the Hüsker Dü I've heard.

In interviews and press, Sugar were plagued by Nirvana questions and comparisons and whether the band was doing well thanks to the grunge scene.  All this despite Mould's former band having been a probable influence on many of the grunge bands, so that can't have been easy for Mould.

Day 0516 - Duck Rock

Malcolm McLaren "Duck Rock" (1983)

Having become well known through his involvement in the punk scene (in particular, his management of the Sex Pistols); McLaren was keen to translate that notoriety into pop stardom for himself.

McLaren teamed up with producer Trevor Horn, who was given a reasonable amount of creative control due to McLaren's lack of musicality and specific direction for how the album should be.  The book states that such was McLaren's lack of musical ability that he had to have Horn slapping him in time to the beat of the music to keep his vocal delivery in time.

Music from various nationalities was brought into the mix along with McLaren's interest in the nascent hip-hop and turntablism scene.  The resulting tracks could be seen as a precursor to the world music craze that would later arise.

Day 0507 - Rip it up

Orange Juice "Rip it up" (1982)

A Scottish pop band, though from their sound they could just as easily have been from the US, England or anywhere else.  Their sound has hints of the new-wave-era Police, and a LARGE dose of Bowie's soul and dance sound (particularly in the vocals).

This is becoming a bit of a theme with some of these 80s pop albums but "polished whiteboy funk guitar, subtle horn parts, and synths abound".  As with something like Haircut One Hundred, this is pretty solid pop fare, and is totally enjoyable if you're in the mood for a bit of catchy gloss.

Day 0484 - Architecture and Morality

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Architecture and Morality" (1981)

 
OMitD are one of those bands where I had heard their name plenty of times but wasn't really familiar with them musically.  Something about them (maybe as simple as liking their album artwork or liking their name) made me really keen to check them out.

The actual result fits in the "it's alright, but I wouldn't rush to listen to it again" category.  An album of synth-pop that the book perhaps overhyped with its various Beatles comparisons: they're from Liverpool and deliver their mix of pop and experimentalism in digestible 3 1/2 minute chunks.

I listened through a couple of times and none of the music particularly stayed with me.  There were parts where I enjoyed a melody here or a synth-line there, but largely it passed me by without too much fanfare. 

Regardless, I would be willing to hear more from this band.

Day 0456 - Back in Black

AC/DC "Back in Black" (1980)

 
AC/DC had managed to pull themselves up by their Aussie bootstraps to 'take on the world'. By the time they released "Highway to Hell" they had won over Europe, but hadn't quite cracked the US. Tragedy befell them when their lead singer Bon Scott died after a night of drinking.

The band didn't pause.  They started recording straight away and recruited British vocalist Brian Johnson to take up lead singer duties. The album opens with tolling bells and then slow, ominous guitar, leading you to believe that maybe the band were going to deliver a solemn eulogy to their fallen bandmate... at least you might believe that if you were unfamiliar with the rest of their work. Pretty quickly,  the slow opening gives way to an 'all hands to the pump' rocker, and things doesn't really let up from there.

The band continue with their misogynistic, wild-time lyrics and solid riffing rock. Solid is the word too; apart from Angus Young's flashy lead guitar parts, the music is fairly workmanlike in its simplicity. The rhythm section mainly hold down the most basic groove needed to support the guitar riffs, which in turn provide a bed for Johnson's vocals to bounce around on top of. It is rock economy, and it works really well for the songs.

The album took off in the US. It has since racked up 22x platinum sales, and sits as the sixth highest selling album of all time in the US!

Day 0427 - Highway to Hell

AC/DC "Highway to Hell" (1979)

Apparently this was Acca Dacca's 5th album. The title had come from Angus Young being asked to describe their drunken bus tours, he responded with "like a highway to hell" and it just kind of stuck.

I've obviously heard plenty of AC/DC before, but have never really sat down and listened to an entire album in one sitting before.  All in all they make pretty solid rock n roll (though I guess that should go without saying).  There's just not quite enough variety for my tastes. Looking forward to 'back in black' presumably coming up on this list though.

This was Bon Scott's last album with the band before his alcohol-related death.

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.