Day 0666 - World Clique

Dee-Lite "World Clique" (1990) - got it

More than just "Groove is in the Heart".  This is an album that features guest spots from such luminaries as Bootsy Collins, Herbie Hancock and Maceo Parker.  But it is more than those guest spots too.  This is an album that grooves from start to finish.  Some of the big rollicking beats and jagged piano date the music slightly, but aside from that, it's a great mix of techno, funk and pop.

Different styles and sounds are on display, mixing live instruments and samples.  Lady Miss Kier's voice provides enough variety that I didn't grow weary of hearing the same singer throughout.

Day 0591 - Sign o' the Times

Prince "Sign o' the Times " (1987)

 
Prince had been working on a double album with the Revolution "Dream Factory", and a solo album that he'd planned to release under the feminine pseudonym 'Camille'.  He ended up disbanding the Revolution and scrapping the Camille album.  Combining the material from these projects with some new songs he planned a triple album "Crystal Ball".   This was vetoed by the record company who baulked at releasing that much material simultaneously, and Prince was left to cherry-pick tracks for a single album.

You'd think that choosing from such a large pool of songs this would be a 'home run' of an album.  Instead, I feel as though the songs being drawn from 3 disparate projects over a number of years led to a bit of a lack of cohesion across the material.

There are plenty of good moments here, and Prince explores every genre that he'd investigated up till that point (and then some), but as a whole it just doesn't quite hit the spot for me the way that '1999' or 'Purple Rain' did.

Day 0002 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley "Elvis Presley" (1956) got it

With some of these early albums by famous artists, I almost expect them to be a bit 'meh'.  It seems like they'll sound dated (especially with this album being recorded in different studios, years apart with many of the songs coming from Elvis' early sessions at Sun) or maybe a bit embryonic with the artist still finding their feet... but this album still sounds fresh, and vital right from the off.  From the jocular swagger of "one sided love affair" to the sweet and gentle rendition of "Blue Moon".

Whenever I listen to this album I feel like "yeah, I can see why he's referred to as 'the king'."
The music is accompanied by an appropriately lively album cover that would later by referenced by the Clash for 'London Calling'

Apparently this was the first rock n roll recording to enter the billboard charts... and so that whole thing began.