95. Jeff Buckley-Grace Favorite Song: “Hallelujah”
Jeff Buckley is one of those artists whose time on this earth was way too short. He managed to complete one of his albums before drowning in a river at the age of 30. Yet, in the brief amount of work he produced, he managed to become one of the biggest artists of the 1990s.
Of course, Grace is representative of his works, being his only complete album, and boy is it powerful. Most of the lyrics seem to revolve around love or death (a few of which ominously mention drowning). But, it’s the way in which he talks about it that is so effective. One of the heights of the album is “Last Goodbye,” where, as the title suggests, Jeff Buckley sings about a breakup. Yet, he recognizes the meaning that the relationship has brought to his life. There’s nothing in this song that makes me feel sad. It manages to bring my emotions up, just in how Jeff Buckley goes about it. Another great moment is in “So Real,” which contains the line “I love you, but I’m afraid to love you.”
Jeff Buckley had one of the strongest voices in rock, and his cover of “Hallelujah” is where it is at its best. It starts off quiet, with a few harsh notes starting the song. It’s the way his voice stays low, only to jump out every few lines that makes his performance so powerful.
To match the stunning vocal performance, Jeff Buckley is also an expert guitarist. The opening of “Grace” is a highlight of the album, though every song has great instrumentation. Too many modern rock acts decide to slow it down when they make songs about love, but Jeff Buckley keeps what rock needs to be fun. The only time it really slows down is “Hallelujah,” which is so well carried by the vocals that it doesn’t matter that it’s the slowest, longest song on the album.
It would have been interesting to see where Jeff Buckley’s career would have gone if he managed to stick around. In his brief time, he managed to grace us with an excellent record, full of emotion and good old rock and roll.
Indeed, they are acts that haven't been announced. I really want to know who it is, and I keep getting myself excited over possibilities that won't happen. Still hoping for something like Beach House.
Though, just Grizzly Bear and Dinosaur Jr. is pretty good, I think, if Dinosaur Jr. is as good as I've heard. But, all those question marks are even more bands, and I really want to know, as there's still another headliner that should be as big as those two.
I've been dealing with randoms for far too long. Actually, I need to get into TF2 on the PC as well, bought it but never actually started playing...and competitive Civ IV and V...damn, I need to actually experience multiplayer games with people who probably aren't actually computers...
I'm FoolFantastic on Steam, Casanova Zelos on XBOX Live. I think that last one is correct, it might not have a space.
Which multiplayer games should I be getting into, anyway? Really, all I did was Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, and TF2 on the 360 when I first got it. I am sorely lacking in the multiplayer game department for this gen, and I'd prefer to avoid competitive shooters.
96. Bruce Springsteen-Born to Run (1975) Favorite Song: “Born to Run”
It took me an incredibly long time to appreciate Bruce Springsteen. There was just something about him that seemed generic to me for the longest time. It wasn’t until I finally started listening to his albums that I really began to appreciate his style.
Born to Run is the one that stuck out to me the most. All his major albums have a strong flow throughout, but Born to Run is the strongest simply due to having stronger songs than the rest.
It’s rare to find an album that starts off as strongly as Born to Run does with “Thunder Road.” A simply beautiful piece of work, at first I viewed it as cheesy. The always rising piano just has this uncomfortable sugary good feeling to me. It wasn’t until repeated listens that I realized the true beauty of it. It is a song that doesn’t let go. That piano is one of those rare moments in music that just doesn’t get tiring, putting it in the same league as the bass in Daft Punk’s “Around the World” and the wailing electric violin in The Velvet Underground’s “Heroin.” It might be cheesy, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t beautiful.
It’s an album that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Only eight tracks, and the one that does go on for a fourth of the length of the total album at least makes itself worthy of doing so by being a strong song throughout. However, the strongest point lies at the beginning of the second side, which is the title track, “Born to Run.” Arguably the greatest song about how terrible New Jersey is, it retains the feel of songs such as “Thunder Road.” It feels like such a push to keep going. Bruce Springsteen is at his most powerful vocally in this song, yet the show is stolen by that sexy saxophone solo. Few moments are as singularly powerful as that saxophone overtaking the rest of the music. By the end, there’s an uncontainable power in what Bruce is saying. “Born to Run” is one of the all-time great songs.
Bruce Springsteen still probably hasn’t grown on me fully. I wouldn’t be surprised if on a relisten, I suddenly realize that this in fact does deserve to be in my top ten or so. Even without him being my favorite artist, I still can’t overlook the power of this album.
It will be interesting to see where The xx go. They are one of two artists from the past few years to have their first and so far only album rank in my top 100 albums. They are in incredibly unusual band compared to the rest of the modern industry. At first, “Crystalised” was just another song to me. But, as soon I paid close attention, I realized it was something truly unique.
xx manages to pull off melancholic feelings in a way no band has been able to do in a long time. They lack the whine of emo music, the unrestrained anger of nu metal. They bring sad music back to the days of Joy Division. There’s no forcing to their sadness; you just have to listen, and it becomes overwhelming. One of the most poignant moments is when a song about finding the perfect someone is followed by one about a relationship failing before it feels complete.
Yet, the music doesn’t get caught up in a down mood. Throughout, the album has a fantastic groove to it, even with rather simplistic instrumentation. It’s an all-around easy record to just let play, which of course means it is also easy to overlook the themes of the album.
The xx could very well have created a new genre of music. Not quite electronic, not quite post punk and in the wrong era for that. Combined with the other new artist I mentioned in the opening, I could very well see a new musical revolution taking place between the two. Few styles have pushed me more to wanting to actually learn how to play music than whatever this qualifies as.
Because there are 101 albums I liked more, that's how. It's been a while since I heard The Blueprint, it might raise on relisten, but that could probably be said about most of the albums above it. 102 is still a really good spot, with the amount of times I've relistened to WHOKILL, ranking above it is a sign of a strong record. 125 is the current amount of albums I've ranked either a 10 or a 9.5, so every album I listed was incredibly strong in my eyes.
98. Talking Heads-Fear of Music (1979) Favorite Song: “Life During Wartime”
As I mentioned when writing about Blondie, Talking Heads is a very strange band. It’s hard to describe any of their songs in a way that doesn’t involve its quirkiness. That, of course, isn’t a bad thing. Talking Heads is uniquely Talking Heads. There are no bands that sound like Talking Heads.
Fear of Music is arguably the strongest of their early works at its high points. It has a rhythm throughout that is unlike any other. It changes ever so slightly throughout, causing the album to both have a consistent sound and to never be tiring.
The strength of the album lies in its energetic bounce, which “Life During Wartime” exemplifies. There’s no time for slow ballads here. There’s no deep point to look into. The album is a consistent trip into the mind of semi-maniac David Byrne.
It’s a rather simple album. Surrealist lyrics are mixed with bizarre instrumentation. Yet, it works so well. Every song is engaging in its own way. In its own self-contained world, everything makes a strange form of sense.
99. The Beatles-Rubber Soul (1965) Favorite Song: “In My Life”
Ah, The Beatles. The most popular group in rock history, and a very talented one at that. Their career can be separated into two distinct eras. Their early career, which is more traditional pop rock, and their later career, where they began to experiment.
Rubber Soul is the middle point between these eras, and the first of their great albums. It’s a collection of great pop rock hits, but there are small elements throughout that would show up in their later career. There are few records out there with the sheer quantity of great songs. From “Drive My Car,” to “Norwegian Wood,” “Nowhere Man,” “Girl,” to “Run for Your Life,” there are a ton of classics from The Beatles on this album.
To me, the high point of this album is “In My Life.” It retains the simple pop rock elements of their earlier hits, but it is much more subdued and thoughtful. The lyrics are some of the most beautiful The Beatles ever wrote. Just as much as there was a change in their style between these two eras, there was also a change in theme, and “In My Life” is the lead example off the album of how they were going to change.
Of course, “Norwegian Wood” is also a standout track, especially as far as their musical change was concerned. Featuring a sitar as a leading instrument, while a rather simple change, was enough to make “Norwegian Wood” one of the most memorable songs in their catalogue. And, much like “In My Life,” there is much deeper thematic elements to the song, this time detailing an affair.
But the true strength of the album is just how fun it is to listen to. There aren’t any weak points, and even if there were, the songs are short enough that you’d quickly be on to the next one. The Beatles still ranks amongst the strongest album producers, and Rubber Soul is one of their best examples.
Honorable mentions: 101. Primal Scream-XTRMNTR 102. Jay-Z-The Blueprint 103. Michael Jackson-Thriller 104. The Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers 105. The Who-Who's Next 106. Franz Ferdinand-Franz Ferdinand 107. The Smiths-Hatful of Hollow 108. Bjork-Debut 109. Run D.M.C.-Raising Hell 110. The Flaming Lips-Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 111. The Smiths-The Smiths 112. Interpol-Turn on the Bright Lights 113. Bjork-Homogenic 114. OutKast-Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 115. The White Stripes-White Blood Cells 116. Smashing Pumpkins-Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 117. New Order-Technique 118. Talking Heads-Talking Heads: 77 119. Tune-Yards-W H O K I L L 120. Bruce Springsteen-Darkness on the Edge of Town 121. Pixies-Bossanova 122. Beck-Sea Change 123. Paul Simon-Graceland 124. Janelle Monae-The ArchAndroid 125. PJ Harvey-Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
100. Blondie-Parallel Lines (1978) Favorite Song: “Heart of Glass”
The music scene in the late 1970s was a strange state of affairs. Punk came and went as soon as it started, with post-punk quickly coming in to take its place, with a similar style but changing the attitude. Disco was breathing its final breath. A style that somehow seemed to form out of all this was New Wave. Like a lot of movements from that time, while it might not have lasted for that long, quite a few classic albums were made during that movement.
One of my favorite artists of this era was Blondie. While I would largely classify Blondie as a New Wave band, elements of every genre of its time found its way into their work. Parallel Lines is the seminal work of their career, consisting of a track listing that is both representative of the band itself and the era it comes from. New Wave ideas are apparent through nearly every track on the record.
The two big songs of the album are the height of the style whiplash that is Parallel Lines. First up on the album, track #2, “One Way or Another,” is a strange punk rock anthem, where Debbie Harry sings about stalking a guy until she has him. Even with its strange subject matter, it is one of the catchiest songs of the punk movement. You, too, will sing along with how you’re going to get him.
The big track, though, is #10, “Heart of Glass.” Not only a great representation of the album’s strength, it is probably the best work of their careers. It’s a strangely unexpected song. While New Wave shares quite a few similarities to Disco, there’s enough of a rejection of disco’s flaws that you don’t expect a New Wave band to excel at making a disco hit. Yet, Blondie managed to not just make a good disco song, but make one of the best disco songs. From Debbie’s magical voice to that fantastic synthesizer, every element adds up to make an all-around classic.
The strong point about Blondie is that they’re a new wave band that can be taken seriously. Bands like Devo and Talking Heads seem to exist in this weird state where, even if considered great artists, they’re still viewed as silly and strange. Blondie is one of the kings of genre busting, and while “Rapture” is them at their most experimental, Parallel Lines is where they do it at the most consistently high quality.
I'm assuming no one here really plays board games? It's strange, I find these two strangely addiction, figured there'd be more overlap between video and board gamers.
My step-brother bought me The Settlers of Catan for Christmas, and my friends and I have been hooked. I've recently bought Dominion and an expansion, which is also awesome. I've been wanting to try some deeper board games, though I don't know what would be good for my group of friends. I could probably deal with any type, but the friends I play with would probably not try anything too complex. Any ideas?
Yeah, this is probably gonna be a shorter contest, so smaller amounts. I have another contest I want to try, but there's a similar one going on in a different method.
Hello, board 8. It's been a while. I don't think I've done one of these in a while, so why not?
You can nominate up to 5 movies for each decade. However, the 2000s will include the 2010s, and the 1920s will include everything before it, so you can nominate 6 in those two groups.
My nominations: -1920s: The Passion of Joan of Arc An Andalusian Dog Metropolis Sunrise The Gold Rush Sherlock Jr.
1930s: The Rules of the Game M City Lights Duck Soup All Quiet on the Western Front
1940s: Citizen Kane Casablanca The Bicycle Thief The Great Dictator Fantasia
1950s: Sunset Blvd. Seven Samurai The 400 Blows Some Like It Hot Rashomon
1960s: 8 1/2 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Persona Dr. Strangelove Breathless
1970s: A Clockwork Orange Apocalypse Now The Godfather: Part II Taxi Driver The Godfather
1980s: Blade Runner Brazil Grave of the Fireflies Cinema Paradiso Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
1990s: Pulp Fiction Schindler's List Goodfellas Trainspotting American Beauty
2000s+: Mulholland Dr. Spirited Away There Will Be Blood Hugo Pan's Labyrinth Black Swan
Round 1: Mario vs. Bowser Ike vs. Black Knight Kirby vs. Meta Knight Sonic vs. Dr. Robotnik X vs. Zero Bartz vs. Gilgamesh Donkey Kong vs. King K. Rool Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion Pokemon Trainer Red vs. Blue Luigi vs. Waluigi Ryu vs. Ken Fox McCloud vs. Wolf O'Donnell Samus vs. Ridley Terra vs. Kefka Chris Redfield vs. Wesker Tidus vs. Jecht Link vs. Ganondorf Tom Nook vs. Crazy Redd Zidane vs. Kuja Mega Man vs. Dr. Wily Phoenix Wright vs. Edgeworth Alucard vs. Dracula Chell vs. GlaDOS Raiden vs. Vamp Cloud vs. Sephiroth Kratos vs. Zeus Crash vs. Neo Cortex Solid Snake vs. Liquid Snake Squall vs. Seifer Siegfried vs. Nightmare Dante vs. Vergil Sora vs. Riku
Round 2: Mario vs. Bowser Sonic vs. Dr. Robotnik X vs. Zero Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion Pokemon Trainer Red vs. Blue Ryu vs. Ken Samus vs. Ridley Tidus vs. Jecht Link vs. Ganondorf Mega Man vs. Dr. Wily Phoenix Wright vs. Edgeworth Raiden vs. Vamp Cloud vs. Sephiroth Solid Snake vs. Liquid Snake Squall vs. Seifer Sora vs. Riku
Round 3: Mario vs. Bowser X vs. Zero Ryu vs. Ken Samus vs. Ridley Link vs. Ganondorf Raiden vs. Vamp Cloud vs. Sephiroth Squall vs. Seifer
Round 4: Mario vs. Bowser Samus vs. Ridley Link vs. Ganondorf Cloud vs. Sephiroth
+10 Mass Effect 3 Bioshock Infinite Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Final Fantasy XIII-2 Super Mario 3D Land -----Diablo III Assassin's Creed: Revelations +1 Street Fighter vs. Tekken
I decided to start writing again, and I decided to start with an album review. It was...different from what I was used to, so I'm not sure how good it is. Any suggestions on how to write about an album? This is more an analysis than a review, and I just want some thoughts.
Wouldn't the sentence "I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish and And and And and Chips in my Fish-And-Chips sign" have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Fish, and between Fish and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and Chips, as well as after Chips?
Has anyone played this game? I noticed it was today's deal on steam, and I remember hearing about it a few years ago, so I decided to try it out. I haven't started it yet. Just wondering if anyone here has even heard of it...