#285: Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)

Emily: When I queued up this album today, my first thought was, "Hey, isn't Layla by Eric Clapton? What's it doing on this album? Is this a weird cover thing? Hmm..." Clearly I was uninformed, because a few bluesy rock songs in, I looked up the album on Wikipedia and found out that Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs "is often regarded as Eric Clapton's greatest musical achievement." You learn something new every day. Even if I hadn't looked it up, though, I would've figured out it was Clapton far before Layla actually started playing. This album is filled with the classic sounds of Clapton's blues guitar (plus Duane Allman) and emotional lyrics of love both desired and lost. I wasn't totally off base with the cover idea, though. Although Layla and most of the rest of the double album is original, there are also covers of blues standards as well as a Jimi Hendrix song. Just goes to show how even the most influential artists and albums are always harkening back to what came before. Now, the next great blues album should have its own cover of Layla.
Favorite Tracks: Layla; Why Does Love Got to be So Sad; Have You Ever Loved a Woman

Zack: I’m not entirely sure why, but I thought we had listened to Cream a lot more recently than we actually had. No matter, because it is always a good time to listen to Layla. For a lot of people, Derek and the Dominos is Clapton’s crowning achievement. Surprisingly, I haven’t put that much time into this question. Gun to my head, I’d say: 

1) Disraeli Gears
2) Layla
3) 461 Ocean Boulevard
4) Five Live Yardbirds
5) Unplugged

6) August, solely because of my affinity for Miss You
7) Fresh Cream
8) Blues Breakers
9) Blind Faith
10) Ridin’ with the King

I’d need to put more thought into it, though, especially reevaluating my take on some of his solo stuff. Regardless, of that and even if you take the possibility of a priming effect into account, I’ve got Layla at 2 and have a hard time justifying it any lower than 4, at worst. In such a long and storied career, it really stands out. Part of that has to be just the emotion that bleeds through, specifically the parts where Clapton is singing about lusting for his best friend (George Harrison)’s wife. It’s really a message we can all relate to. (aside: Seriously, where does Pattie Boyd rank on the list of all-time muses? I’m not qualified to figure that one out, so someone get on it.) The other part is the obvious chemistry between Clapton and Duane Allman. You could just feel two kindred guitar spirits challenging each other but also feeding off each other spectacularly well. It doesn’t hurt that – I’m trying not to break out into another spontaneous list but it’s hard – those have got to be two of the top 10 guitarists of all time. Anyway, Layla is incredible, even beyond the title track that is such a classic rock staple. Even though it’s a double album and does occasionally feature like 3 minute blues intros into songs, it never really feels like it’s lagging anywhere. And it’s got some of the most impressive solos you’ll hear anywhere.

Favorite Tracks: Layla (duh); Key to the Highway; Little Wing  

#284: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà vu (1970)

Zack: Not long after we started this little venture of ours, Emily and I were in a record store, killing time by flipping through the used stacks. I noticed a copy of Déjà vu that I think was like $3 or so and mentioned that it was on the list. Emily bought it, figuring we could play it on either the one at her parents' house or the one I had been thinking about buying (I never did). I’m not even sure if she remembers that purchase, but we are not listening to it on vinyl. To date, Thriller is the only album we’ve done that with. Which is sort of a shame, because Déjà vu was superb. And I’m not just saying that because of the love affair I’ve started with Neil Young since I first listened to Rust Never Sleeps over winter beak my sophomore year of college. Déjà vu has just a brilliant blend of four brilliant songwriters, all at the peak of their powers. At some points, it just seems unfair that all four of them were allowed to all work together on a single project. I’m amazed they didn’t go over the salary cap, especially since they brought Jerry Garcia in as a role player/glue guy on Teach Your Children. Listening to (or at least trying to) it for the first time on what is almost guaranteed to be a scratched up vinyl probably would have been special. Alas, these are not luxuries that can be afforded adults with lives to lead. Hopefully one day we can. Anyways, I hate to start reminiscing like this (we have another 16 albums to go before that post), but it’s hard not to with an album like Déjà vu. Besides for the title, it’s just a perfect album to put on and play and think about things.

Favorite Tracks: Country Girl; Everybody I Love You; Helpless

Emily: The story of me listening to this album started on a train parked at Marcus Hook station in Delaware County. This story also ends on the same train, at the same station about 40 minutes later. There was police activity further down the line, so what should have been a routine commute home ended up being a nearly 2-hour layover that ended with some classmates and I banding together to split an Uber to get back in the city before it got dark. The time spent on the train, though, ended up being a great quiet time to listen to some music. Déjà vu totally fit the bill. It's understated and seemingly simple, unless you listen closely. That's when you can really pick up on the masterful songwriting at play here. Although Déjà vu occasionally seemed to be narrating the endless wait for the train to start moving (Helpless) and the repeated announcements that there was no new information to report (Déjà Vu), the time on the train ended up being a near-perfect environment for really delving into Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. For their next album, though, I hope the train will be moving.

Favorite Tracks: Everybody I Love You; Country Girl; Teach Your Children

#283: Orange Juice - Rip It Up (1982)

Zack: Not every album can be the sort of eye-opening audial experience that those few legendary works – the ones whose album arts are seared into the collective human conscious – have attained. Even among the biggest masterpieces there is no consensus; some people hear Dark Side of the Moon and feel the future, while others feel a yawn coming on. And so, when you’re crafting a list as large as 1001 albums, there’s necessarily going to be some stuff that just doesn’t really inspire you. And, yes, there’s going to be some boring fluff. I get that. And so, when I rail against injustices like the slighting of the Rakim/Big Daddy Kane/KRS-One era got, or that Jay-Z’s Black Album didn’t make the cut, or that a Hendrix live album (Monterey, perhaps) would have been a nice addition, or even the slighting I believe The Clash have gotten, I understand that these are all matters of perception. If I had it my way, Sum 41’s All Killer…No Filler would be on this list, and that should tell you everything you need to know about me. But, then again, we run across an album every once in a while that is just so blah from start to finish, so completely devoid of anything particularly novel or exciting, so seemingly unimportant in the annals of music history, that I just start to wonder how susceptible this process was to lobbying. There must have been some interest group (Tropicana?) that pushed for Rip it Up’s inclusion, because I just really didn’t see the point. Once again, it was remarkably similar to a bunch of albums we’ve listened to already. It spawned one “big” song and doesn’t seem to be too notable outside of that. And I didn’t even really care for that song! Look, even if you ignore all the stuff that I personally think should have made the cut, here are the albums that did actually got cut when the list was updated (and only those not replaced by an album by the same artist): Justin Timberlake-Justified, The Vines-Highly Evolved, The Hives-Your New Favourite Band, Calexico-Feast of Wine, The Darkness-Permission to Land, Kings of Leon-Youth & Young Manhood AND Aha Shake Heartbreak, Thrills-So Much for the City, 50 Cent-Get Rich of Die Tyrin’, Brian Wilson-Smile, N*E*R*D-Fly or Die, Beta Band-Heroes to Zeroes, Libertine-Libertines, Zutons-Who Killed the Zutons?, Beck-Guero, White Stripes-Get Behind Me Satan. I’ve listened to a lot of those albums, and I’d take any of them over Rip it Up. Yes, even Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (which, while a crappy album, was incredibly important in the maturation and popularization of hip-hop) or Permission to Land (I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE JUSTLISTENTOTHERHYTHMOFMYHEART). As for some of the others, I would be much more interested in learning who killed the Zutons or feasting on wine than half-paying attention to some unimpressive post-punk album from 1982. But no. I don’t get nice things. I get Orange Juice, and it goes down just like the crappy kind that came in cups in elementary school.

Favorite Tracks: Breakfast Time; Tenterhook; Mud in Your Eye

Emily: I second Zack. This album was one of the most boring we've come across in the time we've been working through the list. Every song sounded like a cover of a cover of a not-so-great song, with weak horns thrown in that didn't liven up the music at all. Even the albums I've hated most on this list had some personality to them - I'd rather have that than a blah 45 minutes that I can barely pay attention to (especially on my 8 AM commute). Post-punk is routinely disappointing, but I think Orange Juice takes the bland, flavorless cake on this one.

Favorite Tracks: I Can't Help Myself; Breakfast Time; Rip It Up

#282: Death in Vegas - The Contino Sessions (1999)

Zack: I love when an album’s Wikipedia page has nothing more than the release date (1999), which album number it is for the artist (2), and if it won any awards (nominated for a Mercury Music Prize). Oh, and the track listing. Can’t forget that. I didn’t know what to expect from The Contino Sessions, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was rock-influenced electronic music, and that is a perfect blend for grading. From start to finish, this album seemed to be catered around just being an interesting yet somewhat conventional listening experience. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the more recent album Slow Focus by Fuck Buttons. It wasn’t quite as video game-y, but the same approach seemed to have been taken. It’s probably not a coincidence that I played Slow Focus immediately after I finished The Contino Sessions, because there is just something here that makes them work together. Anyway, that’s your official Zack Scott endorsement of the week. Listen to both of those albums back to back. Play them at the same time if you have to. Just get some of that in your life.

Favorite Tracks: Dirge; Aladdin’s Story; Aisha

Emily: I first listened to this album about a week ago on a Megabus back home from visiting Zack. At the time, I couldn't think of much to say. Not that it mattered, since my laptop was dead and the plug at my seat wasn't working. I still had New York Dolls to log, and time has kind of gotten away from me since then. So today, as I do some research for upcoming interviews, I gave The Contino Sessions another shot. It kind of blended into the background as I worked, but on occasion a shift in tone - infusing more rock into the electronica, or a punch of spoken word - would draw my attention and interest. Death in Vegas, at least on this album, made some great music to think by - subtle enough to not distract away from the task at hand, but unique enough to draw you in even as you focus on something else. Next time I'll test it out for my studying repertoire, or perhaps just for idle thoughts.

Favorite Tracks: Aladdin's Story; Aisha; Soul Auctioneer

#281: New York Dolls - New York Dolls (1973)

Zack: In case you haven’t noticed the trend, I tend to listen to albums while I’m grading. This semester, grading for me is less about meticulously reading each response, checking off relevant points of the argument that are required to show mastery, evaluating the overall strength of the points made, and assigning a fair numeric grade and more about robotically checking off if an answer matches the answer sheet. It’s a lot of fun. No, that’s not right. It’s a lot of torture. But playing some music tends to make it somewhat more tolerable, and the grading takes long enough that I can get through multiple albums before I’m done. Plus, it makes me draw all sorts of weird parallels. For instance, this time around I was thinking about measuring concepts while New York Dolls played. I started to think about how our reviews could probably be grouped into two categories: albums that blend genres and albums that are representative of a genre. I’m still working on how to measure the concept exactly, and coding will definitely be a bitch, but I plan to have the regression output ready for public consumption in a fortnight or two. When I do, New York Dolls is going to occupy a weird space. On one hand, it’s blending things like rock and roll, glam rock, garage rock, and probably a few other things together, so it totally sounds like a blender (I’m still working on the nomenclature). On the other, the product is a perfect example of protopunk, a genre that New York Dolls (along with The Stooges, to be sure) were in the process of creating. The result is an interesting middle ground between these two artificial distinctions I just made up because you can’t stop me. As far as historical importance (another hazy concept I plan on operationalizing and selling to Rolling Stone to stop the madness), that’s got to be worth something.

Favorite Tracks: Trash; Personality Crisis; Lonely Planet Boy

Emily: Pretty much any punk, glam, alternative, or hard rock band will name the New York Dolls as an influence. They were the trailblazers, the ones who said, "See these hippies? These pop stars? Fuck them. We're gonna do our own thing. We'll wear makeup, play electric, and just overall rock harder than anyone else." They were among the first to blend rock and roll melodies with garage rock sneer, creating a sound that was kinda punk, kinda hard rock, and a whole lotta awesome. Listening to their self-titled debut, I heard shades of Kiss, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Green Day, David Bowie, Metallica, and others just as diverse as those I have named. It all started in the early '70s with the New York Dolls and their brethren. While they may not have been as commercially popular or critically acclaimed as some of the bands that followed their lead, the New York Dolls and their debut album have an influence that spans genres and decades.

Favorite Tracks: Trash; Subway Train; Personality Crisis