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
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