#368: Bad Company - Bad Company (1974)

Zack: When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the idea of releasing a song off an album under a band name that were all the same thing. Like, you know how artists will often have an eponymous album? I wanted to do that, but also have a single on said album that was titled the same as the album and the band. I don’t know why I wanted to do that so badly. Maybe because I am oddly obsessive about weird stuff (probably that). Maybe it’s because it’s a super cool idea (definitely not that). Or maybe it’s because I was really supposed to be in Bad Company, since they apparently thought it would be cool to do that exact thing. I certainly think it’s cool, but now I need to write a review about the album by the band that features the song titled Bad Company and at any time I could be referring to one level and the reader will have no idea which if I’m not explicit. Which means my dream was discerned, not deferred, but now deters. This is simultaneously some deep and inexplicably shallow shit. Anyway, Bad Company (the album) is better than I thought it would be. It has a bit of a Led Zeppelin-lite vibe to it. At some stages it has a hard rock vibe to it, and not the kind that borders on cheesy. At other times it slips into a nice ballad stage that, once again, avoids being cheesy. I’d never really been particularly interested in Bad Company, but I wish I’d picked them up in like the 10^th grade. I think I would have loved this album then, instead of just mildly appreciating it like I do now.

Favorite Tracks: Bad Company; Don’t Let Me Down; Seagull

Emily: We've been on a roll of a whole bunch of British bands that were big in their home countries but barely made a blip overseas. Sometimes they're quite good, but frequently they're just not that interesting and we had better stuff going on over here in America anyway. Bad Company is kind of one of those bands, and I think they fall into the second category. The band did have some success in the U.S., but moreso in the U.K. And while their self-titled debut is a solid rock effort, it's really not all that unique. It sounded like generic '70s classic rock - certainly not the worst thing to listen to, but a whole slew of bands definitely did it better and left a greater impact.

Favorite Tracks: Ready for Love; Movin' On; The Way I Choose

#367: Ash - 1977 (1996)

Emily: Despite what it's name implies, 1977 is not actually from 1977. The album, from 1996, draws its name from the year in which three main events that shaped Ash took place: the birth of two of its members, the release of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (among other early punk albums, and the release of Star Wars. Now, I don't necessarily understand where Star Wars comes in here, but the punk influence is clear. Its sound is straight out of a basement punk club, with a bit of '90s alternative and grunge thrown in there. The resulting album is energetic and exciting, and, aside from the end track of just members vomiting (seriously guys, why?), I'll definitely be throwing it into my listening mix from here on out.
Favorite Tracks: Lose Control; I'd Give You Anything; Girl from Mars

Zack: Ash is one of those mid-90s British bands that were huge elsewhere. I have a mixed history with those bands, since I sort of find them to be the most boring and forgettable version of 90s alternative rock. But Ash actually lean pretty far toward punk, which is awesome. It keeps the album from having any real lulls, since at even its most basic 1977 is still high-energy. I wasn’t really wowed by any part of the concept or the execution, but I still have a hard time finding anything negative to say. 1977 is, from start-to-finish, an incredible solid album that is totally worth a listen.

Favorite Tracks: Innocent Smile; Gone the Dream; Darkside Lightside (if you ignore the last 13 minutes completely)

#366: The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues (1988)

Zack: Like (I’m guessing) the vast majority of people in the world, I had never heard of The Waterboys before their music was thrust upon me. How that was allowed to happen, I have no idea. I went in to this album with absolutely no expectations, and by the time the second song started I was already texting people about how amazing it is. Seriously, who should I blame for not telling me about either this album specifically or this band generally? Is it my parents? My peers? Obama? Someone tell me and I will be ready to protest them. Fisherman’s Blues is sort of this amalgamation of Wilco, Arcade Fire, U2, and Van Morrison. Interestingly, I made that comparison before I noticed that they even covered a Van Morrison song on this album (and actually killed that too, which is pretty impressive in its own right). On the song We Will Not Be Lovers, they incorporate a badass fiddle that sounds so cool that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the singular reason that both Yellowcard and Mumford and Sons were allowed to exist. Admittedly, the album does fade a bit down the stretch. But the places where it hits, it runs full force into awesome that I could easily write about it for a few thousand words. Instead, I think I’ll just say that I intend to delve much, much further into The Waterboys catalogue and I highly recommend everyone else on the planet does the same.

Favorite Tracks: We Will Not Be Lovers; Fisherman’s Blues; Sweet Thing

Emily: When Zack first listened to Fisherman's Blues a few months ago (yeah I'm a bit behind), he texted me excitedly as he made his way through the hour-long album. Each new song brought about a different influence, a different genre, a different sound, but they all combined into something totally unique and awesome. By the time I finally got around to listening to it, the specifics of Zack's praise had faded from my memory, but I was excited to listen to the album nevertheless. Unfortunately, that excitement probably raised my expectations too high. While I was (perhaps wrongfully) expecting a transformative genre-spanning folk wonder, what I got was a very good, unique modern folk album. A solid entry, with clear influences on the folk-rock of later years, but disappointing. The lesson? Maybe I shouldn't wait so long to catch up with Zack on these albums.

Favorite Tracks: We Will Not Be Lovers; World Party; Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?

#365: Miriam Makeba - Miriam Makeba (1960)

Zack: I’ve semi-recently taken to a few north African bands/artists, namely Bombino (who I believe we’ve talked about before) and Tinariwen, and I really enjoyed the album by Ali Farka Toure we listened to a little while ago. I also have loved everything by Fela Kuti I’ve ever come in contact with, and eagerly await listening to a whole album of his. But my exposure to southern African music has been more mixed. Ladysmith Black Mambazo sucked (not even going to try and be diplomatic about it), and I similarly disliked the South African-influenced Graceland. So that makes Miriam Makeba the first “W” South Africa has gotten their hands on. The album is strong, and does an impressive job of blending together traditional South African sounds with a little bit of jazz and soul. Everything is tied together with Miriam Makeba’s impressive voice, which can slip into a sort of Billie Holiday zone when it’s appropriate but has a range that can evoke almost anything. I wouldn’t say I loved Miriam Makeba as much as any of the above northern African artists, but this album was certainly strong enough to warrant another listen at the very least.

Favorite Tracks: Mbube; Lakutshn, Ilanga; House of the Rising Sun

Emily: Miriam Makeba was also known as Mama Africa, an apt name for the woman who was one of the first to bring the sounds of South Africa to the rest of the world. This self-titled album shows why she was able to do that and earn her nickname. Rather than only covering the traditional sounds of her country, Makeba incorporates elements of jazz and soul to create a unique sound that's accessible to a broad audience. Some of the songs are in English (including a cover of House of the Rising Sun), others are in native African languages, and few mix in both. The result is an album that takes on the world and succeeds.

Favorite Tracks: Where Does It Lead; Olilili; Suliram

#364: The Monkees - Headquarters (1967)

Zack: Ah The Monkees. The giant bag of Fruit Whirls on the bottom shelf of the grocery store that your Mom hovered over for a second, weighing the savings against the sin she would commit, before grabbing the box of Fruit Loops like a true American…of bands. I never heard much about them growing up, so my socialized view is pretty much entirely based upon that flashback scene in The Simpsons when little-kid Marge is told by a bully on the bus that the band on her lunchbox doesn’t record their own music and she has a total breakdown. Apparently, that phase was only temporary. Headquarters actually was primarily written and played by the members of the band, rather than no-name scrubs. It was the first album where they were given the freedom to do so, and they enjoyed an entire week as the top-selling album as a result before the Fruit Loops ended up in the cart in the form of Sgt. Pepper’s being released. And while I’m happy for them, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s pretty boring. It’s sort of like the Drake-Meek Mill beef that is recent as of when I wrote this post: Is it worse to have a ghostwriter or to live with the shame of having actually written bars as bad as some of Meek Mill’s? Headquarters was pretty dull from start to finish. Part of that is probably due to my general disinterest toward the Beatles, the band they were so blatantly emulating, which I’ve discussed on here numerous times. But part just has to be due to how uninspired everything feels. It’s almost like they were a complete corporate project, assembled by a soulless record company that could not possibly comprehend how to build a heart into its design. I give The Monkees a lot of credit for trying to insert their own heart here, but it just seems like maybe they should have left it to the professionals.

Favorite Tracks: Sunny Girlfriend; Forget That Girl; No Time

Emily: My knowledge of the Monkees only stems from watching Brady Bunch reruns as a kid, where there were multiple (I think) episodes where Marsha is really into Davy Jones and then Davy Jones actually shows up. I'm not sure where the Monkees and the Brady Bunch intersect as TV shows and pop culture touchstones, but they definitely have the same aesthetic going on. Both are cheery, family-friendly, and not all that substantial - much like Zack's aforementioned sugary breakfast cereals, in fact. Headquarters is supposedly the Monkees first "real" album, in that they actually sang and played the instruments themselves, but that doesn't stop it from being sugary, manufactured pop. It's a fairly enjoyable way to spend 30 minutes, but you'll forget about almost as soon as the last notes play.

Favorite Tracks: Sunny Girlfriend; For Pete's Sake; No Time

#363: The The - Infected (1986)

Zack: The only things I knew about The The are that they one of those bands that rock critics think is way more important than anyone else and that they seem to have picked a name just to fuck with Microsoft Word. Even as I type this document, every time I write “The The,” like 17 words get underlined. Word is so sure that that cannot be write. Anyway, Infected was a solid album, and definitely less boring that most of The The’s contemporaries (or at least those that we’ve encountered so far). Infected is dark and complex. Unfortunately, while this complexity did make the listen more interesting, it didn’t really entice me into peeling back the layers. I can’t see myself listening to Infected on a long bus ride at any point in the future or even putting any of the songs listed below in any playlists I have planned. But, hey, I still didn’t hate the album!

Favorite Tracks: Heartland; Twilight of a Champion; Out of the Blue (Into the Fire)

Emily: The The is another band on this list that seems to have been really big in the UK while barely getting a blip of recognition here. Much like the other bands of that sort we've encountered before, The The is also an '80s New Wave/post-punk band that came about while Americans were much more focused on Michael Jackson and Madonna. While you can decide for yourself if that is a good or a bad thing, I definitely prefer American '80s pop music over relatively obscure British '80s New Wave. That's probably an unfair comparison to make, though, since they're totally different in both their scope and their sound. Infected is a pretty good album, in fact, when considered alongside its peers. Although bombastic at times, it's more human and interesting than many of its bleep-bloop synthesizer-heavy counterparts. But does that mean I'll choose it over Thriller? Of course not.

Favorite Tracks: Infected; The Mercy Beat; Heartland

#362: Nightmares on Wax - Smokers Delight (1995)

Zack: With a band name like that, I was sort of prepared for the worst. The electronic genre can get kind of kooky and unpleasant, and I will just say that – based off nothing other than the name – I was worried that this album would be rough. Combined with the length, and I found myself routinely coming up with excuses to put off listening to it for another day. Those days added up to about a week (whoops!), but I eventually got around to it. When I finally built up the confidence, I found that there really wasn’t much to worry about. Smokers Delight wasn’t particularly stunning, but it was smooth. It was a good album to bob your head to while you work, which is exactly what I found myself doing. The album is probably like 25 minutes too long, and I question the necessity of having a 1:46 reprise of the previous 5+ minute song, even if it the latter was my favorite song on the album. But it isn’t particularly intrusive or anything like that.

Favorite Tracks: Rise; Pipes Honour; What I’m Feeling (Good)

Emily: For once, I wasn't daunted by the prospect of listening to an album longer than an hour when it came to listen to Smokers Delight. I actually needed the motivation to sit in front of my computer for an extended period of time to work on an assignment for the class I'm TAing this upcoming semester, and a long blog album was just what I needed. Smokers Delight actually turned out to be a good choice in this endeavor. Although I don't love the electronic genre as a whole, the chill, kinda trippy vibe of the album was great background motivation for research and writing. I could pay enough attention to it to know what was going on, but it faded into the background just enough that I could focus on the tasks at hand too.

Favorite Tracks: Bless My Soul; Nights Introlude; Rise