A young'uns guide to purusing extensive artist discographies

[desphrs]

OK. I'm thoroughly confuzzled.

I have probably six artists I could write about and sound like I have a good half of a brain, at least.

Do I mention them all here and then do them?

Do I do one, and then wait to be assigned something?

Or I am just part of the Borg collective, waiting for command prompt "Review Albums 1-5 of Band 3245"?

[bballarl]

I'm not as "informed" as jazzheads either. Your other reviews have been great. I'm looking forward to reading it.

[PassiveTheory]

Can someone do...

Faithless

Faith No More

The Pixies

It'd be much appreciated.

[mountmccabe]

OK. I'm thoroughly confuzzled.

I have probably six artists I could write about and sound like I have a good half of a brain, at least.

Do I mention them all here and then do them?

Do I do one, and then wait to be assigned something?

Or I am just part of the Borg collective, waiting for command prompt "Review Albums 1-5 of Band 3245"?

I'd check to make sure the band you're thinking of hasn't been done but otherwise go right ahead. I mean, I'd suggest pacing yourself some rather than dropping six discography reviews/newbie suggestion sets on us but hey, whatever works.

The assigning thing was my idea of causing hilarity and making people make stuff up. It's more of a sideline to the main thread which is people talking about bands they love and know (almost) all the albums by.

[desphrs]

I'd check to make sure the band you're thinking of hasn't been done but otherwise go right ahead. I mean, I'd suggest pacing yourself some rather than dropping six discography reviews/newbie suggestion sets on us but hey, whatever works.

Gotcha.

I hereby claim THE ORB in the name of this thread. Watch for it.

[mountmccabe]

Man Man this thread is long. I was going to do this for the whole thing but now I'm bored and I'm not gonna finish the Magnetic Fields bit I started. EDIT: Tonight, I mean. I'm gonna finish the Mag Fields, just not tonight.

This is page 1
Post - Band - author - style (intro/full discog)
#1 - Radiohead - swdshfsk - intro
#3 - David Bowie - Courtney - intro
#4 - Boredoms - bmack86 - full
#5 - Can - bmack86 - intro
#6 - Spiritualized - bmack86 - intro
#9 - Elvis Costello - TomAz - intro
#10 - the Wedding Present - roberto73 - intro
#12 - Tom waits - Slushmier - extended intro
#13 - Mogwai - swdshfsk - extended intro
#14 - Hanson - tessa|asset - extended intro
#15 - Guided by Voices - mountmccabe - intro
#23 - the Velvet Underground - PsyGuyRy - extended intro
#24 - Luna - york707 - intro with discog listed
#25 - Jonathan Richman - breakjaw - full

[C DUB YA]

David Bowie: Start with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (which I think is one of the best albums every made by any artist or band), then Diamond Dogs to get a feel for the direction he goes post-Ziggy, then maybe Hunky Dory or Aladdin Sane for more classic goodness.

amen on all accounts

[Abe Lincoln]

Can someone do...
Faith No More

It'd be much appreciated.

This was done on Page 6 by nando(thinnerair) and quite well...

[bmack86]

I'll do Pixies. No one else take that. Also, Menik, take Nirvana. We need a true obsessive for that. (This isn't my assignment, just a suggestion) I can also do Kraftwerk if anyone wants. There are a few others i'm thinking of doing, and I can probably contribute ideas to this.

[TheWatcher]

Metallica (And, I'm being serious)

.....

St. Anger-I don't quite know with this album, and I've listened to it quite a bit. It's the first album since ...And Justice For All that finds them squarely in metal mode, but it's not the sound of old Metallica. It's interesting to hear them make nods to newer styles, trying out heavy ass riffs and returning to longer songs with more varied structures. However, this is one of the worst recorded albums in history. The drum sound is painful, and everything is so poorly mixed that it's a chore to get thru. Also, most of the songs sound like ideas that weren't fleshed out fully. They get points for trying to revitalize, but they didn't go far enough. Grade:C

Pretty good review, but You forgot Metallica S&M! The last great music that Metallica ever put out.

I think I will never forgive them for St. Anger.

[vinylmartyr]

I might tell you guy about Bob James, The JB's, Gil Scott Heron, or Grover Washington Jr. Maybe.

[amyzzz]

Gram Parsons:
According to wiki

Contrary to what is often claimed, Parsons was never an official member of The Byrds. As Chris Hillman recalls, "Gram was hired. He was not a member of The Byrds, ever — he was on salary"

Also, he was born Cecil Ingram Connor, his dad committed suicide when Gram Parsons was 12, and his mom's subsequent husband Bob Parsons adopted Gram and his sister--his stepdad actually changed their birth certificates.

I haven't listened to anything yet, so I can't give opinions. I might try that sometime after work.

[TomAz]

I just couldn't let Tom off the hook for his comment about ....there were some good R.E.M. albums after 'Document', so I'll take a run at this.

sydaud.. that's a good writeup though I disagree with you (vehemently) on Green and I think "Everybody Hurts" is the sort of maudlin tripe best reserved for Celine Dion. But I won't argue the point further, you're entitled to your opinions, and you've expressed them quite well.

I do need to correct one factual error though. The first EP from 82 is called Chronic Town. "Gardening at Night" was one of the songs on it but is no the name of the EP.

[york707]

I hate this thread. cause I haven't looked at it in three days, and it exploded and I want to read everything and it's so long and so good that I can't not read it. I hate you all for being so eloquent and well versed in music and insightful. God I hate you guys.

[amyzzz]

Depeche Mode:
The seminal British synth-pop group that became relevant in the 80's and wildly popular in the early 90's--and they still put out new albums today.

Their first three releases Speak and Spell, A Broken Frame, Construction Time Again sound really dated today for the most part, kind of like 80's videogame music. The only singles that might actually be played on the radio now are "Just Can't Get Enough" from Speak and Spell and
"Everything Counts" from Construction Time Again. So I will skip over those and start with....

Some Great Reward
Released back in 1984, this is their first really solid album that stands the test of time. It includes the hit "People Are People" and danceclub hit "Master and Servant." I am personally tired of PAP and its awkward anti-racism lyrics, but it is a catchy tune with Dave Gahan on lead vocals and Martin Gore (as always) singing backup: Martin sings that refrain at the end "I don't understand what makes a man hate another man. Help me understand." I really dig non-single tunes such as the opener "Something To Do," slight industrial dance, very sexy lyrics and sound; "Lie To Me," nice jaded existential lyrics in a slow groove "come on and lay with me, come on and lie to me, tell me you love me, say I'm the only one"--excellent track for getting your girl's panties off; and finally "If You Want" which I think is the only song credited to member Alan Wilder (sung by Dave Gahan), really nice synth arpeggios, danceable beat, similar lyrical theme coaxing women to get it on for no-strings-attached dark, mysterious sexplay. You will come to understand if you're just getting into DM that Martin Gore, the principal songwriter, will sing lead on AT LEAST 2 tracks on every album and will sing back-up to Dave Gahan on just about every track with harmony. On this album, Gore sings lead on "It Doesn't Matter" and "Somebody," which are sung slower and are more contemplative than Gahan's more upbeat raw sexuality. I have heard DM fans say "Why does DM have the better singer sing only back-up and a couple songs?" But I think Dave is there because he's more of a showman entertainer (have you seen him DANCE onstage??), whereas Martin enjoys his place in the background and his control of the band's direction since he writes all the songs (up until their latest album Playing the Angel). rating: B+

This is taking a really long time, so I will update this one album at a time. I'm going to try to limit this to 5 albums (they have 11), and little blurbs about lesser albums.

[swdshfsk]

I hate this thread. cause I haven't looked at it in three days, and it exploded and I want to read everything and it's so long and so good that I can't not read it. I hate you all for being so eloquent and well versed in music and insightful. God I hate you guys.

Ditto

[roberto73]

That was great.We needed a literary mind to do Nick Cave,and you did it justice.Do you like Grinderman?

I like Grinderman a lot. It's kinda the musical equivalent of Steven Soderbergh directingOcean's 11. It's trashy and not particularly challenging, but good fun anyway.

[breakjaw]

I like Devo. I own the first record and have made the effort to see them live twice, but couldn't go for one reason or another. I haven't said anywhere that I don't like them. Just that the first record is the super essential one.

One of the CDs that always seems to survive me being broke and selling all my CDs is the Devo EZ Listening Disc.
I'm not sure if this is because it is most cherished,or because the stores never wanted it("...and these are the ones we don't need right now..."),but I still pull it out and listen from time to time.It's great.

[PotVsKtl]

There are 3 Nirvana albums. Nobody needs a primer on that. Y'all are just jerking each other off at this point.

[mob roulette]

I have to disagree about the R.E.M. summation, so here goes.....

the chronic town tracks did NOT end up on dead letter office. at least not on the original one i owned. i think they might have done that in later years. i do like dead letter office though. actually one of my favorites mosty BECAUSE of its nut and botls nakedness. also agree that green is slightly underrated by long time fans because it was their first HUGE one. but it's still a good record. their last COMPLETE one too, i might add. agree with tom, no need to buy any full albums after this point. also life's rich pagaent>anything else in the catalog.

i will do the much maligned and misunderstood afghan whigs later. nobody take it. okay thanks.

[Hannahrain]

What happened to the 5+ albums rule, anyway? last I checked, someone reviewed Jeff Buckley. That's two albums.

[mob roulette]

There are 3 Nirvana albums. Nobody needs a primer on that. Y'all are just jerking each other off at this point.

menik will do all fifteen though. or however many there are now. somebody do tupac. all fifty seven of them. we'll wait.

[amyzzz]

What happened to the 5+ albums rule, anyway? last I checked, someone reviewed Jeff Buckley. That's two albums.

That was my fault. The person who reviewed that asked me if it was OK to do Jeff Buckley, I said go for it, and I didn't know how many albums he had.

[york707]

I agree with Tom on Everybody Hurts. That nearly permanently put me off of all REM ever. E-Bow the Letter, however, brought me back (for a while). I am notw at peace with 75% of their catalogue.

[bmack86]

There are 3 Nirvana albums. Nobody needs a primer on that. Y'all are just jerking each other off at this point.

There's three studio, two rarities comps and two live albums. Most people don't need a primer, but I like reading the reviews, I gotta admit. Pot, I wanna get some of your expertise in here.

[mob roulette]

Pot, I wanna get some of your expertise in here.

ryuichi sakamoto. or the raincoats. or the residents. or japan. or at least hanoi rocks or something. something GOOD.

[PotVsKtl]

There's three studio, two rarities comps and two live albums. Most people don't need a primer, but I like reading the reviews, I gotta admit. Pot, I wanna get some of your expertise in here.

There are actually five Outcesticides but after the first two they get increasingly useless.

[mob roulette]

There are actually five Outcesticides but after the first two they get increasingly useless.

ahem. i am needing an in depth review of the teriyaki asthma comps at this point. thank you.

or else an in depth review of every specials song ever perhaps? that would work.

[PotVsKtl]

ahem. i am needing an in depth review of the teriyaki asthma comps at this point. thank you.

or else an in depth review of every specials song ever perhaps? that would work.

Maybe I'll just do pictorial reviews of every Malice Mizer outfit. How would that work for you?

[mob roulette]

Maybe I'll just do pictorial reviews of every Malice Mizer outfit. How would that work for you?

ahahahahaha. perfect. i am owned.