I can only imagine the **** he got for it. That said, he was channeling Chaplin, or so he thought. There's a major silent film music influence, especially in their early stuff. My first thought goes to this. Which also contains some of their most hilarious lyrics. "What's in that burger? Has it got mayonnaise? Give it to me!"
And how could I forget FFS, the album they did last year with Franz Ferdinand? (My album of the year, BTW.) They're the only band in the world that could get away with this as a pop song.
Yeah on a visual level these guys are pretty much the best. I love their album covers. I don't know how I feel about the music itself but that video was great. Even though I've been on the fence about them for a month or so I have said "Whomp that sucker" in conversation. They have great titles too. I don't understand why I'm having trouble getting into them. What are good, accessible full albums? Would they be the early ones like Propaganda or Kimono My House or did they have more accessible stuff later? Just for reference another song I heard by them that... worked, to some extent, for me, was "The Decline And Fall Of Me" (from another album with a great cover and title). I could try listing the songs I've heard but that might not be easy as I don't remember most of them. "This Town...", the first couple tracks from Propaganda, "A Big Surprise" (thought maybe Introducing Sparks might make a good introduction, but from what I hear that album isn't very loved), "Number 1 Song In Heaven", "Decline And Fall Of Me", "Wonder Girl", and "Dick Around" I know for sure I've listened to (maybe not all the way through on some of them). If there's anything more accessible than those please send 'em my way.
They're not an easy band to get into, to be honest. The songs are accessible, but there's so much to them beyond the song that can really be a bit much for people. I adore them, but it took some time (and some personal history.) That's Angst in My Pants, and that's one of their top 10. If you like Decline, the whole album will probably work for you. It's actually pretty good in spots, just (relatively) nondescript. They went from mental institution to mildly quirky in the space of one or two albums, and that left a bad taste in people's mouths. If a different band had made it, it would almost certainly be more highly regarded. Give it a shot, it's got some good stuff. A lot of people think of the three albums they made in the early 70s (Kimono My House/Propaganda/Indiscreet) as a kind of Holy Trinity. They're some of the best albums of the glam era (or any era IMHO,) and if you like This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us (from Kimono My House) or what you heard from Propaganda, then those are essential. That said, if they're not clicking with you, you might want to try later stuff. Check out Angst in My Pants, and Introducing Sparks is definitely worth a listen if Big Surprise caught your ear. Wonder Girl is from their self-titled debut, and their first two albums (that and Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing) are different animals entirely. No More Mr. Nice Guys is just flat out rock 'n roll.
Another track from Introducing Sparks. Again, good stuff, just not the court jester on speed stuff of the previous few albums.
And if you're willing to try more dance oriented stuff in the vein of No. 1 in Heaven, this is a fantastic song from a middling album (Terminal Jive.)
On paper, I should loooove Elvis Costello. Everything I respect and enjoy about an artist, he has it or does it. But it just doesn't click for some reason There are a few others, not as extreme: Joni Mitchell, The Band, Sonic Youth, Jay Z, Springsteen...
Beatles I live 15 miles from Liverpool so, as you can imagine, it's hard to avoid them around here. Strange thing is, I liked them a bit in my early 20's - before I moved here - so maybe it's the overexposure that has sickened me as time has gone on...
I don't know! Just like Elvis Costello, I'd expect to like his work. In theory, everything he does I think is cool and interesting, challenging, new, generally awesome; but something doesn't quite click.
Their live release works better for me than the studio stuff- which has an oddly produced, compressed sound that gets on my nerves at times. Drives me crazy because I really like the songs.
I'm not listening to stuff I don't like. If it's all the same to you, I prefer listening to stuff I do like. The "status" of an artist/band leaves me fairly indifferent.
In 2003 or 2004, my first serious listen was the Black Album. I liked it enough to think that if I pursued this further, I'd really get into it. I tried the Blueprint, Blueprint 2 and American Gangster. All of it, while I'm listening, I think, "this is really good, musically interesting, I dig the lyrics, total respect," but something doesn't catch me and make me want to go back. It's a mystery to me. I guess Joni Mitchell, whom I listed, is a bit boring to me musically, though I respect her work. So for her, I have a guess. Jay Z, I really have no idea what my problem is. Just as with Elvis Costello. Got a recommendation? I'm always willing to give him a shot.
Oh, thorny one. I too don't care for the Beatles or Elvis Costello (though I can tolerate a few of their respective songs, I find it hard to stomach an album of their music). With Elvis, I even enjoy reading him in interviews or hearing his bio on the radio, and 'admire' some of his work but just don't really like it. I get that the Beatles were hugely important and influential but...sorry, same thing when I hear them. The Grateful Dead leave me totally cold too. Again, I can admire the philosophy and the musicianship but not the results. I sometimes feel I live in an alternative rock universe to most people with whom I otherwise have so much in common in terms of books, cinema, cultural interests etc (like many on this forum). Never really enjoyed the Stones either (but did enjoy Keef's bio). Oh the list could be a long one....Beach Boys? Doors? Sorry, can't find much in there but I am happy others love them. But then, I do love Pink Floyd and I get that some find them terribly boring. It's a big world.
Well you should've started at least start with the one that's the most critically acclaimed. (Reasonable Doubt) That's also his debut. What a terrific way to enter the game. Here's one of the highlight tracks from the album. (There's so many)
Thanks for the suggestion. I was off-network Nicaragua when he first showed up; I wasn't hearing anything new. I'll check this out this evening. Right now I'm somewhere really noisy with no headphones!
Completely agree. I think they wrote some excellent songs, but I can't listen to their records because of the vocals. I feel the same about Graham Parker and to a lesser extent Elvis Costello. There are a lot of songs by those two that I'd love to hear sung by someone else.
For me the first artist that comes to mind is Eric Clapton. He is a tremendous talent, not trying to knock him at all, but I've just never been able to really get into his music. I have quite a few of his albums under his different band names/solo work. I enjoy the Layla album, and parts of Slowhand and 461 Ocean..., I keep hoping something will click one of these days.
And you forgot to add that the best music artist from Liverpool was/is actually Echo & the Bunnymen. I better really hide after stating that is my opinion, but I listen to the Bunnymen 70-80 times more than the Beatles over my life(although admittedly just bought the Beatles CDs-Revolver through Abbey Road & the Blue Best of Collection, when they put out the 2009 Remasters). For '60s artists, I prefer Pink Floyd, The Kinks & the Doors(and actually the Stones have 5 songs that rank as my favorite from the late '60s & early '70s-'Paint it Black', 'Gimme Shelter', 'Sympathy for the Devil' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' & 'Satisfaction').
I strongly disagree with you about the Band. I think there's some wonderful material on each of their albums including their three 90's albums, which are often overlooked.
I may have given the impression that I don't like the Band's output after the brown album - nothing could be further from the truth. There are stone cold classics on almost every one of those albums. I would still maintain, however, that none of the albums after the first two are as consistently great -- the first two are high art. All I meant to convey is that understanding what was going on internal to the band and how that was affecting their output is one key lens in appreciating the Band. You might not get there on the strength of their studio albums alone, without understanding their time as the Hawks, as Dylan's band, as the "there at the creation" co-conspirators behind the Basement Tapes, etc.
This may be exactly it... When I first listened to Currents I thought my headphones were broken... a lot of their material sounds like it's being heard through $1 earphones.