I'm on "Sherlock Holmes" and so far I really, really like this album! It reminds me of early-70s Bowie, which I like. This one has more of a rock approach, which I think was my problem with the other stuff I heard. The intro to "Nicotina" is really cool. Finished it. I really liked it. If I find it in a store reasonably priced (and if I can afford it) I'll pick it up. Favorite tune is still "The Decline And Fall Of Me" though. Any other recommendations?
Success! The two that come after that have a lot of the same musical DNA, but they're not as strong. In Outer Space is the followup: Cool Places (a duet with Jane Wiedlin from the Go-Go's) and I Wish I Looked a Little Better could have fit on Angst pretty comfortably. Now! With bonus Solid Gold Dancers! The rest of In Outer Space is more...spacey. It's essentially a concept album about vacuousness, and the music is appropriately softer. It's really satirical, and if you're not focusing on the lyrics, it can seem pretty non-commital. But it has some of Ron's best, most sarcastic lyrics. I like clubs I like music I like girls ...and that's it. Dance, goddamnit.
Pulling Rabbits out of a Hat followed In Outer Space, and it's not as clever. It's a decent synthpop album that had less of a satirical edge. Therefore, rather than post anything from it, I'm going to post the video for I Predict. Directed by none other than David Lynch, which will be immediately obvious.
I think the one artist that I've always want to get into is David Bowie. I never know where to start listening in his discography, he has so many different styles. Every one I know loves him, but I just can't get into him.
I was the same way. I'd say start with Ziggy Stardust if you're looking to get into him. There aren't really any bad songs and it's varied enough to give a general idea of all his sounds (for the 70s, anyway).
I haven't heard all of his albums, but so far that one's still my favorite. I think it probably is his most accessible too. For a rock opera the plot is pretty easy to follow and unlike most rock operas the music is not sacrificed for the story. It has a lot of variety but one central sound, if that makes sense. If you like that, I'd say try out Hunky Dory if you like piano based singer-songwriter stuff like "Lady Stardust" or Diamond Dogs if you like the harder-edged rock of tunes like "Ziggy Stardust" and "Suffragette City".
I love all of the different styles/directions that Bowie went in and cannot wait to hear the new direction he going into with the release of his new album later this week. My personal favorite albums are 'Station to Station' & 'Scary Monsters', but really liked his mid '90s-early '00s albums('Outside', 'Hours', 'Heathen' & 'Reality', and also 'Black Tie, White Noise from around 1993-I did not care so much for the Techno of 'Earthling' as he seemed to be following a trend at the time, but that album seems to be liked by a lot of his fans, and he toured it with NIN after it was released, so what a great pair to see in concert). I am also a big fan of his Berlin Trilogy('Low', 'Heroes' & 'Lodger'), that has some challenging music to listen to, but like a lot of great music, it takes several listens to reveal the layers of how good it is. I would say that 'Let's Dance', 'Hours' and 'Heathen' are very accessible. Nile Rodgers(Chic) produced 'Let's Dance'(he produced a lot of good music for other artists and has had a revival with his great guitar sound playing on a few Daft Punk Songs('Lose Yourself to Dance' & 'Get Lucky') a few years ago, and I think on the 'Let's Dance' album that 'China Girl', 'Cat People' and the Title Track are great songs. Certainly, 'Ziggy Stardust', 'Hunky Dory' & 'Aladdin Sane' are great albums from his 2nd phase, and 'The Man Who Sold the World' is pretty good. He also has a bunch of live albums form the 1970s.
I don't agree with the premise of the OP. I like who I like. Period. Just because I like Graham Parker doesn't mean I should like Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello. Each artist is different. I like quite a bit of classic rock and hard rock from the 60's and 70's. The Who are one of my favorites, but I've never liked Zeppeln much or Sabbath, yet I've always liked Deep Purple. I think life's too short and our free time to devote to music is too limited to worry much about which artists I should like more.
Hah, coincidence, I had always heard bits of Echo & The Bunnymen here and there in the background but never really listened properly to their stuff. Then about a month ago I bought "Ocean Rain" for £1 (under $2) in a thrift shop and I love it, so next I found an Ian McCullough solo album "Slideling" and that's great too. Now I'm looking to pick up a few more. Any recommendations ?
The Bunnymen are a 'Post-Punk Doors', so if you like The Doors, you will most likely also like their first 5 albums(fans cannot even agree on which of their first 4 albums are the best, but I like 'Ocean Rain'). I am just getting into Vinyl(although not getting an Entry Level Turntable and other needed components, until later this year-major car repair bill in December), but placed an order to get a few albums on Vinyl to start my collection(actually started with the Peter Gabriel Bundle of Half Speed 45rpm Remasters and a few individual well reviewed albums) and I got the Mobile Fidelity version of 'Heaven Up Here'. I hope that MF also does 'Ocean Rain' & 'Porcupine' eventually(or another good company like MoV). with Great Cover Art, the Bunnymen's early albums would all look great on Vinyl(I grew up in the CD generation). McCulloch's early '90s solo albums, 'Candleland' & 'Mysterio' are much better than 'Slideling'-imho. Those 2 albums were reissued on 2-CD Editions with Bonus Songs, and well worth owning. There is a great Reissue from early 2000s of 'Songs to Learn & Sing' that is their 'Best of' album. Since you now have 'Ocean Rain', their first 3 albums are essential(get the Deluxe Editions with Bonus Songs). The 5th album is not as good, but still essential if you are a completist. I also love their comeback, 'Evergreen' from 1997. Their albums since 'Evergreen' have been ok overall, but really just 2 of the original members. The only bad album was 'The Fountain' from a few years ago, but they made a really good album(Meteorites) last year, which was a welcome surprise 34 years after they started(although sounds like a McCulloch Solo album-same for 'What Are You Going to Do with Your Life' from 1999). I also like 'Siberia' from 5-8 years ago(Scissors ion the Sand' is a great song from that album). I would also get the Box Set, 'Crystal Days- 1979-1999' if you want to get some Alternative Versions and Cover Songs(love 'Paint it Black') to go along with several album cuts. Beautiful Box Set(Cover Photo) with nice photos and booklet included.
One that is very popular on our forum but has just never compelled me is Jethro Tull. I just don't get it.
When I first listened to Bowie, the hard rock style of The Man Who Sold the World made it more approachable for me than his other 70's albums.
Why bother with posts like this? So this doesn't apply to you. OK. Everybody has some kind of expectation for anything that happens. If they didn't, disappointment wouldn't exist as a concept. "I love King Crimson, but I can't stand ELP. Weird." That's all this thread is. It's not obligation or peer pressure, it's a conversation about curiosity that didn't pay off. At least one person in this thread is glad it came up, because we chatted and now they like a band they didn't click with before. Not everything is a challenge to one's individuality.
I think you're reading way too much into my post. Why should you feel disappointment in not liking a particular artist? It just seems silly to think you should feel an obligation to like an artist that is categorized with another artist that you like. I can certainly understand listening to artist's that are linked together, but it shouldn't come as a surprise that you're not going to like then all equally and some you will dislike.
I should like Dylan more, I do like reading about him though. Other than Highway 61 and Bringin' it all Back Home, I can't say that I'm really that enthused about any of his albums.
That's brilliant, thanks for taking the time to come up with such detailed and thoughtful advice. I'll also have to learn how to spell McCulloch if I'm going to call myself a fan. I wanted to edit my post once I noticed the mistake, but as a newbie I haven't worked out how to do that yet - I thought there might just be a button marked 'Edit' next to my post, but sadly not...
No worries. Hope you enjoy exploring their catalog. Keep in mind that my takes on their albums are just my opinions, as maybe others like 'The Fountain' that I thought was terrible. I forgot to mention that 'Flowers'(2001) is very good(crappy cover art though). 'Siberia' was a 2005 release. Where did the past 10 years go? It is like the Pink Floyd song, 'Time' mentions. There was also a recent release of 'Ocean Rain' that included a 2nd CD with the Royal Hall Concert version of that album played recently. I think I bought it 4-5 years ago, so you might want to see if Amazon UK or US still sells it. I am a completist, so had to have it, even though I bought the Deluxe Editions of their first 5 albums that were releases around 2004. But hey, you can never have enough copies of 'Ocean Rain'. The 'Edit' button appears on the bottom of the box, but only appears for 30 minutes, then it is removed(same for the 'Delete' button). That is the one frustrating thing for me, as a new member, that I wish they would change to at least keep the 'Edit' button up for 2-3 hours, as we all have busy lives and sometimes cannot return to review a post until after 30 minutes. At bad as the Amazon Music Forum is, at least you can Edit your post on there anytime in the future after you submit an initial post. Maybe one of the Mods can explain the reason why the 'Edit' button is limited to 30 Minutes after making a post on a thread on the SHF. Cheers
