I Could Get Used To This.. my 3rd fave song on the album. Don’t remember if it was a single but should have been. 5/5
Love In... I'm not sold on the chorus hook at all - it's not very interesting, and isn't helped by the lack of variation in the chord progression - and the production seems more '83 than '85, but not a good example of '83 production, if that makes sense. I also dislike the ultra-echo applied to her vocals, which creates a sense of detached distance for me. 2.4/5.
I Could Get... 2.5/5. It's not objectionable, but not involving. Once again, I'm not a fan of the production, and this kind of synth 80's thing doesn't bother me because I enjoy it as much as I enjoy rock or punk. (I was playing 'Bette Davis Eyes' in the car earlier, it's a solid record). It's strange, because the producer had a solid track record in this field - Soft Cell's 'Tainted Love' for example, but cool records like Wire's first three, and Nena Hagen's 'Nunsexmonkrock', which I love. Even Bronski Beat. So I'm not sure what happened on this album to make the sound so offputting. I mean, listen to Nena's 'Dread Love': the guitars are powerful, the drums punch, the synths sound crisp. Why does Aimee's record sound like you're being pushed away? I suppose I should warn than Hagen is pretty out there vocally, but focus on the sound.
I apologise if I sound negative. I guess I never really return to this album much. Even the big hit. I'll have more encouraging things to say about the follow up. EDIT: Actually, scrub my ratings. I'll sit this album one, as I'd rather focus on positive comments.
I think the album’s production is just par for the course for the mid-80s. The Wire records, which I love, might have had this big cavernous sound had they been recorded five years later. But ‘til Tuesday was also very obviously going straight for commercialism jn a way I dont think Wire ever was— And if they (Wire) were going for that, they failed dismally. Mann’s lyrics, the hooks and intrumental work, the production, and the sound all seems pretty Self-consciously commercial.. My only real problem with the sound is the drums, Which sound fake even though they are not. but when I consider that the album is really going for this kind of new wave commercial pop, that had been in fashion for a while, I think it actually hits its target. There will come a time soon when Aimee and her songwriting seems to outgrow ‘til Tuesday’s music; but not yet.
Hmm. '85... So, I was listening to 'Songs To Learn and Sing', 'Little Creatures', 'Be Yourself Tonight', 'Hounds of Love', 'The Dream Academy', 'Easy Pieces', 'Tim', 'Scarecrow', 'Fables of the Reconstruction', 'The Head on the Door', 'Suzanne Vega', 'Around the World in a Day' and 'Low-life', offhand. This doesn't sound like part of that, if that makes sense.
No. It’s closer to what was playing in the pop charts in the US, though: In fact it is better than a lot of what was playing. This was not too far from, say, the Thompson Twins or Cyndi Lauper. But the drums of even John Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen or the synth touches on the latter are kind of related to the sound.
Ah, I get you. I just listened to some Thompson Twins from that year: they're a bit more immediate though. But 'Songs From The Big Chair' by Tears for Fears sounds very much like what Til Tuesday were probably aiming at. It's just they didn't have that album's stronger material yet.
Tears For Fears would be the commercial, mainstream eighties sounding band that really made that sound work. Much better though. I'd say this was closer to the Simple Minds of "Don't You (Forget About Me)", a smash number one hit in the US which they didn't even write and one which may not even have been particularly representative of their sound -- but that's what this sounds like: the big echoey guitar, the gated drum, the synth textures. Of course in this discussion of commercial sounds of 1985, we shouldn't forget that this album DID spawn a top 10 hit in the USA and went gold there, and that this album sold more than any other of her entire career, so the sound was commercial. This was the peak of her commerciality in fact. And I think she and the band were really consciously going for that. Back to Thorne: I think that Thorne was, to all intents and purposes, was part of the studio Wire band, at least on Chairs Missing and 154 -- I don't like the latter but the former is in my top 10 all-time albums -- I mean, he was much more a part of the creative process of the band, absolutely crucial to the development of those early albums -- he was the keyboardist and there were a lot of keyboards on Chairs Missing and 154. Here, from what I've read, the band had the songs already developed after two years; Thorne he made a few suggestions ("move that guitar lick here", "do this chorus here", "not this vocal take, try again") but that's about all. Here, he is a hired hand, hired by the band and by Epic to deliver a hit, which he did.
"I Could Get Used To This" is merely average to me. It doesn't have a strong melody or interesting lyrics. I do like the opening guitar and the strings, but the song fails to register much of an impact. 3.1/5
Today's song is "No More Crying", written by Michael Hausman, Robert Holmes, Aimee Mann and Joey Pesce. Lyrics. "No More Crying" was also released as a B-side on the Love in a Vacuum 7 inch single release. Aimee Mann: lead vocals, bass guitar Robert Holmes: guitars Joey Pesce: synthesizers Michael Hausman: drums
More you-done-me-wrong lyrics. As always, though, I like the sound of the band: Aimee's bass, the keyboard again working overtime, and the Big Country/U2 style big guitar is tasty and the melody is too. You can imagine this chorus on the radio back in the day (even though it wasn't) and it brings back my youth -- the fact that I bought this album for three books on cassette at age 16 or 17 probably facilitates that! The instrumental break is very interesting: it's very much a different composition and Aimee and Joey both get their chances to show off a little. Aimee's really giving it her all vocally at the end, too, though I confess that bit doesn't connect with me like I think it should. This one ultimately goes by sweetly but doesn't make much impression. I think there's a little more to it than the last song, but I find the verse a bit less interesting (which is why Joey is working so hard to make it so). 3.4/5
Nothing really special to me, a bit pedestrian/generic - could have been from any band from the time. 2.4/5
"No More Crying" is pretty good. I love the guitars (Big Country is exactly who it recalls - excellent cite, Lance) and the darkly ominous melody of the chorus section. If the verses were musically up to that level, this would be a special song. Unfortunately, they're not and I find myself waiting for the chorus section to return. The instrumental break is nice. This is a solid album cut, even if it pales in comparison to the 'weaker' cuts on Aimee's first several solo albums. 3.5/5
You do know who you're listening too, right? This came up when I was listening to 'Charmer' the other day for the first time in a long while whilst noting songs like the title track or 'Labrador', where I was trying to imagine living like she does, and carrying this lingering bitterness for so long: "Or, Aimee, you could just forgive them..." I've been working through St Thomas Aquinas recently, and noted this in His discussion of Anger, (ST I-II, q.46, a.8): I answer that, The species of anger given by Damascene and Gregory of Nyssa are taken from those things which give increase to anger. This happens in three ways. First from facility of the movement itself, and he calls this kind of anger cholos [bile] because it quickly aroused. Secondly, on the part of the grief that causes anger, and which dwells some time in the memory; this belongs to menis [ill-will] which is derived from menein [to dwell]. Thirdly, on the part of that which the angry man seeks, viz. vengeance; and this pertains to kotos[rancor] which never rests until it is avenged [Ephesians 4:31: "Let all bitterness and anger and indignation . . . be put away from you."]. Hence the Philosopher (Ethic. iv, 5) calls some angry persons akrocholoi [choleric], because they are easily angered; some he calls pikroi [bitter], because they retain their anger for a long time; and some he calls chalepoi [ill-tempered], because they never rest until they have retaliated [Cf. II-II:158:5]. This relates to what are known as the Four Spiritual Temperaments, which is based on our reactions to stimulus and how quickly these reactions linger. Mann's career is the sound of someone becoming your classic Melancholic (dwelling on the bitterness), which I was for decades, until I followed the Theological advice for changing your Temperament, (with the eventual goal of evidencing all the positive qualities of each, with none of the negatives). So here on this album so far she sounds a type of 'youthful breakup bitter' - a sort of immature type of "You hurt me, but I don't need you", but the long-simmering sense of resentment that defines the true Melancholic isn't coming forth yet - the anger grows more slowly, then never fades. Still, we won't have to wait long before her words are coming from a place of long-simmering resentments, designed to wound her subjects more deeply. I mean, they're great examples of this kind of thing, but... I wouldn't want to hang around her on a day to day basis. Particularly since fostering bitterness predicts an eventual destination. I think I'm tempted to view this discussion of the sound of someone gradually driving themselves into dysfunction. ---- Note, you can also predict what type of Music you'll be drawn to by your Temperament. Melancholics apparently favour Mixolydian mode in their listening, if not in their songwriting. I initially found this hard to believe, until I analysed the batch of 31 songs I wrote for consideration for an album I was working on, remembering that my Producer had commented on my tendency for throwing in chords where it sounds like 'a cloud is suddenly passing in front of the sun." 26 of the 31 evidenced me swerving from the Major Key into the Relative Mixolydian mode. And we think we're so modern in our knowledge. Note, it also explains Mann's eventual marriage to Michael Penn, someone whom I was similarly drawn to. If you're curious, have a listen to a breakdown. He was incredibly-accurate in his summation, right down to the Prayer of Humility causing me physical pain and tears to say out loud. .
Today's song is "Voices Carry", written by Hausman, Holmes, Mann, and Pesce; produced by Mike Thorne. Lyric. "Voices Carry" was released as the lead-off single for the Voices Carry album; it was a hit, charting at #8 on the main US chart and also charting in Australia and Canada. Incredibly this would be by far Aimee Mann's biggest hit of her entire career, and propel the album to selling over a half million copies in the US, also the highest-selling album of her career. The single mix was a slightly shorter mix done by Bob Clearmountain (despite the fact that Epic Records had promised Thorne that he would get to remix it.) Apparently Epic did not hear the song as a single until they found out that Cyndi Lauper was interested in recording a cover of it. The cinematic video of the song won 'Til Tuesday a "Best New Artist" award at the MTV Video Awards, and Aimee Mann won the "best female performance" award at the American Video Awards. It made #40 in the "100 Greatest Videos" list from Slant Magazine and was listed on Pitchfork's "100 Most Awesome Videos" article. In 2012, Aimee shot another video that parodied the iconic 80s video. Note: originally, the words of the song were addressed to a woman and the song, was, in fact written from the point of view of a man; but that Epic Records pressured the band into changing the lyrics to being from addressed to a man from the point of view of a woman. The original lyrics thus had all the he's changed to she's while the original second verse had totally different lyrics: When she goes to get her fortune told, she just leaves me out in the cold. If only she would leave me a clue, or leave me alone, when I ask her what I should do, I'm on my own. Also the line "He wants me, but only part of the time" was changed from the original: she wants to take me out on the town. However, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, who had a relationship with Mann in the early 80s, has claimed that the song is about their relationship. And still others claim it was written after a fight between Mann and drummer Michael Hausman, her boyfriend at the beginning of 'Til Tuesday.
Unfortunately I'm kind of skating by this rather than having the time to dip in wholeheartedly. However, well done for bringing the chat on for Aimee Mann. One play (possibly the only play on UK radio) of "I Should've Known" on the radio in '93 was all it took for me to hunt down the single and "Whatever" (not so easy pre-internet) and then "I'm With Stupid". It is possible to say that her sound and method follows a pattern after a while. However, she utilises it in a number of different ways and has some fantastic set-ups for stories and lyrics in her songs that has Fiona Apple reaching for the thesaurus to exclaim through song in a similar way. Whether she deliberately does it or not, it feels like she dabbles with the idea of a popular song or hit every so often only to step away should it become too familiar. I've written some songs in my time but, maybe with the luxury of time, Aimee has a turn of phrase that opens the eyes a bit wider sometimes and, coupled with her unique delivery, I'll never tire of listening in to see what she's done next.
The verse on this song, the way it's produced and the keyboard sound, not to mention the sort of searching melody that bursts into the soaring chorus makes it sound like a less nervous, slowed-down "I Got You" by Split Enz -- I mean, it's impossible for me to unhear that. And the thing is, it could be that it is a sort of underside to that hit, which is ultimately about a man's neurosis, and his urge to control his lover due to his fear; here, we have the caged lover ("He loves me if he can keep me in line") lamenting the emotional bars of the prison she feels her relationship puts her behind. It's really pretty powerful and adult stuff stuff for a sweetened 80s reverb-drenched hit. There's a bit of the classic country singer to Aimee Mann, especially in 'Til Tuesday, a bit of this very sad, tears in my beer stuff which at times feels incongruous to the glossy music -- not on this album too much, because the acoustic-based singer/songwriter tendencies are rather muted here, but starting on the next album: I think her songs get better throughout their career, but the band suits them less and less as they go on. Here though, the band is pretty much perfect for the song. It's pretty clear, too, that they worked their asses off on this: even the drum, which is not generally too interesting does that little beat-skip now and then, and the vocal arrangement is by far the most complex we've heard on this -- they really wanted to make a hit out of this and it worked. That chorus is so soaring and this is an iconic 80s hit that I've always loved. I probably overrated the first two songs a bit with full fives (not that it matters) but this is such a great song that I think definitely deserves a full 5/5, I've always loved it and find it very effective, there is a deep emotion that this song evokes.
I know I've been hard on the songs on this album so far, but I really like Voices Carry a lot. I think it shows a maturity that the other songs so far haven't. It's not what I'd call lightweight or inconsequential, yet it's also catchy and of its time, but not in a bad way. A lot of the time, the single isn't really the best song on the album and you get tired of hearing it. In this case, I think this is clearly the best song on the album and it stands among some of the better examples of her work (which is a pretty big group of songs IMO since she's done a ton of good work). Lyrically it also is a step up from what's come before. 4.25/5
"Voices Carry" was the first exposure I had to Aimee Mann (like most I'm sure). I remember being impressed with the song back in 1985, but not really loving it. I still don't. It's a good track, but I'm not sure it's hugely better than the rest of the material on Voices Carry. It has a great hook on the chorus, plus that synth line in the verses, but I wouldn't hold it up as an example of Aimee's best work by any means. The lyrics are intelligent, dark, and moody and they work very well with the overall tonality and intensity of the music. I can see why this was a big hit but I just don't think it can compare to either Aimee's solo material or some of the later 'Til Tuesday material. I remain a bit mystified why this is the song that people remember this band for. Some of their later songs should have been bigger hits. 4.2/5 The single mix and promo 12" single "long version" were subtly remixed by Bob Clearmountain (the former is just an edit of the latter), and, here, I think he made a modest improvement over the LP mix. It's not a radical difference to be sure, but it all seems a bit more defined to my ears. Same rating for this mix.
Voices Carry The gem of the album! A gem of 80’s big radio and video hits! This sits firm at #3 in my top 5 pop hits of the 80’s after Billie Jean & When Doves Cry.. followed by Simple Minds and Blondie. Late last year I found an unplayed/stunningly mint promo 12” of the Bob Clearmountain mix, which I prefer to the album mix for his subtle magic touches and bringing things more into focus- dude was amazing at tweaking things for radio play and this song is the perfect example of that. I paid $15 for the record and it’s a prized piece in my collection that I didn’t even know existed before spotting it. It’s a 5/5, both album and single versions. Sadly the ‘long version’ is only 4:19 and I wonder if a 6+ minute mix would have been cool or have had something dumb done to it or been too repetitive.
