If Phoebe Fucking Bridgers demand I wear a hazmat suit for her show at The Anthem on October, I'm doing it. I need to hear her sad, sad songs in person.
Totally agree about wearing a mask at a punk show though. Bully will have to wait.
Oh Cocked and Loaded. One of my favorite records from my favorite collection of upstanding citizens who I never got in any shenanigans with at all.
Ballad of Jayne is a 10.
Enuff Z'nuff:
What if the Beatles made hair metal? Love that record.
White Lion never topped the debut in my opinion. I like Little Fighter, but it's not as strong as Wait.
I learned that if I wanted a record with a sticker on it, I would have to bring The Judge to the record store. He was not as attentive to media as The Lib.
Everything I dislike about Straight Up: The cold (haha) production, the electronic instrumentation and arrangement, the synthetic sheen, makes Cold Hearted work. It's my favorite Paula Abdul song. The string part in the middle is really cool. And I was also a 15 year old boy once.
Cold Hearted is a solid 8.
You Learn is also an 8
You Oughta Know was a b-side?! It's a 10.
I'll NEVER MAAAAAAKKKKKEEEEEE YOU CRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY!
I'D RATHER DIEEEEEEEEEE!
They sound like the Wish version of Boyz II Men
That was my sister's favorite song from the first record, so I heard it CONSTANTLY because our rooms shared a wall.
Often it was BSB and The Replacements in a battle for supremacy.
I think the whole "pop sucks" thing that was foisted on me as a lad was lame and I should have been able to say openly that I Want You Back and Tearin' Up My Heart were bangers, but then I hear Got Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You and I fucking get it, A bottle of Log Cabin is less syrupy than that song.
I Drive Myself Crazy was also terrible.
The only ballad that works is Gone, and that's because it's a proto-JT solo number.
It's the only non-Shout/Too Fast track to in my top five Crue songs
For the record:
1. Looks That Kill
2. Too Fast For Love
3. Too Young to Fall In Love
4. Live Wire
5. Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
I think Theatre of Pain is underrated, btw. Girls Girls Girls is a much weaker record.
Marx in complete craftsman mode, and unlike his other number ones, Right Here Waiting works for me. It's just a solid, well written song. s. The core melody is lovely and he keeps it as simple as a late 80s adult contempo ballad can be, I especially like the way the synth floats over the bridge.
The classical guitar solo is a bit too much, and I would excise that, but hey, it's late '80s Richard Marx. All about that gaga.
Right Here Waiting is a solid 8.
George HW Bush should have declared Richard Marx's mullet a national park.
This I Promise You is a 3. BSB were much better ballad singers than NSYNC. NSYNC's up-tempo numbers were much better than BSBs. I always thought that was interesting.
Peaches and Cream is a 10.
Toys R Us, Fall 1989
THE JUDGE AND FOUR YEAR OLD JOHN ARE IN FRONT OF AN ENORMOUS DISPLAY OF BATMAN ACTION FIGURES.
THE JUDGE: : John, You can get any action figure you want. Wouldn't you rather get The Riddler or Mr. Freeze?
JOHN: No.
THE JUDGE: Or The Penguin? Or switch it up and have Batman fight Lex Luthor? Look! There's Wonder Woman. How bout you get Wonder Woman and she and Batman can fight Joker? That sounds fun, right?
JOHN: Nope. (JOHN hands THE JUDGE his choice.)
THE JUDGE: Bob? You sure you want Bob?
JOHN: Yes! Because he's The Number One Guy!
THE JUDGE: (looking at the dozens and dozens of unsold Bob The Goon figures) And you are clearly the only kid who thinks so.
It feels weird to give His Royal Badness anything but a 10, but Batdance is a 4.
Partyman is an 8
Vicky Waiting is a 9
Tim Burton's Batman is a 10.
Incredible band. It's amazing to think that their first album has Pictures of Success and they would get better from there. The Execution of All Things is one of my favorite albums ever.
What a terrible week for hard rock.
I know someone is going to post La Grange, so I'm going to post this instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7R_BTjxjkA
So many artists of her era co-opted the mainstream rock of the day, but I think she and Alice Cooper were the only ones that completely pulled it off. I'm not counting Aerosmith since they were making proto-hair metal in 1974.
Comments