It's always amazing to hear stories about an iconic band or song that people don't like at the time. I guess context is everything, and if it doesn't sound like something else, a person might not "get" it. But it's not like he was trying to sound like The Velvet Underground or something.
I am an REM "apologist" but as noted, this album could definitely have stood to lose a few tracks. That said, most bands would kill to make 11 albums, much less have the 11th be this good.
In fact, here are the comments on "Smooth" from two of the writers who picked it:
"Because Earth is a wasteland."
"I hate it, but it was huge and still pops constantly."
They played a "secret" show, sans microphones but with shoes, at the Hopscotch festival last weekend. It was pretty great, when I could actually hear it.
Apparently it's a single from the Netherlands
https://www.discogs.com/Tommy-James-The-Shondells-Crimson-And-Clover-Hanky-Panky/release/3475777
Also, Prince's version of Crimson/Wild Thing isn't bad either
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nTEk_GvhKY
I haven't listened to it yet, but apparently on WTF he also told a story about smoking weed with Fela Kuti
http://www.okayafrica.com/paul-mccartney-fela-kuti-weed-story/
Yeah, you could say John Lennon didn't care for it:
The only thing you done was Yesterday
And since you're gone you're just another day
- "How Do You Sleep?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNjTPZW7GCU
Question about the William Shatner album - is he in on the joke, or is he serious? Years ago I got into an argument with a friend of mine about this, as I'm in the "he thinks this he's a serious artist" camp.
I agree and am excited to see her next month. But something tells me this video isn't helping? Although at least it's probably the first time "their genitals share a corndog" has ever been written or said.
I was a huge fan of the first two albums, and saw these guys in '94 with Weezer the opening band. Unfortunately some of the songs have not aged well, but I'll go to bat for most of the first two albums. I would prefer to never hear this new song again though.
I've only been following this column for the last 3-4 weeks, and I think this is the lowest score I've seen. Have any songs scored a 1/10? Because this seems like a 1.
Admittedly this album is where I fell off the bandwagon, and even though I've bought all the records since, I haven't given the later ones many spins. That said, I will still drop everything to see them live - you can argue that there are bad MMJ albums, but you can't argue that there are bad MMJ shows.
Thanks to Spotify I now know he released a couple of these albums in German. So far they make for an interesting listen. Here's a link to Melt ("eine deutsches album")
https://open.spotify.com/album/505NR68Q2BGL6QPngszAJy?si=qTPxvnJqS32iYVYASAAAPQ
I just saw them in Chapel Hill a few weeks ago and felt the same way. As a bonus, they were drinking at the venue's bar before the show and seemed like nice dudes.
I probably listened to Pearls to Swine more than any other album last year. His Tiny Desk Concert is well worth 15 minutes of your time
http://www.npr.org/2016/11/08/501153843/adam-torres-tiny-desk-concert
Well if Mastodon-branded color pencils are missing from your life, you can maybe regret it again and pre-order here.
http://www.mastodonrocks.com/emperorofsand?ref=http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com/artist/mastodon
I had a subscription to NME 10+ years ago, and one issue came with a CD curated by Morrissey. I remember reading that he was the head of a New York Dolls' fan club, but man did he love some glam. A lot of artists from this list are on it, as well as some more recent (at the time), glam-ish bands (The Killers, Franz Ferdinand). Here's a track list:
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Songs-To-Save-Your-Life/release/1082172
I would highly recommend the song 2HB (not to be confused with North Carolina's HB2). It was covered by Thom Yorke and others for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack. Both versions are perfect.
One of the best festivals I ever went to was an ATP festival in 2004. Look at this damn lineup:
https://www.atpfestival.com/events/atpmodestmouse
Keep in mind this was 2004 – “Float On” was just blowing up for Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade’s Apologies hadn’t even come out yet, Sufjan was barely known, The Shins only had two albums and Lou Reed was alive. Not to mention this was pre-Pavement and pre-Dino Jr reunion Malkmus and Mascis. It was a ‘90s indie rock fan’s dream
Skip Spence was also in Moby Grape, whose eponymous first album is another crate digger find. One of those songs, "Omaha," was covered by The Golden Palominos, with none other than Michael Stipe on vocals, on their LP Visions of Excess. Worth checking out if you like the R.E.M.
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