The Challenge Thread

General music discussion.
Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 5:13pm
Kory wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 4:59pm
Oh, whatever's easiest for you. I don't want to dictate your experience of it. However your mind works best.
You're not prepared to know how my mind works …
I have a feeling I'm about to find out...(tugs collar)
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

revbob
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 25326
Joined: 16 Jun 2008, 12:31pm
Location: The Frozen Tundra

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 12:32pm

My rule was only one song per album, which meant skipping some albums, but as I mentioned above, I mostly leaned towards dark and loud over the more relatively pop-oriented stuff ("Eighties" excepted).

Wardance (Killing Joke [1980])
Tension (What's This For …?)
Eighties (Night Time)
Another Bloody Election (Democracy)
Pandemonium (Pandemonium)
Seeing Red (Killing Joke [2003])
This Tribal Antidote (Hosannas From the Basement of Hell)
Here Comes the Singularity (Absolute Dissent)
Corporate Elect (MMXII)
I am the Virus (Pylon)
The challenge has begun (3 songs in). Is the presented order important or can I listen in any order?
Been listening on my way to work. Don't hate it, will be more insightful after further listening.

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115975
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Dr. Medulla »

revbob wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 7:53am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 12:32pm

My rule was only one song per album, which meant skipping some albums, but as I mentioned above, I mostly leaned towards dark and loud over the more relatively pop-oriented stuff ("Eighties" excepted).

Wardance (Killing Joke [1980])
Tension (What's This For …?)
Eighties (Night Time)
Another Bloody Election (Democracy)
Pandemonium (Pandemonium)
Seeing Red (Killing Joke [2003])
This Tribal Antidote (Hosannas From the Basement of Hell)
Here Comes the Singularity (Absolute Dissent)
Corporate Elect (MMXII)
I am the Virus (Pylon)
The challenge has begun (3 songs in). Is the presented order important or can I listen in any order?
Been listening on my way to work. Don't hate it, will be more insightful after further listening.
"Don't hate it." Victory! :lol:

It's in chronological order if you want a sense of their evolution, but go as you want.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

revbob
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 25326
Joined: 16 Jun 2008, 12:31pm
Location: The Frozen Tundra

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 8:00am
revbob wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 7:53am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 12:32pm

My rule was only one song per album, which meant skipping some albums, but as I mentioned above, I mostly leaned towards dark and loud over the more relatively pop-oriented stuff ("Eighties" excepted).

Wardance (Killing Joke [1980])
Tension (What's This For …?)
Eighties (Night Time)
Another Bloody Election (Democracy)
Pandemonium (Pandemonium)
Seeing Red (Killing Joke [2003])
This Tribal Antidote (Hosannas From the Basement of Hell)
Here Comes the Singularity (Absolute Dissent)
Corporate Elect (MMXII)
I am the Virus (Pylon)
The challenge has begun (3 songs in). Is the presented order important or can I listen in any order?
Been listening on my way to work. Don't hate it, will be more insightful after further listening.
"Don't hate it." Victory! :lol:

It's in chronological order if you want a sense of their evolution, but go as you want.
Sorry reading that now makes me sound like a dick. It is more a response from someone who is in a fog this morning and desperately wants to crawl back into bed but is instead dutifully sitting at his desk trying to figure out how to spend the next 8 hours...

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115975
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Dr. Medulla »

revbob wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 8:14am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 8:00am
revbob wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 7:53am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 12:32pm

My rule was only one song per album, which meant skipping some albums, but as I mentioned above, I mostly leaned towards dark and loud over the more relatively pop-oriented stuff ("Eighties" excepted).

Wardance (Killing Joke [1980])
Tension (What's This For …?)
Eighties (Night Time)
Another Bloody Election (Democracy)
Pandemonium (Pandemonium)
Seeing Red (Killing Joke [2003])
This Tribal Antidote (Hosannas From the Basement of Hell)
Here Comes the Singularity (Absolute Dissent)
Corporate Elect (MMXII)
I am the Virus (Pylon)
The challenge has begun (3 songs in). Is the presented order important or can I listen in any order?
Been listening on my way to work. Don't hate it, will be more insightful after further listening.
"Don't hate it." Victory! :lol:

It's in chronological order if you want a sense of their evolution, but go as you want.
Sorry reading that now makes me sound like a dick. It is more a response from someone who is in a fog this morning and desperately wants to crawl back into bed but is instead dutifully sitting at his desk trying to figure out how to spend the next 8 hours...
No need to apologize—you're our resident Phishy curmudgeon. Whenever the boss asks me how my meal is, my response is inevitably "It's okay." It's not dismissive, but I don't get excited about food. So she's learned that I'm not slamming the meal. Just me shrugging thru life.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115975
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Dr. Medulla »

In which our hero allows himself to be seduced by Kory and Bowie …

1. “Station To Station.” Sounds a fair bit like Magazine. I’m too much of a dunce to express it properly, but, man, that’s some very 70s drums. If 80s bands dated themselves with synth drums, a lot of 70s records do the same with that kind of muted drum sound. I think one thing that’s kept me from embracing Bowie is that I don’t really like the crooning thing he does. When he’s letting go, I’m good with him, but that more sedate crooning thing is a turn-off. But to my original comment, it’s not a stretch to think that this is Magazine with a different singer.

2. “Breaking Glass.” Ah, much different drum sound. This predicts/reflects that New Wavey futuristic sound of the early 80s. Very groovy. Oddly short, tho. Like they just kind of give up on it. Not a criticism, just an observation.

3. “Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing (Reprise).” Again, I’m hearing Magazine all over this. And, again, that “soulful” (is that the word I’m looking for?) style just doesn’t appeal to me. It feels affected. I like his voice when he’s at a lower tone or register (like on the “Candidate” section). Dig the last minute of the Reprise. Sludgy and swirly, that guitar is all over any number of post-punk records.

4. “Son of the Silent Age.” This has a certain pompous, this-is-important sound. There’s almost a Spinal Tap silliness to it. It could use a miniature Stonehenge to go with it all.

5. “Warszawa.” Did Joy Division get their original name from this? Nice dark and space age beginning. It still carries that same “this-is-important” feel to it, but this works better for me. Atmospheric, angst-y.

6. “Red Money.” Groovy, very Krautrock or like early Shriekback. Very smooth and relaxed. Lots of neat little scattershot guitar sounds. To this point, the one I like the best.

7. “Stay.” Funky, disco but not slick. Gang of Four with the aggression tamed. Dig this one very much. I suspect this was a blast to play/hear live.

8. “Always Crashing in the Same Car.” I like the song title a great deal. I also like the deliberateness to it all. It’s not in a hurry. It’s like confident writing—not doing too much, but saying what needs to be said to get the point across. Sorry to be a broken record, but this is so Magazine. I’m almost feeling a bit contemptuous towards Devoto for ripping off Bowie to such a degree. Three very solid songs in a row.

9. “Blackout.” Yow, this one grabs right off the bat. He sounds a bit disoriented, switching from unhinged to sedate. Still, that 70s drum sound again. Yup, I like this one for its energy.

10. “Sense of Doubt.” Maybe it’s that New Order used both “Sense” and “Doubt[s] Even Here” on their first album, but I think of a Joy Division darkness, coldness. Anyway, something bad is going to happen after this song, that’s for sure.

General Comments
I can certainly hear the influences on post-punk here and appreciate that Bowie was blazing trails and all that. Yet, there isn’t quite the divorce, I think, between the post-punk bands and rock music. This stuff mostly still carries with it that 70s rock sound. Not necessarily a criticism. But all that’s an intellectual perspective or respect. On aesthetic grounds overall, tho, as the person picking what to listen to next, I’m more likely going to go to those who were inspired by him rather than the original. It might be his voice, which I’m not fully sold on, or it might be that, as I suggested a few sentences earlier, it still sounds “70s rock,” albeit on the art side of things. I appreciate the selection, but I still don’t think whatever switch needs to be flipped has actually flipped for me to be properly into Bowie. I’m still more respectful than a fan.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Flex
User avatar
Mechano-Man of the Future
Posts: 35799
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:50pm
Location: The Information Superhighway!

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Flex »

Deeply consequential mistake that you din't fill out the top 10 with cuts from Tonight, Kory. HOOKY NEEDED TO HEAR BOWIE COVERING GOD ONLY KNOWS, DAMMIT*

Just burn the doctor copies of Low and Lodger and call it a day, imho
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

Wolter
User avatar
Half Foghorn Leghorn, Half Albert Brooks
Posts: 55432
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 7:59pm
Location: ¡HOLIDAY RO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OAD!

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Wolter »

Flex wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 8:43pm
Deeply consequential mistake that you din't fill out the top 10 with cuts from Tonight, Kory. HOOKY NEEDED TO HEAR BOWIE COVERING GOD ONLY KNOWS, DAMMIT*

Just burn the doctor copies of Low and Lodger and call it a day, imho
Like all albums made in 1984 by people who were good in the 70s, Tonight is a fucking War Crime.
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson

"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"

Marky Dread
User avatar
Messiah of the Milk Bar
Posts: 58880
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 11:26am

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Marky Dread »

Wolter wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 10:13pm
Flex wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 8:43pm
Deeply consequential mistake that you din't fill out the top 10 with cuts from Tonight, Kory. HOOKY NEEDED TO HEAR BOWIE COVERING GOD ONLY KNOWS, DAMMIT*

Just burn the doctor copies of Low and Lodger and call it a day, imho
Like all albums made in 1984 by people who were good in the 70s, Tonight is a fucking War Crime.
I agree but I still think "Loving the Alien" is good Bowie. Also "Blue Jean" is a good pop single for that time.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Flex
User avatar
Mechano-Man of the Future
Posts: 35799
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:50pm
Location: The Information Superhighway!

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Flex »

Wolter wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 10:13pm
Like all albums made in 1984 by people who were good in the 70s, Tonight is a fucking War Crime.
Wolter brings up a good point: the 80s were bad and the 90s were great. :cool:
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

revbob
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 25326
Joined: 16 Jun 2008, 12:31pm
Location: The Frozen Tundra

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by revbob »

Flex wrote:
22 Apr 2018, 1:36pm
Wolter wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 10:13pm
Like all albums made in 1984 by people who were good in the 70s, Tonight is a fucking War Crime.
Wolter brings up a good point: the 80s were bad and the 90s were great. :cool:
I think the 80s were bad for bands that deliberately changed their sound to try and fit the times... and for anything that wasn't hardcore

Flex
User avatar
Mechano-Man of the Future
Posts: 35799
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:50pm
Location: The Information Superhighway!

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Flex »

revbob wrote:
22 Apr 2018, 2:27pm
I think the 80s were bad for bands that deliberately changed their sound to try and fit the times... and for anything that wasn't hardcore
Truth. This album came out in '85 and it's fuckin' majestic:
Image
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

Wolter
User avatar
Half Foghorn Leghorn, Half Albert Brooks
Posts: 55432
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 7:59pm
Location: ¡HOLIDAY RO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OAD!

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Wolter »

Marky Dread wrote:
22 Apr 2018, 12:27pm
Wolter wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 10:13pm
Flex wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 8:43pm
Deeply consequential mistake that you din't fill out the top 10 with cuts from Tonight, Kory. HOOKY NEEDED TO HEAR BOWIE COVERING GOD ONLY KNOWS, DAMMIT*

Just burn the doctor copies of Low and Lodger and call it a day, imho
Like all albums made in 1984 by people who were good in the 70s, Tonight is a fucking War Crime.
I agree but I still think "Loving the Alien" is good Bowie. Also "Blue Jean" is a good pop single for that time.
We agree 100%. Those are the only worthwhile tracks. And I prefer the 2003/4 arrangement of Alien.
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson

"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"

Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 Apr 2018, 7:18pm
In which our hero allows himself to be seduced by Kory and Bowie …

1. “Station To Station.” Sounds a fair bit like Magazine. I’m too much of a dunce to express it properly, but, man, that’s some very 70s drums. If 80s bands dated themselves with synth drums, a lot of 70s records do the same with that kind of muted drum sound. I think one thing that’s kept me from embracing Bowie is that I don’t really like the crooning thing he does. When he’s letting go, I’m good with him, but that more sedate crooning thing is a turn-off. But to my original comment, it’s not a stretch to think that this is Magazine with a different singer.

2. “Breaking Glass.” Ah, much different drum sound. This predicts/reflects that New Wavey futuristic sound of the early 80s. Very groovy. Oddly short, tho. Like they just kind of give up on it. Not a criticism, just an observation.

3. “Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing (Reprise).” Again, I’m hearing Magazine all over this. And, again, that “soulful” (is that the word I’m looking for?) style just doesn’t appeal to me. It feels affected. I like his voice when he’s at a lower tone or register (like on the “Candidate” section). Dig the last minute of the Reprise. Sludgy and swirly, that guitar is all over any number of post-punk records.

4. “Son of the Silent Age.” This has a certain pompous, this-is-important sound. There’s almost a Spinal Tap silliness to it. It could use a miniature Stonehenge to go with it all.

5. “Warszawa.” Did Joy Division get their original name from this? Nice dark and space age beginning. It still carries that same “this-is-important” feel to it, but this works better for me. Atmospheric, angst-y.

6. “Red Money.” Groovy, very Krautrock or like early Shriekback. Very smooth and relaxed. Lots of neat little scattershot guitar sounds. To this point, the one I like the best.

7. “Stay.” Funky, disco but not slick. Gang of Four with the aggression tamed. Dig this one very much. I suspect this was a blast to play/hear live.

8. “Always Crashing in the Same Car.” I like the song title a great deal. I also like the deliberateness to it all. It’s not in a hurry. It’s like confident writing—not doing too much, but saying what needs to be said to get the point across. Sorry to be a broken record, but this is so Magazine. I’m almost feeling a bit contemptuous towards Devoto for ripping off Bowie to such a degree. Three very solid songs in a row.

9. “Blackout.” Yow, this one grabs right off the bat. He sounds a bit disoriented, switching from unhinged to sedate. Still, that 70s drum sound again. Yup, I like this one for its energy.

10. “Sense of Doubt.” Maybe it’s that New Order used both “Sense” and “Doubt[s] Even Here” on their first album, but I think of a Joy Division darkness, coldness. Anyway, something bad is going to happen after this song, that’s for sure.

General Comments
I can certainly hear the influences on post-punk here and appreciate that Bowie was blazing trails and all that. Yet, there isn’t quite the divorce, I think, between the post-punk bands and rock music. This stuff mostly still carries with it that 70s rock sound. Not necessarily a criticism. But all that’s an intellectual perspective or respect. On aesthetic grounds overall, tho, as the person picking what to listen to next, I’m more likely going to go to those who were inspired by him rather than the original. It might be his voice, which I’m not fully sold on, or it might be that, as I suggested a few sentences earlier, it still sounds “70s rock,” albeit on the art side of things. I appreciate the selection, but I still don’t think whatever switch needs to be flipped has actually flipped for me to be properly into Bowie. I’m still more respectful than a fan.
Well thanks for checking it out. The croon is something you can't really get away from unless you go earlier into the glam or folky stuff and I doubt you'd be into that much. IF you ever wanted to hear more I think I'd go with Flex's suggestion to just check out the whole Low and Lodger albums. Since you liked "Red Money," I might also recommend Iggy's The Idiot, as that backing track appears there too (the whole thing was co-written with and produced by Bowie).

And yes, Joy Division did get their earlier name from "Warszawa."
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115975
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: The Challenge Thread

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Kory wrote:
23 Apr 2018, 1:00pm
Well thanks for checking it out. The croon is something you can't really get away from unless you go earlier into the glam or folky stuff and I doubt you'd be into that much. IF you ever wanted to hear more I think I'd go with Flex's suggestion to just check out the whole Low and Lodger albums. Since you liked "Red Money," I might also recommend Iggy's The Idiot, as that backing track appears there too (the whole thing was co-written with and produced by Bowie).

And yes, Joy Division did get their earlier name from "Warszawa."
I do have those albums, obtained via skullduggery long ago, so now I know what to focus on if I want to create a beachhead of sorts.

I'm surprised that I generated neither snark nor outrage from people here for my failures to properly appreciate things. I'm either impressed or concerned that I'm not worth the abuse anymore.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Post Reply