The Music Thread

[SwampD]

3 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Understand.  I kind of think most people don't.

I agree. They’re stupid. 😂

[That Aud Smell]

12 hours ago, Doohickie said:

That's a good one.  I have it on CD.

And really, Santeria isn't exactly typical of that album.  It's a little easier to listen to (why it's a popular single) but there's stuff that's equally good, just not as poppy/melodic.

The important thing for me is how a great LP is bigger than the sum of its parts — it’s a single piece of (musical) art when taken together. Individual songs can mean more, mean different things in the context of the Long Play.

[Doohickie]

Depends on the album.  To me, Who's Next is just a collection of singles, but Quadrophenia is an extended (double album) single work.  There's a whole spectrum in between. 

Why I occasionally buy "greatest hits" compilations, I prefer to figure out which studio album I would most enjoy and get that instead.

Another benefit of listening to whole albums is that sometimes a song doesn't immediately appeal to me but with repeated listens of the album I will decide that a song is pretty good after all.

[That Aud Smell]

3 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Depends on the album.  To me, Who's Next is just a collection of singles, but Quadrophenia is an extended (double album) single work.  There's a whole spectrum in between. 

Why I occasionally buy "greatest hits" compilations, I prefer to figure out which studio album I would most enjoy and get that instead.

Another benefit of listening to whole albums is that sometimes a song doesn't immediately appeal to me but with repeated listens of the album I will decide that a song is pretty good after all.

That must be right - depends on the album.

In reflecting on it, I suppose that I'm predisposed to being attracted to LP's that mean or reveal something more as a whole. And it doesn't need to be a concept album in order to qualify (e.g., Quadrophenia, The Wall, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway).

Two examples of LP's that, for me, mean or reveal something more when taken as a whole: Moving Pictures (Rush), It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Public Enemy).

[LTS]

23 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Suggestion:  Listen to Side 2 of Born to Run, from the standpoint that it's a four-act opera.

Act One:  Infatuation
Act Two:  Under Her Charms
Act Three:  Desperation
Act Four:  Betrayal

Are you referring to Springsteen? If so, no thanks. 🙂  Not a fan of his, at all, ever.

[Doohickie]

59 minutes ago, LTS said:

Are you referring to Springsteen? If so, no thanks. 🙂  Not a fan of his, at all, ever.

Ah, too bad.  The actual songs on that side are

Born to Run (which I described as Infatuation)
She's the One (which I described as Under Her Charms)
Meeting Across the River (Desperation)
Jungleland (Betrayal)

Born to Run and Jungleland were huge hits for Springsteen.  The songs in between, not so much.  But when I listen to the album, those songs are real highlights for me.

I don't know if it's intentional or not, but I see a story arc there:  Boy meets and woos girl, Girl sinks her claws into him, Boy starts doing crazy illegal stuff to make girl happy, Boy dies in the end.

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Ah, too bad.  The actual songs on that side are

Born to Run (which I described as Infatuation)
She's the One (which I described as Under Her Charms)
Meeting Across the River (Desperation)
Jungleland (Betrayal)

Born to Run and Jungleland were huge hits for Springsteen.  The songs in between, not so much.  But when I listen to the album, those songs are real highlights for me.

I don't know if it's intentional or not, but I see a story arc there:  Boy meets and woos girl, Girl sinks her claws into him, Boy starts doing crazy illegal stuff to make girl happy, Boy dies in the end.

Calls to mind an apocryphal story that got passed around in middle school: Side 1 of Billy Squier's hit album had a track listing that went Stroke Me, In the Dark, (Cuz) You're My Kind of Lover.

Almost but not quite, it turns out.

[Doohickie]

Now there's a story arc with a happy ending.

[TheAud]

7 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Depends on the album.  To me, Who's Next is just a collection of singles, but Quadrophenia is an extended (double album) single work.  There's a whole spectrum in between. 

What's interesting about Who's Next is that it is the remnants of what was supposed to be Pete Townsend's ultimate opera called Lifehouse.  However his idea for it was so over the top in several ways (even today reading about what he was trying to accomplish it's hard to understand how he thought it would work) that it fell apart but we got this awesome set of songs out of it. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehouse_(rock_opera) 

[Doohickie]

21 hours ago, TheAud said:

What's interesting about Who's Next is that it is the remnants of what was supposed to be Pete Townsend's ultimate opera called Lifehouse.  However his idea for it was so over the top in several ways (even today reading about what he was trying to accomplish it's hard to understand how he thought it would work) that it fell apart but we got this awesome set of songs out of it. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehouse_(rock_opera) 

I know some of the songs were part of Lifehouse but never really looked into it much.  Now that I see that most of Who's Next was part of the Lifehouse project, I'll listen a little more closely.  With the outline at the link you posted I can see how they tie together, but also see how removing the "connecting tissue" of the original concept would put each song on its own island.