Classic Album Discussion Thread: The Kinks-Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Pt. 1 (2 Viewers)

[Godsbrother]

RIP Aretha -- she was an unbelievable talent.

That said, a pet peeve I have is when Greatest Hits albums are included in "Top xxx albums of all time" lists.   

 

[timschochet]

That said, a pet peeve I have is when Greatest Hits albums are included in "Top xxx albums of all time" lists.   

I actually agree with you. But there are exceptions. Steve Miller was one, Aretha is another. I won’t do it often. 

 

[Ilov80s]

RIP Aretha -- she was an unbelievable talent.

That said, a pet peeve I have is when Greatest Hits albums are included in "Top xxx albums of all time" lists.   

There are some old artists that were before the album where compilations are just the only way to go. Aretha isn't one of those. She has a few albums that can stand up with anything posted in this thread. I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You, Lady Soul and Spirit in the Dark are all excellent start to finish. 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

There are some old artists that were before the album where compilations are just the only way to go. Aretha isn't one of those. She has a few albums that can stand up with anything posted in this thread. I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You, Lady Soul and Spirit in the Dark are all excellent start to finish. 

I Never Loved A Man basically IS a Greatest Hits album. 

Her album run from '67 through '74 or so is phenomenal with a lot less filler than most rock/pop/soul/whatever albums of the time.

 

[Ghost Rider]

That said, a pet peeve I have is when Greatest Hits albums are included in "Top xxx albums of all time" lists.   

Seems like that happens when an artist doesn't really have an album that stands out as an obvious classic, so one resorts to a greatest hit to make sure they are represented. 

In the case of Aretha today, I get it.  She was a legend. R.I.P. 

 

[timschochet]

Van Morrison- Moondance (1970)

And It Stoned Me

Moondance

Crazy Love

Caravan

Into the Mystic

Come Running

These Dreams Of You

Brand New Day

Everyone

Glad Tidings

So sad to see Aretha go, but we have to move on in this thread, and it’s a marvelous night for this marvelous album. Critics like Astral Weeks better, and that is a fine record, but this is a better collection of songs. Side one in fact rivals Boston IMO for the greatest side one ever. The 5 songs on side one, from “And It Stoned Me” to “Into the Mystic” are a perfect listening experience and there are no flaws. Side two has some underrated gems, especially “Brand New Day” but it doesn’t have the first side’s mastery. 

Aretha Franklin was the queen of soul and probably the greatest singer of her type of material who ever lived, but this Irishman nearly gives her a run for her money. And what a terrific songwriter he is too. 

 

[AAABatteries]

Love Morrison - he has two of my favorite songs of all time.  Into the Mystic, which is probably the best whiskey drinking song there is.

Then, my personal favorite, Brown Eyed Girl.  The reason music can be so powerful is because of the emotions it brings out.  I’m somewhat of a sappy guy but music doesn’t often bring me to tears.  I have a brown eyed wife and two brown eyed daughters - I can’t listen to Brown Eyed Girl without tearing up.  Hell, I’m tearing up right now.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Is this what we're calling dad rock now? Don't care.  Wonderful album. 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Astral Weeks never did much for me, so this is where Prime Van starts in my book. There's not a clunker in the bunch and, as tim said, the first five cuts rival any opening by any artist, ever.

 

[jamny]

Just saw that Elvis (The King) died on the same day that Aretha did.

 

[AAABatteries]

Just saw that Elvis (The King) died on the same day that Aretha did.

I knew he was still alive!

RIP King!

 

[timschochet]

Love Morrison - he has two of my favorite songs of all time.  Into the Mystic, which is probably the best whiskey drinking song there is.

Then, my personal favorite, Brown Eyed Girl.  The reason music can be so powerful is because of the emotions it brings out.  I’m somewhat of a sappy guy but music doesn’t often bring me to tears.  I have a brown eyed wife and two brown eyed daughters - I can’t listen to Brown Eyed Girl without tearing up.  Hell, I’m tearing up right now.

What’s the connection between Into the Mystic and whiskey? 

 

[timschochet]

You know who loves this album? Aaron Sorkin. In The West Wing he’s got Mary Louise Parker singing along to “Caravan” and “Moondance.” In The Newsroom Jeff Daniels sits at home with a martini and takes in “Into the Mystic.” 

 

[Ilov80s]

Van Morrison is probably my favorite artist so happy to see him come up. I like Astral Weeks and Veedon Fleece better than Moondance but I can't deny the quality of the album- espcially the first side as Tim points out. I saw Van Morrison in concert maybe 6 or 7 years ago. He sounded incredible still- that voice is just so powerful. 

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Was hospitalized in 1986 for 110 days.  I grew to have a thing for one of my nurses, cliché I know, but there it is.  Upon my release, the first night, she took me to a Van Morrison concert on the shores of the Mississippi.  My arm still had an external fixater sticking out of it.  My pelvis break required crutches which, because of my arm, had to have a custom feature on one so I could work it with my shoulder.  I still had a few drains in me.  It was a great night. His music was perfect for a summer night first date.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

One of the (many) ways Morrison wasn't like his contemporaries was that he knew how to assemble a band depending on what he was going for. Unlike the theme of the day that you had to write (lol, Led Zep)/produce (lol, Pink Floyd)/perform (lol, Byrds) your own material or you were garbage.  And Van actually used horns! I know, right?

Morrison was as good a band-leader as he was a singer. He's a difficult and curmudgeonly *******, though. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Something I didn't know was that Van Morrison wrote the album while living in the mountains in the Catskills but had to leave because people started flooding the area as Woodstock approached and it became too hectic in the area. 

 

[Gr00vus]

I'll be that guy. I don't enjoy Van Morrison. I find his voice irritating and his music boring.

 

[wikkidpissah]

I'll be that guy. I don't enjoy Van Morrison. I find his voice irritating and his music boring.

Love the song Moondance, like a few other Vans but have been trying to figure out how he became a deity for almost 50 yrs. Gob####e widda a pantload most of it.

been away, so a couple other notes:

- if Aretha had been a man, she'da been on Rushmore. understood song context better than anyone i ever heard but hadda do too much shriekydeaky to get her due. i tried unsuccessfully to find the clip but Stephen Sondheim - the most masterful & exacting songwriter of my time, esp for women - once said Aretha's version of his Somewhere (tasty pianoing by Her Highness too) was the only time a song's been sung better than he wrote it.

- Eat a Peach is Allman Bros for Dead fans. doodlydoodlydoo

 

[HellToupee]

Van Morrison is probably my favorite artist so happy to see him come up. I like Astral Weeks and Veedon Fleece better than Moondance but I can't deny the quality of the album- espcially the first side as Tim points out. I saw Van Morrison in concert maybe 6 or 7 years ago. He sounded incredible still- that voice is just so powerful. 

Disgraceland podcast has a pretty good Van Morrison episode

In 1968 Van Morrison was hiding out from the New York City Mafia in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently the victim of a physical attack from a Genovese crime family member, Morrison was desperately trying to piece together a band to complete what would become his landmark creative statement, Astral Weeks. One of the musicians who would help him achieve this goal; a young, handsome guitar player from Emerson College named, Rick Philp would mysteriously go missing and eventually wind up dead. Disgraceland pieces together this story

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Mudhoney - Broken Hands. Probably the greatest grunge song ever.  

I have an original Touch Me I'm Sick/Sweet Young Thing pressing. 

 

[AAABatteries]

What’s the connection between Into the Mystic and whiskey? 

No connection other than when I’m sitting on my deck drinking and listening to music that’s the song I would take 1.1

 

[AAABatteries]

 In The Newsroom Jeff Daniels sits at home with a martini and takes in “Into the Mystic.” 

exactly

 

[AAABatteries]

I'll be that guy. I don't enjoy Van Morrison. I find his voice irritating and his music boring.

You know what else is irritating and boring?

Spoiler

your face!

 

[timschochet]

exactly

But it’s a martini. It’s not whiskey. 

 

[timschochet]

The Rolling Stones- Let It Bleed (1969)

Gimme Shelter

Love In Vain

Country Honk

 Live With Me

Let It Bleed

Midnight Rambler

You’ve Got the Silver

Monkey Man

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, has a short novel called Roadwork from the early 70s in which the main character, faced with losing his house to eminent domain, gets a bunch of guns and has a shootout with the police. Before he does he invites a young hippie girl to stay at his house for a few nights, and she introduces him to rock music by way of two albums: Crosby Stills and Nash and Let It Bleed. The “hero” is in his 40s and not familiar with the music; he finds CSN to be boring, but, as King describes, Let It Bleed “filled him with a darkness he immediately recognized and welcomed into his soul.” He plays the record several times before the final shootout. 

If Let it Bleed is filled with darkness as King claims, it isn’t because of the title song, which is rather cheerful, or the optimistic classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (which ironically is played at the end of every Donald Trump rally). Nor is it the country explorations of “Country Honk” and “You Got the Silver”. Nor is it the ballad “Love In Vain” or the rocker “Live With Me.” 

The “darkness” is located in 3 songs: the scary “Monkey Man”, the scarier “Midnight Rambler”, and the scariest of all “Gimme Shelter” which opens the album. These songs are not for the faint of heart. They are tunes played hard, to be taken seriously. Merry Clayton isn’t joking around on “Gimme Shelter”; neither is the rest of the band. Hide your precious belongings. 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I think "Monkey Man" is the most frightening song the Stones ever did. That damned xylophone, piano, or whatever the hell it is must be some kind of primal trigger for me.

Great album, of course, except for the god-awful "Country Honk". I freaking HATE Mick's voice when he tries to sing "country". Maybe he's being ironic or mocking, but I don't care. It's like fingernails on a blackboard to me. "The Girl With Far Away Eyes" is another. Which is a shame, because the Stones made a great country record with "Wild Horses" where Mick's singing straight.

 

[AAABatteries]

But it’s a martini. It’s not whiskey. 

I drink whiskey

 

[jwb]

My favorite Stones album. My 2 favorite stones songs are Gimme Shelter and Let it Bleed, and they're both here, so...

I don't mind Mick's "country" take every now and again - I feel it's more or less meant as a goof, and I think it works (he really does lay it on thick here.) 

 

[Bull Dozier]

This is the album of the stones I have heard the most. I had a greatest hits album in high school, only through the 60s and I thought that was the party stones work. A college roommate had let it bleed and it introduced me to a larger stones world. Love it.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

The Rolling Stones- Let It Bleed (1969)

Gimme Shelter

Love In Vain

Country Honk

 Live With Me

Let It Bleed

Midnight Rambler

You’ve Got the Silver

Monkey Man

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, has a short novel called Roadwork from the early 70s in which the main character, faced with losing his house to eminent domain, gets a bunch of guns and has a shootout with the police. Before he does he invites a young hippie girl to stay at his house for a few nights, and she introduces him to rock music by way of two albums: Crosby Stills and Nash and Let It Bleed. The “hero” is in his 40s and not familiar with the music; he finds CSN to be boring, but, as King describes, Let It Bleed “filled him with a darkness he immediately recognized and welcomed into his soul.” He plays the record several times before the final shootout. 

If Let it Bleed is filled with darkness as King claims, it isn’t because of the title song, which is rather cheerful, or the optimistic classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (which ironically is played at the end of every Donald Trump rally). Nor is it the country explorations of “Country Honk” and “You Got the Silver”. Nor is it the ballad “Love In Vain” or the rocker “Live With Me.” 

The “darkness” is located in 3 songs: the scary “Monkey Man”, the scarier “Midnight Rambler”, and the scariest of all “Gimme Shelter” which opens the album. These songs are not for the faint of heart. They are tunes played hard, to be taken seriously. Merry Clayton isn’t joking around on “Gimme Shelter”; neither is the rest of the band. Hide your precious belongings. 

Let It Bleed is cheerful?

 

[jon_mx]

Let It Bleed is cheerful?

Depends on who is bleeding.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Solid.  Not my favorite as a whole but really good pieces. 

 

[timschochet]

Depends on who is bleeding.

It doesn’t matter who is bleeding; whoever it is they can bleed on Mick. That’s what’s cheerful about it.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

It doesn’t matter who is bleeding; whoever it is they can bleed on Mick. That’s what’s cheerful about it.

They can also “knife him in his dirty filthy basement”.

 

[timschochet]

They can also “knife him in his dirty filthy basement”.

Sure, but even in that situation, there’s a junky nurse to provide pleasant company. And jasmine tea is also involved. It’s all good. 

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Sure, but even in that situation, there’s a junky nurse to provide pleasant company. And jasmine tea is also involved. It’s all good. 

I wouldn’t describe it as “cheerful” but it’s surely a bit tongue in cheek.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I don't mind Mick's "country" take every now and again - I feel it's more or less meant as a goof, and I think it works (he really does lay it on thick here.) 

Probably, but why do it? And why do it on more than one song if it's a one-off goof? Especially when he can sell a country song in his natural voice. It feels condescending to me (he does the same on his soul classic covers, but not so much - probably because he knew David Ruffin would cut his limey ###).

Anyway, that's my problem. Doesn't make the rest of the album's great songs any less so. "Skip" button for the win.

 

[simey]

Great album, of course, except for the god-awful "Country Honk". I freaking HATE Mick's voice when he tries to sing "country". Maybe he's being ironic or mocking, but I don't care. It's like fingernails on a blackboard to me. "The Girl With Far Away Eyes" is another. Which is a shame, because the Stones made a great country record with "Wild Horses" where Mick's singing straight.

Dead Flowers is pretty countrified as well. I don't mind his country voice, cause the songs are good. He doesn't have that good of a voice in general, but it is unique. The songs are so good that his voice is just part of the package. Bob Dylan and Neil Young both have unique voices as well, but they aren't that good, but their voices fit the great songs just the same.

 

[simey]

Moondance is a very good album. I find Van's music relaxing. I don't have a favorite on the album.

Let It Bleed is my favorite Stones album. I love it all the way through. My favorite song on the album is Gimme Shelter. I love the intros to Gimme Shelter and Monkey Man.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Dead Flowers is pretty countrified as well. I don't mind his country voice, cause the songs are good. He doesn't have that good of a voice in general, but it is unique. The songs are so good that his voice is just part of the package. Bob Dylan and Neil Young both have unique voices as well, but they aren't that good, but their voices fit the great songs just the same.

Dead Flowers isn't sung in a mocking manner, though, like Country Honk is. I have no problem with Mick singing in his natural voice.

I dunno. I guess it's just me.

 

[simey]

Dead Flowers isn't sung in a mocking manner, though, like Country Honk is. I have no problem with Mick singing in his natural voice.

I dunno. I guess it's just me.

I don't think he is trying to sing in a mocking manner, but that's just my perception. Anyway, Country Honk is the original version of the song. Honky Tonk Women derived from Country Honk. 

 

[timschochet]

I briefly mentioned “Love In Vain” earlier but it’s one of my favorites on this album- the acoustic guitar work by Richards, mimicking Robert Johnson, is gorgeous. 

I also notice that a lot of people seem to prefer the live version of “Midnight Rambler” from Get Your Ya-Yas Out, and that’s the version that appears on the Stones greatest hits album Hot Rocks. But I prefer the studio version. 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I don't think he is trying to sing in a mocking manner, but that's just my perception. Anyway, Country Honk is the original version of the song. Honky Tonk Women derived from Country Honk. 

If HTW replaced Country Honk on Let It Bleed, the world would be a better place.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I briefly mentioned “Love In Vain” earlier but it’s one of my favorites on this album- the acoustic guitar work by Richards, mimicking Robert Johnson, is gorgeous. 

I also notice that a lot of people seem to prefer the live version of “Midnight Rambler” from Get Your Ya-Yas Out, and that’s the version that appears on the Stones greatest hits album Hot Rocks. But I prefer the studio version. 

Me, too - by a country mile

 

[Ghost Rider]

I've never heard this whole album (not a big enough Stones fan to check out their full albums, with the exception of Sticky Fingers and Exile). I only know the two major hits and Monkey Man from this.  I was never that fond of You Can't Get Always..., but Gimme Shelter is still an astonishing musical achievement.  I have heard it a million times and it is still just as awesome as it ever was.  I like Monkey Man a ton as well; great vibe in that one. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

Dont like Country Stones AT ALL and Let It Bleed is still my favorite Stones album. The anthems are that anthemic and i have two great memories from it.

I was in the hospital when it came out and it was one of those records you wanted to get the first day. A girl who had visited me with a bunch of kids heard me mention that i was sad about missing drop day so she did it herself and brought it to me first day, no small project for a pre-drive teen. That was just so huge and she was as pretty as any girl in my class except she had this enormous granite nose and i couldnt get past that, so i betrayed her youthful passion. Guess i shouldnt have cuz i just saw a current picture of her last wk on my vaca and she grew into that honker and is now one of the very few gals my age can still be called hawt and is one of the richest alums of my class now.

I have a pretty good singing voice but am eternally disgusted that i can't get it to scream. Not even the luminaries i later worked with in the biz could find a way to help me open my throat in a way to do so without coughing & gagging. Monkey Man was the song i became determined to practice doing so on until i got it and i screamed "monKAAAAIIIIEEEEYYYY, ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-monkAAYY" so loud and long that my mother kept yelling down the basement to see if i was okay. It so terrified her that all i had to do to quiet one of her hysterical Catholic yelling jags from then on was scream "monkAY" at her, so that was good....

 

[Eephus]

Prince's catalog is a hot mess.  He released a ton of material after leaving Warner Brothers in the mid-90s but availability of it is very spotty.  Tidal has the most complete collection among commercial streaming services but there are major omissions there as well.  It's a little easier to find Prince content on YouTube than when he was alive but it's still frustrating to search for stuff that is neither old or rare.

I haven't listed to all of his late career records.  He released albums exclusively to his fan club, included them in newspapers and cereal boxes and buried them in Minneapolis snowdrifts.  I've probably listened to most of them.  I'm not going to argue that any of them rival Purple Rain, Dirty Mind or Sign O the Times.  The records are loaded with filler, experiments and jams that promise more than they ultimately deliver.  But all the ones I've heard do have their moments.

It's too bad Prince's musical legacy isn't better preserved at the moment.  Warner Brothers may have screwed the Artist over in his lifetime but they do know how to manage a catalog.  It's up to the courts and the various parties fighting over his estate now.  Hopefully his out of print stuff will eventually find a home and someone with more taste than greed will curate whatever is locked away in the vaults at Paisley Park.  In a way it's fitting, the Artist's ego, excesses, eccentricities and controversies helped make Prince what he was.

The Prince estate and Sony have re-released 23 late career Prince albums to digital services.  There's also a 37 song compilation that collects some of his best material from 1995 to 2010.

1.     Emancipation (from Emancipation, 1996)
   
2.     Black Sweat (from 3121, 2006)
   
3.     P. Control (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
   
4.     Crucial (from Crystal Ball, 1998)
   
5.     The Love We Make (from Emancipation, 1996)
   
6.     Eye Hate U (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
   
7.     The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (from Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, 1999)
   
8.     Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U (from Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, 1999)
   
9.     Gold (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
   
10.     Guitar (from Planet Earth, 2007)
    
11.     Dream Factory (from Crystal Ball, 1998)
    
12.     The Work Part 1 (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)
    
13.     Call My Name (from Musicology, 2004)
    
14.     Strays of The World (from Crystal Ball, 1998)
    
15.     Shhh (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
    
16.     Dreamer (from LOtUSFLOW3R, 2009)
    
17.     Chaos and Disorder (from Chaos and Disorder, 1996)
    
18.     Endorphinmachine (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
    
19.     Musicology (from Musicology, 2004)
    
20.     Northside (from The Slaughterhouse, 2004)
    
21.     When Eye Lay My Hands on U (from The Chocolate Invasion, 2004)
    
22.     Beautiful Strange (from Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, 2001)
    
23.     Future Soul Song (from 20Ten, 2010)
    
24.     Empty Room (from C-Note, 2004)
    
25.     3rd Eye (from The Truth, 1998)
    
26.     U’re Gonna C Me (from One Nite Alone…, 2002)
    
27.     Dinner With Delores (from Chaos and Disorder, 1996)
    
28.     Ol’ Skool Company (from MPLSoUND, 2009)
    
29.     4ever (from LOtUSFLOW3R, 2009)
    
30.     West (from N.E.W.S., 2003)
    
31.     Xpedition (from Xpectation, 2003)
    
32.     Muse 2 The Pharaoh (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)
    
33.     Somewhere Here On Earth (from Planet Earth, 2007)
    
34.     U Make My Sun Shine (from The Chocolate Invasion, 2004)
    
35.     1+1+1 Is 3 (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)
    
36.     Chelsea Rodgers (from Planet Earth, 2007)
    
37.     We March (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
    

 

[jwb]

If HTW replaced Country Honk on Let It Bleed, the world would be a better place.

I definitely agree with this. I would probably skip Country Honk if not for the "oh, this is where HTW came from" 

 

[jwb]

I've never heard this whole album (not a big enough Stones fan to check out their full albums, with the exception of Sticky Fingers and Exile). I only know the two major hits and Monkey Man from this.  I was never that fond of You Can't Get Always..., but Gimme Shelter is still an astonishing musical achievement.  I have heard it a million times and it is still just as awesome as it ever was.  I like Monkey Man a ton as well; great vibe in that one. 

I agree with this - it never, ever gets played out to me.