Middle Aged Dummies!! Artists #1's have been posted!! (1 Viewer)

[MAC_32]

I wonder if there’s a singer/group out there with exactly 31 songs. That would be interesting to rank.

Fugees fall short of 31 if you don't include remixes and live recordings.

Amy Winehouse has 40 released songs, some of which probably never would have seen the light of day had she lived.

Tool tops 40, but if you omit the bridge tracks that aren't really songs it's barely over 40.

 

[Scoresman]

I wanted to feature Chicago because they put out incredible, and incredibly popular, music between 1969 and 1977, and yet have generally not gotten the accolades that bands with that kind of track record receive. Despite selling over 40 million albums in the US and over 100 million albums worldwide, and having 20 US top 10 hit singles (including three No. 1s), and having its best songs from 1969 to 1977 remain fixtures on radio to this day, and having an original lineup with seven incredibly talented musicians and writers who earned the respect of their peers, the band was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2016, and did not have anyone inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame until Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm and James Pankow were in 2017. They were even underappreciated in the FBG geographic countdowns, with only one song selected in the U.S. countdown and none in the worldwide one (for which their albums from 1975 to 1980 were eligible).

As Robert Lamm told Dan Rather in 2021: "For 52 years, it's been very difficult for many people in the music press world to discuss Chicago intelligently or at all, because we are hard to categorize. You can't pin us down."

I tend to like bands with talent (which does not always equate to virtuosic wankery) that try their hands at different genres, and Chicago fits the bill. They boasted three outstanding songwriters in keyboardist Lamm, guitarist Kath and trombonist James Pankow, with bassist Cetera coming into his own as a writer as time went on, and three fantastic singers in Cetera, Kath and Lamm. And they boasted one of the greatest guitarists of his generation in Kath, who was incredibly technically accomplished -- Jimi Hendrix once told the band that "your guitar player is better than me" -- and could play with grit, soul, flash or fire, whatever was called for. His tragic death in 1978 was one of the rock world's greatest losses.

I also like that Chicago envisioned themselves as "a rock and roll band with horns" and never forgot that until the '80s. Unlike jazz, where the horns dominated, or R&B, where the horns punctuated, with Chicago the horns were fully integrated with the rhythm section and sometimes served as counterpoints to the lead vocals. Rarely in their 1969-80 recordings will you hear the "tossed-in sax solo" approach that Krista hates so much.

Also in their favor was that they tried many different genres and experiments despite being a consistent presence on the charts. Helping was that they had multiple songwriters and singers, and a unique policy that the writer of the song was not necessarily the one to sing it. Lamm "cast" singers in his mind while writing his songs. Pankow conducted auditions in the studio, often with all three of the main singers attempting the lead vocal before one was decided upon. Cetera and Kath usually sang what they wrote, but not always.

For a band that had as much success in quality and sales as Chicago did, I think they remain underrated -- granted, some of that is due to the post-Kath material that hasn't aged well -- and I hope this exercise shows how they deserve to be considered one of rock's most important bands.

Chicago is one I'm really looking forward to. I'm embarrassed to say that they have always been the kind of band to me where I know and like 2 or 3 radio hits and then end up realizing I actually know a ton more without realizing it was them.

 

[zamboni]

I wanted to feature Chicago because they put out incredible, and incredibly popular, music between 1969 and 1977, and yet have generally not gotten the accolades that bands with that kind of track record receive. Despite selling over 40 million albums in the US and over 100 million albums worldwide, and having 20 US top 10 hit singles (including three No. 1s), and having its best songs from 1969 to 1977 remain fixtures on radio to this day, and having an original lineup with seven incredibly talented musicians and writers who earned the respect of their peers, the band was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2016, and did not have anyone inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame until Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm and James Pankow were in 2017. They were even underappreciated in the FBG geographic countdowns, with only one song selected in the U.S. countdown and none in the worldwide one (for which their albums from 1975 to 1980 were eligible).

As Robert Lamm told Dan Rather in 2021: "For 52 years, it's been very difficult for many people in the music press world to discuss Chicago intelligently or at all, because we are hard to categorize. You can't pin us down."

I tend to like bands with talent (which does not always equate to virtuosic wankery) that try their hands at different genres, and Chicago fits the bill. They boasted three outstanding songwriters in keyboardist Lamm, guitarist Kath and trombonist James Pankow, with bassist Cetera coming into his own as a writer as time went on, and three fantastic singers in Cetera, Kath and Lamm. And they boasted one of the greatest guitarists of his generation in Kath, who was incredibly technically accomplished -- Jimi Hendrix once told the band that "your guitar player is better than me" -- and could play with grit, soul, flash or fire, whatever was called for. His tragic death in 1978 was one of the rock world's greatest losses.

I also like that Chicago envisioned themselves as "a rock and roll band with horns" and never forgot that until the '80s. Unlike jazz, where the horns dominated, or R&B, where the horns punctuated, with Chicago the horns were fully integrated with the rhythm section and sometimes served as counterpoints to the lead vocals. Rarely in their 1969-80 recordings will you hear the "tossed-in sax solo" approach that Krista hates so much.

Also in their favor was that they tried many different genres and experiments despite being a consistent presence on the charts. Helping was that they had multiple songwriters and singers, and a unique policy that the writer of the song was not necessarily the one to sing it. Lamm "cast" singers in his mind while writing his songs. Pankow conducted auditions in the studio, often with all three of the main singers attempting the lead vocal before one was decided upon. Cetera and Kath usually sang what they wrote, but not always.

For a band that had as much success in quality and sales as Chicago did, I think they remain underrated -- granted, some of that is due to the post-Kath material that hasn't aged well -- and I hope this exercise shows how they deserve to be considered one of rock's most important bands.

Chicago is one I'm really looking forward to. I'm embarrassed to say that they have always been the kind of band to me where I know and like 2 or 3 radio hits and then end up realizing I actually know a ton more without realizing it was them.

Pip’s the invitation inspiration.

 

[Yo Mama]

I wanted to feature Chicago because they put out incredible, and incredibly popular, music between 1969 and 1977, and yet have generally not gotten the accolades that bands with that kind of track record receive. Despite selling over 40 million albums in the US and over 100 million albums worldwide, and having 20 US top 10 hit singles (including three No. 1s), and having its best songs from 1969 to 1977 remain fixtures on radio to this day, and having an original lineup with seven incredibly talented musicians and writers who earned the respect of their peers, the band was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2016, and did not have anyone inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame until Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm and James Pankow were in 2017. They were even underappreciated in the FBG geographic countdowns, with only one song selected in the U.S. countdown and none in the worldwide one (for which their albums from 1975 to 1980 were eligible).

As Robert Lamm told Dan Rather in 2021: "For 52 years, it's been very difficult for many people in the music press world to discuss Chicago intelligently or at all, because we are hard to categorize. You can't pin us down."

I tend to like bands with talent (which does not always equate to virtuosic wankery) that try their hands at different genres, and Chicago fits the bill. They boasted three outstanding songwriters in keyboardist Lamm, guitarist Kath and trombonist James Pankow, with bassist Cetera coming into his own as a writer as time went on, and three fantastic singers in Cetera, Kath and Lamm. And they boasted one of the greatest guitarists of his generation in Kath, who was incredibly technically accomplished -- Jimi Hendrix once told the band that "your guitar player is better than me" -- and could play with grit, soul, flash or fire, whatever was called for. His tragic death in 1978 was one of the rock world's greatest losses.

I also like that Chicago envisioned themselves as "a rock and roll band with horns" and never forgot that until the '80s. Unlike jazz, where the horns dominated, or R&B, where the horns punctuated, with Chicago the horns were fully integrated with the rhythm section and sometimes served as counterpoints to the lead vocals. Rarely in their 1969-80 recordings will you hear the "tossed-in sax solo" approach that Krista hates so much.

Also in their favor was that they tried many different genres and experiments despite being a consistent presence on the charts. Helping was that they had multiple songwriters and singers, and a unique policy that the writer of the song was not necessarily the one to sing it. Lamm "cast" singers in his mind while writing his songs. Pankow conducted auditions in the studio, often with all three of the main singers attempting the lead vocal before one was decided upon. Cetera and Kath usually sang what they wrote, but not always.

For a band that had as much success in quality and sales as Chicago did, I think they remain underrated -- granted, some of that is due to the post-Kath material that hasn't aged well -- and I hope this exercise shows how they deserve to be considered one of rock's most important bands.

Chicago is one I'm really looking forward to. I'm embarrassed to say that they have always been the kind of band to me where I know and like 2 or 3 radio hits and then end up realizing I actually know a ton more without realizing it was them.

Pip’s the invitation inspiration.

We all know what the top 3 and bottom 5 or 6 are going to be.

It’s that middle from #25 or 6 to 4 that I’m most interested in.

 

[zamboni]

I wanted to feature Chicago because they put out incredible, and incredibly popular, music between 1969 and 1977, and yet have generally not gotten the accolades that bands with that kind of track record receive. Despite selling over 40 million albums in the US and over 100 million albums worldwide, and having 20 US top 10 hit singles (including three No. 1s), and having its best songs from 1969 to 1977 remain fixtures on radio to this day, and having an original lineup with seven incredibly talented musicians and writers who earned the respect of their peers, the band was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2016, and did not have anyone inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame until Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm and James Pankow were in 2017. They were even underappreciated in the FBG geographic countdowns, with only one song selected in the U.S. countdown and none in the worldwide one (for which their albums from 1975 to 1980 were eligible).

As Robert Lamm told Dan Rather in 2021: "For 52 years, it's been very difficult for many people in the music press world to discuss Chicago intelligently or at all, because we are hard to categorize. You can't pin us down."

I tend to like bands with talent (which does not always equate to virtuosic wankery) that try their hands at different genres, and Chicago fits the bill. They boasted three outstanding songwriters in keyboardist Lamm, guitarist Kath and trombonist James Pankow, with bassist Cetera coming into his own as a writer as time went on, and three fantastic singers in Cetera, Kath and Lamm. And they boasted one of the greatest guitarists of his generation in Kath, who was incredibly technically accomplished -- Jimi Hendrix once told the band that "your guitar player is better than me" -- and could play with grit, soul, flash or fire, whatever was called for. His tragic death in 1978 was one of the rock world's greatest losses.

I also like that Chicago envisioned themselves as "a rock and roll band with horns" and never forgot that until the '80s. Unlike jazz, where the horns dominated, or R&B, where the horns punctuated, with Chicago the horns were fully integrated with the rhythm section and sometimes served as counterpoints to the lead vocals. Rarely in their 1969-80 recordings will you hear the "tossed-in sax solo" approach that Krista hates so much.

Also in their favor was that they tried many different genres and experiments despite being a consistent presence on the charts. Helping was that they had multiple songwriters and singers, and a unique policy that the writer of the song was not necessarily the one to sing it. Lamm "cast" singers in his mind while writing his songs. Pankow conducted auditions in the studio, often with all three of the main singers attempting the lead vocal before one was decided upon. Cetera and Kath usually sang what they wrote, but not always.

For a band that had as much success in quality and sales as Chicago did, I think they remain underrated -- granted, some of that is due to the post-Kath material that hasn't aged well -- and I hope this exercise shows how they deserve to be considered one of rock's most important bands.

Chicago is one I'm really looking forward to. I'm embarrassed to say that they have always been the kind of band to me where I know and like 2 or 3 radio hits and then end up realizing I actually know a ton more without realizing it was them.

Pip’s the invitation inspiration.

We all know what the top 3 and bottom 5 or 6 are going to be.

It’s that middle from #25 or 6 to 4 that I’m most interested in.

Should he try to do some more?

 

[Tau837]

Pip's Chicago posts inspired me to post an introductory post for the Foo Fighters, in case some of you aren't familiar.

Dave Grohl is one of the most accomplished artists of the past 30 years. He came to fame as the drummer for Nirvana. After Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain committed suicide, Grohl declined an invitation to become Tom Petty's drummer to work on his own music, which ultimately led to creation of the Foo Fighters.

I can't think of another instance where a hugely successful drummer in a hugely successful band has moved from drums to guitarist and frontman in a new hugely successful band, but Grohl did that. He recorded the entire first Foo Fighters album by himself, then formed a band when that album became popular enough to warrant a tour... the rest is history. Grohl has also participated in multiple other bands and projects, including Queens of the Stone Age, Probot, and Them Crooked Vultures.

The Foo Fighters music has been described as supporting many musical styles, including alternative rock, grunge, post-grunge, hard rock, power pop, and pop rock. From Wikipedia:

Grohl acknowledged that Kurt Cobain was an influence on his songwriting: "Through Kurt, I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that's stripped down." Foo Fighters also used the technique of shifting between quiet verses and loud choruses, which Grohl said was influenced by the members of Nirvana "liking The Knack, Bay City Rollers, Beatles, and ABBA as much as we liked Flipper and Black Flag, I suppose." By the time Foo Fighters released Greatest Hits, Pitchfork described Grohl and the band as "his generation's answer to Tom Petty—a consistent hit machine pumping out working-class rock."

One of the things I really like about Grohl and the band is their willingness to explore different projects, including many that are whimsical, showing they don't take themselves too seriously. For example:

• The Sonic Highways album was created in a manner completely different from anything I'm aware of, more info here
• The "Dee Gees" Hail Satin album
• Their annual Hanukkah Sessions, example here from a couple years ago

I also think it is very cool that they regularly invite fans on stage to perform with them during their concerts. Here is an example where Dave invited an 11 year old girl to play drums for Everlong at a concert in LA (and she crushed it!). There are a lot of examples on YouTube, and Dave explains why they do this here. This is just another sign that Grohl and the Foos enjoy what they do and love their fans.

The Foo Fighters have been nominated for 32 Grammy awards and won 15 through the 2023 Grammys. That is the second most wins by a group. (U2 has won 22.) The Foos have won 5 Grammys for Best Rock Album, which is a Grammy that has been awarded since 1995, which means they have won just over 20% of the Grammys in that category, and they have won for 5 of their 10 studio albums released during that timeframe. No other artist has won more than 2 Grammys in that category. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. So they have been recognized as being quite successful.

I look forward to presenting my favorite Foo Fighters songs and hope that it leads at least a few of you to appreciate their music more than before!

I will go ahead and say now that I really like the acoustic music from the Foos, so you will get plenty of that in my countdown. I hope you all like it.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Bumper music on Fox’s Yankees-Dodgers broadcast: Saturday in the Park.

 

[Tau837]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

 

[kupcho1]

@Zegras11 will there be a thread for each day/# (e.g., song 31 for each artist) or will this be the repository for all 8 million songs and discussion?

 

[Ilov80s]

Is it June 6 yet?

 

[Zegras11]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

 

[Zegras11]

@Zegras11 will there be a thread for each day/# (e.g., song 31 for each artist) or will this be the repository for all 8 million songs and discussion?

I'll post all the #31's on Tue night. The 30's Wed night, and so on. Likely will take Saturdays off. Also likely I'm playin WSOP events two weekends from now, and a whole week at the EOM. So those days will get posted, but might have to do that week in the AM

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

 

[Galileo]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

Yeah, people will no longer be wondering if song X made the cut... I would say hold them until after the reveal, but it's your show.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I did mini-writeups for songs 32-100 that I will post after the countdown.

 

[Don Quixote]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

It may depend on the artist and songs. I haven’t decided if I’ll post yet, but I also don’t think a last five out from my artist would really spoil anything for anyone, and would instead be more like some bonus tracks.

 

[MAC_32]

FWIW I'll be sharing my final cuts as we go along, so spoilers will trickle out but not all at once.

 

[plinko]

I've got a typically janky writeup ready to go, but I'll post a handful of tracks that missed the cut, leading into the big day.

Here's one now! Luna Park

 

[plinko]

Pips and @Anarchy99 do such good professional looking writeups that I am very self conscious about how sloppy mine is.. but anybody who took part in my hair metal thread will be used to my style anyway

Here's another one ... Some fans may consider it blasphemy that this didn't make my 31, but so it goes, I had to spread it out. Pip has more info on the Neil Busch saga than I do.

Baudelaire

 

[simey]

Pips and @Anarchy99 do such good professional looking writeups that I am very self conscious about how sloppy mine is.. but anybody who took part in my hair metal thread will be used to my style anyway

I like your style, JZ.

 

[plinko]

Sorry if doing this means I'm skirting the rules? I have trouble processing sometimes. (Partly why I can't always play along with more recent projects here) But anyway, to be fair, most people hardly know my band at all so I feel like it's a fun little tease.

Tomorrow I fly to Cleveland and will be on work travel / hit or miss going into the week, hence also the colonoscopy postponement

 

[simey]

My songs aren't in chronological order or a favorite worst to first style. There were way too many top 10 favorites, so I just put a list together based on the pace of the songs on a playlist. So many great songs were left off the list, but that is just a testament of how great Brother Ray was. I chose songs that were on both YouTube and Spotify. Last year, Spotify finally had a lot more Ray songs put on the site, but there are still many left off. Some of it seems to do with the different record labels. A lot of the songs I chose were influenced from being raised on Ray. A few others were from hearing them as an adult. He made amazing music all the way up to his final album.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Pips and @Anarchy99 do such good professional looking writeups that I am very self conscious about how sloppy mine is.. but anybody who took part in my hair metal thread will be used to my style anyway

Here's another one ... Some fans may consider it blasphemy that this didn't make my 31, but so it goes, I had to spread it out. Pip has more info on the Neil Busch saga than I do.

Baudelaire

We don’t get style points. Just say what you want to say and it’ll come across just fine.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Here's another one ... Some fans may consider it blasphemy that this didn't make my 31, but so it goes, I had to spread it out. Pip has more info on the Neil Busch saga than I do.

Baudelaire

I don’t know ToD well enough to properly rank 31 of their songs but I do love this one. It would’ve been top 3 for me. My entire top 5 would probably be from Source Tags & Codes.

 

[Tau837]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

As if everyone knows 31 songs by the Stranglers...

Since some posters think it would take away from the top 31, I'll wait and post my 32+ list after the countdown.

 

[plinko]

Here's another one ... Some fans may consider it blasphemy that this didn't make my 31, but so it goes, I had to spread it out. Pip has more info on the Neil Busch saga than I do.

Baudelaire

I don’t know ToD well enough to properly rank 31 of their songs but I do love this one. It would’ve been top 3 for me. My entire top 5 would probably be from Source Tags & Codes.

My first rule was, don't overindex on Source Tags. Of course, it is their best album, AOTY 2002 in my book and I'm not the only one, but I wanted to spread this around as much as I could reasonably do. So I ended up with no more than four songs from any album, though, to give Source Tags it's props, spoiler alert! my top two are from that record... what I objectively think is the best song on it, and then my personal favorite from it. ((any guesses??))

Baudelaire was a very late cut, and then the song it was cut for was actually cut also, when I realized I'd messed up and left one off that I really needed, more on that later...

For now, we talked just a bit about the one cover song I ended up including and actually ranking fairly high, I still don't know of any others on record, but here's a live Indigo Girls cover for more funsies

 

[plinko]

Pips and @Anarchy99 do such good professional looking writeups that I am very self conscious about how sloppy mine is.. but anybody who took part in my hair metal thread will be used to my style anyway

Here's another one ... Some fans may consider it blasphemy that this didn't make my 31, but so it goes, I had to spread it out. Pip has more info on the Neil Busch saga than I do.

Baudelaire

We don’t get style points. Just say what you want to say and it’ll come across just fine.

It appears I'm just going to chop the whole thing into chunks anyway, given that I now understand how the reveal is going to go...

 

[plinko]

My songs aren't in chronological order or a favorite worst to first style. There were way too many top 10 favorites, so I just put a list together based on the pace of the songs on a playlist. So many great songs were left off the list, but that is just a testament of how great Brother Ray was. I chose songs that were on both YouTube and Spotify. Last year, Spotify finally had a lot more Ray songs put on the site, but there are still many left off. Some of it seems to do with the different record labels. A lot of the songs I chose were influenced from being raised on Ray. A few others were from hearing them as an adult. He made amazing music all the way up to his final album.

Pumped for this

 

[Scoresman]

I posted a bit about the band I chose earlier in the thread but here is a revised edition since we're closer to this happening.

What's a Sigur Ros?

Pronounced "See-Ur Rose", Sigur Ros is an Icelandic post rock band that’s been around since 1994. They are mainly known for their ethereal sound, booming crescendos, falsetto lead vocals, and their use of reverb accentuated guitar using a cello's bow. Usual descriptions for them are that they are kind of like Radiohead, only from Iceland and possibly sound like elves or forest fairies. Bjork is not a member of the band. She’s the other Icelandic musical act.

Their name translates to "Victory Rose". They took this from lead singer Jonsi's sister who was born a few days before the band officially formed. Her name is "Sigurros". They got their first record deal because they thought the falsetto vocals of frontman Jonsi would appeal to teenage girls. Their work has appeared in Vanilla Sky, The Life Aquatic, 127 Hours, various film/TV trailers, one of those Planet Earth documentaries, and they also made an appearance in Game of Thrones where they performed for about 10 seconds before Joffrey starts throwing food at them.

While Sigur Ros incorporates more vocals than typically heard in post-rock, most of them are sung in Icelandic. The rest of their songs are sung in “Hopelandic”, which is a gibberish language used to match the melody and rhythm of the music.

Why did I choose Sigur Ros?

Sigur Ros has made my favorite music for almost 25 years now. I thought about it and there are only three bands I was really into in my youth that I still revere in the same way today: Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Sigur Ros. Neat trio. I am familiar with their entire catalog of songs. I was introduced to them the same way a lot of people were at the time. Their second album Ágætis byrjun had come out and was quickly gaining steam. I was a big Radiohead fan and I kept hearing how this new band from Iceland kind of sounds like them. It took a couple of listens of said album for it to click, but once it did I was hooked.

Another reason I chose them is that introducing people to Sigur Ros can be easier said than done so I accept the challenge. They don't sing in English, the falsetto can put people off, and then there's things like song length and slow build ups you get with post rock. A lot of their music requires effort to actively listen to, which I don't see as a negative thing. I feel like listening to them a bit at a time, kind of like what we are doing here is the best way to get into them. If/Once they click, there is no music more beautiful or representative of music as an art form than what these 3-4 guys from Iceland put out album after album, and that's all without understanding a word they are saying. That sounds pretentious as ****, but I truly believe it.

What will you get out of this playlist?

A good variety that's for sure. They change things up a lot with each album, which is good. They do have a couple of mostly ambient albums which are not my favorite. I'm a fan of their more structured, emotionally charged songs. So two albums in particular, Von and Valtari, are minimally represented here. If you dont like a particular song, the next one will probably sound totally different. I tried mixing up styles in the playlist. The first couple songs I rank pretty highly but wanted to start off with something more universally approachable.

I will post a writeup of varying length for the songs, including lyric translation, music videos, and live performances where applicable. Their live performances are going to mostly come from their concert film Heima, which might as well be a travel propaganda film for Iceland. The group did a free, unannounced tour in Iceland where they played everywhere from coffee shops to ghost towns to the top of a large glacier and they filmed it. The cinematography and showcasing of the Icelandic countryside and towns is just incredible.

Be sure to watch the music videos if you can too. They make really interesting even controversial videos, that span from cinematographic to WTF to topical in subject.

Hey I kind of dig this. Where do I go next?

Somebody made a handy graphic of their albums and potential listening order that I agree with. See it here.

The previously mentioned concert film Heima is a must watch. Watch it here.

They are also coming out with their first studio album in ten years sometime this month!

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Here's another one ... Some fans may consider it blasphemy that this didn't make my 31, but so it goes, I had to spread it out. Pip has more info on the Neil Busch saga than I do.

Baudelaire

I don’t know ToD well enough to properly rank 31 of their songs but I do love this one. It would’ve been top 3 for me. My entire top 5 would probably be from Source Tags & Codes.

So I ended up with no more than four songs from any album, though, to give Source Tags it's props, spoiler alert! my top two are from that record... what I objectively think is the best song on it, and then my personal favorite from it. ((any guesses??))

I'll guess Relative Ways and How Near How Far

 

[zamboni]

I posted a bit about the band I chose earlier in the thread but here is a revised edition since we're closer to this happening.

What's a Sigur Ros?

Pronounced "See-Ur Rose", Sigur Ros is an Icelandic post rock band that’s been around since 1994. They are mainly known for their ethereal sound, booming crescendos, falsetto lead vocals, and their use of reverb accentuated guitar using a cello's bow. Usual descriptions for them are that they are kind of like Radiohead, only from Iceland and possibly sound like elves or forest fairies. Bjork is not a member of the band. She’s the other Icelandic musical act.

Their name translates to "Victory Rose". They took this from lead singer Jonsi's sister who was born a few days before the band officially formed. Her name is "Sigurros". They got their first record deal because they thought the falsetto vocals of frontman Jonsi would appeal to teenage girls. Their work has appeared in Vanilla Sky, The Life Aquatic, 127 Hours, various film/TV trailers, one of those Planet Earth documentaries, and they also made an appearance in Game of Thrones where they performed for about 10 seconds before Joffrey starts throwing food at them.

While Sigur Ros incorporates more vocals than typically heard in post-rock, most of them are sung in Icelandic. The rest of their songs are sung in “Hopelandic”, which is a gibberish language used to match the melody and rhythm of the music.

Why did I choose Sigur Ros?

Sigur Ros has made my favorite music for almost 25 years now. I thought about it and there are only three bands I was really into in my youth that I still revere in the same way today: Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Sigur Ros. Neat trio. I am familiar with their entire catalog of songs. I was introduced to them the same way a lot of people were at the time. Their second album Ágætis byrjun had come out and was quickly gaining steam. I was a big Radiohead fan and I kept hearing how this new band from Iceland kind of sounds like them. It took a couple of listens of said album for it to click, but once it did I was hooked.

Another reason I chose them is that introducing people to Sigur Ros can be easier said than done so I accept the challenge. They don't sing in English, the falsetto can put people off, and then there's things like song length and slow build ups you get with post rock. A lot of their music requires effort to actively listen to, which I don't see as a negative thing. I feel like listening to them a bit at a time, kind of like what we are doing here is the best way to get into them. If/Once they click, there is no music more beautiful or representative of music as an art form than what these 3-4 guys from Iceland put out album after album, and that's all without understanding a word they are saying. That sounds pretentious as ****, but I truly believe it.

What will you get out of this playlist?

A good variety that's for sure. They change things up a lot with each album, which is good. They do have a couple of mostly ambient albums which are not my favorite. I'm a fan of their more structured, emotionally charged songs. So two albums in particular, Von and Valtari, are minimally represented here. If you dont like a particular song, the next one will probably sound totally different. I tried mixing up styles in the playlist. The first couple songs I rank pretty highly but wanted to start off with something more universally approachable.

I will post a writeup of varying length for the songs, including lyric translation, music videos, and live performances where applicable. Their live performances are going to mostly come from their concert film Heima, which might as well be a travel propaganda film for Iceland. The group did a free, unannounced tour in Iceland where they played everywhere from coffee shops to ghost towns to the top of a large glacier and they filmed it. The cinematography and showcasing of the Icelandic countryside and towns is just incredible.

Be sure to watch the music videos if you can too. They make really interesting even controversial videos, that span from cinematographic to WTF to topical in subject.

Hey I kind of dig this. Where do I go next?

Somebody made a handy graphic of their albums and potential listening order that I agree with. See it here.

The previously mentioned concert film Heima is a must watch. Watch it here.

They are also coming out with their first studio album in ten years sometime this month!

I’m interested in this playlist. When I went to Iceland four years ago, I had planned on listening to them - got more into Bjork/Sugarcubes but kind of fell away from my Iceland kick - good time to pick it back up.

 

[plinko]

Here's another one ... Some fans may consider it blasphemy that this didn't make my 31, but so it goes, I had to spread it out. Pip has more info on the Neil Busch saga than I do.

Baudelaire

I don’t know ToD well enough to properly rank 31 of their songs but I do love this one. It would’ve been top 3 for me. My entire top 5 would probably be from Source Tags & Codes.

So I ended up with no more than four songs from any album, though, to give Source Tags it's props, spoiler alert! my top two are from that record... what I objectively think is the best song on it, and then my personal favorite from it. ((any guesses??))

I'll guess Relative Ways and How Near How Far

We will have to wait and see!

 

[plinko]

I posted a bit about the band I chose earlier in the thread but here is a revised edition since we're closer to this happening.

What's a Sigur Ros?

Pronounced "See-Ur Rose", Sigur Ros is an Icelandic post rock band that’s been around since 1994. They are mainly known for their ethereal sound, booming crescendos, falsetto lead vocals, and their use of reverb accentuated guitar using a cello's bow. Usual descriptions for them are that they are kind of like Radiohead, only from Iceland and possibly sound like elves or forest fairies. Bjork is not a member of the band. She’s the other Icelandic musical act.

Their name translates to "Victory Rose". They took this from lead singer Jonsi's sister who was born a few days before the band officially formed. Her name is "Sigurros". They got their first record deal because they thought the falsetto vocals of frontman Jonsi would appeal to teenage girls. Their work has appeared in Vanilla Sky, The Life Aquatic, 127 Hours, various film/TV trailers, one of those Planet Earth documentaries, and they also made an appearance in Game of Thrones where they performed for about 10 seconds before Joffrey starts throwing food at them.

While Sigur Ros incorporates more vocals than typically heard in post-rock, most of them are sung in Icelandic. The rest of their songs are sung in “Hopelandic”, which is a gibberish language used to match the melody and rhythm of the music.

Why did I choose Sigur Ros?

Sigur Ros has made my favorite music for almost 25 years now. I thought about it and there are only three bands I was really into in my youth that I still revere in the same way today: Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Sigur Ros. Neat trio. I am familiar with their entire catalog of songs. I was introduced to them the same way a lot of people were at the time. Their second album Ágætis byrjun had come out and was quickly gaining steam. I was a big Radiohead fan and I kept hearing how this new band from Iceland kind of sounds like them. It took a couple of listens of said album for it to click, but once it did I was hooked.

Another reason I chose them is that introducing people to Sigur Ros can be easier said than done so I accept the challenge. They don't sing in English, the falsetto can put people off, and then there's things like song length and slow build ups you get with post rock. A lot of their music requires effort to actively listen to, which I don't see as a negative thing. I feel like listening to them a bit at a time, kind of like what we are doing here is the best way to get into them. If/Once they click, there is no music more beautiful or representative of music as an art form than what these 3-4 guys from Iceland put out album after album, and that's all without understanding a word they are saying. That sounds pretentious as ****, but I truly believe it.

What will you get out of this playlist?

A good variety that's for sure. They change things up a lot with each album, which is good. They do have a couple of mostly ambient albums which are not my favorite. I'm a fan of their more structured, emotionally charged songs. So two albums in particular, Von and Valtari, are minimally represented here. If you dont like a particular song, the next one will probably sound totally different. I tried mixing up styles in the playlist. The first couple songs I rank pretty highly but wanted to start off with something more universally approachable.

I will post a writeup of varying length for the songs, including lyric translation, music videos, and live performances where applicable. Their live performances are going to mostly come from their concert film Heima, which might as well be a travel propaganda film for Iceland. The group did a free, unannounced tour in Iceland where they played everywhere from coffee shops to ghost towns to the top of a large glacier and they filmed it. The cinematography and showcasing of the Icelandic countryside and towns is just incredible.

Be sure to watch the music videos if you can too. They make really interesting even controversial videos, that span from cinematographic to WTF to topical in subject.

Hey I kind of dig this. Where do I go next?

Somebody made a handy graphic of their albums and potential listening order that I agree with. See it here.

The previously mentioned concert film Heima is a must watch. Watch it here.

They are also coming out with their first studio album in ten years sometime this month!

I’m interested in this playlist. When I went to Iceland four years ago, I had planned on listening to them - got more into Bjork/Sugarcubes but kind of fell away from my Iceland kick - good time to pick it back up.

I went to Iceland four years ago too, did we talk about this? Are you my ex-girlfriend??

 

[Zegras11]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

 

[zamboni]

I posted a bit about the band I chose earlier in the thread but here is a revised edition since we're closer to this happening.

What's a Sigur Ros?

Pronounced "See-Ur Rose", Sigur Ros is an Icelandic post rock band that’s been around since 1994. They are mainly known for their ethereal sound, booming crescendos, falsetto lead vocals, and their use of reverb accentuated guitar using a cello's bow. Usual descriptions for them are that they are kind of like Radiohead, only from Iceland and possibly sound like elves or forest fairies. Bjork is not a member of the band. She’s the other Icelandic musical act.

Their name translates to "Victory Rose". They took this from lead singer Jonsi's sister who was born a few days before the band officially formed. Her name is "Sigurros". They got their first record deal because they thought the falsetto vocals of frontman Jonsi would appeal to teenage girls. Their work has appeared in Vanilla Sky, The Life Aquatic, 127 Hours, various film/TV trailers, one of those Planet Earth documentaries, and they also made an appearance in Game of Thrones where they performed for about 10 seconds before Joffrey starts throwing food at them.

While Sigur Ros incorporates more vocals than typically heard in post-rock, most of them are sung in Icelandic. The rest of their songs are sung in “Hopelandic”, which is a gibberish language used to match the melody and rhythm of the music.

Why did I choose Sigur Ros?

Sigur Ros has made my favorite music for almost 25 years now. I thought about it and there are only three bands I was really into in my youth that I still revere in the same way today: Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Sigur Ros. Neat trio. I am familiar with their entire catalog of songs. I was introduced to them the same way a lot of people were at the time. Their second album Ágætis byrjun had come out and was quickly gaining steam. I was a big Radiohead fan and I kept hearing how this new band from Iceland kind of sounds like them. It took a couple of listens of said album for it to click, but once it did I was hooked.

Another reason I chose them is that introducing people to Sigur Ros can be easier said than done so I accept the challenge. They don't sing in English, the falsetto can put people off, and then there's things like song length and slow build ups you get with post rock. A lot of their music requires effort to actively listen to, which I don't see as a negative thing. I feel like listening to them a bit at a time, kind of like what we are doing here is the best way to get into them. If/Once they click, there is no music more beautiful or representative of music as an art form than what these 3-4 guys from Iceland put out album after album, and that's all without understanding a word they are saying. That sounds pretentious as ****, but I truly believe it.

What will you get out of this playlist?

A good variety that's for sure. They change things up a lot with each album, which is good. They do have a couple of mostly ambient albums which are not my favorite. I'm a fan of their more structured, emotionally charged songs. So two albums in particular, Von and Valtari, are minimally represented here. If you dont like a particular song, the next one will probably sound totally different. I tried mixing up styles in the playlist. The first couple songs I rank pretty highly but wanted to start off with something more universally approachable.

I will post a writeup of varying length for the songs, including lyric translation, music videos, and live performances where applicable. Their live performances are going to mostly come from their concert film Heima, which might as well be a travel propaganda film for Iceland. The group did a free, unannounced tour in Iceland where they played everywhere from coffee shops to ghost towns to the top of a large glacier and they filmed it. The cinematography and showcasing of the Icelandic countryside and towns is just incredible.

Be sure to watch the music videos if you can too. They make really interesting even controversial videos, that span from cinematographic to WTF to topical in subject.

Hey I kind of dig this. Where do I go next?

Somebody made a handy graphic of their albums and potential listening order that I agree with. See it here.

The previously mentioned concert film Heima is a must watch. Watch it here.

They are also coming out with their first studio album in ten years sometime this month!

I’m interested in this playlist. When I went to Iceland four years ago, I had planned on listening to them - got more into Bjork/Sugarcubes but kind of fell away from my Iceland kick - good time to pick it back up.

I went to Iceland four years ago too, did we talk about this? Are you my ex-girlfriend??

I did hang out a lot at the lamb hot dog stand in Reykjavik if that helps.

 

[plinko]

I did hang out a lot at the lamb hot dog stand if that helps.

I couldn't get into the hot dogs. The best food we had in the five days we were there was at the university's Stúdentakjallarinn

 

[zamboni]

I did hang out a lot at the lamb hot dog stand if that helps.

I couldn't get into the hot dogs. The best food we had in the five days we were there was at the university's Stúdentakjallarinn

I heard about that - didn’t get there. We did go on one of those food tours that was really good.

 

[krista4]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

Admittedly I wasn't thinking of the "spoiler" aspect until JML pointed it out, either, but there's a big difference in, for instance, seeing Bohemian Rhapsody on someone's last five out when they have every song in the world to choose from, and knowing it would likely be on a ton of other people's lists. If someone were doing a Queen list here, though, and they show Bohemian Rhapsody in their last five out, well...that's a major spoiler.

 

[plinko]

Early, bizarre interview with bandleader Conrad Keely, pre-Source Tags. Bear through it for a brief exchange about The Wall.

Say what you will, this kid turns out to be one of the American artistic geniuses of our generation

https://youtu.be/h7LQbVKjNhg

 

[Zegras11]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

Admittedly I wasn't thinking of the "spoiler" aspect until JML pointed it out, either, but there's a big difference in, for instance, seeing Bohemian Rhapsody on someone's last five out when they have every song in the world to choose from, and knowing it would likely be on a ton of other people's lists. If someone were doing a Queen list here, though, and they show Bohemian Rhapsody in their last five out, well...that's a major spoiler.

How can that be worse than ranking Sugar Mountain #111?

 

[krista4]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

Admittedly I wasn't thinking of the "spoiler" aspect until JML pointed it out, either, but there's a big difference in, for instance, seeing Bohemian Rhapsody on someone's last five out when they have every song in the world to choose from, and knowing it would likely be on a ton of other people's lists. If someone were doing a Queen list here, though, and they show Bohemian Rhapsody in their last five out, well...that's a major spoiler.

How can that be worse than ranking Sugar Mountain #111?

Shots fired!!

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

Admittedly I wasn't thinking of the "spoiler" aspect until JML pointed it out, either, but there's a big difference in, for instance, seeing Bohemian Rhapsody on someone's last five out when they have every song in the world to choose from, and knowing it would likely be on a ton of other people's lists. If someone were doing a Queen list here, though, and they show Bohemian Rhapsody in their last five out, well...that's a major spoiler.

Krista illustrates this perfectly.
If you want to build up any suspense in your lists, revealing your choices 32-36, or in some cases 32-100 lol, before you start sort of ruins the surprise for someone paying close attention to a list.

Eg this artist still has 7 great songs left and they only have 5 spots to run down. Whats gonna miss out?

If at the beginning you state last 5 out as “Bohemian Rhapsody, Im in love with my car, Radio Gaga, Princes of the Universe and Under Pressure” then the top 5 are going to be more obvious.

In the World, UK and US top 31, you were picking 1 artist so ANYTHING could be on those lists. Here its refined to one artist and a much smaller playing field.

But not my countdown, do what you see as appropriate

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Early, bizarre interview with bandleader Conrad Keely, pre-Source Tags. Bear through it for a brief exchange about The Wall.

Say what you will, this kid turns out to be one of the American* artistic geniuses of our generation

https://youtu.be/h7LQbVKjNhg

* actually born in London

He's definitely a "mad genius" type.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

Admittedly I wasn't thinking of the "spoiler" aspect until JML pointed it out, either, but there's a big difference in, for instance, seeing Bohemian Rhapsody on someone's last five out when they have every song in the world to choose from, and knowing it would likely be on a ton of other people's lists. If someone were doing a Queen list here, though, and they show Bohemian Rhapsody in their last five out, well...that's a major spoiler.

How can that be worse than ranking Sugar Mountain #111?

Nobody knew that Sugar Mountain didn't make my top 101 until the top 101 was entirely revealed and it wasn't there.

 

[zamboni]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

Admittedly I wasn't thinking of the "spoiler" aspect until JML pointed it out, either, but there's a big difference in, for instance, seeing Bohemian Rhapsody on someone's last five out when they have every song in the world to choose from, and knowing it would likely be on a ton of other people's lists. If someone were doing a Queen list here, though, and they show Bohemian Rhapsody in their last five out, well...that's a major spoiler.

How can that be worse than ranking Sugar Mountain #111?

It can't be 20.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Breakdown of my Chicago top 31:

Writers (adds up to more than 31 due to collaborations):
Robert Lamm: 13
James Pankow: 6
Peter Cetera: 5
Terry Kath: 5
Lee Loughnane: 2
Danny Seraphine: 2
Cover: 1

Lead vocals (adds up to more than 31 due to sharing):
Peter Cetera: 18
Terry Kath: 11
Robert Lamm: 9
Lee Loughnane: 2

Albums:
Chicago Transit Authority: 6
Chicago (aka Chicago II): 4
Chicago III: 5
Chicago V: 2
Chicago VI: 3
Chicago VII: 6
Chicago VIII: 3
Chicago XI: 2

The first time a studio album appears on my list of 31, I will give my take on it in that entry. Here are the studio albums I listened to for this countdown that had no songs wind up in my top 31.

Chicago X (1976)
This is the only studio album from the Terry Kath era that has no songs on the list. It's actually a more consistent record than its immediate predecessor Chicago VIII (IX was a greatest hits album), but doesn't have the high points. I agree with what Jeff Giles wrote in a retrospective review: "It was essentially a pop album — not a bad one ... but one that couldn't help but feel a little light when held up against the double-LP sets of years past." It has five songs in my top 50, so there is plenty of good material here, it's just that none were special enough to crack the top 31. Its appearance here also means that, as I alluded to a few weeks ago, the band's biggest hit of the '70s did not make my top 31.

Hot Streets (1978)
The first album after Terry Kath's death broke from tradition by having a title (it would have been Chicago XII under normal circumstances) and a prominent photo of the band on the cover. It also began a three-album run of the band trying to find an identity amid the dominant musical trends of the late '70s. While its biggest hit, Alive Again, was in keeping with the singles from Chicago VI to XI, much of the rest of the album was given over to the smooth sounds of yacht rock. Which I like, but not as much as the band's top-notch material from 1969 to 1977. New guitarist Donnie Dacus could have been a factor there, as he had played on two very yachty Stephen Stills albums before joining Chicago. As with Chicago X, there is some good stuff here, but nothing that matches their elite material (six songs made my top 100, the highest coming in at #52).

Chicago 13 (1979)
There is not much good stuff here. This is their worst album before the '80s ballad era. Deservingly, it was their first record with no top 40 singles. (It marked a return to the tradition of numbering the albums, but still deviated by using Arabic instead of Roman numerals.) The simple description is that they shifted their focus from imitating yacht rock to imitating disco, but that really only applies to one track (Street Player, which is actually a pretty decent take on disco). Most of the other tracks are overproduced, nonmelodic sludge with no reason to exist. Peter Cetera at times sings in his lower register (and would do so again on XIV), and it usually doesn't work. Only two of its songs made my top 100, and they don't appear until #77 and #85.

Chicago XIV (1980)
The band realized that they had reached a dead end with Chicago 13 and that contemporary late '70s pop production did not suit them well. So the band jumped on the opposite trend, opting for a stripped down sound, often with minimal horns, that might appeal to New Wave fans. It did not pay off commercially, as like 13, it had no top 40 singles. Worse, it was by far their worst performance to date on the album charts, rising no higher than #71. Yet, the uptempo numbers succeed pretty well, and many of them rock unexpectedly hard (courtesy of a couple of session guitarists who stood in for the fired Dacus). But the three ballads at the end of side 1 are just dire, and offer a horrific preview of what was to come for the rest of the '80s. However, if you listen to the album's other seven tracks, and a couple of its bonus tracks, it's a rewarding experience. Its songs start appearing for me at #55.

Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus (recorded 1993, released 2008)
Why did I listen to an album released long after the band had faded from relevance? Because of its strange history and its cult following. After more than 10 years of turning out mostly dreck mandated by producers and label executives, the band in 1993 decided to make an "artistic statement" album. Stone of Sisyphus was written and recorded with no input from Warner Bros. Jason Scheff: "It was our statement ... taking all the motives away from [the idea that], 'I've got to make a hit; I've got to use outside writers' material'." When it was turned in, the label loved it and gave it a release date of March 22, 1994 with the planned title of Chicago XXII: Stone of Sisyphus. But soon, there was a corporate shakeup, and the new decision-makers at the label didn't care for the record and canceled its release. James Pankow: "It was a little too adventuresome, shall we say, for the label at the time. ... They were expecting another "If You Leave Me Now", "Hard to Say I'm Sorry". ... They asked us to go back and do it again and we said, 'Sorry, this is where we're at.'" The band members were at odds about what to do, and the album remained unreleased for 14 years. In the interim, Robert Lamm, Bill Champlin and Scheff had put out alternate versions of some Sisyphus songs on their solo albums. The disappearance of the album sparked much chatter among fans, some of whom traded bootleg copies of it. The record was featured in the 2007 book The Greatest Music Never Sold: Secrets of Legendary Lost Albums. In 2008, the group put it out on Rhino, with slight differences from the 1994 track listing.
I love great stories about music history, especially ones about material being suppressed by bean counters before seeing the light of day. Unfortunately, the material does not live up to the legend. While the horns are restored to prominence, the album is overproduced and over-arranged. Lamm turned in a political song for the first time since 1972, and the result was awkward. The best songs (two tracks appear in the lower reaches of my top 100) recall 1980s Toto, which is fine, but not what I think of as something that should be considered in the same league as The Beach Boys' Smile or Neil Young's Homegrown. Most of the rest of it sounds like Richard Marx. Which begs the question: If their "artistic statement" was songs that sound like Richard Marx, then just what exactly the hell was this an improvement FROM?

 

[plinko]

Early, bizarre interview with bandleader Conrad Keely, pre-Source Tags. Bear through it for a brief exchange about The Wall.

Say what you will, this kid turns out to be one of the American* artistic geniuses of our generation

https://youtu.be/h7LQbVKjNhg

* actually born in London

Which leads me to, since its two core members met in high school on Oahu, would that make them the best rock band out of the Aloha State and by about a million miles?

 

[Zegras11]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

How is that different from all the other last fives we've done?

Admittedly I wasn't thinking of the "spoiler" aspect until JML pointed it out, either, but there's a big difference in, for instance, seeing Bohemian Rhapsody on someone's last five out when they have every song in the world to choose from, and knowing it would likely be on a ton of other people's lists. If someone were doing a Queen list here, though, and they show Bohemian Rhapsody in their last five out, well...that's a major spoiler.

Krista illustrates this perfectly.
If you want to build up any suspense in your lists, revealing your choices 32-36, or in some cases 32-100 lol, before you start sort of ruins the surprise for someone paying close attention to a list.

Eg this artist still has 7 great songs left and they only have 5 spots to run down. Whats gonna miss out?

If at the beginning you state last 5 out as “Bohemian Rhapsody, Im in love with my car, Radio Gaga, Princes of the Universe and Under Pressure” then the top 5 are going to be more obvious.

In the World, UK and US top 31, you were picking 1 artist so ANYTHING could be on those lists. Here its refined to one artist and a much smaller playing field.

But not my countdown, do what you see as appropriate

I've run a few of these, and been in a few also. The only constant I see is that everyone has vastly different tastes and way they interpret music.

And if someone leaves Boehemian Rhapsody off their list, I'd rather know about it now.

I think the thing with this format is just to let everyone list the way the want in the order they want.

I'm looking forward to all the lists. Hope to learn a ton. Really like that a few took an artist so they can list all of their work with different bands

And On that theme, Bastille and Chic with Niles Rodgers played before Duran Duran last night.

Didn't know Niles had a handle in so many great songs. Besides playing the old Chic classics, he played the songs he wrote for Diana Ross, Madonna, David Bowie and others. It was all a pleasant surprise.

• Diana — Diana Ross (1980)
• King Of The World —Sheila (1980)
• KooKoo — Debbie Harry (1981)
• Let's Dance — David Bowie (1983)
• Hearts and Bones — Paul Simon (1983)
• Like a Virgin — Madonna (1984)
• Do You — Sheena Easton (1985)
• Boys and Girls — Bryan Ferry (1985)
• She's the Boss — Mick Jagger (1985)
• L Is for Lover — Al Jarreau (1986)
• True Colors — Cyndi Lauper (1986)
• So — Peter Gabriel (1986)
• Inside Story — Grace Jones (1986)
• Inside Out — Philip Bailey (1986)
• Workin' Overtime — Diana Ross (1989)
• Move to This — Cathy Dennis (1990)
• Mariah Carey — Mariah Carey (1990)
• Other Voices — Paul Young (1990)
• Fireball Zone — Ric Ocasek (1991)
• Hat Full of Stars — Cyndi Lauper (1993)
• Black Tie White Noise — David Bowie (1993)
• Mamouna — Bryan Ferry (1994)
• HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I — Michael Jackson (1995)
• Mind Body & Soul — Joss Stone (2004)
• Olympia — Bryan Ferry (2010)
• Les chansons de l'innocence retrouvée — Etienne Daho (2013)
• Lay Me Down — Avicii and Adam Lambert (2014)
• Avonmore — Bryan Ferry (2014)
• Velvet — Adam Lambert (2020) ("Roses")
• Out The Cage — Keith Urban and Breland (2020)
• No Words Needed — Rebecca Ferguson (2021)
• Who's Hurting Who — Jack Savoretti (2021)
• "Cuff It" — Beyonce (2022)
• "Legendaddy — Daddy Yankee (2022)
• Passion feat. Nile Rodgers — Roosevelt (2022)
• Pre-Code Hollywood — Jonathan Bree (2022)
• Unforgiven — LE SSERAFIM (2023)

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

@Zegras11 : in some of the other countdowns, we posted a "first 5 out". Do you have any preference on this, i.e., do you encourage or discourage this?

My first post of the #31's will be Tuesday at around 6pm MT, 8pm ET. If people want to start posting those Monday, that would be great. I didn't keep my last 5. LOL

Wouldnt last 5 outs being posted early spoil the surprise for will it/wont it be included?
I know most of my last 5 outs for the Stranglers would be what other people consider top 31 songs for the band.

As if everyone knows 31 songs by the Stranglers...

Since some posters think it would take away from the top 31, I'll wait and post my 32+ list after the countdown.

They had surprise surprise, 31 top 50 hits in the UK, over a dozen top 20 albums and hits all around the world.
Just not in the US.

 

[Zegras11]

After my post above, I would like to announce that I have moved myself up to @Pip's Invitation level posting, even for just one day.