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Pick a Pair/Half Decade Album Draft - Bonus Rounds Thu & Fri - Pick three if you want (1 Viewer)

Is the standard to take two songs from each, or one?  I know it's not a rule, but just wondering what people are doing.  I'll post some selections from my first picks once I know.

 
krista4 said:
Is the standard to take two songs from each, or one?  I know it's not a rule, but just wondering what people are doing.  I'll post some selections from my first picks once I know.
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It's either that or pick the whole thing.  Which could actually happen with a lot of these.  Yum- prog rock.

 
krista4 said:
Is the standard to take two songs from each, or one?  I know it's not a rule, but just wondering what people are doing.  I'll post some selections from my first picks once I know.
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I've been trying to listen to albums I'm not familiar with. So far that's been the Marvin Gaye album I mentioned yesterday. I checked out the Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac record this afternoon and will need to find time for one of the Queen albums.

 
Eephus said:
I've been trying to listen to albums I'm not familiar with. So far that's been the Marvin Gaye album I mentioned yesterday. I checked out the Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac record this afternoon and will need to find time for one of the Queen albums.
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Which album are you not familiar with?  I'd be interested in hearing your take.

 
OK, here we go.  I'm cribbing my own write-ups.  I want to highlight songs that aren't "the usual fare" from each, though nothing Beatles is exactly a Deep Track.

Revolver

And Your Bird Can Sing - Was my #5 overall

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

I don't think that "casual" Beatles' fans appreciate "And Your Bird Can Sing" enough. 
 
Musically speaking, my own personal crank is turned primarily by a particular kind of combustion (not occurring entirely in rock music, though mostly that is where it happens) that has little to do with the "pop" aspects of music that most folks seem to respond to.  That is to say, I truly don't give a fig about a song's "catchiness", its "tunefulness", or whether or not one can bop one's painfully Caucasoid head along to it while driving.  "Danceability" is hahahah whatever chief people manage to dance to Stravinsky and I look like a raccoon drunk on fermented crabapples when I try to perform a movement more artful than "walk briskly in a straight line".  

That said, "And Your Bird Can Sing" burns in the ways that the best rock music does:  it is funny and spiteful and is built around a seemingly endless, hall-of-fame caliber riff as good as "Black Dog" or "Supernaut".  

And Christ if it isn't "catchy" and "hooky" and "fuzzy" and two minutes of absurdly radio-friendly pop music from one of the best bands on the planet at the height of their powers. 

I mean, The Posies, Guided By Voices, Cheap Trick, Game Theory and that whole LA "Paisley Underground" spent whole decades trying to achieve that kind rock/pop/art synthesis and it has just been hanging out there on side B of Revolver this whole time. 

The hell.  Why aren't all of you "power pop" music aficionados jabbering about this song so ceaselessly that I have to mute you on Twitter?  Why the hell do you all keep jabbering about Weezer?  (I mean, I assume.  That's what you were all jabbering about when I muted you on Twitter.) 
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I've bumped Mr. krista's prior post on this song; between that post and his comments below, he covers much of what I have to say about why I love the song, plus some.  One thing he doesn't mention is that this has one of those blast starts that I've mentioned in several of my top 25 Beatles songs, immediately launching you into the ride, and the ride remains energetic and ebullient throughout.  The vocals, both lead by John and the harmonies from Paul and George, are outstanding.  And as Mr. krista references below, the lyrics are fantastic, with plays on words throughout; in addition to the one he mentions, John also cycles through double meanings on the senses of sight ("you can't see me") and hearing ("you can't hear me") to emphasize the absence of understanding and empathy.

Both "She Said She Said" and "Ticket To Ride" have been mentioned as the most Beatle-y Beatles songs, but I'd like to throw this one in the mix for consideration as well.  I can't wait to hear @fatguyinalittlecoat rock our faces off by simultaneously playing both George's and Paul's guitar parts!

Mr. krista's earlier comments:  "What I love most in rock music is a good riff, though I don’t know how to describe what makes a riff better than other riffs. But that is The Good Riff. [instructs me to use initial caps there] A great riff.  Unlike a lot of riffs, it’s ascending, and it goes over two bars. But it’s fuzzy.  The tempo is really fast.  It’s really tough to play a good riff that fast.  The best metal riffs are slowed down.  It’s very fast but unhurried.  Says a lot about what a great drummer Ringo is.  Everything could go off the rails easily, but he keeps it together. While the riff ascends, Lennon’s vocals go down.  The lyrics are incredibly good – you’ve seen seven wonders but a total inability to empathize (“but you don’t get me”).  Double meaning of “you don’t get me”?  It’s like a really happy ####-you song.  Gleefully being pissed off.  Not explicit but smarter – #### you."

Suggested cover:  Not in the same league (how could it be), but adequate:  The Jam

 
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krista4 said:
Is the standard to take two songs from each, or one?  I know it's not a rule, but just wondering what people are doing.  I'll post some selections from my first picks once I know.
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Not sure where it started but I saw someone else do it and so I have followed suit 

 
Revolver

She Said She Said - was my #27 overall

I didn't mean to do this, but apparently OH was prominently featured in this one, too.  I allowed him to give the "guest write-up" for this.  :lol:  

Guest write-up by Oliver Humanzee:

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

I have no idea why this is Krista's favorite Beatles song of all time.  Personally, I wouldn't place it higher than 27 or so, but, as you've all seen by now, Krista isn't terribly bright.  Nonetheless, I am honored to be asked to compose this final write up.  And by "compose" I mean "copy and paste huge swaths of text from Wikipedia".  

So with little guidance and a daunting task ahead, I shall commence randomly listing things that occur to me about this song:

  • Ringo's drumming starts out with one of those backwards-### fills that begins with the kick-crash.
  • Song is in 4/4, 3/4, half-time 3/4 and half-time-double--time 4/4 during the fade-out because this is what happens when some geniuses enthusiastically take acid.
  • Krista just said aloud "I've been spelling 'languorous' wrong this whole time," which could have been a missing "She Said She Said" lyric.
  • The line "I know what it's like to be dead" came directly from 60's-Gump Peter Fonda who ghoulishly followed the profoundly acid-soaked Beatles around a party in California while showing off his bullet wound.  Pretty on-brand for Fonda, who would go on to bore the hell out of thousands of people on acid with the release of Easy Rider a couple of years later.  
  • The song is in B-sharp Mixolydian mode with John's Hammond organ providing the single-chord tonic and simply fading in and shut up nobody cares nerd.
  • George Harrison played the bass part because Paul didn't wanna take acid, apparently.  Paul would've murdered that bassline.  
  • Harrison's raga exploration, the LSD influence, the odd time shifts, and lyrics that are both surreally cold and uncomfortably personal make this a dense, information-rich composition, any single component of which has been conspicuously seized upon by paisley-clad opportunists making a few bucks of off "psychedelia" while turning what were unique structural elements to "She Said She Said" into something that could easily be mistaken for a collection of trivial "far-out, man" signifiers.  I know, I know.  Every art is eventually co-opted.  So let us smash the capitalist impulse into dust comrades, and wrest from the plutocrats our senses of wonder.  Let us reclaim truly weird and personal music from the Mamas and the Zappas and the like.  Because when we were boys, everything was right.
  • Mrs. Humanzee will now attempt to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.
Mrs. Humanzee:  "RINGO!!!!!!"

Suggested cover:  [Intentionally omitted.]

 
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KarmaPolice said:
Well, according to you it's because I started in with the reefer and my movie tastes took a nosedive.  ;)  

I did think about starting a stoner, ####ty movie club, but didn't think that would have much traction either.  
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I gave up on your "movie tastes" when you bagged on Cider House Rules.  SMH still...

 
Eephus said:
R.E.M.

Life's Rich Pageant (1986)

Automatic For The People (1992)

So much for my plan of not drafting the same artists I always do. :bag:

I've written before of my love for the band. Choosing two albums is twice as hard as picking one so I'll go with kind of a loud one and kind of a quiet one.

@krista4
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Had them on my list, but wasn't sure which to take.

Quick question before I pick - what are the odds we go to > 10 rounds?  Makes a difference for my next selection.

 
Eephus said:
I don't think I've ever heard Innuendo. The 90s are my musical blind spot.
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I'm pretty sure I cried when I first played that tape.  It was SO BAD, lol.  Just kidding.  I was very upset obviously.  I have cried like five times in my life, and that was one.

 
krista4 said:
Had them on my list, but wasn't sure which to take.

Quick question before I pick - what are the odds we go to > 10 rounds?  Makes a difference for my next selection.
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The ten round length was a conscious design choice in line with the scarcity theme.

I'm not going to lock the draft sheet or anything but let's see how it goes.

 
Eephus said:
R.E.M.

Life's Rich Pageant (1986)

Automatic For The People (1992)

So much for my plan of not drafting the same artists I always do. :bag:

I've written before of my love for the band. Choosing two albums is twice as hard as picking one so I'll go with kind of a loud one and kind of a quiet one.

@krista4
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This was on my list. The exact pair. IMO by far their two best works. 

 
Eephus said:
R.E.M.

Life's Rich Pageant (1986)

Automatic For The People (1992)

So much for my plan of not drafting the same artists I always do. :bag:

I've written before of my love for the band. Choosing two albums is twice as hard as picking one so I'll go with kind of a loud one and kind of a quiet one.

@krista4
Click to expand...
Double Dog Sunnnavaa....

 
Back to cribbing my own write-ups.

A Hard Day's Night

Things We Said Today - Was my #60 overall and should have been higher

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

From that first triple-strum on John's guitar, this song anticipates pulling you into its melancholy, slightly eerie mood.  That state of mind is enhanced by the slightly flat harmonies and yearning lyrics; here Paul is describing what he called "future nostalgia," picturing a time in the future when he and Jane Asher - or any couple, actually - would look back at the feelings they're experiencing right now.  Although I've stated my position as firmly anti-nostalgia, this wistful future nostalgia has a depth and complexity that charms me.  Just as the song lulls you into this tranquil, pensive state, though, it changes from the minor key into a major key for that bridge, suddenly imbuing the song with an optimism and urgency not present in the verses.  Just when it builds to a turbulence that sounds on the verge of breaking, the song dramatically shifts back into the minor key for another calming verse.  After a repeat of the bridge and verse, it then trails off into the ether...  That song structure is familiar, but those changes and chords are not, and they're brilliant.  And Paul gives a typically outstanding vocal performance as well, with some guitar support from John that, while not complex, is fundamental to the structure of the song.

We've discussed some other songs with these major-minor switches, usually from an optimistic Paul "major" section to a downbeat John "minor" section.  In this case, Paul manages all of it himself, taking us through his emotions in a way that to me is preferable to some of his "made-up people" songs.  It's dazzling.

Mr. krista:  "It’s dreamy.  I liked the dark, folky-sounding, creepy Peter Paul & Mary thing. Isn't this The Hollies's 'Bus Stop'?  [plays song]  Yeah."  [Editor's note:  "Bus Stop" was released after this song.]

Suggested cover:  I screened covers from everyone from Iggy Pop to Dwight Yoakam to Heart to Nanci Griffith and more, and I didn't like any of them.

 
Hard to follow those two albums. Let me try.

2.23

Simon and Garfunkel

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (1966)

These songs resonate with me. They have since I've been six years old and they won't stop. We used to have the coolest sub in third grade, Mrs. Siegel. Her son lived a ways down the street from us, back when neighborhoods used to play together in groups without adult supervision. It was drop them off at a designated house and play together. It was usually our house, actually. Every so often, Mrs. Siegel would bring her son Alex in the car down a ways to play with the neighborhood boys. He was a bit special, and had a back brace. We all loved him for some reason. "There's Alex! Hey, Alex! Can ya play, Alex!" And every so often, he could. Mom would leave him with us, and we'd play a sport or some other such nonsense. But she was The. Coolest. Especially in the substitute role I mentioned. She would bring in her acoustic guitar and I can remember it like yesterday. Nobody acted up. She could, in retrospect, have lorded it over us. We were always wondering... 

Would she play?

Yes, she would. And always, without fail. She was easy to ask. And she would sing, the most marvelous voice heard by third graders, ever. And she would play songs she liked. But the one we all loved the best? "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," of course. Of course, Paul Simon wrote it. And, of course, hates it. But we didn't know that. We loved it. Everybody would sing along, children's voices in unison. You had to really like kids in the seventies to watch that go on. When most people were divorcing, here came this woman with her acoustic, getting everybody together.

I'll remember it clear as a bell. And the other songs.

What I dream I had
Pressed in organdy
Clothed in crinoline of smoky Burgundy
Softer than the rain

That's "Emily, Whenever I May Find Her." I've had difficult times in life, sometimes on this board. All of my struggles are very demonstrative, very over-the-top here, very public. For some reason, one draft, I remember otb chiming in out of nowhere to have my back and give me some support about a love for a beautiful song, about love once procured and then lost. I feel like PIK typing this because I'm typing through tears for some reason. That song. It's so beautiful.

I'm sitting in the railway station/got a ticket for my destination

And "Homeward Bound." Who doesn't have a metaphorical or spiritual home they think of when they hear this song? We all wander a bit, but where we find home, even if that home is gone, no longer, maybe empty from those who are deceased, they are those times we long for, people loved and lost.

Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

A more mature album by guys who had made it. Songs that might be a little maudlin but for the fact that they're standards. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is certainly self-aware of its own importance. But it's still a wonderful song. It's followed by "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" and the album just goes from there. "Cecilia," "Keep The Customer Satisfied," "Baby Driver, @ScottNorwoodand "The Only Living Boy In New York," favorites up and down the line. Again, all songs I loved as a kid and still love at forty-eight. This was simple music, folk music. Awesome music.

It's a monster of an album, one worthy of a second-rounder. I feel like I got a steal and a free play here. My childhood certainly did.

 
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A Hard Day's Night

Any Time At All - Was my #79 overall and should have been higher

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

On its face it might sound like a great rock song belted out beautifully by John, and it is, but there's also a lot of other interesting stuff going on here.  There's the way John starts each chorus with a solo (other than the first chorus where Ringo lead with a whopping snare).  There's Paul's descending bass line.  There's the interesting structure, particularly notable for that time, with the bridge coming late in a chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus lineup.  And then when you get to that bridge, it's all instrumental, with Paul contributing a smashing piano solo that dialogues with the George guitar part beautifully by Paul playing up the scale and George down, until George "hands off" to Paul to finish with a flourish that mimics what George had previously been playing on the guitar.  That's kinda brilliant.  (It's possible that the instrumental was intended to have voices added later, but the song had to be rushed out as it was only started on the last day of recording for A Hard Day's Night.)  Finally, there's the double-tracking of John's vocal, which allows lines to be finished that otherwise would have run into each other in a way that would have been awkward to sing.  As a result, John is coming in to accompany himself smoothly - for instance, listen to the overdub start at ~0:27 in the first verse.   

Mr. krista:  "I like that the guitar and the piano play the same notes.  Great rocker. I like the guitar.  Really neat little trick."

Suggested covers:  Rave on, Dweezil Zappa.  Dunno about this breathy vocal:  OK Go

 
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