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Since it’s the end of the year that means it’s time to dump out year-end lists! We’re doing that here at Bullz-Eye, but other fine sites are doing it as well. This next list from Cracked may not have just come out, but it’s worthy of your amusement. Therefore, here is Cracked’s list of The 20 Worst Album Titles of All Time. |
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Blender has put together a list of the top 10 most overpraised albums. Let me just say how much I more than wholly agree with the first two entries. |
 Written by Bill Clark Stone Temple Pilots are one of those bands for whom, in hindsight, it’s easy to wonder how they did as well as they did, given the music scene at the time. 1992’s Core landed right smack in the middle of the grunge era, but STP’s sound from the get-go veered more towards hard rock – and fairly catchy hard rock at that. The band always wore its influences on its sleeve; from the Beatles to the Doors to the blues. They were a multi-faceted band, and one that can be even more appreciated when you dig deeper than the 15 Top Ten singles they released during their career. They may not have always been the most original band, but they were immensely talented musicians and performers. The following list is in chronological order and covers all five studio albums. “Dead & Bloated” – Core “Sin” – Core “Piece of Pie” – Core “Meat Plow” – Purple |
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Pop was not quite yet the dirty word that it would become over the next 18 months, though Rick Astley, Paula Abdul and Martika were well on their way to sending pop past the point of no return. Hair metal was winning the record sales battle, but modern rock would soon win the war (thank you, Kurt Cobain). Somewhere in the middle of all that was me, the only one on his dorm room floor who liked both Book of Love and Guns ‘n Roses. It proved for some interesting listening, that’s for sure. Maybe not timeless, but definitely interesting.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Lists and Videos and Mix Disc Monday Comments: None |
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Ah, 1987: the year I learned how to beat mix. I had been buying 12” mixes to my favorite songs for years now, but I hadn’t the foggiest idea what to do with them until I walked into a club in Athens, Ohio, and heard a guy playing the mixes I had in my dorm room, only on top of each other at the same speed. I was mesmerized.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Lists and Videos and Mix Disc Monday Comments: None |
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I like a bit of The Beach Boys’ work as much as the next guy and own all their ’60s output, save for the Christmas album, and a couple of the ’70s albums. But these guys have always had a habit of putting some downright awful crap on their albums, be they at their peak or in the gutter. Here is a hastily assembled list of 10 Beach Boys songs taken from the albums I do have that I think are pretty damn super-lame. No long annotation here, just the list. Discuss it if you like. There are in no way ranked as they are all equally craptastic to my ears. “County Fair” It should be noted that the early Boys albums are littered with such dreck as “Our Favorite Recording Sessions” and “Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston.” Sad that even at that point they had to junk up their LPs with completely useless tracks. |
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Late last year, after the annual Bullz-Eye holiday party, a couple members of the music staff did what they do best: they bellied up to the bar and drank some more. We began talking about bands we wish we had seen while we had the chance, which led to a conversation about which bands we’d like to see get back together. Along with some obscure favorites (we will not sleep until Sugarbomb makes another record), the three bands that we all wanted to see get back together were the Police, Squeeze, and Crowded House. It is now six months later, and guess who’s coming to a shed, pub, or coliseum near you? Yep, the Police, Squeeze, and Crowded House. What this means, of course, is that we have magical powers, and that by merely wishing something to be, it soon is. It also means that it was only a matter of time before we were wholly corrupted by our newfound abilities, and what began as a good-natured chat about bands that left too soon became a diatribe about which bands just need to freaking stop already. It was therefore decided: for every band that we reunite, another band must be torn asunder. Below is an example of each. Band that should break up: U2 After the live Rattle & Hum album, U2 reinvented itself as an upscale dance-rock band, a pretty cool parlor trick. But their problem was, there was no substance behind the beats, and the band’s relevance eroded. By the time the band rolled into 1997, it had become a parody of itself, promoting its “Pop” tour at K-Marts and hemorrhaging money when no one came to the shows. It’s 2007, folks. No one’s denying U2’s recaptured its politically astute fan base, but it took terrorism on a massive scale – and the band’s touching, reverent salute to the victims at the following Super Bowl halftime – to get them back. They’re off again, doing poppy, say-little-if-anything tunes, trying to speak to the iPod generation on TV commercials. It’s time for Bono to become the mature, full-time political ambassador we know he can be, and reap the humanitarian good his name and reputation can accomplish. It’s time for The Edge to validate his quirky technique by launching a guitar school. As for the other two guys, they’ll make fine A&R men for record labels. But please, break up the band. There’s nothing left for them to say.– Mojo Flucke, Ph.D. Band that should reunite: Elastica If she only knew what the future held. Dance rockers Franz Ferdinand are one of the biggest bands in the world, and the Arctic Monkeys, who reinvented both ‘quirky’ and ‘angular,’ are bigger than Jesus in England. The Futureheads and Shiny Toy Guns? They’re practically Elastica spinoff groups, a la General Public and Fine Young Cannibals forming from the ashes of the English Beat. You know how labels used to re-release the same song a decade after it first charted (Hello, Benny Mardones’ “Into the Night”)? “Your Arse, My Place” would be a Top 10 hit on modern rock radio right now, if given the chance. Your moment has finally arrived, Justine. Give Donna and Annie a ring and get together for a drink or two. Dust off the gear, plug in, and take these drooling synthesizer dorks to school. –David Medsker To see the rest of the bands that should break up and bands that should reunite, click here. |
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Mixed July 10, 1993
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Electronica and Songs and Artists and Lists and Flashback Friday Comments: 1 Comment |
“Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car,” U2 (Zooropa)
“In Yer Face,” 808 State (Ex:El)
“We Don’t Take/Hack/Charlie X,” Information Society (Hack)
“Big Car (Limo Mix),” Severed Heads (Rotund for Success)
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Roll out, roll out for the mystery tour. Well, it’s not a mystery, but this week’s selection of songs will definitely take us places. From the east coast, to the west…Dear God, I’ve never hated John Mellencamp as much as I do right now. Since half the journey takes place in the US and Canada, we’re splitting this up into sides, winding up in the Far East. Hope you like sushi. Side One: North America “Wascana,” The Waltons (Cock’s Crow) “Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues,” Todd Snider (Songs for the Daily Planet) “Brooklyn-Queens,” 3rd Bass (The Cactus Album) “Texarkana,” R.E.M. (Out of Time) “Hollywood,” World Party (Bang!) “Cleveland Rocks,” Ian Hunter (You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic) “LA,” Elliott Smith (Figure 8) Side Two: London and beyond “Guns of Brixton,” The Clash (London Calling) “Battersea,” Hooverphonic (Blue Wonder Powder Milk) “Rumble in Brighton,” Stray Cats (Built for Speed) “London Loves,” Blur (Parklife) “Vienna,” Ultravox (Vienna) “Night Boat to Cairo,” Madness (One Step Beyond…) “Tokyo Expressway,” Fluid Ounces (The Whole Shebang) |
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Okay, music fans, correct us if we’re wrong, but unless you’re one of those wannabe hipsters that only buys this week’s buzz album, we’re guessing that somewhere in your collection, you’ve got an LP, a cassette, a CD, or even an 8-track that you picked up on a whim, fell in love with, and absolutely love to tell people about… and your introduction usually begins, “Look, I know you’ve probably never heard of this person/these guys, and I don’t know why it didn’t sell a million copies, but, seriously, you’ve got to hear it.” Maybe they’re a local or regional band who never made the big time. Maybe they did make it to a major label, but the musical climate wasn’t right…or the label didn’t bother to promote the album…or, heck, maybe the band broke up five minutes after the record was released. Whatever the case, far too many great albums have ended up selling far too few copies, which is why we’ve taken it upon ourselves to try and rescue some of these all-too-unheralded releases from obscurity. We’ve also managed to get in touch with almost all of the artists whose albums we’re praising in this piece – the lone exception had the very good excuse of having died, but we did, at least, get in touch with one of the producers of his album – and asked them to answer a quick Q&A for us. So not only will you (probably) be introduced to several new albums, but you’ll also feel like you know a little bit about the person or persons responsible for recording them. Here’s just one example:
The Argument: Your New Favorite Band (Self-released, 2000) Recommended If You Like: Ben Folds Five, Barenaked Ladies, Toad the Wet Sprocket The critics can go on and on about how quirky bands don’t last long unless they’re named Barenaked Ladies, and about how songs like “Inflatable Amy” are downright laughable…and, hey, the Argument’s lead singer, Scott Simons, can even say he’s “embarrassed” by his former band’s self-released debut. But when you burn an album into your iTunes and, even seven years later, you can’t stop listening to it, there’s a higher power at work – or, then again, maybe Simons and his band mates had something special that not enough industry types recognized. (Personally, I’m going with the latter.) This West Virginia quartet toured so much in a van pursuing “the dream of being rock stars” that, eventually, their van and their will both stalled with an empty tank. While the album is out of print, its endearing combination of pop, rock, jazz, soul and every other influence under the sun showcases a solid group of musicians who could string melodic hooks and harmonies together as well as anyone. – Mike Farley Notable Tracks - “Grudge,” “Disappear,” “The Ballad of Ernestine Jackson” Our interview with Scott Simons of The Argument can be found here. Check out The Best Albums You’ve Never, Ever Heard (Well, Probably Not, Anyway) in its entirety by clicking here…then feel free to come back and offer up some of your own favorite unheralded albums! Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Country and CD Reviews and Lost Bands and Songs and News and Artists and Lists and External Music Comments: 14 Comments |
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1. A 2-fer of both Ian McCulloch’s solo albums on Sire, each with bonus tracks.
2. A 2-disc set of Electrafixion’s lone album which includes a myriad of B-sides, remixes, and live tracks…and, no, it is not overkill, thank you very much.
3. Magnitude, a complete collection of The Wild Swans‘ recordings for Sire Records, each with bonus tracks. (And if you don’t know who The Wild Swans were, read up on them here, then go buy this set.) Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and News and Artists and Lists and External Music Comments: None |
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Alas, the new Cracked Magazine - edited by Michael Ian Black - has been cancelled after only 3 issues…but, thankfully, Cracked.com will continue to exist online, so why not start in with your support by checking out their list of the 20 worst rhymes in pop music history. It’s not actually as comprehensive as the title suggests, since it leaves out America (”In the desert you can remember your name / ‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain”), but it earns music geek points for including Steve Miller’s “The Last Wombat in Mecca.” Wow, that’s obscure… Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Rap and Country and Songs and Lyrics and Artists and Lists and External Music Comments: None |
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THIS is supposed to be a list of the 200 definitive albums of all time…? Please. THIS is nothing more than a collaborative effort between a bunch of suits at the various major labels who want to sell some more copies of their back catalog titles rather than spend money on promoting new, up-and-coming artists, so they’ve teamed up with all the big music retailers and said, “If you stock them, they will buy them.” Disgusting. Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Rap and Country and News and Artists and Blues and Lists and External Music Comments: 4 Comments |
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…but I think that if you sit down to write up your own “Top 10 Corporate Moments in Rock,” it’ll look a lot like the one compiled by the folks at Earvolution.com. |
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Quick show of hands: does anyone really like Valentine’s Day? For single people, it’s an unpleasant reminder that you’re single (and therefore, in the eyes of the good people at Hallmark Cards, a loser). For couples, it’s yet another obligation to go out and do something special for your sweetie, despite the fact that you’ve already done that at Christmas, your anniversary, Mother’s/Father’s Day, his or her birthday and, if you really go overboard, your date-iversary as well. Enough already. While everyone at Bullz-Eye is either happily married or happily involved (except for our fearless leader, who is happily neither), we see both sides of this dilemma, and have assembled a mix disc for the lovers and another for the fighters. There’s plenty of joy and pain (but not sunshine and rain) to go around. Dig in. Mix One: Ain’t Love Grand Ah, love. Love rules. It’s a scientific fact that when you’re in love, the sun shines a little bit brighter, people are nicer, and your car gets better gas mileage. People in love, according to a song by the Feeling, get special treatment. They know of what they speak. And yet, so few truly great songs have been written about the subject. For every “We’ve Only Just Begun,” there are ten songs like “Everything I Do (I Do It for You).” Because of that, this is officially declared a Bryan Adams-free zone. Feel better already, don’t you? “You’re the Best Thing,” The Style Council (My Ever Changing Moods) “La La Love You,” The Pixies (Doolittle) “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” The Carpenters (Close to You) “Here, There and Everywhere,” The Beatles (Revolver) To see the rest of Mix One, click here. Mix Two: Love Bites If love is supposedly the most wonderful thing in the world, then why the hell does it hurt so much? There’s an old saying that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Try telling that to someone who has just loved and lost. From invincible to unlovable in seconds flat, nothing will make you feel as unworthy as a failed relationship, especially when it’s capped with a crushing one-liner like “I like everything about my life except my relationship with you.” My college girlfriend actually said that to me, no joke. And in return, I sang a number of these songs to her. “House of Love,” Squeeze (Play) “I Believe She’s Lying,” Jon Brion (Meaningless) “Say Anything,” Aimee Mann (Whatever) “Good Luck,” Basement Jaxx w/ Lisa Kekaula (Kish Kash) To see the rest of Mix Two, click here. Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Lists and Playlists and Mix Disc Monday Comments: None |
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