I don’t know what I set out to find when I asked the staff of the Eagle Times to give me a CD of one of their favorite bands/artists for me to listen to. All I knew was that everyone had different tastes, and I wanted to see, or hear for that matter, why they thought so-and-so was such a great listen. I guess in a way you could also say that I wanted to expand my horizons a bit.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I have a decent repertoire of music, but most of it is geared towards the rock/alternative side. My dad brought me up well with a slew of classic rock — Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Van Halen. From there I headed over to the likings of pop-punk at 13 (after my boy band phase that is — every girl had one), and soon moved on to heavier alternative-screamo music in my late-teens. Now I incorporate a mix of all of the above, plus some low-key indie bands and experimental-electronica, respectively — a little mish-mash of everything.
I also worked at a record store for a while before I arrived here at the Eagle (Shout out to Bull Moose Music), and I worked with an eclectic group of people, all with various tastes in music. There was the hardcore metal kid, the Beatles chick, the Zappa fanatic, the diva pop lover, among others, and at times I would come across a new artist that I had heard of, but never actually heard, and come to love them. So I guess that’s what I was trying to do here. Rather than just dismiss a type of music (ahemcountry), I shall give it a full chance and see it where it takes me.
Not sure how it really benefits you, the readers, except that maybe it’ll get you to give other’s choice of music a chance before saying you don’t like it. Just give it a chance.
The following is what some of the staff of the Eagle Times listens to and my honest take on it. My say is by no means the final say. It’s all in the interpretation. It’s just Me, My Thoughts and I.
Modest Mouse — Moon & Antarctica (2000)
I won’t lie; I didn’t remember much of this album after I listened to it. I was expecting so much more from it. I know Modest Mouse from their "Float On" fame, which came out on Good News for People Who Love Bad News, released just after Moon & Antarctic. "Float On" is such a bold, in-your-face, hard-not-to-sing-along-to song. It’s quirky and different and that’s what I loved about it. Songs on Moon & Antarctica are more on the instrumental/artsy side, which I’m sure some would argue makes for a better CD, but it’s not for me. To me every song just ran into one, and it was just a bit too mellow — almost so that it put me to sleep.
Zac Brown Band — You Get What You Give (2010)
As stated in my intro, I was always one to dismiss country music right off the bat. Just ask my college roommate. Country music was always just too twangy, too preachy and too annoying for my tastes. For instance, Rascal Flatts... can’t stand them, but everyone else seems to adore them. But I must say, I did enjoy the Zac Brown Band, quite a bit actually.
Some might say the ZBB leans over the line of pop/country, so I’m not really hearing country for what it is. I say, so what. The ZBB is the calm to the storm of music I typically listen to. Right away, it just puts me in such a good mood. It was easy to sing along to, the lyrics were amusing at times and it was lively. Plus, the ZBB has some great instrumental skills, showcased well on the 10-minute track "Who Knows."
At times it was a bit preachy, but that seems to be an automatic requirement for country music, and it balances out all the songs about drinking too much whiskey. So, fair trade I guess.
You Get What You Give holds a solid hour of music, and I’d give it another listen any day.
Lou Reed — New York (1989)
I see the appeal — former Velvet Underground member, great solid rock musician — but I just couldn’t get into it at all. So much that I don’t even know what to write about it. I even gave it a repeat listen, but it just wasn’t there for me. To me it was background bar music — which I know will offend quite a few, I’m sure, but that’s what I got out of it, and I’m sticking to it.
Buddy Holly — Greatest Hits (Released 1996; originally recorded from 1957 to 1958)
Buddy Holly was the only artist I really knew somewhat well going in to this project of mine. I knew right off the bat that I would love it, so maybe I should have asked for another CD, but the truth was I only knew of maybe three or four songs out of the 18 on this Greatest Hits album, my personal favorite being "Everyday."
Holly keeps it simple and it works. Less is more, judging by the fact that the entire album of 18 songs lasted only 40 minutes, with songs averaging 2 minutes in length (the only downfall). It’s an easy listen and one that never disappoints. I just wish Holly could have experienced how wonderful his music was, and how great his contribution to Rock n’ Roll was, for more than a year-and-a-half before his untimely death.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds — Murder Ballads (1996)
I didn’t even have the remotest idea as to who Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were — which I guess is reasonable as they are an Australian rock band, most famous from the mid-80s to 1990s. Murder Ballads was their ninth and most popular album, and it is just what it says it is... ballads, sung, or somewhat spoken for that matter, in a storytelling manor about various murders or crimes of passion. Bleak huh? But it doesn’t come across in a harsh way — the songs are somewhat poetic in a sense. Particular likes include "Stagger Lee," "The Curse of Millhaven," "Henry Lee" and "Death is Not the End" (originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan). The most famous song on the album, "Where the Wild Roses Grow," features fellow Ausssie Kylie Minogue.
Frank Zappa — Apostrophe (1974)
Everyone knows, or has heard of, Frank Zappa. Even if you don’t know his music, you’ve heard his name. As I stated earlier, I worked with a full-on Zappa head. He had many of his albums (Zappa made 89 in total) and went to every Zappa Plays Zappa concert (a Frank Zappa tribute band). So I learned a little along the way about Zappa during my time at Bull Moose. And it turns out I had heard Apostrophe before.
Once the opener "Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow" came on, it all kind of came back. Zappa is a very avant-garde type of a performer — random, very performance-arty, and he makes it work. It’s bizarre, but it’s Zappa. You must give the man credit for experimenting and putting out as many albums as he did, while still garnering such a devoted and large fan base.
Apostrophe is something I wouldn’t listen to on a daily basis, but it’s intriguing, and for that I give it credit.
The Band — The Band (1969)
Such a generic band name, such a generic album name, you would think the music would just be as generic. And in some ways it is for that time period. The album is all rockabilly, and for some people that may be all and good — for me, eh, not so much. There are the standards, "Up On Cripple Creak" and opener "Across the Great Divide" that are good, decent songs. But then there are the sleepers such as "Whispering Pines" and "Rockin’ Chair." I understand the musicianship behind it all, but The Band is not the band for me. But I wouldn’t throw it in the trash either.
Misc.
One person of the Eagle staff gave me a sampling of music that included some wonderful film scores, which you wouldn’t think to listen outside of the movie, but they are quite moving. John Barry’s "That Fatal Kiss" from Bond film "A View to Kill," and Ennio Morricone’s "Once Upon a Time in the West" are very moving, very beautiful music.
On the other hand, this staff member also gave me a bunch of satire music from the likes of Arrogant Worms and Austin Lounge Lizards, which according to this person are ‘the best bands on the continent.’ I wholeheartedly disagree. Both just don’t do it for me. I enjoy Weird Al on occasion, but the former bands have nothing on him.
MY RANKING
Buddy Holly – Greatest Hits
Zac Brown Band – You Get What You Give
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads
Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
The Band – The Band
Modest Mouse – Moon & Antarctica
Lou Reed – New York
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I have a decent repertoire of music, but most of it is geared towards the rock/alternative side. My dad brought me up well with a slew of classic rock — Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Van Halen. From there I headed over to the likings of pop-punk at 13 (after my boy band phase that is — every girl had one), and soon moved on to heavier alternative-screamo music in my late-teens. Now I incorporate a mix of all of the above, plus some low-key indie bands and experimental-electronica, respectively — a little mish-mash of everything.
I also worked at a record store for a while before I arrived here at the Eagle (Shout out to Bull Moose Music), and I worked with an eclectic group of people, all with various tastes in music. There was the hardcore metal kid, the Beatles chick, the Zappa fanatic, the diva pop lover, among others, and at times I would come across a new artist that I had heard of, but never actually heard, and come to love them. So I guess that’s what I was trying to do here. Rather than just dismiss a type of music (ahemcountry), I shall give it a full chance and see it where it takes me.
Not sure how it really benefits you, the readers, except that maybe it’ll get you to give other’s choice of music a chance before saying you don’t like it. Just give it a chance.
The following is what some of the staff of the Eagle Times listens to and my honest take on it. My say is by no means the final say. It’s all in the interpretation. It’s just Me, My Thoughts and I.
Modest Mouse — Moon & Antarctica (2000)
I won’t lie; I didn’t remember much of this album after I listened to it. I was expecting so much more from it. I know Modest Mouse from their "Float On" fame, which came out on Good News for People Who Love Bad News, released just after Moon & Antarctic. "Float On" is such a bold, in-your-face, hard-not-to-sing-along-to song. It’s quirky and different and that’s what I loved about it. Songs on Moon & Antarctica are more on the instrumental/artsy side, which I’m sure some would argue makes for a better CD, but it’s not for me. To me every song just ran into one, and it was just a bit too mellow — almost so that it put me to sleep.
Zac Brown Band — You Get What You Give (2010)
As stated in my intro, I was always one to dismiss country music right off the bat. Just ask my college roommate. Country music was always just too twangy, too preachy and too annoying for my tastes. For instance, Rascal Flatts... can’t stand them, but everyone else seems to adore them. But I must say, I did enjoy the Zac Brown Band, quite a bit actually.
Some might say the ZBB leans over the line of pop/country, so I’m not really hearing country for what it is. I say, so what. The ZBB is the calm to the storm of music I typically listen to. Right away, it just puts me in such a good mood. It was easy to sing along to, the lyrics were amusing at times and it was lively. Plus, the ZBB has some great instrumental skills, showcased well on the 10-minute track "Who Knows."
At times it was a bit preachy, but that seems to be an automatic requirement for country music, and it balances out all the songs about drinking too much whiskey. So, fair trade I guess.
You Get What You Give holds a solid hour of music, and I’d give it another listen any day.
Lou Reed — New York (1989)
I see the appeal — former Velvet Underground member, great solid rock musician — but I just couldn’t get into it at all. So much that I don’t even know what to write about it. I even gave it a repeat listen, but it just wasn’t there for me. To me it was background bar music — which I know will offend quite a few, I’m sure, but that’s what I got out of it, and I’m sticking to it.
Buddy Holly — Greatest Hits (Released 1996; originally recorded from 1957 to 1958)
Buddy Holly was the only artist I really knew somewhat well going in to this project of mine. I knew right off the bat that I would love it, so maybe I should have asked for another CD, but the truth was I only knew of maybe three or four songs out of the 18 on this Greatest Hits album, my personal favorite being "Everyday."
Holly keeps it simple and it works. Less is more, judging by the fact that the entire album of 18 songs lasted only 40 minutes, with songs averaging 2 minutes in length (the only downfall). It’s an easy listen and one that never disappoints. I just wish Holly could have experienced how wonderful his music was, and how great his contribution to Rock n’ Roll was, for more than a year-and-a-half before his untimely death.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds — Murder Ballads (1996)
I didn’t even have the remotest idea as to who Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were — which I guess is reasonable as they are an Australian rock band, most famous from the mid-80s to 1990s. Murder Ballads was their ninth and most popular album, and it is just what it says it is... ballads, sung, or somewhat spoken for that matter, in a storytelling manor about various murders or crimes of passion. Bleak huh? But it doesn’t come across in a harsh way — the songs are somewhat poetic in a sense. Particular likes include "Stagger Lee," "The Curse of Millhaven," "Henry Lee" and "Death is Not the End" (originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan). The most famous song on the album, "Where the Wild Roses Grow," features fellow Ausssie Kylie Minogue.
Frank Zappa — Apostrophe (1974)Everyone knows, or has heard of, Frank Zappa. Even if you don’t know his music, you’ve heard his name. As I stated earlier, I worked with a full-on Zappa head. He had many of his albums (Zappa made 89 in total) and went to every Zappa Plays Zappa concert (a Frank Zappa tribute band). So I learned a little along the way about Zappa during my time at Bull Moose. And it turns out I had heard Apostrophe before.
Once the opener "Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow" came on, it all kind of came back. Zappa is a very avant-garde type of a performer — random, very performance-arty, and he makes it work. It’s bizarre, but it’s Zappa. You must give the man credit for experimenting and putting out as many albums as he did, while still garnering such a devoted and large fan base.
Apostrophe is something I wouldn’t listen to on a daily basis, but it’s intriguing, and for that I give it credit.
The Band — The Band (1969)
Such a generic band name, such a generic album name, you would think the music would just be as generic. And in some ways it is for that time period. The album is all rockabilly, and for some people that may be all and good — for me, eh, not so much. There are the standards, "Up On Cripple Creak" and opener "Across the Great Divide" that are good, decent songs. But then there are the sleepers such as "Whispering Pines" and "Rockin’ Chair." I understand the musicianship behind it all, but The Band is not the band for me. But I wouldn’t throw it in the trash either.
Misc.
One person of the Eagle staff gave me a sampling of music that included some wonderful film scores, which you wouldn’t think to listen outside of the movie, but they are quite moving. John Barry’s "That Fatal Kiss" from Bond film "A View to Kill," and Ennio Morricone’s "Once Upon a Time in the West" are very moving, very beautiful music.
On the other hand, this staff member also gave me a bunch of satire music from the likes of Arrogant Worms and Austin Lounge Lizards, which according to this person are ‘the best bands on the continent.’ I wholeheartedly disagree. Both just don’t do it for me. I enjoy Weird Al on occasion, but the former bands have nothing on him.
MY RANKING
Buddy Holly – Greatest Hits
Zac Brown Band – You Get What You Give
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads
Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
The Band – The Band
Modest Mouse – Moon & Antarctica
Lou Reed – New York
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