Music Banter - View Single Post

Trollheart · 06-19-2022, 10:15 AM

Okay, well, I did say June would be the month of the forgotten journal, and nothing says forgotten like FIVE YEARS between updates! I always enjoyed this journal, but it just got pushed to the background in the sudden onslaught of other, mostly non-music journals I started doing, and I had to search for it, finally locating it languishing all the way back on page 9. So here it is, not having been touched since 2017.

Now, before any of those of you who are experiencing this journal for the first time start with your "how can you not know that album?" or "I can't believe you haven't heard that!" - it's in the title of the journal. Also, check the OP. Also, fuck off.

To put this in a little context, I grew up in a time when the only way you could get music was to buy it, unless you taped it off the radio or TV, never a good way to get it. We had no YouTube. We had no streaming services. We had no itunes. We had no way to download music, legally or illegally. So you were very careful as to what you bought. CDs - and before that, LPs, or albums on vinyl - were expensive. I tended to stick to the artists/genres I knew, and collect their albums and little else. I was, to be blunt, very conservative about my music tastes. To somewhat paraphrase Genesis, I knew what I liked and I did not look further afield.

The charts did not interest me, and the latest fad in terms of music did not interest me, so while everyone might have been going on about, say, Thriller or Like a Virgin, or indeed Ride the Lightning, I stuck to what I knew. It was only later, after coming here, I began to realise how many classic (or so-called) albums I knew nothing about, which prompted to to kick this journal off.

Looking at the list now, I think there are maybe 10 albums left, so I'm open to new suggestions. Remember, if you want to rec an album, it has to be a classic. The criteria for a classic, for the purposes of this journal at any rate, are simple: it must be known widely, if possible outside of its genre, must either have sold very well or been critically acclaimed (preferably both) and should be generally acknowledged as among the artist's best work.

For now, assuming anyone is interested, let's keep it to one album each. We'll see how it goes, if at all. If there's no buzz, well I still have ten albums to do, and I can add new ones. Remember though, an album is not a classic just because you like it, or because you think it is or should be.

Okay then, let's get this show back on the road, see how long we last.

Title: All Mod Cons
Artist: The Jam
Year: 1978
Chronological position: Third
Previous experience of this artist?: Just the singles
Why is this considered a classic? From what I read, it was the first really successful Jam album and established them as a proper force in the world of pop/rock music, kicking off somewhat the mod revival, and making a star out of Weller. Seems like it could have been their Born to Run, which is to say, their last chance before their label dropped them. All such thoughts were of course abandoned once this album hit the top ten, and the Jam were on their way.

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other?
One track in --- Meh
Halfway through --- Good
Finished --- Good

Comments: Let’s get this out of the way from the beginning: I was never a fan of the Jam. Hated them, in fact. It wasn’t just the mods v rockers thing, that you had to be one one side or another; I never moved in those circles and I didn’t care anyway. I was a progger and part-time metalhead, and happy to be so. The Jam just never appealed to me. However setting my own personal bias aside, I have over the years enjoyed their singles, such as “A Town Called Malice”, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” (which is on this) and “Going Underground”, but I doubt I would or ever will be a fan, and I would be very surprised if this album changed my mind.

One thing you definitely have to give them is there’s a lot of energy - mostly angry energy, it must be said - in their music, and there is definitely the spectre of punk hanging over some of their music. Intriguing, when you think how Weller would change his sound and direction entirely when he formed The Style Counsel, but here he is definitely the archetypal Angry Young Man, playing the role (if it is a role) to its fullest. I don’t know if it was the Jam’s usual modus operandi, or a bid for airplay and hit singles, but almost every track here is under three minutes, which for me makes it a little hard to really get to grips with the music. I have, generally, heard nothing yet that has impressed me very much, though to be fair, I haven’t hated anything either.

Well oddly after saying that here’s something, though as it turns out “David Watts” is a cover of a Kinks song, so that’s a disappointment, as it seemed like the boys were finally pulling their collective fingers out, but I can’t really give them credit for a song that’s not theirs, so on we go. Now this is nice. “English Rose” is an original, a soft little acoustic number that slows down the somewhat frenetic pace of the album and allows me to catch my breath. Yes, it’s short, just like all the others, but in this song’s case the brevity works in its favour. Got to say, “In the Crowd” is very good too, and there’s a sense of the kind of rawness and, for want of another word, punkness falling away to reveal some pretty competent and quite interesting music. Maybe this is the turning point for me?

Yeah, maybe not. “Billy Hunt” takes us back to the basic thrash-it-out-and-shout-about-it idea, don’t like that one at all, but then in fairness “It’s Too Bad” is really good and has some excellent guitar in it, very catchy; I like this one. “Fly”’s good too, almost balladic, though not quite. It does tone things down though and has an almost early dreampop feel to it. Shut up, I’m doing my best here. Beatles-y guitar there too. I SAID, shut UP. The next two don’t do anything for me though and then we end on the single that everyone, even me, knows, and “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” certainly brings the curtain down in fine style.

Favourite track(s): “English Rose”, “In the Crowd”, “It’s Too Bad”, “Fly”, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”
Least favourite track(s): “Billy Hunt”, "The Place I Love", “A Bomb in Wardour Street”

Final impression --- Decent album but I’m still not a fan, nor can I honestly say I ever expect to be. Hey, I didn’t hate it, what more do you want?

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it
I) Didn’t really affect me.

Either an E or an F. Maybe a little of both. Could have been worse.

06-19-2022, 10:15 AM	#460 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Okay, well, I did say June would be the month of the forgotten journal, and nothing says forgotten like FIVE YEARS between updates! I always enjoyed this journal, but it just got pushed to the background in the sudden onslaught of other, mostly non-music journals I started doing, and I had to search for it, finally locating it languishing all the way back on page 9. So here it is, not having been touched since 2017. Now, before any of those of you who are experiencing this journal for the first time start with your "how can you not know that album?" or "I can't believe you haven't heard that!" - it's in the title of the journal. Also, check the OP. Also, fuck off. To put this in a little context, I grew up in a time when the only way you could get music was to buy it, unless you taped it off the radio or TV, never a good way to get it. We had no YouTube. We had no streaming services. We had no itunes. We had no way to download music, legally or illegally. So you were very careful as to what you bought. CDs - and before that, LPs, or albums on vinyl - were expensive. I tended to stick to the artists/genres I knew, and collect their albums and little else. I was, to be blunt, very conservative about my music tastes. To somewhat paraphrase Genesis, I knew what I liked and I did not look further afield. The charts did not interest me, and the latest fad in terms of music did not interest me, so while everyone might have been going on about, say, Thriller or Like a Virgin, or indeed Ride the Lightning, I stuck to what I knew. It was only later, after coming here, I began to realise how many classic (or so-called) albums I knew nothing about, which prompted to to kick this journal off. Looking at the list now, I think there are maybe 10 albums left, so I'm open to new suggestions. Remember, if you want to rec an album, it has to be a classic. The criteria for a classic, for the purposes of this journal at any rate, are simple: it must be known widely, if possible outside of its genre, must either have sold very well or been critically acclaimed (preferably both) and should be generally acknowledged as among the artist's best work. For now, assuming anyone is interested, let's keep it to one album each. We'll see how it goes, if at all. If there's no buzz, well I still have ten albums to do, and I can add new ones. Remember though, an album is not a classic just because you like it, or because you think it is or should be. Okay then, let's get this show back on the road, see how long we last. Title: All Mod Cons Artist: The Jam Year: 1978 Chronological position: Third Previous experience of this artist?: Just the singles Why is this considered a classic? From what I read, it was the first really successful Jam album and established them as a proper force in the world of pop/rock music, kicking off somewhat the mod revival, and making a star out of Weller. Seems like it could have been their Born to Run, which is to say, their last chance before their label dropped them. All such thoughts were of course abandoned once this album hit the top ten, and the Jam were on their way. My thoughts One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? One track in --- Meh Halfway through --- Good Finished --- Good Comments: Let’s get this out of the way from the beginning: I was never a fan of the Jam. Hated them, in fact. It wasn’t just the mods v rockers thing, that you had to be one one side or another; I never moved in those circles and I didn’t care anyway. I was a progger and part-time metalhead, and happy to be so. The Jam just never appealed to me. However setting my own personal bias aside, I have over the years enjoyed their singles, such as “A Town Called Malice”, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” (which is on this) and “Going Underground”, but I doubt I would or ever will be a fan, and I would be very surprised if this album changed my mind. One thing you definitely have to give them is there’s a lot of energy - mostly angry energy, it must be said - in their music, and there is definitely the spectre of punk hanging over some of their music. Intriguing, when you think how Weller would change his sound and direction entirely when he formed The Style Counsel, but here he is definitely the archetypal Angry Young Man, playing the role (if it is a role) to its fullest. I don’t know if it was the Jam’s usual modus operandi, or a bid for airplay and hit singles, but almost every track here is under three minutes, which for me makes it a little hard to really get to grips with the music. I have, generally, heard nothing yet that has impressed me very much, though to be fair, I haven’t hated anything either. Well oddly after saying that here’s something, though as it turns out “David Watts” is a cover of a Kinks song, so that’s a disappointment, as it seemed like the boys were finally pulling their collective fingers out, but I can’t really give them credit for a song that’s not theirs, so on we go. Now this is nice. “English Rose” is an original, a soft little acoustic number that slows down the somewhat frenetic pace of the album and allows me to catch my breath. Yes, it’s short, just like all the others, but in this song’s case the brevity works in its favour. Got to say, “In the Crowd” is very good too, and there’s a sense of the kind of rawness and, for want of another word, punkness falling away to reveal some pretty competent and quite interesting music. Maybe this is the turning point for me? Yeah, maybe not. “Billy Hunt” takes us back to the basic thrash-it-out-and-shout-about-it idea, don’t like that one at all, but then in fairness “It’s Too Bad” is really good and has some excellent guitar in it, very catchy; I like this one. “Fly”’s good too, almost balladic, though not quite. It does tone things down though and has an almost early dreampop feel to it. Shut up, I’m doing my best here. Beatles-y guitar there too. I SAID, shut UP. The next two don’t do anything for me though and then we end on the single that everyone, even me, knows, and “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” certainly brings the curtain down in fine style. Favourite track(s): “English Rose”, “In the Crowd”, “It’s Too Bad”, “Fly”, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” Least favourite track(s): “Billy Hunt”, "The Place I Love", “A Bomb in Wardour Street” Final impression --- Decent album but I’m still not a fan, nor can I honestly say I ever expect to be. Hey, I didn’t hate it, what more do you want? Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner B) I'm sorry I bothered C) I might end up liking this D) Have to wait and see E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic? F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic? G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits H) Glad I listened to it I) Didn’t really affect me. Either an E or an F. Maybe a little of both. Could have been worse. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 06-20-2022 at 12:11 PM.