Music Banter - View Single Post - The Urban 100 - 4 Years On (Now With Added Authors Commentary)

Urban Hat€monger ? · 03-07-2009, 09:54 AM

76. Mercury Rev - Deserters Songs (1998)

I have to admit this totally blew me away when I first heard it.I`d heard Mercury Rev before but to be honest didn`t think much too them.I didn`t feel they had any songs , they just seemed to be self indulgent wank & a mish mash of half ideas & trying to be clever by throwing in as many instruments as they could. But i`d heard a couple of songs on this album & could hardly believe I was listening to the same band & then went out & bought it. And it was just as wonderful as I hoped. I think I must have had this on my stereo for months. They finally made an effort to write songs , and bloody good they were too.

Favourite songs - Holes , Opus 40 , Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp

Today
Good album but one I rarely listen to these days. There just seemed to be a slew of bands doing this sort of thing and I ended up getting a little bored of it

Original Position - 76
Position Now - Out

75. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (1996)

One of my biggest regrets ever was that it took me 6 years to buy this work of genius. I`d see it in the shop , but always overlooked it in favour of whatever current indie guitar darlings were around at the time. Then I picked up the UNKLE album of which DJ Shadow was involved in & because I loved it so much decided to finally get this. And I was not disappointed. It is one of the very few albums I can pick up & listen to the whole way through. To me it`s like a journey and the time just passes by.In fact I used to listen to this album at work everyday. This album pisses over the arguement that people who use samples are not real musicians.This is the most original peice of music i`d heard in years.

Favourite songs - Building Steam With a Grain of Salt , Mutual Slump (With Bjork), What Does Your Soul Look Like

Today
Interesting how perspectives change after just a few years. There's no doubting that this album is groundbreaking as fuck , but over the years it has become a little old hat and I think because of this it loses some of that magic. I think it would still make the list today, just a bit lower.

Original Position - 75
Position Now - Mid 80s - low 90s

74. Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)

Nirvana killed hair metal?
Nope , as far as I go it was this album that did that.
After I heard this the likes of Poison had no appeal to me whatsoever. This spoke to me like no other album around at the time (save Janes Addiction). It was loud it was funky & it rocked like a bastard.
Many people might not realise the significance of the cover of Sabbath`s War Pigs either. Back then Sabbath were about the uncoolest band you could ever like, so it was good to see them cover a Sabbath song and at the same time really piss off the indie press that were loving them at the time.Although to be honest i`ve never really liked the cover itself , I feel their own material was much much better.

Favourite songs - From Out Of Nowhere , Epic , The Real Thing

Today
At the time this was a toss up between this album & Angel Dust. I went with this one because i'd lived with it longer. I think now the way my tastes have gone it would be Angel Dust that got the nod. I think the positioning would stay around the same.

Original Position - 74
Position Now - Angel Dust in this position

73. The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

I only bought this album in February , I suck.
I can`t really say much about this , Ray Davies legend blah blah blah. What I will say is I think it`s only now that people are realising the influence that this album had on British music. I would love to see this album towards the top of album polls that are made replacing that overrated heap of crap known as Sgt Pepper. I just like the imagery & the realness of the Kinks songs and I still think a lot of them are still relevent today.

Favourite songs - Village Green Preservation Society , Picture Book , Big Sky

Today
Now this is difficult

I still like the Kinks a great deal but it's ages since I last played this album. If I was going to play a Kinks album these days it would more likely be Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) than this one. And i'm not that sure that that album would be as high as this either.

Original Position - 73
Position Now - Out , With Arthur in at around the low 90s / Mid 80s

03-07-2009, 09:54 AM	#393 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	76. Mercury Rev - Deserters Songs (1998) I have to admit this totally blew me away when I first heard it.I`d heard Mercury Rev before but to be honest didn`t think much too them.I didn`t feel they had any songs , they just seemed to be self indulgent wank & a mish mash of half ideas & trying to be clever by throwing in as many instruments as they could. But i`d heard a couple of songs on this album & could hardly believe I was listening to the same band & then went out & bought it. And it was just as wonderful as I hoped. I think I must have had this on my stereo for months. They finally made an effort to write songs , and bloody good they were too. Favourite songs - Holes , Opus 40 , Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp Today Good album but one I rarely listen to these days. There just seemed to be a slew of bands doing this sort of thing and I ended up getting a little bored of it Original Position - 76 Position Now - Out 75. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (1996) One of my biggest regrets ever was that it took me 6 years to buy this work of genius. I`d see it in the shop , but always overlooked it in favour of whatever current indie guitar darlings were around at the time. Then I picked up the UNKLE album of which DJ Shadow was involved in & because I loved it so much decided to finally get this. And I was not disappointed. It is one of the very few albums I can pick up & listen to the whole way through. To me it`s like a journey and the time just passes by.In fact I used to listen to this album at work everyday. This album pisses over the arguement that people who use samples are not real musicians.This is the most original peice of music i`d heard in years. Favourite songs - Building Steam With a Grain of Salt , Mutual Slump (With Bjork), What Does Your Soul Look Like Today Interesting how perspectives change after just a few years. There's no doubting that this album is groundbreaking as fuck , but over the years it has become a little old hat and I think because of this it loses some of that magic. I think it would still make the list today, just a bit lower. Original Position - 75 Position Now - Mid 80s - low 90s 74. Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989) Nirvana killed hair metal? Nope , as far as I go it was this album that did that. After I heard this the likes of Poison had no appeal to me whatsoever. This spoke to me like no other album around at the time (save Janes Addiction). It was loud it was funky & it rocked like a bastard. Many people might not realise the significance of the cover of Sabbath`s War Pigs either. Back then Sabbath were about the uncoolest band you could ever like, so it was good to see them cover a Sabbath song and at the same time really piss off the indie press that were loving them at the time.Although to be honest i`ve never really liked the cover itself , I feel their own material was much much better. Favourite songs - From Out Of Nowhere , Epic , The Real Thing Today At the time this was a toss up between this album & Angel Dust. I went with this one because i'd lived with it longer. I think now the way my tastes have gone it would be Angel Dust that got the nod. I think the positioning would stay around the same. Original Position - 74 Position Now - Angel Dust in this position 73. The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society (1968) I only bought this album in February , I suck. I can`t really say much about this , Ray Davies legend blah blah blah. What I will say is I think it`s only now that people are realising the influence that this album had on British music. I would love to see this album towards the top of album polls that are made replacing that overrated heap of crap known as Sgt Pepper. I just like the imagery & the realness of the Kinks songs and I still think a lot of them are still relevent today. Favourite songs - Village Green Preservation Society , Picture Book , Big Sky Today Now this is difficult I still like the Kinks a great deal but it's ages since I last played this album. If I was going to play a Kinks album these days it would more likely be Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) than this one. And i'm not that sure that that album would be as high as this either. Original Position - 73 Position Now - Out , With Arthur in at around the low 90s / Mid 80s __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.