Deconstruct the Classics!
 

Many albums are accepted as being classics, mostly rightly so, but there are those that a) are, and a lot of people shake their heads and say no way that's not a classic album or b) are not accepted as such, but some people think they should be.

Here, I'm going to give you a chance to "do a Pluto" on the classics. Anyone can drop one in, one at a time but it should be a recognised classic or one that should fit the criteria (so no Jesus the Carpenter albums please!) :laughing:

All you have to do then is say Yay or Nay, and the votes will be totalled at the end, so we can see does this album actually deserve its classic status or, conversely, should it be one and is not?

You can comment and give any reasons you want, if you like, but you don't have to. Any genre, one at a time as I say. Signup sheet below.

Starting with this one, which I think most of you hate so I can imagine how it's gonna go....

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...california.jpg

SIGNUP SHEET

Username in Bold = member picking current album
Username in italics = member was unable to contribute in time and was skipped.

Trollheart
Frownland
YorkeDaddy
Moss
Chula Vista
Pet_Sounds
Music Phantom 13
Josef K

http://data1.whicdn.com/images/4152636/large.jpg


This has to be the most boring album ever to be considered a classic.

No-No NO! No No No-No-No-No-No! NO! NO NO! NO! NO NO! N-No-No No-No-NO!

Wait, do people actually listen to the whole album?
I thought it was just something dads had lying around before the age of youtube,
in case they wanted to listen to the eponymous song.

I'd rather hear this, thanks!

I'd rather listen to this than to almost any 'classic rock' album.

Yeah man that's gonna be a colossal hate from me, I'll never understand the appeal of Hotel California (the song OR the album)

Deconstructing some times is better

I honestly believe that Hotel California is one of the best rock songs ever written, if not the best. And I'm not saying that from some sort of objective musical reference point, I mean purely as a pop rock song and in terms of how it succeeds at everything a pop rock song typically tries to accomplish. I totally understand that it's overplayed and that has probably killed it for so many people, but legacy and status aside, as a standalone song it's just unreal. The production is fantastic, the track is consistently evolving and keeps you drawn in, the interplay between every instrument and the way every tone compliments the others is amazing, it flows unbelievably well. Not one member of the band drops the ball on that track, everybody is on point and playing something interesting, and playing it very well. Every note in the outro solo is deliberate and flawlessly played. It's one of the only tracks I can name that I prefer a fade out in. Forgive me for appealing to the epitome of the classic rock stereotype, but throwing Hotel California on while driving down the highway at sunset, sitting behind a V8, arm out the window, it's absolutely magical, there are few greater feelings in the world of Dad Rock.

All of that being said, clearly I love the track, but I honestly don't care at all for the rest of the album, besides Life in the Fast Lane.

Wow. Nicely put.

LITFL is a killer riff, and I totally agree. If the radio hadn't killed both of those songs and people just heard them for the first time, they'd be falling all over themselves to get a copy.

I don't listen to radio, so my dislike of the song has nothing to do with hearing it too much. I just plain don't like their sound at all

After the gut reaction, here's my slightly pretentious overview...

Not dismissing their talent, but being a kid from that time, a lot of The Eagles' sound was really the mark of Rock driving on the MOR. The attraction of this in The States back in the day is mainly due to the fact that it did connect with the average listener who was living in a time when things were kind of going well for the Mainstream (and to be very fair for a few seconds, in a way I rather prefer that to the fantasy visual-land Selfie Generation Popular music and Rock has turned into as of late to escape the intense crap we deal with every day now). It was in a time in The US when the culture was wanting all kinds of smoothness and professionalism - and you can throw in the aftermath of dealing with the Vietnam and Nixon eras, too - and the Music industry was on the side of homogenized FM Rock that sounded good on the stereo thanks to the bulk of the customers wanting well-played music that had no rough edges or progression (ELP tried and failed to co-operate with Love Beach and lost!). It was something that sounded well in the Van with the Waterbed with the 8-Track player blasting the music out, or the Chevy with the hood down and driving Van Nuys Blvd. (or wherever else that was the hot spot) at night, cruising with the music playing and maybe a hooker or two on the street as you live life on your fast lane headed to the Drive In.

In other words, it was clearly not my scene except for the Drive Ins, although I would be watching the movies, of course.

My mention of Metal Machine Music brought me back to the time when I knew deep down in my soul that the Popular FM Rock world was not connecting to me and seeing a Cut-Out tape of MMM was. I never knew what was on it until much later, but somehow I was happy that not every musician was with feather-blown hair and a laid back attitude with a lot of talent but not much soul or energy (although I will admit that Don Henley had took a turn for the better solo-wise...only slightly, but you know what I mean). This was also the album a lot of bar bands took notes from, meaning that in a culture that crowds out originality good and bad, you had to play "The Hits" with this being a must-learn for the time, and you thought that the title track was played on radio to death in The 70's!

They were possibly the best of what they did, only I think to be bettered by the Late 70's Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band, who's sound also took the slick turn for the tame although with a little Midwest grit still keeping things solid. Still, that was the problem for me - it was Pro Music that was certainly was not for those who needed something stronger. Too many people were conditioned for Album Rock and that was a sad thing.

It was the soundtrack to the time, but not my time within.

I first heard it when I was 11 and liked it. Still do.

*shrug*

I think it was the combining of reggae with distorted rock guitars that did it for me. The lyrics are dark, yet accessible, and conjure up many different interpretations, and the guitar solo's are very well thought out masterpieces within themselves. The pinch harmonic at 3:08 was the clincher though.

I'll give the title track a plus for the lyrics. They had that "Once you're in, you can't get out" feeling. They were a part of the big California Rock scene and it was big business back then, and those who were involved with music at that time in the shadier circles had that feeling in the more blunt version. The decadence had it's price - something that the local bar bands covering it and fans singing along maybe got but never got in full. It's possibly more so today, but with less interesting music.

So, that went as expected. :laughing: Let me total these up and we'll have the result everyone expected. As it goes, I love this album to death, but I'm not going to try to convince any of you of its worth. There's no point. While I'm totalling, does anyone else want to suggest an album? Please sign up if you do.

Okay, though some of you rambled on about Lou Reed I think I have a basic
5-2 against (I'm counting Screen13 as a Yay, not that it matters, and me of course)
so you'll all be glad to hear that Hotel California gets a big
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/no...y-emoticon.gif
Who woulda thought? :laughing:
NEXT!

Well, I'd give Hotel California a thumbs up. It's not a perfect album but none of it is terrible and the best tracks are pretty great.

Nice to know someone has taste! :) Too late though, the naysayers have spoken. Pluto is no longer a planet, and Hotel California is no longer a classic album.

How about this album goes next?

I was the one who started on about Lou...maybe you read something into my posting that said yes, although I might just appreciate things on many levels.

Metal Machine Music - yes!

Metal Machine Music: an even bigger NO ****ING WAY than The Eagles

That's why I thought it'd be a good pick since it seems to be so divisive.

Does it make you angry?

No it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I mean the music on it is so pleasant and lovely, how could I not feel like that?

It would help if you can all treat this like a "wars" thread, ie post the current outcome, which so far for MMM is I think 2-1 for Yes (I'm not voting as I have never heard it, nor do I intend to)

I wouldn't call MMM a recognized classic anyway.
It's an important predecessor for a lot of noise/industrial/drone, but I think this thread isn't about influential proto albums of obscure genres.

^it's in the general music section so there's not really any limitations. I kind of threw it out as a joke but we can roll with it.

Oddly enough I think that it does have a kind of beauty about it, albeit an ugly and abrasive form of beauty. There's something about it that's incredibly hypnotic so long as you don't get irritated by it. Some of the feedback loops are kind of angelic if you can pick them out, which makes me think of another thing that I love about the album: it's dense as hell. It's sort of like a Pollock painting with layers and layers of colours and paints, but instead with sounds. It's busy enough to sound different from listen to listen (although certain melodies are more pronounced), but to me it doesn't sound convoluted even though there's a lot going on. Plus I like how intense it gets and the ending is one of my all time favourites.

Make that a yes and a half for me.

Those kinds of albums are great to listen to when it's really hot and you're baking in the sun for some reason.

"Feedback loops" and "angelic" in the same sentence

Just when I thought the praise for that album couldn't get more ridiculous

This coming from someone who purposely used guitar feedback on several tracks on my most recent album. I actually used it to enhance other sounds rather than passing it off as being worthy of carrying an entire hour+ long album

It's pretty whacky when other people have opinions different from you huh? It's a matter of taste and MMM pleases mine. Don't go ****ting on other people's opinions, especially when they're not returning the favour.

Lol what even are you talking about? I'm not ****ting on anybody's opinions, I'm ****ting on the album. Quit going for this copout when someone doesn't think highly of some of your favorite avant-garbage

I guess I misconstrued it when you called my praise for the album ridiculous.

Guys, don't start fighting again.
http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.c...12/bouncer.jpg
It's about whatever you want it to be about. I would say MMM qualifies, as it's certainly well known, and I did say any genre. Frownland, are you looking to be signed up then, and is this the next battle? Anyone else want to sign up?

I'm down to sign up for something but I don't know what yet

Sure I'll sign up, but how about a real classic.

I might sound like the most pretentious person here, but it actually MMM calms me down.
Industrial is the key word for it's after effects on an influence scale, but this seriously helped me form my opinions on how I listened to these works. On a Cinematic level, this would work great in a Future Shock film as it sounds like the breakdown of everything electronic, especially the Lock Groove - It was actually a major trend of film by the time of it's release.

Experimental Music fans of the day caught the jokes as well as saluting the fact that a major music star who decided to do a sonic FU did it in a way they can understand right in the middle of the John Denver and Boogie Rock era. Unlike George Harrison's Electronic Sound, this was a stone cold attack of sound with a bleak beauty.

Try listening to this in an abandoned building!

OK, Frown and Yorke ye're signed up. However Frownland stick to the one album till it's decided, try not to be throwing others out as you may confuse people who will start voting for that.

So just to be clear:
It's currently Frownland's turn
His album is Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed
The score at the moment is 2-1 for Yes.

Didn't you ask if this was the next battle? I mentioned that I threw it out as a joke but I guess we could keep MMM, if only to piss YD off :D.