I really want to give Marley a decent shout, so can anyone point me to one of his classic albums? Choosing "Legend" just seems pointless: I'm going to know most of the tracks anyway... Thanks.

Exodus (1977) and Uprising (1980) are the two best studio albums by Marley. Don't do Legend...everybody in the world has reviewed the anthology.

I love Survival (1979). That's my vote for his best.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...val_Album.jpeg

I probably started to get into heavy metal around ten years ago, and I only got into Judas Priest, I think, last year. I thought that was bad enough!

I don't know what it was about Priest, but they just never did it for me. They seemed to be somewhat of a novelty, yet at the same time I was going ape**** over Iron Maiden, who I do not consider a novelty band (there are fun, novelty elements within) but lets face it, if one is then the other is as well!

I never really tried in all honesty for years, I just heard odd tracks here and there and wasn't convinced. I finally checked out British Steel and, I think, Painkiller and thought they were OK but then shelved them and didn't revisit them. The turning point for me, was Vanilla was telling me how much she loved Judas Priest and so I decided to revisit again - and all of a sudden those albums just clicked with me. Since then I've listened to most of their records by now, watched some documentaries, watched some live DVDs and generally just been loving them.

So yeah, Vanilla got me into Judas Priest. :thumb:

Hmm. Could it be? Could our own Vanilla be a worthy challenger to the Lord of True Metal himself, the Batlord? The earth trembles at the very notion...

I just prefer it to Songs in the Key of Life, I think Talking Book is a better album than Songs in the key of life aswell. The Original Musiquarium is a good album to get into Stevie Wonder with, its a compilation but it isn't full of huge hits, definitely worth a listen if you're interested in Stevie Wonder and not quite sure where to start.

No.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lersExodus.jpg
Title: Exodus
Artiste: Bob Marley and the Wailers
Year: 1977
Chronological position: Ninth album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Just the singles: not a big reggae fan
Why is this considered a classic? Apparently he was almost assassinated in Jamaica and left to go to London, where he recorded this album, I guess you could say, in exile. It's supposed to be one of his greatest works, and certainly has a lot of hit singles on it. It's said to be the one that made him an international star, outside of his home island.

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

Comments: As I say, I'm no fan of reggae. To me it's always sounded a little plodding and samey, but I guess I can't really comment as Marley's singles and the odd UB40 track are about all I've ever heard. What really annoyed me, and didn't exactly get me off on the right foot, was how hard this album was to find! For a classic I would not have thought it would have been so scarce online. Spotify hadn't got it, but they had about ninety greatest hits-type albums, and I eventually found it hidden away on Grooveshark without a cover! Of course, later on I find I can get the whole thing on YouTube! Gaahh! Anyway...

This starts off nicely with a cool little instrumental, and of course there are tracks on it I'll know, since they were big chart singles, but it's more the unknown (to me) material that I'm interested in. Mostly it's pretty good, though I wouldn't say I'm having any spiritual revelations or that it's going to suddenly turn me on to reggae. But quite enjoyable and listenable.

Favourite track(s): Natural mystic, The heathen, Exodus, Turn your lights down low and the singles, of course
Least favourite track(s): Meh, nothing I'd class as bad really at all.

Final impression --- Pretty good album, though it hasn't changed my mind about reggae. Yet.

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?

Probably C I guess.

When are you going to review Slayer's Reign in Blood, I'm looking forward to a good laugh:D

I'm working up to it, honest. Any day now. Or maybe not. By the end of the month, definitely. Which month? Ah, now there's a question... ;)

Oh get on with it you big pussy.
It's only 28 minutes long, I've had longer shits than that.

I'd like to see some b2b reviews of that, and thennnnn... and thennnn... some IceT OG, that would be brutal. Seriously. If you get a chance, of course. Same era kind of thing.

I think audience demand is overruling you TH. It's time to suck it up and listen to some Slayer. Punk. ;)

Can't quite stretch to that at the moment. How about this instead?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...angel_dust.jpg
Title: Angel dust
Artiste: Faith No More
Year: 1992
Chronological position: Fourth album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Zero, unless you count the cover of the Commodores' "Easy"! Oh look: it's on this album!
Why is this considered a classic? (shrug)

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

Comments: Sort of surprises me with a quite proggy opening track, not really what I was expecting at all. I wouldn't be crazy about the vocalist but I wouldn't refuse to listen to him either. The music is very good though. Bit Waits-ish on "RV", mixed with some Cave too. Mm. Interesting the way it develops. I find my attention drifting as the album goes on, but I recognise there are good tracks in here. I need to listen to this again, preferably giving it my full attention.

Favourite track(s): Land of sunshine, Midlife crisis, Everything's ruined, A small victory, Midnight cowboy, Easy (of course)
Least favourite track(s): Malpractice, Be aggressive

Final impression --- To be honest, this is the first album I've listened to where I'm completely unsure how I feel at the end. I may end up loving this, hating it or just being meh about it. I will definitely have to listen to it a few more times before pronouncing my verdict on it.

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?

C and also D

It was added on later, It wasn't on the original.

So you never heard "Epic"? I thought everyone knew that song.

I wore this out when it first came out in the 90's and I'm still wearing it out today. RV is my theme song.

Everybody with a set of ears has, even if they don't know the artist.

Maggot Brain is an amazing album, this is the password to my computer haha. That must be one of the greatest guitar solos of all time.

Close To The Edge is incredible too.

This. Trollheart, go listen to "Epic," and for the love of all that is holy, tell us you've heard it before.

He doesn't like hip hop. Something tells me he won't have anything good to say about "Epic".

Oh THAT one! Sheesh! Why didn't you say? Of course I have



never ever heard that in my life.



And I hate it.

You were right Batlord.

D:

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...Z6hxRIN5JaN7sw
Title: In the aeroplane over the sea
Artiste: Neutral Milk Hotel
Year: 1998
Chronological position: Second, and last
Previous experience of this artiste?: Not a sausage
Why is this considered a classic? No, I really want to know...

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

Comments: Everybody raves about this album, so it's one that got added to the list later on, and now here I am listening to it for the first ever time. The opening track is nice: I had no idea what to expect from this band but it's quite palatable for me at any rate. Some nice stuff though "Oh comely" goes on way too long and is as dreary as a wet weekend in Dublin, while "Communist daughter", less than two minutes, is a far superior track. That untitled one just before the end is good too, the instrumental one.

Favourite track(s): The king of carrot flowers, part one, In the aeroplane over the sea, Holland 1945, Ghost
Least favourite track(s): The king of carrot flowers, parts two and three, Oh comely

Final impression --- Good album but I'm not overly impressed really. Decent eclectic mix of instrumentation but both Passenger and the Waterboys do this thing so much better. I might listen to it again, then again I might not.

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?

E I would say. Suppose that may change on repeated listens.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...land_cover.jpg
Title: Floodland
Artiste: The Sisters of Mercy
Year: 1987
Chronological position: Second album
Previous experience of this artiste?: "This corrosion". That's it.
Why is this considered a classic? Maybe because it was the last official album before the band broke up, and also because it rather paradoxically it seems to me marked their commercial breakthough. What do you do on the cusp of fame and fortune? Yeah, break up! :rolleyes:

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

Comments: I loved Andew Eldritch's voice when I heard it on "This corrosion": I always felt if a vampire started up a band the lead singer would sound like him. How do you categorise this music? Dark new wave? Gothic rock? Darkwave? "Flood I" sort of gives me a Gary Numan feel, especially his earlier work with Tubeway Army, mixed in with a harsher Nick Cave sound. I love the bassline in "Lucretia my reflection", very sparse. I also like Eldritch's more restrained vocal for most of the song. You know, SoM sound a little like The Damned too. The piano ballad "1959" is a step away from what has gone so far and is a nice surprise.

I'd have to say I'm pretty damn impressed by this album; just a pity they didn't last to do more than one after this. Never heard of a band striking against their record label before but apparently that's exactly what they did!


Favourite track(s): Pretty much everything really
Least favourite track(s): So that would leave...?

Final impression --- Something of a masterpiece really; and a supernova that flared and rather sadly died out all too quickly.

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?

Have to be A.

That's basically what I thought of the album when I listened to it verbatim, except that I actually never listened to it again - just let it gather dust for years with my Urban Verbs and Afghan Whigs albums, along with all that other stuff I've virtually forgotten I own.

Good thread by the way.

Thanks Bulldog, and thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I started this journal because it seemed to me I was maybe missing out on some pretty amazing albums that everyone mentions or cites, and I wanted to know more about them. In general I think a good percentage of them have impressed me, but others have left me a little cold and wondering why they're considered as classics. Still, it's an interesting journey.

Did I not already do this one? And the Waterboys? Oh well: getting hard to differentiate between the reviews I write and the ones I post. On we go then...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Paul_Simon.jpg
Title: Graceland
Artiste: Paul Simon
Year: 1986
Chronological position: Seventh album
Previous experience of this artiste?: No albums but singles and of course Simon and Garfunkel. I've also heard his greatest hits and liked it.
Why is this considered a classic? This was a breakout success for Paul Simon, with its utilisation of African and World music, and turned the spotlight on some hitherto unknown or at least unrecognised African artistes like Juluka and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Mind you, Simon was lambasted by many in the anti-apartheid movements for being seen to break the embargo on working with South African musicians, which set him at odds with, among others, the powerful ANC.

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

Comments: As I mentioned in the note to this album originally, when I first heard this album decades ago I didn't really like it; truth to tell I didn't really listen to it at all, which is why I'm including it here even though technically it's a classic album I have heard. I want to see if, with the benefit of older, less naive ears I can "get" it. Okay well I'm halfway through so far and I like everything I've heard up to now. Ah, the difference twenty-five years makes!

Favourite track(s): The boy in the bubble, Graceland ... ah to hell with it! Everything here is great!
Least favourite track(s): Nada

Final impression --- As I say, what a difference 25 or so years makes! I obviously was not properly equipped to appreciate this album when I first listened to it. Now that I have had another crack at it, its splendour has been revealed to me and I finally see the light!

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?

After all these years, A!

You're stalling. Give us Slayer. :thumb:

Yep this is all bollocks trolly, you've had wimpy indie in that crappy milk boarding house mob and then Paul 'yawn' Simon, we all want Slayer and now! If not we'll stop reading and you won't like that.

Just get it over with TH. Or we'll start demanding you listen to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. ;)

The scales... they are a tippin TH.

I think it's time.

And now, to quote an old Bryan Adams album title: "You want it, you got it!" By popular demand and for your entertainment, we present the Kerry King Quartet, with their very popular symphony for guitar, bass, drum and scream, "Reign in Blood", in Arrrrgghhh! Minor.

May the lord have mercy upon my poor ears!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...n_in_blood.jpg
Title: Reign in blood
Artiste: Slayer
Year: 1986
Chronological position: Third album
Previous experience of this artiste?: None, and I doubt I ever will again
Why is this considered a classic? Supposedly one of the big thrash metals albums of all time and the one that put Slayer on the map yadda yadda yadda...

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

Comments: Oh holy good fuck! Well, I promised I'd do it and I can't show fear in the face of The Batlord, so here goes... Uh, what? The guy is not a growler? I assumed... oh hold on here a moment. Have I been misinformed? You know, I started with the amp down really low and I'm as surprised as anyone to be inching it back up a little. I'm as amazed as you to be saying this, but fuck if this is not too bad! Nowhere near as unintelligible as I had expected, certainly a lot more accessible than I was led to believe!

That is one FUCK of a solo by Kerry King at the end of "Angel of death"! No wonder The Batlord wanted him on his quest! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read his journal). Sorry for the language but I think it's merited when you're dealing with a band like this. Sound is pretty raw, and it's not really the kind of thing I'd be into but it's a whole lot better than Venom. After reviewing their albums for my NWOBHM article my ears were ringing for days. This is, not quite soothing compared to that but a lot easier on the ears.

That said, it's kind of passing by me without making any impression. I certainly wouldn't listen to this for fun or entertainment. But it's not the ordeal I had expected. Given that, it's also not a sudden revelation for me, and I won't be becoming a fan of Slayer any time soon.

Favourite track(s): Neither of these apply. I neither love nor hate any of this album; it just didn't make any real impression on me, tracks-wise.
Least favourite track(s):

Final impression --- Glad my ears are still attached to my head, but definitely not for me. Hope you're all happy now. ;)

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?

I'd say B, except I'm glad I at least now know what Slayer sound like. But given that, then probably E.

Well done.
Now put your slippers on, make yourself a nice mug of Horlicks and go listen to a Sting record old timer :D

Eh? Speak up sonny! Can't hear a thing after listening to that young King fella!
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...ZNgE2L3V3FhPQa

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lbum_Cover.jpg
Title: Fisherman's blues
Artiste: The Waterboys
Year: 1988
Chronological position: Fourth album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Pretty much just the singles really
Why is this considered a classic? It was where they changed their sound, bringing in more celtic influences. It was also their most successful album.

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

Comments: I know the opener of course, as anyone does, but I haven't heard this album all the way through: I may have dipped into it around the time it came out, again via my boss but I certainly didn't take any real notice of it. The violin is a little grating at times on "We will not be lovers", but I do like it. It's probably the mark of a good, even classic album that as you wait for the tracks you know, you hear others which are as good, or even better. And that's how I'm feeling, listening to this album. There's no sense of "when does song X come on?" It's more a sense of an overall experience, and when the songs come that I know, it'll be great but it's no trial to wait, as there is plenty of other good music to keep me entertained till then.

And speaking of what makes a good thing great, a song that goes on for nine minutes and doesn't become boring, in fact you wish it was longer? "And a bang on the ear" has long been one of my favourite Waterboys tracks, not that I know that many, and it's great to hear it again. Okay, I stand corrected: it's totally overstretched from about the seventh minute: there's no need for it to be this long, not that I'm complaining, but it does seem a little pointless to drag it out to these lengths. Oh well.

"Has anybody here seen Hank?" has a real Waits vibe about it, and I love the traditional "When will we be married?" Using poetry from Yeats for "The stolen child" would later lead to a whole album centred around the celebrated Irish poet's work, and the closer "This is your land" is one of my favourite Woodie Guthrie songs. All right: it's the ONLY Guthrie song I know. Happy? Love the Irish slant they put on it. Super.

Favourite track(s): Fisherman's blues, And a bang on the ear, Has anyone here seen ... ah feck it! Just everything again!
Least favourite track(s): See above

Final impression --- Great album that makes me want to listen to more Waterboys, though I am concerned that this was seen as a change in their musical direction, so that previous albums might not give me the same payoff...

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?

It's another A!

Wait, so you'd never even listened to Slayer before? I'd assumed your distaste was at least based on experience. Shame, shame, shame, oh close-minded one. And how does a young male go through the eighties without ever listening to Slayer anyway?

As far as the Slayer review, I'd say you gave it an honest assessment for that album. I know many people will disagree when I say that it's probably not their best work as they had grown a bit more as a band through the years (as one would expect). But to start there is certainly keeping true to what their sound really is all about. Kudos to you TH for even taking the time.