Well. Let me just start off by talking a bit about Johnny "Rotten." I developed a little bit of a interest in him as a person as i'd heard so much about him. I still am slightly intrigued by him though it's only because of one thing he said and that was " we tell the truth, and thats something that people don't do." I don't know whether this is entirely true but there is a certain amount of truth as in he doesn't bullshit people by talking around his point, but at the same time the "truth" he speaks of is purely his own opinion.. Apart from this I found him to be a pretty vile, desperate individual who cannot bear to see himself be forgotten in the public's eyes so he continues to do controversial and ridiculous things, one such incident which involved become a certain special ambassador, to a certain special butter company...
Anyway The Sex Pistols! THE punk band. You know, the one with the guy who killed his girlfriend but doesn't remember doing it and then killed himself? It's in the book so I thought I may as well listen. What I found was something pretty pleasing. It was an amusing album and unlike anything I've ever heard. It sounded like a demo, it clearly wasn't polished completely and Rotten hisses and spits over the mike in quite a comical fashion.
The album is not a complex one, but then again punk isn't a complex genre of music. It starts out fairly well with "Holidays In The Sun" "Liar" and "No feelings" which embody the message of punk clearly through the lyrics, but it doesn't truely get gouing until the middle of the album, where the big numbers come out. "God Save The Queen" "Anarchy In The UK" and "Pretty Vacant" all smash the the rest of the album into pieces except for the very taboo and slightly farcical "Bodies" written about abortion. I thought it was probably the best song on the album with Rotten shouting in the middle "Fuck this and fuck that. Fuck it all and fuck that little brat" pretty deep, sensitive lyrics there from the man himself.
Overall I felt that although it was a stripped down, basic album, it really did give a strong representation of what punk was like at the time. They didn't care about anything and the record really gives this feeling, from the subject matter, to the demo like recording of the songs. An essential punk record.
It's a shame how their front man has disgraced the name and legend of The Sex Pistols and punk as a whole. Oh well at least he wasn't on I'm A Celebrity..
NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS: HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS
SCORE = 8.3/10
Track Scores
1.Holidays In The Sun = 3/4
2.Liar = 3/4
3.No Feelings = 3/4
4.God Save The Queen = 1
5.Seventeen = 3/4
6.Anarchy In The UK = 1
7.Bodies = 1
8.Pretty Vacant = 1
9.New York = 3/4
10.Problems = 3/4
11.E.M.I = 1
12.Submission = 1/2
1= 8.33
Thursday 25 March 2010
68. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited (Album)
I've started at 68 as I didnt realise that doing a blog would be the best way to document this, and I thought it may be a bit of fun.
Firstly I have a ratings system for albums. I write out each song in a little book (a little sad i know) then give each song a mark out of 1. 1 being a great song 3/4 being a good song 1/2 being ok and 1/4 being pretty poo. 0 is a rarety that most songs will never experience as I'm not that critical. I then divide the album by the number of songs e.g 100/12 = 8.33, therefore each "1" scored equals 8.33!
It's a little complicated I know so i'm just going to start talking about the album
BOB DYLAN. Folk Legend. Most of you know of him. He's a pretty cool cat. This was the first Bob Dylan album i listened to since deciding to do the list, the second of his overall (i listened to "the freewheelin bob dylan" a year and a half ago and I thought it was quite good!) Anyway i'd listened to "Highway 61" a little bit in the past and it's been on my ipod for ages so I felt I should give it the time of day.
The first two songs enter in a swirling 12 minutes of folk rock, two brilliant powerhouses of songs in "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Tombstone Blues" the former most people will have heard of before as it is a classic, classic song but I was still so very impressed with "Tombstone Blues," a kind of ramshackle of a song which has a choatic theme to it, especially with the lyrics and the fast-paced nature of the song. It has a few lyrical gems in it with perfectly non-sensical lines like "the sun's not yellow, it's chicken!" Classic Bob Dylan.
The album then moves into a slightly slower pacing with "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" and the next two songs "From A Buick 6" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" the last one being a slow paced burner of a song which cuts to the heart of you over a the length of the song, as if Bobby is toying with you, before punching you in the face so that you suddenly think "MY GOD THIS SONG IS REALLY GOOD!" which he tends to do throughout the album.
There is but one blip of a song on here in "Queen Jane Approximately," a normal, folk song which doesn't really hit home like the other tracks. The final, fantastic song "Desolation Row" an 11 minute hollywood film of a folk song in which it's grim but brilliant lyrics lift it superbly into a class above almost all other folk songs.
The album as a whole was definitely a fantastic album, one that almost kept the attention up all the way through but it wore ever so slightly at the end unfortunatly and it lost it a bit but still the transformation of Bob Dylan from folk singer to rock and roll icon is completely appitomised is this album, possibly one of the greatest career changing albums i've ever heard.
SCORE= 8.6/10
Track Scores
1.Like A Rolling Stone = 1
2.Tombstone Blues = 1
3 It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry = 3/4
4.From A Buick 6 = 1
5.Ballad Of A Thin Man = 1
6.Queen Jane Approximately = 1/2
7.Highway 61 Revisited = 1
8.Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues = 1/2
9.Desolation Row = 1
1= 11.11
Firstly I have a ratings system for albums. I write out each song in a little book (a little sad i know) then give each song a mark out of 1. 1 being a great song 3/4 being a good song 1/2 being ok and 1/4 being pretty poo. 0 is a rarety that most songs will never experience as I'm not that critical. I then divide the album by the number of songs e.g 100/12 = 8.33, therefore each "1" scored equals 8.33!
It's a little complicated I know so i'm just going to start talking about the album
BOB DYLAN. Folk Legend. Most of you know of him. He's a pretty cool cat. This was the first Bob Dylan album i listened to since deciding to do the list, the second of his overall (i listened to "the freewheelin bob dylan" a year and a half ago and I thought it was quite good!) Anyway i'd listened to "Highway 61" a little bit in the past and it's been on my ipod for ages so I felt I should give it the time of day.
The first two songs enter in a swirling 12 minutes of folk rock, two brilliant powerhouses of songs in "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Tombstone Blues" the former most people will have heard of before as it is a classic, classic song but I was still so very impressed with "Tombstone Blues," a kind of ramshackle of a song which has a choatic theme to it, especially with the lyrics and the fast-paced nature of the song. It has a few lyrical gems in it with perfectly non-sensical lines like "the sun's not yellow, it's chicken!" Classic Bob Dylan.
The album then moves into a slightly slower pacing with "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" and the next two songs "From A Buick 6" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" the last one being a slow paced burner of a song which cuts to the heart of you over a the length of the song, as if Bobby is toying with you, before punching you in the face so that you suddenly think "MY GOD THIS SONG IS REALLY GOOD!" which he tends to do throughout the album.
There is but one blip of a song on here in "Queen Jane Approximately," a normal, folk song which doesn't really hit home like the other tracks. The final, fantastic song "Desolation Row" an 11 minute hollywood film of a folk song in which it's grim but brilliant lyrics lift it superbly into a class above almost all other folk songs.
The album as a whole was definitely a fantastic album, one that almost kept the attention up all the way through but it wore ever so slightly at the end unfortunatly and it lost it a bit but still the transformation of Bob Dylan from folk singer to rock and roll icon is completely appitomised is this album, possibly one of the greatest career changing albums i've ever heard.
SCORE= 8.6/10
Track Scores
1.Like A Rolling Stone = 1
2.Tombstone Blues = 1
3 It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry = 3/4
4.From A Buick 6 = 1
5.Ballad Of A Thin Man = 1
6.Queen Jane Approximately = 1/2
7.Highway 61 Revisited = 1
8.Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues = 1/2
9.Desolation Row = 1
1= 11.11
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)