The importation of tunes continues apace.
Thoughts as I reacquaint myself with my own music:
— Uhm, okay – Metallica fans, I truly need your input: Do I like “LOAD”? Help me. I have owned it for years, I listen to it on occasion … but I still don’t know if I like it. What is the consensus? Is there a consensus? [Update: I guess the fact that I even need to ask gives me my answer. But still – would love to hear from other fans what they think of that album.]
— I love the song “No News” by Lonestar. I have it on a country compilation CD – which mostly BLOWS – but I have kept the CD lo these many years for that one song. Now I can get rid of the damn CD. “She missed the bus, missed the plane …” Just love the song.
— I adore Xanadu. “Have to believe we are ma-gic Nothing can stand in our way …” Please. It’s classic.
— Is it possible to have too much Queen, U2, Eminem, or Pat McCurdy? I can’t believe the STACK of CDs for these artists alone.
— I need more Lyle Lovett.
— I love Little River Band and I don’t care who knows.
— Oh. And same with Huey Lewis. I have every single CD the guy ever did. Huge HUGE fan. Now that his songs can reside in the God-given SHUFFLE feature, I can re-acquaint myself again with all the songs of his I love. Because it’s not just the hits – there are songs on those albums which might not have gotten huge radio-play, but were my favorites. Yay!!
Ah, but have you found Podcasts yet?
sheil…i too beleive Magic is a classic..in fact my recent purchase of Olivia Newton-John’s greatest hits has brought me great great joy! I decided to go on a seventies songbird bings…Helen Reddy, Minnie Ripperton,Phoebe Snow, Melissa Manchester,Jane Oliver..all delicious..oh by the way…we have to caht soon..i want to come visit!
Melissa Manchester!!! Man, I LOVED her. Need to get me some.
Mitchell – any time. COME!!!
Midnight Blue…she sings the shit out of that song!!!
And you’re the one who turned me on to Phoebe Snow. You made me a mix tape during The Bad Time with a Phoebe Snow song on it.
I was such a jerk!! Sorry!!!!!
melissa – not yet!!!!
Xanadu?? [Open, then closes mouth]… Sometimes things are better left unsaid.
This movie might have single-handedly killed the roller-disco craze (not that that’s a bad thing)
I guess I have never really recovered from the death of the roller-disco craze.
hahahaha No, just kidding.
But the SONGS, JFH. The SONGS!
I especially love the counterpoint song with the “rock” band and Gene Kelly. SO CHEESY but SO SATISFYING.
“LOVER I won’t take a back seat toniiiiight”
hahahaha
About Load, yeah, the fact that you’re asking isn’t a good sign. As far as consensus goes, there are probably two groups: those who were Metallica fans pre-black-album and those who started listening to them after 1991 or so. The latter (in my small sampling of acquaintances, including myself) really like several songs off of Load and ReLoad, the former pretty much hate them except for a couple of songs.
I’ve come to my own “consensus of one” that they should have dumped a bunch of songs and made one really good album out of the two (you can find my picks here ).
//I guess I have never really recovered from the death of the roller-disco craze.//
All skate!
“don’t be a drag..participate…clams on the half shell and roller skate, roller skate…good times”…ahh i miss disco!!
oh the “bad time” sheila…sometimes i creep up to Diary Friday … afraid that some of my immature, sexually-ambiguous b.s. will make its way onto cyber-space…i was the jerk!!!
Steve – Interesting perspective. I was a black album girl – not really into them before that, I was still listening to show tunes and John Denver when they started out … And your post about Load – that was fantastic! Thank you!!
mitchell – bwahahahahahahahahaha
Well, just know, though, that you have already READ all of that from the magnum opus I put together for you!!
Wait … he’s gay? So … how will THAT work??
Uhm – it means you won’t be his girlfriend, Sheila. That’s basically how it will work.
I actually own the entire soundtrack to Xanadu. I love it, without apology.
But I have to ask, WTF is up with that ELO/Olivia Newton-John duet where it goes back and forth from bad 70’s rock to swing? Truly one of the greatest pieces of shit ever recorded in the history of music.
I listen to it all the time.
emily – hahahaha I know – total shit!!
“I want to dance with you
Til the sun comes creepin’ thru-u
I want to dance with you
I won’t stop pleasin’ you
Ah-ah-ah-AH …”
HAHAHAHA
And then in comes the “rock” song. Hilarious. Doesn’t the stage swivel around in the movie?
yes!..also the bad hollywood version of “punk rock” fashion is unbearably horrendous and therefore genius!
sheil..what if i came on the 30th and hung out for the week and we went to see Alex’s stage reading in NYC and then i spent the next weekend with the Wagners?
Oh the confident declaration…”luvva, I won’t take a backseat tonight…I’ve got some dancing to do, got some dancing to do…” Like the dancing he has to do is just the most important undertaking in the world.
Sheila – you can download podcasts from iTunes – my favorite is Back to the 80s.
You can never have too much Huey Lewis – although I am still fuming that the only Men At Work I can find is their first album and then a later anniversary album. Where’s CARGO?!
Steve wrote pretty much what I was going to write. I fall on the pre-Black album side thinking that most of what came after Black is bland commericalism. So, Load would be a no-go for me.
What I find interesting is that most pre- and post-Black album Metallica fans all still like the Black album but use it as their reason for either stopping or becoming a Metallica fan. I think that says a lot about that particular album.
On Queen and U2: I have huge compilations of both. I have come to the conclusion that you can have too much Queen but there’s never enough U2. I don’t know why this is, but there are some Queen tunes that rub me and the wife the wrong way these days. But that’s us.
Didn’t Starlight Express come out in the mid-80s? Only Andrew Lloyd Webber could have pulled that pitch off,
Investor: “So, wait, you have a new musical and everybody’s on roller skates? Uh, the rollerskating craze is DEAD! This might have sold 4-5 years ago, but not now.”
Mitchell – that would be perfect!! Oh God, already I can’t wait. I will be around … no worries. So make your plans. And I will be here!!
Imagine pitching Xanadu…”so, we’ve got this frustrated and under-appreciated artist, unhappy with his life who, with the help of a muse played by Olivia Newton-John and a guardian angel – we’re thinking somebody along the lines of Gene Kelly here. Is he available? Somebody call his people – realizes his dream of owning his very own roller disco. Whadya think?”
You know you’re a true blogger when your friends make vacation plans with you in your comments section.
JFH – bwahahahaha with the Starlight Express reference – so TRUE that it was only 4 or 5 years past the tipping point.
haha
Emily – you are KILLING me. hahahaha His dancing! Yeah, like: GO, buddy, GO DO YOUR DANCING and stop screaming at me, mkay?? Mkay, luvvah?
Load, as an album, is underappreciated and often unfairly criticized. The only thing I would have done differently is include “Fuel” from Re-Load on it. Otherwise, I’d leave it alone. “King Nothing” is a fantastic song with (imo, of course) a real sense of drama to it. “Cure” is also great, and has a sweet guitar solo.
I don’t know about Eminem (I’d settle for his recent “hits” album) & Pat McCurdy, but no, there can never be too much U2 or Queen.
I also think that you can never have too much of The Smithereens, either, if you’re looking for new stuff to add. Other “never too much of” artists, based on what’s sitting on my player right now:
Buddy Guy
John Lee Hooker
Clapton (All flavors…Cream,Derek, Solo, etc.)
Jimmy Buffett
Miles Davis
Radiohead
Fiona Apple
Bob Mould (solo & with Sugar)
Yes
I’d add Beck to the list, but I know he’s essentially been PNG’d on your iPod. Now I’m gonna shuffle mine and see what comes up.
Because I’m very busy today, as you can see…
OK,
I’m LivePodding at my place. I’ll constantly update the post I have going with the songs that come up for the rest of the time I’m at work. This should be kinda cool…
You can never have too much Queen.
(About eight years ago, a co-worker won a contest on our local country station and the prize was lunch and a concert with Lonestar. They weren’t all that famous — “No News” had just come out — but we were still impressed that we got to eat Backyard Burgers with them and have them play in our breakroom.)
Speaking of Queen, how does everyone feel about this Queen (featuring Paul Rodgers) tour that’s happening.
I mean, I like Bad Co., and Paul Rodgers can sing his ass off, but I don’t see how his voice works with Queen’s tunes.
I liked the Black Album ok, but I had to call it quits with Load – it struck me as a watered down version of Metallica and a overly blantant attempt to appear relevant in the grungified music scene. Their whole move to cut their hair and start wearing lots of makeup was just plain wrong, I mean, these guys aren’t exactly Ziggy Stardust!
Speaking of iPods, there was a brand new and very funny update to the “Big Fat iPod Diary” on the Pitchfork website this morning:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/columns/puritan-blister/06-03-10.shtml
Lots of laffs!
…and don’t get me started on that damn Bob Seger cover! Ugh! Someone kill me, please!
I forgot about that Seger cover.
Bob Seger makes me angry. If I could banish him to the flying mirror thingy that imprisoned Zod, et al. in Superman II, I would so make it happen.
I haven’t heard good things about the Queen tour – I am so so bummed OUT that I never got to see Freddie Mercury live. What a fucking talent.
Being a diehard Metallica fan back in the day. I would have to say anything after And Justice For All…is not Metallica. But take this as being very biased because I am still a great lover of angry heavy metal.
Listen to any album before Black and you can not only hear the difference but you can feel it. The way that James sings rougher, the way the guitar solos are played faster and crazier. There is no heavy metal or speed metal in the newest albums. Just power chords. Where is the rage now?
I guess the biggest problem with the newest albums is that they don’t sound original any more. Just like many of the current “heavy metal” bands sound the same. And I believe this is what really turned a lot of the original Metallica fans away. (On a side note, paying $150 to see Metallica could also be a reason old fans don’t enjoy them anymore).
The lyrics may have been silly, but Heavy Metal WAS pretty silly. Don’t tell Dee Schneider I said that…
I would suggest dowloading anything from Master of Puppets or go back even further to Kill ’em All. True Heavy Metal.
Having Paul Rodgers sing for Queen is like having a new lead singer for INXS. It’s just not right.
Sorry this was so long
Spot on about the pivot-point-ness of the black album, Cullen.
Just saw the “great albums” (sorry, forgot the actual title) TV show about the “Metallica” (the album) and both the band and the narrator tried to convince you that the changes for the black album were the result of growing as artists. But then they also mentioned (and James went into length about) the fact that they needed some shorter songs to play live, which rings a little more true to me. That plus the influence of a popish producer explains a lot.
I’m somehow still hopeful that the next CD will be more of a combination of previous styles (or a minor extension of an existing style) rather than a reactionary leap in one direction or the other like the previous 3 (towards grunge in L/RL and away from L/RL for St. Anger).
Jon B – I just got off the phone with Dee Schneider and I totally told him what you said and boy, is he pissed.
hahahaha
I appreciate your perspective – my brother is a die-hard Metallica fan – he’s basically an ARCHIVIST of Metallica info – I like the rage myself. I love the heaviness of it. The relentlessness of it.
Maybe becoming middle-aged means some of that youthful rage dissipates. Who knows. But I love their early stuff.
I don’t know, Jon, previous to the black album James’ voice was overdubbed so much that it sounds impossibly smooth (although the reason they had to do that was because his voice was pretty rough, so your point makes sense).
They definitely don’t play in the same genre of metal anymore, though, even though it sounds like they tried hard (too hard!) to reclaim speed metalish tendencies with St. Anger. I happen to like both the “speed-metal Metallica” and the “hard rock Metallica” but I totally understand that some people can’t.
And if I were a little older and had gotten into Metallica during MoP or AJFA, I’m not sure if my fandom would have survived the musical whiplash that the black album represented either.
I don’t personally feel any anger toward Bob Seger; it was the 70s, they didn’t really know any better.
But what’s Metallica’s excuse? Was it malice? Did they purposefully want us to re-live those dark, dark days of cultural blight?
I LOVE getting a random Huey Lewis song during my shuffle times! I downloaded quite a few. And I am loaded to the gills with Lyle Lovett. You’ll have to borrow my CD’s. I have many!
My problem is that every third song is almost always a James Taylor song as I have every single one of his albums (CD’s)(and there are many) and have downloaded tons of his music. Well, that’s not really a problem.
David – that’s what’s happening to me with Queen and Pat McCurdy – which – well – is rather ironic. hahahaha I’m like: jeez, HIM AGAIN??
I have so much more of that stuff than of anything else.
And would you believe that I only have JT on tape? Need to get me some JT pronto.
Wasn’t there a Spinal Tap bit with Metallica, where they accused them of stealing their idea for an all-black album cover?
George – YES! Brilliant moment. “Gee, an all black album cover. I wonder WHO thought of that?!?!?”
But what’s Metallica’s excuse? Was it malice? Did they purposefully want us to re-live those dark, dark days of cultural blight?
They got the smack thrown down on them by Pantera, like every other metal band of the era. Seriously, Pantera’s popularity and utter stomp-heaviness caused every metal and hard rock band of the era to reevaluate themselves. Some, like Metallica, pussed out … er, decided on a more commercial path.
It only now occurs to me to mention to Sheila that, outside of her readership, asking for opinions about Metallica from Metallica fans can be a scary invitation to give out. Just look at the comment threads on Blabbermouth whenever Metallica (or any other actually-popular hard rock band) is mentioned and you’ll see what I mean.
Apparently, a lot of us metal fans are angry and/or aggressive. Who knew?
Heh. Some of those comments are classic, Steve. Here’s what I find funny, Metallica can’t win for losing. They either have critical success (critics and fans) or they have commercial success. With the exception of the Black album, they’ve never enjoyed both. Megadeth has always enjoyed a moderate amount of both. Found the contrast interesting.
BTW, has anyone heard The System Has Failed? Not my favorite subject matter, but it’s a return to venomous Megadeth. Great stuff.
Steve – I love getting real hard-core metal fans talking. It’s always feckin’ fascinating. I love hard stuff too – but not like THAT. I love how POSITIONAL everyone is, and OPINIONATED – it’s fantastic!!
Conor(my 11 year old son) is at the Queen concert tonight. He will dish the dirt re:Paul Rogers when I pick him up tomorrow from his buddy’s house. He is a hardcore, diehard Queen fan. He was a bit ambivalent about Rogers taking Mercury’s place, and yet he feels he just might pull it off. SO, off he went with his best friend and b.f.’s Dad to his first concert, hopeful, yet a bit guarded. I love that child.
Oh, Beth!!! I love Conor!!!!
His first concert!
What was yours? James Taylor?? Hmmmmm … trying to guess …
Mine was Huey Lewis – with Jayne, Mere, and Dolores. The “Heart of Rock and Roll” tour.
Go, Conor! Have him come here and give a little review – I’d love to hear it.
Sheil- Your first concert= Huey Lewis, mine=U2, Tom’s= Tom Petty, Conor= Queen. Who’s cooler than us????
Hey- no idea that you had responded already when I posted our “firsts” comment!!!!! HOW WEIRD!!!!!
Beth – no. fucking. way.
That was SO a response to my question – WEIRD!!!!!!
And I am also ashamed that you remembered my first concert and I did not remember yours.
I am a bad friend.
Well, I was gonna break it to you… but, as they say, the first step is admitting… SHUT UP!! I just have a freaky memory for minutae (or however you spell that word!!!) I also know all your siblings middle names. I am such a loser.
You just have a freaky memory. I am so envious of it. Bobby Cumerford and the plaid shirt and the popsicle, and that’s all I’m sayin’.
It was The Tubes that did the duet with Olivia Newton-John, not ELO. I discovered this after immediately searching for the soundtrack upon returning home (who wouldn’t, after this thread?). My mistake is unforgivable.
All of your first concerts are so much cooler than mine. My first concert was Weird Al Yankovic.
Erik – I am howling with laughter. hahahahahaha I LOVE THAT!!!
Erik- If it makes you feel any better, my son also listens to Weird Al ad infinitum. So, I would bet that Conor would put that concert in the “mad cool” category.
emily – and I have now realized that I messed up the other side of the equation and said that Gene Kelly was involved in the “duet”. When obviously he was not. (He wasn’t was he??)
My shame is as deep as yours.
Cullen, The System Has Failed is on my list of “why didn’t you buy it when it came out?” CDs, but I still haven’t picked it up yet. Definitely an omission to remedy (along with about 10 others, including some mentioned in the comments here).
True, metal opinions can be fun to read, but the Blabbermouth comments have historically been hate/troll-infested almost beyond belief (although there’s been a bit of a backlash of sane people in the last few weeks).
(Oh, and my first concert actually was Metallica, which is a little too cute to believe considering this thread, but it’s still true.)
To complete your Huey Lewis collection, get Asleep At The Wheel’s Bob Wills tribute album.
My first concert?
Barry FUCKIN’ Manilow: The One Voice tour.
Suck on that, beyotch.
Whoo hoo!!!!!!!!
First concerts.
Boy, this is humiliating. My first one was effing Europe. As in, “The Final Countdown.” At the Beacon in NYC.
Things did improve from there, however, thank God.
You guys are all like, “QUEEN! U2! MANILOW!” for your first shows, and I roll in with a one-hit-wonder group whose big song is now best known for being usedas a 10 second clip in sports arenas during crunchtime.
Gah, freakin’ Load…back in 1997 I sat next to this woman at work who listened to that album NON-STOP for about six months. I swear, it was the only CD she owned. She had headphones on, but I could still hear a little bit bleeding through. Over time, I became intimate with an album that I never even actually listened to.
My first concert was U2!! February 1998 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. And the last concert I attended, incidentally, was also U2: March 1, 2006, in the same stadium, Vertigo Tour. Fantastic show.
In between there was Metallica, Duran Duran and Pearl Jam. And Diana Krall. Not a lot of concerts, but U2 TWICE! I feel truly blessed!!!!
As for Metallica: I love all their albums except for their latest (St. Anger). I became a fan with the Black Album, but my favorite Metallica albums are those of the pre-Black album era (my absolute favorite: Master of Puppets).
That said, I don’t hate their later work. I can listen to Load without getting all upset because Metallica “sold out” or whatever. I like Steve’s view of the whole Load/Reload issue (I would even pick the same songs he did for a remix).
Tony Orlando and Dawn..”Knock Three Times”!!!…my first concert..then Helen, Barry, Olivia, Donna, Diana,Pointer Sisters..too many to mention..never mind all the swinging loungy ones my Grandmother took me to…Sammy Davis, Liberace, Steve and Eydie, Ton Jones, Englebert Humperdink…oh the glory!!!!…best concert ever…Dolly Parton at the House of Blues Chicago in 2001…fecking perfection!!!
here’s the deal with metallica, the thing that their diehard fans can’t get over…they write hits. james hetfield is a melody junkie. even in the early stuff there are these passages that are as hummable as a freaking gershwin tune. so when they pare everything down, you have serious TUNES. and the thing that their original fans love about them was that they were about rhythm and power, not singalongs.
all that being said, you can’t blame their fans for freakin’ out that they wrote a -gasp- country song. mama is about as confessional as hetfield gets…i say whenever a band pisses off their original fans, they are either completely finished or they’ve finally arrived. with metallica, i think it was the latter.
MItchell You make me want to get my transistor radio out and listen to GREAT 70’s music!! What about “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero” or “Seasons in the Sun”. Do you rememer “Rocky”-not the movie music, but the song,”Along into my 18th year/we met for springs ago…She was shy and had a fear/of things she did not know/But we got it on together/in such a perfect way./We held each other close at night/We traded dreams each day…And she said,”Rocky, I’ve never been in love before…Don’t know if I can do it…” Aahhh…what a great song!!!!
cept it was supposed to be “four springs ago” not “for”. Oops. Also, Tom was doing a crossword today and it asked for a three letter band that played in the movie “Xanadu” ha ha hahahaah!!
I saw this post and immediately pulled up “Magic” and “Suddenly” on iTunes!
I was on vacation in Vail last weekend, and Huey Lewis was in town to play some corporate outing. Unfortunately, crashing the event was out of the question, but his visit prompted a debate between me, my sister, and her boyfriend about the merits of Huey’s music. They weren’t fans; I thought he had some catchy tunes. We agreed, though, that none of us could stand “Heart of Rock and Roll.” Who thought “let’s rattle off a list of large cities and call it a song” was a good idea (well, who other than Huey Lewis and Starship)?
hey Just1Beth……i have felt soooo alone in my love and memory of the song “Rocky”..i had the 45 and loved it to distraction…my bro and sis and I used to play “telethon” in our rooms..i was always Jerry Lewis..and we would lip-sync to our fave records..i always did “Rocky” (and Ballroom Blitz and The Main Event)..i would work up a nice single tear flowing down the cheek!!! NOBODY remembers that song…kindred spirits!!!
Sorry this is such a late response. (So it may not get read). But Dee got your message and I needed to go incommunicado for a while.
I hope becoming middle-aged doesn’t mean I’m becoming more mellow. I did listen to Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits last night…
Cullen, I remember the smackdown from Pantera when the Black album came out. I was at the Pantera/White Zombie concert and Phil went off about the album. The crowd there went crazy in agreement. It was hard not to agree with him at the time. Metal was on a comeback and Metallica came out with Black.
I think the reason why people get all huffy an puffy is because music is personal. It conjures feelings from way back when, both good and bad. Loves lost, cherished moments and new discoveries.
For instance, these lines from Better Than Ezra in the song “This Time of Year” on the album Deluxe brings back lots of memories from high school for me.
“There’s a feeling in the air, just like a Friday afternoon…well there’s a football in the air, across the leaf blown field.”
Fall, the best season.
Music is a powerful medium.
(Have you ever done any posts or invited people to share lines from songs that bring back memories?)
BTW, my first concert was Alabama at the Minnesota State Fair with my parents (I was about 13). Nothing I bragged about too much when I was that age.
Jon B – Oh man I so agree about fall – it’s the best season!!!
And I did do a post about what I called “time travel songs” – songs that immediately propel you back to a specific time in your life …
You might find it interesting reading.
Not my first concert but my first show was Richie Havens at The Bottom Line in the East Village. I thought he was fantastic. The man just poured his whole heart out there for us for 3 sessions of at least an hour each. He tore that place up!! I think he must have lost 10 lbs in just sweat alone out there.
Sheila,
Thanks for the link and the read. There are many excellent thoughts and memories from peoples’ past. I’m really impressed that so many related their past with depressing Cure songs. I have to admit that I am one of those who can relate most of my junior high and high school days to Cure songs. Oh the days of being a depressed and “misunderstood” teen.
Good luck with 74 Facts and One Lie.