Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 83 - Bardo Pond - On The Ellipse

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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

Post by Schüttelbirne »

14. Defunkt | Defunkt: 6/10
Highlights: "Make Them Dance", "Defunkt"
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

Post by Brad »

14. Defunkt - Defunkt: 6.5
Enthralling bass; I can enjoy funk though confess it's not a strong-point of mine. "In The Good Times" is easily the standout here, because of... the bass. Great thing about funk is it always sounds positive - hard to be sad while listening to this.

Thanks!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

Post by FrankLotion »

Once again playing catchup...

13. Four Tet - FabricLive.59 - 7/10

I love Four Tet, his whole discography is fantastic but I never heard this before so I was pretty excited going in.

On some level I guess I was disappointed since I was expecting some epic live performance with his richly textured songs but instead got a very solid DJ mix. I'd say it's quite good actually, he definitely picked an inspired crop of songs and somehow manages to keep everything flowing smoothly, all with a consistent thumping dance beat that had me grooving to it throughout the mix.

All in all it's a very good mix, though I will say that it doesn't have much of Four Tet's personality coming through as much as on his other albums and mostly sounds like any anonymous DJ mix you'll hear at a club.

It's not quite on the level of his some of his best work but it's far from a dud, I definitely had fun with it.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

Post by Rob »

Defunkt - Defunkt: 6

Funk is not among my favorite genres, but I can appreciate this for what it is, straightforward good-time dance music. Perhaps strangely, my favorite track is the instrumental Melvin's Tune, which is the least funk of all the songs.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

Post by mileswide »

Defunkt - Defunkt 6.3 (my #38 for 1980)

My highlights: We All Dance Together, Strangling Me with Your Love
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

Post by DaveC »

14. Defunkt - Defunkt (1980): 5/10
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

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14. Defunkt - Defunkt - 5/10

This was pretty solid, there wasn't really anything wrong with any of the tracks but I after a few listens to this album there wasn't really much that stood out to me either. There's some good funky grooves on here, I especially enjoyed their riff on Good Times.

Favorite Tracks: Make Them Dance, In the Good Times, Thermonuclear Sweat (definitely in the running for best song title so far)
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 14. Defunkt - Defunkt

Post by spiritualized »

14. Defunkt - Defunkt - 3/10

Not really a fan. Like others have pointed out, funk seems to be out of favour and this album can explain why.
You can feel the 80s rolling through the songs (one redeeming factor, their debut is short) with their bubbling synths. Bowie doesn't have the passion and energy that James Brown permeates in his songs - the delivery is rather flat when you compare it to the Godfather of Soul.
As for the music, again, I can't help but compare it to the groove of Brown's backing band, the JB's. I'm not a funk fan, but if I have to listen to it, I will head straight to the brilliance of James Brown's discography.
This is a poor substitute. Red Hot Chilli Peppers have been known to claim that Defunkt was a huge influence on their music. I can hear this on Flea's slapping of his bass guitar, but not much more.
The simili cover of Chic's Good Times doesn't match the original, by a mile.

A few points in this rating for the bass lines, though.
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Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by spiritualized »

First entry from the regularly-opinion sharing mileswide, a rather unknown Motown band, the Elgins.

And a million thanks to Honorio for salvaging this post, rather stupidly erased by me, your host, who is supposed to look after this thread !


Image


15. The Elgins - Darling Baby (1966)
Nominated by mileswide (#341)
Genre : Soul, Rhythm & Blues
Length : 12 tracks, 32:13 mins

AM ranking : #unranked
Artist Ranking : #unranked
RYM ranking : #469 for 1966, #unranked overall (37 ratings @ 3.47 / 5.0)
Metascore : N/A
386 unique listeners and 7.4k scrobbles on last.fm

Choice cuts : Heaven Must Have Sent You / Put Yourself in My Place


(the first 12 songs of this playlist conforms the "Darling Baby" album)

Biography from Wikipedia

The Elgins were an American vocal group on the Motown label, active from the late 1950s to 1967. Their most successful record was "Heaven Must Have Sent You", written and produced by the Holland–Dozier–Holland team, which was a hit in the US in 1966, and in the UK when reissued in 1971.
Founding members Robert Fleming, Johnny Dawson, Cleo "Duke" Miller and Norman McLean recorded together for various small labels in Detroit prior to their Motown days, as The Sensations, The Five Emeralds, and The Downbeats, and also recorded as The Downbeats for Motown in 1962. The record company suggested that they add female lead vocalist Saundra Mallett, who had recorded unsuccessfully for the label, backed by The Vandellas; she later married and became Saundra Edwards. The new group's first single release was "Put Yourself In My Place", issued in December 1965; early copies credited the record to the Downbeats, but Berry Gordy wanted to use the name Elgins, which had previously been one of the names used by The Temptations. The record rose to no. 4 on the Billboard R&B chart and no. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100, and its B-side, "Darling Baby", also made the Hot 100. Several months later, they issued "Heaven Must Have Sent You", which again reached both the R&B and pop charts, becoming their biggest pop hit. They also released an album, Darling Baby. However, their follow-up single, "I Understand My Man," was less successful, and the group broke up in 1967.
With the continuing popularity of Motown records in the UK fuelled by the Northern Soul scene, "Heaven Must Have Sent You" was reissued in 1971 and peaked at no. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. "Put Yourself in My Place" was also reissued and made the chart. With Saundra Mallett Edwards being unwilling to rejoin the group, the Elgins toured the UK with former session vocalist Yvonne Vernee Allen taking her place.

RYM review
MysterySinger - Apr 22 2006

The Elgins are superb on their better known Motown offerings - not least Stay In My Lonely Arms and Heaven Must Have Sent You. What let's this album down for me are the cover versions of other people's hits like In The Midnight Hour, Good Loving etc.

Now that I've said that - please hurry up Motown and issue an Elgins Essential Collection - or better still an Elgins Anthology if there are enough tracks in the vaults!
A reminder of the current standings (remember, you can vote or change your vote anytime)


1. Toy Love - Toy Love EP : 7.480 (10 votes) [Brad]
2. Pretty Things - Parachute : 7.110 (10) [Zombeels]
3. Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black : 6.920 (10) [antonius]
4. James - Laid : 6.842 (12) [Zombeels]
5. Hood - Cold House : 6.830 (12) [CupOfDreams]
6. Graham Coxon - Love Travels at Illegal Speeds : 6.681 (11) [Toni]
7. Four Tet - FabricLive.59 : 6.670 (10) [Krurze]
8. KRS-One - KRS-One : 6.400 (12) [schaefer.tk]
9. Soul Asylum - Made To Be Broken : 6.225 (12) [Brad]
10. Cybotron - Enter : 6.145 (11) [Moonbeam]
11. Rush - Fly By Night : 5.971 (12) [Brad]
12. Defunkt - Defunkt : 5.576 (9) [antonius]
13. MUNA - About U : 5.345 (11) [votingbloc]
14. Schoolhouse Rock! - Science Rock : 3.922 (9) [prosecutorgodot]
Last edited by spiritualized on Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:35 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by Listyguy »

Darling Baby - 7/10

"Heaven Must Have Sent You" is the band's defining recording, and it's certainly my favorite track on the album, but the band's Motown sound works pretty much throughout the album. It does have a few too many tracks that other artists had done better ("When a Man Loves a Woman," "Good Lovin'," "In the Midnight Hour"), but that's how Motown did it back then so I can't really blame the band for that. And their covers of those songs aren't bad at all, I enjoyed them.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by Brad »

15. The Elgins - Darling Baby (1966): 5.5
Feels like I stumbled into a Motown All-Star Revue! That's not a bad thing at all, of course - these are fine performances, and this is a pleasant album to listen to. The problem for me is (as Listyguy alludes) many of these songs have been immortalized by other artists, and The Elgins' versions are not likely to overthrow those etched deep in our collective cultural consciousness. While I'd have no difficulty listening to this now and then, there's nothing here that really stands out for me in an "I need to hear that again!" way.

Thanks!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by Schüttelbirne »

15. The Elgins | Darling Baby: 6/10
Highlights: "Heaven Must Have Sent You", "When a Man Loves a Woman"
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by Rob »

The Elgins - Darling Baby: 6

My opinion is close to Brad's. This is a fine release, but it suffers from sounding overfamiliar, even though I never heard of this group before. The big plus is that this one has a female lead vocalist and that helps some songs feel fresh, especially In the Midnight Hour. The one time they use a male voice, on the already ubiquitous When a Man Loves a Woman, it quickly becomes pointless no matter how good the singing. Not an album I'm likely to think about ever again, but enjoyable for what it is.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by mileswide »

I wish my case for Darling Baby were able to stand up to scrutiny but I can understand anyone not seeing what the fuss is about, so I welcome all reactions to it, not just positive ones! It will never win awards for originality and the two Norman McLean-sung songs may well lack the star power of the rest of the album (though I'd aver that his version of When A Man...comes across as more vulnerable than Percy Sledge's).

Saundra Mallett's charisma lights up the remaining songs, however, managing to embed disbelief and fear of abandonment into the victory march of the clear standout Heaven Must Have Sent You, then taunting the listener after the false ending of Good Lovin'. While Mallett's vocal range doesn't travel far beyond a thin contralto, her cadence is impeccable throughout and she can flip from cooing like Diana Ross to rasping like Kim Weston.

Perhaps because of Saundra's technical limitations, the LP seems to cede more of the centre stage to The Funk Brothers than other Motown recordings, not least the brass section, carrying the emotional weight of Darling Baby and perhaps outshining Stax on In the Midnight Hour.

My affinity for Darling Baby could somewhat be shaped by a craving for a greater representation of Northern Soul albums in my all-time list (even though possible future BF inclusions Darrell Banks Is Here! and Sounds like the Flirtations also warrant their placements on my ballot) but its sophisticated aching casts aside any doubts raised by its flaws. Put me down for a dubiously impartial 9.0 (my #2 for 1966).

My highlights: Heaven Must Have Sent You, Good Lovin', It's Gonna Be Hard Times, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You), In the Midnight Hour, Darling Baby

I'm putting my highlights of the month on hold as it's getting unwieldy and this month's highlights look to be dominated by The Elgins (saying that, considering the largely laudable BF albums we've had so far, I might be wrong).
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by Honorio »

15. The Elgins - Darling Baby (1966) 6/10
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by DaveC »

15. The Elgins - Darling Baby (1966): 6/10

Favourite track: Heaven Must Have Sent You
Least favourite track: I Understand My Man
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 15. The Elgins - Darling Baby

Post by spiritualized »

15. The Elgins - Darling Baby (1966): 7/10

Good collection of Motown songs, perhaps a bit formulaic in the sense that it doesn't surprise. But I do like the take on some classics with a female voice, and the singer's is actually quite a pleasant voice.
Something I would like to listen again.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by spiritualized »

SonofsamIam's first entry and coincidentally, an artist which also features on the AMF Weekly Classics Chart, this very week.
A first entry for a classical album as well.

Image



16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion
Nominated by sonofsamiam (#866)
Genre : Serialism, Christian Liturgical Music, Oratorio (#19 in the RYM Serialism chart)
Length : 4 tracks, 76:15 mins

AM ranking : #unranked
Artist Ranking : #unranked
RYM ranking : #73 for 1990, #unranked overall (216 ratings @ 3.77 / 5.0)
Metascore : N/A
3393 unique listeners and 10.7k scrobbles on last.fm

Choice cuts : O Crux / Erat autem fere



Biography from Wikipedia

One of the best known, most listened to, and most popular composers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Krzysztof Penderecki underwent a marked evolution in compositional style. After achieving fame with such astringent, often anguished, scores as his Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960) and Passion According to St. Luke (1965), both of which stretched traditional harmonic language and orchestral techniques, beginning in the mid-1970s, Penderecki followed a personal imperative in moving toward more conventional tonal music. His Symphony No. 2 embraced pre-serialist notions of melody and harmony. His fertile exploration of a more traditional language, described by some as Neo-Romanticism, continued to characterize his works after that time.

RYM review
lai - Jan 22 2007

I've been doing a lot of reading around Penderecki recently, and one word that cropped up was 'pyrotechnic'. I think that's fitting. Krzysztof Penderecki was one of a handful of composers - Iannis Xenakis and Gyorgy Ligeti among them - who tore at the cold complexity of serialism with works that were emotional in the extreme - guttural, anguished, often terrifying. Xenakis' "Metastatis", Ligeti's "Lux Aeterna", and Penderecki's "Threnody For The Victims of Hiroshima" are arguably the big three works when considering pieces that combine avant-garde experimentalism with raw emotional expression. 'Pyrotechnic' is so fitting because Penderecki's work from this era was so immediately powerful and overwhelming, and though it arguably lacked depth, the impact is such that he's arguably infiltrated popular culture more than any other truly avant-garde composer. Just ask Bloc Party, Scott Walker, and Manic Street Preachers, all of whom have readily paid lip service to his work.

St. Luke Passion - or, to give it a full title, Passio Et Mors Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Secundum Lacum, continues in a similar vein. This is a pyrotechnic work is a lot of senses. For one thing, it's absolutely massive in scope. The orchestra is augmented with a chorus, 4 soloists, a speaker, saxophones, and a massive percussion section that takes in Chinese and Javanese gongs, tom-toms, and bass drums. Moreover, the piece draws Gregorian chant, serialism, and major choral sections (opening and closing the piece) into its repertoire., and the libretto extends the original Passion to include some hymns and psalms.

JS Bach is noted as an influence, and you can justify that - the structure of the piece follows the structure of Bach's own Passions, not to mention that Penderecki uses the BACH tone row - but ultimately this sounds nothing like anything Bach ever put down on paper. This work is monolithic in every sense - it's dark, dense, often impenetrable, and of course, experimental. The chorus is, at various times, asked to chatter incessantly - giggling, shouting, whispering and hissing can all be clearly heard. The first movement, "O Crux", lasts for over 35 minutes, much of which is dominated by the chorus. It's not easy going, but it is stunning - probably the strongest 'track' here, if we're playing favourites. Small ostinato melodies that disappear as soon as they have appeared, occasional microtonal glissandi and sound masses, vocal cries you'll indentify with if you ever followed up an interest in RYM cult favourite Diamanda Galas (though, it must be said, this isn't as plain evil); this is heavyweight stuff. At around 16 minutes, it all kicks off - the massive tone clusters, first from the orchestra, then the chorus. Penderecki's trademark of the era, if he had one. It's mindblowing stuff. By the time you're at the 20 minute mark, it becomes apparent that this might be the greatest film score that never was. Certainly, a film like Jurassic Park would be improved if this music infused some sheer terror into some of the more thrilling scenes.

The second movement, "In pulverum mortis", is arguably as massive, though it seems a little less impressive having followed "O Crux". Still, there are moments that are pure pyrotechnic brilliance - the climax at 4.20, for instance. In fact, it's heights may be even higher than those of "O Crux", though they are more sparse. The final 2 movements, on the other hand, are much smaller, standing at roughly 7 minutes each. What's most fascinating about these is that they both end with simple major chords (D and E respectively; the first a capella, the second with full orchestra). After bombarding the listener with tone centres, serialist ideas, chromaticism, and complete departures from any sense of Western tonality, these chords are perhaps the most shocking moments of the piece. The last 20 seconds of the almost entirely a capella "Stabat Mater" - which borrows heavily from an earlier Penderecki composition of the same name - sound very similar to Handel's Zadok the Priest, which European football fans will know as the the music that plays during the Champions League.

Arguably all of Penderecki's obsessions come to the fore here, in this work. The contrast with atonal and tonal elements; the casual flirtation with serialism; the mass choral writing; the walls of pure sound; the tone clusters; the religious devotion that drives him. This is a fantastic work; every bit as important to both Penderecki and 20th century music as a whole as the more famous "Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima". As an album, too, I'd place this above Matrix 5. It's certainly one of the strongest complete works I've ever been exposed to.

The performance here is by the Warsaw National Philarmonic Chorus and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and is conducted by Penderecki himself. The fidelity of the recording is excellent. It is, probably, the definitive recording of this work.
If you like this, also listen to :
Oedipus Rex - Saito Kinen Orchestra
Patty Hearst - Michael Riesman


A reminder of the current standings (remember, you can vote or change your vote anytime)


1. Toy Love - Toy Love EP : 7.480 (10 votes) [Brad]
2. Pretty Things - Parachute : 7.110 (10) [Zombeels]
3. Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black : 6.920 (10) [antonius]
4. James - Laid : 6.842 (12) [Zombeels]
5. Hood - Cold House : 6.830 (12) [CupOfDreams]
6. Graham Coxon - Love Travels at Illegal Speeds : 6.681 (11) [Toni]
7. Four Tet - FabricLive.59 : 6.670 (10) [Krurze]
8. The Elgins - Darling Baby : 6.500 (9) [mileswide]
9. KRS-One - KRS-One : 6.400 (12) [schaefer.tk]
10. Soul Asylum - Made To Be Broken : 6.225 (12) [Brad]
11. Cybotron - Enter : 6.145 (11) [Moonbeam]
12. Rush - Fly By Night : 5.971 (12) [Brad]
13. Defunkt - Defunkt : 5.576 (9) [antonius]
14. MUNA - About U : 5.345 (11) [votingbloc]
15. Schoolhouse Rock! - Science Rock : 3.922 (9) [prosecutorgodot]
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by spiritualized »

Argh...Honorio, thanks to his amazing eagle eye, noticed that I typed over the Elgins' entry with the new nomination.
I'm sorry to mileswide, but I don't know how to restore the Elgins entry.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by Rob »

Geez, I thought the randomizer for the song Biggest Fan had a taste for variety, but in the relatively short time the album version exists it's randomizer is going all-out in covering every type of music in as short a time-span as possible!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by Listyguy »

St. Luke Passion - 5/10

I've never really gotten into vocal-heavy (even particularly famous pieces like Mozart's Requiem), and this piece held true to that trend. I did enjoy some of the instrumental bits on the album, but the vocals are the centerpiece here.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by Honorio »

16. Krzysztof Penderecki [National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Warsaw National Philharmonic Chorus] - St. Luke Passion (1990) 8/10
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by FrankLotion »

15. The Elgins - Darling Baby - 6/10

This was nice, I'd never heard of this group but it seems like they're yet another one of Motown's serviceable groups that have nice voices (and nice moves from what I saw on YouTube) but weren't very distinctive.

I thought every track worked to some degree and the album zipped by so it never wore out its welcome, though I will say that the covers here generally worked much better by other artists in the Motown stable.

Favorite Tracks: Darling Baby, In the Midnight Hour, Good Lovin', Put Yourself in My Place

16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion - 7/10

Definitely an interesting listen, it sets the mood very well and I have to say it makes me very anxious when I listen to it which I consider a success. :?

It's difficult for me to rate operatic pieces like this since I can't quite tell what they're saying but I like the amount of drama it conjures up nonetheless.

I also had no idea that Penderecki was responsible for "Threnody," that piece is a life changer.

Favorite Tracks: Part 1?
Last edited by FrankLotion on Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by Brad »

16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion: 7
Admittedly, this one stretches the bounds of my comfort zone; ultimately, though - I enjoyed the ride. Having only been familiar with Threnody (which I love) up to this point I realized Penderecki was worth delving into - this is the proof.

Thanks!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by mileswide »

Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke's Passion 4.6 (my #25 for 1990)

No tracks here that I liked in their totality but the jump scares in Part 1 made it memorable, so I'll single that out.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by spiritualized »

Rob wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:58 pm Geez, I thought the randomizer for the song Biggest Fan had a taste for variety, but in the relatively short time the album version exists it's randomizer is going all-out in covering every type of music in as short a time-span as possible!
I fully agree Rob, quite an amazing variety and at the same time it shows the span of music which is out there and falls out of the "acclaimed" category. Yet someone on this forum rates it with the best.
Just like your song game version, we get to hear tunes we'd never heard of - that's why I love both games.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by Schüttelbirne »

16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St Luke Passion

I don't really know how to rate this. The composition is incredible, but I feel like my speakers (or headphones) can't do justice to it, mostly because to properly hear the pianissimo I have to turn them up, but then the fortissimo is too loud for my ears. This also works far better live I suppose.
I guess I'll give it a 8/10.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by Rob »

Krzysztof Penderecki - St Luke Passion: 9

It is hard for me to write about something like this after only two listens and without much knowledge of the context in which this was composed or it's relation to the Bible, but I have a very strong emotional reaction to this. I can see why the appeal to this isn't all that broad and that is difficult, but there is something surprisingly immediate about it that sends a chill down my spine for pretty much the whole running time. A sort of despairing music that manages to be spiritual. There is a lot to take in and it's length in combination with it's foreboding feel means it won't be something I will put on too many times, but that's more a compliment than a detriment. I already knew Penderecki from his enormously terrifying Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. This is for me the second proof of his mastery. Deeply powerful music.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion

Post by spiritualized »

Powerful music, check
Operatic, check,
Sometimes dissonant, check
Complex, check,
Dark, check

A very polarising piece this is. Even in my own taste or opinion. I like the dark atmosphere, the modern Requiem feel, the willingness to go beyond the norm. But I cannot say the same for opera. I love the spoken word, very eerie and powerful. There are, in parts, indeed, a horror movie (a good one) sentiment.

So polarised that it just manages to get an average grade of 5/10 for me. Some moments are 9/10, others 1/10...
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Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by spiritualized »

Already the second entry from CupOfDreams, after the one that debuted this game. This time we delve into the bubbling under Doom Metal of Chelsea Wolfe, one of our most popular of our entries so far.

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17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun
Nominated by CupOfDreams (#555)
Genre : Doom Metal, Gothic Rock (#178 in the RYM Doom Metal chart)
Descriptors : heavy, female vocals, dark, ominous, sombre, atmospheric, anxious, noisy, ethereal, dense, introspective
Length : 12 tracks, 48:10 mins

AM ranking : #bubbling under
Artist Ranking : #unranked
RYM ranking : #74 for 2017, #9505 overall (3766 ratings @ 3.57 / 5.0)
Metascore : 81
69k unique listeners and 1.8m scrobbles on last.fm

Choice cuts : 16 Psyche / The Culling / Spun



Biography from Allmusic

A singer/songwriter with a striking soprano voice and an equally compelling flair for imagery, Chelsea Wolfe has imbued her music with different shades of darkness over the years. On early albums such as 2011's Apokalypsis, she crafted haunting electric folk songs that she wrote on a downtuned classical guitar, but she soon brought other dimensions to her sound. She stripped her music to its acoustic bones on 2012's Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs, then fleshed it out with electronics on the following year's Pain Is Beauty. Wolfe's fierce ethereality was a perfect fit for the heavier sounds she explored on later albums like 2017's Hiss Spun, which featured members of Converge and Old Man Gloom. When she returned to eldritch folk on 2019's Birth of Violence, Wolfe proved once again that she could take the intensity and gorgeous ache of her music in any direction and make it sound genuine.

RYM review
WarmGunHappy - Jun 16 2020

Chelsea has forever been creeping towards a simplified doom incarnation of her wicked ways, but on Hiss Spun, it feels like she has finally arrived, setting up a convent where she can weave her sinister drones in the hidden safety of the shadows until they grow too big for her hands and escape into a blind noise of utter panic. The threat of being trampled by the hooves of sludge should be anything but compatible with the delicate allure of Wolfe’s cold vocals, but instead, they scheme together in the most dangerous of manners, upsetting our pleasures like a ritualistic orgy inside of a nightmare. The world no longer has a choice, and we must all bow down before our modern-day Queen of Darkness, paying respects to these evil magics because it would be futile to try and stop her at this point.
If you like this, also listen to :
The Foreshadowing - Second World (2012)
SubRosa - For This We Fought The Battle of Ages (2016)


A reminder of the current standings (remember, you can vote or change your vote anytime)


1. Toy Love - Toy Love EP : 7.480 (10 votes) [Brad]
2. Pretty Things - Parachute : 7.110 (10) [Zombeels]
3. Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black : 6.920 (10) [antonius]
4. James - Laid : 6.842 (12) [Zombeels]
5. Hood - Cold House : 6.830 (12) [CupOfDreams]
6. Graham Coxon - Love Travels at Illegal Speeds : 6.700 (11) [Toni]
7. Four Tet - FabricLive.59 : 6.670 (10) [Krurze]
8. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion: 6.511 (9)[sonofsamiam]
9. The Elgins - Darling Baby : 6.500 (9) [mileswide]
10. KRS-One - KRS-One : 6.400 (12) [schaefer.tk]
11. Soul Asylum - Made To Be Broken : 6.225 (12) [Brad]
12. Cybotron - Enter : 6.145 (11) [Moonbeam]
13. Rush - Fly By Night : 5.971 (12) [Brad]
14. Defunkt - Defunkt : 5.576 (9) [antonius]
15. MUNA - About U : 5.345 (11) [votingbloc]
16. Schoolhouse Rock! - Science Rock : 3.922 (9) [prosecutorgodot]
Last edited by spiritualized on Fri Feb 26, 2021 8:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Rob
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by Rob »

spiritualized wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:34 pm one of our most popular of our entries so far.
If you use this to describe a doom metal album on this forum, you just know this game hasn't been feeding us Bowie and Beatles albums ;)
Then again, Chelsea Wolfe's Abyss appeared in Moderately Acclaimed a couple of years ago and quite a few people seemed to like it then.
I mostly remember Hiss Spun from appearing on the MegaCritic list and the cover intriguing me, but I never ended up listening to the album.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by spiritualized »

Rob wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 4:55 pm
spiritualized wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:34 pm one of our most popular of our entries so far.
If you use this to describe a doom metal album on this forum, you just know this game hasn't been feeding us Bowie and Beatles albums ;)
Then again, Chelsea Wolfe's Abyss appeared in Moderately Acclaimed a couple of years ago and quite a few people seemed to like it then.
I mostly remember Hiss Spun from appearing on the MegaCritic list and the cover intriguing me, but I never ended up listening to the album.
Sorry Rob,
When I said popular, I meant by the number of plays in last.fm (1.8m for this album - the top one being Rush)
I agree on the sleeve, very eerie and quite special.
I had already listened to Hiss Spun and liked it very much. My opinion hasn't changed upon listening to it again.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by Rob »

spiritualized wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:37 pm
Rob wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 4:55 pm
spiritualized wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:34 pm one of our most popular of our entries so far.
If you use this to describe a doom metal album on this forum, you just know this game hasn't been feeding us Bowie and Beatles albums ;)
Then again, Chelsea Wolfe's Abyss appeared in Moderately Acclaimed a couple of years ago and quite a few people seemed to like it then.
I mostly remember Hiss Spun from appearing on the MegaCritic list and the cover intriguing me, but I never ended up listening to the album.
Sorry Rob,
When I said popular, I meant by the number of plays in last.fm (1.8m for this album - the top one being Rush)
Yes, I got that you were referring to factors outside this forum. It just seems funny to me that the second most popular album we've had here is doom metal, which tends to attract a niche audience.
Brad
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by Brad »

17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun: 7
Not a bad listen at all - this album is well-produced and pretty even throughout. Likely a grower as well. Would probably be a trip to see live!

Thanks!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by Listyguy »

Hiss Spun - 7/10

I liked the atmosphere of this album. The layers of sound in particular really add to the album's appeal. It also wasn't the very hard metal that can sometimes go overboard (especially when the growling is involved). "Twin Fawn" is probably my favorite track from the album, but they were all solid.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by mileswide »

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun 7.6 (my #16 for 2017, just behind If All I Was Was Black)

My highlights: Static Hum, Particle Flux, 16 Psyche, Scrape
All I got inside is vacancy!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by DaveC »

16. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion: 5/10

I rarely get excited about classical choral works. The modernity of this piece works in it's favour as it is never predictable or boring. Still not a work I will hurry to replay.


17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun: 8/10

Well this is easy listening after Penderecki, for me a relaxing listen. She seems to have settled on a formula, but I like it, and by playing safe she has avoided any mis-steps that might bring the album down.

Favourite track: Static Hum
Least favourite track: Strain
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by Honorio »

17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun (2017) 7/10
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by Schüttelbirne »

17. Chelsea Wolfe | Hiss Spun: 6/10
Highlights: "Twin Fawn", "Two Spirit", "Scrape"
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by Rob »

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun: 6

Like with Abyss before it I feel that I should really like it, as it has all the right ingredients. The dark vibes, the vocal approach, the guitars. Yet it just doesn't quite grab me all that much. Like with Abyss there is something suffocating about the production and the general sound, like the metal is never really released. Maybe I'll get it one day.
Last edited by Rob on Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Post by spiritualized »

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun: 8

This is a very good entry.
The atmosphere of this album is gloomy and sticky enough to swallow you whole, but the ethereal voice of Chelsea Wolfe lifts your head out of the impeding doom.
All the elements of doom metal are there, courtesy of an impressive roster she enlisted for this album. Members of Converge, Isis and QOTSA all added to this gem of an album. We get ultra heavy, fierce slow riffs, death metal growling, but never stray far from the melody of her voice.
It's that clash of genres that appeals to me. She's perfected it on this record, making it a clear contender for a top 5 from 2017 for me. Brilliant stuff.

Edit : I'm actually going to put this to a 9, great great album after another listen.
Last edited by spiritualized on Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by spiritualized »

And bonnielaurel joins the fold with her first entry in the game. It's from the 70s and it's the famed Brothers Gibb.

Image

18. Bee Gees - Main Course
Nominated by bonnielaurel (#613)
Genre : Pop Rock, Pop (#318 in the RYM Pop Rock chart)
Descriptors : love, melodic, romantic, rhythmic, lush
Length : 10 tracks, 41:39 mins

AM ranking : #bubbling under
Artist Ranking : #204
RYM ranking : #356 for 1975, #unranked overall (677 ratings @ 3.57 / 5.0)
Metascore : N/A
49.5k unique listeners and 298.1k scrobbles on last.fm

Choice cuts : Nights on Broadway / Jive Talkin'




Biography from Allmusic

Relying on their top-notch songwriting and impeccable vocals, the Bee Gees were able to craft a long-running career that began in the late '50s in Australia. Along the way they became a hit-producing psychedelic pop group in England during the '60s and the biggest disco band in the world in the '70s, and had a late comeback as adult contemporary crooners in the '90s. Their long-reaching influence extended past sales figures and saw their sound and style mirrored in acts as disparate as Justin Timberlake and of Montreal.

RYM review
BS008 - Apr 2, 2003

Is this the best Bee Gees album ever?

At least it´s one of my favourites, along with the debut UK album _Bee Gees First_ and the slick and sophisticated _Spirits Having Flown_. The opening trio of "Jive Talking", "Nights On Broadway" and "Wind Of Change" is very strong, and they were all released on singles, in one way or another. ("Nights On Broadway" was taken to the charts by Candi Staton, and "Wind Of Change" was a B side.) Two more tracks were released on singles - "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love") and "Edge Of The Universe", though this latter track was a live version issued on _Here At Last... The Bee Gees Live_.)

Anyway, this album presents the Bee Gees at the top of their game. Their early pop/rock songs are married to their rhytm´n´blues/disco leanings, and also to the mostly overlooked country element to their music. One track became the title track for an Olivia Newton-John album; "Come On Over". And "All This making Love" must be one of the funniest Bee Gees songs ever to be recorded! Add to that the beauty of ballads like "Songbird", "Country Lanes" and "Baby, As You Turn
Away", and you´ve got one seriously good album.

Do I like it? You might say so... :-)
If you like this, also listen to :
Steely Dan - Gaucho (1980)
Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees (1976)
The Rutles - The Rutles (1978)


A reminder of the current standings (remember, you can vote or change your vote anytime)


1. Toy Love - Toy Love EP : 7.480 (10 votes) [Brad]
2. Pretty Things - Parachute : 7.110 (10) [Zombeels]
3. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun : 7.075 (8) [CupOfDreams]
3. Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black : 6.920 (10) [antonius]
4. James - Laid : 6.842 (12) [Zombeels]
5. Hood - Cold House : 6.830 (12) [CupOfDreams]
6. Graham Coxon - Love Travels at Illegal Speeds : 6.700 (11) [Toni]
7. Four Tet - FabricLive.59 : 6.670 (10) [Krurze]
8. Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke Passion: 6.511[/color] (9)[sonofsamiam]
9. The Elgins - Darling Baby : 6.500 (9) [mileswide]
10. KRS-One - KRS-One : 6.400 (12) [schaefer.tk]
11. Soul Asylum - Made To Be Broken : 6.225 (12) [Brad]
12. Cybotron - Enter : 6.145 (11) [Moonbeam]
13. Rush - Fly By Night : 5.971 (12) [Brad]
14. Defunkt - Defunkt : 5.576 (9) [antonius]
15. MUNA - About U : 5.345 (11) [votingbloc]
16. Schoolhouse Rock! - Science Rock : 3.922 (9) [prosecutorgodot]
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by bonnielaurel »

Thanks, spiritualized. Main Course was in my top 500 because it's a landmark in the transition from 70s pop to disco. The Bee Gees had a whole history as songwriters before they started using disco beats and falsetto voices. This studio version of Jive Talkin' also appeared in Saturday Night Fever two years later.

Copy of my review on RYM:
The first two tracks were the beginning of their most popular period, with falsetto voices, guitars, synthesizers and disco beats. Nights on Broadway is the first recording on which they started using falsetto voice. It's sung by the ex of a singer who's stalking her. Wah-wah guitar and synthesizer bass provide stimulating rhythms. Jive Talkin' was youth language for slang talk. Its working title was "Drive Talking"; it was based upon the rhythm of a driving car. After these two disco hits follow some relaxed pop tunes, with synthesizers or even some steel guitar.
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by Henry »

18. Bee Gees - Main Course: 6.8
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by Brad »

18. Bee Gees - Main Course: 6.25
Love the two hits opening the album, but honestly it slowly peters out for me over the long haul.

Thanks!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by Listyguy »

Main Course - 7/10

Definitely better than the soft rock and blue-eyed soul that the band had been releasing in the years leading up to this release. The album's very top heavy, but when that top includes the like of "Jive Talkin'" and "Wind of Change" I'm willing to let it slide.
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by mileswide »

Bee Gees - Main Course 4.9 (my #33 for 1975)
My highlights: Jive Talkin', Nights on Broadway
All I got inside is vacancy!
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by FrankLotion »

17. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun - 7/10

I remember hearing this when it came out and liking it but felt that her two preceding albums were better, now I think this might be my favorite of hers!

There's such a satisfying sludginess to it all, I agree with DaveC that it sounds like she's settled into a formula here but while it might not be as haunting as something off Abyss everything here sounds so much heavier than it did before.

For me the first half or so is pretty flawless but my favorite has always been "Static Hum."

Also that album cover still gives me the creeps.

Favorite Tracks: Spun, 16 Psyche, Vex, Strain, The Culling, Static Hum

18. Bee Gees - Main Course - 7/10

I always seem to be pleasantly surprised when I delve deeper into Bee Gees' discography, I knew their biggest hits which were excellent but they seemed like a "songs" group rather than an "albums" one. That may still be the case to some extent but I remember thinking their debut was great when I heard it last year in our MAA tournament, and Main Course is even better.

It's so interesting to hear a more traditional mid-70's rock with some of their new disco direction creeping in which was apparent on "Jive Talkin'" already but it also gives songs like "Wind of Change" an awesome danceable momentum. I'll also say if this was the last time they made this kind of pop rock-like songs they got pretty good at it in "Fanny" and "All This Making Love."

Favorite Tracks: Nights on Broadway, Jive Talkin', Wind of Change, Fanny (Be Tender With My Love), All This Making Love
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by Honorio »

18. Bee Gees - Main Course (1975) 8/10
Thursday night fever...
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Rob
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Re: Biggest Fan - The Album Edition - 18. Bee Gees - Main Course

Post by Rob »

Bee Gees - Main Course: 6

It's okay. Something we now in hindsight can obviously call a transitional album. Still, this is not nearly as good as the Bee Gees section of Saturday Night Fever and the more traditional pop parts are also not among their best. I agree that Nights on Broadway and Jive Talking do a lot to lift up te album, along with the lesser-knows Edge of the Universe. It also contains one of the worst songs I have heard by them though: Country Lanes. I'm glad the lesson they learned for Main Course is going into disco and not country.
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