Yes, "It Takes A Nation..." was their high-water mark (with apologies to "Fear Of A Black Planet") and has a punk edge to it, however deeply-buried. I actually discovered it at the same time as the Pistols. A friend lent me two cassettes, PE and "Never Mind The Bollocks". I made the connection instantly. Both bands had unsustainable points of view viz. politics: PE was too political, SP not nearly political enough. I remember that both albums frightened me as much as they excited me (at the time I had no ear for Lydon's sense of humor). I don't play either very frequently, but of the two I play "Nation" more.
For reasons I can't really penetrate, they always remind me somehow of the Fall. Anyway, they sadly turned out to represent something of a cul-de-sac in the developmentof hip hop (to the extent someone who consistently abstains from listening to rap music is qualified to make that judgment).
This is very well put. Not just the quote about the 99%, but not listening to it much. It is not a record I love. It's just a record I'm in awe of every time I play it, which is why it makes my top ten. In one of the Factory Too live CDs, Anthony H. Wilson says something like "Joy Division were too real for some of us to handle". That's how "Closer" makes me feel. I think it would feel that way even if Ian were still alive.
It is, isn't it? It requires an effort. Probably it is a mark of sanity that it works this way, because at its best, it just crawls right under your skin and it's not nice. I mean, just the bassline on
24 Hours is enough to make you want to weep, and not from pleasure in music alone.
Again, very true: of all the Clash songs that have stayed with me over the years, it's "Straight To Hell" that has moved to the front of the pack. "Red Angel Dragnet" and even "Know Your Rights" always surprise me with how good they are. I'd still put "London Calling" ahead of it, but "Combat Rock" is better than people remember.
And
Sean Flynn. And
Ghetto Defendant. Oh my, what a record.
London Calling is fantastic too, of course, but I never grew to love it quite in the same way.
The Strokes? Really? Surprising pick, though I liked that album.
Well, I had to include
something from the noughties, didn't I?
Anyway, it deserves classic status in my opinion - no weak moments, an end to end great album. I played it to death when it arried, as much as anything else on my list.
In some ways I think "A Broken Frame" is DM's masterpiece. Not the strongest set of songs, but it was a more perfect, I don't know, first-wave synth sound they got. Everything that followed was great and much more memorable but, ironically, as Gore got more innovative and creative with the music, they moved away from that original synth sound so beloved to many of us. They became more accomplished, but not better.
Excellently put! You can in many ways argue the case that, say,
Black Celebration or
Music for the Masses are stronger albums. But,
A Broken Frame has a rare kind of purity to it that is really DM's most attractive trait. The quintessential expression of it is
See You, possibly the best bittersweet moment in the history of pop music. It never ceases to move me.
Thumbs up on Pulp, New Order, and The Pogues. My favorite Fall record is "This Nation's Saving Grace". Though I haven't heard them all; like rabbits they keep breeding in the bins. I can't keep track of them.
There are half a dozen candidates for which Fall album to include, and half of their records I haven't even heard yet. TNSG is one of them, and it hereby goes on my purchase list. If the insurance company coughs up after the theft of my record collection, there's going to be a fairly substantial number of Fall purchases. Now that's a silver lining if ever there was one.
Pulp's
This is hardcore: Despite the pop perfection of
His'n Hers and the superb melancholy of
Separations, I can't help but feel that this is where they brought it all together, in a more complex and ultimately more rewarding way than on any other release. There's just so many great moments. The chill of "The Fear". The irresistble majesty of the title track. The final guitar part on "Sylvia". And oh the lyrics - never was Jarvis better. "Without you my life has become a hangover without end / A movie made for TV: bad dialogue, bad acting, no interest / Too long with no story & no sex." Has anyone ever expressed such a sentimental emotion with so little sentimentality?
I find, incidentally, that listening to Richard Hawley's solo records have really sustained my appreciation for Pulp - it's like all of their uncool, non-Britpop bits taken out and distilled, which paradoxically makes you appreciate how important those bits were.
cheers