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The Music Thread

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  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    Picked up some new vinyl and a new needle for the player.
    Bowie Legacy - a great dance collection for the little one to boogie too.
    Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1
  • aquatroyaquatroy Posts: 552
    I think the recent rains must have had a fair amount of estrogen mixed in with the water. I've been listening to a lot of Regina Spektor, Kate Bush, and early Ingrid Michaelson every since.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    edited June 2017
    aquatroy said:

    I think the recent rains must have had a fair amount of estrogen mixed in with the water. I've been listening to a lot of Regina Spektor, Kate Bush, and early Ingrid Michaelson every since.

    Ha. My wife and daughter are on a women singer kick.

    We've been listening to a good amount of Lisa Loeb: Catch the Moon & Sing-along With Lisa Loeb. So I've been forced to trade Casper Babypants (the singer from Presidents of the United States), Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, and Mister G for not-Firecracker Lisa Loeb.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    We've gotten into records this year. I love finding records that can only be really enjoyed on vinyl.
    Over the last 3 months I've had the pleasure of listening to Robert Johnson Centennial Collection. Robert Johnson is one of the all time great bluesmen, and if you believe the story, he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in Mississippi (I think he is the basis of the Faust connection to the blues). Anyway, this is a Collection of all of his recordings, and it is fantastic blues. You'll recognize a lot of his songs from Eric Clapton covers.

    I've listened to his music on CDs, mp3s, streaming, but this is the way Lucifer intended us to hear it. The vinyl recordings are truly something special. Try to find the collection, but be warned it probably won't be cheap. We got for $70.00 on Record store day, and be seen it floating around the interwebs at that price.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    mwhitt80 said:

    We've gotten into records this year. I love finding records that can only be really enjoyed on vinyl.
    Over the last 3 months I've had the pleasure of listening to Robert Johnson Centennial Collection. Robert Johnson is one of the all time great bluesmen, and if you believe the story, he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in Mississippi (I think he is the basis of the Faust connection to the blues). Anyway, this is a Collection of all of his recordings, and it is fantastic blues. You'll recognize a lot of his songs from Eric Clapton covers.

    I've listened to his music on CDs, mp3s, streaming, but this is the way Lucifer intended us to hear it. The vinyl recordings are truly something special. Try to find the collection, but be warned it probably won't be cheap. We got for $70.00 on Record store day, and be seen it floating around the interwebs at that price.

    I read an article somewhere, or maybe I heard it on “Sound Opinion”, that all the recordings Johnson made were sped up in the transfer-to-vinyl process. They’re actually supposed to be slower and lower pitched than how they sound on the records. I came across some website after hearing that which had the recordings slowed down to approximately how Johnson played and sang them, and it was fascinating to compare the two.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    That's interesting, time to go searching. I would love to hear the comparison. There are quirks in the vinyl, where it sounds speed up, but if you listen to old vinyl recordings you get that a lot. He recorded 29 songs in mid-30s in a studio in Dallas or a makeshift studio in San Antonio, so I'm more understanding. One of the interesting things is that he recorded two takes on a lot of his songs which is very neat.

    But this particular collection of records is the best way I've ever heard Robert Johnson. It makes me wish I had great speakers and an expensive turn table.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    Now to switch to another devil in vinyl. If you are in a books-a-million you can get picture disks for Disney soundtracks.
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    Welcome to the vinyl bug. Some year when I get beyond all these home repair woes I plan on picking up a much nicer turntable than I have now.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    RIP Glen Campbell.
    He was a fantastic musician and a huge popstar for his time. He was the musical act for the 1976 ABA all-star game (it's kind of cool if you can find it on YouTube). So Open up Spotify and take listen to the smooth sounds of the late Great Mr. Campbell.
    Songs to recommend:
    Rhinestone Cowboy
    Wichita Lineman
    Gentle on my Mind (if you want a treat listen to the version from Johnny Cash's Unearthed)
    Southern Nights

    Watch I'll be Me on Netflix
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967
    mwhitt80 said:

    RIP Glen Campbell.
    He was a fantastic musician and a huge popstar for his time. He was the musical act for the 1976 ABA all-star game (it's kind of cool if you can find it on YouTube). So Open up Spotify and take listen to the smooth sounds of the late Great Mr. Campbell.
    Songs to recommend:
    Rhinestone Cowboy
    Wichita Lineman
    Gentle on my Mind (if you want a treat listen to the version from Johnny Cash's Unearthed)
    Southern Nights

    Watch I'll be Me on Netflix

    Seconded

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETkzK9pXMio
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    I've been listening to interviews and testimonials on him off and on all day. I was five years old when “Rhinestone Cowboy” came out, and it was all over the place. You couldn’t get away from it. Luckily I never got sick of it, though it's not my favorite of his songs anymore.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    edited August 2017

    I've been listening to interviews and testimonials on him off and on all day. I was five years old when “Rhinestone Cowboy” came out, and it was all over the place. You couldn’t get away from it. Luckily I never got sick of it, though it's not my favorite of his songs anymore.

    Gentle on my Mind is probably my favorite song of his; I really like that song. Wichita Lineman is a little corny but I still really really really enjoy it.

    He had a great early career a session player. Side note Unearthed also has a fantastic cover of Wichita Lineman.
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    mwhitt80 said:

    Gentle on my Mind is probably my favorite song of his; I really like that song.

    Same here. I love the chord progression in that one.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    edited September 2017
    mwhitt80 said:

    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?

    Wow...pick a favorite kid, why don't you? :D

    1) Rock and Roll Over - to me this was the classic lineup at its full strength. Everyone had a great song or a great moment on it, from the guitar solo on Calling Dr. Love to Peter Criss doing an amazing Rod Stewart impression on Hard Luck Woman. Solid from the first track to the last.

    2) Revenge -
    if it's possible to like an album solely for production values. No other KISS album sounds like this. Whoever did the mix made them sound heavier than KISS ever really should. Bruce Kulick's guitarwork get buried in the crunch of it, but there were some great tunes on it (Domino, Unholy, Heart of Chrome, I Just Wanna).

    3) Dynasty - KISS-co (KISS + Disco) but it worked. A blatant cash grab to take advantage of the dance craze sweeping the nation (actually Disco was pretty much dead by the time it came out) but the tunes manage to stand the test of time. Probably one of their best-known songs - "I Was Made for Lovin' You" - is on this, but my personal favorite is Gene's song "X-Ray Eyes". Still a song I wish they'd resurrect in their live shows. Always give it a listen when it shows up on my iPod shuffle.

    4) Alive - The album that saved them, so you have to pay respect to it (unless you hate them, in which case this is the album you blame! :smiley: ) . Just like Cheap Trick's At Budokan, it took a live album to really showcase what made the band what it was. They might have hung it up after three studio albums that did marginal to okay, but once you heard "Alive" you wanted to see this band. You pretty much had to, because you realized you were missing out on something amazing.

    5) Paul Stanley (Solo Album) - All four members of KISS did solo albums in 1978. This is the only one that's still listenable from the first track through. When I met Paul at a book signing, I asked when his next solo album was going to happen. He said soon, but it would be closer in sound to this album than his last actual solo album. Music to my ears. I still listen to this one on a regular basis.

    6) Creatures of the Night - Amid all the chaos of constant lineup changes - Ace and Peter were barely there if at all, and eventually Eric Carr would take over drumming duties - they put out an album of some of their best music. The title track, Danger, I Love It Loud, War Machine (which StP stole for "Sex Type Thing") and even the rogue power balled I Still Love You are all great tunes.

    7) Hotter than Hell - More polished than the first album, not overly polished like the one after it, this is the early album I always come back to. Sure some tracks are just awkward (Strange Ways, Goin' Blind) but those tend to be the ones I enjoy listening to the most. Pretty brave move for a second album, because usually when you experiment that early on in your musical career it's the kiss of death.

    Honorable Mention: Crazy Nights - the band pretty much uniformly loathes this album now, but I love it. They horned in on the hair metal movement they pretty much helped inspire, and I don't care who you are..."Reason to Live" is a great song. :smile:
  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,736
    edited September 2017
    mwhitt80 said:

    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?

    You might as well ask me, “What are your top 7 Gloria Estefan albums?” Nothing particularly against them, it just doesn’t do anything for me, so I do not listen to their music. Had to play one of their songs—“Detroit Rock City” or “Rock and Roll All Nite”, can’t remember which—while I was filling in with my cousin’s band in high school, and it bored me to tears. (And for the record, I enjoyed playing Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga” in jazz band more than I did playing whatever Kiss song we played—much more challenging and fun.)
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    edited September 2017
    My list, @Torchsong I know it's going to look chalk:

    1) Revenge - You said Alive saved KISS, but this is the album that really saved KISS. And it introduced the band to me. I knew the singles from growing, but in 1992 KISS was old and played out. Revenge made me a fan, and boy does it rock.

    2) Destroyer - A great album with rocking songs, that might be one of the most overrated albums in Rock history. However it is the best gateway drug into Gene and Paul's world.

    3) Alive - The album that made KISS. It is in my top 3 live albums and most of the songs are better versions than the actual album.

    4) Dressed to Kill - I love the cover, and it is a solid album all the way through. It's not as strong as Destruction or Alive, but it's really good.

    5) Kiss - Strutter, Deuce Black Diamond. It isn't polished, but it's a great way to kick off a career.

    6) Creatures of the Night - Vinnie Vincent replaces Ace, and they make a KISS's hardest rocking album (arguably). I wish Vinnie could have stayed on a little longer because he was really good. I also wish Vinnie would have replaced Ace about two years early because The Elder wouldn't have happened

    Which brings me to #7

    The Elder - The secret, quiet masterpiece. It was completely misunderstood at it's release and almost tanked the band. Go back, give it a spin, I promise it still sucks. No one should ever like or defend this album; it's pretty terrible.

    7) Alive II - it's not as good as Alive, but the two first two Alive albums really capture what made the original lineup special. Instead of buying a greatest hits album get 1&2, pretend 3 didn't happen.

  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    edited September 2017
    Torchsong said:

    mwhitt80 said:

    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?

    Wow...pick a favorite kid, why don't you? :D


    2) Revenge -
    if it's possible to like an album solely for production values. No other KISS album sounds like this. Whoever did the mix made them sound heavier than KISS ever really should. Bruce Kulick's guitarwork get buried in the crunch of it, but there were some great tunes on it (Domino, Unholy, Heart of Chrome, I Just Wanna).

    Revenge was produced by a guy named Bob Ezrin. Ezrin also did Destroyer (and The Elder) and a lot of great Alice Cooper. Look at his Wikipedia page, his production credits are really impressive.

    @Torchsong I've never gotten into the solo albums are they worth getting? Because if you get one you have to get all 4
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608

    mwhitt80 said:

    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?

    You might as well ask me, “What are your top 7 Gloria Estefan albums?” Nothing particularly against them, it just doesn’t do anything for me, so I do not listen to their music. Had to play one of their songs—“Detroit Rock City” or “Rock and Roll All Nite”, can’t remember which—while I was filling in with my cousin’s band in high school, and it bored me to tears. (And for the record, I enjoyed playing Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga” in jazz band more than I did playing whatever Kiss song we played—much more challenging and fun.)
    I can't even tell you the name of one Gloria Estefan album. I just know that she is still the queen of Miami.
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    mwhitt80 said:


    @Torchsong I've never gotten into the solo albums are they worth getting? Because if you get one you have to get all 4

    Here's the breakdown on all four:

    Ace - the one everyone actually bought because his cover of New York Groove is really well done. Also, his backup band has Anton Fig and I believe Will Lee from Paul Schaffer's group, so the musical chops are there. Musically all over the place. Some tracks are great, some are downright horrible. Fractured Mirror is a great instrumental bit that showed that talent behind all the substance abuse.

    Gene - On record as never wanting to do this in the first place, and it shows. Has a couple really nice songs on it but mostly it's Gene and friends screwing around. His cover of See You In Your Dreams is pretty good, as is Always Near You/Nowhere to Hide.

    Peter - Knew his album wouldn't be as well regarded as the other three, so he didn't bother making a hard-rock album. Instead it's full of soul, lite rock, and mellow tunes. Holds up surprisingly well, though...but the least KISS-like of any of the four. His cover of Tossin and Turnin is fun, and Easy Thing is a fun mellow tune to goof around on.

    Paul - Still worth listening to today. The only one I'll still play all the way through. Every song is solid and there's not a weak track on it. Seriously, not a bad track. It's great. Get it first.
  • mwhitt80 said:

    mwhitt80 said:

    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?

    You might as well ask me, “What are your top 7 Gloria Estefan albums?” Nothing particularly against them, it just doesn’t do anything for me, so I do not listen to their music. Had to play one of their songs—“Detroit Rock City” or “Rock and Roll All Nite”, can’t remember which—while I was filling in with my cousin’s band in high school, and it bored me to tears. (And for the record, I enjoyed playing Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga” in jazz band more than I did playing whatever Kiss song we played—much more challenging and fun.)
    I can't even tell you the name of one Gloria Estefan album. I just know that she is still the queen of Miami.
    Exactly. Frankly, I could only come up with two Kiss album titles off the top of my head: Destroyer and Alive. Couldn’t remember the rest until the lists were posted.
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967

    mwhitt80 said:

    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?

    You might as well ask me, “What are your top 7 Gloria Estefan albums?” Nothing particularly against them, it just doesn’t do anything for me, so I do not listen to their music. Had to play one of their songs—“Detroit Rock City” or “Rock and Roll All Nite”, can’t remember which—while I was filling in with my cousin’s band in high school, and it bored me to tears. (And for the record, I enjoyed playing Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga” in jazz band more than I did playing whatever Kiss song we played—much more challenging and fun.)
    Every time we've disagreed about comics suddenly makes a whole lot more sense to me now.
  • mwhitt80 said:

    @Torchsong and anyone else who might want to answer.

    What are your top 7 KISS albums?

    You might as well ask me, “What are your top 7 Gloria Estefan albums?” Nothing particularly against them, it just doesn’t do anything for me, so I do not listen to their music. Had to play one of their songs—“Detroit Rock City” or “Rock and Roll All Nite”, can’t remember which—while I was filling in with my cousin’s band in high school, and it bored me to tears. (And for the record, I enjoyed playing Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga” in jazz band more than I did playing whatever Kiss song we played—much more challenging and fun.)
    Every time we've disagreed about comics suddenly makes a whole lot more sense to me now.
    It's funny, I had a few Kiss trading cards when I was a kid (I don't even remember why or when I got them), I watched the god-awful TV movie they did and liked it, and I liked the Kiss comic Marvel did (the first one). I just don't like their music all that much. I love the Replacements’ cover of “Black Diamond”, but I don’t really care for Kiss’ original.
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,608
    @bralinator
    His favorite member is Peter Criss ;)
  • mwhitt80 said:

    @bralinator
    His favorite member is Peter Criss ;)

    Second-favorite, thank you. ;) I liked the Demon best, or at least the look of him, as a kid. I met Gene at the San Diego Comic-Con back in 2004, 2005. He and was wandering the floor and stopped by the booth. I didn't have much to say to him, and he didn’t really look like he wanted to talk to anyone anyway, but he was nice enough to let my wife have her picture taken with him.
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    Here's the thing about KISS. It's not that they're horrible musicians or anything, they're just not "great" ones, either. Ace Frehley ripped off about half of his solos from Robbie Krieger from the Doors, Peter Criss was a solid but hardly spectacular drummer, Paul had solid chops on rhythm guitar, but he's unlikely to be remembered as one of the legends of the instrument, and Gene will always be a source of debate among bassists as to his ability or lack thereof. It wasn't until later when they brought on Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick, etc. that the musicianship actually became a deal with them, but make no mistake, they were never great musicians.

    But they were marketing geniuses. They knew their audience.

    - The Rock and Roll Over album came with foil stickers.
    - The Love Gun album came with a paper "Love Gun" you could make.
    - Alive II came with temporary tattoos.
    - The solo albums came with a poster that, if you got all four albums, made one giant poster of the band.

    They knew back then their audience was kids like me. They put toys and fun kid stuff in their albums because they knew who was buying them (or begging their parents to buy them). The music was a part of the whole package, sure, but we had KISS action figures, comic books, movies...when you went to a KISS show, there was really nothing like it out there. It was a total circus for a couple hours.

    Marketing. Geniuses. They should teach a class on them in college.

    Now some 40 years later I don't have any of the toys, but the "damage" was done...I love their music and always will.
  • Torchsong said:

    Here's the thing about KISS. It's not that they're horrible musicians or anything, they're just not "great" ones, either. Ace Frehley ripped off about half of his solos from Robbie Krieger from the Doors, Peter Criss was a solid but hardly spectacular drummer, Paul had solid chops on rhythm guitar, but he's unlikely to be remembered as one of the legends of the instrument, and Gene will always be a source of debate among bassists as to his ability or lack thereof. It wasn't until later when they brought on Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick, etc. that the musicianship actually became a deal with them, but make no mistake, they were never great musicians.

    But they were marketing geniuses. They knew their audience.

    - The Rock and Roll Over album came with foil stickers.
    - The Love Gun album came with a paper "Love Gun" you could make.
    - Alive II came with temporary tattoos.
    - The solo albums came with a poster that, if you got all four albums, made one giant poster of the band.

    They knew back then their audience was kids like me. They put toys and fun kid stuff in their albums because they knew who was buying them (or begging their parents to buy them). The music was a part of the whole package, sure, but we had KISS action figures, comic books, movies...when you went to a KISS show, there was really nothing like it out there. It was a total circus for a couple hours.

    Marketing. Geniuses. They should teach a class on them in college.

    Now some 40 years later I don't have any of the toys, but the "damage" was done...I love their music and always will.

    That’s it exactly. Criss did train with the great Gene Kroupa, and I'll give him props for that, but Kiss was a lot of flash with little musical substance. I was in third grade when I became aware of them, but I was listening to Queen, the Beatles, Motown, and John Williams conducted soundtracks (the Superman soundtrack was probably the second album I owned), and Kiss just couldn't measure up. It didn’t keep me from enjoying their spectacle though.
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967

    I was listening to Queen, the Beatles, Motown, and John Williams conducted soundtracks (the Superman soundtrack was probably the second album I owned).

    Ditto to all of this. I wore out my Empire Strikes Back and Superman II soundtracks.

  • I was listening to Queen, the Beatles, Motown, and John Williams conducted soundtracks (the Superman soundtrack was probably the second album I owned).

    Ditto to all of this. I wore out my Empire Strikes Back and Superman II soundtracks.

    Never got the Superman II soundtrack for whatever reason, but I listened to Empire constantly.
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