Bleecker Street –

Sound of Silence –

Wow, fifteen of these posts! I knew I couldn’t make it much farther without mentioning another artist who had a significant impact on me since I was a kid.

Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964), by Simon & Garfunkel. The debut and initially unsuccessful album by the famous folk duo.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had performed music together since they were both 13, originally under the stage names Tom & Jerry (Art & Paul respectively) even releasing a few singles that met with minor popularity. They both shared a deep admiration of the Everly Brothers, which would help shape the similar two-part harmonies of their music. After they left to go to different colleges, they got back together and played in a few clubs under their now famous duo title.

This album was the result of Tom Wilson (famous producer for Bob Dylan, The Animals, and several others) hearing the duo one night. The album would feature five songs written by Simon (sometimes misprinted as 4 songs, but there is a fifth song credited to “Paul Kane” one of Simon’s many pen names) and a few other popular folk staples. However Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. would ultimately flop, not even selling more than 3,000 copies. Why? It was 1964. The British Invasion was in full swing and Beatlemania had officially swept the nation.

Following this failure Simon moved to England to travel between clubs and play folk music. However something fairly interesting happened while he was gone. Wilson had taken “The Sound of Silence,” overdubbed some drums and electric guitar over the track, and distributed it to several radio stations. This new version shot all the way up to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. pop charts. Encouraged by this success the two got back together and went on to pursue what would be become a legendary career.

Both of these songs are more like fine poetry than just another pop or folk song. Like a strong poem, there is beauty just to their rhythm, but there is also more to be found if you dive into what they mean. I am a firm believer that art can take on different interpretations to different people, but I also think that our understanding of the works becomes deeper and more complex when our personal “meanings” are shared with others. Most of my interpretations are very heavily influenced by Garfunkel’s notes on the back of the album, but I will attempt to write up a little something extra.

“Bleecker Street” really stands out to me with its musical harmony and simple imagery. There is this beautiful symbolism of the “fog covering Bleecker Street” depicting this stifling of creativity and the “poet writing his crooked rhyme” selling out to pay the rent (“30 dollars” mirroring Iscariot’s pieces of silver for the betrayal of Jesus). “The Sound of Silence,” another striking poetic endeavor, is much more difficult to pinpoint its complex meaning. While this is a fine example of a work that you should find your own meaning, I agree with Garfunkel’s idea of “miscommunication.” Garfunkel mentions, “There is no serious understanding because there is no serious communication” citing the song’s line “people hearing without listening” and the poet’s failed attempt to “reach out.” I think there are also themes of loneliness, oppression, death, morning, and a warning are found here as well. Some have interpreted it as a response to the Kennedy assassination, and Simon’s performance of it at the Ground Zero memorial also casts in a different light (as well as Disturbed’s excellent cover).

Most people might say that Paul Simon really made his significant impact as a songwriter after the duo split up, like his landmark album Graceland. Personally, I preferred the work of Simon and Garfunkel. I don’t mean to downplay the importance of his solo years, but there was always something about their harmony parts that was just so……perfect 😀

(I Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman –

Little Bit of Emotion –

Wasn’t sure what to pick this week, so I just went with a personal favorite ^^

Low Budget (1979) by The Kinks. While not my favorite Kinks album (Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One easily steals that award), Low Budget is still an album I’m fairly fond of.

In my opinion, one of the sadly forgotten faces of the “British Invasion.” Sure, of course people remember the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, that one song by the Animals, and maybe Herman’s Hermits (a band that I deeply regret not having on here yet…), but The Kinks tend to be forgotten. Most people might recognize their hit single “You Really Got Me” or maybe “Lola” (or a handful of others if you’re a Wes Anderson fan), but ultimately they didn’t have a large amount of chart toppers, neither here in the US or in their home country of the UK.

Despite their lack of chart success, their wide variety of music and pioneering of new sounds had a very broad range of influence in the industry. This is due in part because of the multiple music genres they dabbled in and a lengthy career from ’64 to ’96. From initially helping to define the Psychedelic genre for bands like The Doors and Jefferson Airplane, to paving the way for Hard Rock like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, to inspiring the raw sound of Punk bands like The Clash and Ramones, to even distant Garage Rock like The Vines. In all ways, a truly impressive – if occasionally forgotten – band.

Low Budget, their largest success in the States, was a slight change of pace for the band. Most of their 70s albums were concept albums that focused on themes of nostalgia and other, often complex, ideas that were deemed “too abstract” by critics. While I would argue that Low Budget is still very much a concept album in its construction and arrangement of songs, there is a change of themes to reflect the contemporary economic issues of the UK at the end of the 70s. There is also a musical shift to that more reminiscent of Arena Rock (similar to Queen), but this album also features some songs that shift into Country, Hard Rock, Disco, and even some content boarding on soft-Punk.

While this album pales in comparison to The Clash’s landmark double-LP album London Calling, which also came out the same year, the two albums themes of social poverty and injustice strike a similar cord and the two definitely overlap musically. If you’re a fan of London Calling odds are there’s at least something for you on Low Budget, and if you haven’t heard London Calling before…well I can’t force you to, but you get the idea… (I’d post it here, but that vinyl is so hard to come by… >.<) Oh yeah, songs. I kinda wandered on this week's entry. "(I Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" features a traditional disco beat, a catchy chorus, and dreary depressing verses. What a combo! But seriously, it centers around dissatisfaction in one's shortcomings and flaws. Disappointed in his self and surrounded by sorrows the singer wishes he could only be more like Superman. "Little Bit of Emotion," on the other hand, discusses how people refuse to show others their true self and emotions in the fear of being rejected, but argues that somehow we must find a way to reach out. Two songs that really speak to me on a personal level. I hope that despite their dreariness they bring some hope to your week.

The Day Begins –

The Night: Nights in White Satin –

Well, since I mentioned it last week…

Days of Future Passed (1967), The Moody Blues with The London Festival Orchestra conducted by Peter Knight. An album not to confused with the popular X-Men story Days of Future Past. A fascinating bridge between pop and classical, this album really challenged the notion of what popular music could be and almost completely began a new genre all by itself. Progressive rock, the playground of talented bands like Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, and many others.

One of the funny things about Days of Future Passed is that even though it was based around the notion of bringing an orchestra and a rock band together, all the material was recorded separately (all except one song…). All of the songs by The Moody Blues were done in a recording studio and the orchestra, lead and composed by Knight, was recorded elsewhere. Even the album keeps the two separate with songs by the band being featured and interludes between the songs by the orchestra. However the last song “Nights in White Satin” is the only one to feature both playing together, and even then they were still recorded separately.

It’s interesting that the band that would finally come up with this popular notion of mixing classical and rock/pop was The Moody Blues. A band that two years earlier had released their less than successful R&B debut album and a slightly successful single “Go Now.” While the Beatles had used an orchestra earlier the same year for “A Day In the Life” (the ending track for Sgt. Peppers), the idea was still extremely new to the industry. Mike Pinder’s heavy use of the Mellotron on this album also had a significant impact upon what would become the Progressive rock industry as well as the then blooming Psychedelic genre.

I tried really hard on this LP choice to go with something other than just another “first and last song on album” (which if you haven’t noticed yet, is a fairly common choice on my Monday LPs…), but both of these songs complemented one another so well. From the melody of “Nights in White Satin” being teased by the orchestra in “The Day Begins” to the first and second half of the poem (spoken by Pinder) being split between the two songs. While the lyrics of “Nights in White Satin” may border on the cliche of their pop influence, the song’s (and album’s) unique sound and psychedelic imagery definitely paved the way for a new world of music.

Bat Out of Hell –

For Crying Out Loud –

We continue to wildly swing back and forth between light and heavy musical genres this week.
…OR DO WE??? :3

Bat Out of Hell (1977), by Meatloaf (songs by Jim Steinman). Alright unless you are aware of Meatloaf’s musical career, you probably have some preconceived ideas of what this album will sound like. However, don’t let this record deceive you by its looks and name. I was personally surprised by this album when I first heard it, and I would honestly admit that it’s now one of my favorite vinyls in my collection :O

While Bat Out of Hell is definitely a “hard rock” album, “metal” would probably be a poor overall description of Meatloaf’s sound. “Wagnerian Rock” is what Steinman personally coined to describe the album and the term has come to define other bands (like more recently the German industrial band Rammstein). While you can easily find a better definition than one by me, I’ll briefly state that music from this genre draws heavy inspiration from the man its named after, the German opera composer Richard Wagner (you know…”Flight of the Valkyries” guy…)

As for the album itself, it is certified platinum 14 times with over 40 million sales, making it one of the top ten best selling albums of all time! O.O
Quick shout out to the comic artist Richard Corben who illustrated the album cover (you know since this is a webcomic blog after all…). You might know him from his time with Heavy Metal magazine or his work on the Hellboy comics for awhile.

Michael Lee Aday, better known by his stage name “Meatloaf,” had actually released one album prior to Bat Out of Hell, but it was within the soul genre. This album would mark his rock debut, which would define the music for the rest of his career (kinda like how the Moody Blues second album was radically different than their first, but that’s another story for…next week??). Like last week’s Dean Martin, Meatloaf is also a multi-talented individual acting in several movies and plays. One of his more memorable movie roles was as Robert Paulson from Fight Club.

A relatively short album in terms of songs (only 7 tracks), but still over 45 minutes in length. Due to the longer nature of the songs, I figured the most reasonable thing to do was pick the longest two songs. 😛 But seriously, I had to choose the opening title track “Bat Out of Hell,” which boasts a wide range of musical technique from the whole band. This song follows a reckless young man as he meets his fate after a terrible motorcycle crash. I then chose maybe my favorite song on here, the album’s closing song, “For Crying Out Loud.” This one is a love song about the singer’s lover and her positive impact upon his life even though he’s reached the bottom of life. While these songs are fairly serious in nature, I hope it doesn’t underplay the humor and wit found throughout the album and featured more prominently on some of the other songs.

Also really random tidbit, but I found out that my copy of this record (which is sadly in pretty rough shape) is actually the Canadian version. It’s hard to see it in the picture, but centered at the bottom of the cover it says “Songs by Jim Steinman.” Steinman’s name is normally shown directly below the title “Bat Out of Hell” on the original US version though.

Somewhere There’s a Someone –

Walk The Line –

Alright, let’s go for a change of tune…

Somewhere There’s a Someone (1966), by Dean Martin. With a mere jump back of fifty years we have arrived at a much different sound than My Chemical Romance 😛

Dean Martin was an entertainer. There really is no other way to put it. You can’t just mention him as a singer or you’ll be leaving out his long acting career on both television and the silver screen. If you label him an actor, you’ll be underplaying his impact as a slapstick vaudevillian comedian with his (extremely funny) partner Jerry Lewis. Listing him as a comedian wouldn’t take serious his musical talent as a distinguished crooner that mixed in some country elements. On top of all this he would even shockingly derail a Beatles song from the Number 1 spot on the US billboards during the height of rock and roll popularity and the decline of crooner music (often called Easy Listening or Adult Contemporary).

The album I chose is a little bit of an oddity itself. Released in 1966, Somewhere There’s a Someone was made while The Dean Martin Show was airing, which meant Martin didn’t have any time to actually record an album. Thus this album was created, consisting of both sides of the single “Somewhere There’s a Someone” and some songs pulled from two of Dean’s “country themed” albums. Although technically it is considered a studio album, not a compilation album (I literally have no have no idea why…). It was the first of five albums to be released that year and probably Martin’s best selling album right behind his Christmas album (which was one of the other albums released in ’66).

These two songs give a good example of the two different sounds of Martin’s music. “Somewhere There’s a Someone” tackles a common crooner theme: love (big surprise there). This genre of music may tend to be predictable and really middle-of-the-road, but those also end up being the major selling points of Easy Listening. The other song, “Walk the Line,” is an excellent song written by Johnny Cash. While I still prefer Cash’s version hands down, this track demonstrates how Martin was able to lend his Italian-crooner voice to the country sound.

With seven different Dean Martin albums in my collection, I knew I had to pay him some attention soon. While I have a few other crooners in my collection like Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra, Dino is by far my favorite amongst the bunch. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and listen to something nice and easy. Also, Whoops! Sorry about that harsh needle drop at the beginning of the first track ^^;

Mama –

The Five of Us Are Dying (Rough Mix) –

All The Angels (Live Demo) –

HA!! And you used to roll your eyes when I said I had a very eclectic taste in music! Well here’s something different for sure >:D

Also…FAIR WARNING!! This album contains explicit lyrics (specifically “Mama” from these three songs).

The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts, (2016) Also referred to as the 10th Anniversary of The Black Parade, by the late My Chemical Romance. While no one from the band is exactly “dead,” the band did officially disband back in 2013.

My Chemical Romance is probably one of the best definitions of an “Emo rock band” (even though Gerard Way, their lead singer, despises the term. Opting for “violent dangerous pop”), but they are ultimately grouped in the huge realm of “alternative rock.” Finishing off their career with a short list of four studio albums (five if you consider Conventional Weapons, which was just a compilation of a series of five previously-released singles) and two live albums may not seem like much at first glance, but I would argue their is something to their rough little run. While their first two albums are solid examples of alt and punk rock, their final two really seal their contribution to the music scene in my opinion. These two (The Black Parade and Danger Days) are concept albums that branch out to draw inspiration from an impressively large selection of genres while amazingly staying true to the sound the band developed in their first two albums.

This brings us to The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts the album that was released to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the The Black Parade. It is a 3 LP album that includes the entirety of The Black Parade as well as 11 previously unreleased demos and outtakes. My Chemical Romance has admitted to often writing way more songs than actually appear on their albums with both The Black Parade and Danger Days having over 30 songs written for each and with a final cut of roughly half that number for both records. The Black Parade‘s concept centers around a individual known simply as the “Patient” who is dying from cancer. The album fitting begins with his ending or death and then goes on to record his experiences after death and recount major events from his life. Imagine the classical “life flashed before my eyes” scenario. Gerard Way explained that his idea that death comes to a person as their fondest memory (in this case a parade from the Patient’s childhood) drove the concept of the “Black Parade.”

So I kinda broke my “two-song rule” once again this time around… ^^;
My ultimate reasoning was that I wanted to have one song from the original album, a demo song, and a song outtake. What I ended up with were these three. “Mama” is from the original album and features a soldier writing home to his disappointed mother of his terrible deeds in war. I really enjoy the midway point of the second verse and changes time signature and melody to match that of Pink Floyd’s song “The Trial” (from The Wall), which also had some very strong war imagery. “The Five of Us Are Dying” is an early rough mix of a song that would later be titled “Welcome to the Black Parade” (easily one of their most successful songs ever) and it provides an interesting look into how the song developed. “All The Angels” is one of the many songs that was left on the chopping block and never made it past a demo version, and while it clearly feels less refined (like demos tend to be) it’s still probably one of my favorite from all the demos and outtakes 😀

My Chemical Romance serves as a fairly decent example of a more recent band that is always a reminder to me personally to never overlook the music of my generation. Because I wasn’t interested in this band till I heard their “greatest hits” album May Death Never Stop You after they had already quit I only get to hear their music in retrospect and wish they were still around like any of my other 60s and 70s bands. Maybe the musical style of the 60s and 70s appeals to me the most, but if I stay too stuck and rooted in the past I can’t properly appreciate the music of today. But maybe I’m just rambling now…

I’ll end this slightly-longer-than-normal entry in LP Mondays with this quote from My Chemical Romance’s guitarist about their vision for The Black Parade that I think is an accurate statement as to what they accomplished with this album…

“The intention was to make something that was classic, something timeless. Something that 20 or 30 years from now, parents could play for their kids and say, ‘This is what I was listening to when I was your age. Check it out, it’s still f**king cool.’ We wanted to make a record you could pass down. There’s a lot of music out now that doesn’t feel like that.”

Marat/Sade –

I Think It’s Going To Rain Today –

Alright, here’s another fairly new artist to me that I’ve really been enjoying recently.

In My Life (1968), Judy Collins. Initially released in 1966 with a slightly different cover, this is the stereo mix released two years later. It was pretty common in the late 60s to re-release albums in stereo as this was when stereo was beginning to overturn mono sound.

This album was important for not only Collins’ career, but also for another one of my favorite artists already featured on LP Mondays: Leonard Cohen. Collins’ cover of Cohen’s song “Suzanne” is often considered the first major introduction of Cohen to a much larger audience. This album was important to Collin because it established her more eclectic taste in music. She was a fairly popular folk singer, but this album saw her broadening her horizons in material she covered. From the Beatles title track to a Bob Dylan cover, from a pirate song to two Cohen songs. I’m really fond of musicians that pull from several musical backgrounds because I think it results in a richer musical experience ^^

There are several great songs on this album and I was hard pressed to pick only two. The two I finally chose though were “Marat/Sade” and “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today.” “Marat/Sade” is a melody of multiple songs from the German play The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (known as Marat/Sade for short) which was later made into a movie of the same title. “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” is a Randy Newman song that I find extremely beautiful lyrically and musically.

Odessa [City On The Black Sea] –

Melody Fair –

As 2017 begins, I wanted to feature a band that I’ve been listening to pretty intently over the last month.

Odessa (1969) by the Bee Gees. An album that was very poorly received both by the public and critics upon its initial release, but would later be considered one of their most significant achievements going on to be listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

This record has been on my turntable for awhile now and I’ve put it on my phone as well. Technically this version is the 1976 edit. The original is a double LP, but the edit is only a single LP. Since it didn’t sell well the record company hoped it would sell better if they sized it down to the more “popular” songs (and it was after the Bee Gees’ resurgence in popularity in the mid 70s).

The Bee Gees have a long and interesting track record. The Bee Gees lineup changed over the years, but their core staying steady with the Gibbs brothers, Barry, Maurice, and Robin. Starting their career back when they were teenagers in Australia, they moved back to England (where they were born) to try to make it big. Known for their three part harmonies and Robin’s vibrato tenor lead in their early years and Barry’s falsetto in their disco period.

Accused of being Beatles clones and selling out to whatever the music fad was, they were often disliked by music critics during their time. The Bee Gees countered that argument stating that they were singing and writing the songs for the moment, the songs that the public wanted to hear. My generation remembers them for their disco era (definitely their best selling years), but I’m a huge fan of their 60s stuff (but maybe that’s just the psychedelic fan coming out in me).

The songs I picked are the opening, title track “Odessa” and “Melody Fair.” “Odessa” is large and grand in nature, sweeping and incorporating the full orchestra. It tells of the story of a sailor longing for his love while lost at sea. “Melody Fair” is much simpler, but still touching in my opinion with its complementing harmonies and Robin’s distinct lead vocal part.

We’ve Only Just Begun –

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft –

How to start off a brand new year?? Well I’ll give it my darndest shot.

Yesterday Once More (1985) by the Carpenters. Before you say “Finally an album from the 80s!” I want to point out that this is actually just a compilation album of the Carpenters’ work, most of which is actually from the 70s 😛

For being just a compilation album though it went Platinum in three countries and double Platinum in the US! The Carpenters were often disliked by critics, who described their music as slow Pop music that was too bland. However other music artists often cite them for inspiration (Sir Paul McCartney is quoted for describing Karen Carpenter as the best female vocalist ever). Whatever the case was, their career was cut short with Karen’s tragic death in 1983 at the age of 33 due to complications with anorexia. The band consisted primarily of the brother sister team of Karen on drums and Richard on the keyboard.

Apart from being one of their most loved songs, “We’ve Only Just Begun” felt like the best way to start the year off fresh to me. “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” isn’t actually one of the songs they wrote, but it’s one that they made popular and is personally one of my favorites. If their style of music just ain’t your cup of tea, I would heavily suggest you listen the album “If I Were A Carpenter” (1994) which is an album made up of Carpenter songs re-imagined by Alternate Rock bands from the early 90s that dishes up a cool clash of generations.

Baker St. Muse & Grace –

So this is the last LP Mondays before 2016 has come and gone (which is crazy to think about). So I decided I wanted to sift through my vinyls and decide to pick a band that really made an impact on me over the year. Well. Here it is.

Minstrel in the Gallery (1975), Jethro Tull. If you had told me last year that Jethro Tull would easily rank in my top ten favorite music artists of all time, that I would own a large variety of their albums, and that I would spend $70 just for the cheapest seat at one of their concerts, I probably would have been confused. It’s not that I disliked them, I just never got into them. I am extremely fond of the 60s and 70s era of music (if it’s not bluntly obvious by now), but for some reason, Tull had never really caught my ear. I had heard a single or two from them (like “Hymn 43” or “Bungle in the Jungle”) and they just didn’t stick. I was not aware though at the time that Tull’s strongest point (in my opinion at least) is in their “album” construction, not their individual singles.

So many of their albums are what are called “concept albums” where specific themes or narratives are carried throughout the entire album. While their album Aqualung is definitely and example of this, a more extreme example would be their next album Thick As a Brick, an album completely devoid of “individual” songs. Instead of songs there’s just Side A and Side B on the record. Other times their themes would extend beyond even just one album (for example, their folk rock trilogy).

In Minstrel in the Gallery, we are given a selection of tunes from “the minstrel in the gallery” that vary in subject matter, but ultimately reveal more about the character’s personality. This all accumulates in the last (technically, second last) song titled “Baker St. Muse” which takes a step back and is a very direct look at the character. I picked this song because it displays Tull’s ability to weave a story within a song while juggling different themes in their lyrics with variations in their musical style. It goes from its simple acoustic guitar, to sweeping string segments, to hard rock, and of course features Ian Anderson’s iconic flute playing.

I actually included “Grace” because it was easier to record by just letting the record finish. It’s actually exceptionally short, consisting of only four lines (it’s the last bit after you hear Anderson walk away and complain about not being able to get out). Also it’s just a pretty farewell to an album ^^

If you take anything away after reading this, it should be that this is not actually the best way to listen to Jethro Tull. This song is more of an exception than some of their other stuff, but their works really do hold up so much better in the setting of the entire album. Nowadays bands like Green Day offer some impressive concept albums (American Idiot, Revolution Radio) and there were even plenty of bands to come before Tull with some stellar concept albums, but there’s still something about Tull’s music that has managed to capture my heart.

P.S. If you’re a Green Day fan like myself, I think you’ll also smirk at the botched acoustic guitar opening followed by a whispered cuss on this song.