Cocteau Twins

After my initial voracious consumption of music (roughly 1993 - 2001) when everything seemed new and exciting, I hit a lull and didn't really listen to any new music at all for a few years. Then around 2005 a renaissance of sorts began for me which more or less started with this strange little band from Scotland, Cocteau Twins. I think it was Treasure that hooked me and soon i heard Pearly Dew-Drops Drops and Sugar Hiccup which pretty much sealed the deal.

I was hooked in a big, big way. I still get the shivers listening to the lush, beautiful music that is Cocteau Twins particularly because of the very talented vocalist Elizabeth Fraser. Though her vocals are undeniably wonderful, her lyrics have been a cause of friction for some because many of them aren't in English. In fact, many of them aren't in any language at all and are instead pure vocalizations of her own unique design (although Lisa Gerrard and Enya have both done similar things). I don't care. I even sing along sometimes even though there aren't any real "words" to be singing in the first place. No matter - it's pure pleasure the whole way.

The band was active from roughly 1982 until 1998 when they agreed to part ways in one of rock's more civilized band breakups (no lawsuits, no members touring under the old name, etc). Although they've never been on the hit parade, their influence is deep and enduring. Many, many bands have imitated their sound but none have been able to capture its magic.

It's hard to choose just a few songs to recommend, but here are some of my favorites:

• Pandora - from the album Treasure


• Lazy Calm - from the album Victorialand


• Sugar Hiccup - from the album Head over Heels


• Fifty-Fifty Clown - from the album Heaven or Las Vegas


• Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires - from the album Heaven or Las Vegas


• Know Who You Are at Every Age - from the album Four-Calendar Cafe

Metallica

Metallica was one of the first bands i truly got "into". I can remember listening to a tape of theirs on one of those crappy portable cassette recorders from the 80's with the speaker built into the unit. I got into them because my brother was into them and they were one of the bands the bad kids listened to during that time. So as an impressionable youngster it was a match made in heaven.

Metallica have been through many changes since their inception in the early 1980's and seem to have come more or less full circle with their latest album, The Death Magnetic. I don't much care for their 90's material (Load, Reload, etc) because it doesn't deliver on why I fell in love with the band in the first place: extended songs featuring virtuoso musicianship, dark sometimes introspective lyrics, and classical music song structures and modes.

As such, my listening recommendations sit squarely in their "classic" period during the 1980's. For me, the standout material includes:

• Fade to Black - From the album Ride the Lightning. Years ahead of its time musically. Remember this was recorded in 1984, when Van Halen, Phil Collins, and Madonna were topping the charts.


• Fight Fire with Fire - From the album Ride the Lightning. I like this song because of the cool classical guitar intro and the heavy, heavy sound after that. Again, ahead of its time sounding like something Cannibal Corpse or Slayer might do years later.


• Master of Puppets - From the album of the same name.


• Orion - From the album Master of Puppets. A long instrumental that really shows off the compositional skills of Metallica. Released in 1986, this is one of my favorite metal songs of all.


• . . . And Justice for All - Basically the entire album. Some songs are stronger than others, but the band really nailed their sound on this album.

Other Albums
I haven't listed anything from Kill 'Em All or 'The Black Album' even though I do like both of those albums. I just feel that both are sort of "bookends" and don't display the real talent of the band or showcase their best work. If you want to hear the entire creative arc of this highly influential band, I'd recommend including both of these in your music library.

Again, I really don't like most of the mid-to-late 90's output. Clearly Metallica was struggling to find their audience and their muse in the wake of the huge success they had had and the sudden shift in popular music with the advent of Grunge. I haven't heard all of The Death Magnetic (2008) but it sounds a lot more like their classic material that anything released in recent years.

First Post: The Beach Boys

So, here's the very first post on my new blog! Since this is the first, I wanted to start with a band from the early days of rock: The Beach Boys.

If you grew up in the United States you probably have a low opinion of this band. After all, they're really just famous for silly songs about surfin' and girls on the beach right? While that is true, there's another side to this band that I think deserves a great deal of respect and attention due in large part to the music genius behind the band: Brian Wilson.

The surfing and girls stuff is what I might call their "light" side. They had a "dark" side too. A side that dealt with loneliness, isolation, and the struggle for understanding. In either case, there's never been another group of singers who could blend their voices in such complex and truly beautiful ways. Look around - you just can't find vocal harmony done better anywhere in rock history.

Here's my short list of must-listen music that should change your perception of these guys:

• In My Room - A truly gorgeous song and one that kills me every time I hear it. It's only two minutes long, but feels much longer when you listen to it. There's lyrics I think many of us can relate to as well. David Crosby once commented that this song almost made him want to quit music because he never thought it could be topped! Released in 1963.


• Pet Sounds - This is the album that really put "the boys" on the map musically speaking. It was released in early 1966 but sounds like it could have been made 20 years later than that. This is the album that inspired Paul McCartney to push the Beatles sound further with Sgt. Pepper. The lyrics are a bit sappy at times, but the instrumentation and arrangements are divine. Remember that it took all four Beatles plus George Martin to make Sgt Pepper but the entirety of Pet Sounds can be attributed to Brian Wilson. He wrote all the songs, produced them in the studio, and arranged the instruments and vocal sections almost entirely on his own. If that's not enough to convince you to listen to this album, consider that the Library of Congress recently entered Pet Sounds into the National Recording Registry as one of the essential American recordings of all time. Released in 1966.


• Surf's Up - Despite its title, this is not a song about surfing. Instead this is a song that Leonard Bernstein payed special homage to in a CBS television special aired in 1967 calling it "Poetic, beautiful, even in its obscurity". To me this song has meaning on several levels but generally seems to discuss a corrupt and decadent society about to consume itself. Salvation is offered up at the end of the song by proposing a return to child-like innocence and love for one another. Released in 1971.
  

A Little History
Those of you who are familiar with the history of the Beach Boys might be asking why I haven't mentioned anything about Smile - clearly the most amazing album the group was ever a part of. I'm saving discussion about Smile for it's own post because I think it deserves special attention. Moreover, The Beach Boys didn't finish Smile in 1967 as originally intended. Although substantial work was completed on this album, recording sessions stalled out for a variety of reasons and the music was never finished. It took Brian Wilson until 2004 to release the album on his own. As such it's hard to call Smile a true Beach Boys album in it's own right. This point is debatable but I wanted to focus mainly on what the group had done as a whole here.