You must get Crazy Rhythms. It was scheduled to be reissued by Water earlier in the year but it was reportedly unauthorized. Then rumor has it that Bar/None will put it out late this year or next, but we'll see.
I gotta shake my head at your tepid reactions to The Stooges and early Funkadelic. If those don't slay you, I'd recommend you give up and just listen to opera ;)
I envy you, I'd love to be able to hear all those for the first time again. And if you haven't heard Wire's Pink Flag/Chairs Missing/154, add those too.
There's the rub, man. There are thousands of great albums. Forgive me if I'm way off, but I'd guess you're no older than early 20s? Keep listening at this rate for another 20 years, you'll see. I've rated nearly 8,000 albums since 1949 as great, and over 3,000 of those as really great. And every year I only hear just over 1% of all albums released.
That's a nice description. I've been listening to both Lorca and Starsailor for I think 19 years. I still prefer Starsailor, but sometimes Lorca can be the perfect companion for a certain mood.
That's kind of what I was thinking of when I said you could be missing out on some great music. However, not everyone spends 6-12 hours a day listening to music, heh.
It's always good to strive for greatness, but I think getting too wrapped up in the idea of "perfection" may hinder your enjoyment of a lot of music.
You seem to be devouring a lot of music in a good way. I'd just hate to see you get less out of certain albums because of lack of perceived perfection. I often get obsessed with albums that don't even make my top 1000, because something about them strikes a chord with me at the time.
I recommended a few albums in your Greatest of All Time list, but it's buried under a remark about Buckley's Starsailor.
I'm surprised to see Lorca replace Starsailor on your list. Lorca always seemed to be a kind of warm-up, some vocal exercises and experiments, before he hit it out of the park with Starsailor.
I'm always happy to see TMR get props. Even though I grew up with the album and it means a lot to me, I actually like these a little more:
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off Baby (Straight) 70
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Doc At The Radar Station (Virgin) 80
And this one is nearly as good in a completely different, accessible way:
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Clear Spot (Reprise) 72
Others I'd recommend if you haven't already heard them:
The Congos - Heart Of The Congo (Blood & Fire) 77
Brian Eno - Another Green World (EG) 75
Fela Kuti - Zombie (Universal) 77
John McLaughlin - Extrapolation (Polydor) 69
Pere Ubu - Dub Housing (Rough Trade) 78
George Russell - Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature (Soul Note) 67
This Heat - Deceit (Rough Trade) 81
Nice list, but does it really make any sense to use a scale of 10 if you think no one will ever achieve a 10? Do you think you can suggest ways, say, Beethoven's 9th can be improved? It seems you're fantasizing about the sort of perfection no human is capable of. I really don't see art and music being about perfection. I can name over 100 albums that are perfect enough. There may be certain flaws, but no amount of tinkering would likely improve them overall.
What a cool thing, basically a diary of your CD purchases. I kind of wish I did that. I can remember where and when I bought some of them, but with 5,000+, not all of them!
Anyway great taste. If there's any albums you haven't heard in my own list, there's a good chance you like 'em.
You must get Crazy Rhythms. It was scheduled to be reissued by Water earlier in the year but it was reportedly unauthorized. Then rumor has it that Bar/None will put it out late this year or next, but we'll see.
I gotta shake my head at your tepid reactions to The Stooges and early Funkadelic. If those don't slay you, I'd recommend you give up and just listen to opera ;)
I envy you, I'd love to be able to hear all those for the first time again. And if you haven't heard Wire's Pink Flag/Chairs Missing/154, add those too.
There's the rub, man. There are thousands of great albums. Forgive me if I'm way off, but I'd guess you're no older than early 20s? Keep listening at this rate for another 20 years, you'll see. I've rated nearly 8,000 albums since 1949 as great, and over 3,000 of those as really great. And every year I only hear just over 1% of all albums released.
That's a nice description. I've been listening to both Lorca and Starsailor for I think 19 years. I still prefer Starsailor, but sometimes Lorca can be the perfect companion for a certain mood.
That's kind of what I was thinking of when I said you could be missing out on some great music. However, not everyone spends 6-12 hours a day listening to music, heh.
It's always good to strive for greatness, but I think getting too wrapped up in the idea of "perfection" may hinder your enjoyment of a lot of music.
You seem to be devouring a lot of music in a good way. I'd just hate to see you get less out of certain albums because of lack of perceived perfection. I often get obsessed with albums that don't even make my top 1000, because something about them strikes a chord with me at the time.
I recommended a few albums in your Greatest of All Time list, but it's buried under a remark about Buckley's Starsailor.
The Minutemen - What Makes A Man Start Fires? (SST) 83
The Minutemen - Buzz Or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat (SST) 83
These aren't quite on the level of Double Nickels, but certainly are great albums worth hearing.
I'm surprised to see Lorca replace Starsailor on your list. Lorca always seemed to be a kind of warm-up, some vocal exercises and experiments, before he hit it out of the park with Starsailor.
I'm always happy to see TMR get props. Even though I grew up with the album and it means a lot to me, I actually like these a little more:
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off Baby (Straight) 70
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Doc At The Radar Station (Virgin) 80
And this one is nearly as good in a completely different, accessible way:
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Clear Spot (Reprise) 72
Others I'd recommend if you haven't already heard them:
The Congos - Heart Of The Congo (Blood & Fire) 77
Brian Eno - Another Green World (EG) 75
Fela Kuti - Zombie (Universal) 77
John McLaughlin - Extrapolation (Polydor) 69
Pere Ubu - Dub Housing (Rough Trade) 78
George Russell - Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature (Soul Note) 67
This Heat - Deceit (Rough Trade) 81
Nice list, but does it really make any sense to use a scale of 10 if you think no one will ever achieve a 10? Do you think you can suggest ways, say, Beethoven's 9th can be improved? It seems you're fantasizing about the sort of perfection no human is capable of. I really don't see art and music being about perfection. I can name over 100 albums that are perfect enough. There may be certain flaws, but no amount of tinkering would likely improve them overall.
I was just listening to Lorca today. I really need to get around to hearing some Vampire Rodents. Downloading Lullaby Land now.
What a cool thing, basically a diary of your CD purchases. I kind of wish I did that. I can remember where and when I bought some of them, but with 5,000+, not all of them!
Anyway great taste. If there's any albums you haven't heard in my own list, there's a good chance you like 'em.
http://www.fastnbulbous.com/best_since_1965.htm