Copper Feel

Anthony Head came to my secondary school once to talk to my drama class. He was really cool, even laughed at my really lame nervous jokes about Amazon and Ebay. Sadly, I eventually lost his autograph. I met Chris Jericho once, that was pretty cool. Well, not really actually, I got really anxious there as well. My mum had to ask him to talk to me after I made four attemps to muscle up the energy to do so myself. He's really short, I was only about 5'9" at the time and I still towered over him. I said something along the lines of "I'm a big fan of yours from England", which sounds really dorky, but still, he laughed at it. This happened at some big theme park in Florida that I can't remember the name of, by the way.

Gah! Is the time difference working against me here? To be fair I've only heard War and The Joshua Tree from the U2 discography, but still. NWA - Straight Outta Compton (1988) Hip hop is fast proving to be a popular choice in this here competition. Knowing the general tastes of this board, I thought this was a more urgent pick than some of my other favourite albums, although there are two that I'm not so sure about. Anyway: onto the album itself. Sure, this is a polarising release in some ways, since gangsta rap would probably not exist on the scale that it currently does without it, but still, contained within are several of the finest rap songs ever penned. Whilst Dr. Dre's beats would become even greater in the earyly 1990s, there's a certain funkyness to these numbers that contrasts with the humourously misanthropic lyrics really well. The opening trifecta of "Straight Outta Compton", "Fuck tha Police" and "Gangsta Gangsta" is quite possibly my favourite threesome ever, each one building into even more of an angry state until the groovy refrain of "If It Ain't Rough". "I Ain't tha 1" is possibly the most misogynistic thing ever, and it's all the better for it. Of course, the most important thing about any rapper is his ability to rap, not to write, and Ice Cube and Mc Ren are in top form throughout. Seriously, Cube's delivery is subliminal and Ren's flow is pretty addictive itself. Easy E is the only real genital wart on here, but he does provide some goodtime comedy through his attempts at rapping. Oh, just to mention every member (and because I should anyway), this album was also produced by Dj Yella, I'm not sure what effect that had on the record since I haven't heard any other release he's been involved with, but still, the production here is really good, so I presume he's a good producer. I have an aside as well! "Parental Discretion Iz Advised" is awesome.

I both wish that I hadn't heard of him at all, and am perfectly content to not have an "overall familiarity with his music". Erm... I liked I Am Legend.

I'm not sure if Marvin is using reverse psychology or not, does he actually want to win this? If the trophy is made of banishment, then I shall keep voting for him regardlessly.

He didn't contact AIDS through breast milk Jingus.

I recently found out that a dude who I previously had no strong opinion of used to look at child pornography when he was about fourteen years old. He recently saw me and commented "you fucking retard". I restrained myself in order to keep my composure against the greater desire to expose him as a paedophile that such a situation inspires. What a cunt.

If people paid any attention to their policies, Truthiness would be the hot contendor to win this instead of Marvin.

I'm intrigued. "Forgot About Dre" and "Still D.R.E" are givens, but what's the other big single? I want to say "The Next Episode", but I never listen to the radio and was only 8 years old when 2001 was released, so I'm not quite so sure.

I now wish that I had remained silent.

I hate to sound like a parrot, but I completely agree with all of Czech's choices. Could you just count them twice for me please?

TaigaStar has no positive qualities.

On some forums members can just change their own names. Would that be possible to install here?

The only thing that separates "Premature Ejaculation, How to Guard Against It?" from the other classic LSD threads is the fact that it was legitimate.

Ah damn, I take a day off from the board and this happens. Luckily, as much as I like Pet Sounds, it wasn't amongst my next few choices. The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat (1967) Pure amphetamine fuelled genius. This is where the melting pot of the band's visceral rawness, Lou Reed's smack inspired lyrics and the well masked musicality of John Cale really came into its own. The end result is wonderful: the songs on this record are at times frantic ("White Light/White Heat", "I Heard Her Call My Name"), poetic ("Lady Godiva's Operation"), and at other times even genuinely humourous ("The Gift"). The album's sole transitionary song, "Here She Comes Now", is a fun little melodic number that works well within the context of the album. I personally am not that fond of "Sister Ray", the track that many consider to be the pinaccle of their entire career. Don't get me wrong, the first four minutes or so are fairly awesome, but as soon as it meanders off point my attention goes with it. Cale gets a few nice organ parts in before the song finishes, I suppose. But still, the other half an hour or so of the album is so strong, that despite the song's length, this really is a minor quibble. Absolutely essential listening.

Oh shit, I'm sorry to hear about this. My grandfather had a stroke about four years ago, it's left him pretty much incapable to do anything.

I nominate TaigaStar, no other poster quite possesses her ability to make you want to take a pick axe to their head with every consecutive post.

The gay club that I am occasionally dragged to (The Bath Taps, that might mean something to Chave, I guess) just features karaoke to an incessant degree. It's all stuff like "It's Raining Men" though, complete tripe.

The fact that he managed to release anything that's even remotely listenable with Bernie Taupin as his wordsmith is pretty impressive though. His lyrics were always total garbage, even by the standards of popular music.

I never delved into his back catalogue in the manner that I once intended to, but Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is pretty awesome.

That's wierd, I have only ever seen the advert. Maybe a moderator can provide this thread with a poll w/r/t what people view beneath his username.

Bob Marley's shit.

Elvis Costello - This Year's Model (1978) With only a few notable exceptions, most songs succeed on the basis of anything but their use of the English language. That does not apply to This Year's Model (or Elvis Costello's greater discography, for that matter) at all. Virtually every song on the album is based around sexual obssession. Whether they express dissapointment ("No Action", "Living in Paradise"), alienation ("(I Don't Want to Go to) Chealsea", "Lipstick Vogue") or just plain observation ("This Year's Girl", "Pump It Up"). In the hands of a lesser songwriter this could come across as juvenile, but Costello's aforementioned literary leaning and the genuine feelings of anger that this record conveys prevent that from ever truly happening. Elvis did not have the help of the Attractions on his previous album My Aim Is True , and the difference in production and musicianship is immeasurable. His debut was a great record, but it was overly raw and skeletal sounding, this sounds alot more complete. The playing of the Attractions also fits all of the songs really well, since it never oversteps its boundaries, but will still shift in dynamic when necesseary, which at times conveys an intense, almost sarcastic feeling. So yeah, if I continued to write about this album I would just end up going around in circles... Which I sort of am already, but you get my point. Great record.

Scroby. Edit: the dream is obviously dead.

I hated Juno. There was just something grating about it, you know, it seemed to think it was a lot smarter than it actually was.