Number 150: Darkness on the Edge of Town (Draft)

Album: Darkness on the Edge of Town

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Year: 1978

Information: Finally after entering the recording studio after a long bout of legal troubles, Springsteen had become incredibly prolific in his songwriting. It was normal to write a song while in the studio, then record it immediately after with a full band.Perhaps disillusioned by his new found fame, Springsteen made a darker, less inviting record in Darkness. It appears he did the best he could do make this a more gritty affair, often eschewing hits to maintain the feel and flow of the record. He even went as far as to start each side of the record with a song of hope, but finish each side with a song of despair.

High Points: "Racing in the Street" is a fantastic song. I'm not even exactly sure what's great about it, but when I listen to the words and Bruce's saddened delivery, it all seems to fit and work extremely well.

Low Points: I really find the screaming (moaning?) at the beginning of "Something in the Night" to be truly awful. I'm not sure why he thought it was a good. I'm not feeling this right now.

Is it Great?

Sorry for the delay

                   Sorry for the delay, everyone. I just seem to have lost the passion that had once driven me to do this task. It's not necessarily that I dislike doing it, but whatever fire burned to get me started has slowly died out. I'll even upload a draft of mine that I literally gave up on half-way through. This slowing is a bit ironic to me as well; I have many records that I can review. For instance, More Songs About Buildings and Food has become a fast favorite of mine. I can talk about how I feel conflicted on Darkness on the Edge of Town. I can write about Sticky Fingers, The Basement Tapes, Led Zeppelin, Odessey and Oracle...
                   I'm not stopping for lack of something to write about. In fact, the records I listed above are a small fraction of all the records that I do own, I apologize if that came off as braggadocio. I just feel like what I'm doing isn't exactly accomplishing anything, at least not for me. And lest we forget that I'm doing this blog for me, no matter how self-centered that sounds. Maybe this tapering is an effect of my waning desire for new music. I really feel comfortable with my musical collection now. The only artist I feel that I'm really missing is Brian Eno, and I'll most likely end up gradually buying those records as well.
                   Another reason that I feel this way is that, looking back upon what I wrote, what I did is ridiculous and redundant. I looked back on the Rolling Stone list, an amalgam of opinions, and decided that they were wrong. I was putting up my one, slightly musically uneducated opinion against all of theirs. Honestly, I was replicating the act I thought was foolhardy and to an even greater extent.
                   Let us all remember that music is subjective. I'm tired off people calling something "real" music, as if that actually means anything. The "real" tag is arbitrary, it holds zero value. Everybody has their own view of music, they're own set of values. One can go to YouTube and look up an E.D.M. artist like Diplo or Deadmau5 and be washed with "Now this is real music!" Or, one could go to "Blowin'  in the Wind" and repeatedly see the comment "I'm listening to this and I'm [insert teenage age]" and "This by far blows any music today away, this is real music!" If everybody thinks that what they listen to is "real," then how can we honestly distinguish between what is "real" and what is "fake?"
                   I do believe that there is an argument to be had that the current music situation is a bit "fake," due to the fact that everything is cold, there's not a lot of feeling to be had in "California Girls" (Do radio stations still play this song? I'm out of the loop.) Most of the music today is processed through a computer, and that's exactly how some people want it. They call it "real" music.
                   Don't ever let anybody tell you what you listen to is "crap" or "fake." Every band is someone's favorite and someone's least favorite. It's really up to you to decide. Music isn't made to be dissected and torn apart, but there will always be a Dylanologist, someone who is completely and utterly devoted to divulging the secret meaning behind Bob Dylan's songs. Most of their efforts are completely futile, music can mean anything to anybody. Music should be enjoyed, not demeaned and thrown to the wayside. Everybody likes different things.
                   Everybody, please, if you do anything today, listen to your favorite song.

Number 129: Remain in Light

Album: Remain in Light

Artist: Talking Heads

Year: 1980

Information: After finishing touring for Fear of Music, the band settled down and people pursued their personal interests. Jerry Harrison produced an album, Byrne made another album with Brian Eno, and Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth went on vacation to the Caribbean, where they discovered native percussion, to think about the state of their marriage and the future of their band. After coming to a conclusion of continuing both fronts, they bought an aparment above the studio where they recorded More Songs About Buildings and Food. Byrne and Harrison joined both of them at the studio and they began to record. Looking to dispel the rumor of David Byrne leading a backing band (instead of them being one, cohesive unit,) they began to perform long instrumental jams, using "I Zimbra" as a jumping-off point. After they had laid down basic tracks, Byrne would write the lyrics, a process that was new for him. Brian Eno arrived, reluctant to work with the band, but changed his mind when he heard their new songs and said "I absolutely love the direction you're going in." They then decided to start using African polyrhythms to mesh multiple instruments into one sound. 

High Points: Although it is a bit of a tough choice, I will have to go with the expected. "Once in a Lifetime" is a fantastic song. From the opening synthesizer that attempts to recreate the sound of water (and it does a great job of it, as well) and onto the complex, intricate rhythms that are the staple of this album, the song is impeccable. The structure of the lyrics is also different than the average song, it has spoken verses about midlife crises and large, sung choruses about not having a care in the world and the days just passing right along without a second thought. Until, the person "wakes up" and realizes that they let the life fly by without ever stopping to realize what's happening around him.

Low Points: In all honesty, there is no bad songs on this record, which may be attributed to the fact that there is only eight songs on this album.

Is it Great? Indeed.

From the start of the album, you realize that you're listening to something different. It's very odd upon first listen, it seems to be a very dark album, filled with impenetrable instrumentation and lyrics. The back beat is filled with what sound to be large arrangements, heavily inspired by African music.

In fact, every track is filled with a wall of tight music. When you listen closely, it's hard to discern how many instruments are happening at the same time. If you try to focus on one instrument, it's a very difficult task to isolate one sound from the rest of the music that is pulsating and breathing behind the disjointed, paranoid lyrical delivery of Byrne.

As the album progresses, it seems to slowly get deeper and darker. The more you listen, the further you go down into the rabbit hole, down far into the brooding and stirring tones and sounds that emanate from this record.

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"Born Under Punches" is great and wonderfully weird. The song starts immediately with very strong, repeating instrumentation. The band seems to play the same bar for a while until Byrne decides to finally jump into the mix with his request of "Look at these hands." From then on, Byrne repeatedly asks you to inspect his hands, watching them pass between you. Then, a haunting chorus pleading "Won't you breathe with me?" kicks in adds another element to this song, one that seems to be of sadness. I do have one tiny complaint about this song, though. Every once in a while, the bass sounds decidedly 80's. Other than that, I love this song.

I also really enjoy the point in "Crosseyed and Painless" where it devolves down to Byrne reciting his interpretation of what rap music is, which is still gleefully anxious and paranoid. He begins to recite his "rap" on facts and does manage to provide an excellent point during its reading.

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The last four songs is where the album really breaks down into moody darkness. To me, these last four songs almost seem to create a suite, where each song runs into the next. One moment I do remember distinctly from this 18-minute run is when Byrne recites his eerie poetry on "Seen and Not Seen."

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This album truly sounds like it had been made by a band of art nerds and it has also become one of my favorites. Also, the Talking Heads have given me a new band to delve into and discover their music. So, one of my goals of finding new, enjoyable music has been reached, but I have no intention of stopping here.