Days 72-74: A mixed bag of baggy, west-coast harmonies, 60s & 90s folk & Eurythmics

Album 227/1031

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (1989)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Wanna Be Adored"	4:52
2.	"She Bangs the Drums"	3:42
3.	"Waterfall"	4:37
4.	"Don't Stop"	5:17
5.	"Bye Bye Badman"	4:04
6.	"Elizabeth My Dear"	0:53
7.	"(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister"	3:25
8.	"Made of Stone"	4:10
9.	"Shoot You Down"	4:10
10.	"This Is the One"	4:58
11.	"I Am the Resurrection"	8:12

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_Roses_(album)

Golf's verdict: Only not a Hidden Gem due to the fact that if you are of a certain age this is going to be in your Top Ten. A flawlessly woven product of its time, taking English guitar-based music and - finally - making it groove with the Mani/Reni rhythm section. The fact that one of the songs is essentially an earlier track played backwards did not bode well for them becoming the most prolific of bands - and so it proved. But they did acheive this and that is no small thing.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM: A strong contender for best debut album ever.

Album 228/1031

David Gray - White Ladder (1998)

All tracks written by David Gray, unless otherwise noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Please Forgive Me"		5:35
2.	"Babylon"		4:25
3.	"My Oh My"	Gray, McClune	4:37
4.	"We're Not Right"	Gray, McClune, Polson	3:03
5.	"Nightblindness"		4:23
6.	"Silver Lining"		6:00
7.	"White Ladder"	Gray, McClune, Polson	4:14
8.	"This Year's Love"		4:05
9.	"Sail Away"		5:15
10.	"Say Hello Wave Goodbye"	Almond, Ball, Morrison	9:03

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ladder

Golf's verdict: Got so played to death to the extent that I grew pretty irritated with it by about 1999 and have not heard it since. But upon hearing it again, it is not surprising that this is one of the UK's best-selling albums ever. It has some fantastic sing-along, heart-on-sleeve tunes and finishes with an absolutely tip-top cover of Soft Cell's 'Say Hello Wave Goodbye'. Maire's going to HIDDEN GEM this, I reckon (it sold about 5m copies, but so what?)*

Maire's verdict: Another album to add to the 'I listened to this a lot and then forgot about it' pile. Still enjoyed it and remembered a lot of the words.

*She didn't. Oh well...

Album 229/1031


The Thrills - So Much For the City (2003)

1. "Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)" – 4:13
2. "Big Sur" – 3:07
3. "Don't Steal Our Sun" – 2:50
4. "Deckchairs and Cigarettes" – 4:58
5. "One Horse Town" – 3:15
6. "Old Friends, New Lovers" (feat. string arrangements by David Campbell) – 4:01
7. "Say It Ain't So" – 2:44
8. "Hollywood Kids" – 5:33
9. "Just Travelling Through" – 3:21
10. "Your Love Is Like Las Vegas" – 2:23
11. "'Til the Tide Creeps In" / "Plans" (hidden track) – 10:06

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Much_for_the_City


Golf's verdict: Somehow these Irish teenagers discovered a means of distilling the perfect, sun-drenched West Coast harmonies of Crosby, Stills & Nash and repackaging it for the Noughtie generation. It's actually a very fine debut. They supported U2 and all sorts at the time, but seemed to disappear almost as soon as they had arrived.

Maire's verdict: The Thrills and I got off to a bad start - I found the lead singer's enunciation of 'Santa' on the first track INCREDIBLY irritating. Never really got passed it, to be honest. It's the little things.....


Album 230/1031

The Youngbloods - Elephant Mountain (1969)

Side one[edit]

1. "Darkness, Darkness" (Jesse Colin Young) – 3:51
2. "Smug" (Young) – 2:13
3. "On Sir Francis Drake" (Lowell Levinger) – 6:44
4. "Sunlight" (Young) – 3:07
5. "Double Sunlight" (Levinger, Young, Joe Bauer) – 0:41
6. "Beautiful" (Young) – 3:49
7. "Turn It Over" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:15

Side two[edit]

1. "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)" (Jerry Corbitt, Pappalardi, Collins) – 3:13
2. "Trillium" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 3:08
3. "Quicksand"* (Young) – 2:41
4. "Black Mountain Breakdown" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:40
5. "Sham"* (Young) – 2:44
6. "Ride the Wind" (Young) – 6:37

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Mountain

Golf's verdict: Completely new to me. I was expecting a modern band in a different genre entirely and was pleasantly surprised by this. It's typical late 60s psychedelic folk-rock stuff and compares favourably to CSNY, Jefferson Airplane, Love etc albeit from the East Coast.

Maire's verdict: Too jazzy for me. Okay to listen to when drafting up interview questions but nothing more than that.

Album 231/1031

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983)

All tracks written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, except "Wrap It Up" by Isaac Hayes and David Porter

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Is a Stranger"	3:43
2.	"I've Got an Angel"	2:45
3.	"Wrap It Up" (featuring Green Gartside)	3:33
4.	"I Could Give You (A Mirror)"	3:51
5.	"The Walk"	4:40
6.	"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"	3:36
7.	"Jennifer"	5:06
8.	"This Is the House"	4:56
9.	"Somebody Told Me"	3:29
10.	"This City Never Sleeps"	6:33

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Dreams_(Are_Made_of_This)_(album)

Golf's verdict: Dave and Annie cooked up some of the best singles of the 80s and 2 of them feature here (the title track and 'Love Is a Stranger'). Did they make a really flawless album though? Not this time - it's got a bit of filler included, like Wrap It Up (with Scritti Politti's Green) that sounds a wee bit dated.

Maire's verdict: A couple of exceptional tracks ('Love is a Stranger' and 'Sweet Dreams') which stand the test of time. The rest of the album is fine, just not all-killer.