Day 140: Heading out for the east coast, Lord knows I've paid some dues...

Album 438/1031

Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love & Hate (1971)

All songs written by Leonard Cohen.

Side one[edit]

1. "Avalanche" – 5:07
2. "Last Year's Man" – 6:02
3. "Dress Rehearsal Rag" – 6:12
4. "Diamonds in the Mine" – 3:52

Side two[edit]

1. "Love Calls You by Your Name" – 5:44
2. "Famous Blue Raincoat" – 5:15
3. "Sing Another Song, Boys" (Live at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 31, 1970) – 6:17
4. "Joan of Arc" – 6:29

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

Golf's verdict: 20 years back, whenever I put Leonard on I was told in no uncertain terms to turn it off. But it sounds like 2017 is finally his year in our household. Shame we never got to go see the old smoothie play.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Where has this album been all my life? Absolutely adored it.


Album 439/1031

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (1975)

All tracks written by Bob Dylan.

Side one
No.	Title	Recorded	Length
1.	"Tangled Up in Blue"	December 30, 1974 in Minneapolis	5:42
2.	"Simple Twist of Fate"	September 19, 1974 in New York City	4:19
3.	"You're a Big Girl Now"	December 27, 1974 in Minneapolis	4:36
4.	"Idiot Wind"	December 27, 1974 in Minneapolis	7:48
5.	"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go"	September 17, 1974 in New York City	2:55

Side two
No.	Title	Recorded	Length
6.	"Meet Me in the Morning"	September 16, 1974 in New York City	4:22
7.	"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts"	December 30, 1974 in Minneapolis	8:51
8.	"If You See Her, Say Hello"	December 30, 1974 in Minneapolis	4:49
9.	"Shelter from the Storm"	September 17, 1974 in New York City	5:02
10.	"Buckets of Rain"	September 19, 1974 in New York City	3:22

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

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! In the 12th or 13th year of his prolific career and on his 15th(!) album, you'd be forgiven for thinking any artist would be resting on their laurels and happy to coast. But this is an absolute belter and has 4 or 5 that would be real contenders for a that career retrospective (now an extended box set, when so many of his contemporaries could barely fill one side of an album).


Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! I know, I'm shocked too! Not sure if there's something in the water today but I really loved this album. Far better than the previous ones we've listened to.


Album 440/1031

Marvin Gaye - Here My Dear (1978)

All songs written by Marvin Gaye except where noted.

Side one

1. "Here, My Dear"  – 2:48
2. "I Met a Little Girl"  – 5:03
3. "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You"  – 6:17
4. "Anger" (Delta Ashby, Gaye, Ed Townsend) – 4:04

Total Length: 18:12

Side two

5. "Is That Enough"  – 7:47
6. "Everybody Needs Love" (Ed Townsend, Gaye) – 5:48
7. "Time to Get It Together"  – 3:55

Total Length: 17:30

Side three

8. "Sparrow" (Townsend, Gaye) – 6:12
9. "Anna's Song"  – 5:56
10. "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (Instrumental)"  – 6:03

Total Length: 18:11

Side four

11. "A Funky Space Reincarnation"  – 8:18
12. "You Can Leave, but It's Going to Cost You"  – 5:32
13. "Falling in Love Again"  – 4:39
14. "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (Reprise)"  – 0:47

Total Length: 19:16

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here,_My_Dear

Golf's verdict: Famously titled as a sarcastic tip of the hat to his ex-wife, who was to be in receipt of 50% of the album's royalties, the temptation must have been strong to make the soul equivalent of 'Metal Machine Music' (Lou Reed's famously unlistenable contractual obligation album of the late '70s). It's to his credit that this is actually really strong. It was not a critical or commercial hit at the time, which must have annoyed the former Mrs Gaye, but it's ended up being reconsidered as one of his strongest albums. As you will see from some of the titles, it's worthwhile keeping an ear out for some of the more caustic lyrics.



Maire's verdict: Well, that's quite pointed (pretty sure Golf will fill in the history)! He's got a great voice but not a classic album in my humble opinion.

Day 139: Kling Klang!

Album 435/1031

Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express (1977)

Side one
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Europe Endless" ("Europa Endlos")	Ralf Hütter Florian Schneider	Hütter	9:40
2.	"The Hall of Mirrors" ("Spiegelsaal")	Hütter Schneider Emil Schult	Hütter	7:56
3.	"Showroom Dummies" ("Schaufensterpuppen")	Hütter	Hütter	6:15

Side two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
4.	"Trans-Europe Express" ("Trans Europa Express")	Hütter Schult	Hütter	6:52
5.	"Metal on Metal" ("Metall auf Metall")		Hütter	2:11
6.	"Abzug[a]"		Hütter	4:53
7.	"Franz Schubert"		Hütter	4:26
8.	"Endless Endless" ("Endlos Endlos")		Hütter Schneider	0:55

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Europe_Express_(album)

Golf's verdict: Whilst the title track is rightly still hailed as a classic, this is a pretty weak effort from the Dusseldorf Fab Four - and I am a big Kraftwerk fan. Most of it sounds more like a Radio 4 comedy pastiche of Kraftwerk than the real thing (e.g. 'Showroom Dummies', which has none of the charm of 'The Model'). This came in between Radioactivity and The Man Machine - both much stronger albums in my opinion.

Maire's verdict: I honestly don't understand their appeal. Boring.

Album 436/1031

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard / A True Star (1973)

All songs written by Todd Rundgren except where noted.

Side one – "The International Feel (in 8)"

1. "International Feel" – 2:50
2. "Never Never Land" (Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne) – 1:34
3. "Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off" – 1:14
4. "You Need Your Head" – 1:02
5. "Rock and Roll Pussy" – 1:08
6. "Dogfight Giggle" – 1:05
7. "You Don't Have to Camp Around" – 1:03
8. "Flamingo" – 2:34
9. "Zen Archer" – 5:35
10. "Just Another Onionhead/Da da Dali" – 2:23
11. "When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd." – 4:02
12. "Le Feel Internacionale" – 1:51

Side two – "A True Star"

1. "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" – 4:16
2. "Does Anybody Love You?" – 1:31
3. "Medley" – 10:34
   • "I'm So Proud" (Curtis Mayfield) – 2:46
   • "Ooh Baby Baby" (Smokey Robinson, Warren "Pete" Moore) – 2:54
   • "La La Means I Love You" (William Hart, Thom Bell) – 2:16
   • "Cool Jerk" (Donald Storball) – 2:33
4. "Hungry for Love" – 2:18
5. "I Don't Want to Tie You Down" – 1:56
6. "Is It My Name?" – 4:01
7. "Just One Victory" – 4:59

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wizard,_a_True_Star

Golf's verdict: I'm not sure if prog-pop is really a thing, or whether someone just made it up to try and categorise the uncategorisable. If you like Ween then you may well like this as it is basically a whistle-stop tour of styles and production flourishes with rarely much sign of a traditional song structure. I remember buying it about 15 years ago and finding it hard work. This time I found it quite intriguing and potentially worthy of further time.

Maire's verdict: Just shush! Absolute rubbish.

Album 437/1031

Beth Orton - Central Reservation (1999)

All tracks written by Beth Orton

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Stolen Car"	Victor Van Vugt	4:16
2.	"Sweetest Decline"	Victor Van Vugt	4:04
3.	"Couldn't Cause Me Harm"	Victor Van Vugt	4:48
4.	"So Much More"	Victor Van Vugt	5:41
5.	"Pass in Time"	Bruce Robert Howard	7:17
6.	"Central Reservation"	Mark Stent	4:50
7.	"Stars All Seem To Weep"	Ben Watt	4:39
8.	"Love Like Laughter"	Victor Van Vugt	3:06
9.	"Blood Red River"	David Roback	4:15
10.	"Devil Song"	David Roback	5:04
11.	"Feel To Believe"	Beth Orton	4:02
12.	"Central Reservation (The Then Again Version)"	Ben Watt	4:00

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

Golf's verdict: When I lived on Ladbroke Grove in the '90s I used to bump into her in the corner shop. At the time I had largely dismissed her as a bit of a fey folkie type (admittedly on very little evidence as this was pre-streaming era when one could often go for years hearing of an artist but not actually hearing their music), but I thoroughly enjoyed most of this album. Very occasionally the vocal style and production slipped a little too much into Dido territory for my liking, but ultimately I came away with a different point of view (as the late, great JC might have once said).

Maire's verdict: I was getting really worried it was going to be 3 shit albums today and then this came along. Pleasant listening.

Day 138: And the jailer man and Sailor Sam were searching every one...

Album 432/1031

Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes (1992)

All tracks written by Tori Amos.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Crucify"	4:58
2.	"Girl"	4:06
3.	"Silent All These Years"	4:10
4.	"Precious Things"	4:26
5.	"Winter"	5:40
6.	"Happy Phantom"	3:12
7.	"China"	4:58
8.	"Leather"	3:12
9.	"Mother"	6:59
10.	"Tear in Your Hand"	4:38
11.	"Me and a Gun"	3:44
12.	"Little Earthquakes"	6:51

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

Golf's verdict: Not entirely sure I had ever heard this one, preferring the one that came after it with 'Cornflake Girl' on it. This debut shows a lot of promise though and will be listening to it again.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Another album and singer I'd forgotten about. She's completely loopy. Loved it.

Album 433/1031

Wings - Band on the Run (1973)

Side one

1. "Band on the Run" – 5:10
2. "Jet" – 4:06
3. "Bluebird" – 3:22
4. "Mrs. Vandebilt" – 4:38
5. "Let Me Roll It" – 4:47

Side two

6. "Mamunia" – 4:50
7. "No Words" – 2:33
8. "Helen Wheels" – 3:34 (additional track only on the US release)
9. "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" – 5:50
10. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" – 5:27

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

Golf's verdict: Cannot think of a Beatles album with a less than 50% hit rate, but this Macca effort only really has 4 decent tunes on it: the title track, 'Jet', 'No Words' and 'Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five'.

Maire's verdict: Bored, to be honest (particularly with 'Bluebird').

Album 434/1031

Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You (1967)

Side one

1. "Respect" (Otis Redding) – 2:29
2. "Drown in My Own Tears" (Henry Glover) – 4:07
3. "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (Ronnie Shannon) – 2:51
4. "Soul Serenade" (Curtis Ousley, Luther Dixon) – 2:39
5. "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream" (Aretha Franklin, Ted White) – 2:23
6. "Baby, Baby, Baby" (Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin) – 2:54

Side two

7. "Dr. Feelgood" (Aretha Franklin, Ted White) – 3:23
8. "Good Times" (Sam Cooke) – 2:10
9. "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (Dan Penn, Chips Moman) – 3:16
10. "Save Me" (Curtis Ousley, Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin) – 2:21
11. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke) – 4:20

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

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Stamps its authority from the get-go with the fantastic 'Respect' and does not let up all the way through to a great version of Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come'. An advance on the Aretha album we had a few weeks back.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! This has the wonderful 'Respect' as a track and for that reason alone it's a hidden gem. Luckily there are other great tracks on it too!

Day 137: Keats and Yeats are on your side, but you lose...

Album 427/1031

The Fall - The Infotainment Scan (1993)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Ladybird (Green Grass)"	Mark E. Smith, Craig Scanlon, Steve Hanley, Dave Bush, Simon Wolstencroft	3:59
2.	"Lost in Music"	Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards	3:49
3.	"Glam Racket"	Smith, Hanley	3:12
4.	"I'm Going to Spain"	Steve Bent	3:27
5.	"It's a Curse"	Smith, Scanlon	5:19
6.	"Paranoia Man in Cheap Sh*t Room"	Smith, Scanlon	4:27
7.	"Service"	Smith, Hanley, Scanlon	4:11
8.	"The League of Bald-Headed Men"	Smith, Hanley	4:07
9.	"A Past Gone Mad"	Smith, Bush, Wolstencroft	4:19
10.	"Light/Fireworks"

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

Golf's verdict: Relatively accessible Fall, with an absolutely fantastic cover version of Chic's 'Lost in Music'. (Yes, you did just read that.)

Maire's verdict: Don't see the attraction, I'm afraid.

Album 428/1031

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (1986)

All tracks written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, except "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (used as an intro to "The Queen Is Dead"), written by A.J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Queen Is Dead"	6:24
2.	"Frankly, Mr. Shankly"	2:17
3.	"I Know It's Over"	5:48
4.	"Never Had No One Ever"	3:36
5.	"Cemetry Gates"	2:39
6.	"Bigmouth Strikes Again"	3:12
7.	"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"	3:15
8.	"Vicar in a Tutu"	2:21
9.	"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"	4:02
10.	"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others"	3:14

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

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Every track on this album is simply perfection. A band at the absolute height of their powers.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Just genius.

Album 429/1031

Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Interlude: Pledge"		0:47
2.	"Rhythm Nation"	Janet Jackson James Harris III Terry Lewis	5:31
3.	"Interlude: T.V."		0:22
4.	"State of the World"	Jackson Harris Lewis	4:48
5.	"Interlude: Race"		0:05
6.	"The Knowledge"	Harris Lewis	3:54
7.	"Interlude: Let's Dance"		0:03
8.	"Miss You Much"	Harris Lewis	4:12
9.	"Interlude: Come Back Interlude"		0:21
10.	"Love Will Never Do (Without You)"	Harris Lewis	5:50
11.	"Livin' in a World (They Didn't Make)"	Harris Lewis	4:41
12.	"Alright"	Jackson Harris Lewis	6:26
13.	"Interlude: Hey Baby"		0:10
14.	"Escapade"	Jackson Harris Lewis	4:44
15.	"Interlude: No Acid"		0:05
16.	"Black Cat"	Jackson	4:50
17.	"Lonely"	Harris Lewis	4:59
18.	"Come Back to Me"	Jackson Harris Lewis	5:33
19.	"Someday Is Tonight"	Jackson Harris Lewis	6:00
20.	"Interlude: Livin'...In Complete Darkness"		1:07

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Jackson's_Rhythm_Nation_1814

Golf's verdict: This is only bearable when Janet is ripping off either her brother or his rival, Prince. She does this often. When she is not then it gets truly awful.

Maire's verdict: Rubbish and bloody long.

Album 430/1031

The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (2007)

1. "Black Mirror" – 4:13
2. "Keep the Car Running" – 3:29
3. "Neon Bible" – 2:16
4. "Intervention" – 4:19
5. "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" – 3:56
6. "Ocean of Noise" – 4:53
7. "The Well and the Lighthouse" – 3:57
8. "(Antichrist Television Blues)" – 5:10
9. "Windowsill" – 4:16
10. "No Cars Go" – 5:43
11. "My Body Is a Cage" – 4:47

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

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! They were really starting to bang out some fantastic tunes by the time Neon Bible came along. I think I prefer the debut album, but with this band you are often spoiled for choice. 'No Cars Go' is the highlight.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Love this album. Should really listen to it a bit more often.

Album 431/1031

KD Lang - Ingenue (1992)

All songs written by k.d. lang and Ben Mink, except where noted

1. "Save Me" – 4:33
2. "The Mind of Love" – 3:48
3. "Miss Chatelaine" – 3:49
4. "Wash Me Clean" (Lang) – 3:17
5. "So It Shall Be" (Lang, Greg Penny) – 4:30
6. "Still Thrives This Love" – 3:35
7. "Season of Hollow Soul" – 4:58
8. "Outside Myself" – 4:57
9. "Tears of Love's Recall" – 3:49
10. "Constant Craving" – 4:37

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ing%C3%A9nue_(album)

Golf's verdict: She has a lovely voice and this simply bounded along very enjoyably to its big hit conclusion.

Maire's verdict: I really enjoyed this. Lovely voice. Close to a hidden gem.