Day 213: Words in papers, words in books...

Album 724/1031

The Jam - All Mod Cons (1978)

All songs written by Paul Weller except as noted.

Side one

1. "All Mod Cons" – 1:20
2. "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have a Nice Time)" – 2:32
3. "Mr. Clean"* – 3:29
4. "David Watts" (Ray Davies) – 2:56
5. "English Rose"** – 2:51
6. "In the Crowd" – 5:40

Side two

1. "Billy Hunt" – 3:01 (UK release)/"The Butterfly Collector" – 3:11 (US release)
2. "It's Too Bad" – 2:39
3. "Fly" – 3:22
4. "The Place I Love" – 2:54
5. "'A' Bomb in Wardour Street" – 2:37
6. "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" – 4:43

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

Golf's verdict: Paul Weller is a great song-writer and some of his best work features here. But he's not as good as Ray Davies and that is why David Watts is still the best track on All Mod Cons.

Maire's verdict: Solid album. 'Down in the Tube Station at Midnight' is the stand-out track.

Album 725/1031

Massive Attack - Protection (1994)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Protection" (sampled "The Payback" by James Brown)	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Tracy Thorn	7:51
2.	"Karmacoma"	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Tricky, Tim Norfolk, Bob Locke	5:16
3.	"Three"	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Nellee Hooper, Nicolette Suwoton	3:49
4.	"Weather Storm" (sampled "It's Time for Love" by Pieces of a Dream)	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Nellee Hooper, Craig Armstrong, Curtis Harmon, Cedric A. Napoleon, James K. Lloyd, C.C. Murray	4:59
5.	"Spying Glass" (sampled "Chapter 3" by Joe Gibbs & the Professionals and "Shaft in Africa" by Johnny Pate)	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Nellee Hooper, Horace Andy	5:20
6.	"Better Things" (sampled "Never Can Say Goodbye" by James Brown)	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Tracy Thorn, Ben Watt, James Brown	4:13
7.	"Eurochild" (sampled "Cheetah" by Startled Insects)	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Tricky, Tim Norfolk, Bob Locke	5:11
8.	"Sly" (sampled "Africa Talks to You 'The Asphalt Jungle'" by Sly and the Family Stone)	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Nellee Hooper, Nicolette Suwoton, Vivien Goldman	5:24
9.	"Heat Miser"	Vowles, Del Naja, Marshall, Nellee Hooper, Marius de Vries	3:39
10.	"Light My Fire" (live) (sampled "Light My Fire" by Jackie Wilson)	The Doors	3:15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_(Massive_Attack_album)

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Is this what got Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt to permanently drop the cardigan-folk for trippier dance music and reinvent their sound for Everything But The Girl? If so, it deserves even more plaudits. Also features some great work by Tricky. 

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! Just wonderful.

Album 726/1031

Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club (1981)

1. "Wordy Rappinghood" – 6:27
2. "Genius of Love" – 5:34
3. "Tom Tom Theme" – 1:24
4. "L'éléphant" – 4:51
5. "As Above, So Below" – 5:22
6. "Lorelei" – 5:05
7. "On, On, On, On..." – 3:33
8. "Booming and Zooming" – 4:35
9. "Under the Boardwalk" – 5:46

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

Golf's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! A real find. I knew 'Genius of Love' but had never heard this great album that demonstrates it was not just David Byrne in Talking Heads who soaked up influences from Brian Eno and others like a sponge and then were able to craft them into some of the best pop music of the 80s.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! What a great album. Another one I haven't listened to before.

Album 727/1031

Big Black - Atomizer (1986)

All tracks written by Big Black.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Jordan, Minnesota"	3:20
2.	"Passing Complexion"	3:05
3.	"Big Money"	2:30
4.	"Kerosene"	6:05
5.	"Bad Houses"	3:10
6.	"Fists of Love"	4:21
7.	"Stinking Drunk"	3:27
8.	"Bazooka Joe"	4:23
9.	"Strange Things"	3:54
10.	"Cables" (Live)	3:09

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

Golf's verdict: The great Steve Albini's old band (latterly a producer of note, Nirvana's In Utero being amongst his work). Did not challenge my assumptions in any way, nor did it ever make me look up from what I was doing at the time. If it's possible for hardcore punk to become background music then this was it. May have just been the day.

Maire's verdict: Rather enjoyable noise for an afternoon spent dealing with silly people via email.

Album 728/1031

Joni Mitchell - Blue (1971)

All tracks written by Joni Mitchell.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"All I Want"	3:32
2.	"My Old Man"	3:33
3.	"Little Green"	3:25
4.	"Carey"	3:00
5.	"Blue"	3:00

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"California"	3:48
7.	"This Flight Tonight"	2:50
8.	"River"	4:00
9.	"A Case of You"	4:20
10.	"The Last Time I Saw Richard"	4:13

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_(Joni_Mitchell_album)

Golf's verdict: Really not my cup of tea at all. I understand she is very highly rated, but this sort of thing does nothing for me.

Maire's verdict: One of the few albums from this challenge that I've seriously considered lying about finishing. The first few bars really, really grated and then it got worse. The absolute opposite of a Hidden Gem. Hated it.

Album 729/1031

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey (1975)

All tracks written by Winston Rodney and Phillip Fullwood except as indicated.

1. "Marcus Garvey" — 3:27
2. "Slavery Days" — 3:34
3. "The Invasion" (W. Rodney, C. Paisley, P. Fullwood) — 3:22
4. "Live Good" (Marcus Rodney, Mackba Rodney, Winston Rodney) — 3:14
5. "Give Me" (W. Rodney) — 3:11
6. "Old Marcus Garvey" — 4:03
7. "Tradition" (D. Hines, R. Willington, W. Rodney) — 3:30
8. "Jordan River" (W. Rodney, M. Lawrence, P. Fullwood) — 3:00
9. "Red, Gold & Green" (A. Folkes, W. Rodney, P. Fullwood) — 3:14
10. "Resting Place" (W. Rodney) — 3:10

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

Golf's verdict: Reggae is not my favourite genre by any means, but I understand that John Peel was a big fan of Burning Spear so I was expecting this to be good. It was, but I am not likely to be putting it on regularly. 

Maire's verdict: After the trauma of 'Blue' I meant to pick an album I loved. Ran out of time so downloaded the first one I saw on the spreadsheet. It's reggae. I'm not a fan of the genre but it's still 100 times better than that Joni shite.