Day 85: Bring on those Warm Jets, Brian

Album 259/1031

Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Room (1969)

All songs written by Leonard Cohen except as noted.

Side one

1. "Bird on the Wire" – 3:28
2. "Story of Isaac" – 3:38
3. "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes" – 3:18
4. "The Partisan" (Hy Zaret/Anna Marly) – 3:29
5. "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" – 3:41

Side two

1. "The Old Revolution" – 4:50
2. "The Butcher" – 3:22
3. "You Know Who I Am" – 3:32
4. "Lady Midnight" – 3:01
5. "Tonight Will Be Fine" – 3:53

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

Golf's verdict: He had a pretty narrow range, but seemed to produce album after album of great songs. This is one his first and features 'Bird on a Wire', which he was still performing 45 years later. Well worth a look.

Maire's verdict: HIDDEN GEM! I haven't listened to much of Leonard Cohen before. I'll be listening to a lot more in the future. Loved it.

Album 260/1031

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True (1977)

All songs written by Elvis Costello.

Side one

1. "Welcome to the Working Week" – 1:22
2. "Miracle Man" – 3:31
3. "No Dancing" – 2:39
4. "Blame It on Cain" – 2:49
5. "Alison" – 2:54
6. "Sneaky Feelings" – 2:09

Side two

7. "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" – 2:47
8. "Less Than Zero" – 3:15
9. "Mystery Dance" – 1:38
10. "Pay It Back" – 2:33
11. "I'm Not Angry" – 2:57
12. "Waiting for the End of the World" – 3:22

• "Watching the Detectives", released in the UK as a single in October 1977, was not on the original UK release of the album, but was added to the US release as the last track on side one.

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

Golf's verdict: We had the US version on Spotify so got the bonus of 'Watching the Detectives'. It's chock-full of cracking tunes and is one of the strongest debut albums you will likely ever hear (and the first of a run of about 5 almost perfect studio albums).

Maire's verdict: I enjoyed this far more than expected. 

Album 261/1031

Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets (1974)

All tracks written by Brian Eno, except where noted.

Side A
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Needles in the Camel's Eye"	Eno, Phil Manzanera	3:11
2.	"The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch"		3:04
3.	"Baby's on Fire"		5:19
4.	"Cindy Tells Me"	Eno, Manzanera	3:25
5.	"Driving Me Backwards"		5:12

Side B
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"On Some Faraway Beach"		4:36
2.	"Blank Frank"	Eno, Robert Fripp	3:37
3.	"Dead Finks Don't Talk"	Paul Thompson, Busta Jones, Nick Judd, Eno	4:19
4.	"Some of Them Are Old"		5:11
5.	"Here Come the Warm Jets"		4:04

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

Golf's verdict: Long before he 'invented ambient music' and got paid huge sums to compose corporate jingles and aural 'brands', Eno was the ex-tapes/loops and keyboard weirdo from Roxy Music. This sound like what someone who has recently left Roxy Music would record for their first solo record. That's a good thing, though some of the tracks feel like avant-garde experimental noodles.

Maire's verdict: One of the songs sounds like the Teletubbies. (That's not a good thing.)