Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express (1977)
Side one | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
1. | "Europe Endless" ("Europa Endlos") | Hütter | 9:40 | |
2. | "The Hall of Mirrors" ("Spiegelsaal") |
| 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 | 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") |
| 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)"
- "International Feel" – 2:50
- "Never Never Land" (Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne) – 1:34
- "Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off" – 1:14
- "You Need Your Head" – 1:02
- "Rock and Roll Pussy" – 1:08
- "Dogfight Giggle" – 1:05
- "You Don't Have to Camp Around" – 1:03
- "Flamingo" – 2:34
- "Zen Archer" – 5:35
- "Just Another Onionhead/Da da Dali" – 2:23
- "When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd." – 4:02
- "Le Feel Internacionale" – 1:51
Side two – "A True Star"
- "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" – 4:16
- "Does Anybody Love You?" – 1:31
- "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
- "Hungry for Love" – 2:18
- "I Don't Want to Tie You Down" – 1:56
- "Is It My Name?" – 4:01
- "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.
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