Moody Blues – “Days of Future Passed” (1967)

The reader with a good memory might remember a previous post on this blog on the topic of CDs in my collection I would like to have on vinyl. This record was one of them, apparently this wish is now fulfilled. A stroll around Quebec's stores for used records last week resulted in Days of Future Passed (amongst others). And for the price of 5 CDN, it was a bargain, if you ask me.

I must be honest and admit I don’t remember how I first discovered Moody Blues, but it was as an adult. This was the first of Moody's albums I bought and my collection quickly contained all of their "famous seven".

This was Moody Blues’ second album. According to legend, their record label Decca Records wanted to promote their new Deramic Stereo Sound (DSS) by recording a rockn’roll version of Dvorak's New World Symphony. Moody Blues, who owed the company a lot of money since their first recording, was chosen for this project. Among other things, their debt would be considered paid off as a consequence of this recording.

Moody Blues managed to get the artistic control over the recording and abandoned the original idea after a while. Instead they used their own material and with the help of Peter Knight, who had been hired for the original Dvorak project, they created their own mix of rockn’roll and classical music - Days of Future Passed. (It may be added that some people on Decca denies that there ever was an original Dvorak Project, this wasn’t to be until somewhere in the 70s, according to them). The band presented their "rockn’roll” songs for Peter Knight who subsequently wrote the classical parts that link the songs together. In this way, Peter Knight has perhaps just as much responsible as the band for the final result. On the vinyl album, credit is given for the compositions to Redwave-Knight, where Redwave is a fictitious name the band gave to themselves and Knight of course is Peter Knight.

London Festival Orchestra, which plays the classical parts on the album, consists of musicians from Decca who were given this name. "London" was added to the name to make it a bit more impressive.

I have always kept this LP as one of my absolute favorites, top 3. Firstly, I like Moody's "rockn’roll” songs on the album, they are all really good creations. Secondly, I like how smoothly the classical musical parts take over, and hand over to the "rockn’roll” parts. It is almost imperceptibly, suddenly you’re listening to classical music and don’t really know what happened and when the "rock’roll” song ended. I put the word "rockn’roll" in quotes because it’s not really rockn’roll, it’s more the psychedelic sounds of the 60's (whatever you call that music). The album is a concept album on the theme of a typical day, from morning to night and listening to it is to embark on a fascinating musical journey.

The record company was skeptical of the creation when it was finished as they felt it scared the fans of classical music with its rockn’roll content, at the same time the thought it frightened rockn’roll fans with its classical content. But they had no reason for their fears, the album sold really well, largely thanks to the hits Tuesday Afternoon and Nights in White Satin.

The record was remixed 1978 since the original mastertapes became increasingly degraded. This means that there are no CDs with the original mix. A lot of people find the early original mix not so good, nevertheless I'm glad I’m now an owner of both a CD and a vinyl (with the original mix).

I can’t do anything else than highly recommend this album, it’s fantastic from the moment the first sound is heard until the last chord dies out.

 

Tracklist

Side A

1 The Day Begins 5:45

2 Dawn: Dawn Is A Feeling 3:50

3 The Morning: Another Morning 3:40

4 Lunch Break: Peak Hour 5:21

Side B

1 The Afternoon: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?) 8:25

2 Evening: The Sun Set: Twilight Time 6:39

3 The Night: Nights In White Satin 7:41

 

 

Talking Heads – “Fear of Music” (1979)

I now and then heard the Talking Heads album Speaking in Tongues being played on the stereo in the house where I grew up, it was my older brother who owned it and it was a record I liked. If there was one person behind the name Talking Heads or ten-man-band, I had no idea. In my early self-centered teenage years, I thought because this record was the only one I had heard with TH, it was the only album they had made. This was so obvious I never even reflected on this idea. Imagine then my surprise when I as a 14-year-old visited the record store Tropez Records in Uppsala (Sweden) and found an ink black album with TH called Fear of Music. My world tumbled when I got the life-changing insight that Talking Heads, and thus probably many other bands, had a history! It was something of a shock and a new world, or many new worlds opened up. The wallet also had to open up. Damn!

As you often did in those days I listened to the record in the store and I thought it was fantastic. Especially the second track Mind blew my mind and I spontaneously felt that it was one of the best songs I've ever heard. Back home from the store and proudly showed my brother the new record. I remember how he lay on the living room floor and listened to the album in headphones. When he was done, he gave the album thumbs up and mentioned that he had really liked the song Memories can’t wait. It felt good that my brother, who had introduced TH in my life, also liked the album.

Fear of Music was Talking Head’s third album and Brian Eno was again the producer. The basics for the album was recorded with Eno for two days in drummer Chris Frantz’s and bassist Tina Weymouth’s loft in New York. The cover was designed by keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison, he’s also the one who came up with the album’s title. Most songs were created by the band jamming together, however, the singer/guitarist David Byrne has got most of the credits concerning the songwriting. Byrne has written the texts except to the opening song I Zimbra. When the record was released it got a positive respons from the general public and critics.

Personally I think this is a very good album, one of Talking Heads best, if not the best. Just like the album cover the sound is relatively dark, it's not a depressing album but I can’t call it uplifting. There are not many records out there where all the songs are good, but Fear of Music is one of them. Almost. All tracks are of very high quality but if I must break it down to controlled enthusiasm and unconditional love the songs I Zimbra, Paper and Cities have always belonged to the B-team. Animals is the only song I’ve had a hard time with (except the last part which is fun). Other songs are gems. Heaven is the most "normal" song on the album and probably the only one who could work in the repertoire of a cover band playing at a 50th birthday party. Life During Wartime is a favorite of many fans and one of TH's more famous songs. Yeah, OK, that one could problably work in the reperiore of a cover band also.

Over the years, Fear of Music has received lots of top spots in lists like the best album of 1979, best album ever, the best album in the last 20 years, best album of the 70s, etc. (How many lists can be created anyway?).

Favorite Songs

Mind

Memories Can’t Wait

Air

Electric Guitar

Drugs

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. I Zimbra 3:09

2. Mind 4:13

3. Paper 2:39

4. Cities 4:10

5. Life During Wartime 3:41

6. Memories Can't Wait" 3:30

Side B

1. Air 3:34

2. Heaven 4:01

3. Animals 3:30

4. Electric Guitar 3:03

5. Drugs 5:10

 

Memories can’t wait

 

Air

Prince – “Controversy” (1981)

“People call me rude / I wish we all were nude / I wish there was no black and white / I wish there were no rules”

Some albums in people's collections have been purchased for one or two songs, sometimes you’ll also find other great songs as an extra plus. Other albums have been purchased because the buyer assumes it will be a good album, but maybe just finds one song that’s agreeable and lets it go round and round on the turntable. If I remember correctly, I got this record from my brother, I’m not sure how he had got it. I was somewhere in the first half of my teens and ever since the day I got the album I have always associated it with a single song - the title track Controversy.

Yes, this relationship has been so tight that when I now listen to the album, it's almost as if I hear it for the first time. I found the song Controversy quite nice while the others, at the first listening in my teens, were rather boring and uninteresting. Therefore, I never played them again. Instead I let the song Controversy start and finish this LP. It was OK to treat records you hadn’t bought with your own money this way, if I had paid for it myself, I had probably forced myself to listen to the other songs as well. I also suspect that my brother didn’t pay for this album, which made it even easier. It should also be added that, after a year in my possession, a number of drops of acetone ended up on the B side which left this side more or less ruined. Those things happen, right? I can now listen side B thanks to the Internet and the Web site Grooveshark.

Controversy was Prince's fourth album and his most political up to that date. It sounds typical Prince - many parts syntheseizer, a few parts funky bass lines, a few pinches of falsetto vocals here and there, of course some love dripping ballads and a few sexual hints (how about the subtle Jack U Off?). When I listen to it now it still feels pretty bland. Prince's love ballads have never been my favorite genre and I've always been ambivalent to his relatively dry funky sound with lots of syntheseizers. On many of his records, including this one, there is much one can put aside, but here and there there are a few gems hidden. When listening to the record before writing this post, I realized that it was actually another song I sometimes listened to, Annie Christian. It had fortunately survived the acetone attack and just as in my younger years I still find the song quite good with a somewhat different sound from the rest of the album.

Prince went on a tour following the release of Controversy, among other things, he opened a number of concerts in the United States for the Rolling Stones. A combination that, at least in my world, seems a bit strange.

In addition to the above mentioned exceptions, I am not particularly fond of this album so it will problably continue a quite life in my record collection.

Favorite Songs

Controversy

Annie Christian

 

Tracklist

Side A

1 Controversy 7:14

2 Sexuality 4:20

3 Do Me, Baby 7:47

 

Side B

1 Private Joy 4:25

2 Ronnie, Talk To Russia 1:48

3 Let's Work 3:57

4 Annie Christian 4:21

5 Jack U Off 3:12

Prince and Youtube seems to be a bad combination at the moment (of course it is the artist who doesn’t feel like giving people the opportunity to listen to his songs for free). Therefore no cool Youtube links. Greedy and disappointing, to say the least, and bad PR in today's world of digital media. And this from an artist who probably has more money than he will ever be able to spend (like Youtube clips would get someone to lose income).