One Year, 100 Albums: #43 Michael Jackson "Thriller"

Michael Jackson Thriller, 1982

So. Here we are. I'm ready to write something interesting and exciting about this amazing album. It's pretty hard. I think probably every combination of words possible to use about this album has been used, but I'll give it a shot.

I think the thing that always knocks me about about Thriller is that it starts off strong with three decent early-80's Michael Jackson songs. You may not care for the Paul McCartney collab "The Girl is Mine", but I find it charming and fun. So ok. We're trucking merrily along on this solid B of an album.

Then "Thriller" happens. And it feels like you're waking from a dream. We've got this huge, epic song with...is that....VINCENT PRICE doing creepy Vincent Price-esque guest vocals?? And then the coffin door closes. What could possibly follow that amazing trip of a song?

Well.

Just about the best side of a record I can think of: The one-two punch of "Beat It" and "Billie Jean". Then you have the sexy, smooth "Human Nature:, into "P.Y.T." which, as usual, sets the room on fire. And then we catch our breath, slow dancing on the ashes to the dulcet tones of "The Lady in My Life" and the album's over.

It's devastating what a great album Thriller is. For MJ, this was literally the case. He obsessed over the follow-up for years before releasing Bad, which is about as good a follow-up as you're going to get if you're trying to compare to Thriller, for God's sake.

I had my choice of another of amazing music videos, but, really, what other music video am I going to feature? Honestly. Enjoy :)

Michael Jackson - Human Nature

You can buy Thriller at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes (although, seriously? you don't already own Thriller??)

Throwback Thursday: 1987

10. Samantha Fox - Touch Me (I Want Your Body)
9. Bon Jovi - Livin on a Prayer

Because, even though she never reads this (although I'll probably link this post for her), I know my friend Erin would never forgive me if I didn't post the Bon Jovi video. And I have to admit: It's a catchy song and a fun video to watch. They honestly seem like they're having a blast.

8. Gregory Abbott - Shake You Down
7. Glass Tiger - Someday
6. Janet Jackson - Control
5. Cyndi Lauper - Change of Heart
4. Genesis - Land of Confusion
3. Robbie Nevil - C'est La Vie
2. Madonna - Open Your Heart
1. Billy Vera - At This Moment

One Year, 100 Albums: #44 Carole King "Tapestry"

Carole King Tapestry, 1971

For me, this album is Saturday mornings in the 70's. Now, I wasn't alive in the 70's, so this feeling isn't based on anything in reality, but it happens every time. Maybe it's because my mom has this album on vinyl, or maybe I've seen a commercial or something that had this music (or similar music) in it and took place on a 1970's Saturday morning. Who knows?

All I know is that this album is practically a greatest hits album. Without looking up the exact story, the story goes like this: James Taylor convinced Carole King that she should record an album of her singing her own songs. These songs had been made famous by the Shirelles and Aretha Franklin (and eventually Taylor himself). So she decided to take his advice. And the result is this quietly stunning album. (I can't actually find this story now, so it might be a complete fabrication on my part)

She's not singing with the gusto of Franklin here. She's not passionately questioning her lover like the Shirelles. She's doing something a little more subtle. Her rendition of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" is a little more resigned and a little sadder, but I feel like it works all the better.

Tapestry has a little of everything on it and I've always been really happy whenever I put it on (even if I'm also sad or lonely). In a way, I guess King's voice is like the titular tapestry: delicate, intricate, elaborate, and perhaps a little threadbare. But make no mistake. Behind that tapestry is a solid stone wall. It's not going anywhere no matter what you throw at it. And I love that.

The next couple of albums are all, as it happens, older albums, so look forward to concerts from the years that the albums were released. It's so amazing to be able to find this kind of thing on YouTube. Also amazing: CK is roughly a year younger than I am right now in this video. Simply incredible. Criminy! James Taylor is only 23 in this!!!! Good grief!

Carole King - I Feel the Earth Move
Carole King - Will You Love Me Tomorrow?

You can buy Tapestry at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes

New Countdown: Have no Fear! The COUNTDOWN is here!!!

Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar at the 2014 Grammy Awards

Late again. It's beginning to feel like 2010, based on how awful I've been about the punctuality of this podcast. What can I say? Sometimes, life gets in the way. But this isn't going to derail anything so don't start getting those worries in your pretty little heads.

As it happened, being late allowed me to do more immediate Grammy coverage than I would have been able to do if I'd tried to report from NEXT Sunday. So I guess that's a blessing in disguise.

This countdown has a lot of bonus songs in it, very few of which I planned beforehand. It's not as much as LAST week's, but it's still a lot.


Countdown #182

***Featuring***
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Blink 182
Cage the Elephant
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
Pearl Jam
Twenty One Pilots
Vampire Weekend
The White Stripes
Young the Giant

Top Ten Tuesday: Lorde "Team"

Hey alright! Not only were there new songs on this week's Top Ten, they're both songs currently on the countdown! So, if they stay on for a couple weeks, we'll have some time to revel in some visual interpretations of songs that we know and love

Here's the video for "Team" by Lorde. It's a little hard to tell what's going on here. Is it a post-apocalyptic world run by kids? Is Lorde their leader? Watch it for yourself and see what you come up with.

One Year, 100 Albums: #45 Thursday "War All the Time"

Thursday War All The Time, 2003

If this album was just its first track, "For the Workforce, Drowning" repeated over and over for 11 songs, it would probably still be on this list. I love that song so much. And it's a perfect opening shot for this album: sad, angry, inspiring, beautiful.

War All the Time one of a couple albums released right around 2003 that made me feel completely justified in the screamy/yelly, loud, pop-punky music I'd been listening to for most of college. The songs aren't about girls and love and heartbreak like much of the stuff I was into. They were about injustice and restlessness and death and beauty and loneliness. They made me feel like I was listening to something important. You could call them "Nowhere Man" albums, if that makes sense to you.

Thursday had hooked me with their breakout song from their debut (which was called Full Collapse), "Cross Out the Eyes" and the rest of that album had been just a wonderful buffet of yelling and chugging guitars. The detailed lyrics and reflection were there, no doubt, but it was definitely more of a "yell and trash your room" album. The follow-up, War All the Time, has elements of that, but it also has moments of quiet that are somehow FAR more devastating.

When my children ask me to play them something that I listened to in college, I will put this album on. It represents the best of what my musical exploration led me to in those days.

Thursday - For the Workforce, Drowning
Thursday - War All the Time

You can buy War All the Time at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes

Throwback Thursday: 1988

I started Kindergarten in Fall of 1988. So when this was out, I was in preschool in Colorado.

10. Roger - I Want to Be Your Man
9. Whitney Houston - So Emotional
8. Expose - Seasons Change
7. Taylor Dayne - Tell It to My Heart
6. Elton John - Candle In the Wind
5. Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter

This song is really really good. I feel like it's pretty easy to do a rockin' version of this song, but they go even above that. I didn't realize they'd done a cover of this. And apparently they did it for the Less Than Zero soundtrack. This is an example of one of my favorite music video tropes. The song from the movie that randomly has tv's playing parts of the movie while the band performs.

I need to educate myself some more on the Bangles. And probably also the Go-Gos.

4. George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You
3. Tiffany - Could've Been
2. INXS - Need You Tonight
1. Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel