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Hamster's Album Collection revisited


ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

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I dunno how many CD albums I've got - more than 100, less than 200 I think. Can't be sure though.
Anyway like most people I'd imagine, I have some I listen to loads, some I listen to from time to time when the mood takes me and LOADS that I haven't listened to for ages...Some of which are musically embarrassing. :shifty:

Anyway I've decided that I'm gonna listen to all my albums, give 'em a quick critique and rating in here and see if any are better than I remember.
The rules are:

1) I can listen to the albums in any order.
2) I must listen to the album itself in song order and not skip ANY tracks.

I can listen to albums more than once during this period but I will only list an album once.
Anyway this first post is the list holder so "reviews" will start with my next post. Feel free to laugh at me or share your own opinions.



:(Y)::(Y)::(Y)::(Y)::(Y):
"Enema of the State" by Blink-182
"Blur" by Blur
"Surrender" by The Chemical Brothers
"Elastica" by Elastica
"Yesterday Went Too Soon" by Feeder
"Let England Shake" by PJ Harvey
"Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" by PJ Harvey
"The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society" by The Kinks

"Bambi's Dilemma" by Melt Banana

"No More Stories........" by Mew
"Different Class" by Pulp

"OK Computer" by Radiohead

"Takk" by Sigur Ros

:(Y)::(Y)::(Y)::(Y):
"Pure" by 3 Colours Red
"Loud Like Nature" by Add N To (X)
"Kurr" by Amiina
"Funeral" by Arcade Fire
"Parklife" by Blur
"Gran Turismo" by The Cardigans

"Both Ways Open Jaws" by The
"Parades" by Efterklang
"Polythene" by Feeder
"Empire" by Kasabian
"Deep Cuts" by The Knife
"Frengers" by Mew
"Production" by Mirwais
"Finelines" by My Vitriol

"Oh La La!" by Oh La La!
"A.D.S.R.M!" by Polysics
"Now Is the Time!" by Polysics
"Robyn" by Robyn

"Body Talk" by Robyn
"The It Girl" by Sleeper
"Smart" by Sleeper

"Treats" by Sleigh Bells
"Third Eye Blind" by Third Eye Blind
"Fever To Tell" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

:(Y)::(Y)::(Y):
"Moon Safari" by Air
"Alisha Rules The World" by Alisha's Attic

"More! More! More!" by Capsule
"Earthling" by David Bowie

"All The Pain Money Can Buy" by Fastball
"At The Club" by Kenickie
"The French Machine" by Minitel Rose
"Triangle" by Perfume
"We Ate The Machine" by Polysics
"Republica" by Republica
"Melody A.M." by Royksopp
"Blue" by Third Eye Blind

:(Y)::(Y):
"Play" by Moby

:(Y):
"Growing, Pains" by Billie Myers

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

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elastica.jpg

"Elastica" by Elastica

1995

(Y) (Y) (Y) (Y) (Y)

(5/5)

Full track listing:

1."Line Up" 3:15

2."Annie" (Donna Matthews/Elastica) 1:15

3."Connection" 2:22

4."Car Song" 2:24

5."Smile" (Frischmann/Matthews/Elastica) 1:40

6."Hold Me Now" (Frischmann/Matthews/Elastica) 2:33

7."S.O.F.T." 3:59

8."Indian Song" 2:48

9."Blue" (Matthews/Elastica) 2:23

10."All-Nighter" 1:31

11."Waking Up" (Frischmann/Hugh Cornwell/Jean Jacques Burnel/David Greenfield/Brian Duffy) 3:16

12."2:1" 2:31

13."Stutter" 2:23

14."Never Here" 4:27

15."Vaseline" 1:20

This is a cheat really. I've been listening to this album loads recently (along with Sleeper) and have come to the decision that it's the single greatest album to come out of the Britpop movement. In the same way "Enema Of The State" is for me when everything fell perfectly into the place for its' genre, this is just perfect.

It's a collection of (generally) two and a half minute tracks full of swaggering self-aware cool. (It helped that Justine and Justin had previously been in Suede). The album flows just right and barely suffers a down point. I remember when I first dug out the album earlier this year and realised that all these awesome tracks were from the same album.

There are so many highlights that I'm gonna be picky...

Connection (their most famous track that was used as the intro for Trigger Happy TV)

Smile

S.O.F.T (my personal favourite for playing loud when I'm feeling a bit grumpy out and about on my way back from work)

2:1

Vaseline (probably the best 1:22 of music there's ever been)

Stutter

Bear in mind that all of this album would be in the highlights section for a lot of the junk that I'll be listening to in the coming weeks...

Low point...

Indian Song

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"The It Girl" by Sleeper

1996

(Y) (Y) (Y) (Y)

(4/5)

Full track listing (UK version. US had a different listing):

1."Lie Detector" (Wener/Maclure) – 2:31

2."Sale of the Century" (Wener/Maclure) – 4:29

3."What Do I Do Now?" – 3:41

4."Good Luck Mr Gorsky" – 4:05

5."Feeling Peaky" – 2:54

6."Shrinkwrapped" – 4:46

7."Dress Like Your Mother" (Wener/Maclure) – 2:34

8."Statuesque" – 3:23

9."Glue Ears" (Wener/Maclure) – 4:46

10."Nice Guy Eddie" – 3:20

11."Stop Your Crying"

12."Factor 41" – 2:58

13."Click...off...gone" – 2:52

First things first....Sleeper's lead singer Louise Wener was gorgeous. This adds to the appeal of Sleeper during that Britpop period. She also owned a luscious and sexy singing voice...And happened to write some excellent songs.

The It Girl is definitely the best of Sleeper's three albums and would make up the vast majority of a "best of" album. It's more melodic than Elastica, not as quirky as Pulp, not as "Norverrrn" as Oasis or "Lahndahn" as Blur. I guess Echobelly would place in the similar sub-genre. It's a mix of slow thoughtful pieces, cheeky energetic pieces and a couple of swaggery pieces which are cool but not pulled off with as much oomph as Elastica. Their cheekier tracks like Feeling Peaky and the more melodic pieces like What Do I Do Now and Shrinkwrapped are unsurpassed though. However for me there are too many lulls in the quality to qualify this for a full five.

So to sum up, great album, intensely fun and listenable but not perfect.

Highlights...

Lie Detector

Sale of the Century

What Do I Do Now

Feeling Peaky

Statuesque

Nice Guy Eddie

Factor 41

Low points...

Good Luck Mr. Gorsky

Stop Your Crying

Click...off...Gone

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"Gran Turismo" by The Cardigans

1998

(Y) (Y) (Y) (Y)

(4/5)

Full track listing:

1."Paralyzed" (Nina Persson, Peter Svensson) – 4:54

2."Erase/Rewind" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:35

3."Explode" (Persson, Svensson) – 4:04

4."Starter" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:49

5."Hanging Around" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:40

6."Higher" (Persson, Svensson) – 4:32

7."Marvel Hill" (Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Svensson) – 4:16

8."My Favourite Game" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:36

9."Do You Believe" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:19

10."Junk of the Hearts" (Persson, Sveningsson, Svensson) – 4:07

11."Nil" (Lars-Olof Johansson) – 2:18

What's my least favourite Cardigans track? "Lovefool". From their previous album and famously on the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, it's the song that most people think of when The Cardigans are mentioned, instantly classifying them as "girlie pop".

I first became aware of The Cardigans thanks to "My Favourite Game" being on the Gran Turismo 2 soundtrack. It may have been the intro song in fact. My eyes were opened when I saw those virtual cars hammering around a virtual racetrack with that song pumping. Of course the video was banned from MTV but it's well worth a watch.

Anyway, the album Gran Turismo takes some electro, rock, pop and some Scandinavian genius and mixes them up into a lightly unnerving and uneasy experience. It's dripping with great atmosphere to listen through. Even at it's most "relaxing" moments it's wonderfully jarring. There are very few low points, even the parts I remember skipping in the past I enjoyed this time around...I guess it's a grower. Also, Nina Persson has a lush haunting voice and she's beautiful. So there.

Highlights...

Paralyzed

Explode (the total surprise on this listen - brilliant)

Starter

Hanging Around (still my favourite)

My Favourite Game

Nil (a loverly little outtro)

Low points...

Marvel Hill (I guess)

Do You Believe

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>_<

album-growing-pains.jpg

"Growing, Pains" by Billie Myers

1997

(Y)

(1/5)

Full track listing:

1."Kiss the Rain" – 4:32

2."A Few Words Too Many" – 4:19

3."Tell Me" – 5:05

4."You Send Me Flying" – 3:58

5."Please Don't Shout" – 3:44

6."First Time" – 3:39

7."Mother, Daughter, Sister, Lover" – 3:38

8."The Shark and the Mermaid" – 3:49

9."Having Trouble with the Language" – 3:45

10."Opposites Attract" – 3:37

11."Much Change Too Soon" – 3:50

A foolish purchase that came out of a then mid-20s Coventry lass putting in a decent performance on Jools Holland at a time when I was buying CDs for the hell of it. (I was at school but had a job at the local Chinese Takeaway so had my own income for the first time...) Thing was, the songs she performed were the best two from the album of course, which in it's entirity offers up a slightly angsty middle of the road blend of pop/rock/poetic world music. Eep.

To be fair I'd totally forgotten I had this and so today decided I'd get it out of the way...It was even worse than I remembered from the few listens I gave it back then. Think of the pennies I'd have saved on international shipping if I'd have just "lost" it. To be fair to her though, her voice is alright and a few tracks flow ok so I'll give it 1 out of musical respect.

"Highlights"...

Please Don't Shout (by a fair distance)

Kiss The Rain

Low points...

Pretty much everything else in its' warbley entirity.

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What's my least favourite Cardigans track? "Lovefool".

(N)

I don't own Gran Turismo yet but I vastly prefer "hey we just wrote this bubbly, cheery pop song about a disastrous unhealthy relationship and we just tricked you into singing along with it like it's an actual love song" Cardigans to their later stuff. "Lovefool" is to pop as "In Bloom" by Nirvana was to rock. Though any period Cardigans is still good, I have Super Extra Gravity and it's pretty strong.

EDIT: Also I'm ripping this off from you later today. You know it (woo woo woo).

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This thread opened my eyes as to who the Cardigans were... I'd vaguely heard their songs (back when I never remembered artists ¬_¬), and of the name... but never managed to place them together >_<

And I've just realised they did a pop version of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath... I'm speechless.

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This thread opened my eyes as to who the Cardigans were... I'd vaguely heard their songs (back when I never remembered artists ¬_¬), and of the name... but never managed to place them together >_<

And I've just realised they did a pop version of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath... I'm speechless.

They also did a cover of "Iron Man" which is even more hilarious because they practically turn it into a lounge number. I love their Black Sabbath covers.

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"Republica" by Republica

1996

(Y) (Y) (Y)

(3/5)

Full track listing:

1."Ready to Go" – 5:01

2."Bloke" – 4:56

3."Bitch" – 5:13

4."Get Off" – 3:57

5."Picture Me" – 5:47

6."Drop Dead Gorgeous" – 4:30

7."Out of the Darkness" – 3:49

8."Wrapp" – 1:45

9."Don't You Ever" – 4:00

10."Holly" – 4:23

11."Ready to Go (original mix)" – 5:01

This is a strange one. Released in '96 and a kind of techno-rock experience it layers mid-90s Prodigy style jangly techno with Saffron's moody vocals and some growly guitar work. It's most famous for Ready To Go and Drop Dead Gorgeous which still make me mark out like a schoolboy today. Thing is, it also has some rubbish like Bloke and Bitch. Bloke makes good use of the "everyday" lyrics style of the period but it makes it sound a bit dated "You've got a Mega Drive"...Oooh a Mega Drive? Lucky him! Due to the beats emplyed it almost seems like one continuous musical piece, or a lo-fi rave with a female MC ranting over the top. Not a bad thing though and it may get more of a listen from time to time.

Highlights...

Ready To Go

Get Off

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Out of the Darkness

Wrapp

Don't You Ever

Low points...

Bloke

Bitch

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"Polythene" by Feeder

1997

(Y) (Y) (Y) (Y)

(4/5)

Full track listing:

1."Polythene Girl" – 3:29

2."My Perfect Day" – 4:25

3."Cement" – 3:18

4."Crash" – 4:09

5."Radiation" – 4:39

6."Suffocate" – 3:53

7."Descend" – 5:20

8."Stereo World" – 3:28

9."Tangerine" – 3:55

10."Waterfall" – 3:10

11."Forgive" – 4:41

12."20th Century Trip" – 1:56

For about five years I LOVED Feeder and you'll be seeing a number of other Feeder releases in this thread up to Echo Park then either a) I went off them cos tastes changed, b) They changed from what I liked, c) A bit of both.

It's been a while since I listened to Polythene and so it was a delight to reacquaint myself with the alum and realized that at various points I was singing along just like the old days. Polythene is a really really good album with some of the very best Feeder songs. It's nothing like their later stuff, and I guess it was more (b) as I still love this album. My Perfect Day is just brilliant...In fact a serious portion of the album is...We go from indie through to some harder stuff, back through to softer, introspective tracks. The only reason it doesn't get five is that a couple of tracks had me forcing myself not to flick skip. If anyone has this in their collection and hasn't listened for a while, DIG IT OUT!

Of course it helps that it reminds me of my university days when I managed to get to go and see them live a couple of times - one with the release of "Yesterday Went Too Soon" which was an incredible gig...And the second time after "Echo Park" which was full of teenage girls which was only good cos one of the older ones took a liking to me. Bewdiful. It was also the album I sent to my American penfriend girlie at the time and she loved it too. Anyway yeah, Feeder = happy uni times.

Highlights...

My Perfect Day (favourite)

Cement

High

Radiation

Descend

Tangerine (Gran Turismo loveliness)

Forgive

Low points...

Suffocate

Stereo World

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So far, all this thread has done is remind me how immensely bangable the lead singers of most 90's female-fronted Britpop bands were.

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"Production" by Mirwais

2000

(Y) (Y) (Y) (Y)

(4/5)

Full track listing:

1."Disco Science" – 3:36

2."Naive Song" – 4:26

3."V.I." – 6:52

4."I Can't Wait" – 3:17

5."Junkie's Prayer" – 3:52

6."Definitive Beat" – 3:56

7."Paradise" – 6:30

8."Never Young Again" – 5:40

9."Involution" – 5:38

This album, along with "Light and Magic" by Ladytron and FC Kahuna's "Machine Says Yes" kept me positive on every bus journey from my aunt and uncle's house where I was staying, to Birmingham city centre to hand out CVs after I moved to Birmingham to be closer to my then girlfriend, now wife.

Mirwais is perhaps best known for his work on Madonna's albums between 2000-2005, you know all that "reinvention" electro mixed stuff. But ironically (and happily) his own album Production is far superior. It's all squelchy, well-honed, well-produced stuff. A great example of the electro genre. A couple of songs are well known - Disco Science is playing during the hare coursing scene in Snatch and Naive Song was released as a single. They're two of the best on there, the worst being the Madonna-vocalled Paradise that sneaks up later on and nearly ruins everything. Seeing as he's based in France it does of course slip into minimalist lounge music at points but meh, that's ok, especially as it builds in a good old squlchy way (V.I).

Highlights...

Disco Science

Naive Song

I Can't Wait

Junkie's Prayer

Low points...

Paradise

Never Young Again (the intro sounds just like his and Madonna's "Music")

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Gran Turismo will always be one of my favourite albums... I don't listen that often these days but when I do it still sounds incredibly fresh and the production is spotless.

I've always loved 'What Do I Do Now?' by Sleeper but I've never listened to any more from them, but I will now.

Are you on last.fm, Hamster? Wondering what our compatibility rating would be...

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The best thing about "Polythene" is that I ruined it for my brother by pointing out that the chorus to the song "Cement" sounds an awful lot like he's singing "I'm in to men!".

I might have to try and pull off a similar stunt to this myself, although it'll take forever, and be full of a lot of shit albums. Could be worth a try, though. I'll get on it. When I can be bothered.

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VillageGreenPreservationSociety.jpg

"The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society" by The Kinks

1968

(Y) (Y) (Y) (Y) (Y)

(5/5)

Full track listing:

1."The Village Green Preservation Society"

2."Do You Remember Walter?"

3."Picture Book"

4."Johnny Thunder"

5."Last of the Steam Powered Trains"

6."Big Sky"

7."Sitting by the Riverside"

8."Animal Farm"

9."Village Green"

10."Starstruck"

11."Phenomenal Cat"

12."All of My Friends Were There"

13."Wicked Annabella"

14."Monica"

15."People Take Pictures of Each Other"

When I compiled my "top 20" albums earlier this year I believe this album came second so I don't need to say too much more about it. I was really looking forward to listening to it today (I've had a few of the tracks on my mp3 player the last week anyway) and once again it didn't disappoint. It isn't "trendy", is probably the least cool album released in the history of music but it's utterly magnificent. I was enjoying a good old sing along up to "Wicked Annabella" where it hiccups just slightly at the end. Even Phenomenal Cat has grown on me despite the weird trippiness.

Without doubt this album is legitimately one of the greatest albums ever produced. Ever.

Highlights...

The Village Green Preservation Society

Do You Remember Walter?

Picture Book

Johnny Thunder

Big Sky

Village Green

All Of My Friends Were There

Low points...

Wicked Annabella

Monica

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