Nostalgia Sucks
At the end of every year, it seems that the Top lists descend like a plague of locusts on any newspaper, magazine, or television show that purports to cover music or movies or art or pretty much anything that that can be compiled into a list. They keep doing this because people keep buying them. So it's basically your fault that I have to keep seeing these things. Just quit buying them, okay?
This year, Jeremy SpaceCityRock asked any of his writers that were up for the challenge to create one of these infernal lists. Hypocrite that I am, I immediately took him up on the challenge. And then I thought about it (note the agreeing before thinking part--always a bad idea) and wondered how I was going to come up with ten things to put on the list, because I’m a grumpy old man and I don’t like anything. Thankfully, Jeremy said that the list could include anything, not just music.
So I compiled a list of things, only a few of which were music and sent it off to him. This week, he put all the lists on the site and reading through it, most of the entries are new music. But not mine. Mine was anything but new music. In fact, only three of mine were music and one more was just music related. Of those three, one was an album by a band that reunited, one was a re-release of an album, and the third was by somebody who has been releasing albums since the 70s. What's the matter with me? Why is none of my entries new music? Am I afraid of new music?
The truth is that there really wasn't anything new that did anything for me last year. It could be from lack of looking, but that was never a problem before. In the past, it seemed that the music just found me without my having to seek it out. Or maybe the problem is that I'm getting old and nothing can be as good as the stuff that I listened to back in the good old days. You remember the good old days don’t you? The long, mild summers, the picnics, Santa Claus. Yeah, I don’t remember those days either.
Nostalgia sucks. That’s written above the window in the control room at ktru, that college radio station where I hosted the Local Show for so many years. It’s one of the first things I saw when I started there, so obviously that graffiti has been there for a long time*. I can’t think of a more appropriate thing to be written on the walls of a radio station whose purpose is to find new music and serve it up to anybody who cares to tune in. Having been there for so long, I gradually internalized that little bit of wisdom (say it a few times, it really just rolls off the tongue: Nostalgia sucks), such that not listening to new music makes me a little ashamed of myself.
But I don’t. Nowadays when I listen to new music, all I hear is influences. It surely doesn’t help that every third new band sounds like Gang of Four**. I know, I know, there’s not a single thing produced ever that hasn’t been the result of influences. I know. It’s just that when you aren’t familiar with these influences, the new things are easier to swallow. If it’s all new to you, then there is a certain joy of discovery that comes with listening to music. I don’t get that so much anymore and I miss it.
I miss hearing something and thinking, “Well that’s some cool stuff I’ve never heard before.” Now pretty much all I get is, “Meh.” More and more, I find myself wanting to listen to news radio or just silence***. I just don’t see the point in going out of my way to listen to something that doesn’t excite me. Though, it is likely that I’m not going to find something that does excite me unless I look for it. As you can see, music and I are in a bit of a stalemate right now. The question really is: Am I failing music or is music failing me? Oh, I’m tired of thinking about it.
Instead, enjoy this blog entry by David Byrne about the influence of technology on the way we hear music. And when you're done with that, let me know which cat you are.
*I tried to get one of the DJs there to send me a picture of the “Nostalgia sucks” graffiti, but two of them promised they would send the picture and neither delivered. You would think I was asking for their first born or something. I’m sure they went over in their heads all the possibilities of what I could do with that information and determined that it was too much of a risk to send me the picture. Overprotected babies. Some things don’t change. Update: I managed to get somebody to get the picture for me. Thanks, DammitJenni.
**Obviously this really only applies to a certain genre of music. It’s not like I hear any Gang of Four in hip hop. Though, thinking about that intrigues me. Where are all the Gang of Four inspired hip hop acts?
***There’s a John Cage joke about silence there. You fill in the details.
46 Comments:
I don't think nostalgia sucks, but I do think it sucks when someone is unwilling to admit that there is good new music out there (I'm not saying that you're doing that Justin, by the way). Some people stop looking for good new music, and thus don't find any (nudge, nudge happiness vampire). That form of nostalgia does suck. Of course, I think the KTRU version is more of a rallying cry, which is fine. Trite, but fine. Focusing on new music is great, but it is a bit arbitrary. How about focusing on whatever the DJ's think is good music? Again, I know that's generally what they, in fact, do. Okay, I'm shutting up now.
I've said for a while that one of KTRU's biggest mistakes was selling its history by shortsightedly ditching its albums. I think there is a difference between nostalgia and a sense of history. KTRU clearly forgot its own when they did this. Ironically I find that KTRU seems to have a smaller selction than they used to despite the smaller size of CDs. A smarter thing to have done (and I've been saying it for years) is that they should have burned all the CDs into a main server (with a back-up of course) and allowed CDs to be accessed in this manner.This would have preserved the LPs, cut down on theft, and saved a lot of space.
But more to your point, you know what my initial reaction was to listeing to the Ramones and the Sex pistols was? Here I was expecting to hear something big and new and all I heard was Chuck Berry (and similar early rock and roll) sped up. I mean I thought, what's the big deal? It rocks but I don't see the musical revolution here.
Mind you there was a social context as well and truly was revolutionary - the idea that anyone could do it - that I hadn't quite picked up on but simply on a Rock and Roll compositional level, to a kid just learning his Chuck Berry licks in 1980, it wasn't anything new.
That being said, I think that is where the disconnect comes in. What is the social context of current music? Back then there was at least this illusion that there was something new and revolutionary going on and that illusion fed a lot of creativity.
So I think the question to me is more of what the social context is for all this music. If it is merely something to be consumed and enjoyed like a Snickers bar, then there may be a problem.
...
Ok I totally lost my train of thought...But I was going somewhere with this...damn cold medicine...Oh well...
I was with you at the Man Man concert, and I recall you enjoying that more than a little bit, so I'm not sure I buy this "no good music in 2K6" thing.
Just ordered MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS (along with a bunch of other stuff), can't wait to hear it.
You know what sucks more than Nostalgia? The fact that new music isn't even trying to be different from the past, so all you have is really like one year over and over again like some Twilight Zone episode, only its our lives and we should be trying harder to flip the record.
Being Nostalgic gives people the opportunity to hear shit maybe they missed because they were trapped in a Mine or stuck in a slavery ring or whatever. But believe me, I don't have a classic coke can sitting in my menagerie.
I saw some of the reviews of the other writers at that site. I thought the Damone album was ok. I put "Out here All night" on a compilation for friends in the summer. But it was forgettable, because I did actually forget about it until I saw it mentioned more than once on the top tens of the other writers. I don't think anyone looks at top ten lists as being the end all for top shit of the year. At least not me. I couldn't tell you what I would come up with for a top ten list, and I don't know that I could keep it at new releases only. And more than that, who gives a crap what I think.
You know Its your own responsibility to entertain yourself, and find music you like. Its not going to jump in your lap, but with billions of people crammed into every corner of the planet.. there has to be something out there. When I first started hanging out at this NAP place, I was begging to know more music. I still am.. But I kind of gave up on some new music wizard puffing me into a new jukebox. Now I dig through editorials and columns like yours looking for one hint of a description that could lead me to something I might like. Usually its your attitude that convinces me, and not your brainy descriptions though.
And the Byrne column summed up the article by devolving into remembering how great it was to hear a song you liked for the first time on a piece of shit fisher price turn table, so who cares if MP3s lose mutable wisps and hushes.... NOT ME. No one is forcing me into the future.
I didn't relate to any of those cats.
Also, Ramon, did KTRU literally get rid of all its vinyl? I think I may have heard that before but it sounded so mind-bogglingly asinine that I refused to accept it as a possibility.
EOY lists have always been frustrating because I usually don't recognize a good number of the albums and so feel overwhelmed. So I found your list refreshing and positive in the sense that change is good and it's good to see that you're seeking in a variety of ways.
You need to update your bio on space city rock unless "His voice can be heard in the high-bandwidth electromagnetic fields hovering over the vicinity of Rice University (usually on Tuesdays)" is a metaphysical thing.
Also isn't "an order of secretive Capucin monks redundant?
I took a peak at some of the other lists on scr. Forgot about that Gnarls Barkley song. I don't mind it really. For some reason it feels like a nostalgia piece to me. It's certainly derivative but that's never bothered me. Les Savy Fav's Rage in the Plague Age is derivative of like five different styles but that's one of the reasons the song speaks to me. Sometimes derivative is a respectful nod and sometimes it is a rip off.
Also I'm almost embarassed to say it but that Joanna Newsom album spoke to me too.
Do I seem unhappy?
CUZ I'M NOT.
I meant peek not peak.
And getting rid of vinyl is whack.
I'm the cat who swallowed the canary.
KTRU did not get rid of all its vinyl, we still have quite a lot of it. Ramon is probably talking about one of their periodic purges. I'll let him fill in the details.
Perhaps, Justin, it just wasn't all that great a year for music. Whenever I see the January best-of lists I think about my own too, and when I think about 2006, here's what I come up with:
Mastodon, Blood Mountain: For me, this is one of the few unqualified successes of the year, and even it still has some missteps. It was also panned by a lot of long-time Mastodon fans.
. . . And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, So Divided: I'm ashamed to admit to myself that I even like this record because this band is so irritating.
The Residents, Tweedles: I haven't even listened to this since the first week I got it, because it's not actually that pleasurable to listen to- it's just really thought-provoking.
Don Caballero, World Class Listening Problem: This album sucks compared to Don Cab's best records, but I still like listening to it. Another one I'm sort of ashamed of.
Boris, Pink and Jucifer, If Thine Enemy Hunger: Both good, but not that good.
The Melvins, A Senile Animal: Very good, but not any better than several other Melvins records.
The Blood Brothers, Young Machetes: The worst good album from a totally awesome band.
Insect Warfare, Endless Execution Thru Violent Restitution and PJ Harvey, Peel Sessions 1991-2004: Both collections of previously released material.
Joanna Newsom, Ys: I haven't even heard this record, nor do I want to, but a prog album made by a harpist who sings like a little girl is a big deal in any year.
Nomeansno, All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt: This is a terrible record. It's here because I love Nomeansno and for that reason it's interesting even though it sucks.
Similarly, although Mission of Burma is one of my favorite bands of all time, and though seeing them play was a true revelation, I am less and less impressed with their reunified output. The Obliterati has a few good songs, notably "Birthday" and both songs by Peter Prescott- who, while not the best songwriter in the band, is turning out to be the most consistently good songwriter- but it also has some of the crappiest songs MOB have ever recorded. ("Good Not Great," I'm looking at you.)
So overall, although I thought this was an interesting year for rock music, I don't think I would call it a good one. So maybe it's not your fault after all.
Anyway, cheer up, there's a new Fall record out in March.
I think Justin might be happiest when he's grumpiest.
Sorry to post multiple times in ten minutes but I meant to also tell you Justin that Chicago has two pbs stations like you mentioned in your list about Austin. You're so right about what a blessing it is to have an alternative to Antique Road Show but how old are we getting when the New York Dolls reunion is on pbs? I guess I wouldn't know what other broadcast network would have it though.
On that note...Mike Pocius of the C*nts has been depressed all week because he found out AARP is using a Buzzcocks tune in an ad.
That good ol' times thing always reminds me of a comic strip where the little girl asks her dad "dad, what were things like in your day?" and the dad
says "oh i dont know I guess things were better, what do you want me to say?" and the little girl responds, "well, I thought you would say this is still your day, but i see you are pfft."(and here she flips her thumb from up to down, roman emperor style).
In general I tend to agree that nostalgia, although it can be pleasant, has little do with music except for the fact that music is an awesome trigger for memories. I often find myself reminiscing about the first time i heard this or that song that I now dont remember.
As for new music, sometimes i think that i just stopped paying attention to the influences of a given song and I decide if i like it or not based on other qualities, and sometimes i think that i have fried my brain enough that i dont remember most stuff that influenced this or that song. The bottom line is that it plays little part in my enjoyment of music. The one thing I can suggest is to just leave behind, for a while, those genres you are so familiar with(and all their surrounding subgenres too) and dive into some of those genres that you might think you would've never be caught dead listening to. There is plenty of music where you wont find anyone who even knows a Gang of Four song or cares to. Explore those for a while, yes they are as derivative as most, but like you said, if its new to you then its new to you. So cast a wider net, and you might find great music being made in the least likely places once you dig beyond the crap that always collect on the surface and learn some of the language so everything doesnt sound the same. The trick, in my view is to find an in, so you dont end up listening to hours of the crap before you get to the good stuff, but with the internet being what it is today, it should be easier than ever to find an in. But as always, it pays to work at it a little bit.
I never meant to imply that KTRU got rid of all it's vinyl but a lot of it. Nevertheless, there is substantially less vinyl in the stacks than there used to be.
I just think my point is that I feel the station should consider itself a repository of sorts for music and as such permanently purging stuff is just a bad idea especially when there are reasonable alternatives.
DD, it's true that I did enjoy Man Man. For the sake of this blog post, though, I enjoyed nothing. Hear me? Also, you won't be disappointed by Bush of Ghosts
Kilian, I didn't write that bio and I'm really not sure who did. You can tell I didn't write it because it mentions nothing about what a jerk I am. And on the Buzzcocks thing--tell me that the AARP's new theme song is "What Do I Get?" Please, please, please.
Regarding Joanna Newsom, yes. I've almost bought that album several times, despite the fey harpiness of it all. And by several times, I mean in my head I think, "I should get that album," and then, as ever, I go to a record store and can remember none of the things that I told my brain to remember. And then I leave empty handed. Come to think of it, that might be the source of my music problem.
I've been hearing that same "there was nothing good this year" stuff from someone every year since at least 1996, and yet I never have trouble finding good stuff.
BTW, it seems to me that the Gang of Four influence thing is on the wane. Now new bands seem more influenced by the Strokes, haha.
"Son of Ravyn said...
Here's one for you, Roberto. I'm sitting at work, minding my own business (and that of all of you), at 6 in the morning. All of a sudden I hear the opening guitar chords to a song I think I know. It's "Everybody's Happy Nowadays", by the Buzzcocks. And it's playing on an AARP commercial. Are the fates trying to tell me something?"
I tried to tell you, back on January 16th. It's shocking, isn't it?
We've had quite a bit of discussion about new music vs. old music in the past few weeks. For what it's worth, you good folks at this here blog have helped point me to quite a bit of new (even if some of it's old) music since I first found my way here after stumbling blindly through the land of the Blog of Eternal Stench.
I (a newcomer to the SCR tribe) obviously opted NOT to opine about my top ten musical discoveries of 2006. Part of this has to due with the fact that I have not yet completed one review for the zine, so I didn't think I should be foisting something as vain as a best of list on the public. I liked your slightly thumb-biting list, by the way. I think you are the only one who actually took the spirit of what Jeremy requested and ran with it. Pretty much everyone, including Jeremy himself, gave up a pretty standard best of list.
Those cats kind of freak me out.
I think nostalgia is a...good thing. But that's probably because I'm a nostalgic person. Of course, it doesn't feel that way, though. David Crosby's first solo album has just been re-released on cd, and I really like it a lot...I was a bit apprehensive about it, because I can't stand songs like "Almost Cut My Hair", but he has a variety of guests contributing...practically all of the Dead, the Airplane, Santana and Neil Young, so it's nice. I've never heard the record before, so it's sorta like the Ravyn says: "It's New To ME!" And I find absolutely no problem finding music that I've never heard before. I'm still buying cd's every week without a lapse...granted, they were all recorded in the 60's-80's, but fuck it...they're all fantastic, I didn't have 'em before, so it can't really be nostalgia because I'm exploring an area where I've never been, yes? I don't really have a problem with KTRU graffitti stating "Nostalgia Sucks"...that's what College Radio is supposed to be think. And as much as I absolutely hate most of what I hear that's new...I still think those type of stations should be playing nothing but "new"...there's plenty of other stations playing the Doors, Beatles, and the Stones, so KTRU doesn't need to ever look backward...it's covered. Perhaps I'm nostalgic for eras that I can remember, and areas that I can't, but still seem interesting to me, so it's a bit of a fantasy wondering what life must've been like, then. And that's okay...It doesn't really bother me, but then again, I'm not making music right now...perhaps if I was in a band, I might be really searching for something "New"...I don't know. I certainly can't talk trash about this blog, since I agree with 99% of it, but I do have to admit that there's probably more new stuff out there that I might like, I just haven't found it yet, or I'm not looking hard enough, etc., but this also doesn't really bother me...I like what I've been finding, so for now, that's enough. I'm interested as to what dd has to say about "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts". Amazingly enough, I was just listening to that record on the subway yesterday...and I haven't heard it in probably 20 years. It was...underwhelming, at best. It has that "Remain In Light" sound, but there's a lot of samples...every song has a tape of an exorcism, or a newscaster, or someone describing a dream or whatever, and I remember this was a rather new thing when this was recorded, but I know now when I hear a sort of electronic, funky jam going on, and then "the Preacher" kicks in, wailing on and on about Jesus, I just automatically think "Oh, not that tired gimmick, again"...so, needless to say, I don't think the album aged very well, but I don't think that's necessarilly Eno and Byrne's fault...they can't help it if the whole world suddenly followed suit. And yeah, people used the tapes before them and people played African rhythms before them, and blah, blah-woof, woof. I'm not gonna get into all of that. I will offer this: If you are in fact a nostalgic person, or a starfucker like myself...then New York ain't a bad place to be. I'm spottin' cool people from my past on the streets everday, and it's still a kick. Just yesterday, I saw Clem Burke, the drummer for Blondie...and about 3 weeks ago, I rounded the corner of 13th and Broadway, right in front of the Strand Bookstore, and literally walked smack dab into Tom Verlaine. He even said "Oh...sorry". Tom Fucking Verlaine. I mean, what's the appropriate behaviour for that type of situation?
I have to say that Remain in Light is one of my favorite albums ever, so it stands to reason that I would like My Life in a Bush of Ghosts, but while they are similar albums, Ghosts just has a darker feel to it, that isn't easy to pin down. It's like the inexplicable feeling of dread I sometimes get when I'm out of radio range and all that comes in are bits and pieces from various stations. It's not a bad feeling, it's just there. Sometimes when I'm out of range, I'll just leave the radio as it is and let it make its little sound collage. I end up hearing lots of interesting sounds and textures. Anyway, that's how I think of the Ghosts, just you know, funkier.
Sinbad asked me for a quarter to use the phone in LAX a long time ago. All I could think about was how, the actor who played Sinbad in the Clash of the Titans era movies, was so much more cavalier than him. The gawking for-hire model he had leeched onto his arm, didn't help my impression much.
Daniel,
There is actually an archive buried somewhere in Fondren, where I hope all of the old vinyl from KTRU is being laid to rest. I think it's part of the Woodson Research Center. It's tough to sort through things and know what could possibly be of value in the future. I remember trying to do it and then just carting entire crates of old vinyl down there. I wish there were an easier way to safeguard and access it. The possibility of theft was always the implacable nightmare... also, some of the recordings are 78s or reel to reel tapes... KTRU probably doesn't even have the equipment to play half of what is down there. In theory, KTRU's music archives should be one of Borges' labyrinths.
I always liked Victor Borge, he was every bit as funny as he was a good pianist. Plus he has those labyrinths.
Maybe KTRU ought start a record fair a la WFMU. I was at the WMFU fair last year, pretty impressive event. I've never seen so much vinyl, er I mean over-priced vinyl.
Matthew - you could have told Tom Verlaine that you respect him very much but his last album was bland and you expect more from him than sharing his pajama noodles.
Justin,
Giuseppe Verdi. Joe Green to you.
I was referring to the author with the 's' on the end of his name.
Yeah, he was awesome in that Coke commercial where he threw the towel to the kid. But, jeez, who wants a sweaty towel?
More Joe Greens
i will be rooting for the commercials on sunday.
Go Bears.
That opera singer looks just like Will Farrell.
being raised mexican, I never quite understood alot of american things. well not understood. but not felt as being necessarily bad.
one of them is "derivitive" music as being bad. i mean even bluesmen performed the same damn songs and licks over and over and over and over again until their style developed. and then white guys performed those performers songs (or blue grass or country songs) ad nauseum until it mutated into rock and roll. and then every one put out albums of covers. and then black people tried to sample a rock song and then the whole notion of intellectual property was invented.
but justin i understand where you're coming from - you just "aren't feeling it". i feel you.
another thing i've NEVER understood: "if a tree falls in the woods..." what the fuck is THAT supposed to mean? really, proof positive of an imperialist-based culture.
i'm with John on this one. more than ever i follow DJs. it humanizes the overwhelming process of discovery in our ipod times. it kind of sets down a suggestion of a path and then i take it where i want to. the whole idea of an engine doing it (Pandora) does nothing for me.
danny i liked your list cause you used a measuring stick other than the accepted "records with the highest number of good songs" measuring stick.
Joanna Newsom escapes me. Not that anyone asked.
Fondren has a library annex deal now, out on south Main. It's a big ass green building. Our new data center is being built next to it, so inevitably I will someday be freezing my balls off in there, chasing down a fiber channel connection or something. Maybe I can crawl through the raised floor and find a hidden passage to the lost KTRU vinyl archives....
Oh and Rosa - what the FUCK is wrong with an imperialist based culture, anyway?
We should ask the question: without Imperialism, there would be no oppression. Without oppression, there would be no lame, politically correct protest music. Without lame, politically correct protest music, we would have nothing to make fun of. And by "we", I mean the Royal "We".
Oh and on the subject of nostalgia:
I will let others judge, but I just plunked down about 60 Simoleons at the local Soundwaves for the following:
The Band's Greatest Hits
Traffic Gold
For Those About To Rock
Blind Faith
The Best of the Faces
The fact that I even went to a record store makes me a throwback, and what I bought categorizes me as irrevocably Australopithecine.
And they were sold out of fucking Black Oak Arkansas which pissed me off to no fucking end.
Of those, I own 1,3, and 5. As for 2 and 4--I was never into the Winwood. I blame his 80s output for souring me on the rest of his career.
John, I can certainly understand not getting Joanna Newsom. I'm not really sure why I do. But it's always hard for me to figure out why some things work for me and others don't. See also Winwood, Steve.
Holy shit...who the fuck is the Sparrow?
I own...well, not those individual albums, but the Band and Faces Boxsets, about 4-5 Traffic albums, the Blind Faith album with the naked 13 year old on the cover...well, I guess that's the only one...I don't have any Black Oak Arkansas at the moment, but when I was a li'l kid I did think they were hot shit...they're not, really...but fuck it...who is this guy? Obviously, I approve of all these purchases. Thank goodness you didn't buy any Bedhead.
SOH - i KNEW it was you after this post.
got the best of faces cd at soundex last year. promptly lost said cd. just got a best of faces on vinyl at soundex last week for $4.99. love it. check out the (small) faces documentary sometime. killer concert footage.
On the subject of KTRU graffiti, I pray that my favorite detourned piece of graffiti from the mutha funkin', donut dunkin' man is still up. Can anyone confirm or (please no) deny?
Doug, that graffiti is on the inside of the prod room door and so is well protected, since that door is usually shut. Last time I was there, it was still there.
Also, I am responsible for that particular detourning. I had a bit of a war going on with the hip hop DJ at the time, where he would write something and then I would modify it. Examples of this include the one that you mentioned and the "Madhouse" one on the back of the desk in the control room which I made into "Madmouse," complete with an angry Mickey Mouse holding up the power fist. And, of course, there was his protégé that for some reason decided to write her name everywhere. This prompted Jason Bill to start doing the same and me to go around numbering her signatures. I figured if she knew people were counting the number of times she scribbled her name, she might get self-conscious and quit. That plan completely backfired. Instead, she took it as a challenge and there were more instances of "Danette LaShawn" on the walls than ever the next time she was up there.
I just Googled "Danette LaShawn" and the only thing that came up was this court record in California (that's a link to Google cache, so I don't know how long it will last). So clearly she's a hardened criminal now. If only I could have stopped her crimin' ways when I could.
One thing I never understood about the designated hitter rule is why the National League doesn't use it, but the American League does. What's up with that?
Matt, it's just me. LP4 guitarist and general nuisance Clinton.
Justin, I know what you're saying about Winwood. I actually kind of like his voice, though that puts a lot of people off, and of course he's known by most people today because of the commercial crap he did in the 80s. Still an incredibly talented, versatile musician.
In general, I try to cut people slack who were good "back in the day" because without that, I would probably hate everything. I mean, if I judge Zep by Plant's later output...or if I judge Floyd by their later albums...well you get the idea. Though there are some (Sting, Phil Collins) whose depth of evil cannot be redeemed, and I could see Winwood being on the bubble of being in this category.
One take on the DH rule is that even though a lot of people hate it, it persists in the AL because the player's union likes it, because it creates more jobs. The only thing that I like about it (because I hate it in general) is that it lets old fat guys like John Cruck have a career. But I'd hate to see it come to the NL.
The Band's Greatest Hits - I don't have this but I have four albums by the Band including Bob Dylan's basement tapes.
Traffic Gold - I have four Traffic albums right now because the Hammond Organist in churchbus Loves Them Some Matthew Thurman is really into them (and the Faces) and he wants me to be into them to. I have to admit I dig these records.
For Those About To Rock - Of course I have this. Of course.
Blind Faith - Best Album cover ever?
The Best of the Faces - On my hit list.
As far as Black Oak Arkansas, here's another one of those weird coincidences with the NAP. Friday night churchbus Now Truly Hates Matthew Thurman Because His Love Turned Out to Be Pretend was at my house preparing to leave for a last-minute-booked-show; anyway the drummer was checking out some art on the wall by former Houston artist Bethany. It is a painted piece of vinyl and when Al touched it, it fell off the wall revealing on the back that it is in fact Black Oak Arkansas' Raunch N Roll, sorry I guess Bethany ain't really into them.
We need tougher border laws.
I had "Raunch and Roll" when I was li'l kid...a spectacular live album(not really) that includes amazing(not really) versions of "Gettin' Kinda Cocky" and "When Electricity Came To Arkansas"...you have to love a band who had a David Lee Roth before David Lee was cool, plus he played a washboard complete with thimbles on his fingers...also how many bands have the nerve to name a song after the lead singer (Jim Dandy To The Rescue)? Amazing group.
Damn, who needs the Best of the Band when you can just buy ONE more CD and have the best of the Band in full album glory? I swear, I think MUSIC FROM BIG PINK and THE BAND are two of the greatest albums ever, but after I bought their third album, I sold it again and never looked back. I don't know why, or what happened, but that was it for me. Those first two though are two examples of albums (most of my examples of these types of albums seem to come from the late 60s though) that exist best AS complete Albums. So I find it difficult to break them up on best-of comps...
I confess I bought the Band comp more or less because I did not know the discography well enough to buy a specific album.
Which is a drawback of "nostalgia" buys. If you get a "best of" half the time it's outtakes or barmy live performances. Generally if I know the albums well enough I'd rather buy those, for many reasons including that at least in the 70s, bands built albums with the intention of presenting them as complete works with some notion of sequence, flow, dynamics, etc. And after listening to that Traffic comp it is very incongruous (though interesting) to hear their early flower-power sitar pop juxtaposed with the later folky-blues stomp that was their signature. From an educational perspective, then, best of comps are awesome but from the standpoint of listenability, they tend to flag well behind the albums they're culled from.
Well, Charlie...you gotta get more...because, true enough, the first 2 albums are easily the best, and both masterworks in their own right, but if you stop there, then you miss out on "Stage Fright", "The Shape I'm In", "Ophelia", "Arcadian Driftwood", "When I Paint My Masterpiece", or "It Makes No Difference", which is probably my favorite Danko song...hell, there's a ton of other songs that you'll like just as much. I mean, most of these are on any Band "Greatest" compilation, so it depends on just how far you wanna go...granted, STAGE FRIGHT, CAHOOTS, NORTHERN LIGHTS+SOUTHERN CROSS, ISLANDS, and MOONDOG MATINEE are all a bit spotty...I like the boxset. It's one of those babies that flows in a chronological order, which is a compilation style I find that I'm starting to enjoy as much as listening to individual albums. It's nice to hear a career develop along...hell, sometimes I've bought boxsets just because I like the way that they're sequenced, even if I already own most of the songs...it's a nice li'l trip. Hell, that Band boxset is worth the entire price just to hear them tear through Marvin Gaye's "(Baby) Don't Do It"...I love that damn song, and it's only 2 minutes long.
God, I too am totally in love with their first two albums, but I would have to add Stage Fright in there too. I've been dying for that box set myself. Especially now since I'm down to Big Pink as some ass clown stole the disc right out of my The Band case at work months ago. And might I publicly add that I wish to curse a pox upon them and their entire hydroencephalic family?
If anyone wants to chip in and buy me that box set, I'd gladly accept... :)
I tried STAGE FRIGHT several years ago, and for some reason just couldn't get into it... I guess I need to give it another shot... it just seemed like after those first two albums, they eased up on the more hillbilly aspects of the songwriting (specifically), and that's kind of one of the big things I liked about the Band... a 60s group singing about the aftermath of the Civil War and getting drunk in the mountains with rednecks and all that...
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