SAW [Week 64 - "Home of the Strange"]

Take a walk in Tin Pan Alley, the area's most famous music district.

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Re: SAW [Week 13 - "In a Million Years"]

#851

Post by G-Man »

I think I feel a little of what Rico is saying. It's nice music, good music even. There's maybe only one or two songs that have stuck with me though. Tomorrow I will start nailing down what I think of each track. The overall album feel is light, breezy, and nice. But it also makes me want to go listen to Is This It. It's been a while since listening to one artist gives me cravings for another. Is that a bad thing or am I over-analyzing?
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Re: SAW [Week 13 - "In a Million Years"]

#852

Post by triceratopzeuhl »

I already know Echolyn and it's never really been my thing (too polished I think) but it's alright

Last Dinosaurs is kinda interesting but I wish their singer didn't have the same slightly autotuned sexually ambiguous voice that every modern pop singer has. Sunday Night, Weekend, and Honolulu are the best songs on the album.

2.5 to both
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Re: SAW [Week 13 - "In a Million Years"]

#853

Post by triceratopzeuhl »

I forgot to rate deadmau5 I'll give it a 2 (must not be feeling charitable today, I blame squats)
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Re: SAW [Week 13 - "In a Million Years"]

#854

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

I'm giving it a second spin tonight, and it is enjoyable enough. I think it starts well and is generally fair throughout, though it could stand to break its own formula more frequently. Eventually the songs blend together for their samey momentum-driven construction, a gripe I have with a number of other indie rock acts. I don't think it's a bad product though. 3 stars
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Re: SAW [Week 13 - "In a Million Years"]

#855

Post by nutella »

A little behind. Finally listened again to Echolyn, this time following along with lyrics and found them quite poetic and emotional at times. Solid album, I get the complaints that it's kind of generic as prog goes (as are the vocalists) and it drags on a bit in some places but overall I enjoyed the instrumentation, melodies, themes, and particularly some lines/verses that were really striking. 3.5 I guess.

Will get around to Last Dinosaurs soon.
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Re: SAW [Week 13 - "In a Million Years"]

#856

Post by Ricochet »

tfw trice's reviews are more br00tal than mine, yet I'm the one being remembered as the boogie man
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Re: SAW [Week 13 - "In a Million Years"]

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ture
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#858

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

Week 14: Pandora's Box - Original Sin
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#859

Post by nutella »

And now that the next album has been posted I finally listened to Last Dinosaurs. I agree with the assessments that it's pretty average sounding for its genre. Wasn't crazy about the guy's voice, but the songs were alright, some pretty good guitar bits, but nothing really too special. Fun enough to listen to but not something I would seek out. 3.

ETA As I recall my favorite tracks were Zoom and Used To Be Mine. Idk I'll give it another more attentive listen.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#860

Post by triceratopzeuhl »

Alright, I hate everything about Original Sin. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what's so bad about it, but it sounds like a caricature of music to me. Cheesy melodies, overwrought instrumentation, simultaneously shallow and incomprehensible lyrics, bad 80s overproduction with too much reverb... it's literally the soundtrack to a nightmare. Sorry.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#861

Post by triceratopzeuhl »

It sounds almost exactly like what Jim Steinman used to look like, in the worst possible way

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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#862

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

Haha, I just started listening and my initial response is the same. I'll give it a chance.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#863

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

This album is hilarious. I'm not certain yet whether it's meant to be.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#864

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

I've decided that hilarity is the clear intent. I haven't stopped laughing the whole time.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#865

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

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Seriously though, it's really funny and I think it's meant to be that kind of fun experience more than something taken entirely seriously. Based upon that perspective, I'll give it 3 stars. It achieves what it sets out to achieve (I think -- I could still be wrong).
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#866

Post by G-Man »

Alright, let's do this! For me, In a Million Years feels like a summer album- it's light, doesn't overstay its welcome, and has a very chill vibe. It's the kind of music you hear playing over road trip segments in a movie or on a TV show, or it's music you'd hear playing in the car or at a backyard party of twentysomethings. However, it's also an album that doesn't make much of a lasting impression.

As I said earlier, this album kind of sounds like The Strokes, had they borrowed all of the Hot Fuss overproduction from The Killers. In the end, Last Dinosaurs sound like a very good, generic indie rock band. Having been 17 when The Strokes debut album landed, I lived the indie rock/post-punk revival/garage rock revival tsunami through my senior year of college. As my musical tastes broadened backward in rock history, I had less time for current artists, who were quickly starting to sound the same. In a Million Years reminds me mostly of the good times of that era, though that sameness of sound does cause several tracks to blur into obscurity in my head.

The first three tracks were enough to keep me interested. I thought that "Zoom" was a terrific opener and set the tone for an easy-going listen. The guitars and snappy drums were delightful. The second track, "I Can't Help You," was adequate but fairly indie rock generic and showed that the band really likes to harmonize their vocals. Track three, "Sunday Night," was enough of a step up that I didn't feel like the album was losing momentum already. It didn't grip me like "Zoom" did but they can't all be winners, right? Track 4 was solid and evoked a poppy Strokes vibe, which I think kept me going.

The second half of the album largely ran together until the final two songs. "Repair" turned out to be my favorite song off the album (doesn't hurt to have a strong closer!) and "Honolulu" was a close second. I would pick "Zoom" as my third track to take with me, though I also really liked "Satellites." If I could arrange a samples for someone, I'd have "Zoom" play first, then "Honolulu," and then use "Satellites" as a pseudo-intro to "Repair." There's a beautiful, whimsical quality to "Repair" that made it memorable to me. The guitar (or is it bass?) that plays those descending notes throughout the song hearkens back to something I can't quite place. Maybe it's another song or a movie score. Either way, it's pretty and it stopped me dead in my tracks the first time I heard it.

Overall, I think the music tops the vocals. The music has a lot of promise but the vocals, to me, were very indie rock generic. These guys won't be able to sing that high forever, and you can only play this idealistic-sounding music for so long before it gets redundant or you're too old and it just sounds awkward. I'd be curious to find out if the band aspired for more on subsequent albums or if they are just the kind of young band that plays their young music for a few years and hangs it up as trends change. For a debut record in the current decade, it's pretty darn good. It may not be remembered but it could be the kind of album you re-discover years later and nod in nostalgic approval.

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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#867

Post by nutella »

Alright, listening to Original Sin. It sure is over the top, lol. Can't say it's not entertaining though. I liked the title track actually, and the dream about the mirrors XD Not a big fan of the few tracks in between those though. Right now I'm on "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and it's... yeah, over the top. But yeah JJJ was right, this is... an experience. Not my kind of thing really, I definitely agree with Trice that it's the pinnacle of bad 80s cheese, but a few bits of it have been enjoyable in a particular way.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#868

Post by nutella »

Alright, done. I'm giving it a... 1.5 or 2? I enjoyed the instrumental tracks and like two others, but for the most part this was too.... too.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#869

Post by G-Man »

For those unaware, the mastermind behind this album, Jim Steinman, was also the creative force behind Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album (and the first sequel). Steinman actually wrote several hit songs in the 80's and some in the 90's. That's how I approached this album- basically like an 80's quasi-chick rock version of Meat Loaf. It's tongue-in-cheek and unadulterated kitsch.

Meat Loaf actually covered a number of these songs in the 90's and "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" was a huge hit for Celine Dion when she covered it. I prefer her version, though the original is good. This is going to be a fun week. :D
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#870

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

That makes sense. One of my immediate thoughts was "this guy is Meat Loaf caliber cheesy. It has to be on purpose".
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#871

Post by G-Man »

As much fun as parts of this album are, I really don't like the cover of The Door's "Twentieth Century Fox." The original is a classic and the Pandora's Box version sounds like a fusion of Oingo Boingo's "Weird Science" and Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" in all the wrong ways.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#872

Post by triceratopzeuhl »

The meatloaf versions are considerably less awful

Also Safe Sex is probably the worst song ever written

I give it a 0.5, would rather listen to the field recordings album any day of the week
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#873

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

I actually regret awarding 3 stars for cheese novelty. I'll reduce that to 2.5.
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#874

Post by G-Man »

My 19-month old daughter was rocking out in the tub last night to "Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)." Does this make me a bad father?
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#875

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

Better that than "Safe Sex"
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#876

Post by G-Man »

Haha. Yeah, I told my wife about that song. She doesn't see how the line "there's no such thing as safe sex when it comes to loving you" can work in any context.

Here's the video for "It's All Coming Back To Me Now." Jim Steinman wrote the script for the video. It's been spoiler tagged because it's pretty :huh:
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Re: SAW [Week 14 - "Original Sin"]

#877

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

I wish to hear more reactions to this album.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#878

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

Week 15: The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#879

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

Also, it's time the prepare the queue for the next five album cycle. Get your submissions in unless you had one selected in the previous cycle. On Thursday I'll get a poll up so we can make our votes.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#880

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

Submissions:

nutella - Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs / 1997 / Vocal Jazz / 8 tracks / 42:42 / YouTube (nutella please verify) and Spotify

MovingPictures07 - Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun / 1987 / Neoclassical darkwave / 8 tracks / 38:43 / YouTube and Spotify

Golden - Corinne Bailey Rae - The Heart Speaks in Whispers (Deluxe) / 2016 / Neo-soul / 16 tracks / 75:32 / YouTube and Spotify

speedchuck - Toehider - What Kind of Creature Am I? / 2014 / Progressive rock/metal / 10 tracks / 51:45 / YouTube, Bandcamp, and Spotify

JaggedJimmyJay - CunninLynguists - A Piece of Strange / 2005 / Southern hip hop / 16 tracks / 54:19 / YouTube, Bandcamp, and Spotify

triceratopzeuhl - Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt / 1969 / Country/folk / 10 tracks / 34:33 / YouTube and Spotify

sprityo - Michael Guy Bowman - Mobius Trip and Hadron Kaleido / 2011 / Synthpop / 9 tracks / 39:21 / YouTube and Bandcamp

I've reverted to the prior-submitted albums for those who did not get selected last time. If you'd like to change your submission, just say so.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#881

Post by nutella »

Oh it's the Mountain Goats this week! This album I'm quite familiar with, has quite a few special tracks though I don't think I'd say it's my favorite of theirs -- though it's hard to say what is, with tMG I tend to have a scattered bunch of particular songs that I like/are important to me that are picked out from various albums. I'll go more in depth later about the somewhat unique context of my familiarity/interaction with Mountain Goats music :ninja:
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#882

Post by Ricochet »

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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#883

Post by Tangrowth »

Hey guys! Sorry I have gotten behind here, it's been hectic! I look forward to hearing Last Dinosaurs, Pandora's Box, and now The Mountain Goats, which are all new discoveries for me. Should be listening to them this week if not today. :D
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#884

Post by Tangrowth »

Also, I think I will change mine. Not feeling like submitting hip hop again this time, though I think I will try again in the future with perhaps a different album.

I would like to submit:

Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#885

Post by triceratopzeuhl »

I submit Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt (1969, folk/country)
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#886

Post by insertnamehere »

HAIL SATAN
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#887

Post by thellama73 »

Aw man, I missed talking about my own submission. Bummer. I'm amused to see that it was roundly hated though.

I'm back from traveling for a while, by the way.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#888

Post by G-Man »

thellama73 wrote: Sun Jun 25, 2017 6:06 pm Aw man, I missed talking about my own submission. Bummer. I'm amused to see that it was roundly hated though.

I'm back from traveling for a while, by the way.
I didn't hate it. I'll try to get my review up tonight.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#889

Post by thellama73 »

Also, ALl Hail West Texas is a great album by a great band. I love the lo-fi approach. It makes me feel like anyone could write a song, even me.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#890

Post by Tangrowth »

Morning, folks!

I actually found time for all three yesterday while I was working, and assigned my ratings as follows:

Last Dinosaurs - In a Million Years - 2.5
Pandora's Box - Original Sin - 1.5
The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas - 2.5

Last Dinosaurs was an interesting listen, and I must say it was refreshing with this (and all three of these even) to hear an artist I've never heard of before. Awesome to hear new things. :D But anyway, this album started out sort of solid but then quickly started becoming monotonous and headed towards slumpland with every song trying too hard to imitate the same general sound. I also tend to have issues really becoming emotionally attached or intrigued by indie rock in general, not sure why, so there's nothing particularly noteworthy to say about the band being significantly worse than others like Arcade Fire or such in that regard. For whatever reason most well-acclaimed indie rock acts get the "this is good, but not great" reaction out of me or "this is great, but not amazing" reaction at best. There are a few notable exceptions (namely Guided by Voices), but yeah. The whole general umbrella of lo-fi/indie rock/etc. can be very hit or miss for me (more on this for Mountain Goats).

Pandora's Box, well... it was interesting and bombastic at least. Just not my thing. I had a really hard time making it through most sections of the album, but it had its OK moments. Like Rico, I have a hard time not hearing how any artist could create such a work while taking him or herself seriously, but it's too tough to tell in this case.

The Mountain Goats, this was a disappointment for me. I have heard good things about them in the past but just never checked them out. What I heard pretty much continuously inspired a response of indifference. I had a hard time caring about any of the songs and they all just kind of went in one ear and out the other. Unlike other lo-fi bands that have been more successful to my ears like Guided by Voices, I don't remember what any of these songs sound like. Obviously I need to listen to it again, but I wasn't really impressed or unimpressed; I just didn't really think much of anything about any of the songs. I didn't particularly think the songwriting was noteworthy in any way positive or negative.

I will at least be revisiting The Mountain Goats later this week.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#891

Post by nutella »

If this wasn't your thing I would strongly recommend checking out some of the Mountain Goats' later stuff (Tallahassee, Sunset Tree, Heretic Pride, Transcendental Youth, etc.) I think a lot of their stronger material is in those albums.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#892

Post by Ricochet »

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Getting low with those rates, fellas. Do we need another quality batch of Jethro Tull to improve that?
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#893

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

I'm listening to The Mountain Goats now. Halfway through the album they seem pretty agreeable. The first thing I noticed was how similar to Neutral Milk Hotel they sound; I actually checked to see if there was any band member crossover (there isn't).
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#894

Post by JaggedJimmyJay »

I'm feeling pretty good about this one through one spin. 3.5
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#895

Post by Golden »

Darn, I'm so far behind. I keep thinking I'll be able to catch up and another week ticks by.

I am going to make a concerted effort to start this again next week, when my schedule begins to start clearing.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#896

Post by nutella »

@Rico, my Pandora's Box rating is 1.5 at most
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#897

Post by thellama73 »

Honestly, earlier Mountain Goats stuff is better, as it is rawer and has more of a sense of humor, but I like All Hail West Texas well enough.
Epignosis wrote:If llama is good, it means we exist in a universe in which multitasking llama can call out the first of two mafia while simultaneously calling out two civilians.

I don't want to live in that universe.
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#898

Post by G-Man »

For the next poll, I am nominating this gem:

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Album: Fun House
Artist: The Stooges
Released: July 7, 1970
Genre: Proto-Punk/Hard Rock
7 Tracks, 36:35
Available on Spotify and YouTube
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#899

Post by G-Man »

Catching up with my review for Pandora's Box...

As a fan of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album, I have an appreciation of Jim Steinman's work. The dude is flat-out weird as can be but he knows how to compose a rich, enveloping song. I don't know whether Steinman takes his work as seriously as a prog-rock band might or not. I suspect he is a touch ego-maniacal but what successful music industry person isn't?

I think the debate over whether Steinman treats his work as serious-business high art or tongue-in-cheek silliness misses the point. What cannot be debated is that Steinman is a very indulgent person. He strives for the biggest and best sound possible, even if it means wrapping lush orchestrations and over-the-top bravado around the crude and common subject matter of lust.

The first time I listened to Original Sin, I thought to myself, "Most of these songs would sound better with Meat Loaf at the helm." The more I listened to it, however, I was better able to ignore the cover versions that I was more familiar with and take Pandora's Box in as a project in its own right.

Maybe Steinman still had a grudge against Meat Loaf at the time. Maybe, as the internet suggests, Steinman switched gears to the all-female ensmble because Meat Loaf was having throat and voice issues when Original Sin was taking flight in Steinman's mind. Heck, maybe Steinman just wanted to avoid creating another stand-alone lead to overshadow his behind-the-scenes work. Whatever the underlying motives for this weird wet dream set to music, Steinman still does what he does best- he makes music that is fun to listen to.

The "first track" I lumped in with the title track. Track space is sacred. Don't give a 20-second intro its own track space! "Original Sin" is a potent opener. I love the chorus and the way the high and low vocals work together. The lyrics aren't too absurd and fit the vocals- that yearning and ferocity!

"Twentieth Century Fox" irked the crap out of me the first few times. In the end, it's still completely out of place and an inferior cover but the music grew on me and I became nothing more than indifferent to it. I'm not usually a lyric-focused listener (which probably helps me enjoy Steinman's bombast like I do), but "Safe Sex" took things too far. Despite an epiphany that told me that this was Steinman's attempt at a kinky James Bond theme (all the ingredients are there!), the song still just comes across as the kind of tune that would have featured in Fifty Shades of Grey had it been made in 1989.

So, yeah, Original Sin got off to a rocky start but it really does make up for it. I think tracks two and three lowered my expectations for the rest of the album and took me out of it the first few spins. But it grew on me in time. The songs that I know the covers of were still solid on this record.

Picking three songs off of this album was tough because I could take four or five. My favorite has to be "Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)." I know the Meat Loaf version well enough from Bat Out of Hell II, but I have to say that this original version is superior because of the range of the female vocalists. Second pick would be "Original Sin" because of its potency.

Third would be "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Celine Dion had me crushing on her in 1996 and that was THE dance song at just about every middle school social/dance back in the day. The Pandora's Box version pales in comparison to Dion's but it's still a very good song here. Steinman's creepy spoken-word lead-in tarnishes the overall impact of the tune but I can ignore his yammerings. I usually do.

At the end of the day, Original Sin is good, schlocky fun. It's the perfect kind of thing to pull from for drunken karaoke if there's no Meat Loaf to choose from. If Bat Out of Hell was Jim Steinman capturing lightning in a bottle with his unrelenting indulgence and refusal to walk back any of the raunch and cheese, Original Sin is an less-successful but still appreciable companion piece.

It may be inconsistent but it still put a smile on my face. I can't argue with that.

G-Man Scale: 3.46 out of 5
Rico Scale: 3.5 out of 5
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Re: SAW [Week 15 - "All Hail West Texas"]

#900

Post by thellama73 »

I should add that, while it would be inaccurate to call Steinman's work parody or pastiche, he certainly does have a sense of humor about his songs. Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere) is a Mae West quote. The Future Ain't What It Used to Be is a Yogi Bera quote. He is self-consciously over the top, but as he says "if you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side."

I'll also add that I loved Rico's review.
Epignosis wrote:If llama is good, it means we exist in a universe in which multitasking llama can call out the first of two mafia while simultaneously calling out two civilians.

I don't want to live in that universe.
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