The Syndicate

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 5:26 pm**

oh god no. I've barely listened to one or two. I'm also a nerdtraveller, so when I was in London last year, I put their Barbican live album on headphones while I visited that area. It was actually a pretty great album.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 5:29 pm**

I would karaoke much more often if anyone had B&S or Crowded House.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 5:32 pm**

I would rather die than karaoke, except if I'm Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Which I'm not. Or never will be.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 5:43 pm**

I hate going to karaoke bars, but I love singing. I'm talentless, but it always makes me feel good.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:36 pm**

Turnip Head wrote:
JaggedJimmyJay wrote: orgasmic climaxes

I love stories like that one Jay.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:44 pm**

Anyway, back to Sigur Ros, if you thought that was corny, wait till see below.

So ( ) is one of my island discs. Better yet one of my mountain discs - more on that in the next paragraph. I don't have many of them, but ( ) is definitely one of them. I doubt it was coup de foudre, but it doesn't even matter anymore. I have no recollection of it past the point in which it became one of my favourite albums ever. The only SR album I tend to be contrarian about is Ágætis byrjun. I think it's overrated and I think ( ) is a perfect evolution from it. The moment my strong connection with ( ) was established was when I identified it with themes that, for better or worse, are close to me: melancholia, loneliness, detachment, trance or, and here's where the last track really helps in a big way, catharsis. Incidentally, I prefer the paranthesis and untitled format to the alternative track names as well, because it inspires "lack of identity" or "outer body / outer concept" stuff. Of course, I have no background knowledge into what SR tried to express through this album and it doesn't matter. Music is ours to see something in it or give an interpretation to.

My strongest recollection of forming a bond with this album was one summer holiday, when I was younger and I went with my parents at a cabin belonging to one of my uncles, that he happily shared with us, up in the mountains - hi, if you skipped the earlier paragraph all the way here. I don't remember being in my finest state at that time, but that's not actually my point. What I distinctly remember is that, as we drove up to the cabin and I played the album, the music suddenly clicked to me. The vocals, the harmonies, the minimal loop-like themes - they're all fairly volatile and ephemeral per se, but in my subconcious they lit everything on fire.

Then, at the cabin, an even greater moment, probably the defining one for me, happened one evening. JJJ spoke to us, using a different song from a different album, of the sun. I'd like to speak to you of the dusk. Because I listened to the entire ( ) whilst sitting outside in the garden, quite alone, lying in the grass or walking around and watching the sun fade behind a prominent hill, full of trees, to my right. One visual reference I could use in support of this is Ulver's Bergtatt cover (which, incidentally, I like way more than I should ever admit in public). Anyway, the view was stunning, the sunset was gorgeous and slow and entrancing, my emotions were both still and trembling, I was both at piece and drifting. Together with the music it was the perfect synthesis.

What for some may constitute boring in ( ), it is unity for me, although Untitled #8 also plays a key part in (finally?) offering some heavy contrast. Its build up and climax I would moreover associate with (musical/artistic) celebration (and, as I've said two paragraphs earlier, sheer catharsis). In the Heima DVD, they film it played at a concert, out on a field, with both fans and simple people gathering to listen to them, and it's quite the perfect message. Togetherness.

I feel the need to add that, 10 months ago when someone decided to depart and leave me rather lone in whatever is in store in life, ( ) was among five albums I could muster to listen to after that day of departure. I associated them with the five stages. ( ) stood for Depression. Again, it's not exactly medicine, but I have the tendency to embrace and amplify my moods, especially via musical sources.

---

Also, back on that cabin holiday, I swear I remember listening to Godspeed's Lift Yr Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven on another evening and the neighbours started a bonfire that ended up, like, 3 meters tall, while I was hearing chants of destruction and displeasure in my ears. I don't even.

Speaking of

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
F♯ A♯ ∞

'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
Yanqui U.X.O.

'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress'

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:06 pm**

It's funny you say that, Jay, I had a similar initial issue with Sigur Rós way back when, then suddenly they clicked BIG TIME for me when I tried listening to ( ) again on a whim.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:07 pm**

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Who wants to join me in doing a Frank Zappa rainbow list including all live, studio, compilation, collaberation, xenochronic, posthumous, EP, cover, arranged, conducted, bootleg, remastered, rereleased, unofficial, and contributed albums?

Me! Me!

This will take a lot of thought though, which I'm not currently capable of.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:08 pm**

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I would karaoke much more often if anyone had B&S or Crowded House.

Both great bands from my experience, but I'm not familiar enough with all of their output to rainbow them, since I've only heard a couple of albums from each.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:19 pm**

MovingPictures07 wrote:
Metalmarsh89 wrote:Who wants to join me in doing a Frank Zappa rainbow list including all live, studio, compilation, collaberation, xenochronic, posthumous, EP, cover, arranged, conducted, bootleg, remastered, rereleased, unofficial, and contributed albums?
Me! Me!

This will take a lot of thought though, which I'm not currently capable of.

Here is a Frank Zappa quiz to see if you can name all of the albums. I made it a couple years ago. :P

Yes, there are currently 141 of them (that I know of).

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:25 pm**

Nice story, Rico.

Posted: **Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:26 pm**

Metalmarsh89 wrote:
MovingPictures07 wrote:
Metalmarsh89 wrote:Who wants to join me in doing a Frank Zappa rainbow list including all live, studio, compilation, collaberation, xenochronic, posthumous, EP, cover, arranged, conducted, bootleg, remastered, rereleased, unofficial, and contributed albums?
Me! Me!

This will take a lot of thought though, which I'm not currently capable of.
Here is a Frank Zappa quiz to see if you can name all of the albums. I made it a couple years ago. :P

Yes, there are currently 141 of them (that I know of).

You've showed me this before! I can't remember what my score was though.

Posted: **Wed Mar 16, 2016 2:10 am**

Agaetis byrjun is one of my all-time favorite albums. I honestly cannot express in words how much I love every bit of that album. To me it is perfect. Absolutely some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I could never get tired of it.

I also like Takk and Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (what a cumbersome title). I guess I appreciate ( ) but it just doesn't stand out to me in the shadow of Agaetis Byrjun, and it gets kinda repetitive.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I think "Ísjaki" is the remarkable high of Kveikur, it's probably my second favorite track of theirs behind only "Viðrar vel til loftárása". Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust feels like a bloated caricature of Sigur Rós to me. "Ára Bátur" for example seems to follow the most typical Sigur Rós formula and it actually makes me laugh.

Heck yeah I love Ísjaki. That and Rafstraumur are the highlights from Kveikur imo.

Posted: **Wed Mar 16, 2016 7:04 am**

nutella wrote:Agaetis byrjun is one of my all-time favorite albums. I honestly cannot express in words how much I love every bit of that album.

I cannot express in words even what the actual name of the album is.

Posted: **Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:53 pm**

Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles!

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Revolver

Abbey Road
A Hard Day's Night
Please Please Me

Magical Mystery Tour
Help!
Rubber Soul
The Beatles (White Album)

Beatles for Sale
Let It Be
With the Beatles

Yellow Submarine

And here's Pink Floyd and The Beatles ranked together:

Spoiler: show

Next week I'll tackle the Rolling Stones.

Posted: **Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:31 pm**

Hey everyone, let's do my favorite band, Nurse With Wound!

Spiral Insana
Shipwreck Radio Vol. 1
The Memory Surface
Lofoten Deadhead
Gulls Just Wanna Have Fun
Man With the Woman Face
Sylvie and Babs Hi-Fi Companion
Surveillance Lounge
Merzbild Schwet
Homotopy to Marie
A Sucked Orange
Scrag
Solilloquy For Lillith
Shipwreck Radio Vol. 2
Gylleskold
Exctotoxicity
Alice the Goon
Thunder Perfect Mind
Cabbalism
Parade
Automating Volume 3
Creakiness and other Misdemeanors
Chromonatron
Diploid
Crumb Duck
Insect and Individual Silenced
Salt Marie Celeste
Echo Poem Sequence 2
Mutation
Live at Bar Maldoror
Rat Tapes One
Disconnected
Space Music
Ød Lot
Soundpooling
May the Fleas of a Thousand Camels Infest Your Armpits
Stereo Wastelands
Shipwreck Radio Final Broadcasts
Drunk With the Old Man of the Mountains
The Iron Soul of Nothing
Lumb's Sister
Terms and Conditions Apply
Angry Eelectric Finger Zero Mix
Angry Eelectric Finger Spitch'cock One
Angry Eelectric Finger 1
Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella
Erroneous: a Selection of Errors
Large Ladies with Cake in the Oven
Paranoia in Hi-Fi
An Awkward Pause
Huffin' Rag Blues
Second Pirate Session
Chance Meeting Between a Defective Tape Machine and a Migraine
Rupture
She and Me Fall Together in Free Death
Rock 'n Roll Station

Posted: **Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:32 pm**

I feel like I have more NWW albums than that. Maybe I missed some. Oh well.

Posted: **Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:36 pm**

Uh oh. G-Man is combining things. Soon it's going to compel me to do a single rainbow rank of 'everything on my ipod'.

Posted: **Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:51 pm**

Golden wrote:Uh oh. G-Man is combining things. Soon it's going to compel me to do a single rainbow rank of 'everything on my ipod'.

I wonder how long it will take for me to hit the posting character limit.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:38 am**

Relistened to Kveikur today. Now that the 2013 (#omgthatwasthreeyearsagoI'msooldanddyiiiing) new album letdown effect wore off, I find it respectable, but still weaker than the rest. Brennisteinn still burns and I can sort of see why Ísjaki would stick out as memorable, although I can also get nitpicky with it (like some counterpoint instrumentation and stuff). The rest still wears off with the echo, methinks, except for maybe Stormur, in which in regular music would count as balls-grabbed awkward falsetto, but since it's Nordic-with-a-bit-of-folksy-yearning-feel-to-it Sigur Ros, I guess that makes it better. Some of the last tracks really have a pop vibe overall that doesn't even resemble SR's core groove.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:32 pm**

I get to see Magma in concert this Sunday in Austin (something I never thought would ever happen). I haven't listened to them much in a while, but today starts my marathon in anticipation, so I think I'll be shooting up a Magma rainbow at some point this week. So Magma fans, I'm intrigued to see what your rainbows would look like. I need to relisten before even thinking about my rainbow though, because it's been a few years now since I listened to them religiously.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2016 3:14 pm**

I am not much of a Magma fan, but that's pretty damn cool.

Posted: **Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:24 am**

MovingPictures07 wrote:I get to see Magma in concert this Sunday in Austin (something I never thought would ever happen). I haven't listened to them much in a while, but today starts my marathon in anticipation, so I think I'll be shooting up a Magma rainbow at some point this week. So Magma fans, I'm intrigued to see what your rainbows would look like. I need to relisten before even thinking about my rainbow though, because it's been a few years now since I listened to them religiously.

Hmm I would roughly say - I don't remember how half of this stuff sounds. My top 3-5 is solid, though.

Polo definitely needs to come reply to this.

K.A (Köhntarkösz Anteria)
Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
Theusz Hamtaahk - Trilogie

Köhntarkösz

Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê
Hhaï_Live
Retrospektïw I-II

Attahk
Retrospektïw III
Magma-Kobaïa
Üdü Wüdü

Christian Vander - Wurdah Ïtah
Riah Sahiltaahk

1001° Centigrades
Félicité Thösz

Merci

Not gonna rank the Akts, some are awful, some are ok.

Posted: **Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:07 am**

Ricochet wrote: Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
F♯ A♯ ∞

'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
Yanqui U.X.O.

'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress'

Mine:
F♯ A♯ ∞
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada

Yanqui U.X.O.
'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress'

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:03 pm**

Magma

Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh

Theusz Hamtaahk - Trilogie
K.A (Köhntarkösz Anteria)
Köhntarkösz

Hhaï_Live
Attahk
Üdü Wüdü

1001° Centigrades
Magma-Kobaïa
Christian Vander - Wurdah Ïtah
Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê

Retrospektïw I-II
Félicité Thösz

Retrospektïw III

Merci

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:55 pm**

In remembrance of the recently deceased Phife Dawg, and because A Tribe Called Quest not only produced one of my "desert island albums" but also remains my all-time favorite hip hop group, here's a ATCQ rainbow.

A Tribe Called Quest

The Low End Theory

Midnight Marauders
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

Beats, Rhyme, & Life
The Love Movement

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2016 6:41 pm**

I only TLET and MM and they're both great, but I still have to develop a real bond* with the 90s West Coast, the way I've been fukin with some of today's artists.

*err by that I mean immerse myself, it's not like I can actually form a "real" bond with that gen's music and statements

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2016 7:50 pm**

MovingPictures07 wrote:A Tribe Called Quest

The Low End Theory

Midnight Marauders
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

Beats, Rhyme, & Life
The Love Movement

Mine is the same except I'd probably give The Love Movement an uglier color. RIP Phife.

Posted: **Wed Mar 23, 2016 7:52 pm**

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:
MovingPictures07 wrote:A Tribe Called Quest

The Low End Theory

Midnight Marauders
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

Beats, Rhyme, & Life
The Love Movement
Mine is the same except I'd probably give The Love Movement an uglier color. RIP Phife.

Understandably, it's definitely the worst one; I have a soft spot for it though. All of their material is so good.

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:19 pm**

K.A

Retrospektiw I-II
Köhntarkösz

Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré
MDK
Zühn Wöhl Ünsaï

Slag Tanz
Attahk
Udu Wudu
1001º Centigrades and the Riah Sahiltaahk re-recording
Live/Hhaï

Kobaïa (debut)
Merci

Félicité Thosz

None of these recordings ever came close to topping the only Magma show I've been to, at the LGW? Festival in the Netherlands last year which I attended with the missus. We were two to three feet from the middle of the stage and Zebehn Straihn de Geustaah played like a goddamn monster. God bless that mad, mad man.

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:20 pm**

Polo wrote:K.A

Retrospektiw I-II
Köhntarkösz

Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré
MDK
Zühn Wöhl Ünsaï

Slag Tanz
Attahk
Udu Wudu
1001º Centigrades and the Riah Sahiltaahk re-recording
Live/Hhaï

Kobaïa (debut)
Merci

Félicité Thosz

None of these recordings ever came close to topping the only Magma show I've been to, at the LGW? Festival in the Netherlands last year which I attended with the missus. We were two to three feet from the middle of the stage and Zebehn Straihn de Geustaah played like a goddamn monster. God bless that mad, mad man.

I don't understand a damn thing those people say. I don't speak French.

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:25 pm**

Aw hell yöss K.A. supreme.

What's "Zühn Wöhl Ünsaï"?

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2016 6:50 pm**

It's a really nicely recorded live session they did for Radio Bremen back in '74. The tapes went around the interwebs for years until the band decided to remaster them and release them officialy. The drums themselves sound particularly amazing, with stellar clarity; you can hear every ghost note clearly.

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:20 pm**

Polo wrote:It's a really nicely recorded live session they did for Radio Bremen back in '74. The tapes went around the interwebs for years until the band decided to remaster them and release them officialy. The drums themselves sound particularly amazing, with stellar clarity; you can hear every ghost note clearly.

Sounds like I need to get this.

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2016 7:54 pm**

Keep in mind that Blasquiz' voice sucks butts on that album, but the rest is magnificent. Especially Top's solo on Sowiloi (KMX-B12).

Posted: **Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:37 pm**

It took longer than expected but here is my rainbow ranking for The Rolling Stones. I had never listened to a full album of theirs before, so some songs/albums took a few listens to sort out.

Let It Bleed

Beggars Banquet
Between the Buttons (US)
Sticky Fingers
Exile on Main Street

Some Girls
Aftermath (US)
Goats Head Soup
December's Children (And Everybody's)
It's Only Rock 'n Roll

Dirty Work
Black and Blue
Out of Our Heads (US)
The Rolling Stones, Now!
The Rolling Stones No. 2
12 x 5
The Rolling Stones- England's Newest Hit Makers
Tattoo You
Voodoo Lounge
Emotional Rescue
A Bigger Bang

Undercover
Bridges to Babylon
Steel Wheels
Their Satanic Majesties Request

And now for the combined list- Beatles, Floyd, & Stones

Spoiler: show

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band- THE BEATLES (1967)
Revolver- THE BEATLES (1966)
The Dark Side of the Moon- PINK FLOYD (1973)
Let It Bleed- THE ROLLING STONES (1969)

Abbey Road- THE BEATLES (1969)
Wish You Were Here- PINK FLOYD (1975)
Beggars Banquet- THE ROLLING STONES (1967)
Between the Buttons (US)- THE ROLLING STONES (1967)
Sticky Fingers- THE ROLLING STONES (1971)
A Hard Day's Night- THE BEATLES (1964)
Exile on Main Street- THE ROLLING STONES (1972)
Please Please Me- THE BEATLES (1963)

Some Girls- THE ROLLING STONES (1978)
Magical Mystery Tour- THE BEATLES (1967)
Aftermath (US)- THE ROLLING STONES (1966)
Help!- THE BEATLES (1965)
Rubber Soul- THE BEATLES (1965)
The Beatles (White Album)- THE BEATLES (1968)
A Saucerful of Secrets- PINK FLOYD (1968)
Goats Head Soup- THE ROLLING STONES (1973)
December's Children (And Everybody's)- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
It's Only Rock 'n Roll- THE ROLLING STONES (1974)
The Wall- PINK FLOYD (1979)
Meddle- PINK FLOYD (1971)

Beatles for Sale- THE BEATLES (1964)
Dirty Work- THE ROLLING STONES (1986)
Let It Be- THE BEATLES (1970)
Black and Blue- THE ROLLING STONES (1976)
The Rolling Stones No. 2- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
The Rolling Stones, Now!- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
Out of Our Heads (US)- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
The Rolling Stones- England's Newest Hit Makers- THE ROLLING STONES (1964)
12 x 5- THE ROLLING STONES (1964)
With the Beatles- THE BEATLES (1963)
Tattoo You- THE ROLLING STONES (1981)
Voodoo Lounge- THE ROLLING STONES (1994)
Ummagumma (Live Tracks)- PINK FLOYD (1969)
Emotional Rescue- THE ROLLING STONES (1980)
A Bigger Bang- THE ROLLING STONES (2005)

Undercover- THE ROLLING STONES (1983)
Bridges to Babylon- THE ROLLING STONES (1997)
Steel Wheels- THE ROLLING STONES (1989)
Their Satanic Majesties Request- THE ROLLING STONES (1967)
Yellow Submarine- THE BEATLES (1969)

Obscured by Clouds- PINK FLOYD (1972)
Animals- PINK FLOYD (1977)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason- PINK FLOYD (1987)
Atom Heart Mother- PINK FLOYD (1970)
Ummagumma (Combined)- PINK FLOYD (1969)
The Division Bell- PINK FLOYD (1994)
More- PINK FLOYD (1969)

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn- PINK FLOYD (1967)
The Endless River- PINK FLOYD (2014)
The Final Cut- PINK FLOYD (1983)

Ummagumma (Studio Tracks)- PINK FLOYD (1969)

I'm not sure who I will do next. It might be The Who or The Yardbirds. I'm using the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list to guide me through he evolution of rock/popular music in some form of chronological order. Pink Floyd was first and technically out of order but oh well.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:59 am**

Polo wrote:Keep in mind that Blasquiz' voice sucks butts on that album, but the rest is magnificent. Especially Top's solo on Sowiloi (KMX-B12).

Good to know.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 12:59 am**

Loving the combined list, G-Man. Can't wait to see more!

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 1:05 am**

How about some LCD Soundsystem due to their unexpected reunion? And maybe some other electronic artists?

LCD Soundsystem

Sound of Silver

This Is Happening

LCD Soundsystem

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kraftwerk

Trans-Europe Express
Radioactivity
The Man Machine

Computer World
Autobahn
Minimum Maximum
Electric Cafe

Tour de France
The Mix

Kraftwerk 2
Ralf und Florian
Kraftwerk

I'll do some other electronic artists later. There's those two at least. I'm a Kraftwerk fanboy, if you couldn't tell, and think LCD Soundsystem is pretty amazing as well. Always been a huge electronic fan.

Maybe if I'm crazy enough I'll try Tangerine Dream later.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:08 pm**

MovingPictures07 wrote: Kraftwerk

Trans-Europe Express
Radioactivity
The Man Machine

Computer World
Autobahn
Minimum Maximum
Electric Cafe

Tour de France
The Mix

Kraftwerk 2
Ralf und Florian
Kraftwerk

I can do Kraftwerk too, although I don't have all their albums, I at least have one that MP doesn't.

Radioactivity
The Man Machine

Trans-Europe Express
Autobahn

Ralf and Florian

Organisation

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:02 pm**

I can thank bea for turning me on to Kraftwerk.

Posted: **Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:42 pm**

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:The Rush albums I've heard:

Permanent Waves

Moving Pictures
Snakes and Arrows

2112
A Farewell to Kings

Hemispheres

My ranking would be literally the exact opposite, minus Snakes and Arrows since I haven't heard it yet.

Posted: **Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:45 am**

Since they're one of my favorite bands of all time and I've been on a kick lately (part in thanks to Rico's inclusion of Bela Fleck in his E.S.T. game, props Rico).

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Live Art

Live at the Quick
UFO Tofu

Rocket Science
Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
Jingle All the Way
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
The Hidden World

Little Worlds
Outbound
Left of Cool

I generally am not a fan of listening to recorded live material, but the Flecktones are an exception to that rule. And as much as I'm a fanboy, they don't exactly have ridiculously solid studio albums, despite (1) the fact that I historically and presently listen to them pretty regularly, more than most bands, and (2) how amazing they are just in general and in a live setting. I just couldn't justify very high album placement even though I extremely enjoy them.

Posted: **Tue Apr 05, 2016 6:11 pm**

I should have my next rainbow ranking ready for you guys tomorrow or Thursday. I'm working my way through the years in a vague, chronological way and picked The Beach Boys as my next band. All their albums are on YouTube, so I've been working my way through 29 albums and an EP.

The second half of their career has been difficult to get through to say the least.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2016 9:21 am**

Okay, here we go with my rainbow rankings for The Beach Boys' albums. I picked them because their first album came out before the British Invasion and they've always been some kind of assumed American institution. I was surprised at not only how many albums they recorded (29 plus as EP that came with an album) but also by how unremarkable many of them were. Even in their heyday, their albums seemed stuffed with filler and covers that pale in comparison to the originals.

Pet Sounds is held up by music critics and audiophiles as this amazing, near perfect album. I remember hating most of it the first time I listened to it. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is devastatingly beautiful and all but I just don't notice the kinds of things that music snobs rave over with the album. It's one of their best, but it didn't even reach either blue category for me.

Oddly enough, the only Beach Boys album to hit the blue categories was their Christmas album. I have this policy about not listening to Christmas music outside of Christmastime, so good job Beach Boys, you made me violate my standards.

After Pet Sounds, it got rough. A few gems here and there but it mostly teetered back and forth between relying on the same old kitschy girls-surfing-cars tunes, which were beyond tired by then, or they tried to be too different with their sound and got to socially conscious with their lyrics (a major pet peeve of mine). Basically, they never figured out how to find a way to adapt their sound to their age through much of the 70s and 80s. They tried changing it but adapting works better.

Anywho, here's the list:

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album

The Beach Boys Today!
Pet Sounds
Surfer Girl
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!)
Surfin' U.S.A.
All Summer Long

Beach Boys' Party!
Love You
Sunflower
Little Deuce Coupe
Wild Honey
Shut Down Volume 2
Surfin' Safari
That's Why God Made the Radio

M.I.U. Album
Smiley Smile
20/20
Still Cruisin'
Carl and the Passions - "So Tough"

15 Big Ones
Stars and Stripes Vol. 1
Surf's Up
Holland
Friends

Keepin' the Summer Alive
L.A. (Light Album)
The Beach Boys
Summer in Paradise

Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale) [EP]

And now the combined monstrosity:

Spoiler: show

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band- THE BEATLES (1967)
Revolver- THE BEATLES (1966)
The Dark Side of the Moon- PINK FLOYD (1973)
Let It Bleed- THE ROLLING STONES (1969)

Abbey Road- THE BEATLES (1969)
Wish You Were Here- PINK FLOYD (1975)
Beggars Banquet- THE ROLLING STONES (1967)
Between the Buttons (US)- THE ROLLING STONES (1967)
Sticky Fingers- THE ROLLING STONES (1971)
The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album- THE BEACH BOYS (1964)
A Hard Day's Night- THE BEATLES (1964)
Exile on Main Street- THE ROLLING STONES (1972)
Please Please Me- THE BEATLES (1963)

Some Girls- THE ROLLING STONES (1978)
Magical Mystery Tour- THE BEATLES (1967)
Aftermath (US)- THE ROLLING STONES (1966)
The Beach Boys Today!- THE BEACH BOYS (1965)
Pet Sounds- THE BEACH BOYS (1966)
Help!- THE BEATLES (1965)
Rubber Soul- THE BEATLES (1965)
The Beatles (White Album)- THE BEATLES (1968)
Surfer Girl- THE BEACH BOYS (1963)
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!)- THE BEACH BOYS (1965)
A Saucerful of Secrets- PINK FLOYD (1968)
Goats Head Soup- THE ROLLING STONES (1973)
Surfin’ U.S.A.- THE BEACH BOYS (1963)
December's Children (And Everybody's)- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
It's Only Rock 'n Roll- THE ROLLING STONES (1974)
All Summer Long- THE BEACH BOYS (1964)
The Wall- PINK FLOYD (1979)
Meddle- PINK FLOYD (1971)

Beatles for Sale- THE BEATLES (1964)
Dirty Work- THE ROLLING STONES (1986)
Let It Be- THE BEATLES (1970)
Black and Blue- THE ROLLING STONES (1976)
Beach Boys Party!- THE BEACH BOYS (1965)
Love You- THE BEACH BOYS (1977)
The Rolling Stones No. 2- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
The Rolling Stones, Now!- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
Out of Our Heads (US)- THE ROLLING STONES (1965)
Sunflower- THE BEACH BOYS (1970)
The Rolling Stones- England's Newest Hit Makers- THE ROLLING STONES (1964)
12 x 5- THE ROLLING STONES (1964)
Little Deuce Coupe- THE BEACH BOYS (1963)
With the Beatles- THE BEATLES (1963)
Tattoo You- THE ROLLING STONES (1981)
Wild Honey- THE BEACH BOYS (1967)
Voodoo Lounge- THE ROLLING STONES (1994)
Ummagumma (Live Tracks)- PINK FLOYD (1969)
Emotional Rescue- THE ROLLING STONES (1980)
A Bigger Bang- THE ROLLING STONES (2005)
Shut Down Volume 2- THE BEACH BOYS (1964)
Surfin’ Safari- THE BEACH BOYS (1962)
That’s Why God Made the Radio- THE BEACH BOYS (2012)

Undercover- THE ROLLING STONES (1983)
Bridges to Babylon- THE ROLLING STONES (1997)
M.I.U. Album- THE BEACH BOYS (1978)
Steel Wheels- THE ROLLING STONES (1989)
Smiley Smile- THE BEACH BOYS (1967)
20/20- THE BEACH BOYS (1969)
Still Cruisin’- THE BEACH BOYS (1989)
Carl and the Passions- “So Tough”- THE BEACH BOYS (1972)
Their Satanic Majesties Request- THE ROLLING STONES (1967)
Yellow Submarine- THE BEATLES (1969)

Obscured by Clouds- PINK FLOYD (1972)
Animals- PINK FLOYD (1977)
15 Big Ones- THE BEACH BOYS (1976)
Stars and Stripes Vol. 1- THE BEACH BOYS (1996)
Surf’s Up- THE BEACH BOYS (1971)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason- PINK FLOYD (1987)
Holland- THE BEACH BOYS (1973)
Atom Heart Mother- PINK FLOYD (1970)
Ummagumma (Combined)- PINK FLOYD (1969)
Friends- THE BEACH BOYS (1968)
The Division Bell- PINK FLOYD (1994)
More- PINK FLOYD (1969)

Keepin’ the Summer Alive- THE BEACH BOYS (1980)
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn- PINK FLOYD (1967)
The Endless River- PINK FLOYD (2014)
L.A. (Light Album)- THE BEACH BOYS (1979)
The Beach Boys- THE BEACH BOYS (1985)
Summer in Paradise- THE BEACH BOYS (1992)
The Final Cut- PINK FLOYD (1983)

Mount Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale)- THE BEACH BOYS (1973)
Ummagumma (Studio Tracks)- PINK FLOYD (1969)

Not sure where I'm going to next. I was thinking about Bob Dylan, since he started out in the early 60s but I think I need to rock out a little bit. Maybe something like Muddy Waters, The Animals, or The Kinks.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2016 5:06 pm**

I should do the Kinks, since I have everything of theirs up through Everybody's in Show Business.

But how is Smiley Smile not higher on your list? That album is so weird and amazing.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2016 6:31 pm**

How is the Beach Boys Christmas Album higher on your overall than the White Album?

That's a rhetorical question,obviously. Taste in music, film, everything, really, is intensely personal.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2016 7:26 pm**

S~V~S wrote:How is the Beach Boys Christmas Album higher on your overall than the White Album?

That's a rhetorical question,obviously. Taste in music, film, everything, really, is intensely personal.

I rate each track from 0 to 1 using a quarter-point scale. 0 are songs I hate and never care to hear again. A .25 song may have something going for it but there's something more potent in it that makes me say 'no thanks.' A .50 song is one that is adequate enough for me to listen to casually but I may be willing to switch stations for a better tune. A .75 song is a really good song that I can get into and I most likely not turn it off if I came across it on the radio. A 1-point song envelopes me in its awesomness and I will almost never turn it off mid-song.

It's a very imperfect system, grading an album solely by the sum of its parts and several albums are actually tied on my combined list but you cant see the actual scores. I'm finding that shorter albums have an advantage if they contains some 1's and .75's. The more tracks on an album, the more likely you are to have a few .5's or worse, which drags down the overall score. It's creatting some interesting results for even myself but I wanted a simple system, unlike my movie rating system.

As for the White Album, the second half of that double album starts to falter a bit. The first half is great and I listen to it on a semi-regular basis. The Christmas album only had 12 tracks and many were quite good. I'd easily listen to White Album again before the Christmas Album but the scores don't show that.

As for Smiley Smile, I listened to it once and don't remember it now but they had some real lame-o stuff after Pet Sounds. I have very populist musical tastes for the most part but I have some eccentricities. It'll probably take a while to reach them though.

Posted: **Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:28 am**

Ok, time to put this one to bed. I almost relistened to every single album, during the game I hosted, except for Strange Place for Snow, Seven Days of Falling (had to skim it real quick in order to write Silverwolf's death post), Tuesday Wonderland (MM never got close to dying

) and Live in Hamburg (already knew what to write, from my trip to Hamburg last year).

Esbjörn Svensson Trio

Leucocyte

Viaticum
Live in Hamburg
Tuesday Wonderland
Seven Days of Falling

Strange Place for Snow
Good Morning Susie Soho
Winter in Venice

From Gagarin's Point of View
301
When Everyone Has Gone

Live '95
Plays Monk

Posted: **Sun Apr 10, 2016 11:07 am**

Pet Sounds is clearly a dark blue affair.

The Syndicate

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