The Syndicate

Fine by me.

I say stick to how the poll will turn out. Right now, he's slotted to be listened two or three weeks from now, anyway.

Rico yelled at me so now I'm doing this

Rico is an authoritarian recruiter. Welcome to SAW, Quin, where we say things about music and pretend to know what we're talking about.

Some of us pretend harder than others.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:Rico is an authoritarian recruiter. Welcome to SAW, Quin, where we say things about music and pretend to know what we're talking about.

what is a song

Quin wrote:

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:Rico is an authoritarian recruiter. Welcome to SAW, Quin, where we say things about music and pretend to know what we're talking about.

what is a song

an old, old wooden ship

I really wanted to hear Rico review Jethro Tull - I guess I should have voted. Next time.

juliets wrote:I really wanted to hear Rico review Jethro Tull - I guess I should have voted. Next time.

I really want to hear rico review my submission. One day!

I think the anxiety of Rico reviewing my submission would make me sick, lol. I would worry so over being judged by that amazing voice (I could listen to Rico talk forever, so long as he isn't talking about me), lol. I don't know if I could stand the disdain.

Golden wrote:

juliets wrote:I really wanted to hear Rico review Jethro Tull - I guess I should have voted. Next time.

I really want to hear rico review my submission. One day!

What was your submission? I'll vote for it next time as well. I think everyone should get one album reviewed.

S~V~S wrote:I think the anxiety of Rico reviewing my submission would make me sick, lol. I would worry so over being judged by that amazing voice (I could listen to Rico talk forever, so long as he isn't talking about me), lol. I don't know if I could stand the disdain.

I listen to his reviews even when I haven't heard the album.

juliets wrote:

Golden wrote:

juliets wrote:I really wanted to hear Rico review Jethro Tull - I guess I should have voted. Next time.

I really want to hear rico review my submission. One day!

What was your submission? I'll vote for it next time as well. I think everyone should get one album reviewed.

Corinne Bailey Rae.

I think the fact is my musical tastes are a long way removed from most people on this site. I don't think that's a bad thing for the purposes of this experiment, though.

juliets wrote:I really wanted to hear Rico review Jethro Tull - I guess I should have voted. Next time.

I think you can still vote, juliets?

Do you have a lastfm page Golden? I'd be interested in seeing what else you listen to.

I voted for yours this time at least. Not sure how much I'd like it, but I feel like the point of this thread is to get exposed to and to appreciate various genres one wouldn't typically go for, and I have been trying to diversify my taste recently anyway. I do love Janelle Monáe though and she's considered neo-soul, is she similar?

Yes! Janelle monae I love as well, i think she's the closest match! She's a little more experimental. CBR is more retro in a way, it's neo soul but it's not so far removed from original soul.

I've heard one of CBR's other albums and enjoyed it a lot. She's a very easy listen.

I don't have lastfm. Truth be told music has never been a defining experience for me, except some classical works. I don't even know what lastfm is!

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I've heard one of CBR's other albums and enjoyed it a lot. She's a very easy listen.

Which one? Her albums are all very much defined by her life stage, so it was hard to pick which to go for.

Golden wrote:

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I've heard one of CBR's other albums and enjoyed it a lot. She's a very easy listen.

Which one? Her albums are all very much defined by her life stage, so it was hard to pick which to go for.

Actually now that I look I have heard two. Her self-titled album and The Sea. The former I preferred, though I don't think I heard the latter more than once.

Our next queue:

6. G-Man - Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Is on Top / 1959 / Rock and roll / 12 tracks / 29:26 / (YouTube Playlist- Listen to the first six tracks (through Johnny B Goode), then listen to this solo track (Little Queenie), then resume the playlist.), available on Spotify
7. JJJ - Crowded House - Woodface / 1991 / Rock-oriented pop / 14 tracks / 48:03 / available on YouTube and Spotify
8. triceratopzheul - The Kinks - Arthur / 1969 / Rock-oriented pop / 12 tracks / 48:43 / available on YouTube
9. A Person - Vanessa Rossetto - Whole Stories / 2014 / Field recordings/Musique concrète / 2 tracks / 39:39 / available on Bandcamp
10. Marmot - deadmau5 - > album title goes here < / 2012 / House / 13 tracks / 79:53 / available on YouTube

The order was chosen as follows (all of them had 8 votes):

~ Chuck Berry gets a bump in honor of his passing.
~ The other four are in order of submission this week.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:

Golden wrote:

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I've heard one of CBR's other albums and enjoyed it a lot. She's a very easy listen.

Which one? Her albums are all very much defined by her life stage, so it was hard to pick which to go for.

Actually now that I look I have heard two. Her self-titled album and The Sea. The former I preferred, though I don't think I heard the latter more than once.

The latter was composed in the wake of her husband dying by overdose, and has to be heard in that context. I think it's the most complete as an album, but not nearly so fun. The first was fun and breezy. The second was lush but melancholic.

Nutellas going to love it I think. I think some others may be surprised.

Linki - well damn. I thought one of the prog rock albums would make it! I think my first three choices are the three that missed out lol.

Thanks again llama for the fun submission and closing our first queue on a high note. Moving on:

On that note, I only had a chance to listen to Arthur brown once, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. I love the entire vibe, the organs, the theatrical flair. I'd listen again, and I will this week to develop more detailed thoughts if I get the chance. I agree with llama's take on 'I put a spell on you', it was superb.

I'll give it a solid three and a half stars, and there's a chance it goes up on a relisten, but for now I couldn't put it above Beneath the Brine, which despite its flaws I felt was my favourite experience of the set of five (but, I had a chance to listen to it more than once).

Golden wrote:The latter was composed in the wake of her husband dying by overdose, and has to be heard in that context. I think it's the most complete as an album, but not nearly so fun. The first was fun and breezy. The second was lush but melancholic.

That's good to know. Contextual details like that can often make all the difference. Crowded House's first comeback album seemed somewhat panned, for example, because [I don't think] it was being viewed in the proper context of what inspired it (similar tragedy).

Rankings so far

1) Beneath the Brine - the Family Crest - 7/10
2) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Arthur Brown - 7/10
3) 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare - Fishmans - 5/10
4) World Music - Goat - 4/10
5) Bish Bosch - Scott Walker - 1/10

I didn't realize until just now that this Chuck Berry release is a compilation, which makes for an interesting change of pace along with the shift in era.

Johnny B Goode might be my favourite song of all time. I blame Back to the Future.

I do know that one song by CBR that was really popular like ten years ago, Put Your Records On, and I guess it was ok but nothing really special (nice voice I guess), but otherwise I'm unfamiliar. But now seeing how you describe her various albums I'm pretty tempted to check her out soon even though she didn't make this round's list.

I'll listen to the Chuck Berry album first though. But not now, now is bedtime

nutella wrote:I do know that one song by CBR that was really popular like ten years ago, Put Your Records On, and I guess it was ok but nothing really special (nice voice I guess), but otherwise I'm unfamiliar. But now seeing how you describe her various albums I'm pretty tempted to check her out soon even though she didn't make this round's list.

No, you must wait until the appropriate time

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I didn't realize until just now that this Chuck Berry release is a compilation, which makes for an interesting change of pace along with the shift in era.

I thought it's his third studio album.

It looks like it depends upon who you ask. Wikipedia calls it his third studio album and also a compilation of his best work. RYM calls it a compilation. Discogs calls it a studio album.

Welcome, Quin!

Looking forward to checking out this Chuck Berry thing later today. RIP to a legend for sure.

S~V~S wrote:I think the anxiety of Rico reviewing my submission would make me sick, lol. I would worry so over being judged by that amazing voice (I could listen to Rico talk forever, so long as he isn't talking about me), lol. I don't know if I could stand the disdain.

I'm not the boogie man k

In fact, rumours are he hasn't been spotted ever since he visited me when I was 13.

I'm familiar with most of these songs even though I've never sat down and listened to a Chuck Berry album. Lots of classics here.

I've listened twice already since it's so delightfully brief. It's a ton of fun. The world definitely lost a great one.

First, my review for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown-

This was a splendid album. My first-three-tracks system was not disappointed. The opener kicks butt and I like the short spoken verse track that follows and leads into 'Fire." The first side of the record is superior to the second side, as Llama mentioned to us. It's the right kind of psychedelic music for me. It walks the line between silly and dark. I definitely hear influences for all kinds of stuff on here, from Deep Purple to even heavy metal.

I love his falsetto/higher register. Those vocals pierce through the air like few can. I do appreciate the fact that this album lacks a guitar. That makes it unique and forces the band to pull their mood and effects in a different way from guitar-drive psychedelic bands.

The second half of the album isn't as good but it's still good music. I am more familiar with the CCR version of "I Put a Spell on You," so it was neat hearing it sung so low. It added to the brooding, creepy nature of the tune. The rest of the songs on that side are good fun too. I found myself drawn to "Rest Cure" for whatever reason. Perhaps it reminded me of Bowie.

Another fine pick with this album. I enjoyed every track. If I have to take only three with me, I'd take "Prelude/Nightmare," "Fire," and "Rest Cure." In a perfect world, I'd take the whole first side because it is a full-on extended concept that holds its own as a single piece.

G-Man Scale: 4.1 out of 5 (A-)
Rico Scale: 4 out of 5

Now for a quick little background on Chuck Berry is on Top:

Chuck Berry began recording singles with Chess Records in 1955. Chess was a smaller label that lacked the ability to produce LP's at that time. Plenty of black artists were in the same boat- they were largely on smaller, regional record labels that were catching up to the big dogs. The LP format was introduced in 1948 and it took almost 10 years for it to overtake 78rpm discs (though the production of 45rpm discs gave it healthy competition).

Smaller record companies lacked the capital to invest in longer-format records at the dawn of rock and roll. This new sound's popularity grew out of white audiences taking interest in black R&B music that was being fused with white Country & Western elements and black audiences taking interest in some white cats tackling bluesy tunes. Chuck Berry was one of the originators of this hybrid sound that came to be rock and roll. He didn't create it by himself but he took popular elements and mixed them together in the right place at the right time.

When Chess Records finally got the equipment to make LP's in 1957, rock and roll was already in full gear and growing in popularity. Chuck was already a star but white acts (Elvis, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc.) had full-length albums out there. Chuck Berry's first three albums are all compilations of sorts because Chess got into the LP game and had to play catch-up with their back catalogue of hits.

Chuck Berry is on Top features songs that Berry recorded from 1955 to 1959. Some were A-sides and some were B-sides ("Carol" was both an A-side and a B-side). According to the internet, the only track written specifically for this album release is the closer, "Blues for Hawaiians." Otherwise, you can probably use Wikipedia or AllMusic to figure out which of the tracks are from which years, because they're certainly not in chronological order ("Maybellene" was his first single in 1955).

When I started listening to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, I got to listen to just about all of Berry's records. This one happens to be my favorite. While it is not an intentional album (meaning it wasn't the end-goal product of intentional session work), it represents the best of Chuck Berry's music. Other albums are an uneven blend of high-tempo rock and roll and slower bluesy R&B. Later albums saw Berry more or less recycle his favorite intros and rhythms for new songs, leading to a repetitive and unoriginal sound that saw him never move much past the success of his early years. Rock and roll grew past Chuck Berry, while he was more or less content to play the same old thing.

While Chuck Berry's guitar work is rudimentary compared to what came after him and what exists today in all the many genres that rock and roll splintered into, he is one of the earliest pioneers to bring the electric guitar forward and make it the star of the show. Early on, he still considered his music to be R&B (hence the shout-out to rhythm and blues in "Roll Over Beethoven) but he embraced the rock and roll label, as that's what the music came to be called. He put a lot of the pieces together- riffs, lyrics that resonated with young people, and showmanship.

Elvis Presley may have been the king of rock and roll but Chuck Berry was one of the major architects of it. I'm sad we're making this first album of the new set as a weird sort of tribute to Chuck Berry after his passing but I am glad you guys are jumping back 60 years and checking out rock and roll music when it was in its infancy.

Listening now. Thanks for the writeup too, G-Man.

Just starting this. The first track reminds me of something I'd hear playing in a stereotypical 50's diner. Or in a Fallout game.

They all do. That might be because the album was released in the 50's.

This is that 'pretending to know what I'm talking about thing', right?

Quin wrote:They all do. That might be because the album was released in the 50's.

This is that 'pretending to know what I'm talking about thing', right?

You're doing great, Quin!

I absolutely recognize what Chuck Berry did for music, and the man was a complete legend. I therefore feel a bit terrible saying this, but...
Now with all of that said, especially given its length, I'll be listening to it a handful of times or so I'm sure before the week is up.

Should I be spoilering my thoughts or is it fine to just throw it into the thread as is? I'll spoiler it this time just in case.

I don't think anyone has been spoilering them, but that's a good question perhaps. I just did it to be suspenseful; I know, I'm weird.

I think the album is very enjoyable independent of historical context. I'd wager that I'd be bored by most formative era rock and roll, but this is an exception. It is a bit formulaic, but I can forgive that as it is establishing a formula of such significant influence.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I think the album is very enjoyable independent of historical context. I'd wager that I'd be bored by most formative era rock and roll, but this is an exception. It is a bit formulaic, but I can forgive that as it is establishing a formula of such significant influence.

I feel the same way. I've found that I'm listening to it specifically for two things - the instrumentation, and the lyrics - rather than the vibe/general sound which is something we are all very familiar with given how formative it was to a generation of music and how pervasive it was culturally.

MovingPictures07 wrote:I absolutely recognize what Chuck Berry did for music, and the man was a complete legend. I therefore feel a bit terrible saying this, but...

Spoiler: show

...in terms of enjoyment this release was barely a 3.0-star ("marginally enjoyable") affair for me. If not for "Johnny B. Goode" and "Maybellene", it would be a 2.5 ("epitome of unimpressive").

There's no denying the quality and influence, but it's just not really my thing at all, and I honestly wish it was. I just was never much of a Rock & Roll, R&B, and blues rock guy, and that's perhaps the one constant that's remained in my musical taste over its entire development (save a few exceptions that would be lucky to be considered for a 3.5 or 4.0 rating).

The aforementioned two cuts are classics, but other than that I found myself just really bored more than anything. I don't think this would normally be anything I would ever play of my own freewill pretty much ever again.

Now with all of that said, especially given its length, I'll be listening to it a handful of times or so I'm sure before the week is up.

I agree with 100% of this post. It's really not my thing/is pretty uninteresting to me, but I appreciate it for what it is and his/the genre's place in music history.

Also Quin if you have the time you should try to catch up with the previous albums in the thread at some point

(and watch all of Rico's reviews lol)

nutella wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:I absolutely recognize what Chuck Berry did for music, and the man was a complete legend. I therefore feel a bit terrible saying this, but...

Spoiler: show

...in terms of enjoyment this release was barely a 3.0-star ("marginally enjoyable") affair for me. If not for "Johnny B. Goode" and "Maybellene", it would be a 2.5 ("epitome of unimpressive").

There's no denying the quality and influence, but it's just not really my thing at all, and I honestly wish it was. I just was never much of a Rock & Roll, R&B, and blues rock guy, and that's perhaps the one constant that's remained in my musical taste over its entire development (save a few exceptions that would be lucky to be considered for a 3.5 or 4.0 rating).

The aforementioned two cuts are classics, but other than that I found myself just really bored more than anything. I don't think this would normally be anything I would ever play of my own freewill pretty much ever again.

Now with all of that said, especially given its length, I'll be listening to it a handful of times or so I'm sure before the week is up.

I agree with 100% of this post. It's really not my thing/is pretty uninteresting to me, but I appreciate it for what it is and his/the genre's place in music history.

Actually the part of MP's opinion I don't entirely agree with is the exception tracks. For me the standout tracks in terms of musical interesting-ness are "Jo Jo Gunne" and "Hey Pedro" and maybe to a lesser extent "Anthony Boy." I do appreciate the ones MP mentioned for their epitomal/classic status and influence but the ones I mentioned are what save the album from being totally boring.