“You know how I know you’re gay? Cuz’ you listen to Coldplay.”
And with that one cinematic phrase, The 40-Year Old Virgin made Coldplay a punchline. That was three years after the release of the band’s second disc A Rush of Blood to the Head and the same year that the band released X & Y, which went on to garner decent reviews.Well, if loving this album makes me of the homosexual persuasion, then color me queer. Besides, Coldplay seems to be gaining steam and popularity as each year passes.
A Rush of Blood to the Head is the album where Chris Martin and his fellow band mates began to not only get it right, but to create heart-wrenching and ethereal pop music bliss. From the album’s opening tempo revving “Politik” to the summation of “Amsterdam,” Coldplay offers songs that almost appear as anthem amidst slow heartfelt ballads, such as the near perfect modern romantic classic “The Scientist.” I remember a point in my life where I listened to this song religiously, belting out the codas and choruses with a fervor even emo kids would envy with suicidal urges. If you have any choice words to offer to this admission, see the previously written note at the beginning of this tangent… you know the one where I say I would gladly admit to my liking of this album.
Honestly, there’s no point going into each one of these tracks, because I appreciate each one of them a great deal. I’m not even a Coldplay fanatic, but I believe this album borders upon greatness. I would even halfheartedly argue that it should warrant a higher position on this or any other best-of lists. It is ridiculous how a simple drum beat, some decent guitar work, a piano, and Chris Martin could make something so worthy of admiration, but they have and it has aged well. Martin possesses the rare talent to croon in a seemingly depressed falsetto without falling prey to an emotional stigma. For instance, the lyrics and feeling may be similar, but Coldplay never strays into genres made popular by say Echo & the Bunnymen (my thoughts to come soon).
Great album from start to finish. Let’s hear the negative my music critiquing confidant can muster up with this one. I dare you to find something wrong, Michael.
-d.
I’m pretty torn on this one. I’ve never been that impressed with Coldplay. They’ve always been solid, but they strike me as a second rate Keane. They are regularly compared to Radiohead, which is a complete crock. The have nowhere near the creativity of Thom Yorke, although they are better at finding their way around a hook. I see them more as a follow up to Blur, with the echo laden piano and quintessential British rainy day ballads. But they really don’t live up to the expectations of being the stylistic offspring of one of the best bands of the nineties.
But the point here is to judge this particular album. Not their worst, but far from the artistic high point they would reach with Viva La Vida, the main problem is repetition. Every song features the same plodding piano downbeats, the same guitar rhythms. You can hear glimpses of a decent group of musicians. "In My Place" is a great example of how well they can build layers, where you can almost hear how the song was laid out piece by piece. But the next few songs all sound the same, which means exactly like all the songs on their first album, Parachutes.
"Clocks." This was supposed to be the song that really showed how awesome they truly are. I had so many people play me "Clocks" while explaining how I just had to love it once I heard it again. Nope, still can’t stand this waste of recording time. Nonsense lyrics, unimaginative bass and guitar parts, and those three damned piano keys being pressed repeatedly for over half the song. I want to travel the world, breaking those strings on every piano Chris Martin might ever come into contact with. Can’t be too careful. I will hear them in my nightmares tonight. doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
"Daylight" helps me out of the rut, even if it’s just to throw me violently into another. A really nice bassline gets me excited until I realize that the same four beats of music will be repeating for the next three minutes. "Green Eyes" gives me a headache for the first half. Seriously, guys, you don’t have to strum the guitar to the exact same rhythm the entire time. Mix it up a little, throw that accent on the upbeat once in awhile, show some fricking energy. But the strangely country feel once the band comes in is actually pretty nice.
The rest of the album is, despite of (or maybe because of) a lack of hits, increasingly interesting. "A Whisper" is the most original thing on here. No more sound-alike pop on this one. A grating guitar, some big drums, and holy crap the bass player is actually playing something other than the root note! We finally get a little aggression and energy out of these guys. Sounding even more like Keane is, in this case, a good thing. We even get bridges that deviate from the chord progression. Joy! "A Rush of Blood To The Head" and "Amsterdam" lower the feel back into typical mellow pop, but with some nice wordplay and much more interesting progression.
The album ends with " Politik," probably the most interesting thing I’ve heard in the last hour. The song constantly evolves, changing styles and direction at will, without feeling spliced together. It’s hard to explain what happens, so it’s best to give it a listen, but pay attention and you’ll realize that "Politik" never seems to repeat itself. A feat for anyone, but downright shocking after the first half of this cd. All in all, it’s a solid effort, and I don’t hate it, but that’s the best I can say. There is so much better music out there, and that isn’t Coldplay’s fault, but it is to their detriment that even with the great production work Ken Nelson put forth they couldn’t do any better.
Check out Alicia Keys making "Clocks" much more listenable. Or this hippie making it all….hippie.
I should preface this critique with this statement: "I love Otis Redding!" I remember hearing him when I was a sophomore in high school somewhere around the year 2000 and being blown away. This is significant in that I was probably the only 16 year old kid in 2000 listening to Otis. I can remember getting the Otis Redding Anthology set for Christmas and singing along to "Tramp," "Love Man," "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," and "Try a Little Tenderness." Most of my friends never caught on, but I believe that if they had just expanded their horizons beyond whatever Staind or Eminem album that was being released at the time, they would have been pleasantly surprised and learned to appreciate some of the best soulful serenades ever created in music. The great thing about Otis is that he sang with nothing short of every ounce of his being. His performances are full of raw emotion and heart. You believe he knows what he is singing about and it never feels force. You can be sure of at least one thing when you put on a Redding record, he was never faking it. This is the problem with the current state of R & B. Everyone comes out with a song about panties dropping (Trey Songz) or throwing up deuces to the women they beat (Chris Brown). They put a drum beat to it and get some rapper to spit a verse and it sells, but it lacks all the emotion and raw appeal of Otis Redding and the likes of him. Otis, Sam Cooke, Lenny Williams, etc. sang about all these same things, but never explicitly. These aspects are what makes the old soul greats in fact great.
That being said, I was fairly disappointed by this album and it has nothing to do with the lack of what I have mentioned above. Otis is doing everything right as he always did. Instead, my dissatisfaction stems from the fact that the production value of this live album is severely lacking. In turn, at times, the listener is unable to decipher or hear what made Otis so great; his emotion. No doubt that the performance was magnificent, seeing as how you have the man backed by the legendary Booker T. & the MG's. I understand that the album's release was during a time where live production is not what it is today, but it is ridiculous how bad it is, at times, throughout this album. He has wonderful renditions of now classics, "Day Tripper" and "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." His personal classics are equally phenomenal. Unfortunately, you can't hear his voice at times and that is a definite problem. Nonetheless, you can witness the rabid nature of Otis' followers by their shouts and pleads despite the lacking audio aspects of the disc. For example, during two breaks in between numbers you can hear one female pleading with the artist to sing a certain song. Over and over. Pleading so much that it's almost disconcerting to listen to, but this is what Otis did to people. That is why he is unique and greatly missed even after all these years. He sweated soul. He cried R & B. If only we could hear how fantastically he did all these things in a live setting. Regardless, I have my anthology and that provides me with the Otis I know and love.
God damn I’ve been looking forward to this one. Otis Redding, arguably the greatest voice in R&B history, backed by Booker T. and the M.G.’s, one of the best groups of musicians ever assembled. I’ve always been a fan of just about everything Stax released during the mid 60’s, and this was recorded on a package tour of Stax/Volt artists. I would give anything to find a video of the entire show.
First off, let’s touch on the band. You could remove the vocals and I’d still be ecstatic listening to the songs on this album. Duck Dunn is one of the most influential bass players for a reason. Steve Cropper is a machine, playing tasteful leads and perfectly tight scratch rhythm. I discovered them through the Blues Brothers, where they carried the greatest super group around. I spent a significant portion of my teens and twenties emulating Dunn. Here you find them sounding cleaner live than most artists can pull off in the studio. I challenge anyone to find a single bad note. Insane. This is what all musicians should strive for.
Otis. The man is deserving of every bit of praise ever sent his way. A little history on this recording: As I already mentioned, this was taken from a package tour of Europe, specifically Paris, in March of 67. Redding and all but two members of his band, the Bar-Kays, were killed in a plane crash that December. A mix of classic originals like "Respect" and "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" with some random covers, "Day Tripper" and "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction," find Otis at his frenetic best. The amount of energy pouring off every note is just fantastic.
There’s really no point in reviewing particular tracks. Each is perfect. Great arrangements on the covers, hot horn section, surprisingly balanced recording considering what most live albums from the era sound like. You can drop the needle anywhere you want and not be disappointed. My only complaint is how nearly every number is faded out. I’d love to hear how the band actually wrapped up the songs and if there were any extended solos. Also, I would have liked to hear some of the audience reaction. But that’s not always easy to balance, even now, so I didn’t expect it.
The one possible downfall to all my praise is that it was common practice for live albums to be heavily over-dubbed in the studio, a practice that continued through the mid 70’s (and is still done to a lesser extent today). From what I’ve read, that wasn’t the case with Live In Europe. Still, the possibility does put a slight damper on the praise I’ve been heaping on the band. Regardless, nothing can be taken away from this album. Deserving of a much higher placement on the list, Otis Redding should have a spot in every music fans collection.
The only cover worthy of the man himself, the queen…
So, it’s been said in numerous sources (including Springsteen’s book Songs) that Bruce could never begin to top the success of Born in the U.S.A., so that he was not going to attempt it. Instead, he decided to strip the music down and compose a more personal, heartfelt album. The crazy thing about this idea is that this is an incredibly difficult feat in itself. Mostly due to the fact that most people would want to push further into that which made them successful, but also, on the flip side to that argument, many bands have been chastised for leaving that which makes them great. There are two outcomes when choosing this path: it could destroy your career or it can add to your greatness (given that the new thing attempted is heralded by fans and critics alike). Admittedly, most fans were probably expecting another Born in the U.S.A., but thankfully The Boss decided to create Tunnel of Love.
An album of deeply constructed songs about relationships, but more importantly the tolls these relationships take on a person. The expectations that come along with relationships and the vulnerability they require. Although Springsteen denies the autobiographical nature of many of the songs included on the album, it is difficult not to diagnose the lyrics contained within this album as descriptions of his marriage with actress Julianne Phillips. The difficulty of maintaining a relationship can be seen throughout songs such as “Brilliant Disguise,” “Cautious Man,” and “Tunnel of Love.” Of course, there are the stock and standard Springsteen characters all over the album, as well, in songs such as “Spare Parts.”
The album begins with my least favorite song, “Ain’t Got You.” We’ve all heard this one before. Money doesn’t buy happiness…yadda yadda yadda. The song is stomachable and even a bit catchy, but it does nothing for me. The next song, though, kicks off what becomes a major theme within the album. “Tougher Than the Rest” tells the story of a man who will never be a “handsome Dan” or “sweet-talkin’ Romeo” and his affection towards a girl who may have been around the block a few times. The main character in the song doesn’t mind this fact appealing that he is tougher than all those other guys who may not accept the girl for who she may have been in the past. This is partly due to the fact that he may have been around, as well, but more so the man’s tough skin. “All that Heaven Will Allow” focuses on the courting of a girl and the excitement that follows. I’m fairly certain that Springsteen was also singing about getting into a girl’s pants, again. “Spare Parts” starts off with one of the weirdest first lines I’ve heard in a song; “Bobby said he’d pull out, Bobby stayed in, Janey had a baby, it wasn’t any sin.” And so begins a song about the hardships of reality and growing up. Bobby leaves Janey with a baby and life changes for the young girl. Eventually, she pulls herself back together and by the end of the song show a certain amount of promise. “Cautious Man” provides the listener with Bill Horton; a man with the words “love” and “fear” tattooed on his hands. This imagery as well as the title of the song tells the listener everything he/she needs to know about this song. It is deeply rooted in the fear that comes with loving another human being and the vulnerability this ultimately requires. It is a theme that continues with “Walk Like a Man” and “Tunnel of Love.” I personally love the picture that the title track paints for the listener while comparing the rollercoaster of a relationship to an amusement park ride. I love to sing along to this song, especially the first few lines describing the fat man accepting tickets to the ride whose eyes “take a walk” all over the narrator’s girl. “Two Faces” and “Brilliant Disguise” pull together the remnants of the album’s themes. “Brilliant Disguise” while being an extremely popular song does more to explain the hesitancies and inconsistencies of a relationship than most things I’ve heard or read in my life. It’s a hauntingly beautiful song. “When You’re Alone” follows up with a tale of two people going their separate ways and the alienation that such a parting provides. The album ends with “Valentine’s Day,” providing a fitting close to an album chockfull of heartbreak, fear, and uncertainty.
The Boss does everything right on this album. I listen to this album over and over and with each listen I believe it gets better. Even the video for “Brilliant Disguise” is thoroughly admirable in its’ simplicity; something Springsteen has mastered far better than most of his contemporaries.
-d.
I hate Bruce Springsteen. I know, I know. But I have to come clean. I find him stiff and derivative, a man clinging to his influences. Granted, he does a good job of imitating the better qualities of his heroes. Nonetheless, I get tired if listening to impressions, and this album is full of them. Elvis, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger…. they’re all here. Not hidden in the least, each song could be a cover, such is the extent of the infringement. I respect the deep emotion and intensely personal lyrics and can’t fault the man for the content in that respect. It’s just too bad these beautiful and heartbreaking stories couldn’t have been told with some musical originality.
With all that out of the way…. This is the second most depressing album yet. Only Richard Thompson tops Tunnel Of Love for sheer morbidity and torment. As an emotional masochist I have to admit that earns Bruce some points in my book. At the same time, the trappings of 80’s pop music take some of the edge away. It’s hard to really feel the despondency of a slow country blues about the end of a relationship when in the midst of a finger picking guitar refrain you get blindsided by a huge blast of Korg synthesizer. I love the big Phil Collins drum echo, but it really has no place in a Guthrie-esque folk turn. And why….why the random overdriven guitar solo in the middle of "Two Faces?" If you’re going to harmonize fuzz guitar like that, just get Brian May and do it right.
There are some really nice moments here. "Valentine’s Day" is hazy reflection of Gordon Lightfoot. The quiet mandolin underplays the keys, and the simple breezy bassline plays off the root just enough to keep the listener tuned in. My favorite song here by a mile. The first half of the album is all solid, but also sees Bruce aping at his worst. Still, I prefer these songs ("Tougher Than the Rest" and "Spare Parts") over the latter half’s typical 80’s Springsteen pop. So often the last 5 songs or so (leaving out "Valentine’s") run together in an imperceptible mess of Xerox copy singer-songwriter junk. Like so many similar artist from the time, he may be an expert with words, but he shoves them all into the same basic mold. Over time, it just wears more and more on me until I give up and put on an artist with some energy. It’s amazing how often Springsteen leads me to the Dead Kennedy’s.
While we’re on an artist that let his emulation of his heroes become an obsessive quest to be them, here’s the female equivalent; Patti Smith, with her brilliant version of Bruce’s unreleased "Because The Night."
