My Generation – The Very Best Of The Who

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

This Compilation Surfaced In 1996, And It Coincided With The Remastered Series

This was the single disc compilation that accompanied the remastered series that were issued in the ‘90s. The disc has 20 tracks, and many were the remastered versions that the forthcoming CDs were to include.

On the whole, the compilers did a very good job. All the early non-album singles minus “Call Me Lightning” and “Dogs” are included. From “Tommy“, we have “Pinball Wizard”. From “Who’s Next” we have “Baba O’Riley” and Won’t Get Fooled Again” (both unedited). Beside, two of the three Lifehouse leftovers that were issued as singles are here. They are “Let’s See Action” and “Join Together”. We are missing the final one, “The Relay”. It is a loss, but not a great one. The best thing about it is Moon’s funky drum track. But the other two singles were the real deal, and they proved it on the charts.

“Quadrophenia” is represented by just the one track, “5.15” (also unabridged). Finally, we have the ineluctable “Squeeze Box” (it was a top ten hit after all), an edited “Who Are You” and the full length “You Better You Bet”. The song is unremixed. You can tell because the background vocals are not as crisp as on the reissued “Face Dances”. Continue reading →

Mighty Like A Rose (Elvis Costello) – Album Review

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

"Mighty Like A Rose" Was Elvis Costello's First Album Of The '90s. It Had A New Collaboration With Paul McCartney Named "So Like Candy".

I will never forget how much I resisted buying this album. The guys at the CD store had it for a long, long time. I was dead against getting my hands on another disc that had “Hurry Down Doomsday”. One copy of that song as part of the “Extreme Honey” compilation sufficed. Plus, the other songs I knew from “Mighty Like A Rose” clearly signaled that the CD stood as the highest peak within Elvis career as far as inventiveness that spilled into weirdness went.

Eventually, that was what made me shell out for the album. I just admire the man, and I had to see what did exactly happen for him to end up cutting a disc with a string quartet just two years later.

Funny enough, I did not get that answer. What I got was a CD that was (and still is) impenetrable. The level of musical chaos and the jumble of styles make for one of the most hostile records I have ever come across.

The production is certainly a major issue. Those who complain about the way Mitchell Froom produced Richard Thompson should give “Mighty Like A Rose” a spin in order to realize that they shouldn’t complain to begin with. But Elvis also had his own way behind the mixing board, so that he was as much of an instigator as anybody.

A sonic avalanche heralds the first cut, “The Other Side Of Summer”. Simply put, it sounds like The Beach Boys on every kind of substance you could ever imagine. Still, it is the one composition where an approach that is heavy-handed elsewhere works out. Whether that is because it is the first song out of the fourteen on offer and that it catches you while you are still fresh could be debated, though – when I listen to the song on “Extreme Honey” I am not that keen on it. Continue reading →

Be Here Now (Oasis) – Album Review

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

Oasis' Third Album ("Be Here Now") Failed To Live Up To Expectations, Despite Having Some Isolated Great Moments. Love The Rolls Royce In The Pool, By The Way. And So Did Keith Moon, Of Course.

The traditionally hard album for every band was to be even harder for Oasis, who had to live up to the dazzling standards they previously set on “Definitely Maybe” and “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?”. This time around, though, the band was too far gone into drugs and fast living, and they were to try everybody’s patience. The lack of temperance was what broke the album’s back, as a vast majority of compositions clock at over 7 or 8 minutes.

That running time is merited only once, on the opening “D’You Know What I mean?”. It was the album’s first single and Oasis’ third chart topper. Noel seriously let rip in the solo, and the accompanying video was phenomenal.

The other number one yielded by “Be Here Now” was “All Around The World”. That was a song which had been around for a long, long time. The date of composition can be set after the “Definitely Maybe” album, probably around the days of “Whatever” (one of their finest non-albums singles, savagely left off “The Masterplan”). Noel refused to record it until they could afford to do it as elegantly as he had envisioned. Too bad he had to stretch it over 11 minutes. Not even the three key changes can make it more appealing in the end, and the “Hey Jude” comparison is too obvious, too gratuitous and too true to be avoided. Continue reading →

The Final Time XTC Faced An Audience

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

I found this clip yesterday, when looking for a suitable video to illustrate the review of “Upsy Daisy Assortment”. I must admit that watching it was quite unsettling, but I am glad I did. I must also say I had no idea that incident was tapped, thanks to the original uploader.

According to Chris Twomey (author of “Chalkhills & Children”) what happened next was that the band followed Andy backstage to find him doubled on the floor, retching. Terry seems to have had a go at him, while Colin and Dave realized that real trouble loomed ahead. Continue reading →

Upsy Daisy Assortment (XTC) – Compilation Album

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

"Upsy Daisy Assortment" Compiles Most Of XTC's True Classics WIth A Few Rarities Thrown In For Good Measure.

“Upsy Daisy Assortment” was released by Geffen (XTC’s American record company) in 1999, as the legal battle with Virgin was finally being dispelled and the band was to regain its freedom. It is a single CD that has some truly idiosyncratic cuts in addition to their indisputable classics.

Now, Andy says that the disc feels as if someone at Geffen had thrown darts at a chart with all their songs and assembled the compilation like that. Such a theory would explain why singles like “All You Pretty Girls” and “Wake Up” have been omitted, why “Funk Pop A Roll” found its way here instead of “Great Fire” and also why we have tracks such as “Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her” at the expense of others.

I have to be very honest with you. The disc does not feel as if someone had randomly thrown darts at a chart, it feels as if Andy had overseen the whole thing from start to finish.

Exhibit 1: The compilation omits both “White Music” and “Go 2”, albums that he actively dislikes (and even despises). The first track is “Life Begins At The Hop”.

Exhibit 2: “Sgt. Rock”, a track Andy reviles despite being one of the highest-charting singles of his is absent. Continue reading →

Oasis: Revealed (Lee Henshaw) – Book Review

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

"Oasis: Revealed" Came Out In 1996. Written By Lee Henshaw And Published By Parragon, It Covered Their Crowning Achievements As A Band.

This was the first book in English that I ever bought. That was fitting enough, as the first album I ever purchased was “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?”. And the second one? “Be Here Now”. I had quite a story with the Gallagher boys and their gang when I was a teenager. I eventually disowned them, but good albums are good albums and deserve their share of praise. And as always, if you get to know the story behind the words and the music then the ties can become more endurable.

This book certainly made me feel an increased love for the band, even when it was (and will always be) a modest effort. It is not that revealing, to be brutally frank. It covers the story up until the band rocked Maine Road. That means it reaches up to 1996. Only “Definitely Maybe” and “Morning Glory” are covered as a result. You get a good glimpse on the band’s formative days, and all the obvious events and incidents (the fight on the ferry during their first European tour that resulted in the “Wibbling Rivalry” CD, the run-in with Blur, Knebworth…) are covered.

The obvious comparison is Paolo Hewitt’s “Getting High – The Adventures Of Oasis”. It covers the same period, but it is the “official” account. It is a far lengthier book, and you even learn about mother Peggy Gallagher and how she met Thomas, not to mention having a minute overview of the boys’ teenage years. In terms of content, it wins hand down. Continue reading →

(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (Oasis) – Album Review (Part 2)

Posted on February 6, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

Read the introduction to this review by clicking here.

“Don’t Look Back In Anger” was the first single in which Noel handled lead vocals. In actuality, he was to sign both “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and “Wonderwall”, but Liam demanded singing one of the two projected singles. He picked “Wonderwall” maybe as a way of irking Noel. It would have made better sense if the elder Gallagher had sung that one. After all, it was written about Meg. And the song is seldom sung by Liam live – he only is behind the mic when the song is not done acoustically, as on the “Familiar To Millions” live album.

The introduction to “Imagine” heralds a true carpe diem anthem, and Noel “borrowed” more than that piano part from John Lennon. The phrase “So I’ll start a revolution from my bed/Cos’ you said the brains I had went to my head” comes from an interview with the late Beatle. The song is overwhelmingly beautiful, and Noel employs a device he otherwise abuses in the best way here: changing the grammatical person during bridges and choruses in order to make the song go from individual to plural, from “my” song to “our” song. Continue reading →

(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (Oasis) – Album Review (Part 1)

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

"(What's The Story) Morning Glory?"(Oasis' Second Album) Included Their Defining Hits "Don't Look Back In Anger" & "Wonderwall".

To review this (the very first CD I ever bought) fills me with a strange mixture of emotions. Most of all, I feel as if washed over and stripped of all experience by a wave of nostalgia as I realize how innocent I was back then. How I absorbed every instrument, how I thought each lyric over and over and how certain songs like “Hey Now” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger” marked the end of my teenage days. “There’s no time for running away now”.

But leaving aside its retrospective value, it is impossible to refute the appeal of this CD. “Definitely Maybe” was certainly more “Definitely” than “Maybe” in terms of quality, but its sound scheme was too lineal. With this album, Oasis discovered that their sound could be occasionally vulnerable without them being portrayed as weak because of that.

The first single was “Some Might Say”, a song Noel wrote while the rest of the band was being ejected from R & R misbehavior from a hotel the previous year. It was their first number one, after having chased the top of the charts like crazy. The song reprised T-Rex’s “Get It On” and had Liam singing “sunshine” in the vein of John Lennon, much as he had done on “Rock & Roll Star” from the previous disc.
Continue reading →

Definitely Maybe (Oasis) – Album Review

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

Bonehead's Front Room Was Captured In The Cover Of Oasis' Debut, "Definitely Maybe" (1994).

Bonehead's Front Room Was Immortalized In The Cover Of Oasis' Debut, "Definitely Maybe" (1994).

Oasis’ record-setting debut album came in 1994, at a time in which the reputation of the band had already turned them into cultural icons in England. Their early singles “Supersonic”, “Shakermaker” and “Live Forever” are included along with “Cigarettes & Alcohol”, a cut that captures their infamous swagger better than a hundred clippings. “Supersonic” was their first single, it made the Top 40 and Noel has termed it their own take on “I Am The Walrus” – IE, a lot of nonsense strung together. The first lines, though, do make a lot of sense and go hand in hand with “Cigarettes & Alcohol” towards defining their image of hellraisers: “I’m feeling supersonic, give me gin & tonic / You can have it all, but how much do you want it?”.

“Shakermaker” was their second single, and it resembled “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” more than fleetingly. It is widely considered as a misstep now, but the succeeding single was their first truly indispensable song: “Live Forever”. It established Noel’s predominant themes of individuality and unity (the classic “Us” Vs. “Them” dilemma that characterizes his output), and it was the first true ace the band laid on the table. It gave them their first Top 10 success.

The swaggering “Rock & Roll Star” did also receive considerable exposure, and it was one of the earliest songs Noel wrote for the band. So was the trippy “Columbia”, with some lyrics ostensible penned by Liam. Continue reading →

Oasis – General Introduction

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Emilio Pérez Miguel

The "Classic" Line-up: Paul Arthurs ("Bonehead"), Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Alan White and Paul McGuigan ("Guigsy")

When I began the blog, I was certain the one and only band that I was very well-acquainted with that I was not going to cover was Oasis. They were the first band I really listened to – heck, I even bought my first CD player in order to listen to their albums.

My decision not to cover them was based on the fact that I sincerely believed I had nothing to say about them that could be kind. Although their early successes are indisputable, their whole image became nauseating to me to the point that I ended giving away many of their CDs. The “bad boy” attitude is very fine when you are a teenager, but there comes a point when you don’t look a rebel any longer but an outright cretin. Continue reading →

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