What Are You Listening To?

[MFS]

Have listened to this hundreds of times but it still brings me a smile or a laughter each time, just wonderful
Are you lonesome tonight, laughing style
[video=youtube_share;hwbzxENP2eE]http://youtu.be/hwbzxENP2eE[/video]

[bob_32_116]

Elton John - Empty Sky

For a debut album, I think this is astonishingly good.

I first got on board with Elton John via his self-titled album, which was the first one released in this country, and I still think that one is possibly his best, certainly in the top 3.
Empty Sky, by comparison, sounds quite raw, with a few dodgy aspects in the production, most of which seem to have been corrected in later CD pressings. Having said that, some of these songs show astonishing originality. You have to remember that Elton's trademark style of singing the melody over piano chords, which is heard everywhere these days in popular music, was rare at that time; indeed I would go so far as to say he instigated it.

The more melodic songs on here - Val-Hala (sic), Lady What's Tomorrow, Gulliver - sit well alongside much of his later work.
There are also a couple of really energetic rock numbers: Sails, and the song Empty Sky, which is quite unlike any other song of Elton's that I know, with its conga drums and grungy guitars.

Then there is Skyline Pigeon - the original harpsichord version - which I consider a piece of pure pop perfection, not one note too short or too long.

The album also has the oddest ending of any album in my collection.

Worst track (by a long way): The Scaffold. A rather lame melody, and nonsensical lyrcis.
Best track: Skyline Pigeon

Overall rating: 8/10

The title track:

[video=youtube;K6l9lIq7xyo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6l9lIq7xyo[/video]

[Jerome]

The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot. The duo released a number of exceptional albums in the 70's & 80's. Some brilliant, some bland. One of my favourite album intros. BTW the cover of the album is shot in Charles De Gaulle airport, Paris. https://youtu.be/u7oAuba3Ekg

[MFS]

The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot. The duo released a number of exceptional albums in the 70's & 80's. Some brilliant, some bland. One of my favourite album intros. BTW the cover of the album is shot in Charles De Gaulle airport, Paris. https://youtu.be/u7oAuba3Ekg

Never really listened to them, tho it feels like I known about them for ages. And for some reason I always connected them to Pink Floyd. And I just found out AP did produce the Dark side of the moon, so there were at least something relating them. And I guess APP is something I need to dig into - Eye in the sky being the only tune I knew, I need to change that

This is something completely different, but I really like this old gem
There's a kind of hush - Herman's Hermits
[video=youtube_share;gatIk3z9a7Y]http://youtu.be/gatIk3z9a7Y[/video]

[bob_32_116]

Never really listened to them, tho it feels like I known about them for ages. And for some reason I always connected them to Pink Floyd. And I just found out AP did produce the Dark side of the moon, so there were at least something relating them. And I guess APP is something I need to dig into - Eye in the sky being the only tune I knew, I need to change that

I think the best way to approach the Alan Parsons Project is to start at the beginning. Tales of Mystery and Imagination is their best, IMO, with I Robot not far behind. The further you proceed through their later albums, the more generic and less interesting their songs seem to become.

[bob_32_116]

Tame Impala - Innerspeaker

I still think this is their best album, but I'm not sure I like it as much as I did when I got it. Several really good tracks, others are a bit garage-y.

My favourite track is the opening song, "It Is Not Meant To Be." Other goodies are "Expectations" and "Runway, Houses, City, Clouds"

[CRAZY-HORSE]

i liked Innerspeaker a lot when it came out, bought it also...
I haven't heard it in three or so years, not sure how it would go now, am expecting it to wear a bit thin though for some reason...
it was also my favourite of theirs last time I heard it...
their second album Lonerism was a bit more commercial, more radio friendly..
their third album Currents, was mostly radio friendly material, so Lonerism was a bridge between the other two for sure...

I say "their", but I really mean "his", because Kevin Parker is a one man band in the studio, only really employs a band when theyre out 'on the road'...
my daughter is good friends with Kevin and my cd store mate Tem used to jam with him when they were youngsters/teens...
ive only met Kevin Parker on a couple of occasions but...
he appears to be a cool down to earth guy despite all the money he has made from the three albums across the world...

[Terminal Fear - UK]

Awesome Band!

[bob_32_116]

The Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn

Unlike the few albums that preceded it, this one is not in any way a concept album, simply an album of apparently unrelated songs. It does however hold some of my favourite Moodies songs, notably "Lost In a Lost World", and "Isn't Life Strange". I like the first half better than the second. When I had the vinyl I would most often play side 2 then side 1; I found it a more satisfying listen that way.

[Jerome]

A magical piece - https://youtu.be/u1uMHde0hY8