Churches and dictators, politics and papers, everything crumbles sooner or later...
Well today I was pretty busy sending out lots of drawings. Other than that I chatted with my folks and listened to some music. And for some reason I feel really tired tonight. Maybe I'm just tired in anticipation of the absolutely ridiculous schedule I have setup for myself for the next four months.
Album Review: "Made In England" - Elton John
"Believe" - The first single from this album, this is a dark, defiant song about beliving in love and looking at what happens without love. It's not a pretty sight.
"Made In England" - The third single from this album, this is a mid-tempo autobiographical song. It would be a good song if not for the fact that it has a pronounced lyrical agenda for the gay lifestyle that basically takes over the second half of the song.
"House" - This is a slow, maudlin tune about our mind being the only home that really belongs to us. That's a really scary thought.
"Cold" - This is a slow song, somewhat irritating and vague (is this a first person song or a third person one?), about a somewhat obsessive love to someone who does not live in return.
"Pain" - This is an excellent mid-tempo song about pain and its constant nature in life. Isn't that the truth? This would have made a decent single.
"Belfast" - This song starts with the same musical intro that "Believe" has. Creepy. This is a beautiful and touching tribute to the dark city of many of my ancestors--Belfast (obviously).
"Latitude" - The b-side to the single "Blessed," this ranks as my favorite song (right up there with "Believe" and "Blessed") from this album. It's a reflective and moving song about distance and loneliness.
"Please" - While the music to this song is pretty good, the song is a rather whiny song begging to grow old with someone. Boo.
"Man" - This is one of those meta-humanistic songs about mankind in all his glory and pain. It even has a spare, organ-filled musical background.
"Lies" - The intro sounds like the long-lost follow up single to the Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men" (how ironic), but it's really a tribute to Tennessee Williams (!) and a song about the many ways he and we have all lied. Ouch and ouch again.
"Blessed" - The second song from this album, this is a moving and spare song about wishing for a son before one grows too old to see him grow up. This song has a lot of perosnal meaning to me, and it makes me quite sad to think about it.
Overall: This is an uneven album, half of the tracks being soaring and beautiful and thoughtful, and the other half being pretentious or overly sentimental. It's really a concept album about the tension between intimacy and isolation, a fascinating tension for me, to be sure. Sadly, this album as a whole does not live up to the promise of its better tracks, but at least it has some great songs to balance out the dross.
Album Review: "Made In England" - Elton John
"Believe" - The first single from this album, this is a dark, defiant song about beliving in love and looking at what happens without love. It's not a pretty sight.
"Made In England" - The third single from this album, this is a mid-tempo autobiographical song. It would be a good song if not for the fact that it has a pronounced lyrical agenda for the gay lifestyle that basically takes over the second half of the song.
"House" - This is a slow, maudlin tune about our mind being the only home that really belongs to us. That's a really scary thought.
"Cold" - This is a slow song, somewhat irritating and vague (is this a first person song or a third person one?), about a somewhat obsessive love to someone who does not live in return.
"Pain" - This is an excellent mid-tempo song about pain and its constant nature in life. Isn't that the truth? This would have made a decent single.
"Belfast" - This song starts with the same musical intro that "Believe" has. Creepy. This is a beautiful and touching tribute to the dark city of many of my ancestors--Belfast (obviously).
"Latitude" - The b-side to the single "Blessed," this ranks as my favorite song (right up there with "Believe" and "Blessed") from this album. It's a reflective and moving song about distance and loneliness.
"Please" - While the music to this song is pretty good, the song is a rather whiny song begging to grow old with someone. Boo.
"Man" - This is one of those meta-humanistic songs about mankind in all his glory and pain. It even has a spare, organ-filled musical background.
"Lies" - The intro sounds like the long-lost follow up single to the Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men" (how ironic), but it's really a tribute to Tennessee Williams (!) and a song about the many ways he and we have all lied. Ouch and ouch again.
"Blessed" - The second song from this album, this is a moving and spare song about wishing for a son before one grows too old to see him grow up. This song has a lot of perosnal meaning to me, and it makes me quite sad to think about it.
Overall: This is an uneven album, half of the tracks being soaring and beautiful and thoughtful, and the other half being pretentious or overly sentimental. It's really a concept album about the tension between intimacy and isolation, a fascinating tension for me, to be sure. Sadly, this album as a whole does not live up to the promise of its better tracks, but at least it has some great songs to balance out the dross.