Comments | rockmarooned: Rock + Roll Progress Report

rockmarooned

Rock + Roll Progress Report

Jun 08, 2005 15:38

Now that the longest streak of new albums by favorite artists of mine is over, I have completed a progress report for the artists in question. It should be noted that I'm a pretty easy grader.

Beck
Last Album: Beck was sad, and so was Sea Change. Some of the songs are gorgeous, but the album as a whole is a bit of a drone ( Read more... )

weezer, ben folds, beck, the white stripes, mountain goats, sleater-kinney, album round-ups, oasis

Comments 22

Grade-grubbing for BF slightlyoffaxis June 8 2005, 20:01:23 UTC

You are so hard on Ben Folds! Dude, that was a harsh grade for him. Sure, Songs for Silverman is not as good as Rocking the Suburbs, but Rocking the Suburbs was amazing, and you shouldn't hold that against him. But the first half of Songs for Silverman (or at least "You to Thank" through "Gracie") is excellent, and there are some solidly good ones at the end ("Give Judy My Notice" and "Late").

I don't think there are as many great songs on Guero. I like "Girl" and "Hell Yes," but those are the highest highs, and they aren't nearly as strong as songs from his other albums. Whereas if you compare the strongest songs off Songs for Silverman and Rocking the Suburbs, I think you'd find them comparable.

Re: Grade-grubbing for BF rockmarooned June 8 2005, 20:15:54 UTC

Whereas if you compare the strongest songs off Songs for Silverman and Rocking the Suburbs, I think you'd find them comparable.

No. Way. "Landed" and "You to Thank" are more or less in that league. But it gets way dodgier after that. While I like "Bastard," "Jesusland," and "Give Judy My Notice," they are nowhere near "Annie Waits," "Zak & Sara," "Not the Same," "Still Fighting It," or "The Luckiest"... think about it; if "Bastard" was on Suburbs, would it be one of the top five songs on that record? Top ten?

Beck is always moving, stylistically, so I can't judge him on purely mixtape-worthy individual songs. And Ben Folds had to deal with following a great record, while Beck didn't; unlucky, yes, but not unfair.

Re: Grade-grubbing for BF slightlyoffaxis June 8 2005, 21:00:12 UTC

"Landed" and "You to Thank" are more or less in that league.

That's my whole point. I would add "Jesusland," too, because that song is really pretty (and better than "Not the Same," IMHO).

Yet "Girl" and "Hell Yes" off Guero can't really hang with my favorite Beck songs the way the new Ben Folds ones can. Even thinking stylistically, and not thinking of "purely mixtape-worthy individual songs," Guero isn't that much of a departure from other albums (sounds like Odelay and Mellow Gold), isn't a crazy fun exploration of a certain style (like Midnight Vultures), and doesn't really feel like he's trying out something new (like Sea Change). To me, at least.

And Ben Folds had to deal with following a great record, while Beck didn't; unlucky, yes, but not unfair.

How is that not unfair? If that's all it takes to change your mind about albums, then I think you should compare it to the EPs, and bump him up to an A.

Re: Grade-grubbing for BF rockmarooned June 8 2005, 21:39:43 UTC

Two songs from Silverman being as good as some of the better songs from the last album doesn't mean the whole thing is somehow automatically up to par.

Guero has elements of Mellow Gold and Odelay, but also Mutations and Sea Change, but it's not really "in the same style" as any of those. To the degree that it's not flat-out wonderful, it's a little disappointing, and I say as much above. But I think you listened to it like three times and gave up on it.

I'm saying I shouldn't cut Ben Folds slack just because *a little* of his current album is as good as his past work; that's basically like saying that I should call this new album really good because Ben Folds is one of my favorites in general.

I like "Landed" more than any song on Guero, yes, but it's not just about scoring each song and then taking an average, for me. I don't think it's so shocking that I'd like one slightly more than another.

Thread 10

missfee June 8 2005, 20:38:11 UTC

didn't ben folds have some kind of cheezy techno album between the two?

rockmarooned June 8 2005, 20:46:52 UTC

Whoa, I don't think so. Not that I heard about, anyway. He did an album sometime around the end of Ben Folds Five called "Fear of Pop" that was a bunch of semi-experimental stuff (including Shatner spoken word stuff), and that led to him producing William Shatner's album from last year...

missfee June 8 2005, 22:24:57 UTC

maybe that's what i'm thinking of. shatner is cheesy.

allsussedout June 8 2005, 22:50:56 UTC

the bens? hehe

wonkywheels June 9 2005, 16:14:49 UTC

For some reason, the title "Get Behind Me Satan" creeps me out. The first single with the weird falsetto is also oddly disconcerting, but I like it.

slightlyoffaxis June 9 2005, 17:14:34 UTC

I <3 the single. I just got the album yesterday and I like it because it changes things up (like adding a marimba).

wonkywheels June 9 2005, 17:58:54 UTC

Hehe. Marimbas are awesome.

technik4 June 14 2005, 16:37:19 UTC

I liked the new weezer CD, but I don't particularly like 2 of your strengths (Beverly Hills and Freak Me Out). I think the songs are overall better than the Green Album or Maladroit, but not as good as Blue Album or Pinkerton. They don't replay as well either (but approx as good as everything after the first 2).

fuzzplugjones June 14 2005, 23:15:01 UTC

The Ben Folds album was a little disappointing, probably because Suburbs was one of the most well thought-out and put-together albums ever, far as I'm concerned. Right now, believe it or not, I'm listening to Coldplay's X&Y, and it's not bad. It doesn't make me feel dirty (after "Yellow" came out, I absolutely could not stand them, though I must say that for me, "The Scientist" came out at the absolutely most gut-wrenching time, and affected me in a way few pieces of music do ( ... )