Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So, what are you listening to?

Tempted, saw a link here on legionworld somewhere and now its stuck in my head.

Gnarles Barkley

'sall good.

Apocalyptica is my flavor du jour.

I Don\'t Care is awesome. End of Me, S.O.S. and I'm Not Jesus are also cool.

Lately, Elvis Crespo. My best friend from college was half-Ecuadorian and I used to listen to Elvis Crespo a lot then; lately just been feeling it.

Also, the T-Pain / Pitbull song. I know in my heart its not good...but I can't help but jam to it in my car.

Master of Puppets by Metallica for about a week. On to Ride the Lightning!

At the moment...Prince's "Valentina."

"Hey, Valentina, tell your mama she should give me a call."

Uh huh.

So as I mentioned a few months ago, I’ve been cycling through several Beatles albums while also taking breaks in between to listen to other things. As I mentioned, I listened to my two favorites albums, Rubber Soul and Help for quite awhile, and hear are some random thoughts on others. Of course, take any comments within the context of me being a huge Beatles fan, which is something I inherited from my parents.

I listened to Revolver for several weeks, and its an album I still like. I don’t like as much as the previous two albums, though it’s still a good listen. I’ve found over the years that “Eleanor Rigby” has just been too over-exposed for me on the radio and television shows and such that I end up skipping it more than listening to it. Being a big George fan, I like this two songs on the album “Love You To” and “I Want to Tell You”, but I know this is George just starting to show his stuff, and his best is still to come.

I jumped ahead then to Magical Mystery Tour, since I didn’t want to do them in order. Traditionally this album would get a pass from me in my listening for really no reason, so I really wanted to give it a listen. You know what? It’s quickly become one of my favorites. I have the release with all of the B-sides as well (I know its an EP based on the tv film, etc.). When listening to it like that, with the first 6 EP songs followed by the B-sides, it really kicks into high gear around the sixth song, “I am the Walrus”. I used to pass that song off as a bit of nonsense but it really grew on me in the “Across the Universe” film as done by Bono with the visual background to the scene. “Hello Goodbye” is next and that remains a powerhouse pop-song that is yet another example of why Paul is such a dynamic musical force. “Strawberry Fields are Forever” is another favorite which I interrupt as a Viet Nam song (caring little if that was the original intent). One song I still don’t love is “Penny Lane” for whatever reason, feeling its too poppy without the punch I like. Yet, I love, love, love “All You Need is Love” at the end, which I always have.

I then jumped back to SGT Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band, and my thoughts verge on the blasphemous. You know, its really not one of my favorites. I like it, don’t get me wrong, and don’t dislike it, but I kind of feel it’s a bit ‘meh’. It does contain one of absolute favorite songs, and a contender for favorite Beatle’s song, “A Day in the Life”, which I can listen to literally 20 times in a row and not get sick of (and talk about a song just holding up over time). But the rest of the album is a lot of ‘take it or leave it’ for me. I like “Lucy” and as I mentioned sometime earlier in the thread I enjoyed the Beatles version of “A Little Help from my Friends” more now than I used to (but still disagree with Prof and Dev, believing Joe Cocker still dominates that song as the quintessential performer of it). When I was younger, I feel like it I liked it a lot more than I do now.

Being surprised at this turn of tastes, I then jumped ahead to Abbey Road, which I believe is the last real recorded album chronologically, as the Let it Be album was recorded before Abbey but released after. And I’ve been listening to it for basically an entire month at this point. Because what really surprised me is just how damn much I LOVE THIS ALBUM. I always liked it but never really dove into it before as I did with some others. Its good enough to deserve bullet points:

- the album starts with a juggernaut of a song, “Come Together”. It’s perhaps the greatest Beatles song for working out, driving, getting into a gang fight, etc. You can just feel the edge to it in every chord.

- As I said, I’m a fan of George so his two best songs “Something else else” and “Here Comes the Sun” are songs I absolutely love. George was my Mom’s favorite Beatle. To me, “Something else else” is one of the greatest love songs ever. Frank Sinatra does a magnificent version which I’ve always loved but George has the quintessential version. Like Frank says, it’s the greatest love song in the latter half of the 21st century. It is just so full of emotion and yet so unique.

- “Oh Darling!” is another favorite. It’s got that gritty sound they had at the end of their career and just so musically appealing in the background with the guitar. I’ve been singing it on and off for a month now, annoying my wife to no end. I listen to this song almost every day.

- “I want You (She’s so heavy)” is another song that is just a freaking monster. I really like it now after seeing it done so well in “Across the Universe”, where I can really dig the ominous portion of the song when it switches back and forth. Its really just a fantastic song that is two really good songs combined into one.

- And then at the end, the final series of songs just runs together so well it feels like its one long, groovy song to just take in all at once. From “Mean Mr. Mustard” to “Carry that Weight” I can almost get lost in the music, making me wish I was laying in the grass high on all kinds of drugs. “She Came Through the Bathroom Window” is in the middle there and it’s a great, great song.

I think Abbey Road has emerged as my other new favorite along with Help! Magical Mystery Tour (whatever you want to call it, album or whatever) is up there too, maybe not quite at Rubber Soul’s level but close.

^ The first time I ever heard Abbey Road, I was blown away by "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"! It's such a peppy song with such a dark theme, that I couldn't help but love it!

And that last run of songs bleeding into each other is quite a fun ride! And don't overlook "Because", Des!

I shall listen to it on the ride home to give it my full attention!

Listened to it more carefully.

It's a great song, perhaps too easily skipped by me still reeling from the power of "I Want You (She's so Heavy)" and then relaxed by "Here Comes the Sun".

I do appreciate it's brevity like the last half of the album. (Maybe I should think of it as the first part of the album?)

Anyway, that's a good amount of over-analysis.

Been listening to Queens greatest hits. Since I have a vehicle with a CD player at the moment.

Been listening to Metallica's Re-Load as I've recently been filling out my collection of their CD's. This one isn't really bad at all, though it lacks as many memorable songs as their best albums. It's definitely better than Load.

And "The Unforgiven II" is just a freaking TERRIFIC song! Would it be heresy to suggest it may be better than the original "Unforgiven" song it's a sequel to?

Now I have to listen to that...

Yes.

Re-Load isn't bad at all, and IMO neither is Load, which has several great songs (like "Ronnie").

When Load and Re-Load came out I was totally the teenage fan who was devastated at the time. Metallica was my FAVORITE band in my youth. I eventually came to really dig Load a lot, though prob have never given Re-Load the same attention.

I love Metallica pre black album, and mostly like them since.

I always keep at least one album in my car. 'Puppets' is my favorite but all of the first 5 are great.

Right now it's Kill 'Em All, their most under-rated album. It's still killer.

Explaining a little more about my teenage / pre-teen obsessive tastes, my favorite bands were the four slash metal bands (though more Metallica & Megadeth than Slayer and Anthrax), Pantera (first four albums) and Iron Maiden, which came slightly later (mid-teens). From age 12-17, they rules my CD player.

Confession time: I didn't ever give Metallica a listen until the release of the Black Album. I was in college and only started getting into metal during the latter half of my four years there. Guns n' Roses was my "doorway" into metal mania. My friends got into GnR and the Black Album, and gradually so did I. From there, I started getting into Van Halen and a number of other metal standards.

Sonce my friends weren't into exploring earlier Metallica stuff, neither was I. I bought "...And Justice for All", but frankly it didn't please my ears the way the Black Album did. It's not hard to see why because the Black Album was their most commercial release to date. So it was a "gateway" album to get people to try metal, but the previous albums might not automatically thrill people who liked the Black Album...especially "Justice" which is their most 'Death Metal'-esque contribution, IMO.

When "Load" came out, it was a big disappointment for me because of it's fairly big departure in style from the Black Album. So I kinda checked out from Metallica fandom for a long time.

In the age of music downloads, I started to reconnect with them, discovering the awesomeness of their catalogue in the process. "Death Magnetic" also helped. I bought it and found it to be a pretty strong release overall that was a fairly successful effort to recapture the sound and feeling of some of there earlier albums.

Eventually, that lead to me making an effort to physically get all of their CD's, so I could play them in my car (during my long ride to work) and listen to all of them in their entirety without cherry-picking songs from downloads.

I'm glad I did! To me downloading songs can never compare to owning and playing an album. Metallica's albums are great listens front-to-back and deserve to be experienced as such. I now have CDs pf all except "St. Anger" (which I'm tempted to skip based on mostly poor reviews). I'll be giving "Load" its first re-listen since I first bought it after I give "Re-Load" a couple more.

"Master of Puppets" and "Ride the Lightning" are definitely the best! I waver between both as to which is my favorite. "Kill 'em All" is raw but definitely rocks really hard. "...And Justice for All" probably has Lars' most technical, pervasive and powerful drumming of all their albums.

Honestly, the Black Album suffers a bit over time by comparison. It feels like their most commercial work. The songs on it tend to get boring after a while, which is not true of their other albums. "Unforgiven" and "Wherever I May Roam" particularly just seem overblown and repetitive.

What's great, though, is seeing my kids get into them! They're loving "One", "Sanitarium", "Master of Puppets", "Ride the Lightning", "Seek and Destroy" and lots of others. I'm raising Metallica fans!!!!

I love that. I shall do the same!

Youre totally right about downloading losing a big part of the listening experience through the cherry picking of songs rather than listening to full albums. Definitely for a band like Metallica! That's also why I asked for the Beatles box set of CDs for Christmas.

'Ride' is my second favorite and my brothers favorite.

Totally agree on Death Magnetic, which was a huge surprise! IIRC, you're the one who told me to finally check it out.

I'd say pass St. Anger. I have it as a completist but after the initial listen when I bought it, I've never re-listened. Its their weakest effort by far.

Also, you're right on the Black Album. It's still a great, great album but it's a little too commercial when compared tithe first four. It's the less popular songs that I've come to love the most: "Of Wolf and Man", "My Friend of Misery", "Dont Tread on Me" and "The God that Failed". All of these songs are awesome live.

I own a ton of bootleg live CDs which are even better than the studio recordings. I used to collect them when I was a teenager.

You know, in the reverse way of you, I became interested in GnR through Metallica. I'd originally passed them over prob b/c they were too popular, but eventually got into them after listening to a bootleg copy of their concert with Metallica in 1992 in New Haven.

I've always LOVED "Don't Tread on Me"! A lot of people who reviewed that album cite it as their weakest track. They think it's overtly patriotic and refutes everything they said on "...And Justice for All". To me, it was always meant to be taken ironically. After all, the "snake" analogy doesn't strike me as particularly flattering! I also love "Sad But True" and "The God That Failed". They play "Sad But True" live a lot still, but those others rarely get played anymore.

What do you think of the latter two Unforgivens?

Ironically, I rarely listen to GnR anymore. "Appetite" is awesome, but everything else (what little there is) is downhill. "Chinese Democracy" is actually pretty listenable, but without Slash and the gang, I consider it more of an Axl solo album. It's a shame that GnR didn't do more. It's mostly Axl's fault but still a shame.

Oh, and Dev...."The Unforgiven II" has kind of emerged as my soundtrack for Lon and Kalla. Many of the lyrics (and the overall tone) really seem to fit their relationship:


Lay beside me, tell me what they've done
Speak the words I want to hear, to make my demons run
The door is locked now, but it's open if you're true
If you can understand the me, than I can understand the you.

Lay beside me, under wicked sky
Through black of day, dark of night, we share this pair of lives
The door cracks open, but there's no sun shining through
Black heart scarring darker still, but there's no sun shining through
No, there's no sun shining through
No, there's no sun shining

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

What I've felt, what I've known
Sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there?, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you
Or are you unforgiven too?

Come lay beside me, this won't hurt I swear
She loves me not, she loves me still, but she'll never love again
She lay beside me, but she'll be there when I'm gone
Black heart scarring darker still, yes she'll be there when I'm gone
Yes, she'll be there when I'm gone
Dead sure she'll be there!

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

What I've felt, what I've known
Sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there?, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you
Or are you unforgiven too?

(Solo)

Lay beside me, tell me what I've done
The door is closed, so are your eyes
But now I see the sun, now I see the sun
Yes now I see it!

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

What I've felt, what I've known
So sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there?, 'cause I'm the one who waits,
The one who waits for you

Oh what I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?
(So I dub thee unforgiven)

Oh, what I've felt
Oh, what I've known!

I take this key (never free)
And I bury it (never me) in you
Because you're unforgiven too

Never free
Never me
'Cause you're unforgiven too!

Stevie Nicks latest album "In Your Dreams" is my most recent musical purchase. It's infectious. The reviews have been positive. Some saying that is the best that she's done in years. I even read one that called it the best of her career. I don't know if I would go that far -- but it is really, really good. It's just feels good to have her voice back in my life on fresh and new music.

I just discovered Iceage-a Danish punk band.
Very loud & loads of fun!

Naked Eyes - Promises Promises. My wife had it on in the car yesterday.

Adele- Rolling in the Deep.

Oh god, soooo much better than todays standard disney pop princess'. Gorgeous lady with a gorgeous voice.

Wow.

"Stand And Deliver" by Adam and the Ants.
One of my favourite songs of all time from one of the coolest bands to ever hit the the scene!