Monthly Archives: August 2012

Hot

Posted on by
Reply


Band: Squirrel Nut Zippers
Album: Hot
Best song: “Hell.” Obviously.
Worst song: “Blue Angel” isn’t very good.

It’s an old parlor game, the “if” questions. Indeed, I have three books from a series that ask a series of those questions. A popular one, of course, is something like “If you could be born during any time of history, when would you be born?” I was recently having a conversation about the time of my birth and how glad I am that I was, indeed, born in the winter of 1981. I don’t think I’d want to have been born during another time. Continue reading →

But Seriously, Folks…

Posted on by
Reply


Band: Joe Walsh
Album: But Seriously, Folks…
Best song: “Life’s Been Good” may be Walsh’s best song.
Worst song: “Indian Summer” is stupid.

I’ve been on the record as hating the Eagles, but I will say that I do enjoy Joe Walsh’s non-Eagles work. For one, the James Gang is responsible for “Funk 49,” a song that is more fun to play than nearly any. Similarly, Walsh’s solo work is doused in some fun guitar work, an easy voice and no pretentions whatsoever. “Rocky Mountain Way” appears to simply be a song about how awesome drugs are (opening lyrics: “Spent the last year: Rocky Mountain Way. Couldn’t get much higher.”). Recorded during his time with the Eagles, the record appears to be the songs Walsh couldn’t get recorded by the band (“In the City,” for example, became an Eagles song). It’s a little Harrison-ish in that way, if George Harrison had been a goofball. Continue reading →

Believe

Posted on by
Reply


Band: Cher
Album: Believe
Best song: “Believe” is the best song, of course.
Worst song: The rest of the album is garbage.

One of the great pleasures of Spotify is that I can assemble playlists that include a bunch of single songs I don’t own. I’ve got a covers playlist, but more importantly, I’ve got a 1990s music playlist. It’s got a lot of garbage from my high school years — Our Lady Peace, Ginuwine, “Bailamos,” etc. — but it’s also got “Believe.”

Really, I don’t care much about the rest of this record. I’m sure someone out there likes it, as Cher has a huge international following. I care about the title track, the thing that did more for autotune than nearly anything else. Continue reading →