The Alan Parson’s Project

Album: ‘Eye in the Sky‘
Year: 1982

Originally, I picked up this album because the instrumental “Sirius” is used as the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ Tunnel Walk Song and I thought it might be good to have on a workout mix. Turns out, a good hype song isn’t always the best thing to run to, so I kinda stowed it until now.

While my initial information about this band was, at best, a bit misinformed, I was curious. What I found was a band that did a good job at blending some good classic rock riffs with a bit of soul, some folk tendencies, with a little bit of that electronic wave that would come to define rock music in the 80s. There were a lot of high notes on this album and not a lot I would change. My only issue is it wasn’t substantial enough to warrant repeated listens, but I might give it another spin one of these days.

Track of Distinction: “Old and Wise” sounds like if the Moody Blues was actually a competent band, with good orchestration and some pretty good lyrical work making it acutely profound.

Gorillaz

Albums:
‘Gorillaz‘ (2001)
‘Demon Days‘ (2005)
‘Plastic Beach‘ (2010)
‘The Fall‘ (2010)

I can tell you that the attraction toward Gorillaz started with their breakout hit “Clint Eastwood.” I don’t know anyone who hasn’t heard this song. I’m pretty sure my parents could identify this song and they probably don’t know who Gorillaz are. It’s one of those songs that was everywhere for three months and then took its rightful place in the regular rotation of alternative radio stations to be played once a day until the end of time.

What I cannot tell you is why I stuck around or why I came to have four albums in my collection. Their self-titled disc wasn’t something I listened to all the way through even once. I took the selected tracks I wanted, including both versions of “19-2000” (I find the remix to be better than the original), and set the rest aside to be consumed later, if at all. The same was said for ‘Demon Days,’ the band’s immensely popular sophomore effort that drew me in with the ungodly catchy “Feel Good Inc.” I took that single track from the album and then shelved the rest for another time.

When I finally sat down to listen to these album in their entirety I understood why I was hesitant to listen to them all. Though the tracks I mentioned above were pretty listener-friendly they were very different. They made themselves popular with addictive beats and catchy riffs, but there was something blatantly obvious but understated: this band was very different. They seemed to play by their own rules, they had no discernible genre (which made tagging this post exceedingly difficult), but they have an interesting sound.

More than that, however, is they seemed to grow. We don’t know what they were in the first place but they have chosen to evolve on their own timetable and in their own right. By the time ‘Plastic Beach’ came about two years ago, we were treated to a more ensemble feel than the traditional Gorillaz fare we seemed to be used to. However, since the collaborators were household names (Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, etc.) we allowed ourselves to open up again for tracks like “Stylo” with Mos Def and Bobby Womack. Again, Gorillaz found a way to enchant listeners while confounding their sense of music at the same time; and we love them for it.

The most fascinating album, though, was ‘The Fall,’ an entire album recorded and mixed on an iPad that allowed the group to really dive into their experimental tendencies with both feet. None of the tracks on the album are radio-friendly but the album itself is set up as a musical conceptual experience, much like Pink Floyd‘s ‘Wish You Were Here.’ This is the prefect album to put on while drinking Scotch after a hard day of work.

So, now I come to a question I ask myself every time I listen to an artist during this project: “Do I want to hear more?” There are some where the answer is no while others get an emphatic yes. Gorillaz, for as much as I have lauded them here, still have me on the fence. I know that when their next album debuts I will be interested in hearing it, but I don’t know if I’ll go out of my way to obtain and listen to it. There’s still so much mystery in the sound and existence of this virtual band that it makes me nervous. I know that I should proceed with reckless abandon into their next effort, but I don’t want to come away disappointed. Time will certainly tell on this one.

Track of Distinction: This was a tough decision, but I feel that the track “Tomorrow Comes Today” from the self-titled album edges out “Sweepstakes” from ‘Plastic Beach’ and “All Alone” from ‘Demon Days’ simply because it set the course for the group’s progression. The band could have followed the course they set with “19-2000” and made themselves into more of a pop-novelty band but, instead, set a course to make good music first and satisfy the listener second. “Tomorrow Comes Today” does both in spades and is a shining example of the promise of this band.

The Flaming Lips

Albums:       
‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots‘ (2002)
‘At War With the Mystics‘ (2006)
‘The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon‘ (2009)
‘Embryonic‘ (2009)

I can’t quite put my finger on who or what The Flaming Lips are. I know what I heard and I liked it, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand the journey this band has been on.  What I do know, and what I can say for sure, is that their music sounds like fun. It sounds like the band has shunned the traditional pop music culture to do the things they want and, though the sound is meticulously built, it sounds like a work of love rather than work.

The Flaming Lips have been around since I was 5 years-old. They have been a band I was aware of but I heard very little about them. I knew they made music that only resonated with a certain few, but those few became devoted followers over the years. The earliest of the albums here was not published until I was in college. Everything I knew about the band, prior to this album was one track: “Bad Days” from the Batman Forever soundtrack.

What I found in these albums was something that was an extension of that one sound I heard in a movie. ‘Yoshimi’ can be categorized a a rock opera of sorts; not as blatant as Green Day’s ‘American Idiot‘ or The Who’s, ‘Tommy,’ but more along the lines of David Bowie’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.’ The subtle libretto ties together many forms of sound into one amazing package that both lifts and enlightens. This album is also home to the band’s most recognizable track, “Do You Realize??” (Trivia nugget: this song is the official rock song of the state of Oklahoma).

Their studio follow-ups, ‘At War With the Mystics’ and ‘Embryonic’ blended more of their pop sensibilities without losing much of the magic that made ‘Yoshimi’ such a delight. Tracks such as ‘The W.A.N.D.” and “Worm Mountain” may appeal to a larger crowd but also held strong to the band’s experimental roots.

The Flaming Lips’ crack at the Pink Floyd masterpiece, ‘The Dark Side of the Moon‘ is often times regarded as a cover when, in fact, it’s more of a re-imagining of the album and how those themes and motifs set more than 35 years prior resonate today. With some experimental sounds and a smattering of Henry Rollins thrown in for effect the effort may seem disorganized to casual listeners, but each note and chance is a calculated choice by a band as daring as Floyd. The songs, for the most part, are recognizable with the Lips’ version of “Us and Them” rivaling Floyd’s original recording.

But this is just the opinion of one who has only seen the most recent legs of this journey. I have not returned to the start to see where it began, to witness the growth of a band that was able to stay relevant through some of the most polarizing genre upheavals in music history. What I do know is I liked what I heard and that will make me enjoy the full journey more when I am prepared to do so.

Track of Distinction: “Are You a Hypnotist??” from ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.’ In every story-driven album, there is one song that centralizes the album and establishes a hallmark that the rest of the tracks can revolve around. For this album, “Are You a Hypnotist??” encapsulates the jam sound with the experiemental with the progressive and pop in one package. For those of you too young to understand that, think of the song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”