day three music challenge

4 in one day! 4! man....

The Who - Who's Greatest Hits

or "why i'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations part at least 1."

i don't really like greatest hits compilations. so i rarely buy them. actually, i didn't buy this one, i sort of inherited it from my brother or maybe my sister or whatever. yep. hand me down who.

which is not to say that MCA records didn't pick good songs. hell, some of the best songs by the who. "substitute," "Pinball wizard," "Magic Bus," "My Generation." all there.

but... well....


where's "baba o'reilley"? where's "the kids are alright"? is "my wife" really a better song. and, yeah, love the blatant, so obvious it's hardly even double, double entendre of "squeeze box," but "pictures of lily's" ode to self love while reading dirty magazines is a better song. yeah, the who are one of the few bands from the 60's i will willingly listen to with much regularity, but this just seems like an excuse to sell a cd (i much prefer my who on vinyl. sadly, that can't really come in the car.)

and, okay, so i might be crazy, but "the relay" sounds like rod stewart. okay, maybe rod stewart singing for the faces but still. hardly sounds like the who to me. and there are some moments in "won't get fooled again"that sound like they could/should be a schoolhouse rock song (the whole "i tip my hat to the new constitution" bit... which i guess shows in reverse how cool schoolhouse rock really was.... but....).

rating 5/10

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Machine

yay for stop gap singles between albums!

so i really like the yeah yeah yeahs. i think it's mostly karen o's voice, and how she's ballsier than pretty much any current "rock" singer out there.

machine is just moe of the same, meaning it's awesome. i mean, it's a yeah yeah yeahs song. that said, today was probably the second time since i bought it that i listened to it... errr... i'm bad with singles i guess. (i have so many, it's sort of weird). i think it's largely due to my time in the UK where i would always brows the singles racks at HMV, at first because it was an anomaly to me, and at second because i managed to find some pretty cool stuff...

the b sides are what they are. a song called graveyeard which is just more of the yeah yeah yeahs i love. and a remix of pin, which completely obliterates the song into an unrecognizable mess that is remarkably listenable to.

rating 9/10 (cos, okay, it is a single).

Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower

okay. i have a huge crush on maria taylor. have since i first heard (and, okay, saw pictures of) Azure Ray. her first solo album, which i didn't buy, is an amazing piece of folky/artsy goodness. so, when i heard she a second one coming...

it's good. not as good as 11:11 but... good. more diverse songs - a few folksy tunes with obvious debt to her own band and also bright eyes. a beatle-esque organ driven tune ("smile and wave") and then some songs that, while quite good, have a slight feel of something done to try and broaden her appeal, as they wouldn't be terribly out of place on albums by any of the recent crop of female singer/songwriters with acoustic guitars and pianos.

but, when it comes down to it, i love maria taylor. the last song on the cd is something recorded of her when she was little - 5, maybe? and it is so adorable... man...

rating 8/10

The Talking Heads - Little Creatures

cos, well, why can't i pick apart supposedly legendary bands if i wanna...

so i am a fan of the talking heads. i really think myself to be one. but when i listened to this i pretty much only could tolerate the singles. i know this was one of their last albums before the acrimonious split...

i grew up with the talking heads, thanks to my older siblings. however, this cd i think was given to me by a friend from middle school who for some reason always gave me christmas and birthday presents, to the point of embarassment, especially as they were often cd's or something that i didn't particularly want... and i don't remember ever consciously WANTING this cd. i always felt bad taking things from him, especially since i rarely had anything GOOD to give him back.

so yeah, the singles - "and she was", "stay up late", and "road to nowhere" - awesome songs. hell, "road to nowhere" is one if my favorite songs ever but the rest of the album... i hate to think of myself as someone who would only listen to/like the singles from an album but with this one... which doesn't discount their brilliance. david byrne is a genius. etc. etc. but really, this album is just... no...maybe the talking heads are a band where i should have a greatest hits cd?


and that's day 4. so this has so far been kind of fun. i dunno. i think i'll slowly move away from reviews and sort of edging towards making it a little more autobiographical. we'll see...