Monday 18 March 2013

Book Discussion: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi




[b]The Windup Girl (Paolo Bacigalupi)[/b]
You might think that my following synopsis/review is very spoilery, but trust me... these are just the basic facts of the world this story takes place in with a very brief description of the characters.

It is the late 22nd Century, and things are looking pretty bleak. The shortage of fossil fuels have long ago forced the Capitalist Western countries back within their own borders, and now things are powered using springs. You manually pump the springs yourself, and it holds a certain amount of energy. What computers that still exist are pedal-powered. Of course, this makes calories the world's new resource... you eat, and then use the calories up to power your house. As such, the so-called "calorie companies" have risen as the new brand of Capitalism. Employing "generippers" to unleash deadly diseases on the world's food supply, so that GM food of their own manufacture are the only things safe to eat. Anyone who defies the copyright of the calorie company's are dealt with harshly.

Thanks to their long history of independence, one of the last country's to stand tall are Thailand. In Bangkok, giant dikes hold the now towering ocean at bay and markets are full of fruits that were long thought to be extinct. The American Anderson Lake is an undercover agent of the calorie company AgriGen, sent to investigate the source of Thailand's food. His cover is as manager of a spring manufacturing company that employs the "yellow card" Hock Seng (refugee ethnic Chinese from a future Malaysia, that is once again called Malay), as well as the use of "megadonts" (giant, artificial elephants) to power it.

Megadonts are just one of three new species introduced thanks to the genetic engineering, the others being "cheshires" - disappearing cats that were originally created as a birthday present for a little girl who was a fan of Alice In Wonderland, but since took over the world's entire domestic cat population and roam the streets - and "New People". The New People were created in Japan to do all the menial tasks for their rapidly aging population. Learning a lesson from the cheshire's, they were created totally subservient to their patrons, are infertile, and move in a jerky robotic-like way to make them instantly noticable. This movement is what gets them the derogotary names "heechy keechy" and "windup". Emiko is one such, and the Windup Girl of the books title. Taken on a business trip to Bangkok with her Japanese patron, she was abandoned in the city so he could buy a newer model, and she since fell into the hands of Raleigh, who uses her as a novelty prostitute who is ritually humilated and raped as part of a sick sex show every night. But despite being compelled to obey all direct orders, she secretly harbours a desire to escape to a rumoured village in the North where Windups live.

The reason they can get away with this shocking abuse? (And it is shocking... some feminists didn't read past her introductory scene, which is a shame) It's because in Thailand, windups are reviled at best, and at worst are "mulched" by the "white shirts". White shirts are the enforcers for the ultra-nationalistic Environment Ministry led by General Pracha, whose job it is to protect Thailand from outside influences, whether it be artificial "soulless" humans like Emiko or the farang (Thai for foreigner) who are beginning to regain their influence abroad in an anticipated "New Expansion". Jaidee Rojjanasukchai is one such white shirt... a former Muay Thai champion, he is a hero to the Thai people and the "Tiger Of Bangkok" is the public face of the white shirts. He spends his time raiding illegal shipments and making powerful enemies, whilst simultaneously trying to get a smile out of his continuously dour partner Kanya (who sees ghosts). The Environment Ministry once attempted a coup which resulted in them sharing power with the Trade Ministry led by Akkarat. The Trade Ministry, as you can imagine are eager to let the farang into the country.

The reason for that lengthy description is because Anderson, Hock Seng, Emiko and Jaidee are all lead characters of this book, and as they all work for different factions it's pretty difficult to explain who the characters are without explaining pretty much the way the entire world works. But if you think from those brief descriptions you know how this story is going to go, you'd be very very wrong. Without going into detail, around about the halfway point in the book [i]everything[/i] changes, and what was originally a slow-burner of a story suddenly becomes an action-packed epic.

Paolo Bacigalupi has created a scary, all-too-plausible future world where nothing is ever as it seems, and the characters match this. You're going to be hard-pressed to find a single character you entirely agree with in this book, and in fact the character you first assume is going to be the hero (and follow the annoying "white man rescues asian girl trope) is actually a complete asshole, and though some of the actions of the white shirts are a bit extreme, I believe they end up becoming the most sympathetic characters in the entire book.

I'm a bit late to the party with this book, reading it after it's won pretty much every award it's possible for a science fiction novel to win (including sharing the 2010 Hugo Award with China Mieville's The City And The City - also on my To Read list), and there's a good reason, too, as it's one of the finest books I've ever read. There is a lot of local slang words (mainly Thai, but also Mandarin and Japanese at points) with no explanation of what they mean, so it may take a bit of getting used to. You usually get a sense of what they mean by context, though. Also, there are two absolutely brutal rape scenes against Emiko that won't be to everyone's tastes as I pointed out, but persevere with it, because I really think it's worth it.

Tuesday 5 March 2013

My Top 666 Albums Ever (THE CONCLUSION)

18) Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam (2006)

After a couple of albums that weren't very good ('Binaural' and 'Riot Act'), Pearl Jam decided to pick up their electric guitars again, and record their first full-on rock album since the mid-90's. I was skeptical upon its release, but it eventually became one of my favourite of their albums. It might sound like a mid-life crisis every time a middle-aged band decides to "return to their roots", but sometimes it's a long-needed palette cleanser that actually goes on to surpass a lot of the band's previous work. This is one of those times.
Best Songs: Life Wasted; Army Reserve; Inside Job

17) Nine Inch Nails - Broken (1992)

'Pretty Hate Machine', the debut album from Nine Inch Nails was seemingly more inspired by synthpop than their future records. The turning point came when Trent Reznor put together a band to tour behind that album... fed up with being ignored by the fans of bands they were opening for the band became more and more aggressive in sound. TVT, the label that released 'Pretty Hate Machine' were however demanding that the next NIN record sound like 'Pretty Hate Machine' (an album they had previously referred to as an "abortion"), and fuelled by the anger at the label's interference and inspired by the band's live performances, Reznor recorded this mini-album in secret as the ultimate "fuck you". It's fast, it's loud, it's angry, it's everything that people would come to expect from Nine Inch Nails, and the vital turning point in the band's career. Instead of releasing the band from their contract, TVT instead sold it to Interscope Records, a label that (for a while), Reznor had a much better working relationship with.
Best Songs: Wish; Last

16) Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (1993)

Before recording for 'Siamese Dream' began, the media had hyped the band up as "the next Nirvana" - despite releasing their debut album months before most people had heard of Nirvana - which put an inordinate amount of pressure on Billy Corgan to come out with a huge record. This is not a good feeling to have when you are currently battling severe depression and undergoing writer's block. And to make matters worse, guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky who had become lovers were in the middle of a break-up so messy they couldn't even stand to be in the same room, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was in the grip of crippling heroin addiction. It's a wonder that 'Siamese Dream' ever got made, but with the help of producer Butch Vig (who had produced both the Pumpkins' debut, 'Gish', and Nirvana's 'Nevermind') Corgan slowly but surely began to write some of the most deeply personal songs of his career, starting with 'Today', a song that on a casual listen sounds bright and optimistic but upon closer inspection is an ironic look at the suicidal thoughts he was experiencing at the time. Moving into the studio for almost the entirety of the album's recording, Corgan managed to get the album finished despite band members disappearing for days on drug bender's, or locking themselves in the bathroom and refusing to record anything. It must have been a relief then, that 'Siamese Dream' became one of the biggest hits of the era, and is still highly regarded to this day, with its grandiose production featuring layers upon layers of guitars differentiating it from the rawer productions that had been released by other band's in that time.
Best Songs: Rocket; Disarm; Soma

15) The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)

Every single song is a classic. The drafting of guitarist Mick Taylor to replace Brian Jones turned them into rock 'n' roll behemoths like they'd never been before.
Best Songs: Brown Sugar; Wild Horses

14) Michael Jackson - Bad (1987)

Most people prefer 'Thriller', but 'Bad' has a special place in my heart for being the first proper album I ever owned. I was only around three years old at the time, but I saw the music video for 'Bad' on TV, and it became my introduction to the world of music beyond whatever my family happened to be listening to. This album, and Jackson in general, was a huge part of my life and shaping the person I became as I grew up. 'Man In The Mirror' remains my favourite of his songs. It's sad that the side-effects of being able to inspire people like me were that his life became a huge mess, though.
Best Songs: Man In The Mirror; Dirty Diana

13) Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy (2008)

"But there's no Slash"... the most tiresome sentence in the history of music. 'Chinese Democracy' took far too long to record, I think everyone involved will admit to that (though production began in 1998, not 1993 like popularly reported). And the band's line-up fluctuated so much in the years it was being produced that, yes, it's less the product of a band and more of a collaboration between a huge group of musicians (the sort of thing no one complains about when Queens Of The Stone Age does it, by the way). But put away who is (and more often who isn't) playing on the record, and forget about all of the drama involved with the band that to put it bluntly has absolutely nothing to do with anyone but the people actually directly involved, and what you've got is a pretty fantastic record.
There are a few tracks that may throw off some fans of the bands older material (most notably the White Zombie-style 'Shackler's Revenge'), but there are also tracks that are exactly what you'd expect from Guns N' Roses ('Street Of Dreams', 'There Was A Time', and the heartbreakingly beautiful 'This I Love' among them). And after repeated listens, the songs that come most out of left-field have really grown on me. Along with members of the current line-up (Axl Rose, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman, bassist Tommy Stinson, guitarists Richard Fortus and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, and drummer Frank Ferrer), there are also contributions from other musicians that have come and gone from the band's ranks over the years, guitarists Buckethead, Robin Finck and Paul Tobias and drummer Brain (of Primus). Josh Freese - who was the drummer at the beginning of production - is also credited with multiple drum arrangements (to those who accuse Axl of wanting all the glory for himself, how many band's credit people for drum arrangements, or in one case someone is credited for a suggestion), as well as co-writer of the album's title track.
After seeing the band many times over the years, including last year at the O2 Arena, I do believe that 'Chinese Democracy' is finally growing on casual listeners of the band, as more people seem to be singing along to the new songs every time. I can understand the original skepticism around the record, but not the outright hostility that it also generates from some people.
Best Songs: Better; There Was A Time; This I Love

12) Mother Love Bone - Shine (1989)

The debut EP from Mother Love Bone.
Best Song: Mindshaker Meltdown

11) Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)

Faith No More's third album introduced the almost supernaturally versatile Mike Patton (he can croon as well as he screams and raps, and if you've played the Darkness videogame he did the voice of that force of pure evil without any sort of vocal filter) as the band's frontman replacing Chuck Mosley. Unlike later albums, 'The Real Thing' is an almost pure funk metal album, with rapped sections that are reminiscent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but with guitar riffs that are far heavier than anything produced by that band, who assumed that they'd been ripped off when they first heard 'Epic'.
Best Songs: From Out Of Nowhere; Epic

10) Duff McKagan's Loaded - The Taking (2011)

After the release and original touring behind 'Sick', Loaded's drummer Geoff Reading decided to leave the band for personal reasons and suggested Isaac Carpenter as his replacement. Isaac is a former member of the band Loudermilk (who became Gosling), and is Dave Grohl's favourite drummer, which should give you an idea of what to expect. Perhaps inspired by the hard-hitting nature of the new addition to the band, 'The Taking' is a much darker and heavier album than Loaded's previous albums, which could only be exacerbated by the inclusion of legendary producer Terry Date (he of Pantera fame). Opening with the bottom-heavy slow-grind of 'Lords Of Abaddon', 'The Taking' hardly ever stops for breath, though there is lighter far in the mid-point of the album with 'Easier Lying', 'She's An Anchor' and 'Indian Summer' sounding closer to previous material than what had come before, but it doesn't take long for the harder sound to re-emerge in tracks like 'King Of The World', 'Your Name', and the extremely angry 'Follow Me To Hell'. It seems that the previous Loaded albums were the band merely experimenting whilst trying to find a sound that was their's. With 'The Taking', they may have found it. Time will tell.
Best Songs: Executioner's Song; Dead Skin; Cocaine

9) Pearl Jam - Ten (1991)

Another of the top albums of the 90's, Pearl Jam's debut album is one that helped define the era.
Best Songs: Alive; Black

8) Stone Sour - Audio Secrecry (2010)

Stone Sour's third album, and one of the most fantastic of recent years.
Best Songs: Mission Statement; Hesitate; Threadbare

7) Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger (1991)

1991 was certainly a busy year for great music. Along with Nirvana's 'Nevermind', you had 'Ten' by Pearl Jam, 'Gish' by Smashing Pumpkins, 'Uncle Anesthesia' by Screaming Trees, the Temple Of The Dog album, the two 'Use Your Illusion' albums from Guns N' Roses, and this... the breakthrough hit from Soundgarden. With Hiro Yamamoto replaced by Ben Shepherd, 'Badmotorfinger' features a lot more low-end than previous Soundgarden albums, and the riffs have an early Black Sabbath influence. And on top of all this is the voice of Chris Cornell, which by this point was really coming into its own. If you're going to lump all of the Seattle bands under one "grunge" banner, then I guess this is my favourite grunge album for being so amazingly awesome from start to finish.
Best Songs: Outshined; Slaves & Bulldozers; Jesus Christ Pose

6) Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II (1991)

The second part of GN'R's 'Use Your Illusion' records is by far the superior of the two. As I mentioned before, the tracks on 'UYI1' that sounded most like they belonged on 'Appetite For Destruction' were some of the weakest they recorded, and it was when they were pushing their sound in new directions at this point in their career that the band were at their best. Well, 'UYI2' is almost entirely the latter kind of track, and the songwriting on display here is uniformly outstanding (with one minor exception in 'My World' that I don't think really counts as a song), with Axl Rose's 'Breakdown' and 'Estranged' showing just why he is my favourite songwriter. I like things to be big, and epic (something that is echoed in my taste in movies), and Rose delivers in spades. Slash's 'Locomotive' is also a huge standout. The one track that is most similar to 'AFD' on this album is 'You Could Be Mine', and is actually unique for those kind of songs for GN'R in '91 in that it can stand alongside any track on that album without any kind of shame whatsoever. As great as 'Appetite For Destruction' is - more on that later - Guns N' Roses wouldn't have become my favourite band without 'Use Your Illusion' showing exactly what they were all capable of.
Best Songs: Breakdown; Estranged; You Could Be Mine

5) Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare (2010)

In 2009, Avenged Sevenfold entered the studio to begin work on their new album. Work on the album was sadly interrupted by the sudden and tragic death of their drummer, The Rev (aka James Sullivan). When the band eventually resumed work on the record with Dream Theatre's Mike Portnoy filling in on drums, the band seemed to have been revitalised recording some of the most emotional (though no less heavy) music of their career in tribute to their fallen friend. An especially poignant moment is 'Fiction', a song about death that just happens to feature vocals from The Rev himself, though it's the two lengthy tracks that are the actual stand-outs of the record.
Best Songs: Buried Alive; Save Me

4) Metallica - Death Magnetic (2008)

Let's put aside the issues with the mastering of the album, in which 'Death Magnetic' unfortunately fell victim to the "loudness wars" - a production technique used by record labels in order to make the music more noticable when played on the radio, but sacrificing overall sound quality. I'm aware that this is going to be unpopular (perhaps even more unpopular than my high placing of 'Chinese Democracy'), but based purely on the songs, I believe that 'Death Magnetic' is the perfect Metallica album. Why? Because it combines the thrash metal the band helped pioneer in the 80's with the more melodic side of the band's music that they picked up along the way in the 90's... plus it doesn't sound a thing like 'St. Anger' which is always a plus.
Best Songs: Cyanide; The Judas Kiss

3) Tool - Lateralus (2001)

The first post-A Perfect Circle Tool album, and the influence from that band is definitely evident in Maynard's vocals, who sings in much the same way that he did on 'Mer de Noms', rather than the rougher sound Tool sounds had become accustomed to. The composition of the actual album, however, is Tool's most ambitious to date, including a three track sequence that listened to exclusively comes to around 25 minutes, and the title track incorporating a structure based on the Fibonacci sequence. The lyrics of that track deal with humanity's eternal quest for knowledge and also incorporated other elements of Mathematical theory, including the song alternating between 9/8, 8/8 and 7/8 time signatures (987 is the sixteenth integer of the Fibonacci sequence apparently). There is also an alternative tracklisting that if listened to in the correct order turns the album into one continuous song with ends of each track seamlessly merging with the beginning of the next. This tracklisting was discovered when a fan took the line "spiral out" from the title track as an instruction.
So, with all of this complexity and hidden content, it's obvious that Tool intended to make their fans think beyond just listening to an album. And they get away with it, because it is undoubtedly one of the greatest albums that modern metal has ever produced.
Best Songs: The Patient; Parabola; Lateralus

2) Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero (2007)

'Year Zero' is another album that gave fans something else to think about beyond the music. This time, the actual album was just one part of a multimedia project that included videos, countless websites and even real life and basically transformed people's perceptions of what a concept album could be. The general idea was based on the current political climate in the US in 2007, and Trent Reznor kind of created a dystopian society based upon his ideas of where things would be if they carried on as they were - the kind of thing that people have been writing about for years to be sure, but it's fairly unique in the medium of music.
The first hint that this was something bigger was when someone noticed that highlighted letters on a tour t-shirt spelled out 'another version of the truth', and somehow got it into his head that this would be the domain of a website. He was absolutely correct, and things expanded from there... new hidden messages were being found everywhere. Reznor would hide USB sticks with tracks from the album on them, with things hidden in the sound files that you could only access by putting the album into professional software. At one point some fans were asked to search for packages which contained cell phones... the cell phones rang inviting them to a "top secret" meeting, which turned out to be a recruitment drive for a an underground resistance movement, as well as a surprise NIN gig which ended in a fake police raid.
And once again, all of this would have fell flat on its face if the music didn't stand up to the inventiveness of its conception. To make a long story short, this is number two on a list of my favourite albums of all time... the music didn't disappoint. Throughout its sixteen tracks it takes you on a fascinating trip through the future Reznor had imagined, and felt like a culmination of NIN's entire career until that point. It had the harsh electronics of 'The Downward Spiral' (with 'The Great Destroyer', he got in before the dubstep trend), the haunting instrumentals and large-scale scope of 'The Fragile', and at points even showed the commercial inventiveness of 'Pretty Hate Machine'. And to top everything off, NIN's live performances at this time (where Reznor was joined by Jeordie White, Allesandro Cortini, Aaron North and Josh Freese) were some of the best performances I've ever seen from any band ever.
Last week it was announced that Nine Inch Nails are returning with a tour and new music. I'm excited.
Best Songs: Survivalism; Vessel; God Given; The Great Destroyer

1) Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction (1987)

In a musical climate populated by cheesy pop or even cheesier "glam metal", in which bands paid more attention to their image and how much drugs, girls and money they could get, the world was crying out for something a bit different. Enter Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler... a band where drugs, girls and money happened, but they were a consequence of the music rather than the reason for it. A band that looked like the bunch of misfits they were, equally inspired by punk as they were hard rock and metal. A band that dispensed with the sleek production, and synthesiser heavy "rock" of the time, and instead released 'Appetite For Destruction', a raw, dirty, expletive-ridden album that combined the bluesy-hard rock of early Aerosmith with the venomous rage of the Sex Pistols.
People nowadays lump Guns N' Roses in with all of those band's that I referred to before... the Motley Crue's and the Poison's. But make no mistake, they were a very different beast. They had a lot more in common with the band's that were currently building up steam in Seattle than they did the rest of L.A. In fact, I believe that if it wasn't for 'Appetite For Destruction' whetting people's appetites for something that sounded less polished, and more honest, then 'Nevermind' would never have become the hit that it was. And I believe that deep down, Kurt Cobain knew this, but he also knew that he had to set himself against what came before, and chose the most prominent band of the 80's to focus on - a rivalry that then got played up by the media, which confuses people nowadays when Slash and Duff are good friends of Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl.
It's ironic that the hit that sent Guns N' Roses into the stratosphere is also the least indicative of what the rest of album sounded like, but 'Sweet Child O' Mine' is still one of the best rock songs ever... and to think that Slash considered that intro a joke when he first came up with it.
Did the fact that this was at number one actually surprise anybody, by the way?
Best Songs: Welcome To The Jungle; Sweet Child O' Mine; Rocket Queen

Monday 4 March 2013

My Top 666 Albums Ever Part 36

36) Alice In Chains - Dirt (1992)

By 1992, the public were lapping up anything that came out of Seattle thanks to Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and Pearl Jam's 'Ten' both being released the previous year and becoming the first "grunge" records (as stupid as the term is) to break through to the mainstream. So, 'Dirt' by Alice In Chains had a distinct advantage when it came to the success it achieved. Luckily, however, it's an album that's every bit deserving of said success, and the best thing to bear the Alice In Chains name. The songs written by Layne Staley are some of the darkest of the period, based upon his experiences with heroin addiction. These songs are kind of structured like a concept album, so 'Junkhead' is about the arrogant attitude drug users adopt when they first start taking them ("you can't understand a users mind, but try with your books and degrees. If you let yourself go and open your mind, maybe you'll be doing like me, and it ain't so bad"), but by the time of 'Hate To Feel' and 'Angry Chair', the effects of heroin abuse have taken their toll and the result is deeply depressing. Jerry Cantrell's slow-paced, chugging riffs compliment this to make one of the thematically heaviest albums ever to achieve mainstream rotation.
Best Songs: Down In A Hole; Hate To Feel; Would?

35) Tool - Ænima (1996)

With the replacement of original bass player Paul D'Amour with Justin Chancellor, Tool took a turn for the ambitious. Ænima is defined by its odd time signatures and tunings, as well as its scope, with several songs approaching 10 minutes in length (and the final track, 'Third Eye' coming close to 15). The band's lyrics also took on more diversity, with the albums theme being stated as Egyptian mythology in a seven-pointed star symbolizing Babalon, and sacred geometry in dividing the planet into grids related to chromosomes. Pretentious? Yes... but when the music on offer is this good, it doesn't matter. There are also attacks on popular culture in LA (the title track), L. Ron Hubbard and Jesus Christ ('Eulogy'), and elitist music snobs ('Hooker With A Penis'), as well as an ode to the sexual art of fisting ('Stinkfist'), so it's not all existential crap and mythology.
Best Songs: Stinkfist; Eulogy; Forty Six & 2

34) Bumblefoot - Abnormal (2008)

'Abnormal' is Bumblefoot's first solo album since joining Guns N' Roses in 2006, and I believe the influence of that band's music really shows at some points here. What also shows through is the lyrics that sound like they reference some of the negative elements of being in a big rock band... in fact, many of the lyrics (including "When the whole world looks at me, they see some other guy. It doesn't matter what I say, they've all made up their minds"), sound like they could have been written by Axl Rose himself. It's also a sequel to his previous album, 'Normal', and this time is based upon his life away from antidepressants, which might also explain the generally angrier tone to be found throughout, which is echoed with some of the hardest riffs that he has ever written.
'Dash' is a notable exception, and it has one of the most interesting themes I've heard... it's based upon going to a funeral of a friend of his and looking at the gravestone. He saw the years and thought, "everything that this man was, all of the important parts... his entire life, were reduced to a dash between the two years". The lyrics are pretty life-affirming, with the message of making that dash mean as much as possible. It's a positive note to go out on, considering a lot of the rest of the record.
Best Songs: Abnormal; Glad To Be Here; Dash

33) Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute (1995)

John Frusciante temporarily left the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the 90's, to be replaced by former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. This line-up of the band only released one album together, which has since been savaged by the band, fans and critics alike. You'll never hear a song from this album at a Chili Peppers gig nowadays. I actually think it's the most underrated album of the band's catalogue, with some fantastic songs. It gets a bit strange with songs suddenly changing direction at the halfway point, and the music does sound closer to Jane's Addiction than anything else in the Chili Peppers catalogue, but it's a nice little oddity. 'My Friends' is among my favourite of their songs.
Best Songs: Aeroplane; My Friends; Shallow Be Thy Game

32) Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania (2012)

Seemingly abandoning the 'Teargarden By Kaleidyscope' concept (though there's a possibility that may resume at some point), Billy Corgan and his new line-up of Smashing Pumpkins (guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer Mike Byrne) went into the studio in 2011 to record a full-length, conventionally released album. Early buzz was positive, and with good reason, as the first album to feature the full current line-up of the band since 'Machina' is the best album that the band have released since their mid-90's peak. Corgan appears to have achieved the feat that Trent Reznor is so good at... making an album that is familiar enough for old fans to be able to enjoy, yet different enough to take them into a whole new direction. It's taken him half a decade to do it, but he seems to have finally found a place in the band in which he is happy.
Best Songs: Quasar; Panopticon; Pinwheels

31) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)

John Frusciante returned to the Chili Peppers in 1998, and the band immediately hit the studio to record what would become the best album of the band's career. Some people say that 'BloodSugarSexMagik' is better, or any of their albums from the 80's (two of which were absolutely awful), but the level of songwriting on display in 'Californication', along with Anthony Kiedis delivering his finest vocal performances (both rapped and sung) show all the hallmarks of a band at the top of their game. Personally, I believe it's a kind of elitist thing... the Chili Peppers exploded when this album was released, so naturally people decided that they were sell-outs.
Best Songs: Parallel Universe; Scar Tissue; Emit Remmus

30) Metallica - Ride The Lightning (1984)

Metallica's second album was an infinite improvement on the samey 'Kill 'Em All'. Several songs incorporate acoustic guitar intros before kicking in with the band's trademark thrash metal riffs.
Best Songs: For Whom The Bell Tolls; The Call Of Ktulu

29) Soundgarden - Louder Than Love (1989)

The second full-length album by Soundgarden shows a band that has grown into its sound. 'Ultramega OK' was a bit of a sloppy mess when compared to the previously released EP, 'Screaming Life', so they really had to prove that they were capable of producing a great full-length album, and this album proved it in spades. Soundgarden were already the first band from the Seattle scene to sign to a major label, and after this was released they were hugely tipped to be the first of those bands to break into the mainstream. Their follow-up, breakthrough record was beaten to the punch by less than a month, however.
Best Songs: Ugly Truth; Loud Love; Big Dumb Sex

28) Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)

'Raw Power' opens with one of the best opening tracks of any record ever. 'Search And Destroy' introduces you to the record at a breakneck pace and lets you know exactly what you're in for over the next 34 minutes. Raw, unbridled garage rock, with the centrepiece being Iggy Pop's voice which jumps between low-pitched singing, to demented howling at will. This is probably the root of the tradition that "if you want to be a great rock singer, you need an impressive scream". Personally, I usually prefer a sleek production on a record, but if there's ever an album that required the bare-bones, keep all the mistakes in approach, 'Raw Power' is it.
Best Songs: Search And Destroy; Raw Power

27) Metallica - Master Of Puppets (1986)

'Master Of Puppet's is practically a remake of 'Ride The Lightning'. It follows the exact same formula with it's tracklist (eight tracks, start short heavy, follow with the longer title track, incorporate an acoustic guitar as a brief respite from the barrage before resuming, and have an instrumental which features an extended bass solo). The biggest difference being that 'Master Of Puppets' is a far better executed album, with Metallica perfecting their sound. If they carried on like this (which a lot of their fans seem to think they should have), it would have gotten very boring, very fast, though.
Best Songs: Master Of Puppets; Orion

26) A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms (2000)

If there's any album that you wouldn't expect to be connected to Guns N' Roses, the debut gothic metal album from A Perfect Circle would probably be it. But here's the story... guitarist and primary songwriter was working as a technician for Guns N' Roses during the early days of recording for 'Chinese Democracy' (probably brought in by Robin Finck who had worked with him before whilst on tour with Nine Inch Nails). One of the things he requested from Axl Rose was his own studio so that he would be able to write and record his own demo's. Howerdel's flatmate at the time happened to be Tool's Maynard James Keenan, who heard some of these demo's and immediately fell in love with them. Howerdel had no intention at the time of making his songwriting a career and considered it a hobby he did on the side whilst working behind the scenes. Keenan and Howerdel eventually played some shows together with Danny Lohner, Paz Lenchantin and drummer Tim Alexander under the name A Perfect Circle. However, it was the current Guns N' Roses drummer Josh Freese who Keenan turned to when he wanted to help convince Billy to record an album.
The three of them recorded 'Mer de Noms' together, with both Howerdel and Freese eventually leaving work on 'Chinese Democracy' to go on tour in support of Nine Inch Nails (joined again by bass player Paz Lenchantin - who played violin on several songs on the album, and guitarist Troy van Leeuwen). The album itself shows a melodic side of Maynard James Keenan rarely seen in Tool, with him showing off the versatility of his voice with the tender and beautiful '3 LIbras' (another of my favourite songs of all time), and showing off his more aggressive side with 'Judith' - questioning his mother's continued faith despite her spending most of her life paralysed... ("It's not like you killed someone. It's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side. Praise the one who left you broken down and paralysed. He did it all for you"). It's a shame that now that the band have returned from hiatus (with a new line-up consisting of former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, bassist Matt McJunkins and drummer Jeff Friedl), it's unlikely that we'll hear any new material from them, as I believe Maynard's full potential is fulfilled by A Perfect Circle, in a way that it is rarely utilised in his other projects.
Best Songs: The Hollow; Judith; 3 Libras

25) Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)

What can be said about Nirvana's breakthrough album that hasn't already been said before. Cobain's combination of punky songwriting, combined with an incredible ear for hooks, and deceptively simple guitar-playing, the amazing power of new drummer Dave Grohl, the driving bass of Krist Novoselic (the band's unsung hero, without which Nirvana's song would just never have worked), combined with the expert production of Butch Vig created an album that helped define a generation that still stands up over two decades later. Compared to Nirvana's other material, 'Nevermind' is a very pop-oriented commercial record which has led to something of a backlash amongst Seattle's purists, and for a long time I considered 'In Utero' to be superior. But upon listening to them all again recently, I realised just how great 'Nevermind' is. It's a fantastic album that can never and should never be replicated.
Best Songs: In Bloom; Stay Away; Something In the Way

24) Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982)

Michael Jackson's second collaboration with legendary producer Quincy Jones is the biggest selling album of all time. The combination of funk, soul and rock practically invented modern pop music (not necessarily a good legacy to leave, but an impressive one, nonetheless), and if you haven't heard it, there's a good chance you don't have ears.
Best Songs: Beat It; Human Nature

23) 10 Minute Warning - 10 Minute Warning (1998)
10 Minute Warning
Before moving to LA, partly to kick-start his music career, and partly to (ironically, as it would turn out) escape the heroin epidemic that had begun to plague his home city, Guns N' Roses' bass player Duff McKagan was involved in the sowing the seeds in Seattle that would grow in a big way. Notable early bands that McKagan played in (he learned a variety of instruments so that he could play whatever was needed) were The Vains, The Fastbacks (as one of that band's myriad drummers) and hardcore punk band The Fartz. Eventually, after several line-up changes, The Fartz evolved into 10 Minute Warning, with McKagan playing guitar along with the local legend Paul Solger on lead guitar, Greg Gilmore (who would eventually join Mother Love Bone) on drums, and vocalist Steve Verwolf.
For two years, 10 Minute Warning earned an impressive reputation in Seattle, landing an opening slot for The Replacements at one point (in case you haven't been reading prior to this, that band's bass player would end up replacing Duff in Guns N' Roses), and even inspiring Stone Gossard to pick up a guitar for the first time. The band's sound was also ahead of its time, slowing down the hardcore punk riffs to create a dark, slow-paced dirty sound that would become a hallmark of later Seattle bands. Despite recording demo's and contributing tracks to a few compilations released by independent labels, the band never actually released an album.
In 1997, after leaving Guns N' Roses however, a meeting with Stone Gossard convinced 10 Minute Warning to reunite (minus Verwolf who was in prison for a bank robbery at the time. His replacement was Christopher Blue) and record this self-titled album that was released on Sub Pop Records in 1998. The album consists of rearranged versions of tracks written in their first incarnation, with lyrics slightly rewritten by Blue, whose voice I would describe as like a gritter version of Chris Cornell's, just without such an impressive range.
By the time the album was released, however, the band had broken up again, and so they are still an almost unheard-of, yet highly important band in the history of music. Steve Verwolf was attempting to find all of the recordings made whilst he was in the band to release himself a few years ago (myself and my wife helped him track a few down), but it wasn't to be as in 2008 he sadly passed away after a heroin overdose.
Best Songs: No More Time; Is This The Way?

22) The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969)

'Gimme Shelter' is possibly the greatest song ever written by Richards and Jagger. And as any fan of Martin Scorsese will tell you, including it in your movie automatically makes for a cool scene. Up until this point, 'Let It Bleed' as a full album was the greatest collection of songs in their catalogue. They would one-up themselves with the release of their next album, but this remains the greatest album released in the 1960's (unless you're a Beatles fan, of course).
Best Songs: Gimme Shelter; Live With Me

21) Bash & Pop - Friday Night Is Killing Me (1993)
Friday Night Is Killing Me
The end of The Replacements in 1991, led to bass player Tommy Stinson (who had been a member of that band since he was 11 years old in 1979) switching up to guitar and vocals for his new band, Bash & Pop. The band struggled to find a consistent line-up, and 'Friday Night Is Killing Me' was their only album, which suffered from disappointing sales. But it's a great bit of Faces-influenced blues-rock which showcases Stinson's unique voice. Other than this, there were a couple of promo singles, as well as the track 'Making Me Sick' which was featured on the soundtrack to Clerks, but ultimately the band fell apart, leaving Tommy to form Perfect.
Best Songs: Never Aim To Please; First Steps

20) Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995)

A two hour double CD (or triple vinyl) album is a tricky thing to pull off at the best of times. When you're a band who being asked to follow-up your breakthrough album that got almost unanimously fantastic reviews, and became one of the biggest hits of the 90's, going down that route could probably be considered an unecessary risk. But Billy Corgan is nothing if not ambitious, and that's exactly the route that he decided to take. 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness' is the definition of an epic album, with 28 tracks that take you on one of the greatest rollercoaster rides in the history of rock music. There's music on this album that is reminiscent of 'Siamese Dream', but that's only the jumping off point, with lavish string arrangements ('Tonight, Tonight'), screamy heavy metal ('X.Y.U.'), dreampop ('Farewell And Goodnight'), slow-burning epics that explode in bursts of grandiose genius ('Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans'), and seemingly every other type of song on display here. I can't listen to this album without experiencing seemingly every emotion at once. The Pumpkins (and nobody) have ever managed to release anything quite like this ever since.
Best Songs: Zero; Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans; Thru The Eyes Of Ruby

19) The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls (2003)

Introducing punk cabaret. Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione combine pre-Nazi German theatre music with their own rock sensibilities to create something that sounds like nothing else in the world. It's hard to believe that with only piano and drums, you manage to get an album every bit as heavy as some bands with a full rock set-up of guitar, bass and drums, but The Dresden Dolls pulled it off with this debut album. Lyrically, the album deals with things like gender identity ('Half Jack'), being reminded of an ex every time you see the kind of car they drive ('Jeep Song'), child abuse - both traditional ('Slide'), and with the child as seductress ('Missed Me'), and Palmer's ADHD (the gloriously schizophrenic 'Girl Achronism', that can't seem to stick to any one subject before jumping onto something else, though all of the strands relate to feeling out of place). The Dresden Dolls are one of those love-it or hate-it deals, but whichever way you swing, you can't deny that they're pretty damn unique.
Best Songs: Girl Anachronism; Missed Me; Half Jack

Friday 1 March 2013

My Top 666 Albums Ever Part 35

Because I was away again yesterday, I'm playing catch-up here... so here's my second lot for today.

54) Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

Black Sabbath's second and still their greatest album. With the exception of 'Hand Of Doom' and 'Rat Salad', every track on here is among the band's all-time greats.
Best Songs: War Pigs; Iron Man

53) Muse - Absolution (2003)

'Absolution' is Muse's album, and it marked the point in which the indie rockers evolved into some a lot more grandiose. It's also the album in which they finally became as huge as I knew they were going to be the first time I heard 'Plug-In Baby'. 'Butterflies And Hurricanes' is another one that is high up on my list of the greatest songs of all time.
Best Songs: Butterflies And Hurricanes; The Small Print; Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist

52) Guns N' Roses - Lies (1988)

'Appetite For Destruction' had just hit the stratosphere, and the touring commitments for Guns N' Roses were rapidly mounting up, preventing them from returning to the studio to record a full follow-up at that point. So instead, the band's first EP, 'Live Like A Suicide' was re-packaged along with four new acoustic tracks and released as 'Lies'. Those new tracks showed a different side to Guns N' Roses than had previously been displayed, especially on the tender ballad, 'Patience'. Unfortunately, allegations of racism and homophobia (due to lyrics in the track, 'One In A Million', which tells the story of Axl's leaving rural Indiana for the first time and travelling to the city... I'd say it was supposed to show how ignorant he was at the time and he had since learned his lesson, and therefore is justified in the same way it's justified in Django Unchained, though there has been much debtate about this over the years), and misogyny (due to the jokey 'Used To Love Her', for which he didn't even write the lyrics but still was the target of hatred) mired the release the album in controversy. None of that stops this from being a great record. The semi-acoustic version of 'You're Crazy' found on this record is far superior to the faster-paced electric version found on 'Appetite For Destruction'.
Best Songs: Patience: Used To Love Her

51) Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (1999)

The follow-up to the breakthrough album 'The Downward Spiral' is a vast, epic double album. Trent Reznor's experiments in soundscapes, electronic beats and ambient noise along with a greater emphasis on melody sets this album apart from the far more abrasive, distorted industrial music of 'The Downward Spiral'. With nearly two hours of music that goes through melancholic piano instrumentals, soothing ballads, the band's industrial metal, and in instrumental 'Complication' even plays a little with dance music, 'The Fragile' is Reznor's most sprawling, ambitious recording to date. In fact, so stubborn is its refusal to be pigeon-holed into a particular sound, listening to the full record in one setting can try the patience of some listeners. For this reason the album received mixed reviews upon release, and the man himself has commented on how he never wants to make an album like this again. It's a fascinating record, and a thing of beauty that is the most underrated in NIN's catalogue, though.
Best Songs: The Day The World Went Away; Just Like You Imagined; Starfuckers, Inc.

50) Duff McKagan's Loaded - Sick (2009)

In 2008, Velvet Revolver fell apart with Scott Weiland announcing on stage that the people there were witnessing the "last ever Velvet Revolver tour", taking fans and the rest of the band (who insist they were already planning to fire him) by surprise. And as far as I'm concerned, it's a good thing, because as great as Velvet Revolver were for a while, their "hiatus" (which is looking more and more like a plain old break-up all the time) freed bass player Duff McKagan up to restart Loaded. Another band called Loaded threatened a lawsuit, however, so they were forced to rename themselves Duff McKagan's Loaded. It's ironic that adding his name to the band and thus making it sound like a solo project came at this point, because it was also the point where Loaded officially became a band in their own right. Duff, along with guitarist Mike Squires, bassist Jeff Rouse and drummer Geoff Reading spent a few months in 2008 recording, 'Sick', their first album since 2001's 'Dark Days', before embarking on a UK tour and an EP consisting of tracks from the album that Autumn in which they struck up a rapport with their fans that it's all but impossible for band's the size of Velvet Revolver or Guns N' Roses to achieve. The full album came the following Spring, and it's one of the most enjoyable slices of hard rock to have been released in quite some time. The title tracks was a song performed by the band when they were touring for 'Dark Days', but everything else was brand new, including the incredibly catchy 'Sleaze Factory', 'Translucent' - featuring vocals from Jeff Rouse, and the 'Exile On Main St.' era Stonesy ballad, 'Wasted Heart' - Duff's ode to his wife, Susan. Records like this prove that there's no need to reinvent the wheel when there are so many spokes left to discover on the ones already existing.
Best Songs: Sick; Sleaze Factory; Translucent

49) Nirvana - Bleach (1989)

Nirvana's first album is a raw and ugly combination of punk and metal, with none of the pretense that band's in those genres had been displaying in the previous decade. Cobain was a banshee of emotion, screaming at the top of his lungs with distorted guitar. And in amongst this, the Beatles-esque 'About A Girl' showed the commercial sheen that would be exploited to its full extent for 'Nevermind'. No one could have foreseen at this point how big Nirvana would become. But listening to this nowadays, it should have seemed inevitable.
Best Songs: About A Girl; Negative Creep

48) David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972)

David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust - a supernaturally talented rock star from Mars - for what is still the best album he has ever recorded. Every single track, from 'Five Years' to 'Rock 'n' Roll Suicide' would deserve its own entry. 'The Man Who Sold The World' and 'Hunky Dory' were enough to plant the seeds of glam rock, but 'Ziggy Stardust' saw them grow into something far greater.
Best Songs: Lady Stardust; Ziggy Stardust

47) Aerosmith - Rocks (1976)

Aerosmith's fourth album sees the band at the peak of their talents and is among the most influential rock albums of all time.
Best Songs: Back In The Saddle; Rats In The Cellar

46) The Cure - Disintegration (1989)

'Disintegration' marks both the commercial and artistic peak of The Cure's career. The second part of their "trilogy" of dark gothic rock albums isn't an easy listen, by any means, but it's a highly rewarding one.
Best Songs: Pictures Of You; Lovesong; Lullaby

45) Lacuna Coil - Dark Adrenaline (2012)

Since Lacuna Coil became a commercial hit after the release of 'Karmacode', they seemed to have lost their way for a little while, resulting in the disappointing 'Shallow Life'. Luckily, they managed to find their way back again with 'Dark Adrenaline', which is a stunning album from start to finish. The best thing the band have ever recorded, even if it is still lacking the atmospherics of their earliest releases.
Best Songs: Trip The Darkness; Against You; I Don't Believe In Tomorrow

44) Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (1991)

The debut album from Billy Corgan and co. was financed and released by the band themselves, becoming the biggest selling independent release of all time (I may be wrong, but I think it may still hold that record). So strong was the buzz around the Smashing Pumpkins that they were immediately snapped up by Virgin Records and the album was reissued on that label, reaching an even larger audience.
We were a long way from the multi-layered lush production of future releases, with this album being more of a straight hybrid of heavy metal and shoegaze/dreampop, but it showed a major songwriting talent in Billy Corgan, even if his lyrics did (and still do) often fall into insipid spiritualism.
Best Songs: Siva; Snail

43) Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (1994)

Pearl Jam's third album.
Best Songs: Spin The Black Circle; Nothingman; Better Man

42) Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994)

By 1994, many of the band's caught up in the "grunge" phenomenon (something, that considering the sheer diversity of sounds you could hear in the different bands of this era is just a horrible pigeon-holing of bands that really shared nothing but geographical location and - sometimes - dress sense) were expanding upon the sound that made them famous. The sludge-like riffing of Soundgarden's 'Badmotorfinger' for example, weren't completely abandoned for 'Superunknown', but were less prominent with elements of psychedelia (something that really showed in the video's for songs on this album) and at times even Middle Eastern influences finding their way into the recordings. Alternative tunings came into play for the guitars on many tracks, and the dark subject matter made this a distinctly early 90's record (I called it once, an album for the Twin Peaks generation due to the weird feeling you get listening to it). It's hard to categorise, but it's not hard to know that you're hearing a great band performing one of their best albums.
Best Songs: Fell On Black Days; Limo Wreck; The Day I Tried To Live

41) Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape (1997)

After the first album was a surprise hit, Dave Grohl went back into the studio with his touring Foo Fighters (including Pat Smear, Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith) line-up for the first time to record the cover-up. Goldsmith left the band partway through recording, leaving Grohl to play drums on almost every track, but 'The Colour And The Shape' has since gone down in rock history as one of the best albums of the 1990's. Pretty much every track is pure pop-rock perfection.
Best Songs: Monkey Wrench; Hey, Johnny Park!; Everlong

40) The Replacements - Tim (1985)

'Tim' is the first major label release from The Replacements. Produced by Tommy Ramone (of The Ramones), the album shows the diversity of Paul Westerberg's influences. This album in turn has gone on to influence many bands (among them Green Day) over the years. One of the best album's of the 1980's.
Best Songs: Bastards Of Young; Here Comes A Regular

39) Stone Sour - House Of Gold & Bones Part 1 (2012)

The first part of Stone Sour's concept album was released last year. The second greatest album of the year (after another album that I'll be talking about in Monday's entry). If the second part (due out in April) lives up to the standard set by this, it'll be amazing.
Best Songs: Tired; Taciturn

38) Foo Fighters - Wasting Light (2011)

Dave Grohl, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins and the returning Pat Smear went into the studio in 2010 with the legendary Butch Vig (producer of Nirvana's 'Nevermind'), which resulted in the best Foo Fighters album ever. Most band's don't sound this good seven albums in. Flawless.
Best Songs: Bridge Burning; Walk

37) Korn - Issues (1999)

If 'Wake Up' (chorus: "I can't take no more. What are we fighting for. You are my brothers, each one I would die for. Please just let this go. All our heads are blown. Let's take the stage and remember what we play for") had existed a few years before, I can think of a certain band I'd've wanted to have listened to it and taken its message on board. But as well as that, 'Issues' is consistently Korn at their very best.
Best Songs: Falling Away From Me; Make Me Bad; Wake Up