Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Number 823 - Transvision Vamp




Transvision Vamp

"I Want Your Love"

(1988)
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Genre:Alt Pop

Transvision's sound back in 1988 was way ahead of its years really, a lot of people outside of England just didn't get it.
Wendy James looked like punk, moved like punk, sang like a punker while having a pop backing group, sort of like Sid Vicous being backed up by "Keane".
More importantly, it bloody worked! (But not for long)
This was the only i liked by Transvision Vamp personally, and to be honest i liked it because Wendy #@^# in the chorus, back in those days it was rare for mainstream pop to make the waves singing "I want your fucking love". It was rebellious and i loved it.
"Despite almost universal critical hatred, Transvision Vamp briefly rose to the top of the U.K. charts in the late '80s, thanks largely to the media image of lead singer Wendy James, who fashioned herself as a sexually provocative, rebellious, fashion-conscious punk -- sort of a mixture of Madonna, Blondie's Deborah Harry, T. Rex, and the Clash. The musical backing by guitarist/songwriter Nick Christian Sayer, keyboardist Tex Axile, bassist Dave Parsons, and drummer Pol Burton tended to reflect the latter three bands as well. The singles "Tell That Girl to Shut Up" (originally by Holly and the Italians) and the Top Five "I Want Your Love" helped their debut album Pop Art."
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (We are respectable magazine you know) and the album at number (*Rolls Eyes*)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 62.8 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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posted by crowbarred at 9:22 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Number 824 - Smokie



Number 824

Smokie

"Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone"

(1977)
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Genre:Soft Rock
"Originally formed in Yorkshire, England, in 1966, Smokie hit the British pop charts several times during the late '70s with updated psychedelic pop, influenced by the band's stay on Mickie Most's Rak Records as well as the writers of most of the band's hit material, Rak's Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Vocalist Chris Norman, guitarist Terry Utley, and bassist Alan Silson had played in the Elizabethans, but formed the band Kindness in 1968, with the addition of drummer Pete Spencer. The quartet recorded many singles during the late '60s and early '70s, but failed to show any chart activity until 1975. That year, signed to Rak Records and billed as Smokey, the band hit number three in the U.K. with "If You Think You Know How to Love Me." After another Top Ten hit, "Don't Play Your Rock 'N Roll to Me," Smokey became Smokie; during 1976, the group scored with three Top 20 hits, including the number-five "Living Next Door to Alice." Smokie hit number five both in 1977 ("It's Your Life") and 1978 ("Oh Carol"), but the band's chart run ended by early 1980, and following 1982's Midnight Delight, they disbanded. Both Spencer and Norman continued to work at Rak during the '80s, writing hits for several groups; they reformed Smokie in 1988, resurfacing with the LP My Heart Is True. Two more albums, All Fired Up and Greatest Hits Live, followed a year later, with the group remaining active throughout the 1990s, issuing new material as well as a number of hits collections"
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Oh i don't think so Tim) and the album at number (*Whistling*)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 62.7 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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posted by crowbarred at 11:28 pm 3 comments

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Number 822 - Van Halen


Number 822

Van Halen

"Best Of Both Worlds"

(1986)
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................Genre: Rock...............
Yes, it is the album without David Lee Roth. Who do i prefer lead singer of Van Halen? Probably Roth, however "Best Of Both Worlds" is a good song and Hagar makes this song his own.
Hard night?
The power struggle within Van Halen was often painted as David Lee Roth's ego running out of control -- a theory that was easy enough to believe given his outsized charisma -- but in retrospect, it seems evident that Eddie Van Halen wanted respect to go along with his gargantuan fame, and Roth wasn't willing to play. Bizarrely enough, Sammy Hagar -- the former Montrose lead singer who had carved out a successful solo career -- was ready to play, possibly because the Red Rocker was never afraid of being earnest, nor was he afraid of synthesizers, for that matter. There was always the lingering suspicion that, yes, Sammy truly couldn't drive 55, and that's why he wrote the song, and that kind of forthright rocking is evident on the strident anthems of 5150. From the moment the album opens with the crashing "Good Enough," it's clearly the work of the same band -- it's hard to mistake Eddie's guitars, just as it's hard to mistake Alex and Michael Anthony's pulse, or Michael's harmonies -- but the music feels decidedly different. Where Diamond Dave would have strutted through the song with his tongue firmly in cheek, Hagar plays it right down the middle, never winking, never joking. Even when he takes a stab at humor on the closing "Inside" -- joshing around about why the guys chose him as a replacement -- it never feels funny, probably because, unlike Dave, he's not a born comedian.
Guitar hero
Then again, 5150 wasn't really intended to be funny; it was intended to be a serious album, spiked by a few relentless metallic rockers like "Get Up," but functioning more as a vehicle to showcase Van Halen's -- particularly the guitarist's -- increasing growth and maturity. There are plenty of power ballads, in "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Love Walks In," there's a soaring anthem of inspiration in "Dreams," and even the straight-up rocker "Best of Both Worlds" is tighter and leaner than the gonzo excursions of "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher." And that's where Hagar comes in: Diamond Dave didn't have much patience for plainspoken lyrics or crafting songs, but Sammy does and he brings a previously unheard sense of discipline to the writing on 5150. Not that Hagar is a craftsman like Randy Newman, but he's helped push Van Halen into a dedication on writing full-fledged songs, something that often seemed an afterthought in the original lineup. And so Van Hagar was a bit of an odd mix -- a party band and a party guy, slowly veering into a bourgeois concept of respectability, something that eventually sunk the band -- but on 5150 it worked because they had the songs and the desire to party, so those good intentions and slow tunes don't slow the album down; they give it variety and help make the album a pretty impressive opening act for Van Halen Mach II. ~ [Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide]
For more Van Halen see Number 617
For David Lee Roth see Number 997
For Randy Newman see Number 958
What does RS think?
The big question is whether even a sound as titanic as Van Halen's can sustain the loss of a loudmouth voluptuary like David Lee Roth, or will the whole metal ball simply collapse under the weight of generic gee-tar pyrotechnics? Though often derided as a frontrunner in the Most Obnoxious Man in Rock sweepstakes, Diamond Dave's giddy way with Uzipaced wisecracks and an unarguably media-genic presence gave Van Halen an overpowering edge on the legions of bands competing in the power-party rock arena. If rock & roll has become a circus maximus, then David Lee Roth was both a patter-spewing ringmaster and an untamable animal in the ring.
The Eddie-Sammy combination forms its most explosive bonding on "Best of Both Worlds." Centered on a transcendent guitar riff not unlike the chordal motif of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration," "Best of Both Worlds" is a double rock dialectic. While Eddie is busy resolving the problems of pastoral versus grunge guitar, Hagar confronts the madonna-whore paradox with quasi-religious fervor as he contemplates the possibility of divine revelation inherent in sensual experience. If one might "tune in to what this place has got to offer," one might attain heaven on earth through rock, through love, through grace. "It's not work, that makes it work no," Hagar sings. "Let the magic do the work for you." ~ [Source: RS 1986]
For Madonna see Number 478, #571, MM Vol 1 #077
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Not one song) and the Album ranked at (Nor one album)
This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 62.8 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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posted by crowbarred at 10:09 pm 0 comments