The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Music is – or at least used to be – at once a very shared and a very personal thing.  And truth be told the only thing I’ve spent more time doing in my life than listening to music is sleeping.  Music has informed my life since I was a kid and continues to do so, although to a lesser degree now that I’m a family man.  So it’s time for me to give credit where credit is due, and list the 20 albums that had a bigger impact on me than any others.

Some of these records opened my eyes to a new style of music.  Some of them resonated on a deep, emotional level.  Some were just too good to be ignored.  Some are wrapped in nostalgia now and nothing more.  But they are all critical to my development as a music lover in one way or another.

#20 – Queen, The Game

Memory is a tricky thing, especially when you try to recall stuff from early childhood.  But I swear I remember lugging a tape player to nursery school and listening to this album nonstop.  It’s a good thing I got into them when I did too, as in a few short years Queen became painfully uncool in the States (thanks a lot, Hot Space) until their post-Wayne’s World resurgence.  But dammit, I was already a fan!

And what’s not to love about The Game?  It marks the first use of synthesizers on a Queen record, and they’re used to great effect on the opening title track.  It’s also the last Queen album with no real weak points (“Don’t Try Suicide” comes close, though).  Freddie Mercury’s cigarettes hadn’t caught up with him yet and he’s still in fine voice, and the rest of the band is also at the top of their, um, game.  “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” introduced a whole new generation to rockabilly, but for my money the best songs (other than the title one) are the funky “Dragon Attack” and the excellent Brian May ballad “Sail Away Sweet Sister”.

#19 – Seals & Crofts, Summer Breeze

That’s right my friends, I wasn’t afraid to explore my mellow side even as a kid.  This was part of my family’s record collection, and I fell in love with it instantly.  Most people are familiar with the title song, but there is a lot else to love about this collection.  The songwriting and playing is top notch, and the arrangements are deceptively complex.  But what really sells this is the powerful vocal harmonizing of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts.  You needn’t go any further than the first song, “Hummingbird”, for proof of all of this.

Incidentally, it wasn’t until some time in the ’90s that this classic record finally made it to CD.  Let’s just say I was pretty jazzed when I stumbled across it. You know, back when I still bothered with CDs.

#18 – Kiss, Creatures of the Night

One fine day in 1982 (maybe 1983), my late grandfather favored me with a trip to the local record store.  He told me to pick out whatever album I wanted, and he’d buy it.  As I didn’t have a roster of favorites to choose from I kept looking until something caught my eye.  Before long I happened upon a cassette with four painted, darkly lit faces staring back at me.  I picked it up, and an obsession was born.

I was fortunately oblivious to the fact that Kiss was in the midst of a commercial dead period, and that many of their longtime fans had deserted them.  I didn’t know about all the albums that came before, and I knew nothing of the Kiss mystique.  I also had no way of knowing that many Kiss fans, as well as the group itself, was ready to move on from the makeup that attracted me in the first place.  All I knew was that an album with a cover that cool had to contain something worthwhile.

Without writing an in-depth review, let’s just say that this album kicked my ass.  And it continues to do so, almost 30 years later.

#17 – Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast

Speaking of musical obsessions…

My Iron Maiden phase began thanks to my older brother, who introduced me to them right around the same time I was getting into Kiss.  While I would grow to love other Maiden albums more (the first one and Somewhere in Time to name a few), this megaton metal masterpiece was the true beginning of my headbanging phase; a phase which lasted well into high school, incidentally.

In a way this album spoiled me for a lot of heavy metal, because it forever impressed upon me the need for good melody and strong vocals in addition to killer riffs.  That means a lot of modern metal, while musically strong, loses me with those damn Cookie Monster vocals.

Anyway, by late 1983 I had the first two slots in my holy trinity of music filled – Kiss and Iron Maiden.  And albums #18 and #17 are huge reasons why.

#16 – Run-D.M.C., Raising Hell

Is it even possible to overstate the importance of Run-D.M.C. in rap/hip-hop?  Not even a headbanging preteen from suburban New Jersey was immune from the greatness of this album, and it was the only rap album in my collection for years to come.  Hell, this album even helped make Aerosmith cool again (whether that was a good thing is up for debate).

While this album couldn’t make me stray from my chosen metal path, for one moment it broadened my horizons considerably.  And even if the lyrics seem rather quaint by today’s standards (not many hip hip acts would dare record an homage to their sneakers), back in the day I almost believed it when D.M.C. yelled “I’m the kiiiiing of rock!”  And it would be over a decade before another hip hop act (The Roots) captured my imagination like Run-D.M.C. did on Raising Hell.

#15 – Kiss, Alive!

If Creatures of the Night made me a Kiss fan, then the group’s seminal 1975 double live album made me a Kiss Army recruit.  A decade or so after it made stars of Kiss, I played the cassette in a seemingly endless loop on my Walkman.  The energy, the crowd noise, the crunch of the guitars, even Paul Stanley’s well-rehearsed and corny stage raps all captivated me but the pinnacle of the Alive! experience for me was and always will be the extended version of “100,000 Years”, featuring a Peter Criss drum solo that I’m sure thousands of Kiss fans have memorized to this day.

Even finding out years later that Alive! wasn’t the untouched, complete concert experience I thought it was hasn’t diminished my love of this album.  It’s still the standard by which I judge all live rock records.

#14 – Rush, A Farewell to Kings

I tried, I really did.  I tried to not like Rush and for a long time I succeeded.  That dude’s screeching voice, those weird lyrics, the decidedly un-catchy songs.  Who would bother with such garbage?

But I was a fair man in junior high, if nothing else, and so I kept on listening in the hopes that I would find some evidence to support my older brother’s love of Rush.  One evening I put on a cassette of A Farewell to Kings – recorded from the vinyl no less – and it happened.  I had decided that I very much liked this band by the end of the opening song (the title track), and by about halfway through the second (“Xanadu”) I had a new love.

Before long the Canadian power trio had earned their loftiest achievement – a place in my personal pantheon of Bestest Bands Ever – right next to Kiss and Iron Maiden.  The trinity was complete, and I was on my way.  But more importantly Rush marked the beginning of a new phase in my musical life, my introduction to progressive rock.

#13 – Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

Yeah, I know, what a bold choice.  The thing is, this album really did help to shape my view of jazz more than almost any other.  It was not just a bunch of notes in search of a melody, it could actually be just as evocative, structured, and emotional as pop/rock.  Who knew?!  Rarely does an album heaped with such praise earn every bit of it, but Kind of Blue does.  This is the ultimate late night jazz record, and it actually spoiled me for other jazz albums for quite a long time.  I searched high and low for another recording that could match the mood, effortless grace, and overall sound of this one and failed.

This was another gateway album for me, as it introduced me to piano legend Bill Evans.  If you listen to no other jazz tune this year, check out his work on “Blue in Green”.  It is the sound of a heart breaking, and it needs to be heard.

#12 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pictures At An Exhibition

This is an important album for me for two reasons.  One, it got me hooked on ELP and two, it served as my gateway into classical music.  Oddly enough, when I purchased this album it was really a mistake.  I was looking for another ELP song altogether but I didn’t know the name (this was pre-internet, mind you).  So I picked this up and my initial reaction was, “crap, a lousy live album.”  When I had finished listening to their interpretation of Modest Mussorgsky’s masterpiece my reaction was, “holy crap, I need to listen to this again.”

In many ways this suite was the perfect choice for ELP, as it allowed the group to showcase some of their best traits – it’s bombastic and loud in parts, intricate and subtle in others.  Greg Lake even upped the ante by adding a wholly new piece to the suite, a beautiful acoustic piece called “The Sage”.

If you’re convinced you don’t like classical music, listen to the “Pictures” suite or ELP’s adaptation and you may think differently.

#11 – various artists, Jazz Master Files

Score one for budget compilations.  Back in the dark ages before the internet became a ready reference tool for music, I needed a quick and cost-effective way to explore as much jazz as possible.  So when I stumbled across this three-disc set for 10 bucks I snatched it up.  And while many budget compilations contain crap, this was a goldmine of vintage jazz that I used as the foundation for further exploration.

Although this set focuses more heavily on pre-War material, it’s still chock full of tunes that no jazz fan should be without.  There’s a particularly hot version of “St. Louis Blues” by Louis Armstrong, and a rendition of “Love for Sale” by Stan Kenton’s orchestra that boils over with excitement.  But there is some great bop stuff too, like “Charity Rag” from the oft-overlooked Bud Shank and a great version of the Charlie Parker classic “Bird Feathers” (also known as “Crazeology”).

While the sound quality on these songs isn’t uniformly great, many of the performances are and this album was invaluable to me as a jazz touchstone for a few years.

I’ll start off by stating that I don’t care that Clay Aiken has finally decided to let us in on the painfully obvious – he’s gay.  I’m offended not by his sexual orientation (I am a huge fan of Queen and Judas Priest after all), but rather by his mediocre and boring music.  But while Aiken’s revelation met with a resounding “meh” from most of the American public, there is a subset of the population – self-titled ClayMates – who have had a hard time keeping the old stiff upper lip, as it were.

Here’s a sampling of dispatches from deep inside ClayNation – The Clayboard forums.  Read and weep, my friends:

“This is a gut wrenching day for The ClayNation. Somebody wake me up, I hope its a dream.” – strollynn63

“I wish him well and hope he gets some peace of mind now BUT I feel he lied to everyone-especially us fans. He should have just said so years ago. I feel like we were “used”. I still love to hear him sing but I also feel he has now become like a Michael Jackson and it’s a bit too weird! He isn’t just the plain ordinary person with the values he first stood for.-but it’s just my opinion.” – NJ4ClayA

“please tell me I’m not the only one who is shocked beyond belief! I feel numb I’m so upset. This can’t be real!! How can you guys say this won’t change anything? This changes EVERYTHING. I don’t even know what to think right now.” – Holmes24

“Okay, i’m going to come right off and say that when I saw it, I did cry. and I probably will if and when it is confirmed. Which will be tomorrow morning hopefully. I’ll probably be late for my first class, because i’ll be surfing the internet in the library. I knew in my heart for awhile that he was-…but my head was having nothing to do with it. I knew it might come eventually, but again my brain denyed it. I’m sure its a shock to all of us, weather we believe it or not. And for all those people who think he lied to all of us, I say whatever. I’m glad he picked now to say this and not a few years ago. He has gathered many fans over the years and im sure that if he had come out before, that there wouldnt be as many.” – MissMuffins31

“I am very very sad.” - RedBay

“I don’t understand how anyone can say that this changes nothing. It’s as simple as this for me: Clay is NOT the person I thought he was. I can’t look at him the same way again and this is killing me. I want SO bad to feel the same about him but right now I just can’t. And the funny thing is I have NO problem with gay people. But it’s just that he lied about it and I can’t forgive him.” – Holmes24 (again)

“I’ve cried a river of tears and truthfully do not know where I stand right now. I am envious of those who can take this news and continue to state their unconditional love and support for Clay. Right now all I can think of is that he is a fantastic entertainer but I took him at his word and it appears that his word isn’t what I thought it was.” – clayncfan

“I have defended Clay for years against these accusations. What do I say now?” – kwiltro

I’ll tell you what you can say, kwiltro.  You stand tall, you look those people right in the eye and you say in your most confident voice, “I LOVE SHITTY MUSIC, YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT!?!?”

From Idolator via the AV Club comes a pretty cool music meme – compile a list of your favorite albums, with one for each year you’ve been alive. Sounds easy enough, but some years are positively stacked with music I love.  Forcing me to choose among my musical children is just so…cruel.

For me the most bountiful years were 1975-1978, 1980, 1982-1984, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2006, and 2007.

1975 – Kiss, Alive!
1976 – Led Zeppelin, Presence
1977 – Rush, A Farewell to Kings
1978 – Ace Frehley/Kiss, Ace Frehley
1979 – Pink Floyd, The Wall
1980 – Genesis, Duke
1981 – Rush, Moving Pictures
1982 – Rush, Signals
1983 – Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind
1984 – Iron Maiden, Powerslave
1985 – Kiss, Asylum
1986 – Queensrÿche, Rage for Order
1987 – Anthrax, Among the Living
1988 – Queensrÿche, Operation: Mindcrime
1989 – King’s X, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska
1990 – Queensrÿche, Empire
1991 – Queen, Innuendo
1992 – King’s X, King’s X
1993 – Robert Plant, Fate of Nations
1994 – Queensrÿche, Promised Land
1995 – Faith No More, King for a Day… Fool for a Lifetime
1996 – King’s X, Ear Candy
1997 – Hank Jones, Favors
1998 – Pearl Jam, Yield
1999 – Ben Folds Five, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
2000 – Doves, Lost Souls
2001 – Spoon, Girls Can Tell
2002 – Koop, Waltz for Koop
2003 – Muse, Absolution
2004 – Mastodon, Leviathan
2005 – The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity?
2006 – Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
2007 – Field Music, Tones of Town
2008 (so far) – School of Language, Sea from Shore

As I would’ve predicted, there’s some pretty clear trends at play here.  Most of the bands I grew up loving (Kiss, Iron Maiden, Rush, etc.) were at the peak of their powers during my youth, thus their early list dominance.  That also explains why hard rock and metal are heavily represented on this list until the mid 1990s, when they either dropped off my radar entirely or were just not releasing stuff I was all that interested in.  In fact, metal pretty much disappears for good until 2004, when the awesome Leviathan was released.

The other item of note is that I was listening to most of the albums at the front of the list when they came out.  Starting around the mid-’90s, my musical horizons began to expand and I started going back and filling in holes. Were this list to go back a few decades there’d be a ton of Beatles and jazz on it.

I was absolutely fascinated by this cover as a kid and I still think it’s awesome:

What gets me about this is the look on the robot’s face, which says “Oh crap, did I do that?” The blood drop on the finger is also a very nice touch. The only part that doesn’t thrill me is that Brian May (the one with the curly hair and puffy shirt) looks like a bit of a dandy.

As it turns out, interestingly enough, this wasn’t exactly a new painting. The October 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction featured the original art by Frank Kelly Freas.

Queen contacted Freas and asked him to adapt his work for their album cover. He agreed, and his updated killer robot appeared when News of the World was released in October 1977.

Each of us has strong ties to movies, shows or music from our youth. All it takes is one scene or one chord to send you back to the days when life seemed simpler and shelves were higher. Growing up in New Jersey, many of these movies were seen in regular rotation on WPIX Channel 11 (before it became one of those crappy WB/UPN/CW networks). Because of this, it was years before I saw the unedited versions of these films. Having also seen most of these movies as an adult, I can verify that some have definitely aged better than others.

Weird Science (1985) – Director/writer John Hughes dialed down the angst a bit, and traded it in for an abundance of cheap laughs – not that there’s anything wrong with that. Michael Anthony Hall (Gary) was on a serious roll by the time this was released, having recently appeared in Vacation, Sixteen Candles, and The Breakfast Club. After this, he moved to Saturday Night Live in what is now regarded as one of the series’ low-water marks. Co-star Ilan Mitchell Smith (Wyatt) was…well let’s just say this was pretty much the high point of his rather brief career. Of course the whole point of the movie is to let teen and pre-teen boys gawk over Kelly LeBrock, and I was only too happy to oblige. But the real star of Weird Science was Bill Paxton as Wyatt’s older brother Chet (“You’re stewed, buttwad!”).

I’m not sure when WPIX started airing this, but I swear I watched it at least 10 times in the mid-to-late 1980s. I’ve watched it a handful of times since, and although it is rather dated it does hold up pretty well – as does most of John Hughes’ work from that period.

Flash Gordon (1980) – I loved this movie then, and I love it now. This was another WPIX staple, and is probably one of the great cult movies of all-time. It flopped upon its release, which I suppose is understandable since it paled in comparison to another fantasy picture released the same year – The Empire Strikes Back. But I really dug the outlandish worlds on display here, especially the ominous cloudscapes. Sure, pretty much the entire cast spends the entire time chewing scenery, but it’s a lot of fun to watch. And the Queen soundtrack is just the icing on the cake.

In yet another sign of the disrespect this movie is treated to, it was released on DVD briefly in the U.S., only to have the title go out of print. Luckily I managed to snag a copy for myself, and like to watch it once a year or so.

Cloak and Dagger (1984) – I remember very little about this movie, other than it co-starred Dabney Coleman and I liked it enough to tape it off HBO and keep it for a few years. At some point I probably realized it wasn’t all that good and threw the tape away.

WarGames (1983) – “Shall we play a game?” This cracked my Top 10 list as a kid, and it’s been there ever since. I didn’t really care about the whole hacker angle, as I was never that into computers. But just the idea of breaking into The Man’s computer and screwing up his day was very appealing. I also really loved the soundtrack, with its swirling vintage 1980s synthesizers. I enjoyed the whole Joshua/Professor Falken storyline, enough that I have used the Falken handle on a number of sites and message boards.

Best parts: Matthew Broderick hot wires a pay phone with a soda can pull tab…dot matrix printers and giant floppy disks galore…Professor Falken’s odd dinosaur home movies…the launch code sequence in the War Room…the skeevy Air Force dude hitting on the secretary…and many more. Oh yeah, Dabney Coleman is here too. And so is Ally Sheedy, one of my first crushes. Best line? Easy – “Goddamit I’d piss on a spark plug if I thought it’d do any good!”

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – After a series of increasingly pointless sequels killed this promising horror franchise, it’s easy to forget how great the original was. I was never all that scared by it, but got a charge just the same. And before he became nothing more than a burnt Catskills comedian, Freddy Krueger was a legitimately awesome villain. And hey, what’s not to love about a movie that shows Johnny Depp getting swallowed by his bed, only to be replaced by a jet of blood shooting toward the ceiling???

I know some prefer the original Halloween or Friday the 13th, but I think Nightmare is the best of the Big 3 of ’70s/’80s horror movies. It was certainly the best of the dozens of horror movies I watched as a kid. And here’s a bit of trivia for you – the doctor at the sleep clinic Nancy’s mom takes her to was played by Charles Fleischer, better known as the voice of Roger Rabbit. Pppppppppplease Freddy!

As I opined about three weeks ago, joining Last.fm has taken my obsession with music and music statistics to a scary new level. Recently I found yet another way to build on this experience – the Last.fm Mainstream-O-Meter. Using some sort of high-tech algorithms and reverse polarities, this little tool can tell anyone who uploads their information to Last.fm just how mainstream (or not) their listening tastes are.

As the site explains, it draws its numbers based off the 30 most-listened to groups, and how mainstream each of those groups is. I guess the higher the number, the more mainstream you are. Looks like I’m just outside the really meaty part of the curve. One thing I find interesting about this tool is it really shows you what the demographics of Last.fm’s users are. For instance, while The Beatles are predictably high, so too are Muse and Queen. So I guess Last.fm users like their rock bombastic and British?

Some of my favorite acts get no love, sadly – Steve Hackett, King’s X, Steely Dan, and the Jazz Crusaders all ensure that I will always be on the outside of the mainstream looking in. But that’s just fine with me. I am surprised to see XTC so low, as I thought they had a much bigger fanbase even now. I guess not on Last.fm.

So what does all this mean? Well, nothing really. Just more numbers to pore over and come through for hidden significance. Guess I have to go listen to more David Lee Roth, just to ensure I don’t become too hip. Wouldn’t want to lose my indie cred you know.

Here’s the first in a series of entries dedicated to exploring songs from my favorite groups that don’t get a lot of attention. These represent the ten best songs (in no special order) from an act’s catalog that were never released as singles, don’t get radio play, and are typically appreciated only by hardcore fans. Up first is Queen, for no other reason than they showed up on my iPod today.

1. “In the Lap of the Gods” (Sheer Heart Attack, 1974) – What makes this song great is the completely over-the-top opening and some of Queen’s sweetest vocal harmonies ever. Listen to the super-high part – that’s drummer Roger Taylor, a key element of the band’s vocal presentation.
2. “Football Fight” (Flash Gordon, 1980) – Although not fully fleshed out, this is still a gem of a tune. It features a crunching guitar riff and some tasty early-’80s synth lines. And it’s got an undeniable groove.
3. “Action This Day” (Hot Space, 1982) – Although Hot Space is probably Queen’s most vilified album, it really is quite good. It’s one of the more straightforward songs on the record, with a rather insistent beat. The synthesized sax solo is rather dated but still appealing to my ears.
4. “Doing All Right” (Queen, 1973) – This dates to Brian May’s pre-Queen band, Smile. Despite being an early song, it sports a pretty advanced arrangement. Brian May carries the song with some delicate guitar work (acoustic and electric).
5. “The Prophet’s Song” (A Night at the Opera, 1975) – A prime example of the delicious bombast that highlighted Queen’s mid-’70s heyday. The vocal canon (which makes liberal use of tape delays and loops) punctuates the harder and more progressive parts of the song.
6. “My Melancholy Blues” (News of the World, 1977) – A tasteful jazz-inspired song that is unique in the Queen catalog. John Deacon contributes some especially tasty bass work.
7. “You Take My Breath Away” (A Day at the Races, 1976) – This one is all about Freddie Mercury. Gorgeous piano work and a wall of trademark Queen vocals.
8. “Dragon Attack” (The Game, 1980) – This song proves that Queen could not only bring in da noise, they could bring in da funk. Successive solos by Roger Taylor, John Deacon, and Brian May highlight this propulsive jam, and segue beautifully into the next track, “Another One Bites the Dust.”
9. “White Queen (As It Began)” (Queen II, 1974) – Although Freddie was the star of the band, true fans know that it really was a four-man effort. This is an early example of Brian May’s skilled songwriting, and highlights the “White” side of the second queen LP.
10. “All Dead, All Dead” (News of the World, 1977) – Yet another gem from Brian May, this low-key lamentation starts off as a piano-driven ballad and features a wall-of-guitar bridge section.
11. “The March of the Black Queen” (Queen II, 1974) – In retrospect, it’s nearly impossible to listen to this and not hear it as a foretaste of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Most of the elements of “Rhapsody” are present here, although this is not as polished as the latter.