Currently Listening To...

[Tokyo Jihad]

they sound perfectly fine, if not the same.
(I guess there is that glitch on Loveless..)

[deadgrandma]

I mean, they sound lossy/mp3 to me... the original CD I have sounds better. Did they just make it louder or something? Glad I didn't fork out for them.

Unrelated, but this has got me thinking "I hope the Mellon Collie remaster doesnt suck" now.

[Inseu]

Loveless is the kind of album that with repeated listens I would end up abusing anti-depressants, with the exception of Only Shallow and Soon. :p

Anyway, I listened to some C-pop today. S.H.E's Superstar just clicked with me. PV is lesbo as fuck. Highly intelligent music compare to AKB48... I also discovered that Sa Ding Ding's lyrics are incomprehensible gibberish, music is catchy though! I can see why Ringo fans dig her.

[deadgrandma]

Originally Posted by Inseu

Loveless is the kind of album that with repeated listens I would end up abusing anti-depressants, with the exception of Only Shallow and Soon. :p

Anyway, I listened to some C-pop today. S.H.E's Superstar just clicked with me. PV is lesbo as fuck. Highly intelligent music compare to AKB48... I also discovered that Sa Ding Ding's lyrics are incomprehensible gibberish, music is catchy though! I can see why Ringo fans dig her.

Hmm, never really connected to Loveless on any emotional level... just think it's a cool album. Too hyped for it to ever live up to it's reputation methinks.

The only S.H.E album I'd consider "good" is F.M S.H.E cause it's pretty solid throughout the whole thing. Most of their songs on all albums sound exactly the fucking same, the newest album being no different, but F.M. offered some interesting variations/slightly sexy songs.

Sa Ding Ding's lyrics are pretty pretentious, yes, but in her case, it all works for her. Her albums concepts are grandiose and thus lyrically it all fits nicely. Her delivery is perfection.

[Tokyo Jihad]

Do you think Loveless is a depressing album? (asked to EMF at large.) "Sometimes" definitely feels that way, but I would also say "Only Shallow" does too. I guess the sound of Loveless is like a veil or a shroud over the band, so I guess I see that. Never thought of it that way.

>Discussion'd!
Love it.

As for Mellon Collie's remaster: Gish sounds great! Siamese Dream is certainly no worse (though I listened to the remaster maybe once ever.) Most of Mellon Collie sounds so flat and garish anyway, I hesitate to say it could not sound worse.

[Inseu]

No mate, I feel no emotional connection whatsoever, I just find the songs between Only Shallow and Soon so samey and unadventurous pop that it's depressing. Soon is one of my favourite songs but MBV never quite reached that level of greatness on other songs. When I first bought the album years ago, I turned up the volume, lied down on the couch, ready to appreciate its greatness, but got really tired after 3-4 songs.

Blonde Redhead's 23 is this kind of music done right IMO. Better vocals, more mellow and relaxing.

The main problem with C-pop is that most singers focus on things like dancing, acting etc rather than music. Most of them aren't even great singers, let alone play musical instruments. Thus only their singles are worth listening to. Bootlegs cause a huge problem in the Chinese music market, and most people only get the hear the big hits on those bootleg compilations, so I don't look for great albums, but great songs. Siqin Gerile is pretty consistent though, my favourite Chinese singer, incredible voice, but Ringo is just ten times more inventive.

[Tokyo Jihad]

If you want every song to sound like Soon, you're gonna have a bad time. That's kind of the point of Loveless, to bring the background front and center and obscure the foreground. Also note where Soon happens on the album, its for a reason. But Loveless isn't an easy album, and it's neither one I got a handle on after 3-4 songs. If you think Loveless is "unadventurous," do try again. Do remind yourself this album came out in 1991.

[deadgrandma]

I dunno, Loveless to me is another one of those 'big' albums that are undeniably good/great/plain fun, but will never really appeal to me on a real personal/MY discovery kind of level.

Others are Nevermind, OK Computer, Ziggy Stardust, Dark Side of the Moon etc.

(That's not to say that there aren't any exceptions either, as mentioned above Mellon Collie, or something like Kid A, Funeral, Oh, Inverted World, Aegetis Byrjun)

[Inseu]

I didn't say I only heard 3-4 songs before giving up. I tried several times, even heard the whole thing played at high volume in a CD store. I was basically pointing out that most songs are very simple, and album plods along due to the droning noise. For example, "When You Sleep" and "I Only Said" have very similar song structure AND they're crap songs. Suppose we take away the guitar noise, replace it delicate jangly guitars, we basically get a very primitive version of the Cardigans. It's possible I missed the point, I'm ok with that.

I probably won't remind myself when the album was made. :p A great album is timeless regardless of that IMO. Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man is one of my favourites, and it's filled with cheesy 80's synth.

dg, I like all those albums you mentioned, but listening to these "classics" now feel like homework. I won't trade my Gusya Ningen album for all these combined.

[Tokyo Jihad]

A timeless album is great regardless yes, but that's not to say to disregard context. "Hamlet is great and all, but why didn't his dad just text him first?"

"Simple songs" and "droning noise" is the point, it subverts the listener's expectations. The "noise" is what shoegaze is. The tones, the distortion -- those are the melodies and hooks of the album. The droning, repetitive rhythm sections are the epic face melting guitar solos one would have likely come to expect.

You can't just say "take away the guitar noise" of MBV. That's like saying "take the vocal harmonies away from the Beach Boys" or sampling away from The Avalanches -- its an integral part of their art.