Bruce Springsteen/Suicide/Beat The Devil - "Dream Baby Dream [live 2005]"/"Dream Baby Dream [live 1979]"/"Mr Ray" 10"

Part of the Alan Vega 70th Vinyl Series.

I love "Most Of The Time." Great song.

I'm trying to decide: is it just the passing of time which makes it so easy to see one album as a classic and the other as a (at best) "transitional" album? I'm not sure. I can't believe a room full of people were enthused by "Tough Mama," "Hazel," etc. Maybe these were lost souls who still thought Dylan had all the answers to the universe.


Me too. Or three. I can't count.
-----
Oh! Dylan turns 75 in March! I assume there will be some sort of tribute. Watch him release a terrible album on purpose, just to fuck with people.

Meanwhile..

THE CURE - THE TOP: Strangely underrated. Anyone who likes HEAD ON THE DOOR shouldn't have a problem with this. Several great tunes. Allmusic: 2 stars (although fans have it at 3.5)

The Top is a great, but honestly I wish it sounded more like Head on the Door, which really stands out sound wise in the Cure's discography. Even among such a strong series of records, HOTD goes off in a number of different directions and doing so with better results than any other Cure album. Kiss Me... tries to do it better, but ultimately fails. The Top kind of got things started and laid the groundwork, but HOTD is exponentially better, in my always humble opinion.

It's hard to name a favorite Cure album, with gems all over the place, but I think Head on the Door is mine.

Also, anyone remember that scene in High Fidelity that features "Most of the Time" to great effect? Pretty perfect use of the song.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who appreciates the song... and the rest of Oh Mercy as well, certainly, though "Most of the Time" is the highlight for me.

I don't fuck with much before Mercy or after Blood on the Tracks. But I know someday I will dig in to that period of Dylan's music. His '60's records are almost perfect, the lot of them. In fact, I think he's the only artist fro that decade who can be compared to the Beatles. When people ask me the classic "Beatles or Stones?" question, I can't help but laugh. I love early Stones, but the question is an insult. Mostly because the Stones didn't release a perfect album until after the Beatles were done. I think "Beatles or Dylan?" Is really the question. America's 60's cultural game-changer VS. the UK's. I'd still go with the Beatles, but I could at least respect the opinion that Dylan was the "better" artist.

Which one?

Here's a comparison to chew on: Stones vs VU. Bad boy posturing ("all my friends are junkies") vs real world observation (see: "Heroin"). Teenagers vs adults. Product vs art.

Jagger has had 50+ years to write something as powerful as "Candy Says" and he's never once risen to the challenge. Loser.

The "live" side:

That is my bet. I'd go with "sycophants", though.


No, May 24th. :)


I have a problem with it. But I'm not a fan of The Cure, whom I pretty much hate. Sorry, Mascis, Yo La Tengo, Britt Daniel, etc.

Ah, I'm wrong about everything again. My New Year's resolution should've been to work on that bad habit.

Last night I acquired and started combing through Bob Dylan-Theme Time Radio Hour. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.

YES! I like also studio album, but in live they made as good material as for example Velvets!

About the Cure their four first album are their best (hard to say which one of them is the best, Faith?). They haven´t made a bad album (wild Mood Swings is the weakest), maybe s/t album from 2004 is one of their greatest later outputs.

About the Beatles, Stones, Dylan & V.U. I think it was the Beatles musically & Dylan lyrically. Velvet was the most important band in pop history just for that sake I don´t believe there ever would have been seventies punk/post punk without Velvet (Velvet was the first one to bring mean/dirty to the pop). But always when somebody asks Beatles or Stones I answer Stones maybe just because Stones have always been just much more R´N`R.

Well said.

I have nothing against the stones. I've seen them several times, between Voodoo Lounge and the time they toured with Cheryl Crowe (shiver). I LOVE early Stones. I think "Play with Fire" is one of the best songs of all time. But I don't give much of a shit about anything after 1972.

Velvets > Stones. They're the Beatles from some warped alternate reality, and everything I love pretty much came from Lou and John, or John and Paul.

But my personal '60s hierarchy goes like this:

1. Velvet Underground
2. Beatles
3. Kinks
4. Dylan
5. Stones

I don't think anyone really compares to the Velvets or the Beatles OR Dylan, as in there will never be another of any of those groups. But the Stomes? There have been soooo many. Every decade has a Stones of its own and every decade has had the fucking Stones. They've been shit for 40 years longer than the Beatles even existed. It's hard to talk about them like they compare. Ditto for Velvets.

Dylan vs. Stones is an interesting one, since they've been around for about the same amount of time. Still, Dylan takes it.

can we all agree that the Jefferson Airplane sucked? ha!

Make up your mind. But it's tough, isn't it? A productive decade followed by completely not giving a fuck about anything other than a paycheck. I so despise 70s-and-beyond Stones that it almost takes the shine off the good stuff.

But the good news is when Mick and Keith die, no one will ever say, "What a tragedy. They had so much more to offer."

I've probably derived more pleasure from the Byrds, so they'd go in my #5 slot. I don't expect anyone to agree.


I agree. But I was listening to that a few weeks ago and realized it only half sucks. What an impressive catalog.

Cure>Stones

Silly comparison, I know. But I'm right.


Jefferson Airplane>Herman's Hermits

This is the craziest fucking thing you've ever posted. Herman's Hermits wipe the floor with the Airplane!

Also, stop dissing '70s Stones. Some Girls is a masterwork and EVERY album between Exile and SG, and then until and including Tattoo You, has formidable songs. And ALSO, re: Mortte: "it was the Beatles musically & Dylan lyrically" — no, it was Dylan musically & lyrically.

Oh hell yeah Cure > Stones.

Wild Mood Swings was huge when it first came out. You guys remember. Maybe not huge sales wise (though it did pretty well), but huge as in "holy shit New Cure!!" I got swept up in that, and didn't even notice that the album half sucked until years later.

But it's still a good record. Thing about the Cure is that so many of their records are so good in such different ways. Boys Don't Cry/Three Imaginary Boys is excellent in a way that was never repeated. Seventeen Seconds is perfect. Pornography is post-punk executed with Joy Division-like precision and intensity. But somehow Disintigration and Head on the Door hit me hardest.

No. It was the Beatles and George Martin musically. Dylan lyrically. He's right, you're wrong.

This is the craziest fucking thing you've ever posted. Herman's Hermits wipe the floor with the Airplane!

Are you fuckin serious? "Mrs Brown has a lovely doughter...Uuuh!!

Also, stop dissing '70s Stones. Some Girls is a masterwork and EVERY album between Exile and SG, and then until and including Tattoo You, has formidable songs.

Agreed but I add to great Stones albums Undercover, Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge & Bridges to Babylon. Even Bigger Bang is better than Emotional Rescue.

No! Cure has never been greater than Stones. But it´s great anyway. And Wild Mood is not a bad album, it has some great moments. Also really liked Smith´s trilogy, Pornography, Disintegration & Bloodflowers.

Here´s my top10 of the sixties bands, in order (nothing to do with the importance of the pop music, just how important they been to me):
1. Pink Floyd
2. the Who
3. Stones
4. the Jimi Hendrix Experience
5. Velvet
6. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
7. the Beatles
8. the Doors
9. Traffic
10. the Mothers of Invention

Uuh, as always, have to leave so many great bands out! But most of these have been into my life almost my whole life.

I'm a big fan of, The Cure and I'll argue they have released better albums than The Rolling Stones. Don't get me wrong, Stones have released some unbelievable songs, but I like Thd Cure albums better......same for David Bowie, Elton John or Alice Cooper.

I noticed that Led Zepelin didn't make your Top 10.

Incredible debate and no one's right or wrong! Love it! Noodle on this....I challenge someone to put up a BETTER 4-album run than this:

Begger's Banquet (1968)
Let It Bleed (1969)
Sticky Fingers (1971)
Exile On Main Street (1972)

4 in a row. What comes close? Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

I love British Invasion bubblegum, but gimme a break. Even by that standard, they are not great, although "Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat" is a masterpiece. I'm not a Jefferson fan by any means, but c'mon man.


That's what I'm saying. The band's worst album is still half-good. That's how fucking great they are.


What's your take on THE TOP? I really like it, no one else seems to.



I think Exile is way, way overrated, but I take your point.

STICKY strikes me as the summit of the entire band's career, and probably makes my TOP 10 EVER list if I'm the right mood.

You get gutsy, patented Stones rock ("Brown," "Bitch"), tips of the hat to r n' b ("Sway," "I Got the Blues"), pre-electric blues ("You Gotta Move"), a killer jam song ("Knocking"), their best ballad ("Wild Horses") and even a country tune ("Dead Flowers"). What else do you need?

Let's see... Yeah, that's a pretty incredible run of albums, but I don't have to look far to find a better one...

Sonic Youth:
Bad Moon Rising ('85)
Evol ('86)
Sister ('87)
Daydream Nation ('88)

But maybe that goes without saying in these parts, so... how about:

Velvet Underground:
VU & Nico ('67)
White Light/White Hear ('68)
Velvet Underground ('69)
Loaded ('70)

Is that still just too obvious? Kinda seems like it could be. Well, everyone knows how I feel about the next one, but that's true of SY and the Velvets too, so fuck it.

Kanye West:
The College Dropout ('04)
Late Registration ('05)
Graduation ('07)
808's & Heartbreak ('08)
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ('10)
Yeezus ('13)

Now I can't stop thinking of album runs that can at least compete with the famous Stones 69-72 output.

Aphex Twin:
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)
Selected Ambient Works volume II (1994)
... I Care Because You Do (1995)
Richard D. James Album (1996)
Drukqs (2001)
Syro (2014)

Fugazi:
Repeater (1990)
Steady Diet of Nothing (1991)
In on the Kill Taker (1993)
Red Medicine (1995)
End Hits (1998)
The Argument (2001)
*this is a perfect career run of studio albums right here.

Honestly I think the Cure's entire output up to 1992 can be chopped into competitive 4-album runs... or it can be taken as a straight shot that had some less than perfect moments, but not many.

Three Imaginary Boys (1979)
Seventeen Seconds (1980)
Faith (1981)
Pornography (1982)
The Top (1984) *remove this one if you're not into it and you still have two epic runs. If you leave it, then this is almost unprecedented.
The Head on the Door (1985)
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
Disintegration (1989)
Wish (1992)

xxx

No, I like Zeppelin, but it isn´t my top10 of the sixties and not even seventies. And yes, Cure has made great albums, but as a band it just hasn´t made as great music as Stones...BTW Cure is coming to Finland and I have a ticket! And I am the one who really likes also their the Top-album, I think it is as great as Head on the door and lot better than Kiss Me.

1. Beggars Banquet
2. Let It Bleed
3. Sticky Fingers
4. Between the Buttons

Pink Floyd:
1. Atom Heart Mother
2. the Piper at the Gates of Dawn
3. Saucerful of Secrets
4. the Dark Side of the Moon

Captain Beefheart:
1. Trout Mask Replica
2. Lick My Decals Off, Baby
3. Doc at the Radar Station
4. Ice Cream For Crow

Beatles:
1. Revolver
2. Sgt. Pepper
3. Abbey Road
4. the Beatles (white album)

the Who:
1. The Who Sell Out
2. Tommy
3. Who´s Next
4. Quadrophenia

SY still:
1. Sister
2. EVOL
3. ATL
4. Washing Machine

xxx

Whoa. Just noticed Cure are going to tour this year. Nowhere near me, but Helsinki gets a show. That's some bullshit.

Shit. They don't appear to be coming near me either. Goddammit.

On the bright side it looks like they may be dropping two albums this year. I find that pretty hard to believe, but one would be just fine.

They haven´t been very often in Finland. Last time was 1996 & I wasn´t there (actually never seen them). I knew then they´re coming, but I said to me ( a poor excuse) they weren´t as great anymore as they were in the begin of eighties. Then one of my friend who was there was a long time really pain in my ass telling how great that gig was. Finally I have a possibility to change that experience!

Sev, where you heard from those new albums? There was information in wiki in the beginning of 2015 about two albums (which is going to have material from 4:13 dream -sessions) but some months after that information was deleted.

I just searched Google for Cure tour dates 2016 and found a little write up on what they had planned for the year. Not sure if it's true or accurate.

Sorry, I didn´t understood this at first completely. But accidentely Beatles & Who went right.

But here´s Pink Floyd & Captain again and some more:
1. Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
2. a Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
3. More (1969)
4. Ummagumma (1969)

1. Safe as Milk (1967)
2. Strictly Personal (1968)
3. Trout Mask Replica (1969)
4. Lick My Decals (1970)

David Bowie:
1. David Bowie (1969)
2. the Man Who sold the world (1970)
3. Hunky Dory (1971)
4. the Rise and Fall of Ziggy (1972)

Traffic:
1. Mr. Fantasy (1967)
2. Traffic (1968)
3. Last Exit (1969)
4. John Barcleycorn Must Die (1970)

Family:
1. Music In a Doll´s House (1968)
2. Family Entertainment (1969)
3. a Song For Me (1970)
4. Anyway (1970)

Yes:
1. Time and a word (1970)
2. the Yes album (1971)
3. Fragile (1971)
4. Close to the Edge (1972)

King Crimson:
1. Lark´s Tongues In Aspic (1973)
2. Starless and Bible Black (1974)
3. Red (1974)
4. USA (1975)

Genesis:
1. Foxtrot (1972)
2. Live (1973)
3. Selling England Byt the Pound (1973)
4. the Lamb lies Down on Broadway (1974)

Did you noticed how much great albums has made near the change of decade? Only exceptions are King Crimson & Genesis, I didn´t put King Crimson´s great first albums just because I think Islands is their weakest seventies album, but it isn´t really a bad album at all too!

"Close to Me" ... Almost definitely. That. Is. My. Jam. Also love "Plainsong" because it's so ridiculously pretty it kinda makes my guts ache when I hear it.

But really, you can't go wrong with anything they put out in the '80s. It's just great stuff.

You chauvinist pigs.

Laura Nyro
Eli And The Thirteenth Confession
New York Tendaberry
Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat
Gonna Take A Miracle

Nico
Chelsea Girl
The Marble Index
Desertshore
The End...

OK, so Chelsea Girl is comprised of covers and Tom Wilson flute-bombed it, but stop thinking about what could have been and what you have is a classic anyway. Certainly better than a bunch of overpraised "baroque pop" albums.

Joni Mitchell
Ladies Of The Canyon
Blue
For The Roses
Court And Spark

That's just the conventional wisdom. As far as I'm concerned you can slide the four-album window anyway you want from Song To A Seagull to Hejira.

Kate Bush
Never For Ever
The Dreaming
Hounds Of Love
The Sensual World

Sharon Van Etten
Because I Was In Love
epic
Tramp
Are We There

Joanna Newsom
The Milk-Eyed Mender
Ys
Have One On Me
Divers

Julia Holter
Tragedy
Ekstasis
Loud City Song
Have You In My Wilderness

Lucinda Williams
Happy Woman Blues
Lucinda Williams
Sweet Old World
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Or, again, slide the window to include Essence, World Without Tears, West...

PJ Harvey
Shit, choose any four consecutive albums you want.

Sleater-Kinney
See above.

I agree on Newsom, Sharon Von Etten and (obviously) PJ Harvey. Bjork has had a pretty much flawless career as well, even though she's not one of my personal favorites. Also ditto Sleater-Kinney. Duh. Can't believe I forgot them, actually. They're like the female equivalent of Fugazi (in more ways than one), and Fugazi is basically my gold standard for career album output quality (I don't think that band ever struck so much as a single imperfect note. They didn't have quite the highs of Sonic Youth, but their career average is probably higher.)

Back to dicks:

Every Unwound album. Split it up however you want to. No need to stick to four. They're almost in Fugazi territory.

Flaming Lips:
Clouds Taste Metallic
Zaireeka
The Soft Bulletin
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Spiritualized:
Lazer-Guided Melodies
Pure Phase
Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space
Let it Come Down

Man I'm bored now. Talking about shit I haven't listened to in forever.

Absolutely agree this! Chelsea Girl is just so great, even there aren´t much Nico originals.

My Bush:
the Kick Inside
Lionheart
Never Forever
Dreaming

My PJ
to Bring You my love
Dance Hall at the Louse Point
Is this Desire
Stories from the City