Turn Up The Volume selects 10 gems of favorite artists/bands
9 August 2022
Who doesn’t like making all sorts of (play)lists?
I do. Best of lists, end-of-the-year lists, golden oldies lists, only family lists, guilty pleasure song lists, summer lists, brand new song lists. Okay, stop, I think I made my point.
Today, one of my all-time beloved bands, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN.
I saw 27 concerts of stunning voice and face Ian Muclloch and his Bunnies
from Liverpool. They started their triumphant career back in 1978 and
scored 13 LPs so far.
It was a hard job to pick 10 gems
from their impressive catalog.
Released: 16 June 1997 Album: Urban Hymns Score: No 2 in the UK, No 12 in the USA
“Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, that’s life
Tryna make ends meet, you’re a slave to money then you die
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah”
Released: 5 May 1997 Album: Vanishing Point Score: #2 in Scotland, #8 in the UK
“This radio station was named Kowalski
In honor of the last American hero to whom
Speed means freedom of the soul
The question is not when he’s gonna stop
But who is gonna stop him”
“Nancy is joining me because the message this evening is not my message, but ours
“Despite our best efforts, shortages of marijuana are now being reported. From the early
days of our administration, Nancy has been abusing marijuana on a daily basis and her
personal observations and efforts have given her such dramatic insights that I wanted
her to share them with you this evening.”
Album: HEAVEN UP HERE – 2nd LP Released: 30 May 1981 – 40 years ago (40? Sounds unreal)
AllMusic/Aaron Warshaw wrote: “Following their more psychedelia-based debut, Crocodiles, and subsequent “Puppet” single, Echo & the Bunnymen returned in 1981 with the darkest and perhaps most experimental album of their career.
Sitting comfortably next to the pioneering work of contemporaries like Joy Division, New Order, and early Public Image Ltd. and Cure, this is a rather fine — and in the end, influential — example of atmospheric post-punk. Having reached the British Top Ten, Heaven Up Here is highly regarded among Echo & the Bunnymen’s fans precisely for the reasons which, on the surface, make it one of the least accessible albums in the band’s catalog.” Full review:here. Score: 4.5/5.
Turn Up The Volume: One of the (many) flabbergasting albums from one
of my all-time favorite bands (on record and on stage). One word: masterpiece.
AllMusic / Richie Unterberger: “The best Beach Boys album,
and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole
new level in terms of both composition and production, layering
tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly
symphonic sound.” Score: 5/5.
Artist: PAUL McCARTNEY Album: RAM – 2nd solo LP Released: 17 May 1971 – 50 years ago today
Melody Maker: “A good album by anybody’s standards and
certainly far better than the majority released by British groups
and singers. Trouble is you expect too much from a man like
Paul McCartney.”
Pitchfork: “Another 45-minute expression of the band’s love
of Jim Morrison, Arabic scales, and quasi-religious imagery. Only
Echo and the Bunnymen could have written the bulk of Flowers. ” Score: 8/10.
TURN UP THE VOLUME 