482 - Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Armed Forces

Where Gang of Four used their music and lyrics to wage a political war on Entertainment, released the same year, Armed Forces doesn't have machine gun guitars and artillery drums. The war is in the lyrics, and it's personal...as in love/relationships. The battlefield is pop love songs. Elvis doesn't break the musical conventions, he embraces them and voices his ill-ease with relationships in the lyrics. I heard songs that made me think of Paul McCartney love songs, but the lyrics were quite the opposite tone as the melody and harmonies portrayed.

Songs I knew I liked: "Accidents Will Happen" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Senior Service," "Party Girls," "Chemistry Class,"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: If I had to pick one, probably "Goon Squad."

481 - The Smiths - The Smiths

The Smiths are one of those bands that I just don't get. I like several of their songs and will put their Best of... Volumes 1 and 2 on in the background sometimes. But I've never known how I'm supposed to perceive them. Are they ironic hipsters or pop balladeers? All I know for sure is that I never want to hear Morrissey's falsetto again. There are songs where his crooning conveys an emotional wreck of a man and others where he sounds bored. His voice is just as smooth and his tone just as full, but it seems as if he's bored in the sound booth. Sometimes this apathetic delivery seems a deliberate act in service of the lyrics but other times it's just odd to me.

Songs I knew I liked: "Reel Around the Fountain," "This Charming Man," and "What Difference Does It Make?"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Miserable Lie"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: anything featuring more than a tiny bit of Morrissey's falsetto.