394 - Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure

I listened to this album a lot last week. It really had me puzzled. At first, I really disliked it. But the more I listened to it, the more interesting I found the music. I went into this album familiar with Bryan Ferry's crooning voice from the 80's incarnation of the band and his vocals were a source of frustration while listening to For Your Pleasure. As of today, I wouldn't replace the vocals on this track with someone else, no matter how much I'm still befuddled by some of the choices Bryan made. "Do the Strand" sounds like a song that was cut from the Rocky Horror Picture Show with its half-sung, half-spoken lyrics. "Strictly Confidential" has Bryan sounding somewhere between Michael Crawford in Phantom of the Opera and the vampire puppet from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And on "Editions of You," I thought Bryan sounded like Jello Biafra with a fuller voice.

I guess my affection for these songs has more to do with the rest of the music, a likely affection I've gained for the Brian with an "I" - Brian Eno. The songs can sound very conventional at times, but quickly get quirky with the tempo or instrumentation. "The Bogus Man" is like a glam rock Pink Floyd song.

Songs I knew I liked: None

Songs I didn't know but now like: I honestly am going to have problems answering this field. While I've grown more interested in the album with more listens. There still aren't any songs that I think to myself, "Oh, I wanna listen to that one if I can only hear a couple of songs." If anything, I've been more attracted to the songs I don't like just to figure out what it is about them that rubs me the wrong way.

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: I wouldn't say no to listening to this album again. I guess my interest is mostly academic, in a way, and am just as interested in listening to songs I don't like on this album as much as songs that I enjoy hearing.

393 - Randy Newman - Good Old Boys

This is a love/dislike letter to The South by Randy Newman. The subject matter is a fantastic fit for Randy's New Orleans jazz-inspired music. The guy has a knack for creating a variety of interesting characters to sing his music. Whether a racist in "Rednecks" to an over-worked blue collar worker in "Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)," there is both an honesty and humanity in which he imbues these characters.

If you find Randy Newman a bit on the silly side, this is probably the best album for you to listen to. While he uses humor quite a bit in his music, the subject matter and how he addresses it really adds heft to these songs.

Songs I knew I liked: "Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Rednecks," "Birmingham," and "Back on My Feet Again"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: None that I really would want to avoid, but I did find some of the synth/organ on "Naked Man" a distraction because of how it sounds quite different from the other tracks.