191 – The Stooges – Funhouse

Primal and raw. Immediate and upfront. Are The Stooges the last of the garage bands before punk or the first punk band? This is definitely a bit more raw than MC5.

For me, what I really appreciated about the recording was how the producer was able to capture the band's live sound in the studio without just letting it turn into a muddled mess. The guitars have space around them, but the vocals are mixed above them for clarity.

“Dirt” sounds like ½ of early Fugazi's songs. But how many garage or punk bands do you know utilize saxophone as The Stooges do on several songs? Oh, yeah, and how many 7 minute punk songs exist? There are two songs over 7 minutes on this album and the shortest song is 3:33.

But in the end, I gotta say that despite my praise for Funhouse, it was more of a case of appreciation than strong enjoyment. The album was enjoyable as mood music, not something that I felt compelled to pay attention to and savor.

Songs I Knew I Liked: None I liked enough to have retained their song name previously.

Songs I Now Like: “Down on the Street” and "Loose"

Songs I Don't Want to Ever Hear Again: None I feel compelled to skip

190 – Elvis – From Elvis in Memphis

I have long been indifferent to Elvis. I was hoping that From Elvis in Memphis would help me see why people go so ga-ga over him. As soon as I got into the first song, I started to get an idea about the album that the other tracks only seemed to support instead of counter - the album is a collection of Elvis soul with a backing band that is talented and smooth. Elvis on the other hand, sounds fatigued and phoning it in to me. He puts effort in flourishes or punctuations, but mostly he doesn't seem all that into the music.

Maybe I'm being too hard on him. I want to understand the absolute adoration for Elvis and had a small expectation that From Elvis in Memphis would justify that extreme love. That wasn't really fair. There have been some albums recently on the list that strike me just about the same indifference and I just chalked it up to "different strokes" or some revelation about the impact or "importance" to which I'm unfamiliar. If I were to remove Elvis from these tracks, I would say that the music was well produced and quite lush...but nothing about it really jumps out as significant - especially in the context of this being recorded in 1969.

What I'm left with is Elvis's voice. A voice in which I am familiar with but mostly his younger, higher, and occasionally raucous tone. From Elvis in Memphis's lower register, occasionally faultering voice still can be passionate, often very full-bodied, and soulful. The song selection focuses on that soulful aspect quite a bit.

Oh, and every time I heard "Any Day Now," I got an earworm of Ronnie Milsap's cover of that song from the 80's.

Songs I Knew I Liked: “In the Ghetto”

Songs I Now Like: Nothing

Songs I Don't Want to Ever Hear Again: All songs other than "In the Ghetto"

189 – Quicksilver Messenger Service – Happy Trails

I have never listened to Quicksilver Messenger Service. In all honesty I can't say that I had really heard of the band before getting to them in the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums list. I have a vague feeling of seeing the name previously, probably as a mention when reading about the Grateful Dead, Santana, or Jefferson Airplane. Anyways, I approached this album with not much of an idea of what to expect.

I really enjoy the first side of Happy Trails - a side-wide suite where they take the blues classic "Who Do You Love" and turn it into a 20-something minute exploration of blues, psychedelia, and a little space rock. The fact that this was recorded live just amazes me on each listen. The second side follows the first side's mixing of blues and trippiness - venturing a bit further "out there" than in the first half. Many of the songs run together, so I found it hard to distinguish between songs other than repeated glances at the player.

For me, I really prefer this version of late 1960's blues and psychedelia much more than Cream. While the solos from Cream could be more musically acrobatic, they were also very pompous and overindulgent. Quicksilver Messenger Service is very balanced on this record. Each member has several times where they get to spotlight their talents, but those spotlights seem more integral to the flow of the songs than Cream's "now it is time for Ginger to tap on the drums for a long time before we get back to the song."

Songs I Knew I Liked: None

Songs I Now Like: The whole "Who Do You Love" suite on the first half

Songs I Don't Want to Ever Hear Again: "Happy Trails" would probably get skipped after more listens.