Does anyone want to have a go at this. If not I will when I've got time in the next few weeks.
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Does anyone want to have a go at this. If not I will when I've got time in the next few weeks.
Erm... what does it entail?
Each week someone pick an album they think has merit, and explains why. Then everyone listens to it and then gives their opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wakefield Turntables
Doesn't entail much more than picking an album and writing something about why you think it's great. Doesn't need to be an essay.
Just type in "Album Club" into the search box at the top right of the page.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wakefield Turntables
I ran the Album Club for a year and it was me that turned it into a competition, hoping to increase interest and participation. It was a partial success, but not enough for me to want to continue with it.
That was in 2020. If Lawrence wants to have a go at resurrecting The Album Club, then all power to him - I shall certainly contribute.
I nominate band on the run Wings.
John Lennon & Yoko Ono – 'Double Fantasy'
Label: Geffen Records – K 99131
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: November 17, 1980
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock
A1 John Lennon – (Just Like) Starting Over (Written by J. Lennon) 3:55
A2 Yoko Ono – Kiss Kiss Kiss (Written by Y. Ono) 2:41
A3 John Lennon – Cleanup Time (Written by J. Lennon) 2:57
A4 Yoko Ono – Give Me Something (Written by Y. Ono) 1:34
A5 John Lennon – I'm Losing You (Written by J. Lennon) 3:58
A6 Yoko Ono – I'm Moving On (Written by Y. Ono) 2:19
A7 John Lennon – Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) Steel Drums – Robert Greenidge (Written by J. Lennon) 4:01
B1 John Lennon – Watching The Wheels Dulcimer [Hammer] – Matthew Cunningham (Writtenby J. Lennon) 3:59
B2 Yoko Ono – I'm Your Angel Arranged By [Horns] – Tony Davilio (Written by Y. Ono) 3:08
B3 John Lennon – Woman (Written by J. Lennon) 3:32
B4 Yoko Ono – Beautiful Boys (Written by Y. Ono) 2:54
B5 John Lennon – Dear Yoko (Written by J. Lennon) 2:33
B6 Yoko Ono – Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him (Written by Y. Ono) 4:02
B7 Yoko Ono – Hard Times Are Over (Written by Y. Ono) 3:20
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...JFSAbb1wwiqIEb
This is John Lennon at ease with his life and with his wife Yoko Ono. He had settled in the US with his citizenship assured, and now free of recording contract obligations was happy to simply spend time with Yoko and his son Sean. On this album the track listing alternates between songs by John and by Yoko.
Interestingly the songs sung by John tend to be gentle ballads, whereas those sung by Yoko are harder rock pop. Yoko’s songs are just as good as her husband’s, an example being 'Kiss Kiss Kiss', in which avant-garde drop-outs and spoken-word Japanese overdubs go hand in hand with piercing guitar work. She consistently sings beautifully, banishing forever memories of her infamous caterwauling on other albums. John's 'Cleanup Time' is powerful rock which incongruously celebrates his househusband status, and while 'Dear Yoko' sees him giving thanks to his wife simply for existing, such sentimentality doesn't preclude a delightful strutting old-time rock‘n’roll backdrop.
Meanwhile, on three pulsating tracks sequenced together – 'Give Me Something' (Yoko), 'I'm Losing You' (John) and 'I'm Moving On' (Yoko) – the couple seem to be engaging in a dialogue about the sometimes perilous terrain of marriage. In a perfect symbol of the way that the two have become one, the closing 'Hard Times Are Over' is a Yoko track that, in its vulnerability and surrender to love, would make you swear it was a John song.
This is that last record made by Jon Lennon - he was shot dead three weeks after the record was released.
I'm not sure if I have a favourite track, but I do like the first track 'Just Like Starting Over', 'Beautiful Boy' and 'Woman' by John Lennon, as well as 'Kiss Kiss Kiss', 'Give Me Something', and 'Hard Times are Over' by Yoko.
Give it a listen and let us know what you think.
As it stands, my only experience of Yoko's 'caterwauling' (good description) is the b-side of "Cold Turkey" single. (it said on the label "PLAY LOUD") Iirc it was called "Don't Worry Yoko (Mummy's only looking for a Hand in the Snow)". Maybe she mellowed on later recordings, but in any case I'll give Double Fantasy a go.
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) is strangely a song my 16 year old daughter plays quite regularly, and I have “Woman” on 7” single but not played in decades. Looking forward to trying this one.
I have this record on vinyl only and I'm not going to dig out my turntable so will have to go from memory.
Similar to a lot of Lennon and Beatles albums - some good tunes and some filler and rubbish.
I like 'Watching The Wheels', 'Woman' and 'Starting Over' but not much for the rest if it. I have Lennon compilation CD which has 'Beautiful Boy' on it, I always skip it - and 'Imagine' too. Lame songs.
My musical youth came after The Beatles’ first few solo albums had passed by. When I saw Album Club was being resurrected I decided to add DF to my long list of albums that I should hear. I remember its singles but have no other context to colour my view of it. I appreciate The Beatles but I’m not passionate, for years I could make do with just the Red and Blue compilations, and I’m neutral about Yoko Ono since I wasn’t interested enough back in the day to have an opinion.
The thing that surprises me is how obviously schizophrenic the DF album is. Other than I’m Losing You segueing into I’m Moving On it doesn’t seem bothered about feeling like the work of an ensemble/duo. It’s like one of those split albums that two bands on an independent record label would do, ie taking one side each, except in this case they alternate the tracks between the two writers. In doing so I’m afraid I find it an incoherent listen end-to-end.
I often wonder how it is that razor sharp twenty-something standup comedians turn into comfortable thirty-something childrens’ book authors. All that energy seems to evaporate. I guess nature didn’t envisage us getting to middle age and we were just designed have a few years full of hormones and hunting before meeting a grisly end. That’s what I hear from Lennon’s tracks and in so far as everyone says he’s expressing contentment then I get it, they’re just too lightweight for me. IMHO Woman is the best melody and Watching The Wheels is the best songwriting, but had they been written a decade earlier I doubt either would have made it onto the Blue album.
Taken separately I find Ono’s tracks more interesting, fresher and worth a second listen. Kiss Kiss Kiss, especially. Sure, they have some silly noises but her songs try, in a way that Lennon’s songs don’t seem to enough. 1980 would've been new wave/post punk era, so the fact that she fits in with that vibe so easily reflects less favourably on his efforts. However ILY has nearly 6m Spotify streams whereas its partner IMO has 1.2m, so what do I know - the listening public are clear on who they come to DF to listen to.
I guess that if I had the context of growing up with the Beatles and following John’s journey and apparent re-emergence I would feel differently. We’re each naturally inclined to want the heroes of our youth to show that they’ve still got it. I’m glad I gave DF a rinse and it has got me thinking I should give the Plastic Ono Band a try next… Cheers :cool:
What an excellent review! Despite in general liking the album, I chose DF as I knew it was imperfect, so would be suitable candidate for discussion in 'The Album Club'.
Your response is perfect. Thanks for taking the time to do so.
Would you be willing to choose another album for us to discuss?
The House Of Love – ‘The House Of Love’ (aka ‘Fontana' aka 'The Butterfly Album’)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...oflove1990.jpg
Label: Fontana – 8422931
Format: LP, CD Cassette, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: February 26, 1990
Genre: Rock
Style: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
A1 Hannah
A2 Shine On
A3 Beatles And The Stones
A4 Shake And Crawl
A5 Hedonist
A6 I Don't Know Why I Love You
B1 Never
B2 Someone's Got To Love You
B3 In A Room
B4 Blind
B5 32nd Floor
B6 Se Dest
Written By – Guy Chadwick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzMW...rrq71rvPsOwnjV
My single twenty-something self played this album to death at the time. Since then I’ve moved from place to place, got married and had a family grow up, and I don’t think that I’d played it this century until yesterday! So this Album Club selection has been a chance for me to rediscover it.
Cast your minds back to before so-called ‘indie’ became mainstream, and you’d find The House Of Love trying their best to break through but usually stalling in the lower half of the singles chart. They were one of the great examples of nearly. After being played by John Peel they released their first album in 1988 on the influential Creation label, then signed to pseudo-independent Fontana. Confusingly both their 1988 debut and this 1990 album are titled ‘The House Of Love’, so the latter is often referred to as either ‘Fontana' or ‘The Butterfly Album’ (my preference) in order to distinguish it.
The band was led by Guy Chadwick, who was somewhat older than the others including lead guitarist Terry Bickers who was being lauded in the media as a major talent in his own right. The recording was troubled by arguments which culminated in the departure of Bickers - you can usually read something into it when a record gets through four producers. ‘The Butterfly Album’ was well received by the music weeklies (NME 8/10, Sounds 4 stars) but in spite of another strong effort with their 1992 follow-up ‘Babe Rainbow’ the wheels kept falling off and the band ceased to exist for a decade until a rapprochement between Chadwick and Bickers in 2005 and the occasional release since.
Back in 1990 I was taking a lot of train journeys and ‘The Butterfly Album’ was a constant on my Walkman. I just sank into it for hours. It’s quite simple in some ways and several songs have lyrics about love that would normally lose my interest, for example on paper ‘Never’’s rhyming feels a bit lame, but what spoke to me most were the melodies and the maturity of the arrangements compared with their peers. Even though I had been too young to experience the end of the sixties, Chadwick drew me right in with ‘Beatles and The Stones’ - if I ever compile my list of favourite songs it’ll be on there. The album starts with its least engaging track but after that each one has a strong hook and, aside from the obvious singles, deeper tracks such as ‘In A Room’ and ‘32nd Floor’ stand out. My sixty-something self finds that it’s still a great companion and I really must dig it out more often.
Deserved to be bigger or fittingly in the bargain bin? Your feelings are welcome…
I remember that album. My circle of friends at school was based around listening to alternative music and dressing differently. I was into heavy metal at the time (also classical music but listened on my own) but 2 of them were into indie (one into The Cure, The Smiths and Nick Cave, the other was into The Wedding Present, but they both loved this album).
I got into Shine On a bit later when I got into indie, and I'm sure I've got this on vinyl somewhere, but I need to look. In the meanwhile I will have a listen on Qobuz when I get some free time.
Bit late to the party here, but I tried Double Fantasy a couple of times, and agree with Pete, that the Yoko tracks were more interesting. It’s not going to be an album I will likely ever buy or play again, but it was an interesting listen. Thanks Barry.
Now trying The House of Love…. I remember the name, may have a track or two on compilation albums? Let’s see. [emoji846]
Goodness - how could I have forgotten Shine On (early onset dementia) what a track, worth the admission price alone!
Stepping back a page onto the subject of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, there's a film doing the rounds of random cinemas this month called "One To One". Having dipped my toe in to Double Fantasy and Plastic Ono Band recently I saw it the other day.
It's a documentary about their time in Greenwich Village between (I think) 1970 and 1973. It uses footage from the TV as the political and social backdrop to things that they were doing at the time, and includes a whole raft of interviews/phone call recordings of them. So, there's plenty of Tricky Dicky interspersed with Lennon trying to arrange benefit gigs. The story culminates in a concert for mentally handicapped children. There are various live clips from that concert but overall the music is a small part of the film.
It left me with the impression that Lennon was searching for his purpose at that time. He was aligned with plenty of causes (and you can tell that his manager Klein was a bit wary of him getting too deeply involved with some) but, a bit like the abortive Twickenham rehearsals that later became Let It Be, without most of it coming to fruition.
A pleasant enough couple of hours although Lord knows how film-makers get the investment to make these things - there were no more than 6 people in the audience!
It's had very good reviews.
I think Lennon had to deal with the same issue all very successful people do in that he felt obliged to pay something back, to use what he had for a greater cause.
It rarely works out well and if he'd just kept his head down and made some music occasionally he might not have died so young. Sure do some charity work, give generously, but his whole 'world peace' crusade was a bit naïve and attracted the wrong sort of attention to him.
Yes, the film shows that he became a magnet for anyone from progressive liberal to out-and-out nutcase, and supports the view that he was monitored by the authorities as a result.
If you're the sort of person who likes reading old copies of The Word or Mojo then it's an interesting watch.