My favorite album is kind of old. It came out in 1989. But I still love Joe Jackson's Blaze of Glory more than almost any other album I've heard. It's put together brilliantly, with each song bleeding into the next one. The songs actually tell something close to a coming of age story, making it feel like it could be a musical soundtrack. Listening to it, you can trace the journey of the
"protagonist" from bright-eyed, optimistic youth ("Tomorrow's World") to
unrestrained anger at the world
("Rant and Rave") to slightly jaded acceptance ("The Human Touch").
Unfortunately, I was only able to find a few songs from this album on YouTube. I guess it's not the most popular album ever. But if you can get your hands on a copy of it, I highly recommend you give it a listen. While each song is awesome on its own, together they really are something else.
Since the first two tracks are on YouTube, I'll leave you with them
I will go a different path and go with my currently favorite album that I keep listening to, since I don't know that I could pick a favorite album otherwise. Foster the people's Torches, including - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABzh6hTYpb8
Once again, this question is incredibly complex for me to answer. Maybe I just listen to too much music? Is that possible? Anyway, favorite albums are hard to lock down. I could choose albums that are so raw and emotional that I am emboldened simply by listening to them: Chronic 2001 by Dr. Dre, Fever to Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Funeral by Arcade Fire, or Antichrist Superstar by Marilyn Manson. Albums that are immaculately put together, perfect works of art: Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, or Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips. Albums that have defined parts of my life: Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine, Nevermind by Nirvana, Challengers by The New Pornographers, or pretty much any album by The Pixies. I expect that music from these artists and albums will play heavily into my responses to future questions. But today, I have to go with an album that encompasses every quality: emotional, immaculate, and personal. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West is the best full length album to have been released in recent memory, hands down. It is an incredible work of art that synthesizes the emotional roller coaster that is Kanye West's all ego no id mentality and stardom into one cohesive work. For a much better review of the album than I can provide read here: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14880-my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy/ My favorite song on the album is by far and away Monster: http://vimeo.com/24789963. It is three incredible verses, one each from Kanye West, Jay-Z, and at-the-time-new-comer Nicki Minaj, along with help from Rick Ross and Bon Iver. It continues to blow my mind every time I listen, 2 years and hundreds of plays later.
I will go a different path and go with my currently favorite album that I keep listening to, since I don't know that I could pick a favorite album otherwise. Foster the people's Torches, including - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABzh6hTYpb8
ReplyDeleteOnce again, this question is incredibly complex for me to answer. Maybe I just listen to too much music? Is that possible? Anyway, favorite albums are hard to lock down. I could choose albums that are so raw and emotional that I am emboldened simply by listening to them: Chronic 2001 by Dr. Dre, Fever to Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Funeral by Arcade Fire, or Antichrist Superstar by Marilyn Manson. Albums that are immaculately put together, perfect works of art: Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, or Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips. Albums that have defined parts of my life: Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine, Nevermind by Nirvana, Challengers by The New Pornographers, or pretty much any album by The Pixies. I expect that music from these artists and albums will play heavily into my responses to future questions. But today, I have to go with an album that encompasses every quality: emotional, immaculate, and personal. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West is the best full length album to have been released in recent memory, hands down. It is an incredible work of art that synthesizes the emotional roller coaster that is Kanye West's all ego no id mentality and stardom into one cohesive work. For a much better review of the album than I can provide read here: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14880-my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy/ My favorite song on the album is by far and away Monster: http://vimeo.com/24789963. It is three incredible verses, one each from Kanye West, Jay-Z, and at-the-time-new-comer Nicki Minaj, along with help from Rick Ross and Bon Iver. It continues to blow my mind every time I listen, 2 years and hundreds of plays later.
ReplyDelete