The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project

I have a feeling this is exactly the kind of music that people who hate prog rock are talking about when they say they hate prog rock. It’s very English. Very noodly. Very full of itself. I’m honestly not sure where I fall half way through it.
Thanks for the warning, mate! Bracing myself for this one, although I like both Peter Gabriels solo stuff and later day ”pop”-Genesis. So there’s hope I guess?
 
I also find the idea that the difference between this and Back in Black is filler funny. AC/DC is nothing but lean. Which is part of their problem, they created a formula for their sound and went with it. The filler is just stuff that they didn't release as singles, because I don't think the quality of songs ever lets up on this album.
Yeah, I guess filler is the wrong word here. What I meant was that this has less memorable tunes beyond the title track , If You Want Blood and maybe Girls Got Rythm, while Back In Black is filled to the brim with classic songs.
 
5/31/23
f652cc4d0f26b21e6f6d1d6a971b1241122d8804

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound





Ok, this was a lot less excrutiating of an experience than I had feared. I actually liked the first song quite a bit (probably mostly because it's first, and I haven't got tired yet). The main riff is great, and it has some interesting lyrics. I can hear that this is what metal bands like Iron Maiden tapped into in their mid-to-late 80's fantasy phase with Powerslave and Somewhere In Time. I also liked More Fool Me, which feels like an outlier on this album, and a welcome break from the noodling with a decent pop hook (is that Phil Collins on vocals?).

And they are good at their instruments, I guess.

Still, not my genre. After around the third song I'm getting anxious and restless ("One more break with a "nice" guitar figure and organ solo and I'm gonna freak out!". "For the love of god Phil, pick one groove and stick to it, man!"). And I simply can't take stuff like The Cinema Show seriously after "This Is Spinal Tap" ripped this particular brand of pretentiousness to shreds in the early 80s.
Score 2/5
 
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And here’s my top ten favorite AC/DC songs (for now at least), which I used to purge my mind from prog on my way home from work:

1. If You Want Blood (You Got It)
2. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
3. Hells Bells
4. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
5. Who Made Who
6. It’s A Long Way To The Top
7. You Shook Me All Night Long
8. The Jack
9. Problem Child
10. Heatseeker
 
5/31/23
f652cc4d0f26b21e6f6d1d6a971b1241122d8804

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound




I have to like Genesis, my Mum says so.

My childhood was filled with Genesis, but I can't really remember much of it. I think my Mum (and Dad, come to think of it), were more into post-Gabriel Genesis, so this is fairly new to me. Although I have just reached up to a CD rack near me and pulled a cassette tape out, and it is 'A Trick of the Tail' if that counts.

Rambling a bit, JUST LIKE THIS FIRST SONG, am I right?!

Kidding, this is great so far.

The bass sounds great, I always hear the bass first.

Lovely record, just sit back, relax, and listen to the stories.

3 / 5 stars.
 
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And here’s my top ten favorite AC/DC songs (for now at least), which I used to purge my mind from prog on my way home from work:

1. If You Want Blood (You Got It)
2. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
3. Hells Bells
4. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
5. Who Made Who
6. It’s A Long Way To The Top
7. You Shook Me All Night Long
8. The Jack
9. Problem Child
10. Heatseeker
This will also help to clean the prog rock out of your mouth
 
Holy moly, about 20 years ago my friends and I obsessively played WWE royal rumble on the Xbox. We made so many characters (spiderman, mickey mouse, bjork, captain beefheart) as well as versions of ourselves. When it came time to pick the entrance music, I used Sexy Boy. I also wore a baby blue suit and had a move set that included slapping people instead of punching.
 
Holy moly, about 20 years ago my friends and I obsessively played WWE royal rumble on the Xbox. We made so many characters (spiderman, mickey mouse, bjork, captain beefheart) as well as versions of ourselves. When it came time to pick the entrance music, I used Sexy Boy. I also wore a baby blue suit and had a move set that included slapping people instead of punching.
Everything about this post sounds amazing.
 
It made me think of the Bjork Vs. Beck (Vs. Bach) Celebrity Deathmatch episode. I can't find the video, but did find a still...

images
I can't specifically remember that one but there were definitely some good ones. I don't know why MTV makes it so hard to find their classic shows. When I saw about MTV News shutting down it made me want to go back and watch some old segments but I could barely find anything on YouTube.

They even launched an "MTV Classic" channel that was billed as a place where they would show their old 90s shows and it was literally like that for 2 days. Now it just shows blocks of music videos.
 
5/31/23
f652cc4d0f26b21e6f6d1d6a971b1241122d8804

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound




This is my first dabble in the prog side of Genesis. I have very mixed feelings. There is some cool parts, but overall I just can't get into. As with most prog, I think my opinion could change with more listens. First listen I think it's a 2.5/5 for me.
 
5/31/23
f652cc4d0f26b21e6f6d1d6a971b1241122d8804

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound





This is delightful! I can definitely dig what would put people off - I think @Lee Newman nailed it with these comments:

I have a feeling this is exactly the kind of music that people who hate prog rock are talking about when they say they hate prog rock. It’s very English. Very noodly. Very full of itself.

That said, I've enjoyed this even more than I expected! Especially "The Battle of Epping Forest" and "The Cinema Show"
I've been meaning to do a deeper dive on Genesis for a few years now, but have yet to do so - this ought to help push me further in that direction I hope! 4/5
 
I won’t be able to finish listening tonight, but six songs in and I’m intrigued. It started out sounding like someone wanted to make a pastiche of 90’s alternative. The first song kind of sounds like Foo Fighters played by Nirvana. The second song is like Stone Temple Pilots and Soul Asylum did a collab By the third song it’s starting to sound like it’s own thing Brit pop meets punk. Like if Blur made grunge music. The fourth song starts out like The Who but then crunches like AC/DC and Gone the Dream is pure Brit pop. Song six name drops Jackie Chan and Mr Miyagi and sounds like Weezer doing an impression of the Ramones. I kind of dig this. A lot.
 
I won’t be able to finish listening tonight, but six songs in and I’m intrigued. It started out sounding like someone wanted to make a pastiche of 90’s alternative. The first song kind of sounds like Foo Fighters played by Nirvana. The second song is like Stone Temple Pilots and Soul Asylum did a collab By the third song it’s starting to sound like it’s own thing Brit pop meets punk. Like if Blur made grunge music. The fourth song starts out like The Who but then crunches like AC/DC and Gone the Dream is pure Brit pop. Song six name drops Jackie Chan and Mr Miyagi and sounds like Weezer doing an impression of the Ramones. I kind of dig this. A lot.

This post definitely has me looking more forward to getting to this tomorrow.
 
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