elrod-tom
Moderator - Prefers "stereo weirdo" to "audiophile"
Well, this is my first installment in my new blog. As I stated above, my main objective is to introduce folks to music that they might not find on their own. To this end, I submit for your approval, Babyshambles' newest CD, Shotter's Nation.
Now I don't mind telling you that I thumbed my nose at this one right off the bat. I was never all that crazy about The Libertines, and my first listen to Babyshambles was their (IMHO very weak) first album, on Rhapsody. Plus, let's be frank, it's Pete Doherty. The guy is a living, breathing (well, at this posting anyway) cautionary tale about the perils of drug and alcohol abuse...the boy makes Keith Richard look like Donnie Osmond by comparison.
Then I read the rave reviews in Uncut and Mojo. Still I was unconvinced...these same mags gave the same kind of rave reviews to the last Johanna Newsom album.
So I thought I'd look it up on Rhapsody...and what do you know, there it was. I gave it a first listen one day at work, and I couldn't believe it. WOW!! What a surprise THIS was!!
What I heard was a well-crafted album that evoked some of the best qualities of The Kinks and The Clash (without the overtly political stuff), with a bit of The Smiths thrown in for good measure. The album flows very well, and has no real klunkers IMHO (and I tend to think that every good album has at least one or two klunkers). The band is tight, and the album well produced..everything I was absolutely not expecting.
I can't recommend this album enough.
My favorite tracks thus far:
1 - Carry on up the Morning
2 - Delivery
7 - Unstookie Titled
11 - Deft Left Hand
12 - Lost Art of Murder
If you have Rhapsody, track it down and give it a listen. I think you'll like it.
Now I don't mind telling you that I thumbed my nose at this one right off the bat. I was never all that crazy about The Libertines, and my first listen to Babyshambles was their (IMHO very weak) first album, on Rhapsody. Plus, let's be frank, it's Pete Doherty. The guy is a living, breathing (well, at this posting anyway) cautionary tale about the perils of drug and alcohol abuse...the boy makes Keith Richard look like Donnie Osmond by comparison.
Then I read the rave reviews in Uncut and Mojo. Still I was unconvinced...these same mags gave the same kind of rave reviews to the last Johanna Newsom album.
So I thought I'd look it up on Rhapsody...and what do you know, there it was. I gave it a first listen one day at work, and I couldn't believe it. WOW!! What a surprise THIS was!!
What I heard was a well-crafted album that evoked some of the best qualities of The Kinks and The Clash (without the overtly political stuff), with a bit of The Smiths thrown in for good measure. The album flows very well, and has no real klunkers IMHO (and I tend to think that every good album has at least one or two klunkers). The band is tight, and the album well produced..everything I was absolutely not expecting.
I can't recommend this album enough.
My favorite tracks thus far:
1 - Carry on up the Morning
2 - Delivery
7 - Unstookie Titled
11 - Deft Left Hand
12 - Lost Art of Murder
If you have Rhapsody, track it down and give it a listen. I think you'll like it.
