Month: March 2020

Record #667: Death of Lovers – Buried Under A World of Roses (2014)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Given the deep nostalgic ties in the shoegaze, dream pop, new wave, and post punk revivals, it’s little wonder that there’s a fair amount of crossover between them. Hundredth’s RARE drew as much inspiration from New Order as Slowdive. Metallic genre benders like Deftones and Deafheaven have looked to The Cure as much as My Bloody Valentine.

And so, when noted shoegaze revivalists Nothing trade their fuzz pedals for synths and do their best Joy Division impressions, it shouldn’t come as much as a surprise.

(And to be clear, that isn’t an insult).

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Record #666: Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (1982)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

There was only one record appropriate for this entry. And truth be told, I had to borrow it, bending the rules of the blog for a bit. But given the opportunity at hand, I’m not sure I had another option.

Numerical gimmicks aside, this is my first time listening to this record, or any Iron Maiden record, most of my previous exposure coming from the Iron Maiden pinball machine (though the self-titled track here is my favorite song on that machine).

That said, like most classic heavy metal before it (see also: Black Sabbath), it’s not nearly as evil as the controversy surrounding it would suggest. Instead, it’s just a great album filled with virtuosic performances and surprisingly catchy songs.

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Record #665: Elliott – Song in the Air (2003)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

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As convenient as online shopping has made it to find all the exact records that you’re looking for, perusing a record store can bring gems that you would have otherwise ignored.

Case in point: Song in the Air by Elliott, which I found at Planet Retro in St. Pete while browsing their impressive Punk/Metal section (Kate Bush was in there too, so take “punk/metal” with a grain of salt). Having been tangentially aware of them, I pulled up Spotify and scanned through some of the songs.

What I found was a powerful emo record that gets most of its emotional weight from the intricacy of its songwriting rather than the bombast of its arrangements.

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Record #664: Electric Light Orchestra – TIME (1981)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

The 1980s saw a lot of rock and roll stalwarts trading in their electric guitars and drum sets for synthesizers and drum machines. Not even hair metal heroes like Van Halen were safe from the new wave revolution.

Even so, it stung a little harder when Electric Light Orchestra traded in their strings and horns for analog synthesizers.

However, it’d sting a whole lot more if the songs weren’t so damn catchy.

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