The last few months, in a completely unexpected move, I have developed a fascination with soft rock duo Hall & Oates. I had been somewhat familiar with their big radio hits—”Maneater,” “Kiss On My List,” “Rich Girl,” et al—but when I actually delved into their studio albums, I was surprised to find a much richer sonic palette than their radio hits suggested.
pop rock
Record #320: Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado (1974)
The way the legend is told, it took Jeff Lynne some time to properly align his project with his imagination. It wasn’t until this, his fourth album, that the Electric Light Orchestra actually used an orchestra in its recording. The result is ELO’s first great record. While Lynne’s songcraft and pop mastery have always been apparent, the addition of an orchestra brought the lushness that would make ELO legendary.
Record #318: The Eagles – Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)
In a perfect world, bands that release great singles will be able to release great albums. Nowhere is this made more apparent than the Eagles’ discography.Record #316: Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms (1985)
One of the things that confuses me about hipster music snobs (pot and kettle, I know. Shut up) is how they can use “dad rock” as an insult while pointing to the picture of Dire Straits next the dictionary definition (”dad rock” is in the dictionary, right?).
The War on Drugs (who are excellent) have been pejoratively compared to Dire Straits for using the same sort of atmospheric new wave/roots rock mixture, and I’m so confused about why the hell that’s a bad thing.
Record #304: Don Henley – Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
I don’t really like the Eagles. That is to say, I love a lot of their earlier songs–Witchy Woman, One of These Nights–but by and large, the longer the Eagles wrote songs, the more I disliked them (the Hotel California album is pretty deplorable). However, back in 2003, I was a young punk kid with a new drivers license and a copy of the Ataris’ So Long Astoria stuck in my car’s CD player. One of my favorite songs on that album was the Henley penned Boys of Summer, and as I grew to adulthood, I have come to prefer the original version. And to be completely honest, if I needed to pay money for this album on the strength of that single, I wouldn’t have ponied it up. But when you raid your parents’ vinyl collections, you take chances.
Record #300: The Beach Boys – Today! (1965)
Historically, I have ignored most of the Beach Boys’ pre-Pet Sounds output, regarding it as juvenile and cheap pop. However, the Endless Summer compilation I recently picked up has opened my eyes a little to the genius in potentia resting in the group (read: Brian Wilson).
Record #255: Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record (1976)
I’ll admit: in the several years I’ve owned and loved it, I never realized that Out of the Blue was not ELO’s most acclaimed record. Longest, most ambitious, and most impressive, undoubtedly. But best? This is a question I never knew I had to ask before, but A New World Record, their breakthrough, is bringing that to the forefront.
Record #254: Electric Light Orchestra – Face the Music (1975)
Strange that as long as I’ve loved ELO’s Out of the Blue, I’ve never considered looking into any of their other albums. What a fool I have been! While not as refined as the symphonic pop of Out of the Blue, Face the Music showcases a Jeff Lynne with an absolute mastery of pop songcraft in a variety of genres.
Record #208: Huey Lewis and the News – Sports (1983)
You said it, Bender.
Record #197: Graham Parker and the Rumour – The Up Escalator (1980)
I bought this record when I first started my collection in college for two reasons: it was twenty-five cents, and the cover was cool.
And after a disappointing listen, I kept it on the merit of its artwork and never listened to it again. But now, six years later, the record doesn’t sound as terrible as it did when I first heard it.