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Greatest Album Closers!

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Since, most records I hear do not deliver Killer Klosers, this list is shorter than the openers list. Most artists close their albums with songs that aren’t epic enough, way too epic, drag on for too long, or are simply some weird thing at the end, more akin to a filler track. For me the best closers create a great feeling of conclusion, when you hear it you know it’s the final track; it sums up the mood of the record. The following do just that and then some!

1) Pink Floyd- Brain Damage- Eclipse- Darkside of the Moon (1973)

2) The Beatles- A Day In the Life- Sgt. Pepper (1967)

3) Deerhunter- Twilight At Carbon Lake- Microcastle (2008)

4) Bright Eyes- Road to Joy- I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (2005)

5) Mark Sultan- Unicorn Rainbow Odyssey- The Sultanic Verses (2007)

6) Page France- Feather- Hello, Dear Wind (2005)

7) Rage Against the Machine- Freedom- Rage Against the Machine (1992)

8) The Doors The End- The Doors (1967)

9) Fugazi- KYEO- Steady Diet Of Nothing (1991)

10) Animal Collective- Derek- Strawberry Jam (2007)

11) Nirvana- All Apologies- In Utero (1993)

12) The Who- Won’t Get Fooled Again- Who’s Next (1971)

13) Pixies- Gouge Away- Doolittle (1989)

14) Jay Reatard- Waiting For Something- Blood Visions (2006)

15) Lost Sounds- Bombs Over M.O.M.- Lost Sounds (2004)

16) Arcade Fire- My Body Is A Cage- Neon Bible (2007)

17) Simon & Garfunkel- 7 O’Clock News/Silent Night- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)

18) David Bowie- Rock and Roll Suicide- Ziggy Stardust (1972)

19) Beach Boys- Caroline, No- Pet Sounds (1966)

20) Weezer- Only In Dreams- Blue Album (1994)

21) Dead Kennedys- Stars and Stripes of Corruption- Frankenchrist (1985)

22) Ramones- Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World- Ramomes (1976)

23) Smashing Pumpkins- Farewell and Goodnight- Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness (1995)

24) Box Elders- Death of Me- Alice and Friends (2009)

25) Sex Pistols- EMI- Nevermind the Bollocks (1977)

26) Elliott Smith- The Biggest Lie- Elliott Smith (1995)

27) System Of A Down- Soldier Side- Mezmerize/Hypnotize (2005)

28) Arctic Monkeys- A Certain Romance- Whatever People Say That I Am, That’s What I Am Not (2006)

29) Head Automatica- I Shot William H. Macy- Decadence (2004)

30) Slayer- Raining Blood- Reign In Blood (1986)

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Lists, Music, pictures, Random

Greatest Album Openers!

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Note: The following list is comprised of my favorite album openers and feel free to comment on your own. When I mean album, I mean full length, studio, LPs. In other words, no EPs, live recordings, single compilations or Greatest Hits. So, what constitutes greatest? Why do these stand out? Well, they have to be outstanding tracks, which goes without saying, but also they must set the tone for the rest of the album and for debut albums that artists’ music as a whole, message, attitude, etc. Greatest closers are coming next.

1) Pink Floyd- Speak to Me/Breathe- Darkside of the Moon (1973)

2) Rage Against the Machine- Bombtrack- Rage Against the Machine (1992)

3) Velvet Underground- Sunday Morning- The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)

4) Ramones- Blitzkrieg Bop- Ramones (1976)

5) The Stooges- Search and Destroy- Raw Power (1973)

6) Sonic Youth- Teenage Riot- Daydream Nation (1988)

7) Animal Collective- Peacebone- Strawberry Jam (2007)

8) Against Me!- Pints of Guiness Make You Strong- Reinventing Axl Rose (2002)

9) Black Flag- Rise Above- Damaged (1981)

10) Bad Brains- Big Takeover- Rock For Light (1983)

11) Beach Boys- Wouldn’t It Be Nice- Pet Sounds (1966)

12) Who- Baba O’Riley- Who’s Next (1971)

13) Girls- Lust For Life- Album (2009)

14) Page France- Chariot- Hello, Dear Wind (2005)

15) King Khan & BBQ Show- Anala- Invisible Girl (2009)

16) Pixies- Debaser- Doolittle (1989)

17) Sex Pistols- Holiday In the Sun- Nevermind the Bollocks (1977)

18) N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton- Straight Outta Compton (1988)

19) GZA- Liquid Swords- Liquid Swords (1996)

20) Dinosaur Jr- Little Furry Things- You’re Living All Over Me (1987)

21) Metallica- Battery- Master of Puppets (1986)

22) Kimya Dawson- Tire Swing- Remember That I Love You (2006)

23) Radiohead- Airbag- OK Computer (1997)

24) Tool- Stinkfist- AEnema (1996)

25) Bright Eyes- At the Bottom of Everything- I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (2005)

26) Jay Reatard- Blood Visions- Blood Visions (2006)

27) Black Lips- Sea of Blasphemy- Let It Bloom (2005)

28) The Doors- Break On Through- Doors (1967)

29) Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention- Hungry Freaks, Daddy (1966)

30) Nirvana- Serve the Servants- In Utero (1993)

31) Led Zeppelin- Good Times, Bad Times- Led Zeppelin (1969)

31) Jimi Hendrix- Purple Haze- Are You Experienced? (1967)

31) Beatles- Taxman- Revolver (1966)

32) Shellac- My Black Ass- At Action Park (1994)

33) Wu-Tang Clan- Brind Da Ruckus- Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993)

34) Elliott Smith- Speed Trials- Either/Or (1997)

35) The Clash- London Calling- London Calling (1980)

36) The Nightwatchman- California’s Dark- One Man Revolution (2007)

37) Sly and the Family Stone- Stand!- Stand! (1969)

38) Glassjaw- Pretty Lush- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence (2000)

39) Mark Sultan- Beautiful Girl- The Sultanic Verses (2007)

40) Deftones- Feictera- White Pony (2000)

41) Slayer- Angel of Death- Reign In Blood (1986)

42) Weezer- My Name Is Jonas- The Blue Album (1994)

43) David Bowie- Five Years- Ziggy Stardust (1972)

44) Galaxie 500- Fourth of July- This Is Our Music (1990)

45) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Mercy Seat- Tender Prey (1988)

46) Box Elders- Jackie Wood- Alice and Friends (2009)

47) Black Sabbath- War Pigs- Paranoid (1971)

48) Deerhunter- Cover Me (Slowly)- Microcastle (2008)

49) Harlem Soon- Someday Soon- Hippies (2009)

50) System Of A Down- Suite Pee- System Of A Down (1998)

… and some more!
Bob Dylan- Rainy Day Woman #12 and 35- Blonde On Blonde (1966)

Arctic Monkeys- The View From the Afternoon- Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I Am Not (2006)

Lost Sounds- There’s Nothing- Lost Sounds (2004)

Mabuses- Dark Star- Mabused (2007)

Smashing Pumpkins- Cherub Rock- Siamese Dream (1993)

Head Automatica- At the Speed of A Yellow Bullet- Decadence (2004)

Strange Boys- Woe Is You and Me- The Strange Boys and Girls Club (2009)

Those Darlins- Red Light Love- Those Darlins (2009)

Spacehsits- Can’t Fool With Me- Misbehavin’ (1998)

Chris

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Tarantino and Postmodernism

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The following essays was for my Cultural Studies course, therefore it is not of the same quality or style than that of my other writing.

In modern media, we often see pastiches of older works of art. Many artists are so heavily influenced by previous genres/styles that they literally recreate these styles in their own works. We seem to see this everywhere, from music to television to film. Sure, artists paying homage or in a more pejorative sense stealing from other artists is nothing new. With that being said, some artists have taken it to a new level, where their works are filled to the brim with references to other works. In particular, writer/director, Quentin Tarantino has made a name for himself as being a master of stylistic filmmaking in the past two decades and is held as one of the finest filmmakers around the world. To postmodernists theorists, Tarantino must be a menace for simply creating giant references, often references to other references, ultimately leaving us to question what is original or real anymore. Personally, I think his approaches are appropriate and a postmodernist analysis of his most popular film, Pulp Fiction (1994) would strongly differ from my viewing or reactions to it.
With Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino utilizes various techniques from previous filmmakers and makes countless references to films and other areas of pop culture. Frequently during dialogue, a character refers to a famous person, song, movie, etc. For example, the character Jules often calls characters by celebrity names; he refers to a British speaking character as “Ringo,” this is a reference to Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. Many works make such minor references, but in Tarantino’s films, viewers are literally inundated with hundreds. But, this is only the beginning. The hip director lifts lines straight out of older films. For instance, in one scene, a mobster by the name of Marcellus Wallace plans to torture his enemy “… with a pair of pliers and a blow torch.” This quote is a paraphrase of a line in the film Charley Varrick (1973), in which the line is “They’re gonna strip you naked and go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.” Tarantino also simulates various shots from his favorite films. In one scene, the character, Marcellus is crossing the street when he stops and realizes that the very man he is trying to track down is driving in the car in front of him. As he realizes this both men lock eyes. Though the circumstances are totally different, this shot is nearly identical to a shot in Alfred Hitchcock’s Horror classic, Psycho (1960).
This film is clearly an example of postmodernist culture because Quentin Tarantino rejects standard forms of filmmaking and pieces together elements from other works into his own creation. Most postmodernist thinkers would probably slam Tarantino for being just another entertainer that steals from others or presents his work to the public as if it’s original. I think Tarantino’s methods fall into the postmodernist category, but that does not mean that they are not worthy of praise. He throws various, often obscure, elements from numerous works into the mix and shapes them into his own story. Clearly, he is not the most original filmmaker, but the quality of his films are much higher than that of others, usually including those he references in the first place.

I used the follow source for information- http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/Pulp_Fiction_Movie_References_Guide

Chris

Music, Random, rant

Ripping Deusner

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Regarding Stephen Deusner’s review of Mark Sultan’s $:

Nice scarf, btw.

“He’s been fashioning harsh psych, rangey country, dreamy doo-wop, 50s juvie punk, and anarchic noise into strange, catchy, jubilant, occasionally jokey pop songs.“—> Good job of throwing in adjectives before every genre. Make no mistake about that. Your description really provides us an adequate look at Mark Sultan’s discography. Not.

“Sultan also resumed his role as BBQ Show for another album (and a coloring book!) with friend and longtime cohort King Khan.” –> You had me, Stephen. You really did. From your meaty words to start, I thought you may have actually listened to Sultan before. But “BBQ Show”? You can’t make a rookie mistake like that. Not at this stage in your professional career.

“Whatever banner he’s flying, however, the sound remains the same, and his latest effort– which isn’t titled so much as branded with a dollar sign– snaps and crackles with a familiar, flailing energy, as if any of these songs might fall apart at any moment.” –> The sound remains the same? This offering from Sultan is more musically diverse than most of what he’s put out in the past. You want the songs to fall apart. You are rooting against Sultan to start with. You want them to fall apart so you can listen to more Broken Social Scene.

“Ten of Hearts” may be one of his best doo-wop retreads, cutting through a lot of the revivalism to express something sincere and bittersweet, but there’s no reason for it to be five minutes long.” –> Why is there no reason for it to five minutes long? You make no attempt to explain why. And it’s not until the end of your review that you actually mention songs off of this record. Thanks for pointing out only what’s wrong with the album.

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Kucinich On Afghanistan

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This is a bit old, but I’m using it for Poli Sci debate, so I figured I’d post it here for the hell of it. I like Dennis Kucinich a lot and really admire him for his integrity, but I always hate the way him and others like Ron Paul treat these conflicts as “issues” when they discuss them. Don’t get me wrong, they are extremely rare for their comparitively radical views as Congressmen, but comments such as “I like Obama…” blows my mind. HE’S A WAR CRIMINAL, MASS MURDERER! Perhaps they can’t speak out in that manner because they are public officals. I mean they have the right ideas with the knowledge and evidence to back up their platforms, but it’s as if they treat the president’s policies as poor political moves rather than crimes against humanity. Then again, Kucinich valiantly proposed impeachement of Bush as a War Criminal, so kudos to him. I also dig O’Reilly’s line about Obama being closer to Bill on the War, which is absolutely true. Oboma cheerleaders should take note. If you’re Antiwar and support Obama, then that’s fine for you, but it ain’t my cup of tea. I think y’all better choose a side soon.

Chris