“This album is 20 years old! That’s craz-”
“You’re 41 years old. You forget that.”
Thanks for the reminder, Mary. It still sounds fresh! That’s why it’s hard to believe it’s this old, not because I’m senile.
Who doesn’t love this record? If you bought it right when it was released you were probably a hipster, maybe you still are, even in your 40s. That’s because this was the major label debut for Jane’s Addiction and pretty much only fans of their first record were waiting for it to hit. At the time my brother and I had record store and a number of our regulars were excited to get their hands on Nothing’s Shocking. I know I was, being a hipster and all. The album opening pretty ditty “Up the Beach” was the perfect spacey, ethereal set up for the flat out rocking “Ocean Size” that followed it. The rest of the album is just as good, and of course it also contains what I suppose was their biggest hit, the studio version of “Jane Says.”
And check out that ticket stub. I got to see Jane’s Addiction a couple months later, with Iggy freakin’ Pop(!) for a whopping ten bucks. Yeah, I remember that too. It was a great show and the crowd was definitely there for both bands. Navarro’s shredding was even more impressive in person. No rock star silliness, just full on rocking. And it was good. Amen.
Nothing’s Shocking at Wikipedia
Wish I was ocean size
They cannot move you
No one tries
No one pulls you
Out from your hole
Like a tooth aching in a jawbone
These kids make a big sound for a small band, a three piece with drums, guitars and vocals. Folks that bought this record for the pretty hit “Maps” probably got a little more rocking than they bargained for. Fever to Tell is chockablock with heavy songs propelled by slamming drums, titanic guitar riffs, and some cathartic vocals by Karen O. This album came out in 2003, and unfortunately I haven’t kept up with the band. Listening again makes me regret it. My favorite song is “Man” which it features the title lyric “Fever to Tell.”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps” video
Wikipedia article
Not my thing, not my thing, not my thing… not my thing. Stop the “Peace Train” now and let me off. That’s actually a cover of a Cat Stevens song, but I think it might have been the biggest hit from this record. I know this isn’t “bad” music I just can’t bring myself to like it. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. OK, maybe no one has to do this, but when I started this blog I committed to playing every record in our collection at least one more time and posting about it. We won’t be keeping this one. Mary doesn’t even know why she got their records in the first place.
10,000 Maniacs’ In My Tribe came out in 1987. I believe I heard Michael Stipe singing on one track.
The full title of this double album is, as best I can tell, (Should We Talk About The Weather) (Should We Talk About The Government). That’s how it’s written on the spine. It was a special promo for R.E.M.’s 1988 album Green, and was something sent to record stores and radio stations. On the back cover it says “This hour long interview with R.E.M. is divided into four quarter hour segments…” But here’s the downer: instead of the two different platters this copy was packed with two copies of record one. Record one side one is an interview with Peter Buck with a couple songs from Green, and side two, called “part 3″ is an interview with Michael Stipe with a couple more songs. What about Mike and Bill? Bogus. It’s somewhat interesting listening to the band talk about their experience to that point. I’m sure fans would love it. If this was a proper set I’d be tempted to keep it, but it isn’t, so I won’t. The purge continues…
Pixies. What a great band. I have to say that I don’t listen to their music a lot any more, but there was a time when I couldn’t get enough. This imported 12 inch is from 1988 and has studio versions of “Gigantic” and “River Euphrates” with live tracks of “Vamos” and “Heaven” on the flip. I suppose we’ll keep it, but there are quite a few Pixies records in the collection, some with the same studio cuts.
Most of the artwork on their record sleeves is strange, and in some cases disturbing. I’m not sure what’s going on with this one. I’m sure somewhere there’s an in depth article on this topic. I’ll do more research on the next Pixies post.
More about the Pixies at Wikipedia.
More about “Gigantic”
