(march 2017) I have completed episode 116 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: L7. No-frills punk/grunge/metal. They’ll always be on my shitlist.
Favorite album: Bricks are Heavy
Favorite song: Deathwish
Compared to expectations: same
(March 2017) I have completed episode 116 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (along with two JEFF LYNNE solo albums). With its combination of Beatlesque melodies and prog-rock orchestration, you would think I would have been more into ELO than I was. Would the songs sound better with the layers stripped off ? Lynne’s later work suggests yes. ELO was the soundtrack of the portion of my youth spent in roller and ice rinks (and as a parent, the Astrophere.)
Favourite album: Eldorado
Favourite song: Fire on High
Worst album: Balance of Power
Compared to expectations: same
(March 2017) I have completed episode 114 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: FOREIGNER. A higher concentration of rock lyric cliches per song than any other band. If you came of age in the late 70s or early 80s, their hits of are high nostalgic value. If not, and with the non-hits, don’t bother.
Favorite album: Foreigner
Favorite song: Hot Blooded
Worst album: Mr. Moonlight
Compared to expectations: same
(March 2017) I have completed episode 113 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: T. REX. Marc Bolan started out with bongo-infused psychedelic folk and helped define glam rock with the fabulous Electric Warrior, but then kinda just repeated himself after that.
Favourite album: Electric Warrior
Favourite song: 20th Century Boy
Compared to expectations: ↓
(February 2017) I have completed episode 112 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: BIKINI KILL and LE TIGRE. The commonality here is Kathleen Hanna and fierce feminist content. But the sounds are rather distinct — BK is riot grrrl punk while LT is eclectic electro-dance.
Favorite Bikini Kill album: Pussy Whipped
Favorite Le Tigre album: Le Tigre
Favorite song: Rebel Girl
Compared to expectations: same
(February 2017) I have completed episode 111 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: BLONDIE. A good ride on the new wave, but mostly meh.
Favorite album: Parallel Lines
Favorite song: Heart of Glass
Best late-period album: The Curse of Blondie
Compared to expectations: ↓
(February 2017) I have completed episode 110 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: THE MOVE and THE IDLE RACE. I put these two together as they both involved Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne, who went on to found Electric Light Orchestra. Each helped define the sound of late ’60s psychedelic pop, of the whimsical British kind. “The Move” might be the quintessential album of this sub-genre.
Favorite album: The Move
Favorite The Move song: Fire Brigade
Favorite The Idle Race song: Impostors of Life’s Magazine
Compared to expectations: ↑
(February 2017) I have completed episode 109 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: the SMALL FACES and FACES. Part of the mid-60s British R&B explosion, the mod-styled Small Faces, led by the soulful voice of Steve Marriott, soon followed contemporaries into the psychedelic age, recording one of its masterpieces (Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake). They disbanded and re-emerged as Faces, a blues/boogie band fronted by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. In the late 1970s SF reformed for two forgettable albums.
Favorite album: Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake
Favorite Small Faces song: Afterglow
Favorite Faces song: Stay With Me
Favourite character: Happiness Stan
Compared to expectations: ↓
(February 2017) I have completed episode 108 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an artist’s full discography. This edition: ADELE. What a great voice.
Favorite album: 21
Favorite song: Someone Like You
Compared to expectations: same
(January 2017) I have completed episode 107 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: EARTH WIND & FIRE. Classic funk, soul, rock and much else, always in a sunny and uplifting spirit. This was my go-to music whenever I felt depressed in high school (I listened to a lot of EW&F in high school). 70s is peak EW&F, 80s and 90s are pretty awful, but in the 00s and 10s they get their groove back.
Favorite album: All ‘n All
Favorite song: That’s the Way Of the World
Sentimental favorite song: In the Stone
Least favorite song: Boogie Wonderland
Compared to expectations: same
Opus Project 