(September 2019) Episode 230 is THE GO-GOs. Back in the day, I dismissed them as sugar-coated teeny-boppers. But with time and perspective, and my belated appreciation of new wave and all-female outfits, my esteem for them has risen.
Favorite album: Beauty and the Beat
Favorite song: Our Lips are Sealed
Compared to expectations: same
(July 2019) Episode 222 of my “opus project” is JONI MITCHELL. Who doesn’t love Joni Mitchell? I love Joni Mitchell. She’s a legend, an inspiration to countless artists (especially women). And yet … when I started this episode I realized I had not put on a Joni album in 25+ years. I guess the confessional singer-songwriter thing isn’t my thing. Her strongest songwriting, of course, is the early-70s folky/hippy stuff. Mitchell’s later journeys into light jazz, synth, EZ listening and re-arrangements of old hits are really not my thing.
Favorite album: Ladies of the Canyon
Favorite song: For the Roses
Worst album: Dog Eat Dog
Compared to expectations: ↓
(April 2019) I have completed episode 209 of my “opus project.” This edition: LAURIE ANDERSON. When I was younger, Laurie Anderson’s music was too weird for my taste. Now, my taste requires a weirdness in music such as Laurie Anderson’s. It would be more fully appreciated in performance, with her visual element too. I love the idiosyncrasies in her words. Her voice is classic American Standard, with a subtle midwestern twang.
Favorite album: Big Science
Favorite song: O Superman
Better than expected: the spoken word albums
Compared to expectations: same
(January 2019) I have completed episode 200 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS. Groovy, hippy, warm rays of sunshine to bring a smile to your face. And, oh, those harmonies! Their run was brief, but their role in popularizing folk rock was huge.
Favorite album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
Favorite song: Got a Feelin’
Special sauce: Mama Cass
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2018) I have completed episode 193 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE MONKEES. Laugh if you must, but they put out some enduringly good music. While the Pre-Fab Four’s famous songs were written by others, their best albums came once they gained more creative control, earning a place among the pantheon of essential acts of the late ’60s golden age. The first two reunion albums are trash, but their 2016 album is quite good* and, for a Christmas album, so is 2018’s Christmas Party.
Favorite album: The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees
Favorite song: Pleasant Valley Sunday
Favorite song written by a Monkee: While I Cry
Best reunion album: Good Times! (2016)
Special sauce Mike Nesmith
Compared to expectations: same
* good, in large part because it was produced by Adam Schlesinger, with tracks from Fountains of Wayne bandmates Brian Young and Jody Porter
(October 2018) I have completed episode 188 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE B-52s. I bought their first album soon after it came out — one of only two* non-classic rock discs on my shelf . I loved the retro kitsch. But the retro kitsch ran thin fast. Beyond “Roam,” Love Shack,” and “Good Stuff,” most everything after “Rock Lobster” is vacuous.
Favorite album: The B-52s
Favorite song: Planet Claire
Compared to expectations: ↓
(July 2018) I have completed episode 173 of my “opus project.” This edition: ROXY MUSIC. The review confirmed my impression that much of Roxy’s music is unremarkable. But it did introduce me to their first two superbly glam-tastic albums — the ones with Brian Eno (because everything Eno touches turns to gold).
Favorite album: For Your Pleasure
Favorite song: The Bogus Man
Least favorite album: Flesh + Blood
Nostalgic album: Avalon
Compared to expectations: ↓
(March 2018) I have completed episode 158 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an band’s full discography. This edition: SQUEEZE. I’ve long been a fan of the clever song-writing of the Difford-Tilbrook collaboration, who created one of the most melodically tuneful outfits from the UK New Wave. The first five albums are great; the 80s and 90s are serviceable but not memorable; the 2015 and 2017 albums are rather catchy.
Favourite album: East Side Story
Favorite song: Is That Love
Most resembles a late-period Paul McCartney album: Cradle to the Grave
Compared to expectations: same
(May 2017) I have completed episode 126 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: STYX. I listen so you don’t have to. On the Guilty Pleasure Nostalgia Playlist, I would put Peak Styx a notch below Peak Foreigner and two notches below Peak Journey. (Although post-peak Styx is less insufferable than the other two post-peak.)
Favorite album: The Grand Illusion
Favorite song: Come Sail Away
Compared to expectations: ↑
(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: ↓
Opus Project 