Jamwise #20: Just the Music
Jamwise #20: Just the Music
Earth, Wind & Fire, The Who, Madvillain, Lou Reed, Creedence Clearwater Revival
This week, for the 20th Jamwise post, I’m keeping it simple - we’re going to jump straight into the music. Sometimes just listening and enjoying is the best thing we can do. All the thoughts that pop up are great, but there’s also an art to listening without thought. Yes, that’s just a fancy way of saying I was slammed with work this week and didn’t get my writing together in time, but it’s also #jamwisdom that you can’t deny.
Jamwise will be back with your normally scheduled programing next week. In the meantime, enjoy this week’s randomly selected Best Albums Ever, and happy jamming.
That’s the Way Of the World- Earth Wind and Fire
First, “Shining Star” had to be one of the best album openers ever. Talk about slapping you right in the face with the funk. And then you get hit again, but this time with some funky lovin’ style songs through the middle of the album. I suppose That’s the Way of the World, right? No matter how funky life gets, we’re all just looking for a little love.
Ok I’m just being silly now. In all seriousness, this was another album that was absorbing in the moment but didn’t yield many playlist-worthy songs for me. Add it to the list of albums that stand stronger as a unit than split apart.
Jams
“Shining Star”
“Africano”
Who’s Next - The Who
Ahh, the Who. I had this album on CD from the very beginning of my music journey. Another Wal-Mart splurge purchase - heck I might have bought it twice after wearing the first copy out. In the annals of Dave’s formative years, this album is right up there with Zeppelin as far as number of spins. Most of the songs take me right back to my room in my parents basement trying to pick out “Behind Blue Eyes” from a bootleg version of the guitar tabs.
I’m too close to this album to rate it neutrally - but guess what? That’s not a thing anyway so who cares. Amazing album and one I’ll never get sick of.
Jams
Too many to list. Pretty much all of them for me
Willy and the Poor Boys - Creedence Clearwater Revival
I love CCR - but this album didn’t have the full depth I was hoping for considering the hits that were on it. This is one of the rare instances, for me, where the individual tracks lifted from this album are what I’ll listen to down the road rather than the album itself. That doesn’t mean it’s not a masterwork, however. I’m realizing that listening to album after album that are considered among the best of all time can lead to some nitpicking on my part, and this is one of the albums where it shows the most. I might need to mix in a “mortal” album for some contrast here and there before I start getting spoiled by the quality of what I’m listening to.
Jams
“Down On The Corner”
“Fortune Son”
“The Midnight Special”
Madvillainy - Madvillain
Pretty perplexing, obviously artistic, and I’m positive there are some undercurrents of story that I totally missed. It’s hard to “get” underground rap when I’m still learning about the mainstream stuff from this time period. But I can sense the artistry and uniqueness of this album even without fully appreciating its nuances.
One day I’ll do some genre deep dives in different eras - I have a feeling that this album and many others will make a lot more sense to me when placed alongside their contemporaries.
Jams:
“Accordion”
Transformer - Lou Reed
I can’t justify this with anything resembling facts, but Lou Reed has always been (in my head) like the underground rock version of Bob Dylan. He kinda sing-talks and says tongue in cheek stuff all the time, but instead of Dylan’s shrill, ear-destroying harmonica solos you get slightly less ear-piercing overdriven guitar solos. Maybe this take is either A) dumb or B) commonly held, but regardless I can’t hear Lou any other way.
That being said, I enjoy Lou Reed’s music far more than Dylan’s. There’s just something about how he sing-talks to me that sounds cool, and there’s nobody else really like him. Great listen.
Jams:
“Perfect Day”
“Walk On the Wild Side”