#25: London Calling (1979), The Clash

Dan and Sam count down their 28 favorite albums of all time via e-mail conversation. To see the earlier ones in the list, click the tag "The 28".

Place on personal list: Sam--20, Dan--23

Favorite Song: Sam--"Rudie Can't Fail", Dan--"Wrong 'em Boyo"

We're gonna go ahead and skip favorite lines on this one.

Sam

As I alluded to last time, this is one of the albums I've listened to the
most in my life. London Calling was my absolute favorite album and
The Clash my absolute favorite band for a good couple of years in late middle
school into early high school. Rebellious, angry and political music always
appeals to younger kids more than older, but I've certainly maintained most
of my love over the years.

In a lot of ways, this is similar to Out of our Heads in that there's
nothing quite transcendent here, but it's consistently excellent. The
difference though is that OooH is ten songs long and about 33
minutes, London Calling nineteen songs, and over an hour. That's a
huge difference, and putting up great stuff consistently is a lot more
impressive with twice as many songs.

I would like to quibble, however, with the notion that this is one of the
essential punk albums. Their eponymous debut is certainly punk, maybe the
very definition of punk. It's loud, rebellious, fast and packed with short
song after short song ("Police & Thieves" notwithstanding).

London Calling is, on the other hand, slower, longer, calmer, much
more melodic, and even has a ton of horn work. Certainly it's still filled
with its share of anger and rebellion, but that alone does not a punk album
make. Genre distinctions are always iffy, but tell me that "Jimmy Jazz" or
"Train in Vain" are punk songs. This is more like reggae-influenced rock and
roll, not punk.

Actually, London Calling has some of the catchiest hooks on any album
outside of The Beatles' stuff, which may be its greatest strength.


1) London Calling (8.5)

A great tone setter, with a powerful, driving riff that does remind you of
that true punk Clash of their previous two albums. I like the apocalyptic
setting which is appropriate for the album as a whole, particularly "A
nuclear era, but I have no fear, / 'Cause London is drowning and I / Live by
the river."

2) Brand New Cadillac (7)

Perhaps the only genuine punk song on London Calling, and, I think
not coincidentally, the worst song the album too. It's far from bad though,
with a lot of power and some nice-sounding guitar work.

3) Jimmy Jazz (9)

I love this song. It reminds me a lot of my favorite Clash song, "Police &
Thieves," and I wonder if Operation Ivy even exists without The Clash
writing original, ska-influenced material like his.

"Jimmy Jazz" is a good example of the calmer, more tongue-in-cheek Clash we
see on this album, which is what makes London Calling so good. I was
actually very surprised to see that this song is only 3:55 long because it
feels a lot longer, but not in a bad way. It's a drawling (but certainly not
peaceful song) that's a great other look for the band to offer. I also love
how Joe Strummer sounds almost drunk singing it (and who knows, maybe he
was).

4) Hateful (8)

London Calling is a very diverse album, but over nineteen songs,
you're just about bound to have a bunch of similar sounding ones. "Hateful,"
with a catchy oft-repeated hook, is the first of a number of these songs.

5) Rudie Can't Fail (9)

This is probably the catchiest song on the album, and also probably my
favorite. The horns and guitar riff are fantastic here, and you hear a lot
more of that Caribbean influence that present throughout the rest of
LC.

6) Spanish Bombs (8.5)

Very catchy rock and roll again. The chorus might be repeated a few too many
times, but I don't mind. Political/protest kind of lyrics, which is okay,
but, as you know, I'm not too huge a fan of politics in music. I love the (I
assume) deliberate incorrect Spanish of "Yo te quera."

7) The Right Profile (8)

This has got a great riff, the horns are great and Joe Strummer drawls it
wonderfully. That said, it's just too repetitive, we hear the same chorus
too many times. This is, actually, the main problem with the album as a
whole-the catchiness is often undermined by how many times different things
are repeated.

8) Lost in the Supermarket (8)

When I began my Clash-listening life by purchasing The Essential
Clash, this was the song that grabbed me and kept me around long enough
to listen to the rest. It's not a great song, but it's a nice contrast to
the rest, with its pretty standard rock stylings.

9) Clampdown (9)

This is one of the other candidates for my favorite song. It's similar in a
lot of ways with "Rudie," with its catchy ska-influenced beat. God, just
makes you want to dance, right?

10) Guns of Brixton (9)

Probably the most distinctive and original song on the album, with a
fantastic, driving, almost ominous beat. This is, I guess, the most
Caribbean-influenced song too.

11) Wrong 'Em Boyo (8)

I love the little 40 second or so opening, which I believe is an abbreviated
cover, and then the horns are just awesome for the whole thing. The main
song is a cover too, though, so it does get a minor deduction, and it's also
a little over-repetitive as well.

12) Death or Glory (8.5)

"Death or Glory" has a more traditional rock feel than most of the album,
but it's as catchy as anything on the album. I also love that change toward
the end. Too much of that chorus though, man.

13) Koka Kola (7.5)

I like that this song is so short. I don't know that it could hold a full
three minutes, but it's very nice for a minute plus. The lyrics are
appropriately rebellious, I suppose, as well.

14) The Card Cheat (8)

I like this song. It's a nice contrast to the rest of the album.

15) Lover's Rock (8)

This is that "Hateful" kind of song that we hear a lot of on the album, but
I still really like it. I'm particularly fond of the ambiguity between
"lover's rock" meaning the kind of rock and roll music, or an actual rock
for lovers.

16) Four Horsemen (7.5)

Another one of those similar song, but not as good as the rest. It's fine
though.

17) I'm Not Down (8.5)

It's got a lot in common with "Death or Glory," more traditional rock that's
extraordinarily catchy. Gotta love it.

18) Revolution Rock (8)

More than any other song on the album, "Revolution Rock" suffers from
dragging and repetition. It might be my favorite song on the album if it
didn't just last too long. It's disappointing, but it's still excellent and
catchy. It also gets a minor deduction for being a cover.

19) Train in Vain (Stand by Me) (8.5)

Totally different from anything else on London Calling with its synth
(I think) riff. Gives a hint of where they would go with things like "Rock
the Casbah," except it's better than all that stuff. My understanding is
that this song was a last minute addition, which makes the length of
"Revolution Rock" more understandable, but I'm very glad it got added, as
it's a nice way to end a great album.


So, all in all, this is an incredibly consistent, diverse and original
album. I'm very happy at least with this ranking.

I'd also like to talk about the album cover for a minute. This picture of
bassist Paul Simonon destroying his guitar (well, bass guitar) during a
concert is an absolute classic. Combine that with the allusion to Elvis with
the pink and green writing, and you've got perhaps that greatest album cover
of all time, channeling the anger and rebellion into a perfect expression.

Dan

It took me a while to get into this album, but I really can't get enough of it. I agree that its consistency and lack of a real standout track makes it similar to our last album, but the length is a misleading detail. I know you think this too, but I can't stress how much it annoys me how long some of these songs drag. There is some absolutely brilliant material here, the type of genre-transcending, emotive music that at its best reminds me of the Beatles. Nevertheless, I think there is a bit of sloppiness in editing, obviously especially in length.

London Calling (8.5)-It would be an abomination if any other song started this album. The tone is set both musically and lyrically, I also definitely like the apocalyptic shit. Phony Beatlemania is dead just about sums up how they want to be perceived, and I think it works. The minor feel is really good, but what really makes it is the subtleties in the drums and bass that keep the music fresh while the guitar pounds out that riff.

Brand New Cadillac (6.5)-Even though I'm rating it lower than you I'm not sure its the worst track on the album. I like the recognition of musical tradition by covering what was probably a pretty influential track back in the day for young English rockers, its just not very well done, too much noise and not enough feel of the chords. Too bad cause I feel like there was a lot of potential here.

Jimmy Jazz (8.5)-Right from that distinctive sound in the intro you know this is a song that is unique. The whacky and playful feel combined with the tone of the lyrics reminds me of Maxwell's Silver Hammer in the effect it achieves. Also like many songs on this album the horns are used wonderfully, with a simple but nice tenor sax solo and cool backgrounds. I don't think it drags too much, although the vocal inflection actually annoys me a bit, not sure why I just don't like the way it sounds.

Hateful (7)-I don't think there's a whole lot here but its just a very well done, nice song. I like the chromatic chord movement before the verse restarts. Not sure it warrants an 8 from you, I mean it's great filler but in the grand scheme of things it's still filler.

Rudie Can't Fail (9.5)-So close to reaching the pinnacle it almost hurts the song because I want it to be perfect. Again, stellar use of the horn section. I also like how the drums drive the feel by throwing in those snare hits at the beginning of some of the verses. This song just makes you feel good, no? There's just a little bit missing that keeps it from the top, but I'm not sure I've figured out what it is.

Spanish Bombs (9)-A remarkable song, such an interesting and unique choice of subject matter (although I guess it kind of makes sense for a band like the Clash to be interested in this). The music has good momentum, and I really like during the chorus how the guitar accents two and four really heavily, which provides nice contrast to the more fluid guitar part throughout the song. Just not quite as good as the previous track, but it's right up there.

The Right Profile (8)-I really like the hook, and again great horns! The alternating feel between a pounding, but somewhat laid back verse and the much more intense chorus. Here's where the length starts to hurt though. The whole last minute seems to be searching for new material and coming up empty, and like what is even going on in the lyrics at 3:10? That's just not a pleasant sound. Too bad cause if it were maybe a minute shorter I think it would help a lot.

Lost in the Supermarket (6)-I really don't like this song very much, it's still worthy of a listen, but I find the melody much less interesting than much of the other work. Also the mellow feel doesn't really work for me, and I don't like the way the chords are moving. The drums, which have been much more free to this point on the album, are really constrained by the type of feel they were going for in this song, and I don't think it has the same type of forward motion that appears on much of the album. This is the type of song that reminds me we're in the late 70s, not a good thing at all.

Clampdown (8)-I cannot believe this is one of your favorite songs on the album. I will admit that the core of the song is quite good. The intro I find appalling, however. It sounds just like a louder version of the last track, and doesn't really make sense to me to throw in there. And I mean once it gets going it does have good rhythm, and I really like what happens musically around 1:35 with that kind of bridge section. But then here we go again with this last minute. What exactly is the point? It totally loses the musical qualities that make the middle enjoyable and just goes on too long. Great song, but I can't fully enjoy it when it takes time to get going and ends on a bad note.

The Guns of Brixton (8.5)-The intro to this song is so cool, and I also like the ominous feel and reggae-influenced rhythm. Also cool guitar work with all the neat sounds and intense vibrato. The drums do cool things throughout, I particularly like the fill like the one at 1:53 which actually happens a couple times I think.

Wrong 'em Boyo (9.5)-This is my favorite on the album. Again not quite at the apex, but I think along with Rudie it gets closer than any other song here. I don't like when the drums drop out so early in the song, that sounds like something that should happen at the end before one more loud, intense chorus, but the feel and melody is addictive. I love the reworking of the classic blues traditional Stagger Lee at the beginning. I think this captures the reggae/ska whatever you wanna call it feel better than any other track, and it is just too fun to listen too. Well, not TOO fun, I still listen to it all the time.

Death or Glory (7.5)-Yeah this one is pretty simple, but its definitely catchy, I love the melody and chord choices in the chorus, although yeah there's too much of it and by the end its not really as cool. I think the interlude before the chorus at 2:00 is cool, but again already hearing the chorus too much. I feel like everything after 2:40 doesn't add a whole lot though, and probably could have been done without.

Koka Kola (6.5)-I don't really find this as catchy as the rest, but I guess at least it's definitely not too long. I get my advice from the advertising world? Come on boys, you already proved on this album you can be a little more subtle than this without losing that hard core edge.

The Card Cheat (7)-This has a sort of different sound and I guess is nice but doesn't really do much for me. Also here's one of the few places where I don't think the horns are very good, those backgrounds really suck. I feel like there's too much of a mass of sound, you can really pick out parts on most of the other tracks and here things blend too much. Also lasts a long time. Too long.

Four Horsemen (7.5)-Yeah by this point basically the arguments for and against are the same as the rest of the mid-range tracks on this album.

I'm Not Down (7.5)-I don't really think this one's that great, the guitar work is really cool though. Not a bad song at all, but by this point in the album I begin to grow wearier of these well-above average fillers than I would normally, another reason why keeping songs briefer earlier in the album might have helped it overall.

Revolution Rock (8)-Make it stop! Such a good song, and it still is, but just way way too long. There is nowhere near enough material here to stretch this song 5:33. Really like the intro, and the whole song has good rhythm and feeling, but at the end things just start to break down, which I guess they appear to be doing intentionally. Baffling because it seems pretty obvious when you listen that they've just run out of things to do but it just keeps on going. I'll stick to the first two verses or so then move on, thank you very much.

Train in Vain (Stand by Me) (9)-This is a really unique flavor to end the album with, and I think it's a good closer. I actually am pretty sure the riff is just a heavily distorted guitar, but who really gives a shit, it's catchy as all hell. The melody lines are impeccable, and I like how at some points there is a lot of sound and then at others everything cuts out for seconds at a time except the drums. I think the feel of the song fits the lyrics so well, it sounds like the way you feel when you're trying to get on with shit in the face of personal issues. The varying parts rhythmic motifs at the end give the song a lot of power on its way out.

Lots of different feels, like you said, so that even though there are only a few standout tracks the album as a whole works really well. Maybe we should have started talking about cover art when we did Bringing it All Back Home, but I'm willing to start now by agreeing with you that this has a great cover. I think that like other great albums this one has a feel that is both nostalgic and ahead of its time, simultaneously, which the cover so succinctly captures. There's definite homage to a wide variety of musical things here while at the same time this album sounds like nothing I've ever heard. Great combination.

Sam

I object to how loosely you use the term "filler." There are probably a few songs here that could have been cut--"Koka Kola," "Four Horsemen," and "The Card Cheat" in particular. I don't know, I don't think it's a major concern because you recognize that what you call filler is ridiculously good for being that, but it's a loaded term that certainly shouldn't be applied to "Hateful" I don't think.

I'm perfectly willing to acknowledge that I may be overrating "Lost in the Supermarket" because it has sentimental value for me. It's certainly very 80sish sounding.

I really don't see what's so terrible about the "Clampdown" intro. It's a nice transition from the last song. I don't love it necessarily, but it hardly takes anything off the table for me. Perhaps it's just because I like "Lost in the Supermarket."

We basically agree on "Wrong 'Em Boyo" I think. It's a great medley, and when you correct for the slight deduction for not being original, I also think it's one of the 3-4 best songs. You know, I remembered it going on for longer with more chorus repetitions than it actually had, perhaps it deserves a revision to a 9.

I definitely should have been harsher on "Koka Kola's" lyrics. They suck. I was just so pleased that they ended a song too early instead of too late that I ignored that.

Finally, obviously a lot of songs drag. It's kind of impressive actually to have so many songs drag when only one exceeds 4:03. They should have just stuck to their punk roots and kept everything at 2-3 minutes long. I still think its overall length is a count in its favor. Maybe not length time-wise but track-wise. There are so many well above average tracks that they deserve credit for that.

Dan

Yeah I should have thought of a term for what I meant that didn't carry the negative connotations of "filler". Basically I just meant the songs in between the key tracks. I understand the general concept of deducting for covers, but with "Wrong 'em Boyo" I suggest listening to a version of Stagger Lee (I would recommend my favorite, and probably what is widely agreed to be the definitive version by Lloyd Price). It's more like a cover of scene and characters, because they take a lot of liberties in their "cover" that make it fit more appropriately thematically with the rest of the song. For me this has always added points in this particular situation.

“I’m Sorry, But I’m Not Interested in Gold Mines, Oil Wells, Shipping, or Real Estate”* Or: Citizen Kane Review

*You know, I’ve been listening to the White Stripes’ “Union Forever” for years with no awareness that the whole song is basically an allusion to this movie. I liked it before, now I like it even more.

Citizen Kane is a great movie, but not considering the context of the way it (supposedly) “reinvented movies” as my Netflix case says, I have a hard time seeing how this is the best movie of all time.

For starters, the opening “News on the March” sequence is just lazy storytelling. I know that standards were different at the time, and it may even have been pretty original for Welles to have his voiceover actually grounded in the story. Still this isn’t Casablanca where a modern director would find a way to tell us what we need to know through dialogue, but it’s hard to imagine anyone relating those details in a genuine way. No, everything that we learn in “News on the March” could be told in a more organic way in the story proper, and, in fact, we are told most of it again anyway.

Voiceover should be used only if you absolutely cannot tell it in a different way, or if it adds a lot. Certainly moviemakers didn’t think like that then, and that’s fine, but even then it must have been frowned upon to use it when it is completely unnecessary, and, if not, revolutionary Welles should have realized that anyway, no?

That’s not to say the scene serves no purpose. It sets a frame for the whole film, but that’s easily solvable. The shots of Xanadu and the quotation from “Kubla Khan” sets a stark, symbolic contrast with the haunted house feel it’s given in the first scene, and that certainly is important.

It also lets us know all the basic details of Kane’s life before the story begins, which Welles must have thought was important. But wouldn’t it have been nicer to only know that he was this super rich guy who died, and let us fit in the other stuff as the movie went along?

I guess that’s actually my only serious criticism. I was a little skeptical of this being told as a “frame story” through a series of flashbacks, but it’s necessary for the “rosebud” mystery, and even without that, it would be totally worth it just for seeing Jedediah as an old man—man, that dude was awesome. That the flashbacks all travel linearly through time is a little unbelievable, but I’ll forgive that.

Otherwise, Citizen Kane really is a great movie and would probably be even better if I didn’t know what rosebud was. If you’re one of the ten people in the world that doesn’t know what it is, I won’t ruin it for you, but it is a wonderful bit of symbolism, the “missing piece” that, in a way, explains everything.

The acting is generally superb—particularly for such an old movie, when standards were somewhat different—the cinematography is great, especially the shots inside Xanadu toward the end though the aforementioned “haunted house” shots do feel a little tacky. Also, the make-up work on Welles as Kane gets older is also pretty amazing for 1941.

It does suffer a little from There Will Be Blood syndrome in that the emotional context is mostly dark, repressed emotion. It didn’t bother me so much this time though. In fact, I think I may be overcoming that mental block, actually.

Also, I just want to mention how awesome it is that Welles gives essentially all the principal actors their own screen in the credits, and then sticks his own credit for playing Kane as one line on a screen with ten others. Now that’s modesty.

So, all in all, Citizen Kane is great, but I wasn’t blown away the way I was with Casablanca, or Network, or even Adaptation, American Beauty or Memento. There are enough minor flaws, the symbolism sometimes a bit too overdone, the storytelling occasionally weak enough to keep it out of the “perfect” category and consideration of best movie I’ve ever seen, but those are minor complaints. A

Also, totally unrelated, but I just acquired my copy of Juno (view count: 4), and on the back it proclaims—it, not a critic mind you—that “Juno delivers huge laughs…without even trying!” Ugh. This is why people hate Juno. Why must it market itself as the self-conscious super “indie” film that all its detractors think it is. I don’t know, maybe Diablo Cody thought that, but Jason Reitman clearly saw how much more it could be. Man, it’s really well-directed. Anyway, that’s all.

"The Circus Is in Town" Or: A Lyrical Analyis of Dylan's "Desolation Row," Verse 1

Rating songs is often little more than an exercise in futility. Sure, I can be pretty sure that I think “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” is better than “It Wasn’t Me,” or even, say, “Play with Fire,” but when songs are close, it’s almost impossible to draw important distinctions between them, and even when you can, it is likely to be dramatically different a week later.

That said, I’m pretty confident that “Desolation Row” and “Visions of Johanna,” from Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde respectively, are my two favorite songs of all time. They’re pretty similar too—long, sprawling epics with dense lyricism.

That dense lyricism is one of the main attractions, but it also can leave me confused. So I’ve decided to try to understand them as best I can by going through the lyrics and analyzing them. If this works out well (which it probably won’t—writing about poetry has never been my strength), I’ll also do Dylan’s other epics*, which would make the complete list this (in order of goodness): “Visions of Johanna,” “Desolation Row,” “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” (Bringing It All Back Home), “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” (BoB) and “Chimes of Freedom” (Another Side of Bob Dylan).

*Am I missing any? And don’t say “Hurricane.”

Considering it took me 700+ words just to do the first verse of “Desolation Row” (there are ten just in this song), it could be quite a while before I get through all of this, but that’s okay.

I should also add that I owe a lot to my high-school English teacher, Mr. Sluyter, for this first verse analysis. One class when I was sixteen, instead of having us talk about whatever book we were reading, he came into the classroom, turned this song on, wrote the first verse’s lyrics on the board and asked us what it meant. I was just happy that I recognized the song, but it ended up being a very awesome experience. I believe he did the same thing with his class the previous year, except using “Visions of Johanna” instead. That guy’s got some taste, eh?

Anyway, the point is that I got a lot of these ideas from that conversation.

Also, the same qualifications apply as with all poetry, except maybe especially with Dylan: I have no idea if he meant any of this, but considering that great artists are all inspired by gods anyway, intention isn’t relevant, only the result is.

Verse 1:

They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in townHere comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonightFrom Desolation Row

We start off with an ominous description of “selling postcards of the hanging.” There is probably a racial element here too, as it was standard practice in the south during slavery and afterwards to sell postcards with photographs of lynched blacks, which connects nicely with the descriptions of “brown” passports. What’s most striking about this line is of course the utter lack of sensitivity it requires to be involved in this kind of action—first, in trying to make money of someone’s violent and public death; second, presumably there are people spending money to send a picture of a dead man to a friend or relative.

I wonder if “they’re painting the passports brown” suggests that these nebulous “they” are marking all the passports in such a way that no one will be able to leave the place they control, presumably Desolation Row. Of course “Lady and I” are looking out from Desolation Row, not on it, but this song is more than a little surreal, and I don’t think any fact is truly concrete. At the very least, this image portrays more, well, desolation and despair with simple, clear words.

I have two conflicting ideas of the next line. I tend to think “the beauty parlor is filled with sailors” is only the prelude of scary bizarreness to which “the circus is in town” is the conclusion. On the other hand, I’m not sure if it’s totally unheard of for sailors to be in a beauty parlor, looking for women. If that’s the case, then it’s another image of emotional coldness, now only caring about sex. I suppose the answer is that it’s probably both.

“The circus is in town” has been my favorite line of this verse ever since that day back in Mr. Sluyter’s class where we discussed this song. The phrase is normally an exciting, happy one. Imagine a little child saying, “Oh, yay, the circus is in town!” But because of the context Dylan has placed it in, it instead means something terrifying and disconcerting. Brilliant.

Then you’ve got this mysterious “they” in control of the commissioner too, the guy who’s supposed to be running the show. It’s again a very disturbing image—saying they’ve got him in a trance is a powerful way to say they’ve got him in their pocket. And then he’s on the edge of falling—“one hand tied to the tight-rope walker”—and that once again brings the circus back into the picture. Even more damning of the commissioner, he’s got that other hand in his pants, jerking off. Sit back in awe at the way Dylan has painted the guy as an incompetent, unscrupulous guy through evocative images. This is the creative writer’s creed of “show don’t tell” beautifully in action.

“The riot squad they’re restless, / They need somewhere to go” is, I think, pretty obvious, but it really deepens the despair and terror of this place as well.

The last line is nicely ambiguous. Are “Lady and I” looking out at all of this happening somewhere else from Desolation Row, or are they looking away from all of it, which is happening on Desolation Row, as an escape, a short mediation on what else could be possible away from this place? I always assumed it was the former before, but now I think the latter is more likely. I’m sure Dylan intended both meanings to be present, but the second one fits in better, I think.

The other thing that needs to be addressed is the “they” that seem to be responsible for everything that’s going wrong. I like how the first four lines begin “they,” “they,” “the,” “the,” and then there are two others that begin with “theys.” But that’s just more of a stylistic issue rather than a thematic one. It adds a lot though not to define the “they” in any way. They are a mysterious, foreboding presence that hangs over the whole verse.

Suns Lose, Dream Dies / Time to Trade Steve Nash / Basketball Musings

Tuesday was a dark day for basketball lovers. The Spurs, despite an off game from Manu Ginobili*, finished off the Suns’ season with a 92-87 victory. This means more than that the Shaq trade was a mistake (which we already knew). It means that the dream that was the Steve Nash Suns is likely over.

*Who else is digging the Manu/Nash commercials with Radiohead’s “House of Cards”?

Probably they weren’t good enough to win a championship before the Shaq trade, but I’m certain they’re not good enough afterward, now also stuck with Shaq’s albatross of a contract for two more years. The Lakers are going to (scarily) be even better next year with a full season of Bynum and Gasol. The Blazers will make it ten teams good enough to be the four seed in the East. The Hornets, Jazz, Rockets, Nuggets aren’t going anywhere. The Mavs and Spurs will be back for at least one more year, and the Warriors will be dangerous even with the possibility of losing Baron Davis. And unless Amare Stoudemire turns into a defensive force, there’s no reason to expect the Suns to get anything but worse.

It really is sad. The Suns were the most entertaining team I’ve ever seen and a team that, with a couple of breaks going the other way, could easily have won a title by now, which would have kept Kerr from making the knee-jerk Shaq trade. Now, I can’t shake the feeling that their window with Nash has closed.

If Kerr really wants to show how bold he is, he needs to realize that this team can’t win the West next year, and Nash only has a few more years of value left. He needs to do the boldest thing possible—trade Steve Nash.

The list of teams that would be interested in the third or fourth best point guard in the NBA and has a decent number of young assets is surprisingly short. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Trade 1: Blazers acquire Steve Nash, Raja Bell. Suns acquire Sergio Rodriguez, Travis Outlaw, Josh McRoberts, Steve Blake, Joel Pryzbilla, the draft rights to Rudy Fernandez, Blazer’s lottery pick.


Why the Suns do it:
They acquire four cheap young guys in Rodriguez, Fernandez, Outlaw and the lottery pick (DeAndre Jordan? Darell Arthur?) that are perfect fits for their system. Rodriguez and Fernandez look like they could be studs, particularly in Suns uniforms, Outlaw’s an athletic scorer that would thrive in an up-and-down offense, and Pryzbilla would provide good depth at both frontcourt spots. They build around a core of Stoudemire, Barbosa, Diaw, Fernandez, Rodriguez, Outlaw, Frye, the lottery pick and their own late first-rounder. In a couple of years, especially if one of the non-Stoudemire guys turns into a superstar (I’m guessing Diaw or Fernandez), that could be a pretty dominant team. At the very least, they’d be a crazily deep team that could run all day.

Why the Blazers do it:
Kevin Pritchard is one of the ballsiest, most proactive GMs around, and he already spent the last trade deadline trying to move some of his smaller pieces for a young point guard he could build around, specifically Devin Harris before he was shipped to Jersey in that terrible Kidd trade. Nash, of course, isn’t young, but he’s still a top five point guard in the association. The upgrade from Jarett Jack/Steve Blake to Nash would be huge. This is what their roster would look like:

1: Nash (Jack, Roy in a pinch)
2: Roy (Martell Webster)
3: Bell (Webster, a resigned James Jones/someone else)
4: Aldridge (Frye)
5: Greg Oden (LaFrentz, Frye)

That’s a damn good team, with a two or three year window to win a title with Steve at the point, and a bigger one with someone else. Nash’s decline should coincide nicely with the rise of Aldridge and Oden (I think Roy already about as good as he’s going to get), keeping them at a steady level of play. They’d have no superstars until/if Oden becomes one, but they would have four borderline All-Stars in Nash, Roy, Aldridge and Oden, a couple of fantastic role players in Roy and Frye, and a few other useful pieces with upside in Jack and Webster. Combine that with Paul Allen’s willingness to buy first round picks all over the place and the bevy of first-rounders they already own the rights to in Europe, and they should be extremely deep and consistent. The Pistons have shown that you can win by being well above average at every spot and not superlative at any.

Is this a team that can beat the Lakers? I wouldn’t bet on it, but then again, I wouldn’t bet on anyone in the west beating LA next year, and Portland would at least have a chance. They could keep waiting around for their young players to make the leap, and maybe that’s the right move, but the Bulls have shown us that waiting around for the perfect deal to come around can leave you in the lurch with nothing to show for it.

Speaking of the Bulls….

Trade 2: Bulls acquire Steve Nash, Raja Bell. Suns acquire Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Larry Hughes, Bulls’ lottery pick.

Why the Suns do it:
They’re essentially getting three lottery picks that are great fits for their system in Thomas, Noah and, well, the lottery pick. That’s a nice way to start over. The core becomes Stoudemire, Diaw, Barbosa, Thomas, Noah, lottery pick (Mayo? Bayless? Ty Lawson?), and their late first rounder (Robin Lopez?). That’s a damn good base to start from. They’d have to take Hughes’ terrible contract, but he might actually be useful again on an up-and-down team.

Unless they take a true 1 like Lawson with the draft pick, they’d probably have to start running the offense through Diaw, which might actually be a good thing based on the way he played in San Antonio. I really think he’s ready to be an All-Star at the 3, where he’s just as fast as everyone else and a solid shooter but can abuse other 3s on the block and is also a great passer. How amazing was that where he drew like 8 straight fouls on the Spurs in the 3rd quarter?

Let’s say they take Bayless and Lopez, and let’s leave Shaq off, who won’t contribute whenever they do win a title:

1: Bayless (D.J. Strawberry/random dude)
2: Hughes (Barbosa)
3: Diaw (a resigned Gordan Giricek (?), Thomas, Hughes)
4: Stoudemire (Thomas, Lopez)
5: Noah (Lopez)

The key to this deal for me is not Thomas, who has the upside of another Amare, but Noah, who’d give them an athletic, energetic big that plays good defense and rebounds. That’s what they need next to Stoudemire more than anything else and what they were missing all year after giving away Kurt Thomas*.

*Damn you, Robert Sarver!

Why the Bulls do it:
Well, they’ve got to do something, don’t they? This leaves them with a ridiculously well-paid back-up point in Hinrich*, but he’s not good enough to start for a good team unless he really turns things around. Also, if they want to re-sign Ben Gordon, they’d have a very tough time defending anyone with a backcourt of Nash and Gordon.

Still, this is a deal they have to make isn’t it? Maybe they can sign-and-trade Gordon for another solid big, or use him as a Barbosa-like 6th man, as they did early in his career. A team with a core of Nash, Bell, Deng, Nocioni, Gooden and Gordon/someone else probably isn’t quite good enough to win a title, but it’s a chance John Paxson probably has to take after last season’s debacle.

***

The white elephant in both of these deals is Shaq, of course. He and his $20 MM/yr contract would essentially become useless to them because all he would do is take playing time away from their young guys. That’s a sacrifice Kerr has to be willing to make though. Shaq was a mistake and is a sunk cost, and one of the signs of a good manager is acknowledging mistakes and moving on. Plus, hey, in a year he’ll be a ridiculous expiring contract, so if another Chris Wallace wants to give away another Pau Gasol, they’ll be at the top of the list.

Other musings:

• Can someone tell these goddamned super-athletic guards to take the damn ball to the hole? I know Iguodala is being guarded well, but how can he possibly think it’s a good idea to take fade-away, off-the-dribble jump shots?

• Ditto LeBron, actually. Even as good as he’s been, he settles for the jumper way too often. He does have a pretty good excuse in that his teammates, for lack of a better word, suck. I can’t wait ‘til he signs with the Brooklyn Nets in 2010.

• Ditto Josh Howard*. My God, did he suck in that series. I understand he’s not being guarded on the outside, but there’s a very good reason: he’s lucky to hit the freaking rim from there right now.
  
  *Of course it was stupid of Howard to admit he smokes pot in the offseason during a playoff series, but all these commentators acting like this is some kind of travesty or that it’s a surprise are blowhards. Most NBA players are young, rich people who never had to learn to be mature adults. You’re surprised they smoke weed? Just be thankful if that’s the worst thing they do.

• Ditto especially Tracy McGrady. I didn’t see game 5 because of my NBA TV lacking, but game 4 was painful. I’ve been a McGrady apologist for as long as I can remember, and I still love him, so I was happy when everyone got off his back after game 3, but, man, even that wasn’t particularly good. All he did was hit three shots in the 4th. The thing is, when he takes the ball to the basket, he gets a good shot every time or gets fouled. But instead he does his take a dribble and rise up routine, which he make about 40% of the time. Why, why, why? Now, if the problem is his knee, then I take it back, but my recollection is that this basically how he’s always done it.

• I love Jannero Pargo. The man is ridiculous, he just doesn’t miss. He does what I was just bitching about McGrady doing, except he makes it. All the time. Or at least that’s how it seems when he’s hot. He could take a step-back half-court shot, and I’d fully expect it to go in.

• I used to feel like that about Steve Nash too. If he missed a jump shot, I’d be shocked. The last few games though, he was just off. It was a sad way to go out.

• David West is good. Really, really good. Paul gets all the credit for that team, and probably rightfully so, but West just doesn’t miss a 17-foot jumper, and he destroyed everyone last night one on one.

• The Mavs are screwed. The Kidd trade always looked like a bad, bad idea, and now that their season has petered out, they really have nowhere to go, lacking the assets to really go for it or to start over. And Kidd is just about cooked. I feel bad for Dirk because he plays with so much passion and wants it so badly.

• I love Josh Smith, even as I root for the Celtics to make the finals. I hope he learns to shoot jumpers because if he does, he’ll be a superstar.

#26: Out of our Heads, The Rolling Stones (USA) (1965)

Dan and Sam count down their 28 favorite albums of all time via e-mail conversation. To see the earlier ones in the list, click the tag "The 28"

Place on personal list: Sam--22, Dan--26, Average--24

Favorite Song: Sam--"That's How Strong My Love Is," Dan--"Mercy Mercy"

Favorite Line: Sam--uhh, maybe we should skip that this time. Dan--okay.


Dan:
This is unequivocally my favorite Rolling Stones album, and probably my favorite British Invasion album in general. Of all the British Invasion-era bands, I've always thought the Rolling Stones are right there in the top three with the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five. I think smart people still could've told at the time how great the Beatles would be, since even in their pre-Rubber Soul phase they were doing very interesting things with harmony and chord structure for a pop group, but their early work somehow lacks the authentic soul feel the Stones were able to achieve. I'll elaborate more on these things after I go through the songs, but one more point I would make is that we're talking about the US release here, the UK release is significantly altered and, in my opinion, much worse.

1) Mercy Mercy (9): This is my favorite song on the album, and I think a perfect tone-setter right up front. The beat is nice and heavy, and the guitar tone has nice buzz to it. I like the instrumental breaks, where Mick's voice comes through particularly well. He also shows great range, like during the bridge around 1:40. Also around 2:15 they alter the rhythm of the riff a little bit and it sounds really cool.

2) Hitch Hike (8.5): Gotta love the backing vocals on this Marvin Gaye cover. The drum hits at the end of each verse are great, and the whole song has lots of drive forward, even though the tempo is kind of relaxed and it's not really that loud or anything. This reminds me a lot of the Edwin Starr song "Twenty-Five Miles" in that you actually sort of FEEL the travels being described in the song.

3) The Last Time (8.5): Thank you Brian Jones for this killer riff. A pretty early example of riff-based rock songs, obviously a fundamental precursor to Led Zeppelin et al. I really feel a lot of emotion in the song during the end of each verse, "maybe the last time, i don't know." The guitar solo is extremely simple but I like it a lot. Love when everything drops out at the end and its just the tambourine before the guitar comes back in. The energy builds really well right at the end, what with the yelling and all.

4) That's How Strong My Love Is (8): There are a lot of covers on this album, but they're done so well I'm not really going to complain that we're a third of the way in and only have had one original composition. This is a really good song to begin with, but the Stones do it up quite well, with a heavy triplet feel that alternates between relaxed and mellow and loud and frenetic. It has a really good rhythmic feel to it, and the groove is tight throughout.

5) Good Times (7): Ok now things are getting a little out of hand on the cover front, not because this isn't a good song (in fact, it's a great song), but it's really way too similar to the Sam Cooke version to have much merit. It gets a solid rating here just because it sounds good, but they're really not doing anything too exciting. At least they don't butcher it like all those Chuck Berry covers the Beatles put out.

6) I'm All Right (Live) (7): I think throwing live tracks on a studio album is a cool idea, and this really gives some insight into the intensity, energy, and sheer volume the Stones possessed at the time. One of the select few times I actually applaud the awful audio quality because it gives me a feeling that there's almost so much energy the audio equipment can't even handle it (which scientifically speaking is actually half true). Of course there aren't really many lyrics, but the riff is really catchy. I wouldn't say this is an extraordinary song, but it really works well here in context after a softer tune and is a solid listen.

7) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (8): Forget every time you've previously heard Mark Coppola declare the Stones the greatest rock band ever before playing this track. Now listen to it. It's very very good, and it's a damn shame that the commodification [ed. note: I don't know what this word means, but, yeah] of the Stones has led to the overplay of this song on virtually every "classic rock" station across the country, for a long time ruining it for me. In reality its a seriously good song, and really ahead of its time in terms of volume and guitar distortion. The driving beat and vocals really get the emotion across here.

8) Cry to Me (9): Not a Stones original, but I think this might be among the best covers of all time. The interplay between the rhythm guitar with all that reverb and the sweet tone on the lead part is awesome. Also lots of peaks and valleys in intensity which is nice. I really love the end, listen particularly to the lead guitar from 2:15 on. The buildup in energy is driven by that part I think, and in general is awesome.

9) The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (7.5): This is a really funny, nice sounding blues. The lyrics are legitimately pretty comical, and I like the sardonic element with him voicing his opinion on how much he contributes to a group's artistic success when it's clear he doesn't give a shit about music. The harmonica is a nice touch in the background, and the riff is kind of goofy, but I think quite good in this song which is kind of goofy in general.

10) Play With Fire (9): This song really comes from out of nowhere, which I think adds to how good it is, although its really one of the best Stones' tracks to begin with. The echo chamber effect is stellar, and the guitar part, particularly the moving bass line, is great. The feeling it exudes is really strong, and the lyrics are simple but effective in delivering their message emotionally, not just textually. I really like the guitar verse at 1:00.

11) The Spider and the Fly (7): A pretty straightforward blues, but the guitar weaving that Jones and Keith Richards were known for is on prime display here. It has a lot of drive and energy (kind of a theme on this album? i've said it like 10 times already) and the lyrics and cadence are a little corny but the blues feel itself is authentic enough to make up for it. I like its position on the album, a nice low key song to follow a much more emotional track.

12) One More Try (6.5): Not bad, but not really much here. The intro is pretty weak, the lyrics are kind of like a stupid version of 19th Nervous Breakdown, and there's not very much creativity measure to measure. Especially as a last track, it doesn't work so well.

Bonus) Gotta Get Away (9): Just throw this song in here right at the end and the album becomes wayyyyyy better. This song is on the UK release of the album, and why it didn't make it to the US one is beyond me. I love everything about this, the melody is really cool, the guitar part is heavy and inventive, and in general it just sounds awesome. I didn't even know about this song till I got the complete Stones' singles and b-sides collection, so I suggest everyone check it out if you haven't heard it before. Really, this would be the perfect song to end this album and would bump it up at least a couple spots on my list.

I think this album is the antithesis of Bringing it All Back Home. It's not really that much better, but I would definitely choose to listen to it all the way through first because it's way more consistent. Especially the first half, which is not only consistently good, but consistently great. Brian Jones has always been my favorite Stone, not even so much for his playing, but for what I perceive to be his musical influence, and this is one of the last albums they released where he was a significant contributor in my opinion. Although in very broad terms a lot of these songs are pretty similar, there's a lot of subtle musical things going on that keep the whole album fresh.

I promised I'd say something about Charlie Watts, so here it is. I think he sucks. Well, not exactly. It's more like I just don't get why he's so acclaimed. Most of his work with the Stones is really uninspiring. He keeps a great beat, no doubt, but how can any self-respecting drummer go through entire songs without even throwing in a fill? On THIS album, however, he's really in the zone, laying down great grooves but also throwing in some cool rhythms etc. Love Mick's vocals, he's got great soul, and I despise Keith Richards but have gotta admit that he plays the guitar quite well, at least here. None of the songs here are my absolute favorite Stones tracks, but after the three or four songs of theirs I like best pretty much every song here makes the list right after them. Essentially, other than a couple other songs, I think this album possesses the rest of their best work.

Sam:
I'm uncomfortable about a few things in discussing Out of Our Heads. I'm uncomfortable calling this The Stones' best album when I only know Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street in the most cursory manner. I'm uncomfortable trying to assess an album of mostly covers when I haven't heard any of the originals. I'm uncomfortable, as I will be 2-3 other albums that are coming up soon on the list, in talking about a piece of art that I just don't know that well. Sure I love it, and I've listened to it at least 15-20 times, but I still don't have a full understanding of what's going on. And finally, I'm uncomfortable that, the more I think about it, there's no way I prefer this album to Bringing It All Back Home or Black Star. I think both of us gave precedence to albums with consistent excellence/very goodness over ones with flashes of incredible brilliance and some mediocrity, but, philosophically, I tend the other way, so I'm regretting ranking things the way I did. Ah, c'est la vie, I guess.

All of that said, I shall press on, and because I can't compare the covers to the originals, I'm just going to assess the quality of the song with a, say, half point deduction for being a cover.

1) Mercy, Mercy (8)
I love the little guitar intro. It's a little ahead of its time, no? It sounds almost like something out of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While I wish that sound was more incorporated into the rest of the song, I still like it a lot, vintage British Invasion stuff, which I really enjoy. Mick is a powerful singer.

2) Hitch Hike (8)
I also dig the backing vocals, and this is long been a song that I toss on any playlist that it doesn't sound terrible on. The laid back pace is also welcome.

3) The Last Time (8.5)
Hey, a song they wrote! The riff is killer, the chorus is catchy and it's some great simple rock. This is another one from the OooH that I've been known to put on far too many playlists.

4) That's How Strong My Love Is (8)
I really love this song. In terms of simply how much I enjoy listening to it, this and "Good Times" are probably my favorites on the album. I especially like the contrast between the mellow verses and the powerful chorus. And Mick is a great performer.

5) Good Times (8)
Like I said, I haven't heard the original, so I believe you when you say this is too similar to the original to have a lot of merit, but I'm ignoring that aspect of it. It's such a relaxing song to listen to a summer afternoon. It's a blissful listening experience.

6) I'm All Right (7.5)
I love having a live track on here, and yes, while there aren't too many lyrics to speak of, we're not actually listening to The Stones for their lyrical complexity. It's a fantastic live performance of a song that's probably a little too short.

7) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (8)
I agree with you completely about this song. It's been pretty close to ruined for me by the way it's been fawned over, but when I've been away from classic rock radio for a while, it's an excellent song with probably one of the most important riffs ever written.

8) Cry to Me (8.5)
I actually sometimes forget about this song, but you're right, it's awesome. The lead guitar at the end is great, Mick is great, the contrasts in intensity are great, everything's great.

9) The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (7.5)
Yeah, I like this a lot too. I don't think the lyrics are all that funny (they are a little bit), but I like all the musical stuff going on, particularly the aforementioned goofy beat, which is totally appropriate, and the little change at the end.

10) Play with Fire (9)
Like you said, "Play with Fire" comes out of nowhere. It's also the only track that has any kind of emotional tension, and while I'm not a big fan of angry derisive lyrics, it does show that The Stones have more going on than meets the eye. Musically, it obviously sounds totally different from the rest of the album too, and it's a good change of pace.

11) The Spider and the Fly (7)
Agree about this one too. Straightforward blues but very enjoyable. The truth is that I just love straightforward blues, so I can't complain too much.

12) One More Try (7.5)
I actually like this song a lot, and I think this is my favorite use of the harmonica on the album. I'm totally fine with this as a final track.

I haven't heard "Gotta Get Away."

One thing I realized as I was writing this is that, at the time, it was standard practice to write very few to none of your songs. I believe Dylan and The Beatles were both revolutionary as singer/songwriter pop musicians, and both still began their careers with a lot of covers. The point is that we shouldn't penalize The Stones too harshly for all the covers (not that think either of us did). Still, I can't shake the feeling that this is a little bit like saying With The Beatles or Bob's eponymous debut is their best work, where of course they're doing good things, but haven't yet entered their truly revolutionary phase. Perhaps the difference with The Stones is the death of Brian Jones, but I still feel weird about it.

Dan:
I can't actually remember our personal rankings, did you put this one ahead of the last two on your personal list or did it just average this way? I'm a little less comfortable after going through the two really in depth saying this is better than Black Star, but I'm still convinced it's better than Bringing it All Back Home. I'm also not really sure how to deal with covers, even when I have heard the originals. I think when evaluating an album I tend to lean fairly heavily towards actual performance, because if you get picky over original material then you'd kind of face a dilemma calling Rushmore a great album, which it obviously is even though most of it someone just chose.

Mercy Mercy is definitely ahead of its time, not just in terms the heavy use of distorted, riff-oriented guitar, but also just the general heavy feel. It sounds way more dense than anything else coming out of England at this time.

You're last comments were very thought provoking. First, I think the Stones are a very unique case, as you alluded to, since The Beatles and Bob, although exploring a huge range of music, were the same artistic minds, whereas after Brian Jones left the band there was a pretty clear change in direction artistically.

I don't think the comparison to debut albums holds though [ed. note: Dude, you know With The Beatles isn't a debut right?], because although the Stones were still one album away from predominantly their own written material, I don't think they ever made an album as consistently good as this. Like I said, my absolute favorite Stones' tracks are from, shall we say, more mature albums. But you won't catch me ever listening to those albums all the way through. The album on our list I thought about most when I reviewed this was actually Rubber Soul. I'm pretty sure both albums were the fourth US release from those bands, and I think they're both the first albums that move from really really good pop to really really good music.

Sam:
Man, did I write some inane things in describing those songs. That's a symptom, I suppose, of us dealing with a kind of music that I don't really have the vocabulary to describe. It was frustrating trying to say what I thought about the songs and failing, and now I'm realizing just how much I failed. This will continue to be a problem on any of these British Invasion, early pop/R&B albums though thankfully, I think there's only one or two left.

And yeah, I think I actually had this album higher than you did (23 maybe? [22]), which wasn't a terrible mistake but evidence at least that I hadn't gone as in-depth evaluating everything as I have now. For one thing, I was skeptical about having Black Star on the list at all, and now I think we put it significantly too low.

Are you saying that you think Please Please Me was "really really good pop" and not "really really good music"? Well, we'll get to that I guess.

I'm not sure I'm buying the Rubber Soul comparison because though there's certainly some original stuff on here, it still sounds like British Invasion pop/R&B while I think Rubber Soul is as different from With The Beatles as Revolver is from Rubber Soul. Rubber Soul was a revolutionary album, and I don't think this one was. I do see what you're saying though.

As for covers, I think songwriting is critically important (I mean, I think something like 70% or more of Bob's greatest is in the writing), so I gave a small deduction for every song that wasn't original, but because of the context, I didn't penalize too much.

Alright, that was frustrating but also maybe the most interesting conversation yet. And thankfully, I know the next album about as well as I know anything this side of Chutes Too Narrow (which holds the record for number of times played in one summer (~3,986,543)).

#27: Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star (1998)

Or: "Hello, everybody. Recording live from somewhere…"

Dan and Sam count down their 28 favorite albums of all time via e-mail conversation. Click the tag "The 28" for the rest on the list so far.

Place on personal list:

Sam—24 Dan—26 Average—25

Favorite Song:

Sam—"Definition/RE:DEFinition"

Dan—"Definition/RE:DEFinition"

Favorite Line:

Sam—Too many. I'll put them at the beginning of each song review.
Dan--"stop acting like a bitch already, be a visionary” (Kweli, Definition), and “hotter than tales of crack peddlin, makin ‘em WHOOP! like blue gelatin, swing like Duke Ellington” in Mos’ verse on REgarding DEFinition, my favorite line from any hip hop song ever, no joke.


Sam:
I'd generally say it's fair to characterize you as more of a Mos supporter, and me as more of a Kweli guy. In fact, I actually like Kweli and Hi-Tek's Reflection Eternal/Train of Thought at least as much as this album though it did not make the list. That said, re-listening to Black Star, I've come to the conclusion that, as great as Kweli is on this album, Mos gives one of the great MC performances of all time. Both drop killer rhymes all over the place, but Mos' flow has always been tighter, and it's just unbelievable how good he sounds here, not to mention that the dude can sing as well. I still say Hi-Tek's production improved in leaps and bounds—at least in consistency—on Reflection Eternal, but I have a lot more respect for his work this time.

I'll go through song by song, rating each 1-10. I'm going to try to match the standard you used on BIABH, which was a little harsher than I usually use.

1) Intro [NA]
"We feel that we have a responsibility to shine the light into the darkness. There's a lot of darkness out there. We watch it all the time. I'm busy lookin' at some darkness right now, sayin', man, there's some darkness."

A nice, funny intro.

2) Astronomy (8th Light) [7]
"What is the Black Star? / Is it the cat with the black shades, the black car? / Is it shinin' from very far, to where you are? / It is commonplace and different / Intimate and distant / Fresher than an infant"

I definitely dig this song. In a sense, this is the album's intro, giving an idea for what exactly Black Star is (defenders of black people that also like to have some fun?), while also giving a nice impression that this is going to be somewhere between an old school record and something totally different. It does a really good job of setting the tone, I think.

3/4) Definition/RE:DEFinition [10+]
"My presence felt, my name is Kweli from the Eternal Reflection / People thinkin' MC is short hand for misconception."

The best 6 minutes of hip-hop ever made? I'm not in a position to answer that question, but I've a hard time imagining anything better. Kweli's flow doesn't sound fantastic in "Definition," but that's only because it's so insanely fast*, and the lyrics are out of this world. Mos is even better, particularly his verse on "RE:DEFinition," which is probably the best hip-hop verse I've ever heard—"makin em WOOP like blue gelatin, swing like Duke Ellington." And everything he just says sounds so rhythmically right. It's beautiful listening to the man rap. I also really love the way the end of Kweli's verse on "RE:DEF" rhymes with the first line of Mos'. And the chorus is one of the catchiest this side of The Beatles.

The beat is, of course, phenomenal. This is probably Hi-Tek's greatest success, even above "The Blast" from Reflection Eternal. Both beats are fantastic independently of each other, but the way they run together, making these two tracks into one coherent creation, is brilliant.

I'm a little less sure if I prefer the two tracks being placed back-to-back, essentially making them one song for all intents and purposes. Would "RE:DEF" work better placed, say, right before or after "Thieves in the Night" as a reprise? I don't know. It certainly works the way it is though.

*Seriously, try rapping Kweli's first verse the way he does it. You can't do it. You just can't.

5) Children's Story [5.5]
"He was out chasin' cream and the American dream / Tryin' to pretend the ends justify the means / This ain't funny so don't you dare laugh / It's just what comes to pass when you sell your ass / Life is more than what your hands can grasp."

This is one of the more old school tracks on the album, just a very simple beat and a repetitive flow. It's okay, but not my thing at all. It's that Tribe Called Quest/De La Soul style of flow that I just do not get. I'm sure there's a good reason they're so respected, but I sure as hell don't understand it.

6) Brown Skin Lady [8]
"My brown lady, creates environments, / for happy brown babies, I know it sounds crazy / but your skin's the inspiration for cocoa butter."

Another very catchy song where Mos shines as a singer. I prefer Kweli's verse on here though, which has some of his best flow on the album. Another very solid beat from Hi-Tek (I assume; it could be someone else). These guys are really in top form.

7) B Boys* Will B Boys [5]:
*A B-boy or B-girl is a person devoted to hip-hop culture, specifically the breakdance element. (From Wikipedia)

This is my least favorite song on the album. There's really nothing much going on at all, and it actually sounds a little bit like the Fresh Prince theme song (am I crazy?), which I don't think is a particularly good thing for a serious hip-hop group.

8) K.O.S. (Determination) [7.5]
"Life without knowledge is death in disguise."

K.O.S. stands for knowledge of self, and I dig how the chorus uses the word self once to mean two different things—"knowledge of self…determination." I like this song a lot, it's got a nice simple beat, a pretty solid chorus by a female singer for a change and some of the album's more insightful lyrics, talking about the importance of self-knowledge (obviously).

9) Hater-Players [6.5]
"It's a small wonder like Vicki*"

*You may have to google "small wonder vicki" (as I did) to understand this one, but trust me, it's funny.

There are some pretty funny moments on the song, but it's ultimately a diatribe against commercial, heartless hip-hop like "Children's Story" is, a theme which Kweli would return to in songs like "Too Late." It's seems to be a particular concern for these guys, and that's understandable to people who the music is so important to. The song itself is also solid.

10) Yo Yeah [NA]

This is not really a song. In fact, I forget it exists unless I look at the track listing.

11) Respiration [9]
"I choreograph seven steps to heaven / And hell, waiting to exhale and make the bread leavened / Veteran of a cold war, It's Chica-I-go for / What I know or, what's known / So some days I take the bus home, just to touch home" –basically just Common's whole verse.

This is a much better song than I realized however many months ago it was I bought this album. I still think that opening part of the beat is borderline plagiarism of "Dream On," but it's really good regardless. Lyrically it's a sort of ode to New York (and later, Chicago) that remains realistic and conflicted. I love the image of listening to and feeling the city breathing.

And Common's verse, both lyrically and flow-wise, is spectacular, perhaps the best I've heard from him, except maybe the one on "Be." Plus, I just love listening to his voice.

12) Thieves in the Night [10]
"Not strong, / Only aggressive, / Not free, / We only licensed, / Not compassionate, only polite, / Now who the nicest? / Not good but well behaved, / Chasin' after death
so we can call ourselves brave, / Still livin' like mental slaves, / Hidin' like thieves in the night from life, / Illusions of oasis makin' you look twice."

I don't think there's a significant difference in quality between this and the "Definitions," but I give them a slight edge for their greater importance. The lyrics here are sublime, among the best I've heard, from both Kweli and Mos behind the perfect beat to highlight said lyrics. When they write things so insightful about society and living in false ideals created by it ("Caught up, in conversations of our personal worth / Brought up, through endangered species status on the planet Earth / Survival tactics means, bustin' gats to prove you hard / Your firearms are too short to box with God / Without faith, all of that is illusionary / Raise my son, no vindication of manhood necessary"), it's hard to believe how bigoted both men remain about homosexuality and other issues that are common to the hip-hop community. Regardless, the song is superb.

13) Twice Inna Lifetime [7]
We be lightin' shit up like phosphorus / Turnin' flamboyant n***** anonymous, depressin' to optimus / You stoppin' us is preposterous, like an androgynous misogynist."

Take a minute to just stare at those lyrics. Ah.

Okay, now remember how shitty Jane Doe is, and you start to understand why this is only a seven. Common is really the only guest who should be allowed on this album, everyone else is just worse than Mos and Kweli and takes away from the quality. It's unfortunate because the rest of the song is pretty excellent.

The problem is compounded further by making this the last song on the album. I really wish they had tossed this in the middle and ended with one of "RE:DEFinition," "Respiration," or "Thieves in the Night." It's just a moderately depressing way to finish such a great album.

Bonus Review—What's Beef? (From Chapelle's Show) [8]
"Beef is not what Jay said to Nas / Beef is when workin' n***** can't find jobs."

There's really no beat at all to speak of here, and Kweli's flow is actually pretty weak, but Mos really shines with insightful, meaningful lyrics (even if they're on a grander scale than I prefer, they're trying to alter a warped hip-hop perspective) and extremely tight flow.

All together, Black Star suffers from inconsistency like Bringing It All Back Home, but it offers perhaps a few more truly excellent songs. And actually, looking back at how many of my favorite lines were Kweli's, I might have to take back that thing about Mos being better here. I don't know; regardless, they're both incredible.

This isn't my absolute favorite hip-hop album ever, but I'd have a hard time arguing with anyone who claimed it was the best.

Dan:

I think that’s a fair characterization you make. I love Kweli, and generally I find the actual content of his lyrics resonates with me more, but only generally, and I enjoy Mos’ flow more so in the end he comes out slightly ahead. Yes, I do think he makes the album, but even if you just kept Kweli’s verses on all these tracks you’d have some great stuff. Both of them just give an unyielding performance here, with more good lines per song than a lot of pretty solid ALBUMS out there. I think Hi-Tek does great work here, especially with some cool musical things that you never hear in hip-hop which I’ll discuss later in greater detail. The other producers lay down good beats as well, and they all fit well together.

Intro: As far as hip-hop album intros go, this is probably one of the best. Nice, cool, mellow beat to set the tone for the whole album.

Astronomy (8th Light) (7): I like to think of this as an extension of the intro as well. Its cool to hear them explain what Black Star means to them, instead of just leaving it as a cool sounding name that may or may not mean something. The sonority is pretty similar to the intro which makes for a smooth transition. Even though I actually stated my favorite lines I like your idea so I’ll jot down some more of my faves at the end of each song if something strikes my fancy. In this one I really like is Kweli’s line “I love rockin tracks like John Coltrane love Naima.” The emphasis on both musical and philosophical roots throughout this album is probably my favorite theme. Its just some simple (albeit excellent) wordplay, but what he’s also showing is an appreciation for his musical tradition and a knowledge of that tradition (Naima was Train’s wife). I am sure I will discuss this theme again in future albums we review because I can already think of examples, but many of them (especially Beatles tracks) give props out via the music, not the words (exception to previous parenthetical statement, “for you blue”).

Definition (9.5)/REgarding DEFinition (10+) (overall a 10+ for sure): First of all, how funny would it be if they actually spelled it that way. Seriously though, title is such a meaningless thing compared to content but if you had to give out an award, this is about as cool as they come. I cannot imagine them not being separate. Yeah a reprise would be cool I guess, but together its just like whoa, incredible statement, followed by WHOA, INCREDIBLE STATEMENT. The flow throughout the whole piece is incredible, and I think Kweli’s is better than you give him credit for. It sounds a little out of whack when he gets going real fast, but I like how that provides contrast to some of the more straight-ahead feeling rhymes. Mos definitely rules this track though. Even when he gets flying in the second half of his verse in RE:DEFinition his flow is way in the pocket (the actual musical term, not that line that Kanye may or may not be referencing the actual musical term with) and sounds so much more relaxed. I like how you pointed out the difficulty in reproducing some of the lines in this song. I think a good metric for how inventive and skillful someone’s flow is is to see if you can just rap it acapella. Usually most stuff is pretty easy once you memorize the words, but even after listening to this song tens of times I have trouble reciting “my presence felt, my name is kweli….etc.” This is an easy one to recite, but just on the note of cool lines, I really like when Mos raps “me and kweli close like Bethlehem and Nazareth/after his you be pressing rewind on top yo’ masterdisk.” If you REALLY wanted my favorite line I guess I should have just written out his whole verse in re:def. Its very similar to Subterranean in that its just a torrent of unbelievably wit/insight/humor/wordplay. I couldn’t even imagine something like that being written before I heard it. Simply incredible.

Lets talk about some cool things Hi-Tek does with what I think is his best beat. First of all, the intro is really cool. Also I like how the first half has a kind of lighthearted feel even with the heavy bass drum and the second half sounds dead serious, kind of like they were saying something in the first part, got pissed no one was paying attention (hip hop community?) and that mood permeated the second part. Besides Thieves in the Night this is the greatest accomplishment of Hi-Tek’s from a musical (not how cool it sounds, but the actual music of it) standpoint. Traditionally when DJs drop the beat it’s a very straight forward affair. Four beat measure, maybe they drop the whole thing or the first two or last two beats. In Definition the primary beat drop, which can be best heard at :59-1:04, lays out for a while then accents the second and third beat of the measure before it reenters, which makes for a very funky off-beat feel. I like the beat drop in re:def a little better, with the 1 and 3 of the second measure of the break accented. The placement is also a little better I think, especially the one that occurs right at the beginning of Talib’s verse. Throughout the album there are cool reversals of the beat or accents that make it more like a real drum beat as opposed to a computer-generated beat.

Children’s Story (7.5): This is a really cool concept of a song. Taking the Slick Rick classic and updating the lyrics is exactly the type of thing no one does but Black Star obviously would and does, making this album so good. Also a good moral about making art. I think the beat is pretty catchy too, and stripped down so the story comes through very clearly. I like that Mos doesn’t feel the need to lay down ridiculous lines like in the previous song, he just has a story he wants to tell and does so, although he has such good flow and cadence that it still sounds like he’s rapping beyond what the rhymes are. Music as storytelling is something that I think has become less and less important to mainstream performers since the advent of commercial recorded music, and I think that it’s bad for everyone. Some of the best music ever does nothing more than tell a story. Obviously these guys get that. This song goes on a little too long though, I think the other shit that goes on after the actual lyrics end is kind of stupid. As if we don’t know we’re listening to Black Star?

Brown Skin Lady (7): The intro is really cool, and I think the song is good but its around this point in the album that the similarity between beats starts to really set in, which I’ll discuss more at the end, but basically its not a good thing. I do like how the rhythm changes every now and then and there are some cool drum hits in here. This is actually one of my least favorite beats on the album though, and even another John Coltrane reference can’t save it from relative mediocrity.

B Boys Will B Boys (7.5): I totally disagree with you on this song. I think the album needs more tracks like this. Not in place of other songs, but in between. So many of these tracks are awesome but too mellow and blend together too much. A song like this, although one of the worst lyrically, at least has a cool upbeat tempo that changes the pace. Plus it gives some cool shout outs (native tongues for example).

K.O.S. (Determination) (7.5): Cool lyrics, cool beat, cool idea. Not much to say except again this song could really sound much worse if it came before the previous track instead of after it because of how mellow the beat is.

Hater Players (6.5): Still good, but starting to go downhill relative to the rest of the album. I would have preferred if they made this beat heavier, especially the part where the drums drop out.

Yo Yeah (4): Yeah its not a song, but its so shitty it still deserves to be poorly rated. It actually is pretty cool and the beat is good, but why in the name of the Universal Zulu Nation did they think it was a good idea to have that stupid fucking “yo/yeah” shit going on the whole song. AHHHHHH!

Respiration (8.5): Just the type of heavy beat I’ve been looking for since RE:DEFinition. Great flow and the beat is killer. I love Common’s voice too. All the flow here is great though. “Killers Born Naturally like, Mickey and Mallory/Not knowing the ways'll get you capped like an NBA salary.”

Thieves in the Night (9.5): Unbelievable song. The beat is so jazzy, way more so in a true sense of having cool chord progressions than any of that so-called jazz hip hop stuff like Tribe and De La Soul and whatnot. The only thing that keeps it from a 10 for me is the excessively long outro. Don’t you think its just a little much? Around 1:50-55 there is a really cool turnaround of the beat. Lyrics, what can one say? They are incredible and meaningful. “Same song, just remixed, different arrangement/they put you on a yacht but they won’t call it a slave ship.”

Twice Inna Lifetime (6.5): Shitty first verse, and even the rest, including that incredible line you cited and a pretty solid beat can’t make up for it. Why did this song have to be last. Thieves in the Night is the perfect song to end it. PERFECT! This just makes me angry. Well, too bad.

What is Beef? (9): First of all, this is the real title. They even say that it is “entitled, ‘What is Beef?’. I think the lack of serious beat is ok, because its heavy and allows space for the words to come through, especially important since it was recorded live, not in the studio. Not Kweli’s best as you say, but its pretty damn good, especially the acappella intro. Mos does rule this song however. I think it’s a really serious sardonic statement and I love it.

Overall I agree with your likening it to our last reviewed album. Some truly outstanding tracks, the ones I rate high are all among the best songs I’ve ever heard. The album is still great because there are few things that are really BAD, but it could be so much better with a few tweaks in the order and maybe one or two heavier tracks.

Sam:
First, let me object to your claim that "What's Beef?" is in fact called "What Is Beef?" That may be the way Mos introduces it, but in the song they clearly say "What's beef?" and every thing ever labels it that way. So, you know...

"Children's Story"--Someday someone is going to have to explain to me why I'm supposed to find rap like this to be good. I don't doubt that there's a reason, but it is completely lost on me. A repetive simple beat with repetitive simple flow and simple lyrics? Don't get it. And I suppose it's "a good moral about making art," but it's presented in about as superficial a way as possible. I don't think this song is bad, but I really don't see anything particularly worthwhile about it.

"B Boys Will B Boys"--This is basically the same disagreement, I think. I like the intro to it too, which I neglected to mention in my first email. But the flow at the beginning is weak, and the rest is super simple. Now, if I think of these two songs (and even "Hater Playes") more as interludes that break up the similarlity of the rest instead of real songs, then I'm much cooler with it. It's not like I'm asking that they be removed from the album, and maybe they actually add something to it in the way a skit or interlude can by keeping things fresh, but as songs, I don't think they're particularly good.

"Brown Skin Lady"--I really don't get what you're saying about this beat. I mean, if you don't particularly like it, that's fine, but it's really not similar at all to anything [ed. note: not similar to any beats before it] but the "Definitions." It's nothing like "Astronomy" or "Children's Story," and it's not that similar even to "Definition." Maybe you're getting too much mellow stuff in a row, and it would be better somewhere else on the album, but in and of itself I can't begin to understand how this gets a lower rating than the "Children's Story" and "B Boys." From my point of view, everything about this song is better than those two--beat, lyrics, and especially flow.

"Thieves in the Night"--Eh, I don't mind the long outro. Maybe it's a little long, but I really don't care very much. Also, I had never done this until you mentioned the outro, but have you ever turned the volume all the way up at the very end? There's this guy saying something about "Are you drifting? Get on the [something] train" or something like that.

That's it for now.

Dan:
I think it's an exercise in futility for me to try to explain to you what you're supposed to like about songs like Children's Story. I mean, there's something to be said for gaining an appreciation for things, but is someone really going to tell you why they like songs like that and it will magically make you like them? Anyways I guess I'll try since you ask. The beat is simple, but I think it's really catchy which is why the repetitive nature doesn't bother me. Also, I understand that this is all in degrees, and for a hip hop track this IS a very repetitive beat, but isn't the very nature of a beat a repetitive rhythm with varying shades of embellishment? I find all hip hop repetitive to some degree, but catchiness is generally what makes a beat good, although cutting down on the repetition (like i talked about in the definitions) certainly helps. Sure this beat makes Charlie Watts look like Buddy Rich, but I find the bass really catchy and I think the cadence of Mos' flow also helps lend some spice. I also don't get when you're saying it's presented in a superficial way. Isn't the point of the song to lambast the stereotypical rapper and his superficiality and lack of artistic integrity?

I don't think B Boys Will B Boys is particularly good, but I definitely think its an above average track and its especially good when it comes where it does. Maybe I was a bit too overzealous in my rating, but I'm not wiling to back down TOO much off of that number.

You have it all twisted about this beat. It doesn't have the weight of either definition at all, nor the musical complexity of RE:. The simplest way I can describe this track is a mild beat (way less bass drum than most traditional beats) with a moderately interesting bass line, really defined by the guitar riff with really mellow tone. That's also the way I would describe Astronomy except that it has a way heavier bass, K.O.S. except it has that vocal part and a little more embellishment with instruments, and Thieves in the Night except that its way way more interesting musically. Also, since very few of the other songs I don't think it outright sounds similar to have really heavy beats, to the ear as the album is flowing they begin to blend even more than they should.

How can you NOT mind the outro? Its over a minute long and as much as I love that beat I don't need to listen to below average singing and a restatement of various phrases we've already heard while I wait for it to end, they should've just faded it quickly during the rechorus or something like that.

Well, that was FUN! I will email you about the next album soon, and perhaps that Charlie Watts reference will be more fully examined (and by perhaps I mean definitely).

Oh my god...

Oh my god...

only Sam knows what I'm talking about.

This really sucks.