A blog of albums ... old and new .... that are particular favourites of mine but that not everyone has heard. Yes ... there will be the odd popular album appearing on the blog but I am going to try and concentrate on some newer and rather more obscure albums for your listening pleasure
This album, released in early 1996, is one of those albums that seems as fresh now as the day it was released. The two
best known tracks are "Bluetonic" and "Slight Return" but after a few listens, it is
hard not to fall in love with the clever lyrics and the wonderfully melodic
tunes that fill the album.
A breathtaking album, and surely
one of the best of the Britpop era (although the band would have probably been unhappy at being grouped into that category).
You often hear the old saying that pop music is a disposable genre; songs for the moment that you can forget about once the radio stop playing them. This, of course, is arrant nonsense. The Beatles made pop music. The Rolling Stones made pop music. The Who even made pop music. We still listen to them.
For me, there are three albums that are pop classics from start to finish; albums where every track is a gem and, more importantly, every track still sounds as great today as they did when first released. One of those albums is a bit of a cheat, for it is the compilation album Motown Chartbusters Volume 3. The other is "A Hard Day's Night" by .... mmmm ..... remind me!
The third is this!
This lot did not write their own music, although Mike Nesmith does get a part-credit for one track. Hell, they probably didn't even play on the album! It matters not a jot! What counts is the stuff in the grooves, the absolute perfection of every track (even the comedy track at the end), the fact that you can listen to this album anytime, anywhere, and it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and, probably, get you singing out loud
Couldn't choose which tracks to pick so ... hey ... here's the entire album
(Theme From) The Monkees
Saturday's Child
I Wanna Be Free
Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day
Papa Gene's Blues
(very early copies of this album had this track listed as "Papa Jean's Blues. Worth a few bob if you have an album with that spelling)
