Perfect albums don't exi-

>perfect albums don't exi-

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>not even Supertramp's best album

Don't tell me you think Breakfast in America is their best.

I don't think. I know. Bloody Well Right is a stupid song.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, user.

It's amazingly fun and unique, and in a time where bands from that scene and country were producing bloated, top-heavy, classical and folk adaptations of rock music in every nook and cranny it really stood out. Even Christgau - a guy whose bias for prog was so ridiculously stupid that he had trouble differentiating things as different in tone and substance as the music of Yes and King Crimson from this - thinks "Bloody Well Right" is good.

Crime of the Century [A&M, 1974]

The claim that this is the rock and roll of the future depresses me in spite of the amalgamation being a (moderately) smart one, and admittedly "Bloody Well Right" does display a gift for the killer hook. Now if only the song weren't an impassioned plea for complacency. Maybe if we cover our ears and ignore them, they'll go away. B-

...Even In The Quietest Moments [A&M, 1977]

Most progressive rock is modest schlock that sounds good when played in the background. This is modest background schlock that sounds good when slipped in the ear. I guess we should thank Babaji, whichever one he is. C+

Breakfast in America [A&M, 1979]

I enjoy a hooky album as much as the next guy, so when this one elicited vague grunts of pleasure, I looked forward to listening in detail. But the lyrics turned out to be glib variations on the usual "Star Romances" trash, and in the absence of a vocal personality (as opposed to accurate singing) or rhythmic thrust (as opposed to a beat), I'll wait for this material to be covered by artists of substance, say, Tavares or the Doobie Brothers. C-

Everything Rocks and Nothing Ever Dies [1990s]

Xgau is not a musician, and has a pretty mediocre taste for pop rock.

I do agree with that. Also, he sucks at analysing anything that doesn't suit his tastes. The amount of Cs he gave to prog rock purely because of the type of music it was is ridiculous.

Checked. My biggest gripe with him though is he doesn't really have a good sense of humor.

Does he make cringe jokes a lot? I hadn't really noticed.

I meant more that he doesn't seem to have a radar for tongue in cheek musical acts like Sparks or The Cars. Yet he loves the more "serious" New York Dolls and Ramones. It's not about the tune to him, it's about the lyrics.

He did give a bomb to nearly every Ween record that re reviewed and gave up entirely after 12 Golden Country Greats. Which is a shame, because I think he probably would have liked their next 3 albums more than anything else they made.

That's another thing, he rarely follows up on bands that he decided that he hates early on in their careers.

From "Introduction to Consumer Guide".

I've tried to review every rock album worth owning. If the album isn't listed in Consumer Guide, I advise you to forget about it. The "Subjects For Further Research" list denotes artists I respect, but haven't had the time or motivation to fully explore their discographies, while artists I don't respect go in the "Distinctions Not Cost-Effective" and "Meltdown" lists. Also I seldom search for the best albums by an artist I have no use for. For example, if Harry Connick has a C plus album, I don't want to know about it. In general, I wouldn't recommend you go out and buy albums with a grade lower than B plus unless you're really a fan of the artist in question.

So has lousy taste AND lazy.

Great album, still pretty fresh for 1974, production is top tier.

>I meant more that he doesn't seem to have a radar for tongue in cheek musical acts like Sparks or The Cars

Or Queen.

Exactly

All the critics crapped on Queen back then. None of them understood their British sense of humor.

People still insist that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is one of the most pretentious songs ever written when it's ultimately just Freddy and the gang relishing in bombast and theatrics. And it's as fun as it is portentous, which is cool as hell. He even admitted it was a mock opera.

David Marsh called them a "proto-fascist band".

I don't know who David Marsh is but I looked up and found this gem

>Whatever its claims, Queen isn't here just to entertain. This group has come to make it clear exactly who is superior and who is inferior. Its anthem, "We Will Rock You," is a marching order: you will not rock us, we will rock you. Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band. The whole thing makes me wonder why anyone would indulge these creeps and their polluting ideas.

Wew lad. I can't really tell what he gave the album because the stars on the page are all grey (unless that means he gave it a 0/5), but damn.

Is Supertramp prog? Never listened b4

>Freddy and the gang relishing in bombast and theatrics

that was a a staple in their whole act and part of the bands appeal, if some one doesn't like that (which I don't) it's a just a matter of taste.

They have touches of prog, but most of their material is comparable to soft rock and pop artists of the 1970s. They incorporated a lot of different type of stuff (jazz and blues were staples of Crime of the Century, but they were sort of ahead of the curve of a lot of white rock bands when it came to incorporating dance and disco music). I think Fleetwood Mac and Queen, incidentally, are comparable to them more than most prog groups. Here's a link to what's commonly regarded as one of their best songs, and the link also has quick links to the entire album. It's fairly light, accessible, and danceable stuff for the most part.

en.musicplayon.com/Supertramp-Dreamer-Crime-Of-The-Century-Album-Video-216032.html

I think the problem though is that a lot of people think they're super sincere or earnest when a lot of what they did in regards to bombast was jokey. They got associated with completely serious bands like ELP because people couldn't detect the irony.

Post more perfect albums.

Also he thinks if an artist is black, it somehow makes their music more deep and profound.

Probably because he's an urban hipster and urban hipsters of his generation loved black culture and music--they believed blacks were freer and less socially hung up than white people.

one of the best prog albums ever made imo
it's up there with Yes and ELO's albums for its fun factor

>Also, he sucks at analysing anything that doesn't suit his tastes

In the case of metal, he always complains that it's overwrought and that singing like Bruce Dickinson or playing lengthy guitar solos is self-indulgent excess that has nothing to do with music. But he never does seem to figure out that that kind of performance is meant to express pure angst and energy.

>I think the problem though is that a lot of people think they're super sincere or earnest when a lot of what they did in regards to bombast was jokey. They got associated with completely serious bands like ELP because people couldn't detect the irony.
What exactly was the irony? It's very clear in the case of Oingo Boingo and Zappa for example.

Example of Christgau's typical retardation.

>complaining that Tom Petty does too many flashy arena rock moves that have nothing to do with the music

But wait, weren't ridiculous stage antics a part of rock-and-roll since the '50s? You think Chuck Berry's duckwalk or Jerry Lee Lewis playing the piano with his feet were any more or less silly than what Ted Nugent did?

Another thing is his persistent complaints that metal is too slow and that's not how rock-and-roll is supposed to be played. But a load of the bands he likes such as the Rolling Stones had many mid-tempo songs, they usually never played that fast.

I always got the impression that those first-generation rock critics from the 60s-70s weren't interested in the music so much as they were image and having rock stars with standout personalities. That's why guys like Lennon and Jagger were critics' pets but a band like Chicago with largely anonymous members were snubbed.

I think the idea of an arena rock band chanting in a calculated harmony "WE WILL ROCK YOU" before segueing into "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" contains some irony. The first song seems like a joke aimed at how bands like Queen are valued for their ability to ROCK people, and the second one is self-congratulatory shit dripping with portentous delivery; the lyrics are really nonsense if you think about them for any extended period of time. I mean, they're a band that presents themselves in this grandiose way but a lot of it is just pisstaking, or vapid. I'm not sure how much of that is serious or how much is a joke, but they never seemed like a band that actually took themselves too seriously when it came to producing music. It just seemed like a thematic thing where they're using showmanship or theatrics for entertainment purposes.

Yeah I agree. There was a lot of humor and self-awareness to Queen, Priest, and Maiden that somehow completely went over American critics' heads and they took those bands out of context altogether.

That was because the whole "gonzo guy" thing was cool in the 70s and critics liked the idea of rock stars being rebel icons fighting against The Man. A band with a collective identity like Chicago creeped out guys like Christgau and came off as fascistic to them, even if that's not what the band themselves intended.

I think that's why Christgau embraced hip-hop, rappers to him had a lot of that rebel gonzo guy thing going.

We Will Rock You was a bloody football chant.

How anyone took Cuckgau seriously for so long is a total mystery.

He was pretty funny in that documentary about Lynyrd Skynyrd where he talks about how "a boy from NYC fell in love with a band from the deepest South".

You know what they say about Christgau's reviews? The most eloquent way of saying nothing about music at all. People who don't know any better are impressed.

For a lot of people, Robert Christgau is today's real rock and roll critic--the critic of the people. He's basic, he's rude, kids love him, parents hate him. But a closer look reveals how stupid and delusory he is. Christgau is not basic--his reviews cultivate a pseudo-virtuosity that negates content. The values he promulgates are foolish and often destructive. Eighty percent of the "people" who read him are male and 98% of them are white.

based reviews desu

This review broken down.

>one redneck acting like another redneck onstage automatically makes the first redneck a made-in-LA jerk
>the one credible argument he makes here is negated by his admission that the actual album doesn't contain said arena rock pomp
>look at me, I love Johnny Thunders!
>still, he's dumb because he's a redneck and I just wanted to get that out there
>rock and roll is only good if it's all edgy and shocking

Well Christgau and Bangs were right. Rock is dead when its just anonymous musos playing ''earnest'' music. Rap took over for a reason

I can't think of any really "standout" figures in rock after Marilyn Manson.

The thing is, bands with anonymous members tend to smack of corporate music product. REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Doobie Brothers, and also 2000s post-grunge all had this.