Best album by...(female artist edition)
Okay, this is a follow-up for Amanda. It's all either female artists or female dominated bands.
- Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat
- Madonna - Like a Prayer
- The Supremes - Anthology (it's a cop out, but they're a singles group, not an album group.)
- Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
- Janis Joplin - Cheap Thrills (I know it's Big Brother, but they're just a vehicle for Janis...)
- Bangles - All Over the Place
- Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
- Hole - No Hole album is worth liking...
- Bjork - Vespertine
- Heart - Dreamboat Annie
posted by bob_vinyl at 10:49 PM
4 Comments:
This is the best game EVER! You kick so much ass for doing this (and you do too, Reverend, for egging him on!)
I'm feeling wordy tonight. I think this is even longer than my last one. Sorry.
Go-Go's - Was there more than one? I mean, yes, of course there was more than one Go-Go's album, but really... was there any other Go-Go's album besides Beauty and the Beat?
Madonna - She had me with Ray of Light until I listened to track 8, titled "Shanti / Ashtangi". It's a chant that I knew from studying yoga, but it's treated in Madonna style. I ripped the CD out of the player and threw it out the car window. (okay, that's not true, but I would have if I hadn't borrowed the CD from a friend.) So why could I forgive the English accent but not the dancy sanskrit chanting? I don't know exactly. Something to do with the fact that if you have to sing about... oh wait... we're supposed to be doing favorite, aren't we? I'd have to say The Immaculate Collection, because you get most of the key tracks from Like a Prayer and True Blue, but you also get "Justify My Love", which might be one of my favorite Madonna songs ever.
Supremes - If I can't choose a greatest hits then I'll go for I Hear a Symphony, which has (in my opinion) the two greatest Supremes songs: The title track and "My World is Empty Without You." My friend Kelly was so disgusted that I hadn't heard this album that he went to Tower and bought it, and then we sat in my car in SoHo on a Saturday night and listened to it with the windows down. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Amazing, amazing music.
Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the way I Love You. It's one of those albums that you think is a greatest hits but it's not. It's just utterly magnificent.
Janis Joplin - I plead ignorance. I know so little about her. She is a hole in my musical knowledge. (hanging head in shame)
The Bangles - Okay, I plead ignorance on this one, too, but not shamefully. They are what they are, just not my thing in any way, shape, or form.
Cyndi Lauper - She recorded the most perfectly beautiful version of "Unchained Melody" that I have ever heard on her 2003 album At Last. The rest of the album isn't as good, but it doesn't even matter. She's So Unusual is solid all the way through, though, plus it has "Time After Time" AND "All Through The Night". Hmmm... after a 15-minute listening break, I have to say that as good as some of the other stuff is, it doesn't stand up to that version of "Unchained Melody". At Last it is.
Hole - Oh who fucking cares?
Bjork - Homogenic. That bass piano part in "Bachelorette", the melody of "All is Full of Love" (so aptly covered by Death Cab for Cutie), the soundscapes and evolving rhythms in "Joga" ... it's pretty close to perfect from front to back.
Heart - I wish I knew more. Unfortunately, I can't get "These Dreams" or "All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You" out of my head. Help, play "Dog and Butterfly" quick!
Oh my gosh, I didn't read yours until after I posted. Amazing how similar they are... especially the part about Hole!
I feel obligated to weigh in now, because Bob was kind enough to add some estrogen to the mix . . . so here goes nothing (remember, the music illiterate has the floor):
Go-Go's - Can I rate on cover art? If so, it's "God Bless the Go-Go's." If not, it's "Beauty and the Beat," of couse.
Madonna - Tie for me --- "Ray of Light" and "Like a Prayer," although I have listened to "Something to Remember" all the way through, if only because it begins with "I Want You," with Massive Attack, which, although the insult to Marvin Gaye is obvious and needs no restating, is not nearly as bad as one would think.
The Supremes - I can't really say. Their music is more like a cultural fixture, I guess, so I can't even say I've ever owned an album or needed to do so to enjoy (some of) their songs.
Aretha Franklin - Again, probably a cop out, but because Aretha is so much a cultural icon and musical inevitability, I don't own a single album of hers. Doesn't preclude me from appreciating her.
Janis Joplin - It would have to be "Cheap Thrills" if only for "Piece of my Heart," which never fails to give me goosebumps.
Bangles - I can't offer anything here because I loathe the Bangles. Sorry.
Cyndi Lauper - I have to say "At Last," because of the version of one of my favorite songs - "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."
Hole - I actually like "Live Through This."
Bjork - "Post."
Heart - "Dreamboat Annie," although it would be a perfect album for me if it contained "Straight On."
This is freaking cool, man...
Go-Go's - "Beauty and the Beat," but then there's the song "Head Over Heels" from Talk Show is like the perfect beat, and the piano is so innocuous, as are the background "ahhhs." Pop rock bliss...
Madonna - "Ray of Light" is mandatory traveling music, definitely her most serious and accomplished body of work; I do still love "Like a Virgin" since Madonna was one of my hidden guilty pleasures as a headbanger in the 80s; I was so into her and would deny it on the front, hee hee...I'm not ashamed anymore, I have the majority of her catalog; I'm totally in agreement with the Rev. for "I Want You," with Massive Attack; I love Marvin Gaye, but this is one of the rare sensuous covers that doesn't bastardize the original really
The Supremes - I grew up on Motown, something my peers never knew during my metal days as a teen; another guilty pleasure that sticks with me today; I have a Supremes complete hits; it's hilarious when you listen carefully to hear their guitarist, who plucks single notes on his guitar on every damn song...nonetheless, viva la Supremes!
Aretha Franklin - Indeed, Aretha a cultural icon. I have "Lady Soul" and will defer to it; it's awesome.
Janis Joplin - Undeniably "Cheap Thrills." One of the greatest acid albums of all-time. "Combination of the Two" gets my fired up and ready to face any stinky possibility in life; it's a ballcrusher. Amazingly, nobody in Janis', Big Brother or CBS' camp dig this album at all, and it's a viable classic!
Bangles - "Everything." This is the album that changed my life from 24-7 metalhead and punk aficianado to all-around musichead; amazing what happens when your editor threatens to cancel your metal/punk column because nobody is reading it...he was right; I actually got feedback when I opened my horizons and reviewed The Bangles...
Cyndi Lauper - I wanted to throttle her silly back in the 80s; but since my wife has the "Deadly Cyns" hits disc, I've appreciated Cyndi a lot more
Hole - Courtney may be everyone's C-U-next Tuesday you love to hate, but I like most of "Celebrity Skin."
Bjork - "Post" is great..."Homogenic" makes her a legend
Heart - "Dreamboat Annie" One of my favorite movies ever, "The Virgin Suicides" uses "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You" in it, and the sexuality of these classic tunes are more vibrant within the context they're presented inside of that brilliant movie...
Can I add PJ Harvey? I'd toss out both "Rid of Me" and "To Give You My Love," two post-punk albums that exude with angst...PJ's the shit...
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