Hooray! is a good time, Corgan knows it sounds like that. Heās a nearly 60 year old dad having fun with a history of enjoying winding people up. (What Iām saying is youāll get 4 points from me if you play it.)
Kind of want to burn a CD thatās 72 minutes of Hooray! and drive across the country listening to it on repeat. I want to know if Iād come out the same person on the other side.
Whilst I acknowledge his guitar playing chops, and he used to have some real songwriting talent, this ^ is genuinely, honestly one of my least favourite things in music.
Yeah, I totally get it. I personally love it but can see how others donāt. As you told me once, itās a marmite thing. (And as I learned that day after a moment of confusion, calling someoneās voice marmite doesnāt mean you think itās rich, thick, and buttery.)
Yeah fair point, think I threw in āegoā based on some posts ahead of mine. I do agree with your feelings on some modern artists not being judged the same way.
Still think itās overlong and a bit bombastic for my liking, but part of itās that certain songs I donāt like have been played to death. Anyway.
Went through MC&TIS over yesterday and this morning. I was definitely influenced in my original dislike by Messrs. Malkmus and Albini and to a certain extent that was probably unfair.
The issue I have (aside from the very obvious āthis is too longā one) is that Corgan overreaches a bit too much for this to be very good. The singles are all pretty good (ā1979ā is a rip-off of āWhatās Going On?ā by Husker Du but imho might be better) and the better songs tend toward the slower - āTo Forgiveā, āIn the Arms of Sleepā (bit Nick Cave)
Too many of the rock songs have a pretty out-of-the-box compressed mainstream alt rock combo sound and plod around with a basic idea, however much Corgan is offering something idiosyncratic with his voice. Iām generally ok with unusual singers, so he bothers me far less than he used to. Plus the guy bought the NWA (wrestling, not rap group). Big for me.
Never quite got the whole āthese guys are incredible musicians!ā deal. Chamberlain can drum a bit but feel like heās not even a top 20 90s rock drummer. Thatās fine, virtuosity is overrated, Flipper are better than Dream Theater. Just saying though.
Itās just that - teenage-y imagery is always best if the music is a bit dumb at heart; their insistence that this is a musical statement falls short and exposes certain lines and ideas in a pretty ugly fashion. I respect the bravery but this feels like a 5.5 or maybe a 6 if I can listen to it as two separate records many days apart.
Fuck it, Iām listening to this trash. I can see from last.fm that I last listened to it in October 2022. Has my opinion changed? Is it better than Dusty In Memphis?
I always assumed Dusty In Memphis was closer to the 1965 Ready Steady Go special she helped put together that brought the Motown acts to telly for the first time, instead of fully four years later seemingly because she didnāt think she could match up to those heroes. At this stage itās almost beyond review, just superior classic soul and what a legion of white female singers over the last 20-30 years have been trying to replicate. Almost completely flopped on release and damaged her career until mid-70s rediscovery, yāknow.
End of Disc One and Iām struggling. Feels like it runs out of puff midway through āAn Ode To No-Oneā. āLoveā is awful, āCupid De Lockeā has nothing to it and āPorcelinaā is not the epic I thought it was when I was fifteen.
Going to take a break and go on to Disc Two later.
Disc Two was quite bad. Burst out laughing at " And in the eyes of the jackal I say ka-boom!" in the middle of what was a fairly decent song. Canāt believe this album takes two hours to say and do so little.
āWhere Boys Fear To Treadā is a Melvins riff done badly. The run from āStumbelineā onwards is flat out bad. āWe Only Come Out At Nightā could have been a āCripple Creek Ferryā length curio but no, Billy has to make it a full song.
Thereās some great stuff on here but it could be forty-five minutes and you wouldnāt miss anything. 5/10.