David Allison has a fun post up about Elastica and laziness, and this got me thinking about my one problem with the band's amazing debut album... Unlike a lot of the feelings/thoughts that I try to capture here, this one is easy to put into words-- "Indian Song"...I fuckin' hate it!
My first thought, whenever I chance upon this CD and see those women lined up in front of a Spectorish brick wall is, of course, of "Line Up" itself... and believe me, this is a very pleasant thought indeed... "S.O.F.T.", "Hold Me", "All-Nighter", "Waking Up", and all of the rest follow so quickly on its heels that I begin to wonder how the album could ever have sunk to the bottom of the disorganized mess I laughingly call my "audio library"... I get so excited that I fairly run toward the CD player, only to be reminded, just as I pop it open, that, if I actually go through with the operation, I will be condemning myself to a rendez-vous with inexplicable New Age hell in about twenty-five minutes... Oh yes--"It is waiting"... and it sounds like a really bad Tears for Fears song with bored female vocals... Why did they do it?
Sometimes, I just toss the CD aside...on other occasions I have been known to program all 15 of the other songs in their natural succession, just so that I can pretend that track 8 never existed...but the one thing I will never do is ever listen to that song again...
And then I began thinking--this could almost be a meme! Everyone must have a few of these "tragically flawed" CD's in their collections, right? Golden Bowls, Henry James would call 'em... It's almost worse than the proverbial album with only a couple of good songs! For instance--wouldn't London Calling be so much better without "Lover's Rock"? It manifestly does not rock--and can anyone seriously claim to love it? What about Rumours? Maybe I'm the only Fleetwood Mac fan under forty--but even I can't stand "Don't Stop". I actually solved this problem a few years ago by burning a "DS-less" version of the album--so now my experience of "Second Hand News", "Never Going Back Again", "Go Your Own Way", "I Don't Want to Know" is free from fear... Before I came up with this solution, I often used to just opt for Tusk (which has no flaws) instead! Also--New Kingdom's Heavy Load would get a lot more playing time around here if "Mother Nature" wasn't there to cast its lame shadow over all of its wonderful neighbours...
What say you?
Article comments
1 - Tim Hall
"Debbie Denise", final track from Blue Ã-yster Cult's "Agents of Fortune".
What makes it worse. when the obligatory remaster-with-bonus-tracks came out a couple of years back, we got to hear the songs that got left out in order to include that awful dirge, including a magnificent early version of "Fire of Unknown Origin".
2 - Eric Olsen
Thanks David, very interesting concept and cool to see the Elastica album revived, but I DO love "Lover's Rock" (there are a few others I would skip over instead ) and "Don't Stop" is swell by me. Oh and one of those "women" on the Elastica cover is a man
3 - Mark Saleski
nah, even though some tunes on records don't fit, or have maybe worn out their welcome...i don't ever leave 'em out. they're part of the album and what i think about that album.
for years, i couldn't stant "The Clap" on The Yes Album...it just didn't seem to fit.
well, now it does. sort of.
"Indian Song" sounds like Elastica listen to early Liz Phair records.
4 - JR
I used to have this problem, but somehow over the years I've become far more tolerant of the ups and downs of an album. I suppose in a perfect world, I might get rid of:
"Ebony and Ivory", from Tug of War.
"Think About You", from Appetite For Destruction.
"Peace and Love", from Welcome Interstate Managers.
"Am I Going Insane (Radio)", from Sabotage.
"Love Hungry Man", from Highway To Hell.
"Can I Sit Next To You Girl", from High Voltage.
But then, in a perfect world I could make a lot of changes.
5 - cool kid
Tears For Fears don't suck! I don't know what the hell is wrong with you! And, just to let you know, they don't have female volcals! I don't know how much it takes for you to undersyand that they are HUMAN BEINGS!
6 - Eric Olsen
um, who said Tears For Fears suck, who said anything about Tears For Fears? Are you reading minds again?
7 - Dave Nalle
Wait, someone DIDN'T say Tears for Fears suck?
I can fix that:
Tears for Fears suck!
Dave
8 - Eric Olsen
Dave, you were pre-rebutted
9 - Dave Nalle
The rebuttal was that they are human beings - being human definitely doesn't stop one from sucking.
Dave
10 - Nick
Hey Dave, why don't you have some respect for other people's musical tastes?! TFF rules!