The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project (aka Preachin’ about the Preachers if today’s selection sucks)

[Nee Lewman]

@Teeeee would too.

 

[Rip_City]

I bet @Fleetwood-Matt and @Sonicpharmacist have thoughts on Madge.

I do as she's one of my top10 all time. I'm waiting for a concert to start for now.

 

[Nee Lewman]

Madonna is awesome. The other pillar of 80s pop (Prince and MJ being the rest). She constantly reinvents herself. This dance version was a lot of fun (and in my opinion more interesting than Beyoncé’s dance pop revival).

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

10/10/23
View attachment 184285
Madonna - Music

Music - Madonna | Album | AllMusic

Music by Madonna released in 2000. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com

This was the last Madonna album that I feel like mattered to mainstream popular culture. I enjoyed the singles but haven’t spent any time with the album as a whole. Ali G was in the music video and I was obsessed with Da Ali G Show when this album dropped.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

I do as she's one of my top10 all time. I'm waiting for a concert to start for now.

Oh I knew you would have thoughts but you hang out here often so I figured you would see it.

 

[Nee Lewman]

This was the last Madonna album that I feel like mattered to popular culture as a whole. I enjoyed the singles but haven’t spent any time with the album as a whole. Ali G was in the music video and I was obsessed with Da Ali G Show when this album dropped.

Confessions was huge (and better than this album). I thought it was the last good one too, but then realized that Confessions was after it.

 

[Nee Lewman]

How much Madonna is on the list? While I dig this album, seems like a weird one to include. I would think Like A Virgin, Like a Prayer, Ray of Light and maybe Bedtime Stories (which is the album that makes the most sense to me if you are going to pick an under appreciated gem) and Erotica. The first album is still the best though.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

Confessions was huge (and better than this album). I thought it was the last good one too, but then realized that Confessions was after it.

It might just be where I was in my life when Confessions On A Dance Floor was released but I don’t recall any songs from that album breaking through (to me). Madonna is like The Rolling Stones in that every album she reaches will sell well and be newsworthy but I don’t recall hearing any of the tracks on tv or the radio.

 

[Nee Lewman]

It might just be where I was in my life when Confessions On A Dance Floor was released but I don’t recall any songs from that album breaking through (to me). Madonna is like The Rolling Stones in that every album she reaches will sell well and be newsworthy but I don’t recall hearing any of the tracks on tv or the radio.

This was more ubiquitous than anything on Music:


It’s also a banger.

I realized I haven’t listened to her last two albums. I should probably give them a listen.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

This was more ubiquitous than anything on Music:


It’s also a banger.

I realized I haven’t listened to her last two albums. I should probably give them a listen.

Ah yeah, I do recall this one.

 

[Nee Lewman]

I love that crazy guitar line in Don’t Tell Me. Mirwais is a genius.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

“Music” was here last No. 1 Billboard Hot 100.

She has had a few in the top 10 tracks since; her last one being that song she did with MIA in 2012.

 

[TenderLovingKiller®]

I love that crazy guitar line in Don’t Tell Me. Mirwais is a genius.

“Don’t Tell Me” was my favorite Madonna track in since the end of the 90s it’s that weird country/disco vibe.

 

[avecigrec]

10/10/23
View attachment 184285
Madonna - Music

Music - Madonna | Album | AllMusic

Music by Madonna released in 2000. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com

The title track is one of my all-time fave Madonna songs for sure (hell, I had a picture disc 12" single for it back when I didn't even own a record player!) I don't recall whether I ever heard the whole album or not.

 

[Wicked Dreamer]

Qobuz has this listed as the US version. Does anyone now the difference between this and the… not US version?

The international version comes with her cover of American Pie as a bonus track.

 

[Sonicpharmacist]

I bet @Fleetwood-Matt and @Sonicpharmacist have thoughts on Madge.

Her singles always did more for me than her album…..exceptions being the first two, Ray of Light and Music. Idk why Music is often overlooked, What It Feels Like for a Girl might be my second favorite song of hers (Borderline will always hold the top spot)

 

[Yer Ol' Uncle D]

I’d really like to know what lots of people think about this… off the top of my head it would be interesting to hear from @duke86fan @Kris @mcherry @nolalady @Yer Ol' Uncle D @TenderLovingKiller® I may think of others later.

An interesting thought (that I don’t agree with), Riki Rachtman says they are punk. Although, I guess in the Ramones kind of vein they are. There was an epiphany I had a couple of years ago where I realized much of the album is just straight up (think Chuck Berry) Rock N Roll. It’s just dense.

This is kind of a seminal album for me and I think for guys (especially) of a certain age. It felt dangerous and like something that was just for us.

Fun story… my first tape copy of this… the PRMC had done their thing and in NC, at the time, you had to be 18 to buy an album with a Parental Advisory sticker on it. So a 14 year old Lee somehow convinced his fairly socially conservative and very religious mother (who listened primarily to Peter, Paul, & Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Gaithers) to buy the cassette covered with skulls on a cross with the sticker on it at a trip to Roses.

Sorry to kill the Madonna vibe, but I just saw I was summoned by @Lee Newman to orate on GnR.

It's gonna be to the point.

I was a ripe old (compared to most of y'all) 27 when Appetite was released. It really didn't do anything for me. I was way more alternative/noise/goth centric at that point in time.

Oddly enough, I saw GnR live in 1987. I had a college buddy that lived in Birmingham, MI and I'd turned him onto The Cult in '85. The Cult booked a date at The State Theatre in Detroit in August 1987 (with GnR as the opener) and he implored me to come up for that show. I complied.

I flew into Detroit 3 days after one of the worst US air disasters in history. Came in right over the burned-out section of I95. Ominous. Eerie. Crushingly sad...

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A couple nights later was the show. The State Theatre looked like a non-descript office building on the outside. It was an incredibly beautiful ornate room inside. GnR opened. No real memories of their set. The Cult - that's a whole 'nother thing. One of the best shows I've ever seen. They were an unstoppable force in '87. I could go into more detail, but this is supposed to be GnR centric.

Summation to put things in my perspective - The Cult Detroit '87 was one of the best shows I ever saw. I know I saw GnR in '87 but I don't really remember any specifics.

The Cult Setlist at State Theatre, Detroit

Get the The Cult Setlist of the concert at State Theatre, Detroit, MI, USA on August 21, 1987 from the Electric Tour and other The Cult Setlists for free on setlist.fm!

www.setlist.fm

And to echo @jamieanderson1968, Izzy Stradlin was, to me, the best part of GnR. I saw Izzy And The JuJu Hounds in a tiny bar and they were spectacular. I need to dig up my recording of that one. So good...

 

[Rip_City]

Alright, I'm back.

10/10/23
View attachment 184285
Madonna - Music

Music - Madonna | Album | AllMusic

Music by Madonna released in 2000. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com

To me, it speaks well for her career that Music is a very good quality Madonna record and yet I wouldn't put it in my top5. For those who will inevitably ask:

1. Confessions on a Dance Floor
2. Ray of Light
3. Like a Prayer
4. Madonna
5. Erotica

You could interpret 1) and 2) more like 1a) and 1b); some days it is too hard to choose.

The single tracks on Music are all great. As @Sonicpharmacist mentioned, I do agree that it is underrated and "What it Feels Like For a Girl" is an excellent single. I love how producer William Orbit from Ray of Light returns for "Runaway Lover" and "Amazing," both very much in the aforementioned vein, and both good. Closing cut "Gone" is a tad forgettable, as a main complaint.

Still a worthy entry in her catalog. I like nine of her full-length albums, all of those ranking at least 3/5 for me. Here...

Rating: 3.5/5 [Great]

I realized I haven’t listened to her last two albums. I should probably give them a listen.

good luck

 

[Nee Lewman]

I do think Music plays more like an odds and sods collection then a realized album.

 

[Nee Lewman]

10/11/23

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen | Album | AllMusic

Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen released in 1982. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com