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

Lee Newman said:
4/17/23
ab67616d0000b27304e7372b26d27803779696f4

The Jam - Sound Affects



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

Sound Affects - The Jam | Album | AllMusic

Sound Affects by The Jam released in 1980. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
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Today I learned what this Mark Ronson/Santigold song was a cover of...

 
jamieanderson1968 said:
Sound Affects is definitely peak-Jam in my opinion. At this point in his short career, Weller could do no wrong. Not sure about the Bowie @Lee Newman talks about, but this album is heavily indebted to The Kinks which is a band that heavily influenced Bowie as well.

When I rank The Jam albums, usually Sound Affects and Setting Sons are 1-2, but the order can reverse easily.

Edit - I was doing a Discogs random play and Sound Affects came up. This album is a good solid 4/5 for me
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dbarila said:
After my first listen this is an easy 4/5 for me. My favorite discovery from this project so far.
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I am hearing the Kinks this evening, but I still say Weller is channeling Bowie quite a bit as well. The guitars on Bit I'm Different Now even have a Mark Ronson type sheen to them.

Yeah, I listened to All Mod Cons as part of working through the RS best Punk Albums list. It was quite enjoyable, but this is sooo much better. This and New York Dolls are things I want to add to my vinyl shelf for sure.
 
Lee Newman said:
4/18/23

663ac2d330d1dd583e6d1d98528467949f0ca234

The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us



www.allmusic.com

Songs the Lord Taught Us - The Cramps | Album | AllMusic

Songs the Lord Taught Us by The Cramps released in 1980. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL
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The Cramps are experiencing a resurgence thanks to Netflix. I Was A Teenage Werewolf was in the latest season of Stranger Things, and Wednesday features their song Goo Goo Muck.
 
Lee Newman said:
4/17/23
ab67616d0000b27304e7372b26d27803779696f4

The Jam - Sound Affects



Allmusic Review:
www.allmusic.com

Sound Affects - The Jam | Album | AllMusic

Sound Affects by The Jam released in 1980. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL:
Click to expand...


I gave All Mod Cons a 5 when it came up early in my own project, and this is better than that so it will have to be a 5 for me (though I accidentally entered a 4 on the group generator page 🫣 and probably should have given All Mod Cons a 4 on my own :rolleyes:

Anyway, this is great stuff! Like @jt4527 I'm particularly keen on how forward the bass is in the mix. Definitely been depriving myself all these years and am gonna have to do a deeper Weller dive.
 
I have some catching up to do, due to work and a lot of other "life"-stuff coming up. But I've been listening daily, and making mental notes, and here comes a brief review :

Aphex Twin - "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" I can really see how this was groundbreaking when it came out, and there's a great sense of discovery och curiosity in each of these songs that is pretty contagious. I have a hard time "getting" a lot of electronic music, but I loved this, and will probably add it to my Discogs wishlist.
Score: 4 (or maybe 5) stars

New York Dolls - "s/t" Classic glam/punk/rock n' roll. I've heard some songs by them before, but this was the first time listening to an entire album. Love the energy of it, and there's a sense of both freedom and danger to the record. Man, what would I give to have been able to experience this live back in 74! Score: 4 stars

The Jam - "Sound Affects" My favourite The Jam-album and consequently one of the best rock albums of the 80's, imo. Paul Weller can actually find a great pop hook everywhere. This is an album that energizes me everytime I hear the opening riff to "Pretty Green". Score: A solid 5 stars!

The Cramps - "Songs the Lord Taught Us" First time listening to an entire Cramps-album, and it's a bit overwhelming and exhausting after a couple of songs. But I love the 50s horror aesthetic (I think I've always love the idea of this band more than the music) and a couple of songs are instant classics ("TV Set", "I Was a Teenage Werewolf"). My favourite Cramps songs are on other albums ("Human Fly" and "New Kind of Kick") but this is still a classic album and I'm glad to have listened to it today. Score: 3 stars
 
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Lee Newman said:
4/18/23

663ac2d330d1dd583e6d1d98528467949f0ca234

The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us



www.allmusic.com

Songs the Lord Taught Us - The Cramps | Album | AllMusic

Songs the Lord Taught Us by The Cramps released in 1980. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com

RIYL
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The Cramps have always befuddled me, even though I can't say I have ever listened to them that much. Their reputation and image always makes me think they should be some terrifying psychobilly band going absolutely balls to the wall, yet what comes out is just some slightly above gentle rockabilly that would have your grandma reaching for the volume.

It's alright, but I never felt like it really got going, gets downright cheesy in some places and really starts to drag towards the end. I really want to like this more, but I can't.

2.5 / 5 stars (will be rounding down to 2 stars on the generator site)
 
Lee Newman said:
I actually added New York Dolls and Sound Affects to my cogs wishlist (especially since there do not seem to be readily available pressings currently).
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I see OG Sound Affects out in the wild pretty often, often around the €15-mark, so you should have no problem in tracking one down. My own OG sounds superb, and I picked it up at my local thrift store a couple of years ago for about €10 (NM).
 
Lee Newman said:
They are not ubiquitous on this side of the pond, but I’ll keep my eye out.
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Even though I hadn't listened to it until yesterday, I do see Sound Affects quite a bit when I'm record shopping. I've almost picked it up a few times now.

The only thing I do own by them is this 29 track, 2-LP greatest hits comp from 1983, which is a great starting point..

The Jam - Snap!1681828415841.png
 
I gave the Cramps a 3. It's fun and deranged. I should spend some more time with it at some point. Like a lot of "punk" don't necessarily get why this is punk. DIY doesn't really seem to be a factor here either as what's his face from Big Star was pretty integral to their development.
 
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