Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys

A while ago we featured The Beatles Revolver on critical junctions and mentioned that the story goes that Brian Wilson heard Revolver and was inspired to record Pet Sounds with The Beach Boys, which in turn blew Paul Mc Cartney away and thus was born Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. We've done Revolver and Sgt Peppers is bound to feature here so it makes a lot of sense to have a listen to Pet Sounds.
The album was recorded and released in 1966, Wilson collaborating with an advertising executive, Tony Asher, who specialised in Jingles, to put the lyrics together. The album continues The Beach Boys uplifting sound, with a more complex mix of sounds layering percussion, horns and even bicycle bells, coke cans and barking dogs with their harmonies. Critically acclaimed, it didn't sell very well and was a bigger hit in Britain than it was in the States. it also marked the beginning of Wilsons slide onto madness as he searched for the perfect pop song.
Track listing
1. Caroline No
2. Wouldn't It Be Nice
3. You Still Believe In Me
4. That's Not Me
5. Don't Talk
6. I'm Waiting For The Day
7. Let's Go Away For A While
8. Sloop John B
9. God Only Knows
10. I Know There's An Answer
11. Here Today
12. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
13. Pet Sounds

Parklife - Blur

The third album from Britpop mastermind’s Blur is the very pinnacle of the whole Britpop genre. Released in 1994 it was Blurs first number 1 album and spawned 4 hit singles, Girls and Boys, End of A Century, Parklife and To the End.

The pseudo-cockney, bored, self absorbed, middle class suburban lyrics of the album are hardly the invention of Damon Albarn but can be traced back through a great deal of English music especially the Paul Weller and to a greater extent in Parklife’s case Ray Davies of the Kinks who’s clever twist of phrase is quite similar to Albarns.

Girls and Boys is the lead track on the album and was a top 5 hit for Blur. This songs satirises the pointless hedonism of English 18 to 35 holiday makers. Ironically the very people who it poked fun at adopted it as their own. It is catchy and funny a perfect pop hit. It is perhaps more suitable to the charts of today, as many bands have now adopted this very blend of dance beats and pop guitar to great effect.

End of a century reached number 19 when it was releases as a single. Lyrically it is about the impending doom of the millennium “end of a century / its nothing special”. How very true.

To the End, is the uber relationship song, two people getting over a bad patch. It has a full orchestral accompaniment. While not one of their biggest hits coming in at number 16 n the charts it is one of their best and stylistically typical of Blurs old and new style. It even has the Stereolab vocalist Laetita Sadier singing along in French during the chorus. A full version of the song was released in French sung by legendary chanteuse Francoise Hardy.

Parklife the title track and number 10 hit featured the vocal talents of actor Phil Daniels, most famous for his role in Quadrophenia and perhaps as one of the rats in Chicken Run at the moment he is in that staple of TV nonsense Eastenders. The single is mostly spoken verse thanks to Dnaiels and the Chorus sung by Albarn. It is yet another wry look at the adoption of the English middle class of Estuary English.

Perhaps the finest moment on the album is This Is A Low It is a clever song whose lyrics are based around the shipping weather forecast. Its soaring guitar solo at the end show the promise of Blurs future albums and proved them to be above their rivals and poor Lennon imitators Oasis.

Parklife is an Album which is sure to prove a greater influence over time and cement Blur as one of England’s greatest bands.

Track listing
1. Girls And Boys
2. Tracy Jacks
3. End Of A Century
4. Parklife
5. Bank Holiday
6. Debt Collector
7. Far Out
8. To The End
9. London Loves
10. Trouble In The Message Centre
11. Clover Over Dover
12. Magic America
13. Jubilee
14. This Is A Low

Saturday Night Fever - Various Artists

The writer’s of Saturday Night Fever must of had an inkling of how successful the film would be, they gave John Travolta’s character the surname Manero, which is the Portuguese for cool. The Bee Gee’s however had no idea of what was in store after the films release.

The Gibb brothers are from the Isle of Man, when you think of Disco, its not exactly Studio 54 but this is where the writers of the archetypal disco album hailed form. They were nothing if not prolific with a mere 14 albums under their belt before they began work on this weeks Critical Junction, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever.

Dispel your love or hate for disco for this nugget of music mastery as this is not only a successful album but an important one to boot. In the United States, the album has gone platinum fifteen times and it is the number one best-selling soundtrack of all time. The cultural impact of Saturday Night Fever in the U.S was tremendous, bringing the Disco scene out of the clubs and into the mainstream something we are paying fore even today.

The Majority of the songs on the Album were written by the Bee Gees, Standard classics now like Night Fever, Stayin’ Alive, If I Cant Have you and Jive Talking litter the album. Disco stalwarts Kool And The Gang and KC & The Sunshine Band are also found on this seminal soundtrack. At the height of his powers legendary 70’s film scorer David Shire contributed a number of incidental pieces to the soundtrack.

Amazingly the songs written by the Bee Gee’s were done before a script was written for the film. But they knew the idea behind the film and how their songs would be used and what they penned says more than the script ever could.

Stayin’ Alive opens Saturday Night Fever as John Travolta struts along a city sidewalk. A teasing thirty seconds of that scene was shown in fifteen hundred theatres a week before the movie actually opened. A record was not yet available, but people began calling RSO anyway, asking for "Stayin' Alive."

The single broke in mid-December 1977, spending four weeks at number one in February 1978. It was on the charts for more than six months, and won a Grammy.

You Should Be Dancing is still sampled by DJ’s it is a dance floor filler start to finish as is Disco Inferno by Tramps.

So grab your white leisure suit, get out that disco ball and boogie down to the album that launched the craze. Barry, Robin, Maurice and a host of smooth polyester wearing disco stars will transport you back to shake your booty.


Track listing

1. Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
2. How Deep Is Your Love - Bee Gees
3. Night Fever - Bee Gees
4. More Than A Woman - Bee Gees
5. Jive Talkin' - Bee Gees
6. You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees
7. Calypso Breakdown - Donaldson, Ralph
8. If I Can't Have You - Elliman, Yvonne
9. Fifth Of Beethoven - Murphy, Walter
10. Open Sesame - Kool & The Gang 1
1. Boogie Shoes - KC & The Sunshine Band
12. MFSB - KC & The Sunshine Band
13. K Jee - KC & The Sunshine Band
14. Disco Inferno - Tramps
15. Manhattan Skyline - Tramps
16. Night On Disco Mountain - Tramps
17. Salsation - Tramps

Harvest - Neil Young

A classic album in any language. Neil Young's Harvest proved the immense talent of one of music's all time greats. Released in 1972 the album went to number 1 and was the best selling album of the year. It contains the immediately recognisable songs, Heart of gold, Old Man and The Needle and The Damage Done and was produced by Neil Young and Jack Nitszche among others. Nitzesche wrote the soundtracks for One Flew Over the Cookoo's nest and the Exorcist and is husband to Buffy Sainte-Marie.

The Needle and the Damage Done is a lament for crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitman's who died from a heroin overdose. It is performed live on the album and is aching to listen to, with Neil Young's fragile vocals giving a depth to every word of the song. Heart of Gold was Young's only every Number 1 and he later
wrote that Heart Of Gold put him in the middle of the road saying that
traveling there became a bore so he headed for the ditch, a rougher
ride but with more interesting people. Interestingly the song has
James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals. The song Alabama on
Harvest incensed Lynard Skinard enough to write their own hit Sweet Home Alabama
as a rebuke to Neil Young's critical description of the state. The
beautiful Old Man was written for the caretaker of Young's ranch.

Young's abilities were showcased on this album. His lyrical genius
shines throughout every song The sweeping orchestration on When a Man
Needs A Maid and There's a Word prove how far Young would go to
fulfilling his vision drafting in the London Symphony Orchestra to
provide the strings. Some think the album is over lauded however it
would not be a Neil young album if it were not difficult.

Track Listing
1. Out On The Weekend
2. Harvest
3. Man Needs A Maid, A
4. Heart Of Gold
5. Are You Ready For The Country
6. Old Man
7. There's A World
8. Alabama
9. Needle And The Damage Done, The - (live)
10. Words (Between The Lines Of Age)