I heard the dandelions roar in Piccadilly Circus

[vovat]

As I expected, hardly anyone has posted anything since I made my post about having caught up on my friends list. That's how it always seems to work.

Anyway, a discussion of XTC's two Apple Venus albums on revme's journal made me listen to the two of them back to back. They're both excellent albums, and I wish there had been more from the band after that. Apple Venus Volume 1 came out at a quite fortuitous time for me, since it was right around when I finished purchasing XTC's back catalog. I was in college at the time, and I bought it on the day it came out, probably for too much money. The music store close to campus didn't have it, so I walked across town to the Regency Mall to get it. I think I saw it at the closer store a few days later for less money, but by then I already had it. It's possible that they had it on the release date, too, but just hadn't put it out yet. I probably should have asked, but I tend to avoid doing that kind of thing.

I believe I liked Volume 1 more than Wasp Star (AKA Volume 2) upon first listen, but now I find them more evenly matched. Volume 1 has more of an unusual sound to it, with all of its lush instrumentation, while Volume 2 is more generic-sounding. I remember reading that Wasp Star was supposed to be the hard rock volume, and I don't know that the band really succeeded in that. Black Sea it ain't. Nonetheless, it's still an album of amazingly catchy songs, and I can't complain about that.

A few other comments I have on the two volumes:

• Both of them start out really strongly (with "River Of Orchids" and "Playground," respectively). WS also has an amazing ending song with "The Wheel And The Maypole," but I'm not very fond of Volume 1's closer, "The Last Balloon."
  
• I like "Knights In Shining Karma" better now than I used to.
  
• "Green Man" is one of the best songs on either volume, but takes a long time to wrap up. That's fairly common with XTC songs, really. They rarely just end.
  
• "Stupidly Happy" is still vastly overrated.
  
• I remember someone commenting on how "Wounded Horse" doesn't make a lot of sense, because it goes from describing the singer as "like a wounded horse" to being told to "climb back in the saddle." This is actually pretty similar to "Shake You Donkey Up," where it's sometimes the man who's the donkey ("look at he long ears, and he big brown eyes"), and sometimes the woman ("how she carry you over thick and thin ice, you still dug your spurs in"). I guess Andy Partridge has trouble keeping a simile or metaphor consistent throughout a song. {g}
  

In other news (not that what I just wrote WAS news), someone on the Frank Black Forum linked to a list of the 50 most loathsome New Yorkers. Aside from the fact that the whole thing is painfully unfunny (about the only thing I found kind of amusing was the comparison of the Hilton Sisters to peasant-impersonating French nobles), what might be even worse is how bizarre the qualifications are. The authors admit that "we cast a wide net and caught all manner of frauds, blowhards and bloodsuckers." Apparently corrupt politicians and the captain who caused the Staten Island Ferry crash aren't as bad as some annoying celebrities. They're all mixed in there together. It's like how VH1's "Most Shocking Moments in Rock" (or whatever it was called) included both Ozzy biting the head off a bat and John Lennon being shot. Come on, have a sense of perspective, people! At least VH1 put Lennon's death near (if not at) the top of the list.

By the way, I believe Piccadilly Circus is the equivalent of Marvin Gardens (which should actually be "Marven Gardens") on the British Monopoly board.

Comments

[tisok.livejournal.com]

i find that mixing of metaphors makes the songs more interesting.

[revme.livejournal.com]

"Knights In Shining Karma" is one of those songs I tend to like in spite of myself -- the title pun tends to make me cringe, but it IS a good song. (Sort of like "That's Really Super, Supergirl, to a lesser extent as I find both the title, though kinda bad, better than "Knights", and a much better song, too.)

"Green Man" really is excellent. It's one of those songs that supports being the six or seven minutes long or however long it is. If I'd been thinking, I would have included it on that long song mix CD.

"Stupidly Happy" is another of those "in spite of myself" likes -- I was going to say it shouldn't have been a single, but now I can't remember if it was, since I know "Man Who Murdered Love" was the lead single, and I'm trying to remember the others. At any rate, though, "We're All Light" totally should have been the lead single -- that's Wasp Star's "Green Man", as far as I'm concerned.

"Wounded Horse" is a song I kind of go back and forth on. When I first heard it, I didn't like it, but now I do. I didn't like it for the same reason as "Church Of Women" -- mainly Andy's vocal performance when he does that weird long, drawn out whining thing. But I came around on it for the same reason, mainly the bits of that song that are really, really cool (chorus on "Church", the "My friends all say" part of "Horse"). I do like "Shake You Donkey Up" better, though, if we're talkin' beasts of burden.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I have somewhat of a fondness for bad puns, and I have to admit there's a certain cleverness to the title of "Knights." I would have to agree on "Supergirl," though. Silly title, but excellent song.

"Stupidly Happy" is okay, but the comments I've seen from Andy suggest that he LOVES it, and I'm not sure why. I believe it was indeed the second (and last) single from WS. The singles from Volume 1 were "Easter Theatre," "I'd Like That," and "Frivolous Tonight," right?

"Wounded Horse" is pretty good, but not one of the best. I think I actually don't like "Church Of Women" as much now as I did at first, but it's decent. And I like "Donkey" quite a bit. I think it's the crazy fiddling that does it for me.

[revme.livejournal.com]

"Knights" IS kinda clever, I admit, but in kind of a... weird way. I think it's a little too touchy-feely for me. I'm not quite sure how to phrase what it is that it sort of sets off in me that makes me cringe.

I'm pretty sure "Frivolous Tonight" was out and "Green Man" was in -- I've seen promo singles for "Green Man" anyway -- of course, that doesn't necessarily mean anything; there are a lot of songs by a lot of bands that get promo singles that end up not getting airplay and not coming out as an actual for-sale single.

That is odd about "Stupidly Happy"... it's OK, and I could even see it as a second or third followup single. But... yeah. There are better songs. I mean, I'm not NECESSARILY sold on "Man Who Murdered" as the teaser single either, but it'd be a better choice. I'd probably have gone with, just off the top of my head, "We're All Light" first, then "Playground", then either Man and/or Stupidly. That's not looking at the back of the sleeve, though. In a way, I could see "Wheel & The Maypole" as a single, but it's probably better as just a really strong album track.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

"Wheel" might be my favorite WS track (although it's in competition with "Light" for that position), but I don't know if it really would have worked as a single. I kind of think it's best in its position as the last track on the album.

[revme.livejournal.com]

That's kinda where I'm at with it -- it's an outstanding song, but not something I could really hear on the radio. "We're All Light", though, I think I actually _could_, which makes it odd that TVT/Idea didn't think to put it out as a single, at least to stations.

[bethje.livejournal.com]

1. You only like "Knights in Shining Karma" more, because I like it so much. And the title is pretty corny, but I think the "Supergirl" title is pretty excellent.

2. I don't really like Knights for the words at all. I like the mood and feelings that come from its sound.

3. "Stupidly Happy" is really boring.

4. I think that the last tracks are meant to be opposites. "The Wheel and the Maypole" is a big finish, while "The Last Balloon" is a slow, fading-away sort of finish.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, "Light" definitely sounds like something that could have gotten radio play. Who knows, though?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

You're right about how "Balloon" finishes, and that's not necessarily a bad way to end an album. I just don't think it's a particularly good song.