toeknee4bz
Well-Known Member
I cannot stomach Neil Young. That said, I cannot turn the dial when "Heart of Gold" comes on. Now, if only someone else would cover it...
Songs you love by artists you can't stand
- Thread starter Mike Blakesley
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jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
I've got a few Neil albums myself and consider him a good songwriter, but I've never been able to listen to him in large doses - his vocals are definitely an acquired taste, that's for sure - and as much of a rock buff as I am, I tend to prefer his softer stuff, like "Harvest" (gorgeous, gorgeous song, and one of his strongest vocal performances) or "Harvest Moon," to his harder-rocking and more famous material like "Cinnamon Girl" or "Rockin' in the Free World" or "Southern Man." I can't stand whenever he ventures into neverending-jam-session territory or goes all feedback-crazy like he can tend to do in a lot of his live work with Crazy Horse. (But then, there's not a heck of a lot of songs - by ANY artist - that stretch beyond the eight-minute mark that I can listen to from start to finish without getting a little bored at some point. I typically like songs to be wrapped in a more concise package than that.) I don't know of any cover version of "Heart of Gold" myself offhand, but considering how often his material gets covered, I'm sure one's got to exist. My favorite Neil cover is Roxy Music's take on "Like a Hurricane" from their 1983 live EP The High Road. Good song, but I think Neil's own version is overly lethargic, and Bryan Ferry and company really pump some much-needed life and energy into that one. Another really fantastic Neil cover that I prefer over his own version is The Corrs' remake of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" from their VH1 presents The Corrs Live in Dublin album. Stunningly beautiful.
KentTeffeteller
Well-Known Member
Second the Enya choice. Sail Away (Orinoco Flow) is her one good track. For me, Madonna has never bettered her debut LP. "Borderline" is still my favorite Madonna track of all time, but the 45 mix rules.
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
Totally agree with you, Kent. "Borderline" really is her best song. It's a shame, really, that Madonna never quite attempted anything much like it ever again, 'cause it's arguably got the strongest melody of any single she's ever made and she does a surprisingly great job of singing it. Even her ad-libs near the fade of the single mix are really inspired.
I probably listen to Like a Virgin a little more than I do the debut, but less for the quality of the songs than to admire the instrumentation and production - that album's got some of Tony Thompson's all-time best drum work on it, like the fills on "Material Girl" - and I'd have to agree with you that her debut is the most solid of all her albums from start to finish.
I probably listen to Like a Virgin a little more than I do the debut, but less for the quality of the songs than to admire the instrumentation and production - that album's got some of Tony Thompson's all-time best drum work on it, like the fills on "Material Girl" - and I'd have to agree with you that her debut is the most solid of all her albums from start to finish.
Air Supply. But "Lost In Love" is a great record.
One of my earworms, too...
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
I don't mind most of Air Supply's music (though I'd have to concede that some of it, especially "The One That You Love" and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," could get awfully bombastic and would fit in seamlessly on a Celine Dion album (shudder) 
), but I'd agree that they never topped "Lost in Love." Great piece of songwriting, and definitely one of the best soft-rock singles of the early '80s. Also doesn't hurt that Graham Russell sings lead for most of it. Russell Hitchcock can really overdo it sometimes when he reaches for those higher notes.
), but I'd agree that they never topped "Lost in Love." Great piece of songwriting, and definitely one of the best soft-rock singles of the early '80s. Also doesn't hurt that Graham Russell sings lead for most of it. Russell Hitchcock can really overdo it sometimes when he reaches for those higher notes.
The one album of his that still endures with me is Listen Without Prejudice: it was his "grown up" album and an attempt to shed the image he'd made with the Faith album, which like the previous two Wham! albums was very "of its time" and does not age well in some cases. "A Different Corner" is another good one (even if the synths are dated).
That voice does me in. Can't stand it. Yet I bought his Mirrorball album since Pearl Jam was the backing band and Young was more buried in the mix. But I haven't listened to it much beyond the first few months after I bought it.
That song was a classic production and had a great 12" mix, built up around his vocal style which perfectly suited the song. It captured the era well! But on classic rock radio, "Maggie May" is one that will make me lunge for the dial.
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
Agree with you, Rudy, about Listen without Prejudice. I do think "Kissing a Fool" still stands as George's best solo single, so Faith has that to its advantage, but whereas Faith can come across as a collection of singles (of varying degrees of quality; love "Kissing a Fool" and the title cut; "I Want Your ..." and "Father Figure" not so much) with some hastily-added filler, Prejudice seems like a more carefully-thought-out album. And it may be his only album where the lesser songs are actually better than the big hits; I think "Heal the Pain" and "Waiting for That Day" are my top favorites on that disc. ("Heal the Pain" isn't particularly well-known, of course, but it's actually one of his all-time catchiest pieces of songwriting. He ended up re-recording it just a few years back for a greatest-hits package as a duet with Paul McCartney, but, even being a diehard McCartney fan, I actually have to admit to liking the original better, if just 'cause it's impressive to hear George handling all those layers of vocals and harmonies himself.)
toeknee4bz
Well-Known Member
If you like Listen Without Predjudice, you may also like Older, which has a similar feel.
toeknee4bz
Well-Known Member
I don't mind most of Air Supply's music (though I'd have to concede that some of it, especially "The One That You Love" and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," could get awfully bombastic and would fit in seamlessly on a Celine Dion album (shudder)
Funny you should mention "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" while pointing out the bombastic, strained high note pinnacles of some of these songs. That song, along with Celine's "All Coming Back To Me Now", Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", Meat Loaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love" and even Barry Manilow's "Read Em And Weep" all get to the point where I just cringe with the grating of my nerves. Guess I'm not much of a fan of Jim Steinman's arrangements!
toeknee4bz
Well-Known Member
I agree wholeheartedly where Celine Dion is concerned. She started out pretty good, with the UNISON tracks "If There Was Any Other Way" and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now". But later on she started trying to show off with her vocals. It kills me that Air Supply's 1985 version of "Power of Love" never really cracked the charts, and Celine's version in the early 90s did, featuring all of her frantic screaming toward the end of the song (see previous posts). I never was one for vocal acrobatics. Kenny Rogers once said [paraphrased] "Just sing the song straight. If the song is good enough, and you're able to cover it, your style will come across." In the case of Celine, it seems that every so often through the years she felt she had to prove her vocal range once again... while all the women in the Oprah audience cupped their hands over their mouths and fanned their tears while crying "oh it's so beautiful" or some such dribble... same reason I can't stand Josh Groban.
BARF.
As for Madonna, different story altogether. There are quite a few listenable tracks from her catalogue which are pretty enjoyable, if one can get past her public image, that is. Obviously the earlier stuff is preferable, as you mentioned "Borderline", among a few others. But the first album that comes to my mind is TRUE BLUE from 1985. "Live To Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", "True Blue" and the fantastic "La Isla Bonita" are some of Madonna's finest, IMHO.
Many non-Madonna fans and I agree that "Crazy For You" (not sure but I think it was from the TWO OF A KIND soundtrack) was also a keeper. A couple of later tracks which were pretty good, even if they were a bit uncommon. "This Used To Be My Playground", though somber, was as good as any, while "I'll Remember" and "Beautiful Stranger" were catchy enough in their arrangements to become favorable earworms. And though I'm not into showtunes or epic endeavors much, she really stretched and showed her abilities with the EVITA album. Her cover of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" was one of the best out there, even rivaling Karen Carpenter's version.
Bottom line: I'm not a 'Madonna fan' per se, but if you're willing to dig through all of the crap, you can find a few gems buried in her catalogue.
There isn't much of her music I listen to, but even from her earliest albums and songs, there are a couple here and there that do stand out that I like. One of my favorite 12" singles has "Into The Groove" as the B-side to "Angel", which was released before "Into The Groove" was added to a reissue of her Like A Virgin album. Turns out this song ended up being honored by Billboard as the Dance Single of The Decade. Everything just clicked on that song.
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
I want to say "Crazy for You" was from Vision Quest, but I could be wrong. I tend to get a lot of those '80s movies confused. I do remember it was on the same soundtrack as Journey's "Only the Young."
"I'll Remember" is easily one of her best post-'80s outings, I agree. Great song. Kind of a shame that that was the only time she ever wrote with Richard Page. For a brief second there, she actually sounded like her old self again (and that cut really does sound like it could've been an outtake from True Blue or Like a Prayer.) And I'd similarly have to agree with you about her version of "Argentina." I'd actually go so far as to say that the club mix of that one that they worked to Top 40 stations was probably her best single of the '90s, actually. It had a real magic and lightness to it that's missing from most of her singles from that era.
It's one of the more bizarre oddities of '80s pop that Sire never released "Into the Groove" as its own single. They really dropped the ball there. Go figure why they bypassed that one.
Okay, so ... other songs I like by artists I otherwise can't stand? I personally can't stand Barbra Streisand, but to her credit, she does have a tiny handful of singles that I'd have to concede are pretty good. "Stoney End" is a great, great record (but then, that one would also sound good sung by just about anyone; that is Laura Nyro's best piece of songwriting, I think). And, though it's a song people typically like to dump on, if just for her choice of duet partner, I actually have to admit - though I probably shouldn't
- to liking "Till I Loved You" (her duet with Don Johnson.) Mind you, he's not much of a singer, and she's a bit too dramatic on it for my own tastes, but it's just such a nice piece of songwriting and there's just something about the instrumental track that's so alluring and relaxing that I had to break down and get the single to that one. Beyond that, I really can't say I'm a fan, but I've got a bit of a weakness for those two singles, anyway. On a completely different note ... there's not a heck of a lot of rock artists from the '60s that I have trouble listening to or taking to, but - and I don't know if this is just because these guys had a full-time organist (the organ is not an instrument I've ever been fond of) - I've just always had difficulty listening to The Doors. I've never been able to listen to a Doors album in its entirety in one sitting (especially the debut; and I still don't think I've ever been able to listen to the entirety of "The End.") So I tend to switch stations whenever they come on the radio, except for when the song is either "Touch Me" or "Love Her Madly." I actually really enjoy those for some reason.
And elsewhere in the world, that song was released as a single and it topped the charts. Go figure indeed!
I agree there--The Doors just grate on me. I did go through a Doors phase and I do still like some selected tracks, but I can't stand most of their stuff. Ditto the Beach Boys--I still fail to see any alleged genius in the shizophrenic Brian Wilson (so sue me), and the rest of the band had their issues also, still ongoing to this day. To me it's basically retreading the same sun/surf/beach/girls ad nauseum. Bores me to no end. There are other artists that used to make me lunge for the dial when they came on the radio, and anything Motown will make me hit the "off" switch (around here, it's shoved in your face 24/7--hard not to be annoyed by it) but by and large I listen to quite a bit from all eras. I think that's true for most of us here: we have wide interests, but there are a small handful that just never grow on us.
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
One of the few other '60s bands I've always had trouble gravitating towards: Jefferson Airplane. They're just a little too ... "out there" for me, for lack of a better expression. I recently checked out 2400 Fulton Street (their double-disc anthology package) from the local library to explore a little more of their stuff and see how I liked it, but the only two tracks on the whole thing I enjoyed enough to go back and give a second spin were "Somebody to Love" (easily their best, and most accessible, moment) and "Pretty As You Feel" (which isn't even a fully-realized song so much as it is just a truncated edit of a studio jam that supposedly went on for twenty or thirty minutes.)
Ironically, I actually really like most of the stuff they did after they became Jefferson Starship and then just Starship, and I think I've got all their albums from Dragonfly to Love Among the Cannibals. (I know critics really love to dump on anything they did with Mickey Thomas, and, granted, he does overdo it sometimes, but all the same, there's still some good songs to be found on those albums, even among the non-hits and regular album tracks. I'm actually really surprised that "Layin' It on the Line" from Nuclear Furniture didn't become a hit. That is easily one of the catchiest songs in their whole catalog, and if you're a drummer like me, you've really got to admire Donny Baldwin's drumming on that one, especially in the choruses. The drums on that song slay me everytime I listen to it!) I just have a really difficult time listening to most anything they did before then, even though most of the exact same musicians were there (i.e. Balin, Kantner, Slick). A lot of people may accuse them of having simply sold out more and more over time, but I say they just learned how to write better songs.
Ironically, I actually really like most of the stuff they did after they became Jefferson Starship and then just Starship, and I think I've got all their albums from Dragonfly to Love Among the Cannibals. (I know critics really love to dump on anything they did with Mickey Thomas, and, granted, he does overdo it sometimes, but all the same, there's still some good songs to be found on those albums, even among the non-hits and regular album tracks. I'm actually really surprised that "Layin' It on the Line" from Nuclear Furniture didn't become a hit. That is easily one of the catchiest songs in their whole catalog, and if you're a drummer like me, you've really got to admire Donny Baldwin's drumming on that one, especially in the choruses. The drums on that song slay me everytime I listen to it!) I just have a really difficult time listening to most anything they did before then, even though most of the exact same musicians were there (i.e. Balin, Kantner, Slick). A lot of people may accuse them of having simply sold out more and more over time, but I say they just learned how to write better songs.
Captain Bacardi
Well-Known Member
Oh God, Starship was a wreck of a band. I think you're the first person I've heard of that actually liked Starship. 
Jefferson Airplane was the best version of the band.
As far as the original premise of this thread, I can't stand the Carpenters, but I do enjoy "Close To You". I have their Singles LP but I make sure nobody sees that.
Capt. Bacardi
Jefferson Airplane was the best version of the band. As far as the original premise of this thread, I can't stand the Carpenters, but I do enjoy "Close To You". I have their Singles LP but I make sure nobody sees that.
Capt. Bacardi
Starship was a guilty pleasure. Don't think I could ever sit through an album, but "Sara" and some of the other songs were great ear candy pop in their day. And the lead singer (Mickey Thomas, I believe) had a little of that Steve Perry dead-on pitch high note cutting through the din that worked really well when used correctly......
Heard Madonna's "Take A Bow" (with Babyface) recently - I'd forgotten that is a gorgeous record, pretty much note perfect....
Heard Madonna's "Take A Bow" (with Babyface) recently - I'd forgotten that is a gorgeous record, pretty much note perfect....
I liked a lot of the Starship's 80s stuff with Mickey Thomas but it hasn't dated well for me. My favorite songs of theirs tend to be non-hits, like "Awakening" and "Just the Same" from Freedom at Point Zero, and "Save Your Love" from Modern Times. Although I really like "Jane" and "Find Your Way Back," they're great '80s rock.
As for Streisand...I like her better in movies than as a singer, but I admit to having a bit of fondness for her album Guilty with Barry Gibb. That record was almost pure pop perfection from start to finish. It's one of the many albums that I liked a lot, but not enough to upgrade to CD when the LP era faded. So I've still got the LP, but haven't heard it in 25 or more years.
The Doors....I never could see why they were so acclaimed. I guess they were sort of groundbreaking in their outrageousness, but I think they probably owe most of their "legendary" status these days to the fact that Morrison is dead. If not for that fact they'd probably still be touring the oldies circuit.
I have a lot of respect for Madonna as a singer and also as a businesswoman. She really knew (and still knows) the right buttons to push. She knew JUST how far she could go and still be cool...unlike a lot of the pop princesses of today who just aim for the most outrageous thing they can think of visually and lyrically, while splicing and "autotuning" their records to the point they have maximum pop, but no soul.
As for Streisand...I like her better in movies than as a singer, but I admit to having a bit of fondness for her album Guilty with Barry Gibb. That record was almost pure pop perfection from start to finish. It's one of the many albums that I liked a lot, but not enough to upgrade to CD when the LP era faded. So I've still got the LP, but haven't heard it in 25 or more years.
The Doors....I never could see why they were so acclaimed. I guess they were sort of groundbreaking in their outrageousness, but I think they probably owe most of their "legendary" status these days to the fact that Morrison is dead. If not for that fact they'd probably still be touring the oldies circuit.
I have a lot of respect for Madonna as a singer and also as a businesswoman. She really knew (and still knows) the right buttons to push. She knew JUST how far she could go and still be cool...unlike a lot of the pop princesses of today who just aim for the most outrageous thing they can think of visually and lyrically, while splicing and "autotuning" their records to the point they have maximum pop, but no soul.
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
Have you ever seen Jefferson Starship's performance on (the short-lived '80s sketch-comedy series) Fridays? You made me think of it just now 'cause "Jane" and "Find Your Way Back" were actually the two songs they chose to play. The show's never been released on DVD as far as I'm aware, but you can find clips of most of the musical performances from that show (i.e. The Clash, King Crimson, etc.) on YouTube, and Starship's one of the more fun ones to watch, not in the least since they actually get introduced member-by-member (by Father Guido Sarducci, who for some reason, is flanked on both sides by the women from Tony Orlando & Dawn) and most of the show's cast also runs up onstage to join in on backing vocals. Everyone onstage - band and cast members both - looks like they're having the time of their life up there. Fun clip.
I forgot about Guilty. That's a good one, too. I can't remember the last time I got that album out, but every once in a rare while, I'll hear "Guilty" or "What Kind of Fool" come on the radio and I'll always stop to listen to them. I've got to say those two records still sound very good on the radio. The production on those is really excellent, too.
Barry Gibb was on a hot streak at that point--those songs from that album still do sound good. They made another album together a few years back, but I don't know if they were able to recapture that same magic again.
The Streisand album that really connected with me was the Broadway Album. And I still have a spot for an ancient album of hers called Color Me Barbra since I grew up listening to it. But aside from that, nothing much else of what she's done has really been anything I'd listen to.
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
Yeah, Katy Perry's a real mixed bag for me as well. She can be maddeningly inconsistent. If she were more judicious in her song selection, I'd find her albums much more listenable, but for every decent song of hers, there's about four or five that are just cringe-inducingly awful. "Waking Up in Vegas" is the only one on her debut album that I like. Teenage Dream is a little better - "California Gurls" and "Firework" are keepers - though it's similarly hurt by having one too many juvenile songs, like "Last Friday Night." If she didn't try so hard in her lyrics to be shocking, I'd find her a lot more listenable, but she seems almost incapable of going a whole album without making some completely-over-the-top effort to be edgy. (But then, she's certainly not alone on that one. Christina Aguilera has been suffering from the same problem for years. Ditto Rihanna and Britney Spears. Rihanna in particular really could stand to dial it back. Her last album is one of the more shockingly explicit mainstream-pop albums I've ever heard. Even just a few seconds into it, I was already immediately thankful there was no child in the room.) Perry reminds me quite a bit of a modern version of early Cyndi Lauper, but with much, much less subtlety. I get the exact same reaction listening to stuff like "Firework" and "Peacock" back-to-back as I do listening to, say, "All Through the Night" and "She Bop" back-to-back. You just can't believe someone could go from something so great and so stirringly beautiful to something so juvenile and embarrassing so quickly.
I get the exact same reaction listening to stuff like "Firework" and "Peacock" back-to-back as I do listening to, say, "All Through the Night" and "She Bop" back-to-back. You just can't believe someone could go from something so great and so stirringly beautiful to something so juvenile and embarrassing so quickly.- Status
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