Stable Sun-Enthusiasm

No matter how hard I try, I just won’t get tired of listening to The Sun Sawed in 1/2. I’ve been in this state for more than a half of a year now. For me, that is a long time. Usually my favourite band changes at least once a month. And, yes, I had that huge Cars thing a while ago, but I listened to The Sun during that time, too.

I listen to The Sun Sawed in ½ every day and it sounds fresh and new every time. After finding the endless delights of power pop music, I’ve been in love with several other great power pop bands including The Posies, Wondermints, Fountains of Wayne, Super Deluxe, Big Star, The Rubinoos, Weezer, Cherry Twister, Jellyfish, and so on. Of course, I’m still very much in love with all these bands, but with The Sun it somehow feels a bit different. It’s like my love towards that music is more stable, more steady and regular, and more active than what it is towards some other bands, like The Posies.

I definitely love The Posies. I’d really consider The Posies to be one of my ten (maybe even five or three) most important bands ever. However, I rarely listen to them. I surely listen to some Posies every now and then but it’s not that often or that much. This is mostly true of all the other bands I mentioned. When I find a new favourite band, it goes like this: I fall in love, the music feels new and exciting, I may not listen to nearly anything else for a couple of weeks. At some point comes the moment when the enthusiasm goes away. I just don’t feel like listening to that music so much anymore, I’ve listened to all the songs so many times, I feel like it’s time to check out some other stuff.

This has never occurred with The Sun, although if I look at the calendar and think of how much I’ve listened to this music, I already should’ve got tired of The Sun. I haven’t. What is this?

I’ve been thinking about writing more about The Sun for quite some time. That’s why I’m going to write about my thoughts concerning each of The Sun’s albums. I consider this therapeutic and great fun. Also, when you write down your thoughts, you usually end up writing things you never even had thought of before.. Man, that’s exciting!

It would also be cool to hear other people’s thoughts. Is there some artist/music you just can’t stop listening to? How long does it usually take you to finish the most intensive listening period of a new favourite band/artist? How often/how much do you listen to those bands when that intensive period is over?

Until next time.. What is The Sun’s secret? How come, according to my Last.fm profile, I’ve listened 90 times to a song called Beholder And His Eye.. To be continued.

The Sun Sawed in 1/2 at MySpace

Per & Marie

Somehow I knew this was going to happen.. Today, I ended up listening to Roxette’s greatest hits (and it even wasn't the first time). This compilation, A Collection of Roxette Hits: Their 20 Greatest Songs! features many familiar songs from this Swedish pop duo.

Roxette has been around since the mid-80s. Their most recent new studio album Room Service came out in 2001. I was only 13 years old at that time, and I definitely was too young to notice that this music was actually quite topnotch. Luckily, it’s never too late to discover good music, and I can now dance along to both The Look from 1988 and The Centre Of The Heart from 2001 as well as enjoy any other Per Gessle’s amazing composition. I’m really just starting to realize how talented this man actually is.

Happy pop with lots of interesting influences, sung beautifully by Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle - that’s exactly what I’m looking for. Sleeping In My Car, How Do You Do and ballads such as Wish I Could Fly are irrefutably good. Also, I still have lots of Gyllene Tider to check out. Ah, those Swedes are so good. I almost feel like cheering for them every time there is a Finland vs. Sweden ice hockey match.. But yeah, that’s almost, I definitely won’t be seen commit treason any time soon.

I guess my next target is Abba. That’s one awesome group, too. Unfortunately, I will have to study my law books first..

Roxette at MySpace
Roxette Official Web site

They Shoot Square Dancers, Don’t They?

Sometimes song titles already tell you whether you’re going to hear dead-serious music or not… This disc has amused me quite a lot recently. It’s another release from John Borack’s power pop book, and it’s Bamboo Lounge (2001) by Sparkle*Jets U.K. (U.K.? Why U.K.? – I just don’t get it…).

This album really could be described as a divided personality. About half of the material is traditional, absolutely sweet power pop sung and written by Michael Simmons. The other half is Susan West’s energetic and quite unconventional and wild tracks. While Simmons and West pursue very different styles, that contradiction helps in keeping this album interesting through all 14 tracks.

Nearly everything on this album is fantastic. My favourites include.. well, I guess it’d take less time to mention the songs that aren’t my biggest favourites, but that wouldn’t make any sense.. I’ll just say that She May Be Nice, Sorry, and Beautiful Girl are awesome Simmons songs and Monster, Consult Your Physician, and They Shoot Square Dancers, Don’t They? are awesome West songs.

Here’s also a nice discovery.. From sparklejetsuk.com band bio:

”Robbie Rist: The sparkle*jet least likely to realize that he's a sparkle*jet. But that's okay. He's in about 200 bands at any given moment, which is why there are at least 200 bands on the planet at any given moment which completely kick ass. And it's all because of the Bob.”

I guess in a couple of years I’ve found all those 200 bands (all accidentally) and written about them to this blog..

Sparkle*Jets U.K. Website

Sweeter Than Sugar

One of the coolest things during the past few days has been 60s bubblegum pop. Listening to this music makes me understand how much it actually has common features with power pop. Catchy songs and great harmonies with utterly sweet and somewhat nasal singing – that’s exactly what some of my very favourite power pop is all about.

All those features also appear in the music of The Ohio Express, a 60s bubblegum/garage band that partially consisted of studio musicians and partially of real band members. The Ohio Express reached good chart positions, and their most famous and successful song was Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.

I’ve been listening to Yummy, Yummy, Yummy - The Best of The Ohio Express. It’s a nice 14-song compilation with awesome tracks. This music is so good that I always end up wondering: “Oh, did it end already?” Songs like Sweeter Than Sugar and Nothing Sweeter Than My Baby are so much about sugar and sweetness that I simply can’t help loving this stuff… My other favourites include Nighttime and 1, 2, 3 Red Light. She’s Not Coming Home is a more melancholic track, and it’s gorgeous.

Man, I am so going to listen to more of 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Lemon Pipers, The Archies and who knows what! (I also accept recommendations.)

The Ohio Express at Last.fm
The Ohio Express at MySpace

Kool-aid, Sandwiches and Chips for All the Shoulders

Jellyfish is one of my all-time favourite bands. Although they weren’t a very long-lived band, they created something uniquely fresh that will continue influencing pop music for a long time. Jellyfish’s music is happy and timeless pop of high quality. I also have to give Jellyfish credit for guiding me towards listening to more psychedelic-sounding pop (and power pop generally).

I find it impossible to decide which one of Jellyfish’s two albums is better. They are so different from each other. Spilt Milk (1993) is astonishing with its awesome, polished sound, hilarious Queen-references and huge instrumental variety. On the other hand, Bellybutton (1990) always appeals to me with its better-balanced appearance and great songs. If I had to pick some favourite tunes from these albums, I would have to say “all of them”.

Also, when I found Jellyfish in August 2004 I found my #1 favourite singing voice, and that, of course, belongs to Andy Sturmer. I was very convinced about this state of facts until I found a band called The Sun Sawed in ½. Since then, I’ve been slipping towards passing the status of favourite singer to Sun’s lead singer Doug Bobenhouse, and I’ve actually already passed it to him, but listening to Jellyfish always makes me have doubts over my choice. I guess I should just keep two #1 favourite singers. It’s quite difficult to compare Andy and Doug, although their voices bear some serious resemblance..

Also, where on earth is Andy Sturmer? He has surely been doing lots of music-related things, but, I mean.. Where is his solo career? As far as I’m concerned, I think a person with a singing voice like that should be singing all the time, recording that singing and releasing it. A cappella would be just fine..

Geez! Andy really seems to have come up with some solo material, e.g. a cartoon theme for Transformers. I'll check that out right away.

I’ve surely checked out Jason Falkner and Roger Manning’s solo work, The Grays, and a bit of all kinds of other Jellyfish-related music. A huge majority of that stuff is awesome. But, something important post-Jellyfish material is still missing..

The recent Jellyfish tribute album might also be worth checking at some point. The most important thing is, though, that Jellyfish always sounds fresh and new when I listen to it. That’s not something that happens with all bands and albums. When I haven’t listened to Spilt Milk or Bellybutton for a while and listen to them again, I’m always amazed how fresh they sound.

I wish there could be a Jellyfish reunion someday.

Jellyfish at MySpace

Power Pop in Swedish!

The day before yesterday, I made a huge discovery. I certainly had heard the name Gyllene Tider before but for some reason I never found out that their music was actually great pop-rock, power pop in 80s style! I started listening to their music at MySpace and it sounded so good that I wanted to hear more of that stuff, lots of it. You can hear Farfisa organs in this music, and one of the best things about this band is that the singing language is Swedish!

The reason I never checked this band out before was probably that I knew Gyllene Tider had something to do with another Swedish band Roxette, and Roxette is something that I don't find mind-blowingly interesting (although I have to admit that I haven't listened to their music very much). Per Gessle is a part of that band, and as Roxette is very famous these days, he is the most famous member of Gyllene Tider.

Although most Finns probably aren’t very much fond of Swedish language, I really like Swedish. I’ve always enjoyed it. It’s a bit more difficult than English, and it’s great fun to listen to (and try to speak it yourself…). Swedish is a beautiful language, great for power pop, too!

Sommartider is Gyllene Tider’s most famous song. It’s played on Finnish radio every summer, but I haven’t heard the original version too many times. It seems like they like to play the cover by that some newer band – the original is of course much better. There are lots of Gyllene Tider songs that I instantly loved: Skicka ett vykort älskling, Ljudet av ett annat hjärta, (Dansar inte lika bra som) sjömän, and Flickorna på TV2 are all fabulous songs. Their cover version of The Rivieras’ California Sun (Tylo sun) is also totally fabulous. Gyllene Tider have dozens of great songs, I haven’t heard a single one I don’t like!

It’s great to find bands like this. I only wish I had more time. It’s gonna be busy with university entrance exams this spring, once again. Still, it’s amazing to have great Swedish pop to listen to during breaks!

Gyllene Tider at MySpace

Audio Saccharine

I really enjoy Receiver’s Inspiration Overload (2001). I spotted it in John Borack’s power pop book Shake Some Action – The Ultimate Power Pop Guide (great book!). Borack himself used to play drums in the band, but on Inspiration Overload powerpop queen Lisa Mychols plays all percussions. Mychols also sings background vocals – sounding amazing.

This album was produced by Robbie Rist (who seems to appear quite often in power pop circles) and it’s a very strong collection of 11 catchy, energetic, and sugary songs written by Kenny West and Kerry Chicoine. It’s very loud pop - exactly the kind of stuff I tend to enjoy very, very much. Killer melodies, absolute sweetness, all wrapped up inside those distorted guitars and great riffs. It’s a simple path to happiness.

Oleander is my #1 favourite song on the album, it has pure low-tone magic, and those melodies.. They’re so good. Faster, Wind Up Girl and Inspiration Overload are also amazing tunes, to mention but a few. Also, it’s enchanting for a girl to discover power pop songs that carry your own first name.. Erica Kane is a wonderful tune. It isn’t even the only power pop song with that name (there’s Game Theory’s Erica’s Word, too), which is absolutely cool.

I just can’t get enough of music like this. Audio sugar and loud pop instrumentation– that’s my thing.

Receiver’s Inspiration Overload at amazon.com (with sound samples)

Touching You, Touching Me

It’s sad that The Darkness split up. They were a great British rock band
with good songs and nice tongue-in-cheek image and attitude. When their debut album Permission to Land (2003) came out I heard the hit singles on the radio, saw the videos on TV and I liked all that stuff. It’s really hard not to smile when you hear a song like I Believe in a Thing Called Love. That kind of music should really be played more on the radio! Fun and happy music is something that is completely underrated these days.

It was my friend who encouraged me to listen to more of The Darkness. I listened to the debut album and it felt good. It was a bit heavier kind of music than what I tend to listen to, but the good melodies and Justin Hawkins’s unique singing voice helped me to get into it. The singles such as Get Your Hands off My Woman and Love Is Only a Feeling highlight the album.

The second album was even better. One Way Ticket to Hell… And Back (2006) was a bit lighter and definitely more melody-centered than its predecessor. One Way Ticket, Is It Just Me?, and Dinner Lady Arms are excellent songs. Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time is stunningly beautiful. In fact, everything about this album is excellent. Justin Hawkins captures a plenty of emotion in these songs. It’s really amazing how beautifully he utilizes his entire vocal range and sense of dynamics.

The amazing Hazel Eyes is worth mentioning, and so is Bald (gorgeus stuff!). Allman Brothers-like guitars and huge layered background vocals give this album lots of Queen feel (check out the harmonies on Blind Man – they’ll surely give you chills!). This album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker (which seems totally obvious now – especially given that I’ve recently been listening quite a lot to The Cars…). I’m not a big lyrics person, but I know these songs also have fun and witty lyrics.

All in all, The Darkness created some awesome melodic hard rock with nice sentimentality. Their music is capable of making anyone smile. Just listen to those songs (and perhaps watch the music video for Girlfriend) and it’ll make your day!

Justin Hawkins left the band but the remaining members of The Darkness continue making music as Stone Gods. I guess I could check out their stuff sometime.

The Darkness at MySpace
Stone Gods Website

More Cars Videos

I watch these music videos over and over again. Ric Ocasek is awesome. He's got some seriously good presence in these videos.

I also recently purchased The Cars Unlocked DVD and it's such a thrill. I think I'll write some thoughts about it soon. Here are the video tips: (great songs, great videos)

Tonight She Comes (1985)


You Might Think (1984)

The Sun That Never Goes Down

In order to include at least something relevant in this blog I should tell something about The Beach Boys and me.

Although everything I listen to is based very much on The Beatles, The Fab Four have never been as big for me as The Beach Boys. I surely love The Beatles, and I really don’t tend to compare bands like this because it’s basically impossible, but I have to make an exception when it comes to The Beach Boys. Although I’m not 100% sure (I never am when it comes to music) Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys might be the biggest and dearest thing that I’ve even encountered in my search of the most perfect pop music.

My dad has liked The Beach Boys ever since the 60s when he was just a young boy. Consequently, I heard that music several times in my childhood. It was that stuff that my dad called surf music. I remember thinking that it sounded pretty exciting. In the end of 2004 I started listening to some Beach Boys greatest hits CD and noticed that I really liked what I heard and ended up listening to those already quite familiar songs (e.g. I Get Around) dozens of times.

Something about rock’n’roll has always intrigued me. I remember when I was 8 years old I found some old cassette of 50s rock’n’roll and songs like Rock Around the Clock. I liked that music so much that I wanted everyone else to hear it, too. The Beach Boys’ music has lots of rock’n’roll in it, so it’s no wonder that I’m attracted to that stuff.
Finally, I heard about an album called Pet Sounds (1966). It was my huge favourite Lasse Kurki (from the awesome Finnish power pop band Lemonator) who praised it in Soundi rock magazine.. I didn’t need any more encouragement, I rushed into the nearest library, picked up the album and listened to it for the first time on December 2nd, 2004.

That album soon became everything to me, and it still is. It is a warm blanket, something to cry and laugh for, and stunningly beautiful melodies, harmonies and sounds, perhaps the most beautiful melodies ever. That album made me fall in love Brian Wilson’s beautiful voice. That fresh tone and wide vocal range have really affected my sense of vocal aesthetics. Brian is surely one of my favourite singers. These days anyone who sounds like Brian Wilson gets my attention…

In fact, I’ve even seen The Beach Boys live! It was of course just Mike Love and Bruce Johnston but the music was perfect, and it was performed beautifully. The year was 2006, and I saw that concert with my dad in Helsinki. Man! Those harmonies were seriously good. I wish I could see Brian Wilson on concert someday, too. He’d probably have those Wondermints guys with him, and I have to say that I love them.
Now, here are some of my favourite Beach Boys albums. Surfer Girl (1963) was the second full BB album I ever listened to. This music really sounds very different from that extremely sophisticated pop that Brian Wilson created in the mid-60s, but I like it just as much. On the other hand, you can already hear all that tremendous beauty of Brian Wilson and the harmonies in songs like Surfer Girl.

The thing that makes The Beach Boys my favourite band is not just Pet Sounds. It’s the pure, bare, sincere joy that these songs and melodies contain, and of course Brian Wilson’s melancholy, too (check out The Surfer Moon and In My Room - let alone Don’t Worry Baby on Shut Down Vol. 2! (1964)). Surfer Girl is a solid album with great songs. Also, surf instrumentals always make me happy. I’ve actually started listening to some instrumental surf bands/music, and I love that stuff. It’s energetic, happy and features guitars with metallic sounds (somehow this whole concept rings a bell…).
All Summer Long (1964) is another great album. I don’t think any of The Beach Boys’ 60s albums is bad, but some albums really are better that others. I Get Around, All Summer Long, Hushabye, and Wendy highlight the All Summer Long album. All the other songs are of course also good – apart from that one filler (Our Favorite Recording Sessions). It’s kinda weird how these amazing albums were basically always spiced up with that (humorous but) useless filler track… That was the policy of the record company. Well, those tracks actually make the great songs sound even better. Girls on the Beach, Do You Remember?, Little Honda.. This material is oh so very good.
The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!!) (both 1965) are already showing some serious Pet Sounds vibes. Surf guitars are gone, and the music is seriously starting to sound like Phil Spector’s wall of sound. The b-side of Today! can even be seen equally as good as Pet Sounds, and it actually might be a bit more emotional and tender. Please Let Me Wonder, Kiss Me Baby, and those other songs.. Man! They will melt your heart (if they already haven’t).

Summer Days features some perfect pop pieces, too. Help Me, Rhonda appears in its chart-topping form. California Girls, Let Him Run Wild, the wonderful a cappella And Your Dreams Come True and my favourite You’re so Good to Me are just a couple of examples of the greatness of this album. Bonus track The Little Girl I Once Knew that originally only appeared as a single is also a perfect song.

I haven’t really listened to much of Smiley Smile (1967). Instead, I’ve given some serious attention to Brian Wilson’s SMiLE (2004). That is good stuff, one could say… 1967’s Wild Honey is very good with its soulfulness. Wild Honey, Aren’t You Glad, I Was Made to Love Her, Country Air, and Darling are very good songs with nice arrangements and Carl Wilson starting to take more lead vocal responsibility in the band.
1968’s Friends is also a nice record, quite strange of The Beach Boys, actually.. (Smiley Smile is certainly even more bizarre, though). Friends, Wake the World, Be Here in the Mornin’, and When a Man Needs a Woman are charming little songs, and they’re also basically the last chance to hear Brian Wilson in his youthful vocal glory. 20/20 (1969) contains some pretty good tunes, too.

Sunflower (1970) is fab. There’s again lots of soul and it really fits The Boys. On this album the sound of the band has really changed: it’s not the 60s anymore. Dennis Wilson shows his talent on Slip on Through and Gotta Know the Woman. Deirdre, Add Some Music to Your Day, and Our Sweet Love are also awesome.
What is also great about The Beach Boys is that there still is lots of music to discover! The 70s stuff isn’t probably nearly as perfect as the stuff from 1963 to 1970, but there must be some real gems. Also, this story ends now. I will congratulate anyone who reads this whole writing. It’s too long, again..
The Beach Boys Official Website

Cars Magic

The Cars’ fifth album Heartbeat City (1984) has appeared to be much easier to get into than Panorama (1980) or Shake It up (1981). Those albums surely contain some awesome stuff, but at this moment I find Heartbeat City a bit more enjoyable.

Heartbeat City is a real 80s record with extremely loud drum sounds and lots of synthesizer. At first it is a bit tough with those drums. They’re so… big. But you’ll get used to them. And when you start listening to these tracks, you’ll forget the entire drums and focus on the great melodies and all the magic instead.

Heartbeat City is an impressive mixture of darkness and light. There are darker songs like Hello Again, Stranger Eyes, and It's Not the Night, and brighter songs like Looking for Love, Magic, and You Might Think. Finally, there’s Drive. (What should I say about that song...) Well, it surely is very good. On the other hand, it’s a bit sad that it’s the only Cars song people hear these days, because radios (at least in Finland) don’t seem to play any other songs from this amazing band. The Cars deserve to be treated better by Finnish radio.

All in all, this album is excellent. All songs are very good in every way. I especially enjoy Ric Ocasek’s quirky vocal style. On this album Ocasek’s vocals are even more delightful than on earlier Cars albums, I think. It’s pretty amazing how sweet and pretty it can get when singing in new wave style!

More Cars blabber will certainly come later (I think I’ll talk about something else for a change, too…).

The Cars at MySpace

Hey, Show Some Love! You Ain’t so Tough!

British The Feeling really impressed me with their debut album Twelve Stops and Home (2006). I started listening to it for some reason.. I guess I wanted to check out some new pop that came out that year. A couple of listens later I was hooked and unable to stop listening to this beautiful pop piece that seemed to fit my summer and early autumn perfectly with its genuine happiness and melancholy. Something about the whole of this music sounded very familiar, but it wasn’t really power pop. It was 21st century soft rock.

These songs really are something! The extremely well produced and chirpy vocals on I Want You Now are irresistible. All in all, it’s an exceptionally happy and fresh song. The same is mostly true of Never Be Lonely and Fill My Little World. The latter is probably my favourite song from this album. You can’t go wrong with its happy and sad feel, and those extremely sweet vocals.

There’s basically nothing wrong with this album. All songs might not cause enormous bursts of euphoria, but there certainly are no fillers. Kettle’s on is charming, Anyone is beautifully melancholic, Strange continues being melancholic, and also deals with some good thoughts about not being ashamed of oneself. Same Old Stuff and Helicopter are awesome. In the end of the song, Helicopter turns into something complete different – sounds like Radiohead ’95, very good, I’d say! Blue Piccadilly ends the album perfectly. Sounds like Queen/Jellyfish (I’m not complaining, not at all!)

The new album (Join With Us, 2008) that recently came out also appears to be very good. The Feeling’s sound has become a bit bigger and warmer, and now includes violins. Those beautiful piano patterns take control in some songs, again. It’s also a very strong album: no particularly weak tracks on it. Without You was love at first hearing. The beautiful yearning for London is stunning and heartfelt. Dan Gillespie Sells is also a great singer with a friendly and warm voice.

The first single, I Thought It Was Over, is obviously great, and despite its disco beat it really sounds different from that 2000s “new wave” disco pop. At this moment, some of my other favourite songs include Turn It Up, and Won't Go Away.

The Feeling has been very successful. The first album peaked at #2 and Join with Us was already #1. Their music has obviously got some serious airplay (in 2006, their songs were played in the UK radios once in every five minutes!). Good for them, it’s always nice when hard work is rewarded.

The Feeling official Website

The Cars Rule

I have barely listened to anything else but The Cars during the past week. I love that stuff. Their music videos are also cool (some of them totally hilarious!), so I’ve spent some quality time on YouTube, too.

As a power pop fan I’ve naturally focused first on The Cars’ early records. The debut album (The Cars, 1978) is awesome. My Best Friend's Girl, Good Times Roll, You're All I've Got Tonight, Bye Bye Love – it’s impossible to dislike these songs. Just What I Needed is also one of the greatest songs ever. This material is mostly basic power pop: nothing too complicated, excellent songs and melodies, solid singing and playing.

Moving in Stereo is a very interesting, yet catchy song with Benjamin Orr utilizing his low vocals nicely. Songwriter Ric Ocasek also provides several songs with his quirky but extremely enjoyable vocals. Greg Hawkes’s synth lines and Elliot Easton’s solo guitar work decorate the album. Then there are of course those huge Queen-like harmonies that producer Roy Thomas Baker (who had actually produced several albums for Queen) wanted to be added to the album. Those harmonies are of course great. Seriously, who doesn’t like layered multipart harmonies? (Yeah, ok, some people.. Maybe.)

This self-titled debut album is pretty much as good as everyone claims it to be. Still, I’m not really sure if it actually is The Cars’ best. For some reason, I seem to love their second album Candy-O (1979) even more than its predecessor. Maybe that’s because Candy-O contains a bit more emotion-appealing songs, and it’s also weirder as an album. (Nice cover art, btw...)

The opening track of Candy-O is Let’s Go, a nice party song with handclaps. Then comes Since I Held You, a song whose chorus reminds me of The Flamin’ Groovies. It’s a very nice and beautiful song. All I Can Do is also very lovely. Double Life, Got a Lot on My Head (that nearly sounds like an unnoticed power pop classic), and Dangerous Type are also very good songs.

Shoo Be Doo is something very strange that appears in the middle of the album. It’s a very short song, and it sounds like Joy Division or something like that (JD’s awesome, btw!). Shoo Be Doo’s weird, but I like it. Title track follows it, sounding excellent. In that song and Night Spots this album really begins to show some darker feel. I haven’t really thought about it before, but yeah, Candy-O is darker than The Cars’ first album. Great albums, both of them!

Also, I have to say that I’m totally fond of the Complete Greatest Hits CD. I don’t tend to like greatest hits albums, but this is an exception. All 20 songs on it are perfect. I would replace one or two songs with some others but it’s not such a big thing. It’s a nice feeling when you can’t stop listening to the album until the final track, the wonderful You Are the Girl.

My next assignment: listen to the rest of The Cars’ albums. I’ve already listened to Heartbeat City (1984), but I’ll discuss that later. This post is already too long..

The Cars at MySpace

My First Video Post!

It surely is an attractive one... I really wanted to check this video thing, so I thought it'd be nice to try it out with The Cars. This is The Cars performing at Live Aid in 1985 in front of like 2 billion people (or something). I really don't think any power pop classic song has ever been performed in front of a bigger audience than this (or has it?).

Just What I Needed is an amazing song. I'm completely into The Cars at the moment. They were a wonderful pop band.

It's good to see you again too, Ben...

Picture This

One of my recent new wave-related musical interests is Blondie. The reason why I originally started listening to Parallel Lines (1978) was that I felt the urge to listen to some famous classic pop (not always those wonderful and mind-blowing indie powerpop bands that no one has ever heard of…).

The album starts with a wonderful version of The Nerves’ Hanging on the Telephone. The rest of the album is equally good. It’s easy to love albums like this: excellent songs from beginning to end, great vocals and playing, beautiful melodies, and some nice powerpop kick-ass feel. Many people would probably regard this music as some sort of punk, but it’s only because they haven’t been introduced to the wonderful concept of power pop... Parallel Lines is power pop (and new wave).

This album is filled with great new wave-style keyboards that I’ve recently learned to love even more than before. Debbie Harry is also one singer master. He sings everything exactly how it’s meant to be sung. She always impresses me with her vocals - be it mysterious like Fade Away and Radiate, extremely beautiful like Pretty Baby, impish like One Way or Another, or just happy and cheerful like I'm Gonna Love You Too.

Other songs worth mentioning are 11:59 that features an amazing organ solo, Picture This that is again very pretty, and the disco classic Heart Of Glass that matches surprisingly good with these new wave power pop tunes.

And, again, I have no idea what Blondie’s other albums are like because I haven’t listened to them yet. I’ll do that when I have time (and when I’ve finished listening to those 100 billion other bands I intend to check out…) On the other hand, everyone seems to think Parallel Lines is Blondie’s best album, and I would say that it really seems good enough to be like any band’s best album.

Blondie on MySpace