1001 Albums 491-505: Life's Too Good - Locust Abortion Technician

Note: Well this swings us back in the opposite direction of the last group.

Life’s Too Good (1988) by the Sugarcubes
Life Thru A Lens (1997) by Robbie Williams
Like A Prayer (1989) by Madonna
Like Water For Chocolate (2000) by Common
Liquid Swords (1995) by Genius/GZA

First Five at a Glance: Outside of the title track and Express Yourself, I don’t know much off the Madonna album, but the book calls it the best pop album since Revolver. Some the description almost makes me want to check out some of the non-singles. Like a Prayer probably is the Madonna tune I like the most. I actually remember when Robbie Williams started getting play on MTV2. It’s not terrible music, just not sure its anything I really have to hear before I die. The Sugarcubes were that band that launched Icelandic queen Bjork. My thank you for that must have got lost in the mail. In a coincidence, Common’s lead singer Femi Kuti is the son of Feli Kuti, who appears in the next five songs. Like Water For Chocolate is more rap, hip hop, mixed with African beats and with cameos from Mos Def and others. Liquid Swords is an offshoot of the Wu Tang Clan. Supposed to be really good, but I don’t that much about rap.

An aside rant concerning Robbie Williams critic writer: Why is it every UK artist must come to terms with their success and their, “working class” roots. It’s every freaking one of them. You don’t hear that expression much with American artists. In fact, many embrace their roots (mostly country and rap musicians). But the damn British have to come to terms with it. I think it’s because John Lennon wrote “Working Class Hero,” now every damn one of them pay homage to him with bogus melodrama. In all seriousness, it’s lazy writing. Lazy.

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990) by George Michael
A Little Deeper (2002) by Ms. Dynamite
Little Earthquakes (1992) By Tori Amos
Live 1966 (1998) by Bob Dylan
Live! (1971) by Fela Ransome-Kuti and the Africa ’70 with Ginger Baker


Second Five at a Glance: George Michael came out in 1990, it just took the rest of the world a decade to figure it out. This album tanked as he moved away from the pop sound of Wham! and tried to become a “serious” artist. He did collaborate with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on the tune “Waiting For That Day.” Ms. Dynamite is a British female rapper. Ok. I’ve never really liked Tori Amos music. I decided to give it another listen and report that my opinion really hasn’t changed. The Bob Dylan album sounds like it would be an interesting listen as it documents the backlash he incurred from plugging in. Might have to check that out. Ginger Baker (of Cream fame) plays on “Live!” an African album. The album has four tracks and is a mix of funk and jazz.

Live and Dangerous (1978) by Thin Lizzy
Live At the Witch Trials (1979) by The Fall
Live/Dead (1969) by The Grateful Dead
Live Through This (1994) by Hole
Locust Abortion Technician (1987) by Butthole Surfers

Third Five at a Glance: The Thin Lizzy album is an interesting case because it boasts being live while admittedly it was almost entirely touched up and rerecorded in a studio. Still, I love Jailbreak, so I have a hard time dumping on this being on here. The Fall seem like a band that I should know, but can’t place. They have the sound of a precursor to Franz Ferdinand. Might be worth checking out. Live/Dead was the first time the Dead were able to translate their live energy into a recording. It set the blueprint for things to come both for them as a band and for other jam bands of the future. There’s some debate as to how much of the Hole album can be credited to Courtney Love and how much can be credited to Kurt Cobain. Either way, I don’t that much from this album although I’ve always tended to like stuff from Hole so long as it doesn’t get too screamy. The name Butthole Surfers always jumped out at album stores for obvious reasons, but I’ve never listened to them, until now. It’s a strange collection of punk music mingled with random sounds. Not sure what to make of it yet.

The Goods: Like a Prayer, Live 1966, Live/Dead

Something to check out: I think the live Dylan album would be cool. Maybe The Fall is worth a try.

Verdict: I am not real wild about this group. I know 9 of the 15 groups, but most those that I know I am not that big a fan of. This group had a tough task following last week and it came up way short.