Something/Anything sides

[Reactionary Rage]

Side one: A Bouquet of Ear-catching Melodies

No. Title Length

1. "I Saw the Light" 2:56

2. "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" 3:50

3. "Wolfman Jack" 2:54

4. "Cold Morning Light" 3:55

5. "It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls)" 2:41

6. "Sweeter Memories" 3:36

Total length: 20:52


Side two: The Cerebral Side

No. Title Length

1. "Intro" 1:11

2. "Breathless" 3:15

3. "The Night the Carousel Burnt Down" 4:29

4. "Saving Grace" 4:12

5. "Marlene" 3:54

6. "Song of the Viking" 2:35

7. "I Went to the Mirror" 4:05

Total length: 23:41


Side three: The Kid Gets Heavy

No. Title Length

1. "Black Maria" 5:20

2. "One More Day (No Word)" 3:43

3. "Couldn't I Just Tell You" 3:34

4. "Torch Song" 2:52

5. "Little Red Lights" 4:53

Total length: 20:22


Side four: Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)

No. Title Length

1. "Overture–My Roots"

"Money (That's What I Want)" (Janie Bradford, Berry Gordy, Jr.)

"Messin' with the Kid" (Mel London)"

2:29

2. "Dust in the Wind" (Mark Klingman) 3:49

3. "Piss Aaron" 3:26

4. "Hello It's Me" 4:42

5. "Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me" 3:56

6. "You Left Me Sore" 3:13

7. "Slut" 4:03


4 is the weakest and I doubt few would disagree but there is still gold on there.  The first three are tremendous though and all have their own thing going on.  Pick just one and feel free to expand of course...

[loveless]

It kills me not to vote for the "pot psych" of Side Two (which is quite special - "Carousel" is kind of the center of all that for me), but the front loaded Side One is really unbeatable ("It Wouldn't..." and "Cold Morning Light"...fuck yes!).

[Reactionary Rage]

Side one is pure pop magic. I Saw The Light is an ageless classic. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference is beautiful. Wolfman Jack is my jam! He's really making this shit look effortless like all the greats do when they're at their peak.

Side two adds some mondo weirdness. Breathless is a ritalin rush of synths and bonkers joanna that sounds like something out of a speeded up cowboy movie. The Night The Carousel Burnt Down is stunning and that instrumental breakdown! It's like Mr Kite on quaaludes. Saving Grace and Marlene are as sweet as anything on side one. The latter especially really captures a prom night innocence that only sparkles brighter as the years go by and middle age cynicism encroaches. Was love ever really this pure? Song of The Viking is his best Gilbert and sullivan inspired number. I Went To The Mirror is the mid trip downer, the moment when you make the mistake on staring at yourself in the mirror on drugs and are faced with the reality that this shell you inhabit is one day gonna get old and die (maybe of course you then leave the shell behind, wouldn't that be something?) and that fade when they get heavy leads neatly onto side three (he wasn't just throwing this shit together folks). My personal favourite. Black Maria. Fuck yeah. One More Day kicks Macca's arse. Couldn't I Just Tell You is powerpop as it should always be rather than the disappointing reality of what it mostly is and that acoustic breakdown is magnificent (the sound of the acoustics really capture the vintage power of Townshend at his 60s finest; think Tommy, Substitute). A copy of Torch Song should have been sent up with Voyager.

Side 4 is a bit of let down but then it still has Hello It's Me and Slut which I adore. Piss Aaron is one of those Rundgren jokes that falls flat. You can't have everything though.

Flaws n all though, it's a helluva thing.

[Admin]

3

quite clearly

[Charlie O.]

Feb 8, 2019 11:13:16 GMT Reactionary Rage said:

4 is the weakest and I doubt few would disagree but there is still gold on there.

Yes.

I voted for 2 just to keep things even.

[loveless]

I'm listening now, as inspired by this thread.

My sort of "big reveal" with this record took place about 20 years ago in a place called Farnham (it's still there! - See?). I still had a cassette Walkman, and - while there for several months working - I had the sort of jetlagged mojo that allowed me to go walking in the country for an hour or so every morning before everyone else came down to breakfast. These beautiful, green, sunny, dewy, undisturbed morning walks...I'm not sure I can recommend any other means of digging into a double album with quite the same enthusiasm.

It's a rich record with some depth, some phenomenal sequences, and just...there's so much there (he was good before, but this is definitely a butterfly shedding its chrysalis). His love songs all have this gorgeous vulnerability and...there's just not even a shred of triteness.

It keeps on giving, too - there's things like the whole (as I hear it) "fighting an unwinnable war" romantic fatigue of "It Wouldn't..." ("You just didn't love me enough not to look for a reason to be unhappy with me, and make me regret ever wanting you." - It's an oddly specific "star crossed scenario" that he's narrating, and it may have been the last [or next to last] gasp of a certain magical innocence in both the author and the work).

[loveless]

"Intro" is something I tolerate at best...

[Reactionary Rage]

And to think he played everything on the first three sides as well.

That's really something

[Sneelock]

Side 3. I like the kid when he gets heavy. I’m sure I’ve listened to “couldn’t I just tell you” more than any other single track.

[Charlie O.]

Feb 8, 2019 16:03:14 GMT Sneelock said:

I’m sure I’ve listened to “couldn’t I just tell you” more than any other single track.

It's the first thing I ever heard by him. My older brother taped it off the radio (8-track!). Still a big favorite.

[loveless]

Feb 8, 2019 15:54:14 GMT Reactionary Rage said:

And to think he played everything on the first three sides as well.

Well. yeah - and it really is essential to the whole "parallel universe" quality of this music.

People like McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Prince (I'm sure there's some other very obvious "one man band" types I'm leaving out) have their own sort of "musical planets" that they create: Todd's is no less singular.