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| From | "Stuart Kazanow" <mumford67@msn.com> |
| Subject | America and Japan |
| Date | Tue, 4 Feb 2003 00:20:36 -0500 |
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A friend threw me a free copy of the America's "Greatest Hits" CD today.
Haven't listened to anything by the band in years, and decided to give it a
spin.
Its amazing how much I still enjoy the stuff, especially given how bad it
is lyrically. I'm not just talking bad, as in a banal sort of way, but in
more of an Ed Wood style. Phrasing that just makes no sense...concepts that
turn on themselves. At times its both painful and hysterical.
Take this winner from "A Horse With No Name:"
In the desert, you can remember your name
For there ain't no one for to give you no pain
or this one from "Tin Man:"
And cause never was the reason for the evening
Or the tropic of Sir Galahad.
Or this mind blower from "Ventura Highway:"
Oh a free wind is blowing through your hair
And the day surrounds your daylight there
Seasons cryin' no despair
Alligator lizards in the air..in the air
One after another....just the worst imaginable lyrics ever written. 45
minutes later I found myself much more forgiving of Neil Diamond and the
"chair."
But musically, it still worked and the production by George Martin, while
not at Beatles standards, was still enjoyable. Plus "Sister Golden Hair"
was still as catchy as ever.
And I guess...sometimes that's enough.
On a similar note, I just got to hear the import of the new release by
Puffy, "Nice." Most days, I'm guessing that I should probably be glad that
I have no idea what these girls are singing about, but it wouldn't matter
anyway.
Here are twelve more great contributions from Puffy, tamio Okuda and Andy
Sturmer. And it seems that their recent US tour must have had some effect on
them, because the songs have a crunchier sound to them, as if they had been
listening to OK Go or the Hives quite a bit while touring.
Fans of the band should make an effort to hunt this one down.
Oh well, back to singin' and jinglin' the jango....
Stuart
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