The eighty-sixth comic: #449 Akira
I knew of Akira through the movie adaptation before the manga, probably like most, and coming at a comic from that angle is interesting. Having seen its post apocalyptic world animated prepared me for a number of the beats - mostly at the start and end of the work, which follow similar beats. They set up a destroyed Tokyo after a big explosion, the military research program that goes in with them, and at the end it tracks some parts. It looks like that end was written after the movie was made - an ending that feels relatively abrupt following the longer exploration of the shows, and it's hard not to feel Katsuhiro Otomo was done with the series at that point
What lies in between those two sections are arguably as interesting, if not more so. While we start in a dystopian Neo Tokyo run as a police state, with gangs roaming the street, we see the government driven out in favour of a regime led by Tetsuo as a supernatural force, with the titular Akira as a figurehead. He doesn't necessarily have as active a role in the story, but there's that doubt in the background on how much control he exerts indirectly when we find out he could communicate telepathically.
It takes its time, working out the many battles and the ebb and flow of power in the former capital, while at the same time Americans (or an international force) come in to take back the capital as well. Several factions are at play, and while we never get a scene of them coming together, there's a lot to keep track of there that switches who gets to do what. In the end, though, that fades away for the ultimate battle, but the lead up to it is tense and interesting enough. It's a great mix of places, shifting from a gritty gang dominated world to a Mad Max style world, resolving itself in a body horror disaster movie with art that seems to move in my mind as I see it, drawn that fluidly.
Slightly rushed ending aside - it feels like it drops a couple of threads in favour of an ending that reinforces the dystopian nature - it's an interesting journey to go on with several characters, seeing them grow and build in this world, without a great attempt to improve or fix it - it's to exist and make a good place for yourself while helping others. There's an independence in it that's fascinating, and a slight bleakness that it can't quite overcome.
The two hundred and fourty-fifth album: #245 Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
Sometimes you don't really realise what you're missing in the albums until you hear them, and Steely Dan is just hitting that spot - a pleasant soft rock album, nothing extravagant but just cruising along to a gentle sound. That doesn't mean there's no energy to the performance - it's there, and something like Reelin' In The Years really adds some pep to your step, but it's not as extravagant. The poppy sound, with some country influences, is incredibly pleasant to listen to and I'd happily have kept it on for longer.
It sounds like this is a sound that might get more elaborate, and I've got three more albums to see how it goes, but at this point the lack of big production, a focus on simpler lyrics and sounds, is welcome.
The two hundred and fourty-fourth album: #244 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4
Did I mention yet that we've reached the era of heavy metal? Sure, this album features a ballad in Changes, more sensitive songs scored with piano and mellotron, and a weird experiment in the form of FX (I can only assume drugs were involved in that one). The majority are what you expect - loud guitars, heavy drums, and Ozzy Ozbourne's almost shouted, strained vocals that almost seem to struggle to get on top.
Heavy metal is a music style I need to be in the mood for, and I certainly prefer lighter rock than this, but it feels like this album walks the line quite well. It gets a bit much for me sometimes, but there's enough of a flow to it that the sound doesn't grow tiresome. I know it's a genre that's still early, and I'm more looking forward to how it evolves, but it needs the more deliberate choices and darkness of Under the Sun more than the comparatively generic St. Vitus Dance.
The ninety-fifth classical recording: #275 Vincenzo Bellini - I Puritani
My day today is dominated, as far as listening is concerned, by a three hour opera, in Italian of course, about the English Civil War. Of course, with my focus on the music rather than the visuals, a lot of this does tend to escape me, but often musically a lot comes through.
While other operas can be fairly jubilant in places, with a tendency to 'go big', it feels like here there's more of a focus on the solos and the smaller, personal sounds, often dropping music to let the vocalists stand, with a violin punctuating it instead. The lack of the chorus in those places really makes them feel more personal, even more when the soloists get the focus over the more complex interplay, and it feels more of a case of the music supporting the text than you would see in other operas. It's a great piece from that perspective - feeling unique without really losing your interest during the three hours.
The two hundred and fourty-third album: Big Star - #1 Record
With the rock world at this point dominated by glam rock and the start of metal, with big instruments and hard guitars, the simpler rock of Big Star stands out, foreshadowing later bands doing the same. These are the gentler ballads like Thirteen, which have a slight folk influence but mostly come out as a lovelier explanation. Then there's Don't Lie To Me, which feels like a throwback at this point but sticks through a simpler garage rock style.
While I've never heard of the band before, it feels like this is setting up a lot of what will follow - not exactly back to basics, but something that goes back to a focus on the music and lyrics. I'm obviously only seeing that from a snapshot - others would have done the same, but it feels like a good album for it nevertheless.
The two hundred and fourty-second album: #242 Deep Purple - Machine Head
We saw the previous Deep Purple album as a starting point of heavy metal and there's no doubt that this album really puts us there. There are prog rock elements in here, with what feels like a showy performance, but it also has the driving riffs, the loud bass and aggressive guitar. The lyrics are what you'd expect from that - some time has gone into them, but none of them feel like they'll change the world either, with few deep meanings to discover. They are, in that sense, more accessible.
Between the extended solos and other jams, the album long tracks tend to lose their identity sometimes. When you get the core riffs and moments, they're at their strongest, but unfortunately they do meander sometimes to the point where they get lost when they do so. I can see that being fine for a casual listen, but it doesn't work as much for me when I want to focus on an album.
The ninety-fourth classical recording: #453 Reynaldo Hahn - Melodies
As a sign that we're listening to a prodigy, the collection of melodies we listened to contained some written when he was fourteen. These songs set existing poems to music, an exercise that means only a piano accompanies work with the flourishes being in the vocals. One of the things that happens is that we get almost a modern album, with a baritone singing several songs that otherwise feel like classical works.
It's a varied set of pieces, as you can expect from a number of works put together, but what shines through is how they build on a simple melody, letting the words shine through and emphasizing their emotion. It's simple, but very effective.
The two hundred and fourty-first album: #241 Randy Newman - Sail Away
It's hard to ignore how much of a throwback this album feels to be in places, with Lonely at the Top feeling like a track that could have been in Sinatra's repertoire and others throwing back to older gospel music influences. The short length of most sense feels like they contribute as well, so there are more jumps between stylings - there's an electric guitar in Last Night I Had A Dream, which is followed by Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear, which plays purely on the piano and which I can imagine a performer singing sat at the piano in a 1920s music hall performance.
Even so, these were all composed and written by Randy Newman himself, here recording new material and songs he'd written for others in the past. When he's able to get out there with his own material, a sarcastic hint in some of the best (to me) like Political Science, that really works in making a point while really inhabiting a character. While the music can feel older, the lyrics are more often of a contemporary nature. They're worth listening to and paying attention to, as that's what really enhances and makes the album.