The five hundred and fiftieth album: #550 Tears For Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
That this album features both Shout and Everybody Wants To Rule the Earth says it all - anthemmy songs with a clear chorus and some memorable lines. It's catchy, but with an ominous undertone at times that feels like it reflects the state of the world at that time, with its cold war allusions. It's still got a lot of variety, with some good ballads, but on the whole it's the energy that makes it work so well.
The five hundred and fourty-ninth album: #549 A-ha - Hunting High and Low
I can't say how good of a pick-up song Take On Me is - there's a flowing energy to the track that is enough to wake you up without being too much. The tracks that follow move towards being a bit gentler - Hunting High and Low a lot closer to a ballad - but the synth pop backing works well in all of the tracks even if it is't as captive as the first track and its chorus, with The Sun Always Shines on T.V. being one of the bigger highlights later in the album for me. Lyrically, it's the slower, more ballad-like songs that are more interesting, but on the whole it's all simple enough to understand - especially with the Scandinavian songwriting slant.
The two hundredth classical recording: #658 Charles Ives - Symphony no. 4
There is a grandioseness in the set up of this symphony, which requires a massive orchestra with two conductors to play at its chaotic peaks. It starts off strong and majestic, a chorus providing the final structure to a big opening, but with its second movement, comedy, descends into a multitude of sounds whose chaos at times feels more like a cacophony than a focused sound. The worst of it doesn't stay for too long, eventually slowly reducing into a violin solo until that, too, gets overwhelmed by a pile of sound. The third movement becomes significantly more peaceful than that, the fugue producing a contemplative piece that rests the complexities it has in a clearer, less overwhelming presentation. This carries through to the imposing finale that takes its time but retains its full force of impact, until its slow and subtle winding down. It's a strong, impactful piece that feels good.
The one hundred and seventeenth book: #89 The Lion of Flanders - Hendrik Conscience
I was obviously able to read this in its near original version, with Flemish just updated to fix some spelling but otherwise pretty much readable. It feels outdated that way and was trickier to get into just from that - similar to the English language titles from a century or two earlier. The specific history is quite interesting, even if it feels some of it is manufactured. The courtly intrigues that lead up to it aren't always as interesting, but the action of the final fight is quite exciting and on the whole the story pans out quite interesting, especially having some context but not as much as to recognise everything.
The five hundred and fourty-eighth album: #548 Abdullah Ibrahim - Water from an Ancient Well
Water from an Ancient Well is ultimately a jazz album. One that's pretty well executed, but with little deeper meaning and not much structure that I felt I could work with, it became fairly plain. I think I mostly missed a mood in the pieces, something it tries to lead you to even if it's not an explicit text. It's fine, really good in place, but nothing made me love it.
The five hundred and fourty-seventh album: #547 The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace
I feel like I'm facing a bit of a learning curve with This Nation's Saving Grace. I see a number of good things in the music, where I've enjoyed post punk albums before, but at the same time it doesn't feel like it's hitting all the spots I was expecting it to. Some tracks seem deliberately off putting, I Am Damo Suzuki feeling especially strange in that regard. There's something nice in this album, but it felt like it was pushing me away deliberately at times.
The one hundred and ninety-ninth classical recording: #632 Manuel de Falla - Siete Canciones populares Españolas
This shorter piece is a collection of traditional song arranged for piano and soprano. It's intentionally sparse, but with the nature of the songs that works well. They're good, quite nice to listen to and they feel they work as a really intimate performance.
The five hundred and fourty-sixth album: #546 Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
This album leads off with its title track, a misunderstood album that works well in context. It's followed by a number of rock songs in a similar vein - working class stories, looking at the world around them and at those who are richer. A number of them are a similar sort of anthem, but some lean towards a bit more of a ballad or country rock song. The tone of the lyrics, however, are part of what pulls it away from there for me, focusing on quite a different political direction.
The five hundred and fourty-fifth album: #545 Youssou N'Dour - Immigres
It's always a pleasant surprise to get an album on world music, something that comes from outside the standard studios in the US and Europe. Immigres takes Senegalese music and fuses it with a Latin influence, creating something that has a lot of swing but adds on a heavy melodic percussion element that heightens the feelings of that music. It's pretty engaging and energetic, and a really good album to listen to on an early morning.
The one hundred and ninety-eighth classical recording: #419 Gabriel Faure - Piano Quartets 1 & 2
This collection of quartets comes in with a lot of energy, the piano being very engaging while drawing in the other instruments for their moments to shine. It's got its moods, the second quartets going from an excitable first movement to a more sinister second, but really keeping up the momentum in the music.