The one hundred and seventy-first TV show: #182 The Stone Tape
As it is nearly Halloween, it felt appropriate to watch a spooky story. The BBC production of the 1970s were actually broadcast around Christmas, but to our modern viewing it feels as appropriate to watch these now, especially as the end of December already has so many other viewing traditions.
The story of The Stone Tape involves proper ghosts and images from the past, but the way it approaches them is different. Rather than having any doubt or disbelief, the characters get on board quite quickly and instead take a far more scientific approach to trying to understand the phenomenon and, in this case, to exploit it. Things escalate from there as the phenomenon defies explanation, as the tension builds and keeps moving throughout. It's a good ninety minutes of tension that remains highly effective even now we're nearly fifty years on.
The three hundred and eighteenth album: #318 10CC - Sheet Music
While Sheet Music reaches for the avant garde in some of its tracks, others clearly reach for the pop side of things and end up in what I was starting to call bubblegum rock - simple, accessible, but without much staying power. It's not that I got nothing out of it, but it feels like an album that wants to break away from rock but can't quite do it yet. There's just not enough here to become meaningful.
The three hundred and seventeenth album: #317 Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Coming back to the list, we're kicking off with Queen's glam rock. Again the tracks are harder than you'd expect based on Queen's popular songs, but while Killer Queen here shows off the direction they're known for, the real rock tracks are more memorable and fun to listen to. There are places where the harmonies in the vocals shine, places where multi track recordings add that layer, but in all these cases you can tell that the live performance would be just as good. It stands as a whole album not because of pure throughlines, but because the balance of the songs seems just right, adding some experiments in the mix while still having good rock tracks and an emotional ballad, while showing off their skill at other sounds as well. As a finished, complete product, it holds up really well.
The ninety-third book: #1015 Persuasion - Jane Austen
I have to ask myself whether part of the reason I've been struggling with really getting back into the books list are the romance novels of this era. I've enjoyed Austen well in her earlier works, but for some reason Persuasion didn't connect. Part of that might be is because, as with Mansfield Park, our protagonist doesn't feel as involved in the narrative of the start of the work, and the destitution storyline feels like something we've seen before, while dealing with stubborn characters I didn't connect with. I never quite got caught up and the romance story, usually such a strong throughline, fell by the wayside in favour of family issues I didn't really feel. The work tries, sure, but it never quite grabbed me, and so the pay offs that are there didn't reach me either.