The one hundred tenth TV show: #891 Game of Thrones

As it was getting closer, it made sense to discuss this show as the final episode aired. As a reader of the books before I started watching - almost making a point of that - I probably watched it differently than most, down to questioning some characters more than others might have done (and so being less surprised at certain later decisions). I saw some of the shocking moments coming, and was able to speculate on them before the show only viewers did, and for me it enhanced the series.

It's hard to argue that the show was uneven in places - a few characters might have turned out a bit miscast, but so many others, especially the younger, grew so much more than we expected. The later's seasons rush to get through felt unnecessary, but the series delight in taking time with its characters, exploring them and explaining what they want and what they're like was delightful. Sure, there's some good action, but in the end that's not where this show excels. The verbal jousting, especially with some of the heavyweight actors, stands out, and in part that's because they feel like such fully realized characters.

The show doesn't, for me, focus just on the amazing moments - there are some there and I didn't see all of them coming - but works because it takes its time to explore what happens after, faltering when it doesn't take that time, and that's the lesson more shows should take from it.

The one hundred thirty-sixth album: #136 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere

One of the things I've been struggling with when doing some of these list write ups is whether "a good album" or "a good game" is enough to go with. Part of the things I expect from the list is that it isn't just the 1001 best - it's the ones you have to experience because they offer you something different. You don't add all the Beatles albums because they're the best, you offer the best of those, and focus on what other bands do well in that era.

However, you do get an album like this, which is just a good rock album. It's well written, well performed, and the long jam-like numbers are a pleasure to listen to, not wearing out their welcome despite their length (something I'm more comfortable with for an album than I would be listening to individual songs). I can't tell you what makes it unique, though, or give you a moment that stands out.

The sixty-sixth book: #55 Caleb Williams - William Godwin

Hmmm. So this novel is trying to make a point about British justice in the 18th century, how wealth and power influenced how everything went and how everyone treated you, and how the justice systems could ruin people's lives, send them into a downwards spiral as they can't get back up, and how corruption could appear easily. It's a good point, and the author is fond of making his point using flowery language that obscure the point he's trying to make - I missed several important plot points that way, because they felt buried in long speeches. It's a good effort, but ultimately I don't think the author quite gets to make the point he wants to make.

The one hundred ninth TV show: #750 Heroes

Watching the third season of Heroes for this write up - the one where I must have stopped watching originally - it's hard to see what made the show so good. I guess some of it might have been that superheroes were mostly forgotten in popular culture originally, when this brought it back, while superhero shows are more common now. At the same time, the original was a mature, grown up drama that explored the issues that would arise from this, figuring out how it all fits in. It feels like the frequency of resets was probably a big issue - it seems like time travel is an excuse to show big scenes that don't impact the plot - but at the same time, it went from being relatively small powers that need to be hidden to an escalation where everything got bigger and more action focused. Likeable characters got annoying and the reluctance to kill off people that ought to be doesn't help. I know Sylar makes for a great character, but the constant turns in the character got exhausting.

I struggle to put up with it now. The characters are gone. The spectacle and extra characters dominate too much. It's boring, and it wasn't that before. The first season is convincing and a good set piece. Just realise it won't carry on.

The sixty-third comic: #310 Yoko Tsuno

Although I grew up with Belgian adventure stories, the likes of Spirou and Suzke en Wiske, Yoko Tsuno never crossed my path. It's a bit of a surprise, as this fits in with the magazines I used to read - to the point where I think I might have just missed out on the right issues a few times.

Here, our main protagonist is Yoko Tsuno, a Japanese electrical engineer who is skilled in a remarkably large number of things. Most of the stories deal with some sci fi element - about a third covering the alien Vineans, a number of time travel stories and some elixyrs of life and the stuff. There are some more natural adventures as well, where it's merely some advanced robotics that rule the day, although the series starts to enjoy using the sci fi elements to create plots, rather than hinging as much of it. Still, the most interesting parts are the historic stories or those set in the real world, in lovely locales. The cities are well researched and the areas really look lovely.

The cast is pretty strong - early on especially, the core three work well, although the ever growing group can be a bit too much sometimes and I wish we wouldn't have as many of the later characters show up constantly. Still, it's well done, and some of the contemporary stories are great mysteries that are out there. Just, maybe, when avoiding some of the Vinean stories.

The one hundred thirty-fifth album: #135 The Mothers of Invention - We're Only In It For The Money

While I wasn't keen on the start of the Mothers of Invention's first album, the third album starts off better. It starts off weirdly - an ASMR-like section first that leads into some decent rock. We Don't Need the Peace Corps sends up hippies and their uninformed beliefs with a rant that feels semi-improvised. It goes on a lot like that - while this is psychedlic rock, it feels like it critiques a lot of those who would be into that music. It's mostly about caring about it - parodying shallow followers who mostly just say the words.

It's a critique that doesn't strike hard because of the distance we have from it. Musically then it sounds weird and experimental, modern (post modern even, in the sense that it examines and critiques the music) and sometimes questionable, but there's something undeniable interesting about the music they makewhen it tries to be good, it's good, but sometimes it just doesn't want to be. Almost like the rebelling, questioning teenager they seem to try to be.

The one hundred eighth TV show: #81 The Judy Garland Show

We've been getting a couple of episodes of this show in, a variety show that for the most part focuses on the songs by Judy Garland and her guests, punctuated by occasional conversations and short sketches. It's not the most complicated formula, and as you'd expect relies heavily on the charisma of the host.

And the best parts of the show are when Judy Garland can be herself - performing a great song, doing a monologue about her time in showbusiness (the trunk sections show she's a good storyteller and they lead into songs well) or enjoying everyone around. It's probably partially faked, sure, but it feels like she's having a good time when she's on stage and it really makes her come across well.

Where it gets marred is when the show feels the need to put her down. While it's not Jerry van Dyke's fault, the segments he's in tend to drag the show down - there's nothing funny about the way they keep putting her down in it, and some of it drags too long anyway. He doesn't stick around, but the Christmas special especially shows how charming Judy can be when she gets the chance to do what she seemed to love doing (and enjoy it when others are doing the same)

The one hundred thirty-fourth album: #134 The Beatles - White Album

Where the Beatles' previous albums consisted of good songs, there's something more self aware about the White Album. There are self aware references like in Glass Onion, but even something like Dear Prudence seem more aimed at their own circumstances than before, delving deeper than they might have done before. And Revolution 9 is just... out there. Of course, that's not universal, and Ob-La-Di is closer to the original type of songs, but the lyrics and wait it's sung feels like it mocks what they did before, a feeling I get from more songs.

What all of this leads to is that the songs have become more complex, more so than any of the other eras, and can feel layered in their meaning, the lyrics and music, in a way that I feel isn't that common. There are simpler songs to break the tedium, but there's something to find in there, and even if it feels quite disparate rather than a cohesive whole, the individual parts are good enough by themselves to make this be a good album. Its incoherency, in part thanks to the troubled history making this, feels like it holds the album back from being great - too much filler because everyone wanted to do their bit.

The one hundred thirty-third album: #133 The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo

I appreciated the Byrds' psychedelic folk rock a few months ago, but at this point in their career they'd made a shift into country, pushing forward to country rock. I'm not sure it's for me - the steel sound of country hasn't been the most appealing to me and I've preferred what rock shifted into. The bluesy numbers suffer most, lacking energy and not connecting with me at the moment. When it goes a bit more towards rock it works better, but I don't feel the shift has been worth it for them.

The four hundred and eighteenth song: Time of the Preacher - Willie Nelson

There's something bittersweet in the sound of most country song and this, the opening statement of a country album about a preacher who kills his wife and lover, adds to that feeling by leaning into it. There's that melancholy that shines through in the feelings for it. At the same time, reading about the album, we're missing out on the context of the work, not pulling it beyond being a nice country song in the first place.

The four hundred and nineteenth song: Rimmel - Francesco De Gregori

In the mean time, abroad the songs that get acclaim (and, I guess, aren't just performed in English) are folk songs like this. Drawing a lot in sound from the French chansoniers, this is a folk sing, mimicking the likes of Dylan, but by the choice of language more romantic sounding, slightly more dreamlike, as a sweet love song.

The four hundred and twentieth song: Born to Be With You - Dion

I've always had mixed feelings about Phil Specter tracks and it feels like he's almost getting held in check here by Dion - while the music wants to go big, the vocals still dominate, grounding and binding the music to create a slightly more contemplative track. I don't really know Dion's work, but as a rock and blues artists, it feels like a counterpoint to the music and the track is then at its best when Dion is singing - a long trumpet interlude feeling unnecessary and making me wish for Dion to come back in. It's a weird combination, a departure, it feels, for both, even if it's ultimately a dead end.

The four hundred and twenty-first song: Musica ribelle - Eugenio Finardi

Here's something I want to hear when I get foreign songs - Italian rock that feels like it never made it out there, but created its own local sound. Here this is a folk rock song, more so than Rimmel, but with an Italian influence that creates a distinct sound, electric mandolins to sound somewhat different from guitars. There's something uplifting in the music, a call to action that transcends language but comes out here. These days it might not be out of place at Eurovision, but for this time it creates the feeling of an anthem, which is seems to have become in Italy, and I enjoy hearing that here.

The four hundred and twenty-second song: Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

Speaking of anthems, Born to Run is certainly one as well. The song immediately evokes driving a motorbike down the highway, looking for freedom and getting away from everything else. It's sweeping, strong and feels fast, creating that drive, and it feels like it could be the soundtrack of many road movies. It's rousing, big and through that incredibly effective at creating a mood and feeling - even out-Spectoring Phil Spector.

The four hundred and twenty-third song: Leb’ Wohl - NEU!

Having an eight minute track gives you a lot more leeway to set up a song and Leb' Wohl takes its time getting anywhere, as an ambient track that starts slowly and leads into a contemplative sound not ages away from meditative tracks made to help you relax. There's always something in there that stops it from getting quite as repetitive, but it keeps everything low key and gentle. It's intriguing and a nice antidote to the hard rock and louder music elsewhere, as a good break or ending to wind down anywhere.

The four hundred and twenty-fourthsong: Legalize It - Peter Tosh

I guess it took over fourty years for this wish to come true - weed legalization, which this song obviously calls for - it's not surprising this is more reggae. Even as that it feels a bit hollow, there's not much in the song that I feel I see in it that goes beyond the same set of lyrics and sounds, a statemtn that for me doesn't come across as well in this form, and even if it makes a good point, the nature of the music keeps it from actually doing much for me.