The four hundred and eighty-sixth album: #486 Black Flag - Damaged
Damaged is an uncompromising punk album. It's loud, it's angry and it doesn't let up through its 35 minute runtime. It might not always be lyrically exciting and it doesn't sound too different between tracks, but it just gives that pure punk feeling.
The four hundred and eighty-fifth album: #485 Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Sometimes some experiments work out really well and the combination of Brian Eno and David Byrne working using these forms is where this goes well - the ambient nature of the background of the tracks, combined with the samples as both vague lyrics and more musical content is really nice. It's accessible when it feels this style would normally be a turn off and I found myself listening to the extras of the later releases of the album more than I normally would do.
The one hundred and seventy-fourth classical recording: #724 Sergei Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto no. 4
There's a franticness in a lot of this concerto, a drive that really adds to the impact of the piece. For the first theme, that builds up to this exuberant finish that really brings it back but continues the high energy of the theme with an infectious enthusiasm.
The four hundred and eighty-fourth album: #484 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture and Morality
With the music trends of the eighties moving towards pop, I was wondering where it would go past what I really enjoy. Architecture and Morality reaches that point - not off putting, but I don't care much for the abstract synthesizer track that dominates this album.
The four hundred and eighty-third album: #483 Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
There is something intensely sensual about Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret that goes past the shock title. The tracks are about romance and sex, but it has the sultry female vocals that amplify that, lead vocals that go in and everything set up to emphasize those moments. It's progressive, aggressive, smooth and good to listen to, and it even feels like it culminates in a more romantic song as it slowly shifts over the course of the album.
The one hundred and seventy-third classical recording: #798 Herbert Howells - Hymnus Paradisi
While I was a bit apprehensive about the title, this work is a lot newer than we might expect based on when most of the hymns occur in the book. The work is hymnal, sure, but it feels so much more delicate than most, the smaller choir and more focused music creating a closer connection to the work. It feels more emotional - the sense of loss in the earlier movements, culminating, it feels, in a more jubilant celebration in the Sanctus movement - there's still some solemnity, but there is some celebration in there as well. It feels like there's a journey in here that works well with the themes - both of loss and paradise.
The four hundred and eighty-second album: #482 Motorhead - No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith
Listening to No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith, I was struck by the difference the live performance makes. The music still sounds good and it's not the song quality that matters, but there's something about the sound taken from a recording in the middle of the tour that changes the songs - a bit of weariness, the repetition in the known bits, but mostly how it's that bit more raw, with less polish. It makes for a more compelling listen - not in that you feel you're in the room, but the emotions come through more, and some of the hoarse introductions to the songs add a bit more.
The four hundred and eighty-first album: #481 The Go-Gos - Beauty and the Beat
While the Go-Gos punk roots occasionally shine through in a few of the tracks on this album, for the most part it's unapologetically new wave, often as dancy pop tracks that stay really accessible. The tracks stay listenable, easy to absorb and full of energy.
The four hundred and eightieth album: #480 Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement
The punk roots of the rock styles that emerge in the early eighties feel especially on display this time - as much as the electronic sounds of Penthouse and Pavement create an upbeat feeling to the entire album, the lyrics are more subversive (as is clear from the BBC banning the one single from getting any airtime. It's railing against the class system, against capitalism and war in various songs, but the wrapper is less in anger and more in the ironic detachment that would follow. It's not as immediately powerful, but it still hits quite well for anyone paying attention. It hits home a lot more than I expected, in the best way possible.
The four hundred and seventy-ninth album: #479 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju
Juju hits you from the start with a post punk, new wave sound that stands on its own more clearly than the first album of the band did. There's still a haunting sound to it, but the music is far more in your face and feels more aggressive. It feels like the whole album fits its sound and identity, a coherence that I don't think I've heard as much in albums lately but really feels on display here.