The Great HTF Music Challenge (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

One band which is the "perfect background muzak" for me, turns out to be Dream Theater.

I had their first album back in the day, but never listened to it more than a few times in those days. I didn't think much of it at the time. It was a $2 bargain bin find sometime in the 1990s, after the band was let go by their short-lived label Mechanic Records.

Mechanic Records discography - THE CORROSEUM

A detailed discography of the Heavy Metal label Mechanic

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Mechanic Records

Explore releases from the Mechanic Records label. Discover what's missing in your discography and shop for Mechanic Records releases.

www.discogs.com

It was only sometime in the early 2000s, that I started buying their cds and realized it was well produced/written stuff. Though with that being said, it had no emotional/nostalgic context for me. In many ways, I was listening to it from the perspective of a "musicologist".

After I realized a lot of their stuff was sounding repetitive, I stopped listening to them after 2003 or so. (I didn't bother picking up Octavarium, etc ...).

 

[John Dirk]

Apologies if these were posted already. I've been slacking in this thread.

No apology required but what do you like about these tracks?

Here are my thoughts.

Pretenders
Brass in Pocket
I found this to be a decent and easy listen but it didn't engage me in any way. I can tell this vocalist has better material. This one's a bit sedate for me.

Back on the Chain Gang
Kind of the same as above. I'd be interested in some "unplugged" material from this artist but these selections, while perfectly decent, are unremarkable to me.

Mystery Achievement
This one is even less interesting than the others except for the instrumental portion. The group has potential but [based on these tracks anyway] it's as if they're afraid to let loose and get a little wild.

 

[JohnRice]

No apology required but what do you like about these tracks?

Here are my thoughts.

Pretenders
Brass in Pocket
I found this to be a decent and easy listen but it didn't engage me in any way. I can tell this vocalist has better material. This one's a bit sedate for me.

Back on the Chain Gang
Kind of the same as above. I'd be interested in some "unplugged" material from this artist but these selections, while perfectly decent, are unremarkable to me.

Mystery Achievement
This one is even less interesting than the others except for the instrumental portion. The group has potential but [based on these tracks anyway] it's as if they're afraid to let loose and get a little wild.

These are perfectly serviceable examples of '80s Pop. Catchy, reasonably energetic and fun enough, but that's about it. The first two were enormous hits and the third was a huge hit. I don't think I've ever owned any Pretenders, probably because I encountered enough of them in my normal day to satisfy me. I can't say that I have ever particularly liked or disliked the Pretenders. Well, I certainly don't dislike them. They're a notable pop group.

 

[John Dirk]

I keep going around in circles trying to decide what to say in this response. I realized some time back that John Dirk and I simply listen to music for largely different reasons. By that, I mean that what we want to achieve from it seems to be completely different. He finds my favorite music stunningly boring, which I completely understand, and I definitely find his more or less the same. I think that's interesting.

You're over-thinking it sir. I assure you, nothing I say is worth "going around in circles" over. I don't think I ever said I found Prog metal boring. Jazz, mostly yes but there are exceptions even in that space. I just find different music appropriate for different settings. I'm listening to Kansas - Song for America as I write this and enjoying it just fine. It's different for sure but perfectly suitable as background music when I'm working on something that demands my main focus.

Looking back, I realize that one of my major motivations for listening to music is that it can calm my anxiety, which can be overwhelming at times.

I can't relate to that at all. What do I have to be anxious about? I'm retired and own a kick ass Home Theater.

Elton John - Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Hmm... I love a lot of Elton's material but this one didn't really work for me. The first 30 seconds seemed completely unnecessary and the remainder didn't contain his signature songwriting genius. This beats his recent line of Uber Eats spots but not by much I'm afraid.

Electric Light Orchestra - Concerto for a Rainy Day
At over 18 minutes, I'll admit, I only listened to about half of this but I liked it a lot as an overall performance. It just lacks the song structure I usually look for in my music.

Supertramp - Brother Where You Bound?
"This one became awesome from about the 7 minute to the 9 minute marks," a sentence I thought I'd never have to utter concerning a piece of music. I see this type of presentation as several songs combined into one for unknown reasons. Some I enjoy, others not so much.

Ever Open Door
I'm honestly curious. Why do they waste an entire 15 seconds at the beginning of a 3 minute song? Aside from that this isn't a song I'd go looking for but I can definitely see why you like it. It does have a nice soothing quality.

 

[John Dirk]

These are perfectly serviceable examples of '80s Pop. Catchy, reasonably energetic and fun enough, but that's about it.

I agree but, personally, I found neither of these at all catchy. Here are just a couple of random selections from that era I would call catchy and also devoid of any real depth, which I believe is another prerequisite for a good Pop song.

Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride​

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody​

 

[JohnRice]

I agree but, personally, I found neither of these at all catchy. Here are just a couple of random selections from that era I would call catchy and also devoid of any real depth, which I believe is another prerequisite for a good Pop song.

Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride​

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody​

Breaking out the Whitney is hardly playing fair.

 

[JohnRice]

You're over-thinking it sir.

It's pitiful how much I resemble that remark.

I can't relate to that at all. What do I have to be anxious about? I'm retired and own a kick ass Home Theater.

 

[JohnRice]

I'll toss in this little classic. Most notable since it was recorded mere days after Hal McIntyre hired a 20 year old trombone player named Jack Rice.

 

[JohnRice]

Here are a few of my favorites from the Great American Songbook.

Bing Crosby singing Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal's "I'll Be Seeing You":



Ella Fitzgerald singing Rogers and Hart's "Isn't It Romantic":



Nat King Cole singing Ray Henderson, Buddy DeSylva and Lew Brown's "You're the Cream in My Coffee":



Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer singing Frank Loesser's "Baby It's Cold Outside" (No... it's *not* a "Christmas song" though many see it that way):



Harve Presnell singing Lerner and Loewe's "They Call the Wind Maria":

These are all so freaking awesome. My only complaint is there are so many superior Nat King Cole options, but even lesser Nat is better than most alternatives. Maybe I'm the only one here who is every bit as familiar with the Whiting/Mercer version of "Baby It's Cold Outside" as the Dean Martin. they're equal in my book.

 

[BobO'Link]

These are all so freaking awesome. My only complaint is there are so many superior Nat King Cole options, but even lesser Nat is better than most alternatives. Maybe I'm the only one here who is every bit as familiar with the Whiting/Mercer version of "Baby It's Cold Outside" as the Dean Martin. they're equal in my book.

I fully agree about "superior Nat King Cole" options - but wanted to include that particular track where, IMHO, Nat King Cole has the best version.

I only heard the Dean Martin version of "Baby It's Cold Outside" 10 or so years back when I purchased a Dean Martin/Nat King Cole "Holiday Favorites" Christmas compilation CD from Kohl's because the song list was attractive (it's an alternating artist thing - Nat sings the odd numbered songs, Dean the even numbered ones). I really liked it - just as much as the Whiting/Mercer version. When I made a Christmas pop song compilation for the car I struggled with which to include and wound up using both. I can listen to just about any duo performing that one but Whiting/Mercer and Martin's are the ones I prefer.

 

[Bryan^H]

No apology required but what do you like about these tracks?

Here are my thoughts.

Pretenders
Brass in Pocket
I found this to be a decent and easy listen but it didn't engage me in any way. I can tell this vocalist has better material. This one's a bit sedate for me.

Back on the Chain Gang
Kind of the same as above. I'd be interested in some "unplugged" material from this artist but these selections, while perfectly decent, are unremarkable to me.

I just like both selections. I can't really explain other than I think Brass in Pocket has a great "feel good" lyrical content along with nice music. "Back on the Chain Gang" work in the best of ways for me I love the guitar, and music in general, and some great lyrical content. I actually think it is one of the best songs of the 80's, and certainly top 5 of 1985 for me!

I agree but, personally, I found neither of these at all catchy. Here are just a couple of random selections from that era I would call catchy and also devoid of any real depth, which I believe is another prerequisite for a good Pop song.

Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride​

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody​

Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride.
Must have been early 80's because I remember hearing this song in K-Mart in their music section for promotion, and really wanting it as a young kid. The memory is vague, but it is a good one. Very fun music, and lyrics make for a winner of the 80's. Very nice.

Whitney Houston - I wanna Dance With Somebody.
Good song, and vocals for sure. I also like 'Greatest Love of All', and my favorite of the 80's from Whitney, "How will I Know'.

 

[BobO'Link]

Kansas, "Song for America" - A favorite artist and track. I didn't collect everything they did but what I do own is superb stuff. The album of the same name is probably the most "prog" of everything they did. It still ventures into "stadium rock" style at times but not nearly as much as later, more popular/commercial, albums.

Elton John, "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" - This album came out the year I was a freshman in college. A group of us were sitting on the very wide stairs in front of the band/choir rooms hallway which had the "listening room" (a room with a dozen partitioned off booths, each having headphones and an independent turntable/reel-to-reel attached, with an operator who controlled what was played for which booth) as the outer room facing the stairway. Someone had just purchased the album and was raving over it. I borrowed it, went into the listening room, handed it to the operator, and listened to both discs. Wow! What an amazing experience! I went to the local record store that day and purchased my own copy. It's been listened to so many times that I know it by heart. This is just an incredible opening pair of songs to what is, IMHO, John's masterpiece release.

Electric Light Orchestra, "Concerto for a Rainy Day" - Back when they were popular I mostly considered this group to be pop/gimmick stuff and didn't give them much of a chance. Sure I heard most of the hits but they didn't get played on the AOR stations I listened to and never at anyone's house. Sometime in the late 80s, when albums were pretty much going away and you could find dozens of hit albums in the cut-out bins for a buck or three, I picked up their release "Out of the Blue," from which this medley originates. I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed the album and it became a semi-regular listen. I've since gone back and picked up the majority of their earlier works to find I'd never given them a fair shake. They're quite good.

Supertramp, "Brother Where You Bound?/Ever Open Door" - Ahhh... Supertramp. Like most people of those years I'd purchased "Even in the Quietest Moments" and its incredible follow up "Breakfast in America" and then gone back to discover the incredibly good "Crime of the Century" (my favorite Supertramp album). I enjoyed "Crisis... What Crisis" but "Famous Last Words" fell flat for me and I never listened to anything past that recording. All that to say, this is better than I'd expected though it reminds me quite a bit of Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" (decidedly one of their lesser albums). Like "The Final Cut" it somewhat suffers due to the non-music interludes. Davies sounds more like Hodgson than I expected - very similar though not as "airy" sounding.

 

[BobO'Link]

Supertramp - Brother Where You Bound?
"This one became awesome from about the 7 minute to the 9 minute marks," a sentence I thought I'd never have to utter concerning a piece of music. I see this type of presentation as several songs combined into one for unknown reasons. Some I enjoy, others not so much.

Ever Open Door
I'm honestly curious. Why do they waste an entire 15 seconds at the beginning of a 3 minute song? Aside from that this isn't a song I'd go looking for but I can definitely see why you like it. It does have a nice soothing quality.

On the album, "Brother Where You Bound?" segue's into "Ever Open Door" as it fades out - listen carefully to the end of "Brother..." and the beginning of "Ever..." and you'll hear it. Based on that segue they are joined works which makes that 15 seconds similar to other breaks in the first track. This would be one of those songs where I'd do a custom rip so they'd be combined properly (no gap between) for car playback (my car system can't do gapless playback with either mp3 or FLAC ).

 

[BobO'Link]

Matthew Wilder, "Break My Stride" - Most definitely 80s stuff with that synth organ/percussion sound. At first I thought it was a woman singing (low alto) but then heard the giveaway that it's a high tenor. This one doesn't do much for me. Kind of generic 80s pop obviously created for the dance floor.

Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" - First I'll say that I generally like Houston's voice and ability. BUT - it's another 80s dance style song, the kind she seemed to do the most and that rarely work for me. I've never been a fan of her work due to the songs she performs.

 

[BobO'Link]

The Mills Brothers, "Glow Worm" - These guys can make even the most generic song work quite well. This is an excellent version. I became aware of these guys when I worked for a Public Radio Station in college running a "oldies" type show ("modern" easy listening or anything recorded before ~1950 - basically anything pre-rock era). I played stuff like this as I liked Big Band material very much. It's also where I developed an appreciation for many of the 20s-50s pop classics (well, that and growing up watching 30s-50s movies on TV).

 

[BobO'Link]

So... Elton John and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - My 2nd favorite Elton John album (favorite is "Madman Across the Water" - an underappreciated masterpiece). Here are a couple of favorites from that album that you rarely, if ever, heard on radio. Taupin could turn out some quite "subversive" type lyrics...

Elton John - "Sweet Painted Lady":



Elton John - "All the Girls Love Alice":

 

[JohnRice]

So... Elton John and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - My 2nd favorite Elton John album (favorite is "Madman Across the Water" - an underappreciated masterpiece). Here are a couple of favorites from that album that you rarely, if ever, heard on radio. Taupin could turn out some quite "subversive" type lyrics...

Elton John - "Sweet Painted Lady":



Elton John - "All the Girls Love Alice":

Those two are awesome. And you're right about subversive lyrics. Has anything ever rocked better than "All the Girls Love Alice"?

I almost see "Madman" and "Tumbleweed Connection" as a double album released separately. Both among his best.

 

[JohnRice]

Kansas, "Song for America" - A favorite artist and track. I didn't collect everything they did but what I do own is superb stuff. The album of the same name is probably the most "prog" of everything they did. It still ventures into "stadium rock" style at times but not nearly as much as later, more popular/commercial, albums.

Elton John, "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" - This album came out the year I was a freshman in college. A group of us were sitting on the very wide stairs in front of the band/choir rooms hallway which had the "listening room" (a room with a dozen partitioned off booths, each having headphones and an independent turntable/reel-to-reel attached, with an operator who controlled what was played for which booth) as the outer room facing the stairway. Someone had just purchased the album and was raving over it. I borrowed it, went into the listening room, handed it to the operator, and listened to both discs. Wow! What an amazing experience! I went to the local record store that day and purchased my own copy. It's been listened to so many times that I know it by heart. This is just an incredible opening pair of songs to what is, IMHO, John's masterpiece release.

Electric Light Orchestra, "Concerto for a Rainy Day" - Back when they were popular I mostly considered this group to be pop/gimmick stuff and didn't give them much of a chance. Sure I heard most of the hits but they didn't get played on the AOR stations I listened to and never at anyone's house. Sometime in the late 80s, when albums were pretty much going away and you could find dozens of hit albums in the cut-out bins for a buck or three, I picked up their release "Out of the Blue," from which this medley originates. I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed the album and it became a semi-regular listen. I've since gone back and picked up the majority of their earlier works to find I'd never given them a fair shake. They're quite good.

Supertramp, "Brother Where You Bound?/Ever Open Door" - Ahhh... Supertramp. Like most people of those years I'd purchased "Even in the Quietest Moments" and it's incredible follow up "Breakfast in America" and then gone back to discover the incredibly good "Crime of the Century" (my favorite Supertramp album). I enjoyed "Crisis... What Crisis" but "Famous Last Words" fell flat for me and I never listened to anything past that recording. All that to say, this is better than I'd expected though it reminds me quite a bit of Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" (decidedly one of their lesser albums). Like "The Final Cut" it somewhat suffers due to the non-music interludes. Davies sounds more like Hodgson than I expected - very similar though not as "airy" sounding.

Wow Bob. Excellent comments. ELO is very easy to shrug off, but they were certainly enjoyable and inventive, as well as generally unrecognized as prog. When given a chance, they're much better than they seemed. As someone I know described it, "ELO is pure joy."

Yes, "Famous Last Words" was mediocre, but the departure of Hodgson gave them a burst of energy that lasted one album. Funny you mention "The Final Cut" because I've always been a fan of that one. I view it more as a Waters solo album that the guys from Pink Floyd performed on. I think they were contractually obligated. Either that or "Animals Part 2". Anyway, Supertramp is another band I think was always a lot deeper and more creative than they got credit for. Boatloads of social commentary in their stuff.

 

[jcroy]

Wow Bob. Excellent comments. ELO is very easy to shrug off, but they were certainly enjoyable and inventive, as well as generally unrecognized as prog. When given a chance, they're much better than they seemed. As someone I know described it, "ELO is pure joy."

The first times I heard ELO, it was the songs from Xanadu which were somewhat forgettable. After that, I largely dismissed ELO for many years.

It was only in recent times that I came to the realization their old back catalog was much better than Xanadu.

 

[BobO'Link]

Those two are awesome. And you're right about subversive lyrics. Has anything ever rocked better than "All the Girls Love Alice"?

I almost see "Madman" and "Tumbleweed Connection" as a double album released separately. Both among his best.

I can't say I've ever heard anything from "Tumbleweed Connection" outside "Bring Down the Mission." I looked it up to see the remaster/reissue version has, as a bonus track, an early recording of the song "Madman Across the Water." That's an all time favorite song so I ordered a copy of the disc just for that one track.