Belligerent Ghoul
Hall of Famer
this is a bump from under the floorboards
Shocked that Bullfighter is coming in much lower than Neal Cassady or Kick the Bride.
Also surprised that Istanbul doesn't rank higher in this poll.
Different strokes.......... Possibly due to the fact that both Bullfighter and Istanbul were not technically 'new' anymore once the album became available to most people. All due respect to the hardcore abstainers.
I still stand by my theory that pre-releasing one album track (probably "Istanbul") and one bonus song would have been a preferable apprach to pre-releasing four album tracks.
On one hand, I think it would have been good to keep it all the more mysterious. The spoken word videos could have been all the more effective if the songs were not heard in such short order. On the other hand, hearing those four tracks didn't diminish the surprise of hearing, say, I'm Not A Man or Smiler With Knife.
It reminds me of the diminutive effect on Years of Refusal when That's How People Grow Up and All You Need Is Me had already been singles many months before as well as on the Decca Greatest Hits album. Even switching one of the two out for My Dearest Love would have made a stronger release.
I suspect this poll will have quite different results if it is revisited a year from now.
Given my username and given that I've been bemoaning the quality of Moz's output since he failed to follow up Vauxhall with anything, it gives me enormous pleasure to announce that I think this record is fantastic and in terms of tracks, I'm Not A Man is up there with anything he's ever done solo outside of Vauxhall.
What a composition and arrangement. AT LAST!
Apologies for the self-quote.
I'm delighted so many have rated this track towards the top of the favourites off the album.
I instantly heard it as the best but couldn't articulate why. Reading the interview with the producer, he's used the word I was looking for 'release'.
That's what this is. This is having a hard week/month/year/life and then going to the Star and Garter on Whitworth Street and flailing to the last two minutes of the song to express to the girl you love who's watching you who you are in a way that words never could.
It's the first time he's tapped into into that zeitgeist since Vauxhall, with the possible exception of the song Southpaw.
Magnificent song.
I especially like I'm not a man, World Peace, Oboe Concerto and Staircase. I think I'm not a man first.
Shocked that Bullfighter is coming in much lower than Neal Cassady or Kick the Bride.
For me, Neal Cassady and Kick the Bride Down the Aisle are two of the best songs on the record, while Bullfighter Dies is easily the worst. It is funny how much people's opinions of the songs on this album vary.
this is a bump from under the floorboards
That's not zeitgeist, it's just something you did.
"I'm Not A Man" is as reflective of what happens in the real world as Eastenders.
Who said it was something I did?
Ever been to one of those nights?
its, neal cassidy, is i think about the beats trying to figure out if convention was a trap or a boon to humanity and human experience. there attempt at trying to figure it all out. is convention about saving us from indulgence or is it a means of control designed and prompted by our fears and the fears of others. like with the beat "rap". does it have to have meaning or be logical and sensical in narrative to be important. does it have to have intention to be beautiful or to prompt understanding. do we hate seemingly random association on some basic level. are we afraid of it. must we always love babies and children and not find them disgusting without being a horrible person. will we be able to say it out loud without ridicule. using the example of neal who probably dropped dead of cocaine use is an example thats kinda ambiguous which is realistic of the conclusion of the beat experiment (i mean jack considered his experience on the road to be a huge failure which is why he ends up in the nothing of the desert. most people fail to understand this perspective). ginsberg was neals once lover and probably wondered was it a good idea to be the betrayer of convention and go on one of lifes adventures, one of which ironically is death, or should he have heeded convention because if so he might still be there alive and with him. just an idea superficially articulated in a short amount of time. ive also only had the album for about a day now. hope that helps somewhat chris