The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by the Kinks (1968, Pye Records)

WHY I NEVER GOT AROUND TO LISTENING TO THIS ARTIST/ALBUM

• After he was asked the time-worn musical query the Beatles or the Stones?, a wise person (it could have been Delko Blazinin, but I can not remember exactly who it was) replied: “The only correct answer to that question is The Kinks.” Being a lifetime listener of classic rock radio, but not much of a Kinks listener, I can say with much gusto: “It's probably true.” Indeed, the Kinks – and specifically guitarist Dave Davies – has influenced every guitar rock band with their early 60s material like “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night.” But die-hard Kinks fans will tell you the band's heyday was between 1966 and 1972, when the band released, by most accounts, eight fantastic records, including 1970's Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One and Muswell Hillbillies (1972). And although I did listen to some of the radio-friendly Kinks tracks during this era, I never got to listen to 1968's The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Growing up, I was exposed mostly to some of the very odd, almost circus-like Kinks recordings of mid-to-late 70s, already sensing that the band had past their due date. I also remember thinking the band was a bit too quirky for my liking, especially Ray Davies' vocals.

WHAT I KNEW ABOUT THE ALBUM BEFORE THIS PROJECT

• Greenday were in the news a few years back for apparently ripping off the riff from “Picture Book”, a song from this album.
• Johnny Thunders, the 1970s punk pioneer who was in the New York Dolls and later The Heartbreakers, most likely got his name from the song “Johnny Thunder,” also from this album.

AFTER A WEEK OF DIGESTING THIS ALBUM

• Holy shit balls! The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is a pretty amazing record. The songwriting is compelling, with a very British sensibility that, I dare say, rivals Lennon and McCartney. The narratives of the songs are simple and nostalgic; sure a little quirky, but not at all as out-there as I was expecting. I actually found Ray Davies' voice endearing on many of the tracks like "Animal Farm" and "Starstruck" although my favourite track on the album,"Wicked Annabella", is sung by brother Dave. 
  
  
• Something else that stands out for me are the rhythmical elements of this record, specifically Mick Avory' s drumming, which I never really paid attention to before. Give "Last of the Steam-powered Trains" and "Do You Remember Walter?" a listen and tell me I am wrong.
  
  
• This is yet another My Album Project success. Much to the joy of my pal and Kinks fan Trisha Lavoie, I have already started to listen to more Kinks records from their much celebrated 1966-1972 era.

Previous entries

Me Against the World (1995) by 2Pac
Transatlanticism (2003) by Death Cab for Cutie
Reign in Blood (1986) by Slayer
Bandwagonesque(1991) by Teenage Fan club

Me Against the World by 2Pac (1995, Interscope Records)

WHY I NEVER GOT AROUND TO LISTENING TO THIS ARTIST/ALBUM

• I was lucky enough to be a teenager during what has been called "the golden age of hip-hop" during the late 80s. And thanks to the influence of a guy I went to high school with named Sheldon Street, I became a fan of a diverse group of bands like Public Enemy, Ice-T, Run DMC, N.W.A, Boogie Down Productions, and Beastie Boys. But as the kid of Filipino immigrants, growing up in Irish-Italian-Portuguese neighbourhoods in Brampton, Ontario, and listening to rock music, I was pretty far-removed from what the emcees on those records were rhyming about. I was more attracted to the rappers' voices, and the beats and samples that were being used by the DJs. This is why by the time the 90s came along, as rap had became very mainstream, I still got into bands like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. But by about 1993, the subgenre of gangsta rap – which N.W.A had pioneered in California just a few years earlier – had become more and more prevalent. The bling, the guns, and the bitches of the “Thug Life” that Tupac (I refuse to write his name out as 2Pac) and his contemporaries glorified in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry was of no interest to me, and I tuned out rap and hip hop music for the following decade or so.

WHAT I KNEW ABOUT THE ALBUM BEFORE THIS PROJECT

• The only track I had heard of at all was "Dear Mama" and even then, I didn't know much about it. I used to hear it on music television. I had also heard “So Many Tears” a few times, but can not place the circumstances.
  
  
• As a trivia geek, I knew that Me Against the World  was the first album to ever reach #1 on the Billboard 200 while the artist was imprisoned.

AFTER A WEEK OF DIGESTING THIS ALBUM

• Warning: If you plan on listening to Tupac Shakur for seven days straight, do not be shocked if you end up swearing like a truck driver, writing Thug Life on your stomach with a Sharpie, and doing stuff like this (the link does not feature a Tupac track, but I think it illustrates my point quite nicely.)
  
  
• I guess I'd always known this, but Tupac Shakur is a motherfucker, which, in jazz and hip hop lingo, is perhaps the highest compliment that can be bestowed upon anyone. His voice is smooth as ice; the timbre of his baritone and the way he enunciates every word commands instant respect. He is what every Alpha Male, bad-ass rapper should aspire to be.
  
  
• As I said before, what endears me to hip hop music will always be the beats and quality of the samples. And Me Against the World does not disappoint. While I still can not relate to much of the lyrical content (i.e: AK47s, crack fiends, drive-bys, etc.), many of the tracks are anthemic and could probably stand up to someone else's voice rhyming on top of them. Samples are borrowed from Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Kool and the Gang, Issac Hayes, and Minnie Ripperton. Not too bad.
  
  
• The whole point of My Album Project is to pique interest in artists/records/subgenres that I would not listen to on a regular basis. Me Against the World has succeeded, as I have already begun checking out Tupac's back-catalogue of work.

Previous entries

Transatlanticism (2003) by Death Cab for Cutie
Reign in Blood (1986) by Slayer
Bandwagonesque(1991) by Teenage Fan club

Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie (2003, Barsuk Records)

WHY I NEVER GOT AROUND TO LISTENING TO THIS ARTIST/ALBUM

• I first heard of Death Cab for Cutie from my friend and indie-rock aficionado Diego Castillo while I was visiting Manila, Philippines in early 2002. And with all due respect to Diego and all the indie-rock kids that I know and love from around the world, I have an aversion towards indie-rock (note the hyphen in indie-rock, not to be mistaken for indie rock, which is short for independent rock, meaning rock bands that aren't signed to a major record label). I find many of the indie-rock bands of the last three decades to be devoid of any excitement, soul, or sexuality. And I need at least one of these things to give me a reason to listen to a band/record on regular basis.
• That awful band name, which was taken from a song by the 1960s avant-garde, art-jazz band Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. As far as I'm concerned, if anyone chooses to use the word death in their name, they had better be a grindcore band, a stoner-rock band, or a gangsta rapper. And, perhaps most importantly: I refuse to listen to anyone who would even consider putting the word cutie in their band name. Period.

WHAT I KNEW ABOUT THE ALBUM BEFORE THIS PROJECT

• Every indie-rock kid I knew at the time loved it.

AFTER A WEEK OF DIGESTING THIS ALBUM

• There is nothing really exciting or sexual about the album, but that does not mean it is not a soulful record. There is a high level of musicianship and intelligence, and the music's vastness makes Transatlanticism a cohesive album. The songwriting is earnest and heart-felt, with the lyrics painting pictures and the dynamics serving as their canvasses.
• I found it difficult to get through the first few listens without wanting to take a shitload of Valium and hide in my basement, mostly because of Ben Gibbard's vocal delivery. While I did have this same kind of initial reaction after listening to albums by Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, Transatlanticism did not grow on me the way Smith and Drake's recordings eventually did.
• So, is this a decent album? Yes it is. Does it make want to listen to another Death Cab for Cutie album? No, not really.

Previous entries:

Reign in Blood (1986) by Slayer
Bandwagonesque(1991) by Teenage Fan club

Reign in Blood by Slayer (1986, Def Jam Records)

WHY I NEVER GOT AROUND TO LISTENING TO THIS ARTIST/ALBUM

• As a kid in the mid-70s, I was a metal head. Before I was even in kindergarten, I was regularly listening to Black Sabbath, Kiss, and Led Zeppelin. By fourth grade, I knew every lyric from Van Halen's first four albums. By the sixth grade, I thought that the double-axe attack of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Scorpions was the best thing ever. But soon after, metal started moving in two directions: one towards glam, and the other towards thrash. Neither seemed appealing to me because by then artists like U2, David Bowie, and the Police meant more to me, and I pretty much tuned out metal all together.
• Between grades 9 and 11 at Cardinal Leger Secondary School in the late 80s, I took drafting classes with Mr. Jim Pocisk, a reformed hippie who let us play music on a cassette player during class. The vast cross section of drafting students would bring in different tapes: the artsy students brought modern rock (which would later be called “alternative”); the basketball guys brought rap; the skaters brought punk, and the metal heads brought thrash. For some reason, the only music we all could agree on was Metallica's trifecta of Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and ...And Justice for All. These albums were pretty much the only metal I absorbed during this era.

WHAT I KNEW ABOUT THE ALBUM BEFORE THIS PROJECT

• I heard “Angel of Death” many, many times in Mr. Pocisk's class.
• Every guitar dude in school would play the middle riff from “Angel of Death” and the intro riff from “Raining Blood” whenever they had the chance.
• The mere fact that this album was released on Def Jam Records – a label that was known for producing rap records – and produced by Rick Rubin should have been a hint to my teenaged self that it would probably be a pretty good album.

AFTER A WEEK OF DIGESTING THIS ALBUM

• In retrospect, I am sure if I heard more of Slayer in drafting class, I probably would have gotten more into thrash. While those Metallica albums were revolutionary in their own way, I prefer Reign in Blood. The most significant comparison is that Slayer's Dave Lombardo is a much steadier and a more creative drummer than Lars Ulrich. Cursory listens to "Jesus Saves" and “Criminally Insane” on Reign in Blood is evidence of this.
• Reign in Blood is a tight piece of musical mayhem, with higher production values and more consistent sound production than any of the three aforementioned Metallica records, which certainly sound dated in comparison.
• I could never relate to the subject matter or the speed of thrash metal records, and with lyrics pertaining to Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele and horrific ultra-violence, Reign in Blood is no different. Mercifully, the tracks are short and concise – giving the album more of a punk feel (the influence of Rubin, seemingly), clocking in at just over 29 minutes, compared to...And Justice for All's wanky 70 minutes.
• This is a great example of what the main purpose of My Albm Project is. In seven days, I discovered so many great things about an album, a band, and a sub-genre.

Previous entries:

Bandwagonesque(1991) by Teenage Fan club

Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub (1991, Creation Records)

 WHY I NEVER GOT AROUND TO LISTENING TO THIS ARTIST/ALBUM

• Don't ask me why, but I had always (erroneously) thought of Teenage Fanclub as a shoegazer band, a sub-genre which, as far as I was concerned, was bereft of any soul or sex appeal whatsoever, and therefore they were to be avoided like the plague.
• Perhaps it's no surprise that I never got into this Scottish band – and specifically to Bandwagonesque, their landmark third studio album – because at the time of the record's release, critics were citing1970s American band Big Star as a major influence, which like Teenage Fanclub at the time, was a band I never listened to.
• The main reason I never listened to Bandwagonesque, and subsequently Teenage Fanclub, was because in 1991, when I was 19 years old, Spin Magazine selected it as their album of the year, beating out Nirvana's classic recording Nevermind. Two things: (1) I loved the Nevermind album (2) Spin is a shit-rag.

WHAT I KNEW ABOUT THE ALBUM BEFORE THIS PROJECT

• I would hear the single “What you do to Me” at alternative music nights at bars and clubs during the 1990s. I remember thinking it was a catchy tune, but I was never sure who did the song (for the longest time, I thought it was a Sloan song). I also dug the fast bit at the end of the track.
• I recognized the first few lines of “The Concept”, but can't really pinpoint why or how.

AFTER A WEEK OF DIGESTING THIS ALBUM

• Considering my misconception of Teenage Fanclub being a shoe gazer band, I was pleasantly surprised with their nifty guitar riffs and catchy hooks. The songs are decently written, however they never really deviate from the power pop idioms of the time, and for me, do not differentiate themselves from the slew of the era's power pop fare.
• The lyrics lack depth for my liking, mostly about boy and girl relationships that would appeal to a mass audience of young adults who were at the time immersed in Beverly Hills 90210.
• Listening to the album removed from the context of being voted the record of 1991 and how all my friends went ape-shit over it back-in-the-day, Bandwagonesque is a fun record. Based on cohesiveness of songs as a complete recording, as well as the quality of songwriting, and standing the test of time, I can see why I still prefer the aforementioned Nirvana record.