599 Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix (1995)

 599 Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix (1995)

Studio Album - Jangle Pop


About the Act:

Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish band who were formed in 1989. They've sung some songs, made some albums and had some people join and some people leave.

About the Album:

This was their fifth album.

My History with this Album:

None.

Review:

This is what Wikipedia says about this album.

"Upon release, Grand Prix received almost unanimous critical acclaim. Writing for The Independent, Andy Gill called it "winsome and reflective", while Angela Lewis of the same publication described Grand Prix as a "breathtakingly superb (album) with finely honed dynamics, nagging harmonies and deceptively simple lyrics". In 2000, Q placed Grand Prix at number 72 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". It was voted number 624 in the 3rd edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). In 2004, it made number 72 on The Observer Music Monthly's top 100 British albums list. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 282 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

I double-checked and this is the same album that I listened to. If there is anybody reading this who knows and loves this album, please get in touch with me to explain it to me. Thanks.

I was bored. Too bored. I almost didn't listen through. I did actually listen through 1.5 times. I found it to be trite and clichéd and not at all interesting. Now I feel bad, maybe I didn't listen properly. So I'm going to NOT post this review yet, and listen again. Not right now. In the morning when I can face it. 

I'm back, I've had a much more focused listen. I have found some positive qualities, but I still don't get the cricical raving.

Let's talk about those positive qualities. It's pretty easy to listen to. Despite being quite upbeat generally, the production makes it light. Musically it's competent. There are songs and singing and the singing is in tune. It's poppy, and I remembered some bit from the earlier listens. It's quite acceptable as background music, and if you have a particular thing for certain kinds of pop-rock you might like it. It has been categorised (in Wikipedia) as Jangle Pop and Dream Pop (and Alt Rock, but I'm less convinced by that). It does have a jangliness to it and a dreaminess to it. It makes few demands of one. It's like sweet porridge. Having had another listen my score has gone up.

However, musically, to me it is so-so. There is nothing that excites me, no good grooves, no infectious chord sequences, no adventurous instrument choice, not a lot of memorable melodies. Musically I found it bland.

Lyrically, similar, I think. Now there are many albums for which I don't even comment on the lyrics. Not all music is about the lyrics and that's OK. I didn't find the lyrics in this album particularly interesting, they are fairly generic, and seem to be to the point. Functional. Also fairly bland.

The biggest source of blandness, though, for me, is the vocal performances. Again, it's quite pop, sung in a non-committal way as if not really thinking about what is being sung. So I know that this sort of delivery became popular for a while, and maybe still is, and is possibly even a component of the concept of "dream pop". It treats the voice like an instrument, again competent, but again, bland. Very, very bland. I think this is the core of my dislike, I think it is rooted in blandness, and I think that this is actually by design. Maybe that's ironic, or maybe there is another level I have not dug into yet, maybe I'm just not enough in the know to know how to get the good listening experience out of this. All this I am prepared to admit. For me, though, deliberately bland is still bland.

6/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1RsRcawTHLE4NRvPXHWu6d

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy4u88AKUauKBzCYSXGUMqKBM9RQy3_hF

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_(album)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

944 Manu Chao - Próxima Estación Esperanza (2001)

Image
 944 Manu Chao - Próxima Estación Esperanza (2001) Studio Album - World Music About the Act: Manu Chao is a French-Spanish musician of Spanish descent who grew up on the outskirts of Paris. In the mid-80s he was in a Spanish/English rockabilly group called Hot Pants. In 1987, with his brother and cousin he founded the band Mano Negra, combining punk and world music influences and playing on the Paris Metro. This band took off and had 4 studio albums. In 1995 Manu "went solo", forming the band Radio Bemba Sound System to be his backing band. The punk elements were less prominent, but he started to make music that "replicates the sound of street music and bar scenes from a variety of cultures". He has been really popular in parts of Europe.  About the Album: This album was Manu Chao's second studio album as a "solo" artist. In Spanish, the name means "Next Station: Hope", after a real station on the Madrid Metro. The album reached top 10 slots ...
Read more

840 Various Artists - The Best of Girl Groups Volumes 1 and 2 (1990)

Image
 840 Various Artists - The Best of Girl Groups Volumes 1 and 2 (1990) Compilation (double) - Girl Group (Soul/Bobby Soxer/Do-Wop) About the Album: This is a highly acclaimed compilation in 2CDs by Rhino Records. It's the sort of thing that in this country you might expect to see at 3.99 in a Garden Centre. My History with this Album: None Review: There are not many multi-artist compilations in this series for reviewing. There is not information about it on Wikipedia, but the reception seems to have been positive. It is choc-full of hits with a smattering of lesser-known songs, and it's hard not to imagine Grease or similar situations - girls with cardigans and white socks, listening to the juke box while sipping milkshakes in the drug store. On one level it's a fun collection of songs that you could use to feel nostalgic, or as the music for a themed party. On another level it's kind of like a cultural artefact. I feel honour-bound to describe it, even though if I drop ...
Read more

843 Chambers Brothers - The Time has Come (1967)

Image
 843 Chambers Brothers - The Time has Come (1967) Studio Album - Psychedelic Soul About the Act: The Chambers Brothers are an American Psychedelic Soul band from LA, who were formed in 1954 and are still going. They were at heart four brothers, but I think they have now all left the band.  About the Album: This was their debut album (12 years on from forming as a band), and it spawned their most successful single Time Has Come Today. My History with this Album: None. I had never heard of the Chambers Brothers before this list. Review: I am not an American, nor a Social Historian, but I think I can accurately claim that in 1960s America there was a certain separation between the Black community and other communities. As a result of this, and for marketing reasons, the idea of music that was created with a Black audience in mind was an actual thing. I'm not sure if today we would be quite so sure about what constitutes "Black Music", but then, I think, they were generally q...
Read more