AH: I could never understand why Amy Winehouse was such a big deal, I heard the rehab song, saw she was always blitzed out of her mind, and moved on. Then I saw my wife had the CD and decided to listen to it. (After she passed) I was blown away. I think every song on this album is excellent and can listen to it over and over again. (From what my wife tells me, the lyrics for a lot of songs have sexual themes in them) I never noticed any of them. Wish she was around to lay out more tracks, haven’t been able to find any other music quite like this.
APP: If you asked me to name a song from this band, I couldn’t. I have no idea what songs they are famous for. This song wasn’t that bad. I’ll have to try them out on Amazon Music if they have any “free” albums available. I’m sure they have had to had a hit I will recognize.
Amy Winehouse – Wake Up Alone
Heard great things, but know little of her work. Sounds older than it is. Reminds me of the Style Council song The Paris Match – with Tracy Thorn on vocals (https://youtu.be/Oq-VrCON5W4)
It’s like something that would have been in a movie like Pulp Fiction or the show Twin Peaks. Has a smoky bar feeling with that distant vocal – a kind of matter-of-fact despair. Her phrasing is a little like Lauryn Hill’s as well. “I stay up, clean the house – at least I’m not drinking” is the line that caught my attention. Great track! I will listen for more of her stuff.
The Alan Parsons Project – Breakdown
Imagine getting your 1st engineering credit on Abbey Road, then being a major contributor to a record that reshaped the sound of a band to produce the record with the most charted weeks on the Billboard 200. No doubt he has some production chops – I’m interested to take a gander at his “DVD educational series [from] 2010 titled The Art and Science of Sound Recording (“ASSR”) on music production and the complete audio recording process” (quote from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Parsons)
This track: A little Styx-ish with one of The Hollies’ lead singers contributing vocals. Ace’s “How Long” and 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” come to mind as well, also ELO. Getting by with a little help from his friends – I had to check how deep of a cut this was as I remembered it pretty well. It wasn’t a single, but got plenty of AOR radio station airplay. The crescendo to full chorus seems a little silly and overblown. I’m not sure why as I listen to plenty of stuff that is similar. Maybe it’s the obviously synthesized orchestra and brass. It’s a catchy one though – I enjoy it.
Amy Winehouse/”Wake Up Alone”: I missed the whole Amy Winehouse thing — don’t even think I really heard anything by her until after we lost her. But I like everything I’ve heard, and I love this, the way-retro arrangement is a perfect complement to her gutsy, instantly authentic vocals. Piercing lyrics: “at least I’m not drinking”.
Alan Parsons Project/”Breakdown”. I remember this song from AOR radio in high school. Had kind of forgotten about it, but once reminded, I’m pretty sure I heard it A LOT , which make me question whether it qualifies as a “deep cut.” At any rate, it’s pretty thin as songs go, and the choir coming in at the end is kind of ridiculous. But hearing it did give me an enjoyable little nudge of nostalgia.
I just typed out an eloquent entry for this week, sent it and got a response that it was “Blocked as a suspected bot”. In case this gets through, I’ll just say: Amy- stylish! Alan- meh.
Note: I had a run-in with a bot and am now attempting a more complete post. Take that Vladamir!
Amy- This song is like a style capsule; similar to a time capsule, it captures the essence of a style in one sonic package. If you didn’t know when this song was produced, it would be challenge to say what era this comes from—timeless in a way. Love the soulful sound of her voice, the ‘chix’ of the guitar and the bit of tremolo guitar in the background. I had a flash of the band Portishead who takes this type of stylized sound and turns it into dysphoric, spacey, trip-hop. Someone else commented on the cinematic connection for this song—I can definitely see/hear it slipped in on the Mulholland Drive soundtrack. As someone else mentioned, she comments about her drinking too much. Sadly, a theme in her music and her life. This song is a nice reminder of her talent.
Alan- The last three times that I have referenced the Alan Parsons Project have all been related to a jokey use of their name in one of the Austin Powers movies. This one didn’t really do much for me. I found the instrumentation to be generic, the kind of thing that a music program like Band in The Box might generate. I also was taken aback by the discordance between the musical build-up and then let down as he sings about a breakdown. What to say about the chorus near the end? Theatrical, yes. Gratuitous, sure. Definitely in the Dennis DeYoung tradition.
Wake Up Alone: Soulful, organic, so very real. I have this album and the whole package is awesome. That unique voice……… She was an iconic figure and a flame that burned too brightly for too short a stay. I think of future songs we could have experienced and it makes me sigh.
Breakdown: Cool Song, Prog rock kinda sorta? like the background vocals swirling throughout, the Wurly and how it sits just beneath the main instrument guitar hook adding interest and the vocal cutting through nicely. A nice warm, round mix (sweet base tone)….well done….oh and the trombone/horn section is also just perfect.
AH: I could never understand why Amy Winehouse was such a big deal, I heard the rehab song, saw she was always blitzed out of her mind, and moved on. Then I saw my wife had the CD and decided to listen to it. (After she passed) I was blown away. I think every song on this album is excellent and can listen to it over and over again. (From what my wife tells me, the lyrics for a lot of songs have sexual themes in them) I never noticed any of them. Wish she was around to lay out more tracks, haven’t been able to find any other music quite like this.
APP: If you asked me to name a song from this band, I couldn’t. I have no idea what songs they are famous for. This song wasn’t that bad. I’ll have to try them out on Amazon Music if they have any “free” albums available. I’m sure they have had to had a hit I will recognize.
Amy Winehouse – Wake Up Alone
Heard great things, but know little of her work. Sounds older than it is. Reminds me of the Style Council song The Paris Match – with Tracy Thorn on vocals (https://youtu.be/Oq-VrCON5W4)
It’s like something that would have been in a movie like Pulp Fiction or the show Twin Peaks. Has a smoky bar feeling with that distant vocal – a kind of matter-of-fact despair. Her phrasing is a little like Lauryn Hill’s as well. “I stay up, clean the house – at least I’m not drinking” is the line that caught my attention. Great track! I will listen for more of her stuff.
The Alan Parsons Project – Breakdown
Imagine getting your 1st engineering credit on Abbey Road, then being a major contributor to a record that reshaped the sound of a band to produce the record with the most charted weeks on the Billboard 200. No doubt he has some production chops – I’m interested to take a gander at his “DVD educational series [from] 2010 titled The Art and Science of Sound Recording (“ASSR”) on music production and the complete audio recording process” (quote from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Parsons)
This track: A little Styx-ish with one of The Hollies’ lead singers contributing vocals. Ace’s “How Long” and 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” come to mind as well, also ELO. Getting by with a little help from his friends – I had to check how deep of a cut this was as I remembered it pretty well. It wasn’t a single, but got plenty of AOR radio station airplay. The crescendo to full chorus seems a little silly and overblown. I’m not sure why as I listen to plenty of stuff that is similar. Maybe it’s the obviously synthesized orchestra and brass. It’s a catchy one though – I enjoy it.
Amy Winehouse/”Wake Up Alone”: I missed the whole Amy Winehouse thing — don’t even think I really heard anything by her until after we lost her. But I like everything I’ve heard, and I love this, the way-retro arrangement is a perfect complement to her gutsy, instantly authentic vocals. Piercing lyrics: “at least I’m not drinking”.
Alan Parsons Project/”Breakdown”. I remember this song from AOR radio in high school. Had kind of forgotten about it, but once reminded, I’m pretty sure I heard it A LOT , which make me question whether it qualifies as a “deep cut.” At any rate, it’s pretty thin as songs go, and the choir coming in at the end is kind of ridiculous. But hearing it did give me an enjoyable little nudge of nostalgia.
I just typed out an eloquent entry for this week, sent it and got a response that it was “Blocked as a suspected bot”. In case this gets through, I’ll just say: Amy- stylish! Alan- meh.
Note: I had a run-in with a bot and am now attempting a more complete post. Take that Vladamir!
Amy- This song is like a style capsule; similar to a time capsule, it captures the essence of a style in one sonic package. If you didn’t know when this song was produced, it would be challenge to say what era this comes from—timeless in a way. Love the soulful sound of her voice, the ‘chix’ of the guitar and the bit of tremolo guitar in the background. I had a flash of the band Portishead who takes this type of stylized sound and turns it into dysphoric, spacey, trip-hop. Someone else commented on the cinematic connection for this song—I can definitely see/hear it slipped in on the Mulholland Drive soundtrack. As someone else mentioned, she comments about her drinking too much. Sadly, a theme in her music and her life. This song is a nice reminder of her talent.
Alan- The last three times that I have referenced the Alan Parsons Project have all been related to a jokey use of their name in one of the Austin Powers movies. This one didn’t really do much for me. I found the instrumentation to be generic, the kind of thing that a music program like Band in The Box might generate. I also was taken aback by the discordance between the musical build-up and then let down as he sings about a breakdown. What to say about the chorus near the end? Theatrical, yes. Gratuitous, sure. Definitely in the Dennis DeYoung tradition.
Wake Up Alone: Soulful, organic, so very real. I have this album and the whole package is awesome. That unique voice……… She was an iconic figure and a flame that burned too brightly for too short a stay. I think of future songs we could have experienced and it makes me sigh.
Breakdown: Cool Song, Prog rock kinda sorta? like the background vocals swirling throughout, the Wurly and how it sits just beneath the main instrument guitar hook adding interest and the vocal cutting through nicely. A nice warm, round mix (sweet base tone)….well done….oh and the trombone/horn section is also just perfect.