Random updates before the music. I've been playing Red Faction Guerilla. It is pretty fun, especially now that I've purchased the 'warp to safehouse' upgrade. I'm glad they included that because otherwise it was going to get tedious. Otherwise it is fun to demolish things, althought the difficulty is ramping up a little bit. My last few forays to destroy key buildings have ended in tears, because the EDF soldiers keep swarming in once you start your rampage. But I suppose that is the point the game wants to get across; you can't just waltz in and stay on-site, if you want to survive hit and run is probably a better tactic.
I also played my first game of Risk (actual board game, not downloadable game) about a week ago and Megan slaughtered me. Don't know if we are playing it right. But now I have this idea for a board game that I think is going to haunt me if I don't start writing down a design document, even though I know I will never finish it. It seems like it is a hybrid of Risk, Hero Quest and resource management. The thing about Risk is that soldiers are all the same, and I thought it would be cool to have a game that offers different units that have different abilities or stats, and that territories produced different resources which you could then use to train/build new units, adding another strategic layer. I can see already it will be difficult to balance as I want different sides to have different units, but whether I will ever actually get it to a stage where it will actually be tested, I don't know. The things I have in mind are probably too complex to really make it into a normal board game, it is probably bordering more on miniatures which I don't even play. I don't care, I just like to think about these things. The mind works in mysterious ways.
So on to the music.
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Elvis Presley - Elvis Is Back - 1960
I haven't really missed Elvis since the last album I heard. While I wouldn't say this album has won me over, it has impressed me more than the debut album, despite the fact that this has less songs I know. In fact, I think the only song I knew was Fever, which I'm going to guess is a cover song as it doesn't seem to fit exactly with the rest of the songs... but what a cover it is, and my highlight of the album. It seems like such a simple formula, fingers clicking and bass line consistently in the background, punctuated by short sharp drum bursts, and Elvis' moody voice. After being mesmerised by it, the following song just seems like an odd contrast in tone. Nearly everything else on the album is more rock and roll, with a more upbeat tempo. There are a few swinging tunes over the rest of the album, but nothing that got me really excited; tunes that I can bop my head to, but I won't go out of my to listen to them.
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The Beatles - With The Beatles - 1963
For many years my father has told me all about The Beatles and how wonderful they are. And largely I've ignored him. Oh of course I've heard some songs and can sing along to them when they are on the radio (who doesn't know Yellow Submarine?) but I've never bothered to listen to the CD's. Maybe it is that rebellious nature of young teenagers to not like what their parents like. Based on this album, I'm wondering if I've made a mistake when their entire catalogue has been sitting under my nose until I moved out of home a few years ago.
The opening track It Won't Be Long drew me in immediately, it was just so infectious. The harmonies are so well done, here and the rest of the album. The production on the album isn't the best, but the raw potential is on display. While half the album is covers, I think it is quite telling that most of the best ones are originals. That doesn't mean they don't do some great renditions of covers either; Please Mister Postman is excellent, and Money was a bit of a prophetic vision given how much of it they've earned since it was released.
Will I buy this album? I don't know. What I can say is that I'm excited to see what comes from the rest of their collection, several more of which I'm due to listen to during the course of this expedition.
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The Everly Brothers - A Date With The Everly Brothers - 1960
I listened to this after The Beatles, so it was a hard act to follow (everything on this list I listened to the full playlist, then restarted again). It certainly isn't competing in the same space, but it just sort of felt average after The Beatles. Made To Love is a decent first track to get you in, and it wasn't long before I was singing along, but I think the drop in tempo for the second song made me tune out a bit. That said I don't mind Love Hurts as one of the slower songs on the album. Actually, now that I listen to some of the songs as I'm writing this, they aint half bad and I'm finding it easy to sing along to. It's a non-purchase for me, but if you are interested in what seems like a slightly slower rock and roll tinged with a little bit of country, you may do well to check it out.
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Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Shack - 1960
An entry just wouldn't be complete without jazz (I'm too lazy to look back at every entry and see if there has been one). This one stands out a little more due to the organ that plays a major part. But like most jazz that has been on this list, it fades into the background not long after I start listening. I'm finding it hard to tell generally when jazz is good or bad, I think because I'm just not into it. I suppose if if I like the sound of something as someone who doesn't understand jazz, then it might be worth other non-jazz fans to maybe see what it is about. But this is another non-event for me. It doesn't seem very exciting, even compared to others that I thought were non-events.