Album of the Week - Vol. 11

The Aeroplane Flies High THE SMASHING PUMPKINS (1996)
Week(s): Wed 27th March to Tue 9th April 2019
Format: 5CD Box Set
Producer(s): Billy Corgan, James Iha, Flood, Alan Moulder, D'arcy Wretzky
Track listing:
CD 1. BULLET WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS
1. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
2. Said Sadly *
3. You're All I've Got Tonight
4. Clones (We're All)
5. A Night Like This *
6. Destination Unknown

7. Dreaming *

CD 2. 1979
1. 1979
2. Ugly
3. The Boy *
4. Cherry
5. Believe *
6. Set the Ray to Jerry *

CD 3. ZERO
1. Zero
2. God *
3. Mouths of Babes
4. Tribute to Johnny *
5. Marquis in Spades
6. Pennies *
7. Pastichio Medley

CD 4. TONIGHT, TONIGHT
1. Tonight, Tonight
2. Meladori Magpie
3. Rotten Apples *
4. Jupiter's Lament
5. Medellia of the Grey Skies
6. Blank *
7. Tonite Reprise *

CD 5. THIRTY-THREE
1. Thirty-Three
2. The Last Song *
3. The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
4. Transformer
5. The Bells *
6. My Blue Heaven *
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 138:53

I noticed on March 26th, that it was James Iha's 51st birthday. To mark the occasion, I decided to give Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness a spin. It had been a while since I listened to the whole thing in one go. It really is one of the best albums to come out of the nineties, and one of the greatest double albums ever released. It stills holds up so well. I love the mix of feels and genres.

I was working at a music shop in Albany called Southern Sound when Mellon Collie... was released. I remember opening the box from EMI and excitedly feeding the first disc into the store's CD player. We were quite puzzled by the opening instrumental piano track that opened the album, which shared its name with the title. When Tonight, Tonight followed I couldn't tell if it was Billy Corgan singing or not. Had we received a dud batch with another random recording on it? Jellybelly sounded more like the Pumpkins we knew, and Zero further solidified that this was indeed their new record.

As listening continued I was struck by the shifts in tone and production. We were certainly warned from the beginning, but I really dig the fact that this album jumps from heavy sludge rock to acoustic ballad so suddenly. The different emotions evoked as the album rolls on is fantastic.

Anyway, after enjoying my revisit of Mellon Collie..., I remembered that I had a copy of the expanded singles collection The Aeroplane Flies High. I also remembered that there were some great tracks on there too. The sessions for Mellon Collie... must have been hugely prolific, as the purpose of the box set was to house each of the five singles from the album in their expanded form. So, rather than one or two B sides per single, there are six or seven. I'm basically ignoring the five singles, because, let's face it, they're all terrific songs and we love them.

For the most part, it's all pretty good. The first disc features five covers, which are covered quite well. I don't know what the reasoning behind those particular songs were, whether to pay homage to their influences, or just have a bit of fun. It's a fab mix of artists: The Cars' You're All I've Got Tonight, Clones (We're All) was a single by Alice Cooper in 1980, The Cure's A Night Like This, Destination Unknown by Missing Persons and Blondie's Dreaming. The latter features lead vocals by the band's rarely-heard bassist D'arcy, and James Iha does a lovely understated job of singing A Night Like This. For a time, I thought the two of them were sharing lead on Iha's wonderful Said Sadly as well, but the female part is actually Nina Gordon from Veruca Salt.

The second disc is a mellower affair, with 1979 setting the tone nicely. The two tracks penned by Iha, The Boy and Believe, are big highlights for me, particularly the latter. Corgan's B sides are a little more ominous, but Set the Ray to Jerry is terrific. Sharing that sense of menace, it manages to feel like it is building to a climax that never comes.

Disc three features the longest and most challenging listen with Pastichio Medley; a twenty-three minute collection of pieces of songs that were recorded after Siamese Dream, but before Mellon Collie... was completed. The riff-tastic Tribute to Johnny is a very fun instrumental track, while the distinctively softer Pennies provides another standout. Overall, the disc is a little sludgy, and probably my least favourite.

Tonight, Tonight's disc features a couple of big highlights for me, namely Blank and Rotten Apples. Both are stripped-back affairs and feature Corgan in introspective acoustic mode. The whole disc is quite mellow, with Jupiter's Lament and Medellia of the Grey Skies also fitting the overall vibe. It's nice to have Tonite Reprise here too, which is included on the original Mellon Collie... triple disc vinyl release. If you track down a copy of Infinite Sadness, which is an outtake from Siamese Dream, you can create a playlist of that version, which features a different track listing from the double CD we all love.

The box set finishes off with the Thirty-Three disc, which includes B sides of varying mood and genre. The Last Song is probably my favourite song here, with a nice string arrangement giving it a nice sense of finality, but I also really like the slightly melancholy cover of My Blue Heaven too. While the title track has some nice Pumpkins riffage, it does go on for a few minutes too long.  Once again, James Iha provides a nice ballad with The Bells that also features D'Arcy on backing vocals. 

For a collection of outtakes and B sides, it is quite remarkable how strong these songs are. Particularly when you consider that Mellon Collie... had a track listing of twenty-eight songs. I really enjoyed listening to this again. And again.

(NB: In 2013, The Aeroplane Flies High was reissued and expanded as a massive 6CD box with a total of 90 tracks. A live DVD was also included.)

Autism Acceptance Month is Coming!

April is Autism Acceptance Month! 

This will be the second April I'll experience as an 'officially' autistic adult! For the last decade and a bit, we Bolgies have been advocating for autism acceptance in today's society. When our daughter Alyssa became the first autistic Little Telethon Star, we felt like we were starting to get somewhere. There had been a dialogue about autism that had rippled through WA. Our family formed Alyssa's Autism Acceptance Project around the breakfast table one morning, shortly after Telethon 2015 came to a close.

We have been a part of many autism events over the years, and we continue to promote Autism Acceptance Month every April. World Autism Day is on April 2nd every year as well, a fact that our family and friends will constantly be reminded of. We say autism acceptance, and not awareness, because there is plenty of autism awareness in the world. Ask anyone and they would have at least heard the word, or even be related to someone with autism. Acceptance of autism is another story.

So much is done on behalf of the autistic community, without any (or in some cases, limited) input from an autistic person. Before Rhona or I were diagnosed, we advocated for our two autistic kids as best we could. We were always very aware that our children were the experts of the autistic experience. They both were non-verbal until the ages of five or six, so we had to learn how to listen to them. They were communicating...just without words, like many other autistic people.

As we navigated life with kids on the autism spectrum, we sought out the autistic voice. When we attended seminars or conferences, we were drawn to talks or presentations done by autistic people. Our first realisation of how important this was came at the first APAC in Sydney 2007, when we attended a panel session that featured four teenagers with Asperger's syndrome. They were recalling their experiences during school, and hearing their stories gave us more insight into what our children were going through than the medical experts we'd been listening to.

We learnt over the years that some images and motifs closely associated with autism were, in fact, derided by the autistic community at large. But as Rhones is fond of saying, "When you know better, you do better," so we have taken many things on board as we've continued on our journey together.

I stumbled across a fabulous post about Autism Acceptance Month on Facebook from a Tumblr page called Endangered Bodies NYC. The following words are lifted directly from that website:

PSA to our followers this Autism Acceptance Month:

• Use Autism **Acceptance** Month (as opposed to Autism Awareness Month). 
• NO “light it up blue” or puzzle pieces. Google “Autism Speaks hate group” to learn more. 
• Use red or gold instead, which are colors supported by the autistic community. 
• Use identity-first language (most autistic people prefer “autistic” instead of “person with autism”), but don’t police the language of someone who prefers to be called a person with autism. 
• NO scare terms like “suffering with autism” or “afflicted with autism.” 
• Avoid functioning labels like “high functioning” or “low functioning.” 
• If autistic voices are not at the center of your efforts, you’re doing it wrong. 
• When in doubt, ASK AN AUTISTIC PERSON. 
• To learn more about autism, visit autistic-run organizations like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and Autism Women’s Network (AWN). 

We had to learn most of these things ourselves through experience. We participated in Light It Up Blue occasions until we learnt of its negative connotations. The puzzle piece motif has long gone from many logos involved with autism. We have constantly requested an autistic voice or input from the autistic community when any initiative or idea is planned to benefit people on the spectrum. 

Looking at the points on this list, we would always seek advice from either our own kids or autistic adults we had met along the way. We asked both of our kids if they preferred being called a 'person with autism' or an 'autistic person'. The argument being with some PC folk is that you see the person first, and the disability later. This person-first language is being taught in many universities by non-autistic people. Our kids (and now us) prefer being called autistic, as we are proud of our autism. We also feel that our autism is a big part of who we are. We wouldn't be the people we are without it. Our brains think differently and we tend to process sensory input in a diverse manner, compared to both neurotypicals and other autistic people. 

The following graphic shows our feelings on the matter quite clearly. Rhona uses this is in The AAA Project PDs and presentations too.

We don't just carry our autism around with us, and pack it away at night. It's an essential part of our being. But, there are some who prefer being called a 'person with autism'. It comes down to personal choice. 

Our main goal is to help those on the autism spectrum be their own advocate. We want to make sure that educators, parents and other members of society are listening to the autistic voice. Another saying Rhona is fond of is: "Stop talking about us, and start talking to us." I think that sums things up pretty well.

This April, why not take some time to learn about autism? Do you know someone with autism? If you know me, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. As Rhona was diagnosed in mid 2017, and myself that December, we are fairly new to being 'officially' autistic. Some scoff at the validity of an adult diagnosis, but it has been hugely invaluable to both of us. We now give ourselves permission to de-stress from certain social situations, rather than just keep on pushing through. We recognise that we may need help in some environments and we understand why we react in a particular way.

Speaking for myself, I forget every now and then about my diagnosis. When I remember, "oh yeah, I'm autistic", I feel hugely grateful. I've embraced my autism but I'm still getting used to being actually autistic. So, in closing, I'll leave you with The AAA Project motto: Listen. Respect. Accept.

RIP Keith Flint

The world discovered that The Prodigy's Keith Flint passed away a few hours ago. He was found dead in his home at the age of 49. Media reported that his death was not suspicious. That usually means one of two things: suicide or a drug overdose. I was hoping for something else. Rhones suggested that it could have been a heart attack.

I'm not the biggest Prodigy fan in the world. I only have a couple of their songs on JJJ compilations and the Breathe CD single. I've never seen them live either. In fact, I remember walking out of the 2009 Big Day Out in Perth just as their set was kicking off. 

But when fellow band member Liam Howlett revealed in an Instagram post that Keith had indeed taken his own life, it really hit me. A huge sense of grief just welled up in me, and I'm not sure what really triggered it.

I've always found the way we react to celebrity deaths as a society very fascinating. Someone we have never met or spoken with can be so important to our lives that they leave a gap when they pass. There are those who will deride such actions, and offer a debate of whether a famous person's death deserves more attention or mourning than children dying from diseases in a third world country or victims of another shooting massacre in the USA. 

I think that one of the reasons I got so moved by Liam's words about Keith was that he was describing how he felt. Suicide leaves behind a lot an unanswered questions. The whys and hows aside, one thing that someone who has lost a loved one to suicide might ask themselves is 'what could I have done to prevent this?'.

The Prodigy recently toured Australia and New Zealand. Their last show was in Auckland on the 5th of February this year. Keith had only been home for a month or so. Being in a band myself, if I woke up to the news that one of my bandmates had taken their life, it would devastate me. In addition to sharing a stage, you spend a lot of time together. Sometimes you travel to a gig together, and there's breaks between sets. You get to know each other. You find out what's happening in each other's lives. I like to think that I am the kind of person that people can confide in. I usually don't have an issue talking about what someone is going through, and I'm happy to be the shoulder that gets cried on. It's so important to have someone you can talk to if you're experiencing depression or anxiety or both.

Having lost my own mother to suicide, I'm probably a little more sensitive and empathetic towards friends and families of those who have taken their own lives. You go through a lot of emotions. I struggled to deal with my mum's death. Well, to be honest, I didn't really try to. I was so determined not to let it affect me that it did. I became emotionally stunted. I overreacted (or under-reacted) to certain situations. Being diagnosed with autism a little over a year ago has informed me of how I handled some issues as I grew up as well. We're all just little pieces held together with sticky tape and string after all.

Bottom line, don't be afraid to seek help. It's one of the most important things you could ever do to move forward out of the hole of depression and anxiety.

Anxiety

Around September last year I slipped into a black hole of anxiety. It was pretty crippling because it felt like everything took a massive effort to get through. As a result, I avoided simple tasks like checking my email. Sometimes just putting a meal together caused me a lot of stress.

The worst thing was the morning. It was so hard to get out of bed. On odd occasions where I could have a sleep-in, I would constantly battle with myself on when I should get up. I'd feel guilty if I was still in bed, or I would just feel horrible and anxious once I got up. I would experience that awful racing heart that seemed to make my chest thud so hard I was surprised people couldn't see it pulsing. 

If my mobile phone went off, either an SMS or a phone call, I freaked out. Sometimes it would just be a vapid notice from our phone carrier or a random message from a friend. The relief that it was no big deal would be pretty great, but then the anxiety would just begin growing again. I had to build myself just to check my email. And I would only do it once a day. I would congratulate myself each time I did it too. It felt like such an achievement.

The most frustrating part for me was not feeling like myself. I've usually got a few things going at once, and I'm fairly enthused to start the day. Struggling just to get out of bed was horrible. I'm a pretty happy guy most of the time, so to feel so blue was just soul crushing. And to not really know why. Part of me thought I could just snap myself out of it if I fixed the root cause. I did learn not to get so hung up on that as time went on.

This was not my first wrestling match with the black dog. Although, it was more anxiety than depression. I've had down patches ever since I was a teenager. They used to be triggered by falling behind in my homework at high school and/or insomnia. If I had a night without sleep, I knew I had about a week of cloud to fight through. There was a period of time before my mother took her life that I felt like I understood a little of what she went through. 

She spent her last few years battling severe depression. Before I was born she'd had a bout so severe that she attempted suicide by jumping off a building. Thankfully she was unsuccessful, or else I wouldn't be here. It seemed that my birth played a big part in her coming out of her depressive state. She managed to keep the black dog away until I was a teenager. 

So, I've had my moments with depression and anxiety over the years. I've never had suicidal thoughts, which I'm very grateful for. I'm very lucky to have had Rhona to help me through. I know there are people out there with mental health issues who have partners that don't understand or empathise. As Rhona has her own stress and anxiety problems, she knows exactly what I go through. We're a good team. Usually, when one of us is low, the other is high enough to help prop them up. Even when we're both a little low, we're good at leaning on each other.

I'm very lucky that during my latest period of anxiety, I still enjoyed gigging. If my work had become stressful, that would have been really hard to push through. As it was, just emailing and talking on the phone was a challenge. Socialising with band mates or punters in my breaks was a little touch and go. I did let a few close friends know what I was going through, and their support was wonderful.

Without wanting to jinx myself, I think I'm pretty much through to the other side now. I've been feeling good, and full of a little more get-up-and-go. Particularly in the mornings. Just a little more motivated to get things done.

Rhona encouraged me to visit the psychologist she'd been seeing, and come up with some strategies to help manage my anxiety. One big thing I took away from those sessions was making little 1% changes in life. Just to look at particular aspects of life and seeing if we could make a small change for the better. So I stopped putting as much emphasis on some household chores or errands to be done immediately. I was giving myself permission to leave things until tomorrow or another day. I began to make time to do things that I enjoyed, those activities gave me a little reprieve from the day-to-day stuff. They became very important in helping me move forward.

One analogy Rhona and the psychologist liked to use was that of a jellybean jar. Each interaction, task or moment of the day requires a certain amount of jellybeans depending on how stressful or manageable they are. It's important to remember to fill the jar back up. So, activities you enjoy, or time taken just for you, is crucial in filling up the jellybean jar. Rhona was very conscious that I needed to have filled up my jar before going to out to play a gig or the shops or other social interactions. 

January is usually a bad month for me and Rhona, as we don't have a routine to stick to. School's out, and the structure of the usual week is gone. Rhona spent most of last year on long service leave and was experiencing high levels of anxiety due to not having a set routine. To add insult to injury, she was putting pressure on herself to enjoy the leave, which is something she'd been working towards for ten years. Sometimes getting what you want can have its drawbacks. 

As the year progressed, Rhona got emotionally stronger and was managing her anxiety attacks quite well. Just in time for me to fall down the hole. I was constantly waking up with a racing heart. Some mornings I seemed to be in a waking loop where I was reliving a situation that was making me anxious over and over again. I would awake slightly panicked and not really be sure what I had dreamt or what was causing the feeling. 

Thankfully I never dreaded going to sleep or getting into bed at night. I was usually up late enough to be tired, and I would want to go to sleep. Our bed is super comfy too. Night time was usually when I felt best, mentally speaking. I guess, it was the end of the day, there was little I could do other than enjoy the night and wind down. I think I possibly kept clinging to the idea that I feel better in the morning. 

I remained very grateful for Rhona. She would constantly ask how I was feeling and check if I needed to talk anything through. If I had an upcoming gig that was causing me a little stress, she was a wonderful sounding board. 

Things progressed slowly, but over time, the cloud started to lift. Constant support from my family and friends was the greatest factor alleviating my stress. The sessions with the psychologist helped me put a few things in perspective as well. Nothing like the reduced rationality when you're in the throes of depression and anxiety!

As I write this blog, I'm feeling a lot better. I'm pretty much back to my old self again, but I'm riding a different wave. It's my manic wave. Everything is awesome, and nothing is happening fast enough for me. Driving seems to be in slow motion as well. I can't get to where I'm going fast enough!

I tend to get a little self-centred too. Or rather, a bit blinkered in what I'm doing or trying to get done. My mind map gets very rigid and some things that come up to challenge this either get ignored or not taken seriously. I can almost feel myself doing it, but I don't fully realise it until after the fact.

I'm happy to be feeling happier. The family has had a couple of challenges to start the year off with, but there's been a fair few wins as well. Hoping that will be a trend that continues to, um, continue. 

Album of the Week - Vol. 10

Greatest Hits Vol. 1 THE FLAMING LIPS (2018)
Week: Sat 7th Jul to Fri 13th Jul 2018
Format: Vinyl/3 CD Deluxe Edition
Producer: various
Track listing:
VINYL EDITION
Side 1:
1. Do You Realize?? *
2. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1
3. Race For The Prize *
4. Waitin' For a Superman *
5. When You Smile *
6. She Don't Use Jelly
Side 2:
1. Bad Days (Aurally Excited Version)
2. The W.A.N.D.
3. Silver Trembling Hands *
4. The Castle
5. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 45:25

DELUXE EDITION
Disc 1:
1. Talkin' 'Bout the Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everyone Wants To Live Forever)
2. Hit Me Like You Did the First Time
3. Frogs
4. Felt Good to Burn
5. Turn It On *
6. She Don't Use Jelly
7. Chewin' the Apple of Your Eye
8. Slow Nerve Action
9. Psychiatric Explorations of the Foetus with Needles
10. Brainville *
11. Lightning Strikes the Postman
12. When You Smile *
13. Bad Days (Aurally Excited Version)
14. Riding to Work in the Year 2025
15. Race For the Prize (Sacrifice of the New Scientists) *
16. Waitin' For a Superman (Is It Getting Heavy?) *
17. The Spark That Bled
18. What Is the Light?

Disc 2:
1. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 *
2. In the Morning of the Magicians *
3. All We Have Is Now
4. Do You Realize?? *
5. The W.A.N.D.
6. Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung
7. Vein of Stars
8. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song 
9. Convinced of the Hex
10. See the Leaves
11. Silver Trembling Hands *
12. Is David Bowie Dying?
13. Try to Explain
14. Always There, In Our Hearts
15. How?? *
16. There Should Be Unicorns
17. The Castle

Disc 3:
1. Zero to a Million
2. Jets (Cupid's Kiss vs. The Psyche of Death) (2-track demo)
3. Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair
4. The Captain
5. 1000ft Hands
6. Noodling Theme (Epic Sunset mix #5)
7. Up Above the Daily Hum *
8. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (In Anatropous Reflex) *
9. We Can't Predict the Future *
10. Your Face Can Tell the Future *
11. You Gotta Hold On
12. What Does It Mean?
13. Spider-Man Vs Muhammad Ali
14. I Was Zapped by the Lucky Super Rainbow
15. Enthusiasm for Life Defeats Existential Fear Part 2
16. If I Only Had a Brain *
17. Silent Night/Lord, Can You Hear Me?
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 3:43:47

I've been a fan of The Flaming Lips since the early part of the 21st century. I heard She Don't Use Jelly when it came out in 1993, and thought it was kinda loopy, but I still dug it. After that song faded from the spotlight, I didn't really give the band another thought.

Until around 2002, I think. A few friends were asking me about the band and if I knew any of their stuff. Their albums The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots were getting rave reviews from music critics a-plenty. I still thought of them as that noisy band who had a hit with She Don't Use Jelly and scored a track on the Batman Forever soundtrack. 

I decided to dig a little, and I think the Yoshimi album was my first decent jump down the rabbit hole.  I was pretty taken with it, from memory, and headed straight to Bulletin. Nearly twenty years later, and those albums remain very special to me, but it's 1995's Clouds Taste Metallic that I call my favourite now. My golden Lips period is 1995 to 2006. I didn't really get into the experimental 4CD Zaireeka from 1997, but I appreciated the concept. They lost me a little with 2009's Embryonic, particularly as I was quite taken by their go at Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. 

The 3CD set offers up a pretty good overview of their early output to the present day. The first two discs consists of most of their singles from 1992 to 2017, presented in chronological order. We are treated to demos, B-sides, soundtrack contributions and outtakes a-plenty on the last CD.

If you're after something a little more concise, the vinyl edition is pretty taut, consisting of just eleven tracks. The really well known songs are there too, Do You Realize??, She Don't Use Jelly, Bad Days and Race For The Prize. I've picked out five favourites from each CD and five from the vinyl tracklisting. Have at it! He he he...

Got Lips?

They're not for everyone, but there should something for all tastes here. If you can tolerate Wayne Coyne's high singing voice.

Dylan the 5th Amendment

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I last did a Dylan blog! Almost two years! Bob Dylan's fabulous The Complete Album Collection Vol. One CD box set has been in my possession for over three years and I haven't made my way through all of the albums yet. That's so like me. I like to savour, you see. I have books and albums and movies that I seem to save for The Right Time. Seeing as we just got tickets to see Dylan in August at the Perth Arena, it felt right to jump back in again. 

17. THE BASEMENT TAPES (with The Band) (1975) (24/5/18)
Despite being released in 1975, the songs on this album were relentlessly bootlegged since they were recorded in 1967 and 1968. Apparently more than 100 songs were laid down during Dylan's time with The Band (still known as The Hawks at the time). I think the biggest collection of songs from those sessions were released as part of Dylan's official Bootleg Series in 2014. 

Anyway, I find this album a little difficult to get into. In fact, it was listening to this that stopped me from continuing forward with these blog posts back in 2018. There are eight tracks that don't feature Dylan at all, echoing the shared track listing of Before The Flood, and that creates a bit of a mixed vibe. It was always going to be difficult to craft an album out of so many songs that people had shared among themselves for nearly a decade. But, even with that in mind, it comes across as being very disjointed. Maybe after more listens, I'll start to 'get it'. 

I've never been a huge fan of Tears of Rage and This Wheel's On Fire anyway, and they're the most well-known songs on offer. Even You Ain't Goin' Nowhere is quite different, lyrically and musically, from the version that appeared on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II. I did enjoy Goin' To Acapulco, Long Distance Operator, Katie's Been Gone and Please, Mrs Henry however. The fact that Clothes Line Saga mentions the date January 30th (my birthday) is kinda cool too. One to revisit a little more, methinks.

18. DESIRE (1976) (24/5/18)
Interestingly, I listened to this album and The Basement Tapes on Dylan's 77th birthday. Another good reason for me to start spinning a little more of his work, I thought. Desire feels like a natural progression from Blood On The Tracks as far as production goes, with a prominent use of the violin, thanks to Scarlet Rivera and backing vocals from Emmylou Harris. Except for one song, the whole album was co-written by Dylan and Jacques Levy, which is quite unusual. Most of the tracks have a strong narrative style as a result, the album opening with arguably its most well-known song Hurricane. It's an epic tune outlining the wrongful imprisonment of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter for the crime of murder (Carter was eventually released in 1985). The eight and a half minute track is not the longest on this album though. That title goes to the twelve verse (count 'em, twelve!) ballad Joey, which details the events of gangster "Crazy Joey" Gallo clocking up eleven minutes. It's a pretty good album this one. It was my first listen, but I was already familiar with Oh, Sister, Hurricane and One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below), the latter being the one song Dylan penned on his own. I also dig Mozambique and Romance In Durango. During the recording of this album, Dylan also cut of my favourite tracks of his, Rita May. It was released as a single, and appeared on the 1978 three-album compilation Masterpieces, which is where I first heard it. The jaunty tune sounds like it should be here, like this is where it belongs, not adrift on a single.

19. HARD RAIN (1976) (25/5/18)
Like the documentary title, Dylan doesn't look back. If he chooses to revisit his older material in concert, he tends to change the arrangement significantly. This is definitely the case with this live album recorded during the Rolling Thunder Revue. The only songs that sound similar to the studio versions are the recent(ish) ones. Even the fairly new Shelter From The Storm gets a rollicking arrangement far removed from the acoustic treatment it received on Blood On The Tracks. The album opens with a raucous reworking of Maggie's Farm that I absolutely love. I only just learned that Mick Ronson (yes, THAT Mick Ronson) plays on the song too! It was actually the first version I heard, due to it being on the Masterpieces compilation. I didn't hear the original (from Bringing It All Back Home) until I was well into my twenties, possibly thirties. One Too Many Mornings gets a great rendition as does crowd favourite Lay Lady Lay, again presented quite differently to the Nashvillle Skyline recording. I'm not the biggest fan of Idiot Wind, but it's performance here is pretty apt closer for the album, and it's arguably more passionate than the studio version.

20. STREET-LEGAL (1978) (30/5/18)
Thanks to Rolling Stone magazine's Top 100 Dylan songs list a few years back, I was already familiar with three tracks on this album. If not for that, I would have flown into this one totally blind. While there's nothing hugely well-known here, it's pretty damn great. This marks another shift in Dylan's production as he enlists a full band complete with female backing vocals. My big highlights are Señor (Tales of Yankee Power), opening track Changing Of The Guards and the eight minute plus No Time To Think. The former is my absolute fave from this album, and bizarrely, No.100 in the aforementioned RS list. The album's closer Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat) is a good track too, and another of the three from that RS list.

42

It's a number I've been seeing a lot lately.

Thanks to pop culture, I know Douglas Adams wrote that 42 was the answer to life, the universe and everything. I've never read a Douglas Adams book, but I know that. It's like some sort of societal osmosis. 

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service have recently launched a wonderful campaign about the number 42. It shares that the red blood cells inside donated blood only lasts for 42 days. It's a pretty awesome concept, which asks you to be life, the universe and everything to someone else. Bizarrely, I have only just started giving blood again. My donation on February 20th this year was my first one in about five years, I reckon. I've now become a plasma donor, as my veins are apparently awesome, and my blood flow rocks. 

Rhones and I recently saw Jackson Browne at the Leeuwin Estate concert last weekend. When I went to get us some eats from a local vendor, the ticket number I was given was 42. The concert was on March 24th...42 backwards.

Today would be called 4/2 in the US, rather than 2/4, as the rest of the world notates.

42 was the age that my mother would have been the year she died. She was only two and a half months away. 

42 is how old I am at the time of writing this blog. I've been 42 for about 60 days now. How weird would that have been if I'd been 42 for 42 days?!?! You can't have everything, I guess.

Not sure what it all means, but I'm finding an odd comfort in the number.