Our 44th cool album is “So,” Peter Gabriel’s fifth solo album. Released in 1986, this record made Gabriel a worldwide superstar. It is also a really good album.
In this episode, we listen to the gorgeous and sad ballad, “Don’t Give Up.” This track features Renjeaux favorite Kate Bush, and its lyrics are about hard times, depression (both the emotion and the era), and … a bit of redemption (with Kate).
Our 44th cool album is “So,” Peter Gabriel’s fifth solo album. Released in 1986, this record made Gabriel a worldwide superstar. It is also a really good album.
The second track, “Sledgehammer,” is Gabriel’s biggest hit, and one that was, ironically, basically laid down in one take and almost as an afterthought. It is a fun groove. But be warned: parents may want to avert their eyes. 😉
Our 44th cool album is “So,” Peter Gabriel’s fifth solo album. Released in 1986, this record made Gabriel a worldwide superstar. It is also a really good album.
In this episode, we listen to the kickass opener, “Red Rain.” There are so many awesome things about this track, not least of which is that the first sounds we hear on the album are Stewart Copeland’s intricate hi-hat work.
We close out this cool album with the last four tracks. Track 8, “The Infant Kiss” was inspired by the Gothic film “The Innocents,” which is about a governess who believes the ghost of her predecessor’s dead lover is trying to possess the bodies of her charges. Pretty dang creepy!
Track 9, “Night Scented Stock” is an acapella interlude based on the melody of “Blow Away,” and is named after a flower species which grows at night.
The last two tracks are both powerful anti-war messages, but in completely different ways. Track 10, “Army Dreamers” is a lilting, melancholy waltz in which a mother mourns her son, who was killed in a war.
And the closer, track 11, “Breathing,” is another anti-war song; but it is dark, foreboding, apocalyptic, and one of Kate’s most powerful songs ever.
Our 43rd cool album is Kate Bush’s third album, “Never for Ever,” from 1980. This album marked a turning point for Kate, as she began self-producing and taking more control over her career.
We open side B with track 6, “The Wedding List” and track 7, “Violin.”
We close out side A with three wistful tracks: track 3, “Blow Away (for Bill)” is dedicated to one of Kate’s stage lighting technicians, Bill Duffield, who died after the first concert date of her Tour of Life. The song muses on the afterlife for musicians, with references to recently-passed artists Minnie Riperton, Keith Moon, Sid Vicious, Buddy Holly, Sandy Denny, and Mark Bolan.
Track4, “All We Ever Look For,” dreams of what families might be, but comes around to a very Buddhist perspective of acceptance and compassion.
And Track 5, “Egypt” dreams of how exotic the Middle East could be, and features the longest instrumental stretch of Kate Bush music to this point.
Our 43rd cool album is Kate Bush’s third album, “Never for Ever,” from 1980. This album marked a turning point for Kate, as she began self-producing and taking more control over her career.
We open the album with a kinda-fun, kinda-sad story about a wife who tests her husband’s fidelity, “Babooshka,” followed by a beautiful and easy but also kinda-sad song about the English composer, track 2, “Delius (Song of Summer).”
For our 42nd cool album, we’re listening to Duran Duran’s titular debut album from 1981. This album was one of the milestones of the New Romantic movement, which grew out of New Wave. NOTE: we are listening to the “Harvest Release” of this album.
We close out this cool album with track 7, the heavily-processed, atmospheric “Friends of Mine,” and the cool instrumental closer, “Tel Aviv.”
| For our 42nd cool album, we’re listening to Duran Duran’s titular debut album from 1981. This album was one of the milestones of the New Romantic movement, which grew out of New Wave. NOTE: we are listening to the “Harvest Release” of this album. It is the first U.S. release, and opens with the “Night Version” of Planet Earth. |
We open side B with the mysterious, Kraftwerk-esque “Night Boat,” followed by the jammin’ track 6, “Sound of Thunder.”
For our 42nd cool album, we’re listening to Duran Duran’s titular debut album from 1981. This album was one of the milestones of the New Romantic movement, which grew out of New Wave. NOTE: we are listening to the “Harvest Release” of this album.
We close out side A with track 3, “Anyone Out There,” which is better than we remember, and track 4, the nice jammer, “Careless Memories.”
Renjeaux