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Showing posts with the label Tony Levin

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 4 / Security

As a kid I didn't really know a lot about Peter Gabriel. I was in high school when "Games Without Frontiers" was a big deal back in 1980. It was a pretty awesome song, and I remember being tempted to pick up the album, but never did. Still don't know why. Then again, I didn't have Genesis albums either. Like millions of other bandwagon jumpers I hopped on with So and stayed on for his soundtrack Passion, then more or less lost interest. I also really liked Plays Live , especially the live version of "Solsbury Hill" that still gets me right in the feels. That was about as deep as my collection went.  It was about a year after the album came out in the summer of '83 that "Shock the Monkey" was still getting a fair bit of play on FM radio, and the song admittedly was a bit perplexing to me, as I didn't know if I liked it, or was irritated by it. Time of course would have the last laugh, as it always does as the song, like so much of Mr. G...

John Lennon / Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy

I had always wanted to pick up a copy of this album, but I didn't. Not because I didn't like John Lennon, it's because I didn't want to hear the Yoko Ono songs. Yeah, I know it's a shitty reason, but it is what it is. We all know the history here, and that's what makes this so sad. I remember when this came out, and "Watching the Wheels" and "(Just Like) Starting Over" were getting some airplay and I really liked those songs - still do. I also remember reading there was disappointment in how John's "come back" wasn't doing as well as some had expected, and a lot of the early reviews pretty much shit on it. Everything changed December 8, 1980. Let's address the elephant in the room right off. The Yoko songs. I guess in terms of being artistic and taking chances and playing against the conventions of crafting listenable pop she was a master. Heck, I'll even grant that "Give Me Something" has a certain cha...