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The appeal of solo albums |
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#1 |
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Banned User
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,146
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The appeal of solo albums
"Solo album". You can almost hear the scorn dripping from the phrase. Invariably tagged with the phrases "disappointing", "not a patch on" and "vanity project", solo albums have a bad press. They're almost always derided as showing precisely why the band only succeeds with all the members working together.
But I often find I love solo albums. Somehow, with the pressure of the band situation off, the artist can relax, loosen up and be themselves. There often isn't the quality control over the whole album, true, but that's often part of the appeal, I find. And sometimes you get a real gem that you know would never have happened with the band as a whole. Solo albums often take risks. Examples? I have tons. Morrissey's Viva Hate, Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad, Keith Richard's Main Offender, Roger Waters' Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, Ian Brown's Unifinished Monkey Business... Then there are the solo albums that were so successful that they spawned solo artists. Lauryn Hill's Miseducation and Bjork's Debut were both desrcibed by the music press as "eagerly awaited solo albums" from the singer with The Fugees and The Sugarcubes, respectively. But, of course, nobody sees them that way now, because their success effectively broke up those bands. What do you think of solo albums? What are your favourite, and your least favourite? Am I talking bollocks, as usual, or am I right, as usual?
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 89
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Well 'Off the Wall' by Michael Jackson is my favourite solo album (or any album) of all time so I agree.
Sometimes, the problem with 4/5 piece band is that they are musically restricted to what each member can play. So what you get the the Oasis/Status Quo syndrome of every album sounding the same. With a solo album, an artist can call on any number of session musicians or employ new sounds into their work. Of course, the problem with most solo albums, its that most are released by group member who have no talent whatsoever!
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 316
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I think my favourite solo album is probably "Back To The Light" by Brian May. It is very good imho.
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#4 |
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Guest
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Kataan
Posts: 10,939
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One of my fav solo albums is John Entwhistles 'smash your head against the wall'.1972. Quite different to The who and markedly heavier in places, The riff to the title song is just awesome, both in content and production.A lot of use of brass and some wonderfull melodic songs into the bargain.
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