Week 43: 50 Albums That Changed Music

[Swish]

Well, only 7 more to go on the list, and a few of those remaining make me wonder how in the world they were chosen, and for some others, what took so long to mention them? This week's selection is Primal Scream - Screamadelica (1991)

Thanks to producer Andrew Weatherall and some debauched raving, this former fey indie outfit enthusiastically took on dance music's heady rushes. It was a conversation bordering on the Damascene, but one being mirrored in halls of residence, cars, clubs, and bedsits all around the nation. Screamadelica brought hedonism crashing into the mainstream. Without this...no lad culture - it was no accident that a mag founded in 1994 shared its name with Screamadelica's defining single, 'Loaded'.

I don't have much to say about this one, mostly because dance music has little appeal to me, other than during wedding receptions. I know they didn't start out that way, and subsequent albums were complete departures from this record, some of which I liked.

Swish

[3-LockBox]

I got nuthin'

[MindGoneHaywire]

There's enough Britpop on this list to make this seem kinda redundant, even taking into consideration that it's a UK paper. I'm sorry, in spite of how little I care for "Southern Rock," it simply doesn't make sense that, even in the UK, not one such rec is on the list.

A friend went to see this band around 15 years ago & claimed it was like seeing the Rolling Stones in their prime. We put it off to the ecstasy he took that night, but it took awhile to live that down.

I just don't accept that Primal Scream 'changed music' enough to rate inclusion on this list, and though I haven't heard this rec since it was current, considering that they spent enough space on Britpop choices, their non-rock choices were downright bizarre, and the summaries read worse than the choices, I'd say this just might be the worst choice yet. Especially since 'lad culture' was brewing as various mags shifted their focuses to include content for sensibilities of 20-something guys ranging from a Beavis & Butthead mentality, to the sorts of readers for whom Vanity Fair & the like were simply too mature & sophisticated. Girlie mags like Playboy had shifted, Rolling Stone spent the 80s becoming mostly a lifestyle rag, and Details was around by then also. Crediting Primal Scream with 'lad culture' would seem bogus even if that has nothing to do with 'changing music.'

[SlumpBuster]

There's enough Britpop on this list to make this seem kinda redundant, even taking into consideration that it's a UK paper. I'm sorry, in spite of how little I care for "Southern Rock," it simply doesn't make sense that, even in the UK, not one such rec is on the list.

A friend went to see this band around 15 years ago & claimed it was like seeing the Rolling Stones in their prime. We put it off to the ecstasy he took that night, but it took awhile to live that down.



Your post made me smile. I love this album, for the record. I also love the follow up, "Give Out, But Don't Give Up," which is, of course, a Southern Rock, funk infused, George Clinton-guest appearancing record, that would sound just like the Rolling Stones in their prime.

But, that is the frustrating thing about this selection. IMHO Primal Scream immitated, they didn't invent. They followed up a dance record with a sleazy, guitar, southern rock record. How could they be influential if they didn't follow their own influence? I don't have a problem with a band taking a new direction with each record (i.e. the related band The Jesus and Mary Chain - they always remained unpredictable without imitating the next best thing), but Primal Scream felt dirivative.

[PeruvianSkies]

With only 7 weeks left it would seem there are some incredibly important albums still not on this list and ...more than 7 of them, so I wonder what will be left out. Hmm.