comments on 50-41:
50. thematically, number 78, musically, number 68. spoken language: dirty.
49. okay, it's got this one track with bongos on it and it's six minutes long and it's as bad as most songs with bongos on them are. but aside from that, it's as good as any other album on the list, and far more fragile.
48. "black, white, puerto rican, everybody just a freakin'..."
47. the archetypal great alternative album, and that's why it's not as good as number 29.
46. the love i have for this is similar to that which i possess for number 32: two bands that get over through the force (and lack thereof) of their frontman's personality; men who have little idea what they're doing (and know exactly what they're doing) and somehow end up creating soul music, even though that wasn't their intention (but it was).
45. i said this to josh last night: "lots of great stuff, lots of head-scratchers, the perfect intro to the the secret life of plants." and the perfect end to stevie's career as a major album artist.
44. there's an episode of the simpsons where mr. burns is ready to storm the simpson house in his tank. he presses play on what he perceives to be a wagner disc, but it turns out to be "waterloo." that's what this is like.
43. on the first half, they look back; on the second, they look ahead (to exile, mainly); in between, they rocked more thoroughly than they ever would in their career. paul buckmaster makes recompense for arranging "drops of jupiter" with his work here, especially the strings on "moonlight mile," which i can only describe as "vertical."
42. synesthetically speaking, it's as consisent as what's going on. on side one, the sun is high in the sky. as side 2 begins, it's sinking beneath the horizon. by album's end, the only thing to light the sky are the incandescent reds of jimi's playing. during the fade, the color does the same, and it seems as if the sun will never rise again.
41. i recently went to new orleans. as i passed by "world famous love acts," where loving was performed onstage, and...well, i don't remember the name, but you could wash (as opposed to watch) the girl of your choice, i felt as if i stepped into this album. then, i simply bided my time until the inevitable appearance of the sex dwarf.