tales from topograpic oceans! mmmmm... a friend and i once found it on vinyl, sitting in a seemingly abandoned box on the sidewalk of lower wacker. there was actually lotsa good music in that box for a couple dumbshit college kids, man did i enjoy hearing that one on vinyl. at least i think i remember liking it... stupid Yes, with their sometimes brilliant, often embarassing music... but *consistently* terrible lyrics!
http://www.yesworld.com/lyrics/TalesFro ... ceans.html
oh yeah, uh, yeah um, i get it...
the album i can think of most readily that falls into the "embarassing" category is Edie Brickell and New Bohemians - Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars. the only reason it's in the embarassing category though is because so many people have given me so much shit for liking that album. i'm thick, i don't understand what the deal is. if i had a top 20 albums of all-time, that one would be right there, alongside red medecine, frizzle fry, evergreen, celebrate the new dark age, doolittle, liveage...
see, this right here may end up being more embarassing than my most embarassing album (which now that i think more on it, HAS to be ned's atomic dustbin) but i really think the production on shooting rubberbands is GOOD! hang on, hear me out... when i used to do what i could to evaluate reference audio systems (i.e. shitty space + $120k reference system = shitty space), that album was always a good one for me to use. because there are so many subtle little hippie percussion trinkets being used, and they're mixed in there (in my opinion) just right. a lot of systems don't have the detail to bring all the little shit in the song "what i am" out into the open, and present it on an easy-to-visualize spatial arrangement. and i know it's all some kinda weird voodoo, but if you listen to the intro to "air of december", the big drum (i'm guessing floor tom?) is way wide of the right speaker. many systems just could not do it justice, especially creating a spatial sense beyond just two or even one dimension. and geez, i dunno, closing your eyes and listening to edie's voice on air of december... mmm.. damn that paul simon, damn him!
so i've been told many i time that i oughta be ashamed of what i just said. but seriously, after 10+ years, i still dig that one, brau. hackey sack, incense and all.
PS - oh yeah, i also have the single for Onyx's big hit "Slam" (oooooh, remixes, now with biohazard. blech!)