Dear All,
as I have recently indicated in a Facebook post, the new year is finally going to see a few changes in the schedule, compared to six (has it really been that long?) rather rigid years in a row. I will still be reviewing on a regular basis (no worry), but the sequencing of the reviews will be somewhat different. Namely:
1. Instead of a rigorous chronological distinction into six different time periods, they will all be condensed into three: "Old" (including all artists beginning from the pre-war bluesmen and ending with the Sgt. Pepper era), "Classic" (1967-1975), and "Modern" (from the punk/New Wave era right into the 21st century). "Old" artists will be reviewed on Monday/Thursday, "Classic" artists will be covered Tuesday/Friday, and "Modern" on Wednesday/Saturday. This has substantial as well as technical / logistic reasons.
And although I still have a few B's to finish up in the "Old" and "Classic" categories, we are finally breaking through into the C's on this very first week!
2. On Sundays, if all goes well, I am going to eschew the alphabetic principle and instead focus on a series of "Great Album" reviews. For two reasons: (a) in light of man's mortality, there's a serious chance the blog won't ever be able to make it past the first half of the alphabet, so this is a chance to write something about important artists regardless of the alphabet; (b) this will guarantee that there will be at least one "important album" review per week.
These special Sunday reviews will have a significantly different structure from the usual ones, and will be uploaded to the regular old site instead of (or in addition to, we'll see) this blog (there will be a link in any case). As for the material, so as not to spoil the Sunday surprise, I will just say that the "great albums" will not simply reflect my personal preferences; the selection is going to be determined by certain external factors. Otherwise, I'll end up exclusively writing about stuff that has already been reviewed, and that would become tedious.
And it all starts tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Nice idea. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteSounds great! Happy New Year, George!
ReplyDeleteSounds great! Happy New Year, George!
ReplyDeleteThis should be fun -- I was worried that you might croak before you even hit Genesis :) Probably shouldn't have wasted so much time on Boris, although that made for some funny reviews.
ReplyDeleteI've been a faithful fan since stumbling upon your old site some years ago (I think Family was the first set of reviews I read). In my formative college years, your insight benefitted me more than I could ever imagine -- you intorduced me to a lot of great artists (Budgie, Sparks, Brian Eno), and encouraged me to delve deeper into the catalogs of those I already knew (particularly Dylan). I look forward to what 2016 brings -- keep up the good work. Happy New Year to you and your family!
P.S. I'm guessing one of the first, if not THE first, great albums you review will be "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band".
P.P.S. Do you plan on reviewing Burzum?
I would be interested in Burzum reviews too. I expect George wouldn't like Varg's music much, but he's the only B-letter artist of potential critical interest that George hasn't reviewed yet (at least in my opinion).
DeleteAnyways, much thanks to you, George, for the excellent reviews. I have discovered much new music thanks to your site (in particular, Bill Withers, Aretha Franklin in her prime, and Betty Davis). Looking forward to your C-letter reviews of Camel, Curtis Mayfield, Colosseum, and (God help you) Chicago.
He won't be suffering through '70s Chicago -- but talking about "You're the Inspiration" will be misery for him...and comedic gold for us!
DeleteHowever you do it, I'm glad you'll be doing it. (Probably too late to ask for a Blue Nile series, huh?)
ReplyDeleteGreat it's not over - and any change is welcome..
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year everyone.
Technically you already broke through the C's, but then withdrew already. So chances are still close to zero that you'll ever review Therapy? and Uriah Heep.
ReplyDeleteAh well. Do what works best for you (though I'd suggest to introduce a separate category of your favourite artists, as you won't make it to The Rolling Stones and The Who either.
Otherwise happy 2016 and keep up the god work.
And please neglect the typos.
Delete"in light of man's mortality, there's a serious chance the blog won't ever be able to make it past the first half of the alphabet"
ReplyDeleteGod this is sad.
But do whatcha gotta do George! Thank you!
"he selection is going to be determined by certain external factors" -> probably a critics' chart or a meta-critics' chart such as http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/ or http://www.besteveralbums.com/overall.php
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm looking forward to it.
I really don't get this insistence on doing these reviews alphabetically. Why not round-robin through the alphabet? Start with the letter C in January (I think we have more than enough As and Bs), go on to D in February, E in March etc., etc. After two years, you get back to C once more :-)
ReplyDelete- RM