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 need i say more
Since I got into music heavily some six years ago, this has been the album I have listened to most. Though I would call Pearl Jam my favorite band, STP has undoubtedly received the most stereo play in my house. Why? The answer lies in the sheer excellence of this album. It is no where near as heavy as most of Pearl Jam's work (conceptually, as in the lyrics, as opposed to instrumentation), but still manages to be relevant, heart wrenching and encouraging. Try to hear "If you should die before me ask if you can bring a firend" and not feel some flicker of emotion run through you. Ponder that line. Would you want to be dead alone? The album is not without its faults, though. For one, I rarely have gotten past the eighth or ninth track. I do not know whether this is because I at one time deemed the second half unworthy, or because STP stacked the best parts of its line up at the beginning. I do know that the end of the CD might be as foreign to me today as the day I bought it. Returning to the high points, I love the sound that STP puts across here. They sound as if they are travelling in a direction that had not been explored much at that time. They are climbing out of grunge and into somewhat of a nuclear fallout: they combine grunge, classic seventies rock, and their own stylings to liven up their record. Buy this album!
The funny thing about it is, to me this record is two tracks short. I could have sworn on all holy that Dancing Days was on there. In fact, I never knew it was a Zep song untill I was taping off Houses of the Holy (another great record btw) off the Radio and that came on. That reallly tripped me out. So I went to this record thinking it was on here trying to find it. I findly found the track on Encomium (Led Zep Tribute Album). I still think of that has a STP song, and it (the Zep version) seems weird and unnatural, altho' I do like it. The next is Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart which is on their next record. It would have fit perfectly with this CD. Same quality, same mood, same everything. Its the lost Purple track. I dig it as much as I dig the whole of this album. This is one of my fav's of all time, the whole thing is extremly catchy. There is not a single bad tune on it, and that is saying a lot. Many bands have different songs I really love a lot (like I Alone by Live), but none of the grunge bands have crammed this many onto one album. The WHOLE album is great. The closet someone comes to this is Bush on Sixteen Stone. (Sorry ... is it just me but save for the some of the songs on the first side, did Razorblade Suitcase pretty much suck and Deconstructed absoletly horrible?) |
Since Purple's release, so much has been said about it that I would be lying if I said I were going to bring anything new to the table. I do, however, have my perspective, and my experience with the album.
