1. The Calm Before The Storm - Good opener as it' a dancy track that indicate that something big and massive is around the corner (such as the band transformation with The Rhythm Thief)
2. (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your country - The Storm from the previous songs seems a good symbolism to the invasion in this song.
3. Hear No Evil, See No Svil, Speak No Evil - The ghostly vocals of this song seems a good followup and symbolises the wake of the invasion of the previous song
4. Autograph Hounds - Probably segues well musiclaly rather than narratively. the whole ghostly vocals from the autograph hunters and the buildup intensity with the awesome synths.
5. When Do I Get To Sing "My Way" - COuld just be Ingmar Bergman singing about wondering where he will do things "His way"
6. Senseless Violins - Stripping away the drum and bass to symbolises that the artist is about to do things his way
7. The Rhythm Thief - Which seques perfectly with The Rhythm thief as I explained earlier
8. Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat - The strings only arrangement of this song continues naturally from The Rhythm Thief
9. How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall - The artist laments the lack of commercial success from their new approach
10. Intro Reprise - Perhaps a plea for the audience to "like me"
11. I've Never Been High - this naturally followups the intro reprise htat was present in Exotic creatures album. The band reflecting they never experience the "highs" of their music career
12. Change - However "there's a rainbow over the freeway" and he sees the positivity outlook of their future with the belief that every dog will have it's day.
13. My Baby's Taking Me Home - That positive "Change" comes with personal relationship as shown by the Baby taking him home
14. Lighten Up Morrissey - The relationship hits a snag as he isn't as good looking as Morrissey"
15. Dick Around - This leads to her breaking up with him
16. Waterproof - REmember in Dick Around the girl wants him back but he may not be "simpatico". Well this is him responding that he is immune to her manipulative tears as she tries to return back to the relationship
17. As I Sit Down To Play The Organ At The Notre Dame Cathedral - New single status trying to pick up chicks playing organ in the cathedral
18. Likeable - Reflecting on his relationship in the earlier songs that he is always likeable but wondering about "love" and then concluding that "I don't care that you love me, just so you like me" rejecting long term relationship.
That ends a selfmade compilation that flows naturally from start to finish. Oh god I'm crazy.
: Don't get me wrong I liked both albums a lot
: (I'll give both of them a Hex A) and from
: simply a quality of songs perspective, they
: both deserve to exist.
:
: However this thought came in my mind when I
: was reordering my "Best Of Sparks
: 90's/00's playlist" to create a more
: natural flow and I realised that going from
: "My Way" from Gratuitous Sax to
: "They Rhythm Thief" from Lil'
: Beethoven a bit jarring. Then in a brief of
: inspiration I put the snippet
: "Senseless violins" in between and
: that problem was solve.
:
: "He came home
: And instead of hearing the usual drums and
: bass
: He heard
: Violins, violins, violins
: Senseless violins, senseless violins,
: senseless violins"
:
: as horror music like violins are playing in
: the background
:
:
: Isn't this a perfect segue-way into The
: Rhythm Thief and hence the Lil' Beethoven
: album? An album famous for lacking
: "drums and bass".
:
: Imagine the power of hearing an album with a
: song like When Do I get to sing My way where
: the protagonist laments trying to please
: other people (trying to sell records and
: becoming popular instead of doing things you
: want to do). Album finish with them
: declaring that drum and bass is gone and the
: next album open up with "Rhythm
: Thief" with a unique orchestral-techno
: with violins driving the song essentially
: distancing themselves from the last 20 years
: of their career. That the band suddenly
: fulfilled their wishes of doing things
: "My Way" in the most epic way as
: possible. That would have been a much more
: powerful career narrative then Senseless
: Violins segueway into the strings
: arrangement of "Pulling Rabbits Out Of
: A Hat' which while appropriate, doesn't have
: the same emotional or symbolic impact as
: "The Rhythm Thief" (even though
: that arrangement is pretty great).
:
: Of course some may argue that Plagiarism and
: Balls are transitional albums toward the
: classical influence Sparks of 00's.
: Plagiarism shows an increasing orchestral
: influence with their rearrangement of
: Pulling Rabbits and Change as well as
: strings being placed over "Number one
: in heaven" and "Never Turn Your
: back on mother earth". Balls has the
: repetitive techno elements but also
: supported with a more full arrangement with
: incorporating horns and strings into their
: conventional techno as well as multilayered
: vocals of the awesome "The Calm Before
: The Storm".
:
: However this is one of the rare cases where
: the mere existence of transitional albums
: act as a detriment. After all the power
: behind "The Rhythm Thief" is how
: in an act of artistic independence throw
: away abandoning their past. It's impact
: would be greater as a shocking jump from
: Gratuitous Sax straight into Lil' Beethoven
: rather than having two albums inbetween that
: hinted to the future direction of the group.
:
: In the end the songs of Plagiarism and Balls
: probably would have been better served via
: archival release rather than proper albums
: even as expensively unpractical as that
: sound. aThis is because Senseless Violins
: going straight to The Rhythm Thief is a more
: powerful statement than The Angels.
:
:
:
:
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