Have you ever listened to this album?


I'd never actually listened to Bookends before, but on my way home from work last night I pulled it up on the mp3 player. I was shocked. Truly shocked.

I'd heard a lot of these songs before, but as singles and out the context of the record. "Save the life of my Child" is just amazing. The synth part is so strange and juxtaposed to Paul and Artie's voices, it's almost as if you're listening to a S&G record on headphones while a Morton Subotnick record is playing in the room around you.

Having only heard "Hazy Shade of Winter" on car radios and in elevators, I was just destroyed by hearing it through headphones. The production and stereo separation are just wonderful, and make that shitty ass Bangles version sound like a turd in front of a microphone. (Speaking of the Bangles, did you hear that terrible new Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs albums where they do mediocre bar band versions of "groovy" sixties rock songs? Well, if you haven't, don't waste your time, because it fucking sucks.)

So you should listen to Bookends because I think it's fucking great. Much better than that piece of Sgt. Pepper's crap.
- posted by Mason @ 2:11 PM