Central Scrutinizer

Automatic is their best album. By a long shot. Out of Time was a band on top of their craft. Life's Rich Pageant was the band at the pinnacle of their original sound. As one who believes U2 has always been about form over substance, I can combine the best 3 U2 albums into 1 great album.

I'd say one of the key parallels with these two bands is they were guided as "students" of music, particularly music outside of the mainstream, and as such were able to forge an instantly unique sound. There was a self-consciousness of "musician as fan," developing not only the sound but a group "persona," the type of things that geeky fans cling to. Through the "early and mid-period" there was an integrity to explore, develop and challenge. At some point, for whatever reason, both groups have lost that edge, or drive to expand. I think there are efforts, but it has been self conscious; both t

I was underwhelmed, approaching whelmed. She seemed completely out of place, not knowing where to stand, where to move.

It's easier to spit vitriol than it is to spell it.

RCA is making it now. I think the liquid is distilled water with a touch of isopropyl alcohol. If you find a 20-year-old Discwasher, can you only use it on 20-year-old records?

I haven't followed her career since the early '80s but always liked that she was country with an edge. I read an older interview with her recently, that touched on how she lost her voice after child birth (a polyp went twangy due to the hormones) and couldn't sing at all. She had never considered herself a singer, merely a songwriter, until that happened. So this is a nice culmination for her.

Can you say, "Oreo"?

But dude, they rocked at the Fillmore!

I think Sutcliff family truly believes it. A few are quoted throughout the first part of the book, and there was definitely some regrets and recriminations about Lennon within the family. As a youth and young adult, Lennon was a horse's ass, and simultaneously clung to and sucker punched those close to him.

It's ... in ... the ... book!

I finally got All You Need is Cash on DVD after years of trying to watch my recorded VHS version. I forever think of this bit whenever I've seen Klein's name.

The original story was that he was attacked by a number of Teddys, and that Best and another stepped in and helped protect him. I had heard that story several times from different sources (I think they even used it in the movie "Backbeat"). The biographer said the Lennon incident was kept quiet by the family for "at least 15 years" because they didn't want the issue to cloud Sutcliff's reputation as an artist in his own right. The writer said it was just being reported, and he presumes (or perhaps the family) that Lennon, forced to defend his best friend's place in the band in the face of comp

It's hard to hear across the moat of the Fourth Estate.

Thanks for posting this. The site is definitely something to dig into -- I've been reading "John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman -- an exhaustive a biography as you're likely to find. A nugget from the book that literally dropped my jaw is Stu Sutcliff's family saying shortly before the book was published that they believed the head injury that ultimately led to his death was delivered by Lennon in a fit of rage in a savage attack that McCartney witnessed.

What, does she towel off with the flag after a run?!?

From Chicago Tribune Tribune Co. has reached a deal to sell the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field to the Ricketts family, a source familiar with the matter said this morning. The two sides reached a sale agreement over the weekend and have forwarded the contract to Major League Baseball, the source said. The deal must be approved by other baseball owners. With Tribune Co. operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the sale also will need court approval. The source said the sales price is "close" to the $900 million bid the Ricketts family offered earlier this year that won an auction for the

This may have been touched upon, but looking at the stats over the weekend, I don't know of a time in my life that anyone had as good a shot at the triple crown as Pujols. Unlike in years past there's really no one running away with average (like Gwynn back in the day). He's only a few points behind Rodriguez, and he's got a stiff lead in home runs and RBIs. He's done this without forsaking power. True anyone can get hot, but I think, especially with the Cards solidly in the pennant race, he's got a shot.

The *real* article lists Pinella and Guillen as one-two. LaRussa is 3rd.

Yeah I was enjoying the mp3s the other day but my dog just groaned.

bobbob1313 was voted the manager major-league players would least like to play for while Sir Stewart ranked second, according to a Sports Illustrated poll. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-01-cubs-brite-jul01,0,3213537.story

This is a good and timely question. I have a more personal attachment to SBS, which somewhat affects my judgment. But as objective as I can be, I would say SBS is the better *album*, while on a rate-song-by-song basis, W(TA) gets the decision. What's missing from W(TA) for me is a cohesiveness, thread, theme, approach -- a self-awareness when an artist is creating a collection of works rather than a group of singles, tracked on side A and side B. Admittedly, the latter is just as arguably the approach Wilco took -- a collection of songs that celebrated its various approaches since Tweedy and

Nah, just his beard. Or one of them.

As anticipated, I enjoyed side two much better on vinyl -- moreso for the "vinyl experience" than the obvious sound quality. Cup o' coffee Sunday morning in the sun room, poring over the album cover. Guh-ROO-vee.

I listened to W(TA) in a box, in my socks with a fox, in a house with a mouse, on a boat with a goat. I listened to W(TA) here and there, I listened to W(TA) every where. I do so like W(TA). Thank you, thank you, Tweedy-I-Am.