ABBA: Arrival


ABBA: Arrival
Scott Gregory, January 2019
Hello everyone and welcome to The Sonic Collective. Scott G here with our pick for January, 2019. We’ve been playing around the last couple months with some really fun ways to pick albums, but I’m going to sneak back to the single album format for a second to correct a grevious oversight on our part.
We’ve completely neglected a band that cranked out Eight albums in nine years, all of them went platinum and you can still here them playing n the radio everywhere, all the time.
Afer they won Eurovision in 1973 with their song Waterloo, I wonder if Benny, Bjorn, Frida, and Agnetha knew how quickly things were going to change for them. By the time they got to their fourth studio album in 1976, aptly named Arrival, they were launching into worldwide megastardom, and ABBA would changethe face of music forever.
I thought this was a great album for us to dissect pricesely because it’s the bridge between their early work and the height of their succcess, and it also includes a healthy number of their most recognizable songs, but an equal number of tracks we’ve likely never heard before to chew on. I’m going to listen to the 1977 release that included Fernando because I really enjoy that song, but you can go with the 1976 release that didn’t if you’re sick of it.
ABBA’s always been celebrated for their harmonizing and technical brilliance in song composition. I’m really curious to see if that’s mostly just a judgment of their singles, or if even the B-sides show the same level of care and attention. I’ll probably even watch the videos for some excellent 70s fashion and dance moves.
So, I invite you all to join us in enjoying The Sonic Collective’s first pick for 2019: Arrival by ABBA.
Links
Wikipedia – ABBA
Wikipedia – ABBA  Arrival Album
iTunes – ABBA, Arrival 
Spotify – ABBA, Arival

4 Movie Soundtracks That Matter

Soundtracks that matter

We all know that around the holiday season there is nothing better than watching a good movie. It also is a great way to avoid that weird uncle with bad breath, ha ha.
Sonic Collective member Scott Coates suggested we all pick a movie soundtrack that we really felt made the movie better. A great movie soundtrack can create an emotional connection to the characters, the environment and the story. Though there are many to pick from, listed below are the four our experts say you need to watch and listen to. We will all spend December watching and listening and then we will release our podcast that will allow our experts to tell you why the movie and soundtrack blended together so nicely. Happy holidays and enjoy the movies and music.
Listen to our podcast and check out the details below.

 

Trainspotting


Selected by Scott Coates
Released July 9, 1996
Few movies have made as strong an impact and stuck with me as Trainspotting has. While it’s an incredible movie, the soundtrack plays an indelible role in cementing the film. Songs I didn’t know before and some I did, came together to elevate mood and moments in a manner rarely achieved. The songs and movie are the better for it. Truly one of the best curated soundtracks that works in complete symbiosis.
Track Listing

  1. Lust for Life, Iggy Pop
  2. Deep Blue Day, Brian Eno
  3. Trainspotting, Primal Scream
  4. Atomic, Sleeper
  5. Temptation, New Order
  6. Nightclubbing, Iggy Pop
  7. Sing, Blur
  8. Perfect Day, Lou Reed
  9. Mile End, Pulp
  10. For What You Dream Of, Bedrock
  11. 2:1, Elastica
  12. A Final Hit, Leftfield
  13. Born Slippy, Underworld
  14. Closet Romantic, Damon Albarn

Wikipedia Page
iTunes
Spotify
Amazon

Romeo + Juliet


Selected by Scott Gregory
Released 1996
The Romeo + Juliet movie attempted to update the classic story for a 90s audience, and the soundtrack called upon quintessential 90s artists to set help set the stage. It’s a great blend of existing songs and ones written just for this album. It went triple-platinum, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 Album charts.
Track Listing

  1. Crush, Garbage
  2. Local God, Everclear
  3. Angel, Gavin Friday
  4. Pretty Piece of Flesh, One Inch Punch
  5. Kissing You (Love Theme from Romeo + Juliet), Des’ree
  6. Whatever (I Had a Dream), Butthole Surfers
  7. Lovefool, The Cardigans
  8. Young Hearts Run Free, Kym Mazelle
  9. Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good), Quindon Tarver
  10. To You I Bestow, Mundy
  11. Talk Show Host, Radiohead
  12. Little Star, Stina Nordenstam
  13. You and Me Song, The Wannadies

Wikipedia
iTunesSpotify

The Greatest Showman


Selected by Alain DuPuis
Released December 2017
The Greatest Showman original soundtrack accompanies the movie of the same name, recanting a very creatively liberal musical interpretation of the story of P. T. Barnum’s creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Stars Hugh Jackman, Zac Effron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya all lend their singing voices as well as acting chops to their roles. While I’m not personally a big fan of musicals or long, elaborately choreographed dance numbers at the best of times, I’ve gotta admit, this movie is really damn good.  Particularly when the cast starts singing their songs. Holy shit, these people have serious talent. Most of the songs from this album are really catchy, and have found a home in my permanent playlists on Spotify. That’s how good I think the soundtrack is. And maybe by the end of the month, you’ll find yourself agreeing with me!
My recommendation: watch the movie! The songs will make way more sense in context of the story, and then the  emotion will really shine through.
Track Listing

  1. The Greatest Show
  2. A Million Dreams
  3. A Million Dreams (Reprise) – Reprise (Austyn Johnson & Cameron Seely)
  4. Come Alive
  5. The Other Side
  6. Never Enough
  7. This Is Me
  8. Rewrite The Stars
  9. Tightrope
  10. Never Enough (Reprise)
  11. From Now On

Spotify
Wikipedia
iTunes

Super Fly


Selected by Darren Scott
Released December 2017
I’ve always liked a wide variety of music and I love the Soul and Funk. Though I had heard some of the music before by Curtis Mayfield from the movie it wasn’t until I saw Super Fly at one point in the early 2000s that I understood what an awesome soundtrack can do for a movie. It was funky, awesome, hilarious and sometimes cheesy to me but I ate it up. Released in 1972, this was Curtis Mayfield’s 4th album and is very recognized for the history it made. It is one of the few soundtrack albums that actually outsold the movie box office earnings. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 69th album in their Top 500 of All Time List I invite you to listen to this funky gem and watch the movie with us this month. I hope the rest of the group and our listeners love it as much as I do.
Track Listing

  1. Little Child Runnin’ Wild
  2. Pusherman
  3. Freddie’s Dead (Theme from ‘Superfly’)
  4. Junkie Chase
  5. Give Me Your Love (Love Song)
  6. Eddie You Should Know Better
  7. No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song)
  8. Think
  9. Superfly
  10. Freddie’s Dead (Theme from ‘Superfly’)
  11. Superfly

Wikipedia
Spotify
iTunes
Amazon

The Reviews: 4 bands you've likely not heard of (but really should)


This month, the group took a slightly different approach to the format. Darren came up with the idea of asking us to pick a recording artist that other music fans may not have heard of (but really should). As we picked our selected artists independently, it turned out some of the picks were new to our fellow group members as well.
Tune in to find out what we thought of eachother’s selections, so you can too can discover which of these four artists we thought had humerous lyrics, which sounded like a Led Zeppelin cover band, and which one may or may not use a ping-pong ball as an instrument.

Here are the picks from our expert panel:
Artist: Ron Gallo
Chosen by: Darren Scott
Artist: The Kills
Chosen by: Scott Coates
Artist: Greta Van Fleet
Chosen by: Alain Dupuis
Artist: Jenny Lewis
Chosen by: Scott Gregory

4 bands you've most likely never heard of and why you should listen to them now.

My favourite part of being a huge music fan is discovering new music. As life gets busier it can become harder and harder to make time to listen to new music. Keep in mind that ‘new’ music is oftentimes old music. I find it just as exciting to discover new bands like Royal Blood as I do to uncover and rediscover bands of that past, like The 13th Floor Elevators.
As our four Sonic Collective members all have amazing taste in music, obviously, I thought it would be fun to ask the group who they thought was a recording artist that other music fans should listen to. We each picked these artists independently so many of these picks are new to the group as well.
On November 1st our show will be available on the website. Each of our Collective members will educate the listeners about the band they chose, tell you which albums and songs to listen to and give you some cool facts about these bands.
Here are the the bands picked by our expert panel.
Artist: Ron Gallo
Chosen by: Darren Scott
Artist: The Kills
Chosen by: Scott Coates
Artist: Greta Van Fleet
Chosen by: Alain Dupuis
Artist: Jenny Lewis
Chosen by: Scott Gregory

Review of Blink-182: The Mark, Tom and Travis Show 

Please read and listen to Scott Gregory’s pick for Blink-182: The Mark, Tom and Travis Show  before reading and listening to our reviews below.

Quick Summary: 

Our Individual Review Scores
Scott Gregory:
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 4
Alain DuPuis:
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 3
Influenced my tastes: 3
Scott Coates:
Overall opinion: 2
Would I recommend?: 2
Influenced my tastes: 3
Darren Scott:
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: This album 2, others 4
Influenced my tastes: 3.5

Review of Eric Clapton: Unplugged

Please read and listen to Alain DuPuis’s pick for Eric Clapton: Unplugged  before reading and listening to our reviews below.

Quick Summary: 

  • Would we recommend?
  • Influence us and our tastes?
  • Overall
3.8

Review of Eric Clapton: Unplugged

Alain DuPuis, the best at back-flipping of all The Sonic Collective members, decide that it was time to pay respect to legendary blues/rock guitarist Eric Clapton. Unplugged was all the rage in the early 90s and this album along with Nirvana: Unplugged really catapulted the genre forward.
An album full of blues standards as well as some epic Clapton hits made this the best selling live album of all time. Listen to The Sonic Collective members as they let you know how this album stands up.
Here is a few things you’ll find out by listening this month:
• Pro: Everyone loves this album Con: Everyone loves this album
• What other world famous guitarist almost joined Clapton’s band
• How much Clapton sold one of the 2 guitars he used to record this
Listen up and please leave us a comment.
The Sonic Collective


Our Individual Review Scores
Alain DuPuis:
Overall opinion: 4.5
Would I recommend?: 5
Influenced my tastes: 4.5
Scott Coates:
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 3
Influenced my tastes: 3
Darren Scott:
Overall opinion: 3.5
Would I recommend?: 3
Influenced my tastes: 2
Scott Gregory:
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 4

Blink-182: The Mark, Tom and Travis Show


Blink-182: The Mark, Tom and Travis Show
Scott Gregory, September 2018
Hello everyone I’m Scott G and welcome to The Sonic Collective’s pick for September 2018. As you know, we’re in the middle of a round of live albums. We’ve had some New Wave with the Talking Heads, some Southern Bluesy Rock with the Alman Brothers and some acoustic Blues from across the pond from Eric Clapton unplugged.
This month, I wanted to find a seam in the picks and go in a completely different direction. We’re going to fast forward to the 2000s, we’re going to get loud, and we’re going to get a little crazy.
Blink-182 is well-known for putting on electrifying live shows full of crazy banter with the audience in between songs played way faster than on the studio albums. In 2000, between hit records Enema of the State and Take Off your Pants and Jacket, Mark, Tom and Travis recorded a show over two nights and aptly called it “The Mark, Tom and Travis Show”.
Looking at the track list, I think what I’ll enjoy most is everyone getting a deeper look at the band. Much Music (MTV for Canadians basically) only played the videos for their singles, and the band got a bit of a bum rap as some sort of prank group. It got them a lot of publicity so I’m sure they played it up a bit, but no joke, this is a band with tight lyrics and playing. This album isn’t just a greatest hits, so you’re going to get a deep look at their full playlist.
HISTORY WILL EXONERATE BLINK-182 as the greatest punk pop band of the 2000s. I’m staring right at you Green Day.
So yeah. The show’s supposed to capture lot of the live banter between Mark Tom and Travis and a crazy audience coming in loudly over the vocals, so I’m really looking forward to a great audio recording of a frenetic live rock show.
Without further ado, I’d like to once again invite you to join us here at the Sonic Collective for our September pick: The Mark, Tom and Travis Show by Blink 182, and check in at the end of the month to see how your thoughts match up with ours. Cheers.
Album on Wikipedia
The Mark Tom & Travis Show on Youtube

Best Blink-182 Video

Sad Clown covering the same song:

Review of The Allman Brothers Band: Live at Fillmore East

Please read and listen to Scott Coates’s pick for The Allman Brothers Band: Live at Fillmore East  before reading and listening to our reviews below.

Quick Summary: 

  • Would we recommend?
  • Influence us and our tastes?
  • Overall
3.1

Review of The Allman Brothers Band: Live at Fillmore East

The second pick of our second live album round was made by member Scott Coates for this July 2018. We were definitely all over the place on this selection and how we felt about it. We definitely dig agree that the sound quality of the album as well as the musicianship was incredible. Duane Allman at the age of only 25 had a mastery of his guitar like no other. As this album was historically touted as one of the best live rock albums of all time we had to see how it stood up in 2018.
We discovered many interesting things about this album so listen to our stories and opinions and be sure to listen along with us as we relive classic albums just like this.
Here is a few things you’ll find out by listening this month:
• 2 Sonic Collective members really liked it and the other 2…? Not so much.
• Which other great guitarist almost had Duane Allman join his band.
• How this album tied into the movie Almost Famous.
Listen up and please leave us a comment.
The Sonic Collective


Our Individual Review Scores
Scott Coates:
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 4
Darren Scott:
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 2
Scott Gregory:
Overall opinion: 4.5
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 4
Alain DuPuis:
Overall opinion: 1
Would I recommend?: 1
Influenced my tastes: 1

Eric Clapton: Unplugged


Eric Clapton – Unplugged
Alain DuPuis, July 2018
This month’s pick is Eric Clapton’s album Unplugged.
Recorded in front of a live audience in the winter of 1992 in England, Unplugged represented a stripped down version of Clapton’s music. Bluesy and soulful, the album went on to receive nine Grammy award nominations, ultimately winning six, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. Not a bad haul for one performance.
Eric Clapton was a musical giant long before he recorded Unplugged, lending his talent as a guitarist to such notable musical acts as the Yardbirds, and Cream.
Born in Surrey, England, Eric first picked up a guitar at age thirteen, but within three short years, he managed to achieve a large amount of notoriety for possessing advanced prowess with the guitar. As he continued to play around the country in a number of different musical outfits, Clapton forged a distinctive style and rapidly became one of the most talked-about guitarists in the British music scene, an accolade that would dog him – for better or worse – for decades.
Despite professional success, Clapton’s personal life has been troubled. At various times he has faced tragedies, loss, and heartache, battled depression, and fought a crippling addition to drugs and alcohol, but he has always managed to overcome – a feat he attributes to his music, stating: “I almost subconsciously used music for myself as a healing agent, and lo and behold, it worked … I have got a great deal of happiness and a great deal of healing from music.”
His music has undoubtedly also brought happiness and strength to millions of fans around the world.
Let’s dive in to Unplugged.
Eric Clapton – Wikipedia
Unplugged – Wikipedia
iTunes
Amazon

The Allman Brothers Band: At Fillmore East


The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East
Scott Coates, July 2018
I’ve known of the Allman Brothers my entire life but until recently had never listened to one of their albums. A few years ago while searching ‘best live albums’ online, their At Fillmore East album was listed; I was intrigued but didn’t listen to it. Fast-forward a couple years and I came back to it.
The double album, featuring just seven songs, was recorded at New York’s Fillmore East theatre on March 12th and 13th, 1971. They were the opening, opening act for Johnny Winter and Elvin Bishop Group the first two nights, but gained so much momentum, they closed the third show as the headliner. The band was paid $1,250 each show. This was the band’s third album and the one that made them a commercial success, being released in July 1971.
It’s interesting to note just how regarded Duane Allman was at the time, regularly jamming with Eric Clapton, and he was invited to join Clapton’s band Derek and the Dominos but declined. Find a comfy chair, nice drink and settle in to what many publications have listed as one of the best live rock albums of all time.
Other Albums Considered
Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!
MC5: Kick Out the Jams
Motorhead: No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith
Kiss: Alive!
Bob Seger: ‘Live’ Bullet
Wikipedia Page
On iTunes
On Amazon