A few weeks ago, I downloaded a copy of the Minutemen‘s Double Nickels onto my iPhone, and it’s been in heavy rotation. Listening to it with the kind of focus you can achieve during the commute to and from work has made me realize more than ever that Double Nickels is one of those true rarities: a flawless album.
A week or so ago — after I’d fully assessed the greatness of Double Nickels — I received a copy of the Minutemen rocku, We Jam Econo, from Netflix. In it, Mike Watt reveals that the band was recording a single LP during the Double Nickels sessions, when they heard that Husker Du‘s next album — Zen Arcade — was going to be a double. This caused the band to start writing in a frenzy, and after a week or so had passed, they now had double the number of songs they had before, and were well on their way to recording their own double LP. This, by the way, meant that they now had 22 new songs to record, bringing the album total to 44.
My point in this thread is not to sing the praises of the Minutemen or the Double Nickels album. We’ve all been down that road before. My point here is: holy SHIT. How hot do you have to be — how completely at the peak of your musical game — how effortless must the writing process be — to thrash out an entire records’ worth of new material from nothing in a freaking WEEK?! And have it all be perfect, where not one note ought to be changed in any way? That’s what I call firing on all cylinders!
I admit I’m veering into back-story-land here, but how many other examples of this kind of lightning-strike brilliance can we think of? I’m not talking about “five-star albums” or “great albums that were recorded quickly;” I’m talking about albums that were produced in a similar blaze of effortless brilliance, by bands that were so freaking tweaked that they produced perfection at a pace that makes the rest of us just gawk in slack-jawed amazement. The Beatles’ Rubber Soul/Revolver run in the middle of the Beatlemania frenzy is the only other one that comes to mind.
Curious to get your thoughts —
HVB
A couple of thoughts, without bringing into the discussion my unfortunate ability to hear any Minutemen album as being as *great* as they’re cooked up to be (I admire and respect them and like a good number of songs a lot, etc.):
1) Did they REALLY crank out another 22 songs in 1 week? Did Beefheart really do likewise for Trout Mask, teaching the Magic Band every note and rhythm to play while submerged in a vat of mint jam? I hate being such a skeptic, but are any of these stories as true as artists make them out to be? I don’t know.
2) OK, let’s say the Minutemen did crank out 44 AMAZING songs in 2 weeks and Beefheart did do what is claimed he did… I don’t think that compares to ’60s bands like The Beatles churning out a ton of great music in a short time for at least 2 reasons:
1) The Beatles were “pros,” doing what the industry then required. This doesn’t diminish their accomplishments, but I can’t be sure what they were doing was as hair-on-fire-inspired as what you’re saying The Minutemen did. Does that make sense?
2) The Beatles – and other pop bands who were churning out a string of brilliant albums in a short span – were real songwriters, not a band with a certain playing style that they might be able to fire up and whip out with great inspiration and top-notch execution, which The Minutemen and Beefheart did. In other words, I see the Minutemen more like a jazz band – they played their asses off and obviously D. Boon had a lot on his mind and was great at unloading verbally. What I’m trying to say is, The Beatles and The Minutemen accomplished what they did in very different ways.
An artist that may have combined their approaches in a short span was – and I hate to say this, in full knowledge that Berlyant and Andyr will start listing this man’s great 4-album runs – Elvis Costello. He was cranking out some killer albums every 6 months through a combination of musical craft and verbal diarrhea.
Finally, I’m not sure I understand what it is you’re looking for, HVB. Your set up is so subjective – and/or my heartfelt ability to fully appreciate the Minutemen is so limited – that I don’t see how what they did was so amazing other than it sounds so good coming out of Watt’s mouth. I’d say the same for hearing a story from one of my soulful punk heroes, like Joe Strummer. I don’t know, it seems to me a ton of albums have been done this way: Funhouse, Meet the Beatles (recorded in, what, 12 minutes?)… What happens when one of us suggests a run that someone else doesn’t like, like if I said a 3-album run by Dylan, ending with the double-album Blonde on Blonde? Then you might say, “That steaming heap of cow dung?!?!?” I’m not trying to kill your thread but to see if you can better define your terms.
Go ahead and tell me to stop tapping my pipe! 🙂
Mod forgot to mention that The Beatles had George Martin there to help them (a lot) turn their raw ideas into “pro” songs. The Minutemen didn’t benefit from a similar arrangement.
I’d take it back to the days of Sun Records or Chess Records, when artists were cranking out 45 after 45 of great stuff, hoping to get a bigger hit than the last guy or gal, or than their own last record. All those records were recorded quickly, in bursts, & released in succession as singles. Willie Dixon got got writing credits on a lot of the Chess artists’ stuff, but contrary to the simplistic caricature presented in that crappy “Cadillac Records” flick, he was also a well known hustler of less savvy performers ideas/songs.
This is bleed-over from another thread, but I checked the “partial discography” of Fela in his wikipedia entry, and in his prime years 76-77 they listed eighteen separate albums. I don’t know enough to say that they’re all good, but I would think based on what I’ve heard that you could put together at least several high quality double albums from those two years alone. I agree with Mod that recording pop songs like the Beatles did is a different kind of discipline, but recording long rhythm workouts like No Agreement is also a discipline the Beatles, or the Minutemen for that matter, never mastered.
I remember being amazed at the pace that Husker Du, Black Flag and The Minutemen were working at between ’83 and ’86. Sure to draw guffaws is my respect for The Smiths output at that time as well, when they seemed like they would release another stellar three-song 12″ e.p. every three months or so, first-rate singles that did not appear on their albums. I wish more bands would be that, release strong singles regularly between their magnum opuses.
The thing that amazes me about Rubber Soul is that they basically pieced it together using songs they didn’t use for Help! & did it in a rush to put it out before Christmas. Also, the US & UK versions are different, but they are both equally good & influential.
I don’t know about this, Mr. Mod. Aren’t there, like, a baker’s dozen songs from this era that you like for the bass lines and the bass lines alone. That doesn’t sound like “firing on all cylinders” to me.
To go with the obvious Oats answer, Pulp were incredibly productive between 1991 and 1994, releasing two excellent albums, plus a myriad of singles and EPs, and pretty much all of it is great. And this is all before their commercial peak. The rest of the band’s output (1995-2001) is nearly equally strong, just with a few songs (mainly b-sides) that feel a bit phoned in.
Didn’t the first two Zeppelin albums come out within a year of each other? That’s a lot of inspired, maximum heaviosity to crank out in a short time, especially while pretty much creating a rock subgenre in the process.
I do wish Hrrundi would clarify before we get those lists of 4 Costello/XTC/REM albums – and then the claim that X had an inspired 4-album run before I disagree, saying that More Fun in the New World is pretty lame. And don’t forget the threat of the “corn-studded turd” response. Come on, HVB, I’m getting rash on my chin from all this beard stroking!
Mod, isn’t it obvious? I wanted this thread to turn into a discussion of Humble Pie! My contribution to the effort is to tell you that “Rock On,” their fourth album (I think), is quite strong — though definitely not a “firing on all cylinders” affair.
How about Hendrix? Are You Experienced? and Axis:Bold As Love both from 1967 and Electric Ladyland released in 1968. Then a whole buch of stuff that only got released after his death in 1970.
In an attempt to “bring it back home,” have any of you ever felt yourself “firing on all cylinders” during a creative project? Your own sense of “firing” can be relative – I’m not asking anyone to brag.
I’ve rarely felt myself in the middle of this state. The closest thing that comes to mind are what is known in my band as the “Three Miles Island” sessions for “I Want to Hold Your Head.” These songs made up the core of our band’s second record. With two friends, I believe we wrote and recorded about 10 songs within a couple of weekends. Before and since that time, it’s been rare that I could write ONE song in that time.
i love double nickels. it’s a formative moment for me.
but it has always been surprising to know that it’s such a sacred cow around these parts, what with its incomplete songs, lyrics that give bad high school poetry a run for its money, and its non existent production values. that stuff usually drives youze guys nuts. i’m thrilled i don’t have to defend it. put i’m a little perplexed. what gives?
as far as lightning striking and all that, there’s a story about Page finishing “Presence” in the time everyone involved thought it would take him to track overdubs for a couple of songs. the stones let him “borrow” the studio for a short amount of time, and when they came back he had finished the whole thing. probably a little bit of “booger sugar” involved there. it’s not necessarily a masterpiece, either, so i’m not sure if it falls into this category.
mod, not only were the first two zeppelin albums made within a year of one another, but the second one was recorded almost entirely on the road, in studios all over the u.s..
JT’s ouput with the original sins from “self-destruct” through “turn you on” (90 to 93) is unbelievable: five sins albums (one’s a double!) and two vibrolux albums.
to answer your question about firing on all cylinders, from early 2000 to late 2002, the photon band put out four albums (three and a half of new material). i played every instrument on over half of those recordings (i did B-A-B-Y during that period, too, I think, though it may have come out later). does that count?
No. No, it doesn’t.