Douglas Laman Gets A Tune Up (Entry #9): The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #9:  The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a series of essays wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.

For so many years, My Chemical Romance was a source of pointless ridicule from myself. Even though I had had no exposure to their music, I made them the butt of so many of my own jokes that degraded the band and their work simply because my younger brother was fixated on this band to a major degree back on his middle school days. Thus, the anti-MCR jokes, like the years in a Smash Mouth song, started coming and didn't stop coming despite me, again, having no actual experience with their music. For that, I truly apologize to the band and its assorted members, who, though not above any form of criticism, deserved to have criticism stemming from someone who had actually listened to their music.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #8): Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

You may have thought this series was dead after a nearly three month long absence, but nope! Folks, it's high time for another edition of....

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #8:  Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a series of essays wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.

I've had an incredible run of highly enjoyable albums on my Douglas Laman Gets A Tune Up column, to the point that the various albums I've consumed for this feature have become regular fixtures of my go-to music rotation (especially The Dead Kennedy's, David Bowie and The Velvet Underground). There was bound to be a misfire in here somewhere and alas, such an entity has come in Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division, a collection of music that has generated widespread acclaim, often being called one of the best albums of all-time in the genre of rock music, but Unknown Pleasures just couldn't quite resonate with me, though there are elements here worth praising.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #7): Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #7:  Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a series of essays wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.

Like any human being whose lived on planet of Earth in the past few decades, I've been aware of the punk music scene for most of my life but I had minimal exposure to actual pieces of music belonging to that genre until this was decided as the next entry in this column. Considering how much acclaim the Dead Kennedys have received over the years, they seemed like as good of an entry point to the punk music scene as any potential band. Plus, the album's title, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, certainly caught my eye, and luckily,  it isn't just the title of this album that is likely to call your attention as the tracks contained within have plenty that'll capture your eye and mind.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #6): The Clash by The Clash

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #6: The Clash by The Clash

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a series of essays wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it. 

Rock n' roll has taken on many different forms over the years, with each generation bringing something new to the table in terms of thematic content and instrumental composition that differentiates themselves from the past. But in its many forms, there's always been one common thread linking the various incarnations of rock n' roll; rebellion. From the time rock n' roll as we know it really took off in the mid-20th century, the artform has been always known as something meant to raise a middle finger to authority and provide an outlet for frustration at conventionality, structure and all other things that listeners felt were hindering their full potential.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #5): Blue by Joni Mitchell

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #5: Blue by Joni Mitchell

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a new weekly series wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.

Tonal versatility is a great tool for any musician to have, but sometimes, it's good to just have an album where an artist indulges a singular particular mood. After all, some singers are just so exceedingly good at capturing intensity, happiness, sadness or any sort of emotions that it feels like a dream come true to have them create music revolving around that particular emotion for the entirety of an album. Joni Mitchell was a woman known for her more somber tunes and the 1971 album Blue allows her to deliver ten tracks that predominately (though not exclusively) around a more melancholy atmosphere that prove why she became so well-known for more restrained and solemn pieces of music.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #3): What's Going On by Marvin Gaye

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #3: What's Going On by Marvin Gaye

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a new weekly series wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.

For the next entry in this series, we head only a few years after 1967 when The Velvet Underground & Nico was released but we do head into a different genre of music entirely. Marvin Gaye's 1971 album What's Going On clearly belongs to the world of soul music, a genre reliant on African-American culture and one that served as an artistic outlet for African-Americans in both the 20th and 21st century. While American music was still struggling to recognize African-American artists on a regular basis in the 1960's and 1970's, the terrain of soul and jazz music served as one of the few go-to avenues for African-American musicians looking to express themselves in an authentic way.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #2): The Velvet Underground & Nico

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #2: The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground and Nico

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a new weekly series wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.

I had never heard of The Velvet Underground prior to it being selected as the next title in this series (friends of mine who are way bigger music geeks than me choose the albums I cover for this series), but boy am I not gonna forget 'em now. If you're as out of the blue in regards to this group as I once was, The Velvet Underground is a mid-20th-century band that existed for only eight years but left an incredible impression on the world of music in that timespan. A key reason for them carrying such influence in their work comes from their very first album (released in 1967), The Velvet Underground & Nico.

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up (Entry #1): Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

DOUGLAS LAMAN GETS A TUNE-UP

ENTRY #1: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys

Douglas Laman Gets A Tune-Up is a new weekly series wherein Douglas Laman listens to an album of music he's never fully listened to before (though he may have heard one or two songs from it) and writes up his brief thoughts on it.