the afghan whigs: black love

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Poll Results

OptionVotes
Faded 7
Bulletproof 6
Blame Etc. 6
Honky’s Ladder 5
Going to Town 5
Summer’s Kiss 3
Double Day 2
My Enemy 2
Crime Scene Part One 2
Step into the Light 1
Night by Candlelight 1


flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 1 February 2018 00:38 (six years ago) link

Hard to beat the opener.

Johnny Fever, Thursday, 1 February 2018 00:45 (six years ago) link

we've never done this?!

Simon H., Thursday, 1 February 2018 00:47 (six years ago) link

all of them

Algerian Goalkeeper (Odysseus), Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:12 (six years ago) link

yeah there's no obvious standout to me, and it's kind of hard to think about the tracks in isolation, they're all a single darkly scorched thing

but also those last two minutes of "bulletproof"

sophistipop 2 (stritram), Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:21 (six years ago) link

str8 gangsta shit

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:24 (six years ago) link

apart from all of them, I might end up voting for Blame, Etc. but listening through right now and Shawn Smith's vocals on Night By Candlelight...

Haribo Hancock (sic), Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:28 (six years ago) link

either honkys or faded

faust apes (NickB), Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:32 (six years ago) link

^similar for me, but this will require relistening

The Sound of the City Slang (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:40 (six years ago) link

Hmm, maybe "Going to Town?" Or "Blame Etc.?" It's a million times better live, but when it shifts from Blaxsploitation to Whigs it kicks ass. Or "Honkey's." "Got you where I want you, motherfucker" is what they call an opening line.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:46 (six years ago) link

I mean, goddamn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKvQkofehCI

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:47 (six years ago) link

And I mean, shit, from the now legendary 2012 reunion shows. I was at this one ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THAKskSp6mQ

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:48 (six years ago) link

First time I saw them was in ... 1997? I might have been at the height - or a height - of music snobbery, or at least suspicion of anything major label and "alternative." Hadn't really followed them that much, but liked Congregation at the time and Gentlemen later, yet still bought into the (false) narrative that the band had somehow peaked with Gentlemen and was kind of floundering. So I got myself on the last minute guest list for their show, which of course started really late, so I was tired, and I think I had a cold, and I went by myself because either no one was around or wanted to go. So there I go to the show, get myself a little VIP spot and BLAM, they just killed me. I particularly remember being so gobsmacked by the horn section and singers, total surprises to me.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 February 2018 01:54 (six years ago) link

"Honky's Ladder" has the worst lyrics, but the best guitar. "Crime Scene" has the best lyrics, but I played it too many times and got burned out on the whole quiet-loud thing. "Blame Etc" might get my vote, cuz it's one I underrated for a long time, but I've found myself skipping ahead to it the last few times I played the album.

bernard snowy, Thursday, 1 February 2018 02:20 (six years ago) link

I might have to go with "Bulletproof" but it's tough to go wrong on this album

Simon H., Thursday, 1 February 2018 02:45 (six years ago) link

put on yr rose fur coat baby, cause it's 1973

worth revisiting from a certain ilxor: http://lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/gentlemen.html

mookieproof, Thursday, 1 February 2018 03:10 (six years ago) link

btw 'faded' > 'purple rain'

mookieproof, Thursday, 1 February 2018 03:12 (six years ago) link

hey that's a take I think I may agree with.

fgti spinner (Spottie), Thursday, 1 February 2018 03:19 (six years ago) link

Between Faded and Crime Scene for me prob. Faded is the ultimate car belter.
idk, cant go wrong w any of these. Maybe ill throw a vote at summers kiss I D K

fgti spinner (Spottie), Thursday, 1 February 2018 03:36 (six years ago) link

Saw them a couple months before they started recording the album and then a couple months after it was released. The first one seemed extra special because they were trying out some of the new material, including -- if memory serves -- the three final songs consecutively. Besides...

The night after the Red Wings lost the '95 Stanley Cup, the Whigs played Detroit and Dulli's first words were "How 'bout them Devils?!" A beer ricocheted off his chest and he laughed it off.

― Andy K, Tuesday, December 15, 2009 2:05 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think this was also the night R*ck McC*ll*m got a ride to Saint Andrew's in a Detroit Police car. A bunch of us were standing outside and went silent as he got out and walked into the venue. I broke the silence with something like, "I have a good feeling about this one."

Andy K, Thursday, 1 February 2018 03:36 (six years ago) link

I am seeing them for the first time in April and I am so stoked, the setlist from their last tour looked nuts

Simon H., Thursday, 1 February 2018 03:45 (six years ago) link

this album is pretty much perfect from start to finish so this is extremely difficult. probably between Blame, etc. and the closing trio

ufo, Thursday, 1 February 2018 05:18 (six years ago) link

just listened to this album for the first time, all the way thru, and im gonna say............................ faded

flappy bird, Thursday, 1 February 2018 05:42 (six years ago) link

'My Enemy' but this is really tough. What a record.

Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 1 February 2018 07:04 (six years ago) link

And I mean, shit, from the now legendary 2012 reunion shows. I was at this one ...

aww at how thin Greg got for that tour!

Haribo Hancock (sic), Thursday, 1 February 2018 07:31 (six years ago) link

saw them in November and there were still tix on the door: presale for co-headline with Built To Spill sold out in a day last week

Haribo Hancock (sic), Thursday, 1 February 2018 07:32 (six years ago) link

this is one of the first records i bought, age 15, solely on the strength of a review (in select iirc) and man did i get lucky

what an album, fucking great from front to back. gonna need to think pretty hard to pick a winner here

your skeleton is ready to hatch (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 1 February 2018 08:33 (six years ago) link

every one’s a winner baby

faust apes (NickB), Thursday, 1 February 2018 08:34 (six years ago) link

I find it hard to settle on a favourite Whigs album, usually flitting between this and ‘Gentlemen’.

Still kicking myself I didn’t see the 2012 reunion show with Rick on board in London; I naively assumed they’d be back round again soon enough and would come further north, but alas.

I’ve seen the post-reunion Twilight Whigs a few times and enjoy them.

michaellambert, Thursday, 1 February 2018 11:48 (six years ago) link

I find it hard to settle on a favourite Whigs album, usually flitting between this and ‘Gentlemen’.

Still kicking myself I didn’t see the 2012 reunion show with Rick on board in London; I naively assumed they’d be back round again soon enough and would come further north, but alas.

I’ve seen the post-reunion Twilight Whigs a few times and enjoy them.

michaellambert, Thursday, 1 February 2018 11:48 (six years ago) link

Must've been at least 15 years since I've heard this. On memory I'd instantly say 'Faded' but will spin this again tonight.

♫ very clever with maracas.jpg ♫ (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 1 February 2018 12:07 (six years ago) link

when you say
now we got hell to pay
don't worry baby, that's okay...

faust apes (NickB), Thursday, 1 February 2018 12:28 (six years ago) link

Oddly, I've never heard this even though I played Gentlemen all the time at the time (I went through a break up and man is Gentlemen a break up album...).
Need to get a copy of Black Love asap.

willem, Thursday, 1 February 2018 12:44 (six years ago) link

^ this (minus the break up)

ArchCarrier, Thursday, 1 February 2018 12:47 (six years ago) link

I saw them at t in the park 1996 when this album came out. They were the band I wanted to see most. Was not disappointed, they were fantastic.

Algerian Goalkeeper (Odysseus), Thursday, 1 February 2018 13:32 (six years ago) link

Bulletproof if I have to choose but real answer is "all of them"

I love how it hits on familiar Dulli themes (motherfuckers, going to town, taking a ride, kissing) and the band completely slays from start to finish. Their best album imo.
I saw them a few times in the early-mid 90s and again on the reunion tour and they have never even come close to disappointing me. They are a top notch live band.

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Thursday, 1 February 2018 13:51 (six years ago) link

motherfuckers, going to town, taking a ride, kissing

great name for a Whigs comp

Simon H., Thursday, 1 February 2018 13:53 (six years ago) link

it's one of the last three, i just haven't decided which yet

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 1 February 2018 23:49 (six years ago) link

as I throoooow the chaiiiins I foooorged in li-ay-ay-fe
toooo shaaaaater toooo the flooooor!!

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 February 2018 01:13 (six years ago) link

and if you knew-hoo
just how smoo-hoooth
I could
stop
it
on
a
dime

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 February 2018 01:18 (six years ago) link

holy shit @ that 2012 "blame etc." that josh posted

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 01:26 (six years ago) link

what a band

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 01:28 (six years ago) link

btw 'faded' > 'purple rain'

― mookieproof, Wednesday, January 31, 2018 8:12 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wow, post of the year

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 01:29 (six years ago) link

put on yr rose fur coat baby, cause it's 1973

worth revisiting from a certain ilxor: http://lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/gentlemen.html

― mookieproof, Wednesday, January 31, 2018 7:10 PM (yesterday)

c/p:

By the time one gets through the ballad, “My Curse,” sung achingly by Scrawl’s Jody Stephens...

lol

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 2 February 2018 06:37 (six years ago) link

yeah it's Faded

ufo, Friday, 2 February 2018 06:40 (six years ago) link

summer's kiss and didn't even have to think about it

campreverb, Friday, 2 February 2018 16:19 (six years ago) link

at the 2012 show i saw they opened with "crime scene" and closed (pre-encore) with "bulletproof"/"summer's kiss"/"faded" and that was the moment i realized that black love was my favorite whigs album

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:22 (six years ago) link

oh yeah this really was the best show i've ever seen https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-afghan-whigs/2012/bowery-ballroom-new-york-ny-bdffd12.html

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:22 (six years ago) link

that setlist, my god. I only want for "my curse"

Simon H., Friday, 2 February 2018 16:26 (six years ago) link

which i was lucky enough to see later that year, they invited marcy mays onstage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz11k12udBg

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:27 (six years ago) link

that was a really amazing atp too, it was really ideal to see godspeed playing in what felt like an empty airplane hanger. kind of entered a trance during the very late demdike stare set

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:29 (six years ago) link

Basically this album is like Let it Bleed if every song was trying to be Gimme Shelter.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 2 February 2018 16:34 (six years ago) link

just bought tickets for their show with built to spill oh my god i cannot wait

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:43 (six years ago) link

just got tix <3

fgti spinner (Spottie), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:46 (six years ago) link

wish we could somehow attend the same show spottie

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:47 (six years ago) link

aw me too!

fgti spinner (Spottie), Friday, 2 February 2018 16:54 (six years ago) link

somehow i never managed to see them in their prime, only ever saw them once and that was round the time of the sister brother single so yikes, 1990? still really good though

faust apes (NickB), Friday, 2 February 2018 17:02 (six years ago) link

This is the best album, hard to beat the opening riff of My Enemy but I voted for Blame in the end.

Matt DC, Friday, 2 February 2018 17:19 (six years ago) link

Best part of this album is Rick McCollum's guitar, most notably his slide work.

For an album that is all about mood his presence is absolutely crucial

Master of Treacle, Friday, 2 February 2018 17:52 (six years ago) link

yeah there's no obvious standout to me, and it's kind of hard to think about the tracks in isolation, they're all a single darkly scorched thing

but also those last two minutes of "bulletproof"

― sophistipop 2 (stritram), Wednesday, January 31, 2018 7:21 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah for real. This record was definitely my soundtrack during Bad Times/Bad Choices and it fucking rules. UMS & I saw the Whigs on this tour, they were so fucking great.

Dulli: "We played this song at the Uptown Bar"
*someone in the crowd cheers*
Dulli: "Fuck you. Unless your name is Lori Barbero you weren't there"

Someone called out for "My Curse" and he said "baby not tonight, I can't do it tonight, you wouldn't me to fake it would you?".

Encored with "If I Only Had A Heart" and I think we all wanted to fuck him.

And haha unrelated but
The night after the Red Wings lost the '95 Stanley Cup, the Whigs played Detroit and Dulli's first words were "How 'bout them Devils?!" A beer ricocheted off his chest and he laughed it off.

― Andy K, Tuesday, December 15, 2009 2:05 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I once needled a crowd of Wisconsin townies that had stumbled into a show I was playing after a Packers playoff loss and the other band on the bill, some dudes who were very "confrontational" were scared we would get jumped in the parking lot. Haha.

chr1sb3singer, Friday, 2 February 2018 20:18 (six years ago) link

i lived in minneapolis when this came out but was about to move to dc; the tour schedule was such that i managed to miss them in both places and didn't see them for another year or two

leaving the cities involved renting a truck, filling it with everything i owned, hitching my car to its back, and driving 16 hours straight to pittsburgh, during which i listened to this album ~several~ times on a boombox on the passenger seat while hoping my car hadn't fallen off

sometimes i miss having a car now just so i could drive at night with this on

mookieproof, Friday, 2 February 2018 21:28 (six years ago) link

here we go

mookieproof, Saturday, 3 February 2018 02:50 (six years ago) link

get your ass up on the mountain, baby

mookieproof, Saturday, 3 February 2018 03:06 (six years ago) link

I don't believe I'm ever gonna die

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 3 February 2018 15:35 (six years ago) link

i just listened to a little bit of "bulletproof" and it made my arm hairs stand up
it has the most ecstatic vibe -- when he howls LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the piano and drums and howling, it's the most potent combination of elements
i have spent a lot of time crying my eyes out and howling along with this song over the last 20 years

here we go

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 3 February 2018 15:53 (six years ago) link

btw, while we've got all these Whigs fans in one place: I still haven't heard 2014's Do to the Beast. Is there anyone willing to make the case for why I should?

bernard snowy, Monday, 5 February 2018 15:48 (six years ago) link

because it's good? In Spades is superior, though.

Simon H., Monday, 5 February 2018 15:53 (six years ago) link

Do to the Beast sounds more like a Twilight Singers album than an Afghan Whigs one but has two real highlights in Lost in the Woods and The Lottery which are as good as anything Dulli's done

In Spades is definitely better yeah

ufo, Monday, 5 February 2018 15:58 (six years ago) link

They're both good though not really on par with the band at its prime. (And how could they be?) Still, each has enough killer tracks to make them worth your while.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 5 February 2018 16:13 (six years ago) link

I actually think In Spades is their third-best behind BL and Gentlemen

Simon H., Monday, 5 February 2018 16:15 (six years ago) link

do to the beast has kind of a digressive second side but the first side is all classics imo

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 16:16 (six years ago) link

i think in spades gets really close to the narrative quality of whigs records like black love and gentlemen (or really probably more like the twilight singers' blackberry belle). i love so much of that record

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 16:18 (six years ago) link

Saw them in the mid 90s at the Town and Country. Dulli was aggro all night and eventually took a swing at someone in the crowd with his mic stand. He waded into the crowd shortly afterwards. Didn't drop a note. What a fucking show.

The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 5 February 2018 18:30 (six years ago) link

And Crime Scene for me. Faded is a close second.

The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 5 February 2018 18:31 (six years ago) link

God, the guitars on this album. Summer's Kiss makes me want to crash my car.
For no particular reason, other than the guitars I guess, I totally twin this with a Dust by the Screaming Trees.

The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 5 February 2018 18:51 (six years ago) link

Up in It and Congregation have become relatively undervalued over the years I think

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 5 February 2018 19:02 (six years ago) link

It's weird, I would crawl over broken glass to defend this record but I don't really love any other Whigs records (except "Gentlemen" and even that is tempered compared to this one).

God "Summer's Kiss" is so awesome...I don't know if I can pick a favorite

chr1sb3singer, Monday, 5 February 2018 19:04 (six years ago) link

1965 forever undervalued ;_; (i think it's only sliiiightly less good than this record)

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 19:06 (six years ago) link

I think Howlin' Maggie even opened the show we saw. Man the 90s were fucking great!

chr1sb3singer, Monday, 5 February 2018 19:06 (six years ago) link

Inspired to play In Spades, yeah, it's pretty good.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 5 February 2018 19:23 (six years ago) link

I mean, I knew it was good, but I hadn't played it in a while. The Afghan Whigs are one of those bands that once I start listening I have trouble stopping. I have to be careful.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 5 February 2018 19:23 (six years ago) link

1965 is my favorite, it would sound like its cover if floating in space was unceasingly warm (and hot). also dulli singing "least that's what nas says" is the best thing ever ofc

lowercase (eric), Monday, 5 February 2018 19:42 (six years ago) link

as good as the guitar tones are on this record they are even richer on 1965. eric otm

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 19:44 (six years ago) link

cf. end of "crazy"

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 19:49 (six years ago) link

going through the same experience as when it came out, really want to like 1965 but there's something that keeps me at arms length

one the drumming (drum machine?) is that really "90s loop" feel, like Primitive Radio Gods I been downhearted babe since the day we met/Eels/Beck type vibe

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 5 February 2018 21:28 (six years ago) link

i can't think of a moment on 1965 that isn't live drums. "66"? the '90s loop feel is way stronger on twilight

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 21:35 (six years ago) link

"crazy"'s got those super dilated prim radio gods drums i guess but the song is so beautiful

essentially i think the record has dulli's best pop songs

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 21:39 (six years ago) link

okay yeah i couldn't tell sometimes if he was drumming or it was a loop, like on crazy they are kinda squashed and give it a machine feel

at least part of it is i like black love way out of any common sense and i don't know if anything would have been good enough for me, but certain records are funny like that

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 5 February 2018 21:44 (six years ago) link

even though I only like half of 1965 I do always appreciate it when bands recognize they've gone as "big" as they can and no longer attempt to one-up themselves in terms of scale, instead choosing new angles to refine

Simon H., Monday, 5 February 2018 21:47 (six years ago) link

it isn't even possible to go bigger than 'faded' so yeah

mookieproof, Monday, 5 February 2018 21:51 (six years ago) link

even though I only like half of 1965 I do always appreciate it when bands recognize they've gone as "big" as they can and no longer attempt to one-up themselves in terms of scale, instead choosing new angles to refine

― Simon H., Monday, February 5, 2018 3:47 PM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah enough people seem to really like 1965 that i'm willing to think it's not the record it's me

i prefer In Spades tbh

bhad and bhabie (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 5 February 2018 21:55 (six years ago) link

1965 is great and sometimes I think 66 is their very best song (there's a drum machine + live drums on it but that's the only place on the album I think)

ufo, Monday, 5 February 2018 22:28 (six years ago) link

i am not a huge fan of 1965
i basically only like the first three songs and even then, there is some seriously cheesy stuff in there
the "who's hot, who's not" bit was embarrassing imo
while enjoyable, it almost feels like self-parody, a parade of whigs-themed sex content (the giving/taking of rides, lover's lane, "little rabbit")

however, a friend of mine covered "somethin' hot" with her band and it made me literally giddy to hear a woman singing a whigs song (that isn't "my curse")

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 5 February 2018 22:41 (six years ago) link

oh man I would LOVE to hear an all-female Dulli tribute comp

Simon H., Monday, 5 February 2018 22:42 (six years ago) link

i'll work on that

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 5 February 2018 22:44 (six years ago) link

dulli's tropes expanding into self-parody is part of what i like about that album—it's the funniest whigs record

i also feel like everyone should love "omerta" but i won't push it lol

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 23:34 (six years ago) link

it's also kind of an inverse of the darkness and sadness on twilight

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 5 February 2018 23:39 (six years ago) link

Omerta into The Vampire Lanois is a pretty great closer

ufo, Monday, 5 February 2018 23:44 (six years ago) link

I have them edited as a single track on my phone lol

Simon H., Monday, 5 February 2018 23:47 (six years ago) link

Man, 1965 is great, too. Not as heavy, super songs.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 February 2018 00:11 (six years ago) link

Can I vote for the final three sons??? Shit, I'm prob gonna have to flip a coin between Faded and Summer's Kiss

hoooyaaargh it's me satan (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 6 February 2018 13:53 (six years ago) link

*songs

hoooyaaargh it's me satan (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 6 February 2018 13:53 (six years ago) link

... i think i'm gonna vote "bulletproof" and regret it immediately

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 7 February 2018 03:04 (six years ago) link

btw not this album but "lost in the woods" is a top five whigs song for me easy

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 7 February 2018 03:04 (six years ago) link

went with summer's kiss. love the tension/release--that tease of the chord progression in the beginning, then the build, and then "DID YOU FEEL THE BREEZE MY LOOOOOOOOVE"

hoooyaaargh it's me satan (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 7 February 2018 03:51 (six years ago) link

you forgot GO

mookieproof, Wednesday, 7 February 2018 04:27 (six years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Thursday, 15 February 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link

Has there ever been a rock band not helped by horns?

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 February 2018 03:45 (six years ago) link

Is that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones? Not helped by those clothes, that's for sure. Regardless, pretty sure they would be worse without the horns.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 February 2018 12:29 (six years ago) link

indeed, horns are the very essence of rock

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TP9_i41y_HE/hqdefault.jpg

albondigas con gas (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 15 February 2018 12:53 (six years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2crST10hP-s

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 February 2018 13:18 (six years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Friday, 16 February 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link

‎✔

mookieproof, Friday, 16 February 2018 00:07 (six years ago) link

Went w Faded at the last minute. Good results tho.

they call me melo gelo (Spottie), Friday, 16 February 2018 00:34 (six years ago) link

faded was my "haven't-heard-LP-for-5-years" pick - but got hold of the reissue on account of this thread and fuck it's all great

musically honky's ladder might be the purest distillation of the whigs sound? that song ATTACKS - but lyrically maaaaybe a bit too heavy on the michael mann schtick (it's a fine line with Dulli i know (i know i know))

umsworth (emsworth), Friday, 16 February 2018 00:53 (six years ago) link

Best Afghan Whigs cover would be a fun poll.
Kind of partial to Come See About Me.

campreverb, Friday, 16 February 2018 04:02 (six years ago) link

mr superlove

mookieproof, Friday, 16 February 2018 04:16 (six years ago) link

Every song got a vote - that's great b/c it's a great album.

BlackIronPrison, Friday, 16 February 2018 04:42 (six years ago) link

Best Afghan Whigs cover would be a fun poll.

― campreverb, Thursday, February 15, 2018 8:02 PM (one hour ago)

Amphetamines & Coffee - Paul K & The Weathermen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2203GPIlhI

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 16 February 2018 05:15 (six years ago) link

their cover of "if there's hell below" slaaaaaaaaays

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 16 February 2018 05:21 (six years ago) link

also "superstition"
also, my favorite, "creep"

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 16 February 2018 05:22 (six years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPRWJah3Rc

this is one i keep coming back to

ufo, Friday, 16 February 2018 05:39 (six years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmIWkiTZ8qM

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:23 (six years ago) link

its none of those. its either of these...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ixNnsGYdc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5cY7YduMlU

jamiesummerz, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:34 (six years ago) link

"Come See About Me" with "Rot" and "My World Is Empty Without You" just behind.

Andy K, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:38 (six years ago) link

"Dark End of the Street" and "Beware" are up there, too.

Andy K, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:39 (six years ago) link

Just listened to "Beware" for the first time in 20+ years and it kinda sucks, actually.

Andy K, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:44 (six years ago) link

Come See About Me is inspired for going so dark/minor. Creep I like because it's more or less contemporary, so there's no veneer of classic soul-music nostalgia/fetish.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:47 (six years ago) link

On my phone so can’t see the YouTube links as embeds, sonit may have been mentioned already but my “best Whigs cover” vote is, and always will be, for their version of “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love”. Particularly the video of them tearing through it at some MTV awards show.

michaellambert, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:49 (six years ago) link

they covered 'i'll be around' on their (original) last tour -- it is predictably great

mookieproof, Friday, 16 February 2018 14:03 (six years ago) link

"musically honky's ladder might be the purest distillation of the whigs sound? that song ATTACKS - but lyrically maaaaybe a bit too heavy on the michael mann schtick"
WTF is Honky's Ladder about?

akm, Friday, 16 February 2018 14:22 (six years ago) link

peeping what i got stuck between your eyes?
touching the light?
drugs?

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 16 February 2018 14:35 (six years ago) link

I kind of like their super coked-out cover of 'Nighttime' though objectively it's terrrible

campreverb, Friday, 16 February 2018 16:06 (six years ago) link

💪 What’s the strongest run of three songs in a row on an album?

— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) February 26, 2018

mookieproof, Tuesday, 27 February 2018 16:35 (six years ago) link

two years pass...

Late vote for Faded.

pophatte (admrl), Saturday, 20 June 2020 02:48 (three years ago) link

noted

mookieproof, Saturday, 20 June 2020 02:52 (three years ago) link

best album

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 20 June 2020 02:56 (three years ago) link

almost certainly linked this before, but hey

http://lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/gentlemen.html

mookieproof, Saturday, 20 June 2020 03:03 (three years ago) link

the author is a friend of the site

mookieproof, Saturday, 20 June 2020 03:04 (three years ago) link

i'm still so mad that no radio ever played the whigs for me in the 90s, they were a band whose name i knew but back then there were so few avenues for hearing stuff if it wasn't on the radio and you didn't want to spend precious $ on a cd.

otoh when i finally heard gentlemen in the mid 2000s i was 23 or 24 and that was probably a better time to hear it.

call all destroyer, Saturday, 20 June 2020 03:10 (three years ago) link

almost certainly linked this before, but hey

http://lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/gentlemen.html

― mookieproof, Friday, June 19, 2020 8:03 PM (fifty-nine minutes ago)

...

By the time one gets through the ballad, “My Curse,” sung achingly by Scrawl’s Jody Stephens

thinkingface.emoji

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 20 June 2020 04:03 (three years ago) link

fair, but let's not get too thinkingface

mookieproof, Saturday, 20 June 2020 04:09 (three years ago) link

i ahall die alone with no legacy whatsoever, but i'll never disavow this

btw 'faded' > 'purple rain'

― mookieproof, Wednesday, January 31, 2018 8:12 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

mookieproof, Saturday, 20 June 2020 04:12 (three years ago) link

Critical acumen (or lack of it) is something I think about often. For better or worse, at present, I'm really just relying on, or bringing attention to, the primacy of emotional response and trusting (inhabiting?) that - while being aware that it's a fallible, suspicious register or, at the very least, only part of the process of working out why one likes something.

Anyway, after not using my car for the best part of two months, I've taken to listening to this when I have to drive and I've nearly had to pull over a couple of times. Sure, there are lots of things happening to all of our deep workings and who knows what damage has been done, but Summer's Kiss in particular completely destroys me. It's partly a thing of pure pleasure at the production and the unbridled roar of the guitars but there's something tectonic working down there that I don't really get. The final crescendo is one of those things where I wish I could have been in the studio so I could say don't stop there! ffs, but glad that I can't be so that I'm powerless and can have that exquisite release each time. Then Faded happens and oh fucking hell I'm just a blubbering wreck of a man.

Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Saturday, 20 June 2020 10:14 (three years ago) link

"Honky's Ladder" has the worst lyrics, but the best guitar. "

"WTF is Honky's Ladder about?"

I think it is the best tune on the LP and definitely one to go on the Whigs best songs. I take the lyrics being someone shaking down someone with a pistol to the face requesting money for the drugs they have provided, perhaps to a close friend or relative.

I admit that the lyrics don't read well, but they do fit the music perfect. It is like when you first saw the lyrics to "Gimme Shelter" wrote out - you might go, 'is that it?' I'd kinda compare the tunes in that they both have that menace and forboding to them, albeit the Whigs song is very less known. The track does seem like a tune ready made for a 90s crime sound track.

earlnash, Saturday, 20 June 2020 10:59 (three years ago) link

chinaski i used to cry A LOT (like a lot a lot a lot) while listening to this album -- while walking, while driving, while seated at home. it wasn't nostalgia and it couldn't have always been pms, so i think this album has some magical quality that zings right to the feelings and electrifies them. bulletproof was my personal ultimate catalyst for uncontrollable weeping.

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 20 June 2020 13:38 (three years ago) link

i'll never forget seeing their first reunion show at the bowery ballroom and realizing they were going to do "bulletproof" -> "summer's kiss," i think i burst into tears

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 20 June 2020 14:01 (three years ago) link

lol @ how many times i've brought up that show in this thread

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 20 June 2020 14:04 (three years ago) link

But it really can't be said enough how life-changingly great this band is live.

"Black Love" benefits I think from following "Gentlemen," which I think as far as it goes was sort of an accidental crossover. That is, timing and critical acclaim put the band on the radar for people peak-grunge/alt, but ultimately the group just had too much going on (or were too heavy or intense or whatever) for the average alt day tripper. Kind of like the folks who picked up "Laid" by James based on the single. That's one of my favorite albums of all time, but so much of it is so spare and ghostly and subdued that anyone (at least in America) that went for the single might not have dug the rest. So back to "Black Love," I feel that album slipped under the radar in a way. Either it was not the album casual fans expected after "Gentlemen," or it was too much the album the band should have made after "Gentlemen," if that makes any sense. All I know is that at the time there were countless copies of "Black Love," like "Laid," clogging up the used CD bins.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 20 June 2020 14:29 (three years ago) link

"honky's ladder" was a weird choice of lead single and i think dulli's said that it was the label's decision that he disagreed with and that they had a lot of other trouble with their label at the time. "my enemy" always seemed like the most obvious single to me but it wasn't one

ufo, Saturday, 20 June 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link

i feel like if "going to town" didn't do it for them nothing would

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 20 June 2020 14:59 (three years ago) link

yeah I agree with that

I NEED to see these duys live again at some point. Their coheadlining set with BTS was amazing but TOO SHORT.

k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Saturday, 20 June 2020 15:27 (three years ago) link

Is their an interview or article where Dulli talks about his connection to Los Angeles? I know he lived there before/during the Afghan Whigs early days.

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 20 June 2020 17:00 (three years ago) link

He owns or owns a couple of bars there.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 20 June 2020 17:14 (three years ago) link

He worked at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood I think around 1984-1985, before the formation of the Whigs. It's a block and a half from the Whisky and about a 20 minute walk to the corner of Fountain & Fairfax. I remember he talked about writing most of Big Top Halloween out there, but I was wondering if there was a longer piece where he talks more in depth about his life and times living in Hollywood during the glam-rock era.

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 20 June 2020 20:24 (three years ago) link

i recall a twilight singers show shortly after elliott smith died during which he went on at *excruciating* length about how they knew each other in la and where they hung out, etc etc as the band vamped endlessly

mookieproof, Saturday, 20 June 2020 20:28 (three years ago) link

good album

the burrito that defined a generation, Sunday, 21 June 2020 04:58 (three years ago) link

it's absurd to me that Gentlemen got almost 2x the votes in the album poll thread. Black Love is obviously the better, more fully realized album.

k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Sunday, 21 June 2020 05:07 (three years ago) link

your bad takes scourge me

mookieproof, Sunday, 21 June 2020 05:11 (three years ago) link

1965 > Black Love > Gentlemen

an, uh, razor of love (sic), Sunday, 21 June 2020 05:38 (three years ago) link

^^^^ black love is my fave but any ranking of those records is legit

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 21 June 2020 12:43 (three years ago) link

They are each incredible, emotive, savage, funny, thrilling records. All clearly come from the same writer & same players, working in the same genre - Dulli’s voice would be clear as a writer of words even if his vocals weren’t on them - yet each has a distinctive tone that holds for the whole album.

There’s no wrong way to rank them.

an, uh, razor of love (sic), Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:00 (three years ago) link

imo you can also throw twilight in there

mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:03 (three years ago) link

Black love > gentlemen > 1965

I still find 1965 spotty & a tad embarrassing. Would not play it for someone who has never heard them to say “hey I once totally loved this band”
Black Love best communicates best what I love about this band.

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:07 (three years ago) link

Solidarity on the crying front, La Lechera!

Another thing about the impact of Summer's Kiss is how it makes a call to Suffering by Satchel: the lyric 'put on your old fur coat, it's 1973' features in both and I have no idea which was first and don't care.

Dulli is an unusual case. I like savage as a descriptor for him as he does have a wildness - in the pit of his voice and in the way he roams around within a bar, pressing at the boundaries, to the point where it feels improvisatory a lot of the time.

Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:27 (three years ago) link

I think I'd take Congregation over 1965 tbh (despite a few incredible songs on the latter)

k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Sunday, 21 June 2020 15:11 (three years ago) link

This is their best album by quite some distance - more fully formed songwriting than Gentlemen and not as hammy as 1965. Even if the hamminess is part of the point this album just hits the perfect midpoint between the fire, the sleaze, the darkness and moments of unexpected beauty.

Matt DC, Sunday, 21 June 2020 15:14 (three years ago) link

my main arguments for Black Love > Gentlemen is the production is fuller and it has a real ending

k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Sunday, 21 June 2020 15:16 (three years ago) link

imo you can also throw twilight in there

No less good, but entirely different players*, and the character is writing in a tone of regret & reaching toward redemption, instead of celebrating their assholism. Which makes for a great sequel, after the increase of swagger:self-loathing ratio across the last three, but further marks it as separate.

* bar a couple of guest stars obv

an, uh, razor of love (sic), Sunday, 21 June 2020 20:16 (three years ago) link

four months pass...

As I throw the chains
I forged in life
To shatter on the floor

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 2 November 2020 17:33 (three years ago) link

chinaski i used to cry A LOT (like a lot a lot a lot) while listening to this album -- while walking, while driving, while seated at home. it wasn't nostalgia and it couldn't have always been pms, so i think this album has some magical quality that zings right to the feelings and electrifies them. bulletproof was my personal ultimate catalyst for uncontrollable weeping.

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 20 June 2020 13:38 (four months ago) link

This is just one of those rare albums that for whatever reason (I'm not really even sure what it is) it connects with certain listeners on level different anything else. Like if I put this record on right now it would completely wreck me or possibly send me on a drug/booze/crime bender

chr1sb3singer, Monday, 2 November 2020 17:52 (three years ago) link

This album has duende

handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Monday, 2 November 2020 19:19 (three years ago) link

Just imagining the first wall of guitar in Summer's Kiss and is making me want to walk into the midnight sea.

Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Monday, 2 November 2020 20:24 (three years ago) link

I haven't heard anything by Afghan Whigs other than this. I remember a lot of wah-wah guitar and clavinet and no tunes, except Night by Candlelight, which I love and makes me think of Prince gone goth.

Halfway there but for you, Monday, 2 November 2020 20:42 (three years ago) link

this is the best afghan whigs album but everyone who's ever liked them really needs to hear In Spades if they haven't already

it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Tuesday, 3 November 2020 16:23 (three years ago) link

"Faded"....jesus what a fucking epic song, actual goosebumps right now

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 3 November 2020 18:19 (three years ago) link

This album has duende

― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Monday, November 2, 2020 2:19 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

love this. seems like a good thread idea.

glengarry gary beers (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 3 November 2020 18:21 (three years ago) link

two months pass...

btw 'faded' > 'purple rain'

I know it's a night for the biggest of takes, but this still shakes the foundations. And is true.

Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Saturday, 9 January 2021 00:54 (three years ago) link

<3

mookieproof, Saturday, 9 January 2021 00:55 (three years ago) link

still most amazed because i was much more a fan of ppl gazing at shoes than dulli's over-the-top entertainer thing . . . but somehow the shtick still worked on me

obviously it didn't work on a lot of people, and he certainly wasn't in prince's class, but he was much better at it than seems reasonable

mookieproof, Saturday, 9 January 2021 02:45 (three years ago) link

I've been luxuriating in the Twilight Singers discography and the thing is Dulli is just a really consistently awesome songwriter

stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Saturday, 9 January 2021 03:43 (three years ago) link

Considering some of the bands that DID get tons of FM Xradio play, I just don't get why they did not play these guys. I think that about a few of the other 90s bands too.

earlnash, Saturday, 9 January 2021 15:07 (three years ago) link

two months pass...

25 years ago today. pic.twitter.com/Xb9eBA9yNt

— greg dulli (@MrGregDulli) March 12, 2021

mookieproof, Friday, 12 March 2021 14:50 (three years ago) link

really it's about as perfect as rock albums get

ufo, Friday, 12 March 2021 15:04 (three years ago) link

Agreed

Oor Neechy, Friday, 12 March 2021 15:08 (three years ago) link

bought this the day it came out ffs

still an incredible record on every level

you are like a scampicane, there's calm in your fries (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 12 March 2021 15:09 (three years ago) link

fuck

mookieproof, Saturday, 13 March 2021 04:07 (three years ago) link

we should also be very thankful that Dulli's movie never got made, could have needlessly sullied this project if it sucked (which let's be real it probably would have)

intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Sunday, 14 March 2021 17:29 (three years ago) link

It’s just Dulli in a belted leather jacket going for a ride/going to town in different settings and different times of day for 95-100 minutes

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 14 March 2021 19:24 (three years ago) link

the weird thing about a movie is that presumably the characters would have to have jobs, whereas in greg dulli songs it always feels like everyone's occupation is "lover"

intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Sunday, 14 March 2021 19:44 (three years ago) link

two years pass...

straight in

mookieproof, Monday, 1 May 2023 04:48 (eleven months ago) link

six months pass...

It was a Saturday
I came home early
Drunk with love
And other things

I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Saturday, 11 November 2023 21:33 (five months ago) link


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