Call Album

[Monica Okane]

Thisalbum also contains a Blu-ray showcasing performances by Koiwai Kotori, Lynx Eyes and Call of Artemis during D4DJ D4 FES. LIVE -ALL IN- as well as a behind-the-scenes video focusing on Call of Artemis and Kaibara Michiru.

Call Me is the sixth album by soul singer Al Green. It is widely regarded as Green's masterpiece, and has been called one of the best soul albums ever made.[9] In 2003 the TV network VH1 named it the 70th greatest album in any genre. Call Me was a Top 10 Billboard Pop Album, and the third #1 Soul Album.In 2003, the album was ranked number 289 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 290 in a 2012 revised list.[10] Praised for his emotive singing style, Green here incorporates country influences, covering both Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. This album contained three top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "You Ought to Be with Me," "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "Call Me (Come Back Home)."

Frankly, I don't want to hear these songs anymore. Nothing personal, but are there people who think "Without Me" has resonance? Eminem has even worn himself out. It shows in interviews, and as he watches hard-won respect slip through his fingers whenever he shits out another scatological invective like "Just Lose It". He's been swindling his audience for some time now, milking stardom for all its goopy dairy: D12, the 2Pac album, the outrageously overrated 8 Mile, a cartoon, radio station, DVDs, and books. His most recent LP, Encore, was a shell, full of flow-fuckery and canny hooks, signifying nothing. Eminem's rise, in all its Great White Hope glory, paralleled the rise of modern hip-hop as America's dominant musical form. But it also happened mostly in conjunction with Em dipping into the pop well. It's a sad state of affairs now for someone who could have been the premier musical artist of the last decade.

For all intents and purposes, Eminem's position as globo-mega-star and intriguing personality began to wane after the release of his second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, a record regarded by most as his masterpiece. But his 1999 debut The Slim Shady LP marked his creative zenith. Only two songs from that album are included here: the hits. "My Name Is" remains blissful and more complex than the novelty it was written off as-- it's funny and bizarre, and each punchline could have been a chorus. "Guilty Conscience", the role-playing jaunt between Eminem and mentor Dr. Dre, also holds up, especially when Em puts his producer on blast as "somebody who slapped Dee Barnes." Eminem's strengths-- verbal elasticity, the ability to write thunderous hooks, chameleon-ism, being white-- have hamstrung him psychologically, but in these early days, before fame, 65 million albums sold, and media persecution, his joy for rapping shone hard.

From the moment Dre and Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine forced Eminem back into the booth to record "The Real Slim Shady", the cake icing on his colossally important second album, his fate was sealed. The songs Curtain Call culls from that album are fine, but had little to do with the outrage he caught from parents, GLAAD, and the conservative right. "The Real Slim Shady" made him profitable; songs like "Kim" and "Kill You" made him interesting. "Stan", however, still stands out as an exception. Overplayed as it may sound today, it remains a cultural milestone-- throngs of people, fans and not, flipped upon first hearing it, essentially forcing the label to release it as a single. All didn't end well, though: Dido has a career now.

Third album The Eminem Show is repped here by two songs: "Without Me", and the underrated "Cleanin' Out My Closet", which contributed as much to the confusing Freudian glints in Em's persona as anything else he's done. Which leaves the compilation's four new throw-ins: the Nate Dogg collaboration "Shake That", the ridiculously inane "FACK", and new single "When I'm Gone" are all desolate placeholders-- lesser versions of Eminem songs that already piss me off. "Gone" is the worst offender, yet another love letter from Em to daughter Hailie, it, like Encore's "Mockingbird", is heavy-handed and saccharine. The final new track is the live version of "Stan", performed with Elton John at the 2001 Grammys. Its inclusion is pointless.

Eminem has always had a self-loathing streak. He still comes across as uncomfortable with both stardom and his standing as a white rapper, and in a recent MTV interview seemed unhappy with this compilation's tracklist. This isn't his art-- it's his commerce. That's partly alleviated by Curtain Call's seven-track bonus CD, which contains five of the 10 best songs he's recorded. Included are two incredible album cuts from his debut, "Role Model" and "Just Don't Give a Fuck", one of his earliest, funniest thrillers. "Kill You", from his second LP, is psychotic mania but it's also hilarious and paramount to his dichotomy. Also featured are tracks he recorded with two giants: The first, "Renagade", comes from Jay-Z's The Blueprint, and finds each MC handling two liquid verses apiece. It's also a rare occasion in which Eminem's funeral dirge production doesn't sound overwrought. The other, Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous "Dead Wrong", is about as vicious and beguiling a thing as I've ever heard, featuring both men pulling the razors out from under their tongues. The fact that Em stands toe-to-toe in the face of two potent Biggie verses was a sort of unofficial "okay, we can all fuck with this dude" moment for hardcore fans.

Eminem was a battle rapper first, then a backpacker, then a hook-slinger, now a tortured artiste-- the last bastion of the overexposed. He's still a star, but he no longer seems nearly as fascinating as we've been made to think. And Curtain Call, an inevitable and adequate document of his hitmaking, allows him the opportunity to remain in the spotlight while also receding from it. And with that, he's back into hiding for the forseeable future, building mystique: His next album is unscheduled, and, promo for this collection aside, his profile never seems to rise above churning out goth-rap backing tracks for lesser artists. Which, of course, is all probably intended to get me wishing the guy who once pleaded, "Some people only see that I'm white, ignoring skill," would come back around once in a while.

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Continuing the trend of ballads, this one is my least favourite of the album. That does not say all that much since it is an amazing album, and this song is still pretty good. I like that vocal processing effect, gives it a little bit of unique flavour.

What once was three points on a map (Costa Rica, Portland, OR, and Chattanooga) became the reconnection of sisters Rachel Graber Fortin, Rosalie Graber, and Amelia Graber Jacobs to officially form the band in 2017.

Much like their self-titled EP from 2020, the songs on this album follow a more sonically curated mixed bag of different vibes. Straying away from the covers that got them started, the group has started to find the more playful side to their songwriting.

I was very excited for this track specifically because of the Lana Del Rey feature. And while I can hear her work in the chorus, I feel like the pair of the two artists was not utilized at all, and Lana should have had more in the track, particularly a verse of her own. I love the image of snow on the beach, something rare, beautiful, and never seen before. The track has a romantic sound to it, the breathy voices and a gentle tune create that effect.

Hailing from the American midwest, Citizen is a band that has been on a notable uptick for just around a decade or so now; not only in terms of popularity, but also output and quality. The band has laid their foundation somewhere between the realms of post-grunge, pop-punk, emo, and rock, never putting out an album that sounds the same as another, but always remaining consistently great.

Nothing really changes at all on the album until you reach its seventh track, Bad Company, which showcases a grungier, dancier sound, and also features a great vocal performance by singer Mat Kerekes. The following track, Dogs, also deviates from the albums usual formula, providing the listener with something slightly more aggressive, and easily the best instrumental on the whole album.

Nita Strauss has used her tenure with Alice Cooper to master her craft, not only becoming a top lead guitarist, but also an accomplished producer and songwriter, pulling together some of the top talents in rock and metal to assemble this very compelling second solo album

Green is widely considered one of the greatest pop singers ever. In 1973, he constructed this superb nine-song album for Hi Records in Memphis, in close collaboration with co-producer Willie Mitchell.

DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Al Green is widely considered one of the greatest pop singers ever, known for his soulful ballads. His commercial peak was the decade of the 1970s. Rock critic Ken Tucker realized recently that this year is the 50th anniversary of what he considers Green's greatest album, 1973's "Call Me." Ken knew he wanted to do a piece to celebrate this rhythm and blues landmark.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CALL ME")AL GREEN: (Singing) Call me. Call me. Call me. What a beautiful time we had together. Now it's getting late, and we must leave each other, yeah. Just remember the time we had and how right I tried to be. It's all in a day's work.KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: In Al Green's song "Call Me," the singer addresses a woman he's passionately in love with, who at this moment is not feeling that same passion. What they once had isn't working for her anymore. Green acknowledges her fading feelings for him even as he can't resist reminding her of, as he puts it, the beautiful time we had together. What he wants to tell her most of all is that she can call him any time, and he'll be there for her. In Al Green's musical universe, men and women are almost always operating on a level romantic playing field.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CALL ME")GREEN: (Singing) The best thing I can do is give you your love - is give you your love, baby - that you're going away, feeling as free as a dove. And if you find you're a long ways from home, and if somebody's doing you wrong, just call me, baby, and come back home.TUCKER: Al Green constructed this superb nine-song album for Hi Records in Memphis at Royal Studios in close collaboration with co-producer Willie Mitchell. Essential to the sound was the Hi Rhythm Section, which included the three Hodges brothers, bassist Leroy, Charles on keyboards and guitarist Teenie Hodges. Howard Grimes played drums. In the 1970s, the warm intimacy of the music that came out of Royal Studios attained an almost mystical force. When I went there to interview Green and Mitchell in 2003, Willie Mitchell yelled at me when I moved my hand to sweep away a spiderweb in a dusty corner of the studio. Don't touch it, he said. It's all part of the sound. I was not at all sure that he was kidding.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU OUGHT TO BE WITH ME")GREEN: (Singing) Sit right down and talk to me about how you want to be. You ought to be with me. Yeah, you ought to be with me. Thinking about what people do, talking about how I love you, thinking there's nothing to what they say. You're going to be with me anyway.TUCKER: That's "You Ought To Be With Me," one of three hit singles off "Call Me," along with "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)" and the title song. Green's phrasing is unique. He uses a falsetto croon that can deepen into a growl, enunciating lyrics conversationally. "Call Me" was Green's sixth album and includes two superb covers of country music - Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and this one, Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away."(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY")GREEN: (Singing) How am I doing? Well, I guess I'm doing fine. It's been so long, and it seems like it was only yesterday. Ain't it funny, funny, funny how time slips away, hey.TUCKER: This album also includes "Jesus Is Waiting," a gorgeous early example of the gospel music that would at one point take over Green's career when he became the Reverend Al Green. And the most underrated song on "Call Me" is "Stand Up," a quietly vehement piece of sinuous funk with politics that imply as much about the importance of Black assertiveness as anything that Sly Stone or the Isley Brothers or Marvin Gaye were offering during this same period.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STAND UP")GREEN: (Singing) I think it's time to stand up and identify yourself. Stand up and identify yourself. What's your name? What's the nature of the game? Who you are, how far you come, where have you been, oh, yeah. Stand up - you've been promised just one day, and that's today.TUCKER: When I read that this was the 50th anniversary of "Call Me," I had a visceral reaction. I was momentarily overwhelmed, recalling the pleasure that this album has given me over the years.(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HERE I AM (COME AND TAKE ME)")GREEN: (Singing) I can't believe that it's real - the way that you make me feel. A burning deep down inside, a love that I cannot hide. Our love is you and me, baby. That makes the world go round. And if you've been doing loving with me, laying all my troubles down. Here I am, baby - come and take me. Here I am, baby - baby, come and take me. Take me by the hand...BIANCULLI: Rock critic Ken Tucker. Al Green's album "Call Me" was released 50 years ago this month. Coming up, film critic Justin Chang reviews the new movie version of another classic from the '70s - the 1970 Judy Blume novel, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." This is FRESH AIR.(SOUNDBITE OF ELVIN JONES' "ANTHROPOLOGY")

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