[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement (April 20, 1992)"]
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Okay, I've got to be honest. This is the first album that I actually hated on this list. Its brutal. Its the epitomy of music I don't like. There are raging guitars interspersed in various tracks on the album that don't sound properly tuned, the vocals don't match with the instrumentation - the sound is different, the pitch is off, and they just don't mix well.
Track Listing
- Summer Babe (Winter Version)
- Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite at :17
- No Life Singed Her
- In The Mouth A Desert
- Conduit For Sale!
- Zurich Is Stained
- Loretta's Scars
- Here
- Two States
- Perfume-V
- Fame Throwa
- Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era
- Our Singer
- Chesley's Little Wrists
So this is an interesting challenge to articulate why I dislike this album so much. My instant reaction is just to keep switching over every track (because I think they sound awful). Kind of like the sound that might happen if a 12 year old beginner played guitar with a cat screeching in the background. Oh and the 12 year old's friend tries to play guitar with him, and it just sounds bad and chaotic.
Does that explain to you how much I dislike this album?
The first track that sounds "okay" to me (except for the cheesy cymbal crashes every eight beats...brutal) is 'Here'. And by okay, I mean it doesn't make me want to scream and run through a glass door. Is that too much?
Oh wait, I don't mind "Two States" either, but it still doesn't have a really cohesive sound to it. Maybe that's why this album did so well and was listed on the RS500? Because its sound is unique compared to anything else? I don't know. I never liked alternative music when I was young, so maybe this just sounds like the alternative music of the 90s that I detested. But maybe not, because now I actually do like some alternative music.
I like music that has some sense of cohesion - the elements go together, even if it sounds chaotic, harmony exists amongst the noise. And that is NOT what I hear in this album.
Look, I wouldn't want to piss anyone off or insult the band (clearly if the record is in the top 150 albums of all time, then it can't be that bad...right?) but I wouldn't recommend you listen to this album. Unless you want to be tortured. (Wait, one more song is redeeming this album, just a bit..."Our Singer")
I don't want to talk about this album anymore, so I'm going to finish this post. But if you have thoughts about this or disagree with me, please...share them. I'd love to understand why this is supposedly good enough to be on the list of the greatest albums of all time.
Time to move on from this...oh but wait. First I'll delete this BS from my iTunes library.
Comments (9)
Jeff on January 16, 2016
“Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was my introduction to Pavement and I loved it instantly. I was traveling a lot in ‘92 and ’93 and was rarely close to a stereo, so somehow Slanted & Enchanted never made it on my radar. When I finally bought S&E;, my first thought was, all right, sweet, some of these songs are as good as the ones on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. There’s no question that S&E; is a fantastic record, but to me, parts of it sound like Pavement wearing a costume. Listen to the brilliant “Summer Babe” and know that Malkmus loves Lou Reed, but East Coast cool ultimately isn’t his style. On Crooked Rain, Pavement became a band, opened up (as much as they ever could, anyway), and sounded like themselves: smart, funny, confident, West Coast, suburban. The confidence was key. Malkmus and Kannberg grew up loving bands loved by critics, and in their short history, the critics couldn’t stop talking about them. In 1994, they were ready to take on the world, but chose to do so in their own quiet and unforgettable way."
From Pitchfork review in which the album recieved a 10/10 (although S&L also recieved a 10/10 ha!)
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