Musical Chairs
#48 A sense of belonging
A little bit like your all-time greatest football team or favourite ever TV programme, there will always be a handful of records that truly belong to you. You discovered them on your own terms, and they belong to you.
In most cases, they are almost definitely not the best record even by that particular band but that is irrelevant. They occupy a place that cannot be changed or corrected, no matter what evidence is put in front of you.
Porcupine by Echo & the Bunnymen is a good example. I know that technically its predecessor Heaven Up Here is a better album, but that logic is redundant when it comes to emotional connection. Porcupine came out in 1983, I was seventeen and it was my entry point to one of my favourite ever bands. Heaven Up Here was just too early for me, coming out in 1981. So, their respective merits are academic, the decision has been made - and I actually quite like that.
Another one for me is Flesh and Blood by Roxy Music - I doubt it's listed anywhere as Roxy's best album but as I discovered it all on my own terms, on fairground waltzers and endlessly sunny summer days, it will always be their best album to me.
These connections are so strong, they just can't be broken. I was thinking of parallels and friendship is the obvious one. No matter how much you like, or even love, an individual you've met in more recent years, they simply can't be a part of your life like a friend you've known since school. They just weren't there. It's no one's fault, but it's the truth. In some ways, this explains the feelings of jealousy people often have towards individuals who were part of their partner's life before they came along. It's not their history and history is a deeply personal thing.
So, whilst in my case the likes of Porcupine and Flesh and Blood get favourable treatment, there is an element of distance between me and say the two Joy Division albums because I discovered them retrospectively. I can imagine the impact they made but I can't actually feel it. And when it comes to music, feeling is always more important than imagination.
Very true - good examples for me are The Smiths debut, Pornography by The Cure, Head over heels - Cocteau Twins and also Porcupine. Not often cited as the bands best but have meant the most to me and certainly my favourite. Discovering music as a teenager was a wonderful thing 😃
Glad to see we agree, Steve, that Flesh and Blood isn’t Roxy’s greatest work…ha-ha!
But you’re dead right about why it is for you; as you by now know, no one will ever convince me that the Joyless Four or the heaven knows why misrerabilist Smiths are Manchester’s most significant band, for that honour belongs to Buzzcocks, as surely as the Manchester rain belongs to us. And they all laughed…
For music,like all art, belongs to the beholder, and if your view differs from mine, it’s only because of perspective. For you stand here, and I stand there, so how can we possibly both see it the same?
PS Roxy’s greatest work are equally the five first albums, plus Viva!, for I can’t separate them from each other. And that…ha-ha…is a fact!