TS: Nothing's Shocking v. Ritual De Lo Habitual

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Ok, so no matter what we think about Strays, I don't think anyone here is going to say that it's better than either of these. But which one was better?

Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Ass vs. Butt

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:45 (twenty-two years ago)

titties vs knockers

Kingfish (Kingfish), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Legally Blonde 2 vs. American Wedding

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:48 (twenty-two years ago)

American Idol vs Top Model

Kingfish (Kingfish), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Mmm'kay, then.

As for me, I go w/ titties, ass and LB2 -- and Nothing's Shocking. True, it has some limp-dicked funk moments, but it also has great tunes and that EPIC production. "Ocean Size," "Up the Beach," "Ted Just Admit," and--ahhhh--"Summertime Rolls," which as Ned pointed out in an earlier thread, has an all-time moment at the beginning.

Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

And Top Model.

Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think I've heard either (nor had a desire to, but that's irrelevant) in at least 10 years.

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

What N.T.I. said.

There are a number of passages of music of particularly outstanding beauty that my brain has involuntarily committed in every detail to long-term memory, and which I can consequently "listen" to mentally any time I choose. The "Summertime Rolls" intro is one such: the delicate upper register bass melody... the deep, distant cymbal rolls (like fountains gushing forth in slow motion)... and then the glorious E-Bow guitar line. Das ist wunderbar, c'est fantastique.

Incidentally, I've always assumed that the voice heard during the first section of "Ted, Just Admit It" is that of Ted Bundy. Can anybody confirm or correct?

Palomino, Wednesday, 23 July 2003 20:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I love both of these albums. One has the better songs and the other is the better cohesive unit. Which one is which depends entirely upon my mood.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 20:43 (twenty-two years ago)

What Dan said, part 143076536582.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 21:42 (twenty-two years ago)

My love for Ritual de lo Habitual cannot be denied. 3 days, epic of all epics!

JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Ritual all the way. Crystallized my end-of-high-school mind opening up to all sorts of things, that and Paul's Boutique. It feels like a personal historical document - it holds up as a peak of my adolescent desire to be part of "alternative" culture. Nirvana, which I was just as excited about, has aged much less gracefully. I just can't listen to those records anymore - overplayed, too much cultural baggage, inconsistent song quality.

The JA reunion seems rather shameful to me.

Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 23 July 2003 23:18 (twenty-two years ago)

'seems' understates.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 23:21 (twenty-two years ago)

As I remember, "Ted Just Admit It" was about Ted Bundy. And Perry Farrell was taken from "peripheral," which was slang (whose slang I dunno) for penis. That's all the Jane's trivia I know.

Chris Dahlen (Chris Dahlen), Thursday, 24 July 2003 02:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Ritual by a country mile. ...Shocking is good, but it doesn't scare me.

Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 24 July 2003 07:17 (twenty-two years ago)

'Ritual' x 100,000,000. A sacred cornerstone of my existence etc etc etc. "Where green grass grows it can't be wrong"

dave q, Thursday, 24 July 2003 08:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Ritual every time. One of the most important passages of music in my life and beautiful on so many levels.

Alex K (Alex K), Thursday, 24 July 2003 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I will freely admit that the second half of _Ritual..._ is probably as close to untouchable as an album can get.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I really like "Three Days", but Ritual... at the time seemed a bit of a dissapointment. That acoustic one with the line about 'slapping yourself in the face' I've always thought was really annoying. Besides that, the artwork was nicked off of The Gun Club.

"Nothing's Shocking" gets my vote.

earlnash, Thursday, 24 July 2003 12:28 (twenty-two years ago)

The acoustic one with the line about "slapping yourself in the face" is the song that makes that side of the album perfect to my ears.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 24 July 2003 12:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Aye, me too Dan. I'm the yopungest of three brothers, so I know that "slapping-your-own-face" sensation very well.

Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 24 July 2003 12:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Your face, eh, Nick?

I completely agree about that song ("Of Course") -- that entire second side is excellent. I'm actually even hotter for that song about his mom -- "She would take me out on Sundays/We'd go laughing through the garbage...She was unhappy just as you were" is just heartbreaking and kind of makes real the somewhat larger-than-life character that is Perry.

But the first side of RDLH is a little weak.

Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 24 July 2003 16:39 (twenty-two years ago)

"...And She Said" is also ridiculously classic, yes. It's hilarious, because "Classic Girl" is something of a comedown after those three songs, yet on its own it's fantastic.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 24 July 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

neither.

bleh.

Bosse-De-Nage (Bosse-De-Nage), Thursday, 24 July 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, it's "Then She Did" -- which has always made me wonder if it's supposed to be similar to "Then She Died." Isn't that whole second side kind of about that Xiola Blue character who died or whatever?

Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 24 July 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes it is.

I'm like Dan & Ned; I can't exactly choose one over the other, my preference is usually momentary and based on my mood...I'd say I prefer Nothing's Shocking for driving and adventuring and Ritual... for introspection and coping-with-a-world-of-shit.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 July 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Ritual = Jams
Shocking = Grooves

christoff (christoff), Thursday, 24 July 2003 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

It actually is very interesting how two separate albums -- both of whose songs were actually written at the same time and performed quite a lot live (yay my bootlegs) even before Shocking came out -- can be so distinctly different *and* by the same band. In retrospect it's one of the most fascinating things about the group.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 24 July 2003 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)

it's interesting how all music gives the dirty cover of ritual 5 stars but the censored cover 4.

j fail (cenotaph), Thursday, 24 July 2003 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

because the naughty cover is bettah.

Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 24 July 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

and because all the "edgy" kids wore that t-shirt to high school, and then had to take it off or put it inside-out about 2 hours later.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Thursday, 24 July 2003 20:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I awoke in the middle of last night thinking i wrote these in reverse:

Nothing's Shocking has the Jams -- and Ritual has the Grooves. Idioso.

christoff (christoff), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

for me, I like _Nothing Shocking_ better as a whole, but "Three Days" was the pinnacle of everything they did and will ever do.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.