New to Me - Vol. 7
Featuring The Weeknd, King Crimson, and The Blue Nile
New To Me is a series in which I listen to music I’ve somehow never heard and tell you how I feel about it.
The Weeknd - House of Balloons (Self-released, 2011)
The Weeknd’s debut mixtape, House of Balloons, turned 10 on Sunday. I remember when it came out. Specifically, I remember ignoring it (for whatever reason). Flash forward to February of 2021: The Weeknd crushed his Super Bowl halftime performance. I watched it ten times. That’s rare for me. I don’t even like Prince’s halftime show, and I love Prince.
I recently listened to House of Balloons instead of The Weekend’s terrific 2020 album, After Hours. Big mistake. House of Balloons is vibey, but it lacks hooks. With music like this, I really need hooks. In 2011, The-Dream, Drake, and Sade had the vibey, hooky R&B market cornered. You could just listen to them instead.
Also, House of Balloons is slow. Like, so slow. Fortunately, The Weekend learned to jack up the tempo pretty soon after this.
I’ve got to give House of Balloons props for introducing the world to The Weekend. “Blinding Lights,” “In Your Eyes,” “Starboy,” “I Feel It Coming,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Heartless,” “After Hours,” “Save Your Tears…” Jams on jams on jams. He just needed time to find his voice.
Would I listen to House of Balloons again? No.
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (Island, 1969)
I hated this, the King Crimson debut, when I first heard it. Now I can’t stop listening to it. Look at that album cover! Disgusting.
Everybody knows the first track, “21st Century Schizoid Man.” I don’t need to tell you who sampled it. Track two, “I Talk to the Wind,” has a very different energy. It transports you to the English countryside, and lucky you, you get to play the lute as some cows graze beside you. The album’s best track is “Epitaph,” a far-out jam FFO Piper-era Pink Floyd.
The fourth song, “Moonchild,” starts promisingly, but the second half is just sparse noodling. Not sure if the hard rock consumer of 1969 needed five minutes of sparse noodling on every record, but I certainly don’t!
Maybe this will be my gateway into the wide and wild world of 1970s progressive rock. What should I hear next? Do I need to buy some black light posters?
Would I listen to In the Court of the Crimson King again? Yes.
The Blue Nile - Peace at Last (Warner Bros., 1996)
If you’re anything like me, you often luxuriate in the shimmering blue pool that is The Blue Nile’s 1989 album, Hats. If you’ve never listened to Hats, I’m not sure what to tell you. Go turn that bad boy on and get mellow with me.
The fellas in The Blue Nile took seven years to make the Hats follow-up, Peace at Last. A lot had changed. Nirvana came and went, the “Macarena” was the biggest song on earth, and rap music was finally asserting itself on the charts. On the other hand, some of the biggest songs on the Hot 100 (Tony Rich Project’s “Nobody Knows,” Everything But the Girl’s “Missing”) were ethereal masterpieces not unlike Peace at Last. If you like vibes, you will like The Blue Nile.
The very small corner of the internet that debates all things The Blue Nile considers this album a mixed bag. [Howard Ratner voice] I disagree. It’s a strong follow-up to Hats, and in some respects, I prefer it to its more well known predecessor. I bought the compact disc at Goodwill for 99 cents.
Ugliest album cover of all time? At least In the Court of the Crimson King is iconic.
Would I listen to Peace at Last again? Yeah, of course I would! I own the compact disc.
