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rubber_robber
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 Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:28 am Post subject: |
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This thread asks for the "Residents Masterpiece" (singular), so if I had to pick just one album (assuming we are looking only at albums), it would be Animal Lover. This one has moved me more than anything else The Residents have done, and though there are many strong contenders, I regard Animal Lover as being THE Residents masterpiece of their 35+ year career.
There is no denying that they have made many masterpieces, so if I had to expand my list to the top five Residents albums, it would be the following:
ANIMAL LOVER - Beautiful harmonies, complex instrumentation, intelligent concept, and a collection of engaging short stories all unite together to form this masterpiece among masterpieces. This is the most intense, most emotional journey that The Residents have ever taken us through, and if you ever stopped to consider what it means to be an animal among animals, then this album will resonate with you. It is a dream of profound beauty, horror, and existential despair. One of my all-time favorite albums by any artist.
THE BIG BUBBLE - This is probably The Residents' most experimental album, and it works so unbelievably well. It is the ultimate catharsis; minimal instrumentation accompanied by a thunderstorm of screaming, mumbling, wailing, and crying. If you consider those moments when a single chord suddenly shatters the silence, or when the nonsensical singing suddenly erupts into a cloudburst of desperation, then you may agree that this album is "heavier" (and more raw) than most metal albums out there.
TWEEDLES - Another amazing experience. This clown may be unusually handsome, but boy is he ugly. As his sordid life slowly unfolds before you, you journey through some of the most complex music that The Residents have ever put to record. I can't even keep track of all of the textures that sweep in and out of this album, and the fusion of singing vs. talking is just perfect. This tale of one man's lost dreams is a masterpiece of epic proportions.
MARK OF THE MOLE - An excellent album. The music spins with such such jarring, unrelenting dissonance, that the whole record sounds like a giant machine in a factory (I like to think of "The New Machine" as the centerpiece of the album). Upon first listen, I saw the story as being a little simplistic, but I soon realized that the story is one of the album's most enduring qualities. You can view it as an allegory of anything from climate change, to the cultural/political/racial/religious tensions of the world today, to The Residents' own career. Brilliant.
GOD IN THREE PERSONS - The Residents relish in stories. They were storytellers as early as Not Available and Eskimo, and continue to tell stories with Talking Light. This one, however, still stands as one their best "straight storytelling" albums. It may not have the multiple actors found in River Of Crime, or the instrumentation of Voice Of Midnight, but it has one of the most intriguing, most thought-provoking, most meaningful stories to tell. I can dissect this album for pages, but I won't do it here. The lyrics alone propel this album to the top five.
Runner-ups:
RIVER OF CRIME
NOT AVAILABLE
FREAK SHOW
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vaguelyhumanoid
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| Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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By the way, I just got Meet the Residents...
Mind bending. Utterly mind bending.
I would have said NA from the start, but I got it pretty recently.
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Third Myk 'N Roll
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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Such a difficult question... I could never pick a single overarching masterpiece by The Residents (most of their albums are masterpieces, in my opinion), so I will just list the albums that I regard as being their most coherent, brilliant achievements in chronological order of release.
The Third Reich 'N Roll
Not Available
Eskimo
Commercial Album
The Mole Trilogy
God In Three Persons
Wormwood
Demons Dance Alone
Animal Lover
The River Of Crime
The Bunny Boy
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blindvold
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| Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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mole show simply by nostalgia
not available is one record that keeps on growing and growing- its one of their finest
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Angakok
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| Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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Just downloaded Imaginary Jack and The UGHS!.
Listening to "Squeaky Wheels" right now and I think this is as good as the best they've put out back in the day.
Eskimo is my all time favourite album of theirs, and nothing can top that.
But The UGHS! I really like!
I also like:
Animal Lover
Mark of the Mole
Fingerprince
Not Available
Duck Stab
Commercial Album
Demons Dance Alone
Our Finest Flowers
Third ReichīnīRoll
Meet The Residents
13th anniversary tour live
Anything I've ever heard by them is interesting, but I'm not as equally fond of:
Tweedles
God in 3 Persons
River of Crime
The Voice of Midnight |
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Unplugged
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| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:13 am Post subject: |
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| Angakok wrote: |
Anything I've ever heard by them is interesting, but I'm not as equally fond of:
Tweedles
God in 3 Persons
River of Crime
The Voice of Midnight |
Don't give up on them! Give them another listen when you feel for it. You might change your point of view.
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Out_There
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| Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| rubber_robber wrote: |
This thread asks for the "Residents Masterpiece" (singular), so if I had to pick just one album (assuming we are looking only at albums), it would be Animal Lover. This one has moved me more than anything else The Residents have done, and though there are many strong contenders, I regard Animal Lover as being THE Residents masterpiece of their 35+ year career.
There is no denying that they have made many masterpieces, so if I had to expand my list to the top five Residents albums, it would be the following:
ANIMAL LOVER - Beautiful harmonies, complex instrumentation, intelligent concept, and a collection of engaging short stories all unite together to form this masterpiece among masterpieces. This is the most intense, most emotional journey that The Residents have ever taken us through, and if you ever stopped to consider what it means to be an animal among animals, then this album will resonate with you. It is a dream of profound beauty, horror, and existential despair. One of my all-time favorite albums by any artist.
THE BIG BUBBLE - This is probably The Residents' most experimental album, and it works so unbelievably well. It is the ultimate catharsis; minimal instrumentation accompanied by a thunderstorm of screaming, mumbling, wailing, and crying. If you consider those moments when a single chord suddenly shatters the silence, or when the nonsensical singing suddenly erupts into a cloudburst of desperation, then you may agree that this album is "heavier" (and more raw) than most metal albums out there.
TWEEDLES - Another amazing experience. This clown may be unusually handsome, but boy is he ugly. As his sordid life slowly unfolds before you, you journey through some of the most complex music that The Residents have ever put to record. I can't even keep track of all of the textures that sweep in and out of this album, and the fusion of singing vs. talking is just perfect. This tale of one man's lost dreams is a masterpiece of epic proportions.
MARK OF THE MOLE - An excellent album. The music spins with such such jarring, unrelenting dissonance, that the whole record sounds like a giant machine in a factory (I like to think of "The New Machine" as the centerpiece of the album). Upon first listen, I saw the story as being a little simplistic, but I soon realized that the story is one of the album's most enduring qualities. You can view it as an allegory of anything from climate change, to the cultural/political/racial/religious tensions of the world today, to The Residents' own career. Brilliant.
GOD IN THREE PERSONS - The Residents relish in stories. They were storytellers as early as Not Available and Eskimo, and continue to tell stories with Talking Light. This one, however, still stands as one their best "straight storytelling" albums. It may not have the multiple actors found in River Of Crime, or the instrumentation of Voice Of Midnight, but it has one of the most intriguing, most thought-provoking, most meaningful stories to tell. I can dissect this album for pages, but I won't do it here. The lyrics alone propel this album to the top five.
Runner-ups:
RIVER OF CRIME
NOT AVAILABLE
FREAK SHOW |
You know what, I should have called this thread Residents Masterpiece(s) because I know it's really hard, nay impossible to pick just one. I myself am unable to pick just one. I mainly wanted to hear what people thought and why they thought it. You can go ahead and call all of the albums masterpieces and give a detailed description why for all of them if you want!
And By the way Rubber, I loved reading your interpretations
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rubber_robber
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| Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Out_There wrote: |
| And By the way Rubber, I loved reading your interpretations |
Thank you!
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MoxietheChip
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| Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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These are my choices:
Duck Stab
Demons Dance Alone
Wormwood (live)
Fingerprince
Not Available
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rowbeartoe
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| Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:03 am Post subject: |
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| i cant really pick one, but i'm suprised there is not more people for gingerbreadman
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haciendacaliente
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| Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:15 am Post subject: |
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I never imagined that so many people would like Eskimo. It was the first Residents album that I ever owned, and I still think of it as being their greatest work, with Not Available trailing ever-so-slightly behind.
I don't know if anybody else has mentioned it thus far, but if not, I think a special mention should go out to "Six Things to a Cycle". Even though it is not an album, and even though the remaining Fingerprince/Tourniquet of Roses album is a bit iffy to me (though I do love "March de la Winni" and "Tourniquet of Roses", which is the sort of weird funk record that only the Residents could make), it is still one of my favorite pieces by the group.
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MJongo
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:34 am Post subject: |
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This is my first post here, so I'd like to say hi to everyone real quick.
Anyways, the Residents' masterpiece is:
Not Available
It is not only the greatest work of the Residents, but perhaps the most creative musical piece of all time. I have listened to it over 250 times, and it always strikes me emotionally. It combines the sweeping grandeur of Beethoven's 9th with the unstableness of Trout Mask Replica, a feat that would seem to be an oxymoronic impossibility. The fact that it could have easily been keep in a vault and lost to time is incredibly disturbing to me.
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acetboy
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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| MJongo wrote: |
This is my first post here, so I'd like to say hi to everyone real quick.
Anyways, the Residents' masterpiece is:
Not Available
It is not only the greatest work of the Residents, but perhaps the most creative musical piece of all time. I have listened to it over 250 times, and it always strikes me emotionally. It combines the sweeping grandeur of Beethoven's 9th with the unstableness of Trout Mask Replica, a feat that would seem to be an oxymoronic impossibility. The fact that it could have easily been keep in a vault and lost to time is incredibly disturbing to me. |
Well welcome.
I don't know if I would say it's the most creative music of all time,
but historically for me it was always my favorite.
But much has come out since then and I, like most here would
have a hard time picking one.
I'm more of a 'they're all masterpieces' kind of guy.
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snorp
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Horned Gramma
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Not Available is particularly special and magical, even for the Residents. The climax of that piece absolutely towers over everything else they have ever done.
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