The Last Bass Outpost

Mötley seem to go back to their Corabi daze which were musically viable if commercially a failure:



That pterodactyl in the vid reminds me of a very poor joke ... 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fC-_m-3xd2U

That was dreadful.

And creepy. There is nothing more unsettling than ordained joy and happiness. It reminded me of The Book of Mormon musical somehow ... and lool & behold:

The creators of The Book of Mormon, a musical that satirizes the latter-day saint movement, cited Up with People as an inspiration for the cartoonishly joyous style of several of the songs in their musical performance, which sends up the clean-cut image of Mormon culture.

It's pleasantly upbeat and tuneful.

New from the Jack Bruce channel, from the ArtWorks Scotland documentary.

Nice too. Though I hate to say or write it, he really did play best on that Warwick Thumb in his later days, he was at his most expressive then. No wonder it was his go-to-instrument.

It still is one butt-ugly abomination of a bass.

I you're a Beatles fan and not moved by this ...



The intro track on her new album is cinemascopic (and even has rock harmonies) ...



It's not all county-tinged either and she obviously likes bass guitar ...

I must be getting young, I like this.

Deep Purple obviously. It was all downhill after Rod Evans and Nicky Simper left. 

I will not be provoked!

I decidedly prefer mid-period albums. I think Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is a a better album than the first two Sabbath albums, Purple’s Machine Head and Burn are better than In Rock, Physical Graffiti tops all Zep albums before it with maybe the exception of IV, Wishbone Ash’s Argus is better than the debut and the sophomore efforts. Be Bop Deluxe’s Sunburst Finish and Modern Music beat Axe Victim and Futurama. Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here tops anything they did before or after. Queen peaked with Sheer Heart Attack and A Night At The Opera. Sticky Fingers is the Stones’ best record by a stretch. The Who peaked with Next. Alice Cooper’s Killer, School’s Out and Billion Dollar Babies are a holy triumvirate + Welcome To My Nightmare is mid-period too. Bowie‘s two best albums are Diamond Dogs and Station To Station. Status Quo‘s 74-76 trilogy of Quo-On The Level-Blue For You are all mid-period works, cocaine must have had the best quality then. Kiss‘ Destroyer is the closest this band ever got to recording a remarkable album.

There are a few debuts that really stand out (eg by The Police, Boston and The Ramones), but most bands get better with more professional touring and recording experience - until the rot sets in. If you like your music well-recorded like I do, a bigger studio budget can’t be faulted either. That debut album cult is mostly a myth. Imagine if Sgt. Pepper had been The Beatles‘ debut … (Of course it couldn‘t have been, they and George Martin needed that arc of development from album to album.)

Thinking about it, I like albums that have a touch of decadence to them - when bands feel they can branch out a little.