In only 34 CDs the randomizer of the CD Odyssey has already selected 3 soundtracks and 2 Enya albums. Now it's Michelle Shocked's turn.
Disc 34 is...Captain Swing
Disc 34 is...Captain Swing
Artist: Michelle Shocked
Year of Release: 1989
How I Came To Know It: This is just me drilling, after I liked my other two Michelle Shocked albums - You will recall Short Sharp Shocked from Disc 10 of the CD Odyssey
How It Stacks Up: I have 3 Michelle Shocked albums. This is by far the least of the three, but it still has its moments.
Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.
Captain Swing is the follow up album to the hugely successful Short Sharp Shocked. It reminds me that every Michelle Shocked album is very different. She doesn't stick to one genre or sound, and it likely doesn't help her hold an audience.
Haven't heard of Captain Swing? Let's just say it was slightly less successful that the album that preceded it. So it goes...
Captain Swing wasn't a good enough album for me to keep drilling through her collection. Here, I stopped.
The album is what Swing would sound like if it weren't swing at all - but was Michelle Shocked's folk-punk version of swing.
On the plus side, there are very clever songs like "God Is a Real Estate Developer". Check out the opening lyric, where the end of days is compared to a real estate transaction:
God is a real estate developer
With offices around the nation
They say one day he'll liquidate
His holdings up on high
I say it's all speculation.
At the same time, sometimes I think Shocked gets a cutesy expression in her head and takes it farther than it deserves - "Cement Lament" comes to mind as one such expression.
So, this album doesn't inspire me to say much, but it has its moments, and it doesn't sound like anything else you'll hear - which is a plus.
Best tracks: God Is a Real Estate Developer, On the Greener Side, Silent Ways
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