Spirit of SSL v3

30th November 1999

1. The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (nich)
   Not exactly iconoclastic, is it? (Would it be unkind to say something ``rebel without a chord''? Hmmm, I'm quite pleased with that.)
       5/10

2. Chely Wright - Emma Jean's Guitar (chris)
   Like Alec, I'm surprised to find myself quite liking this. Although I always find the first line, ``I found it in a porn shop'', a tad disconverting. And it's nowhere near as interesting as Chris's contribution to SoSSL 1.
       7/10

3. Albert King - Crosscut Saw (john)
   Promising but directionless.
       6/10

4. Stevie Wonder - I Wish (dino)
   Mmmm ... Nice.
       9/10

5. Mary Black - Vanities (chris)
   Sound but dull. That's the first few bars. After that, it's just dull. Look OK, I know Chris really likes it and all, but honestly. Blah. This is like the aural equivalent of polenta: there's nothing you can really object to as such, it's just desperately characterless.
       5/10

6. Blowzabella - Spaghetti Panic (mike)
   Fascinating opening before settling into much more vanilla folk banana. Still, though, eh? Know what I mean?
       7/10

7. Stereophonics - Just Looking (nat)
   Better than a kick in the intestines.
       6/10

8. Ute Lemper - I'm a Stranger Here Myself (Kurt Weill) (mh)
   Despite what Alec says (and, to be fair, a reasonable proportion of the rest of the world seems to agree with him), she doesn't actually have a very nice voice. Good song, though.
       7/10

9. Michael Nyman - Bird List (mas)
   This scores the ultimate accolate of zero points - utterly despicable with no redeeming features whatsoever - because it manages the extraordinary feat of being both hideously intrusive and excrucuiatingly dull. Not only that, but its from an extremely weird source - see http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.melia/birdL.html and the linked pages for far more information than you ever wanted about this misbegotten piece of alleged music.
       0/10

10. Oasis - Masterplan (mark)
    I quite like this, but it's such an Oasis song - unless I go right back to the Pet Shop Boys, I struggle to think of another band whose material all sounds so similar. So 6/10 for this song, but I don't know if I could bear to listen to a whole album full.
        6/10

11. Elvis Presley - I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine (john)
    Mostly harmless.
        5/10

12. Lyle Lovett - Stand By Your Man (mh)
    Yeah, OK.
        5/10

13. Frank Sinatra - I Get A Kick Out Of You (alec)
    Ah ...
        9/10

14. Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin' (nich)
    Nice song, works well. But what is it with sunshine on this compilation? Elvis has just been bleating on about not caring whether it shines or not, then Harry-Boy weighs in with his chorus about how ``I'm going where the sun keeps shining'', and next thing we know it's going to be Rory McLeod with an entire song about a cold sun shining (apparently). Ah well, don't mind me.
        7/10

15. Mr Bungle - Squeeze Me Macaroni (sacha)
    This gets a sixth of a point for being very very slightly less loathsome than the Nyman excrescence, inasmuch as I enjoyed the way that the bit from 1:57-2:15 reminded me of Quake II. I want everyone to know that I've listened all the way through this, and the Nyman thing, twice each, not counting the communal play-through. So this isn't just my uninformed prejudice speaking: it's informed prejudice. This track really stinks. (Much, much later: ah, it's over at last!)
        ¹/₆/10

16. Rory McLeod - Cold Sun Shining (alec)
    How very Ennio Morricone. (That's the intro, of course: I'm sure Ennio Morricone doesn't have that womble-like nasal twang in his voice.)
        5/10

17. The Stranglers - 96 Tears (mas)
    If you insist.
        4/10

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: imho.

(But the reviews start to get much more scathing in Volume 4.)