Quote:
Originally Posted by stimpee
Firstly, its not even ON the album. It was a B-side to stripped. ...and Thirdly, its a throwaway tune. Very poppy, accessible. Goes against the whole feeling of the album. Which is dark.
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well yeah, i already said that, didn't i?
black celebration is a great album, don't get me wrong. but you can hear the struggle and fracture in it. the album nearly broke the band and it's a wonder they survived to put out so many more albums (although their dysfunctional interpersonal relationships don't seem to have improved). part of what makes the album good is the palpable struggle, but it definitely moves so far to the dark end of the catalog that it's a heavy body of work. and let's not ignore total boner tracks "dressed in black" and "new dress" that are almost embarrassingly bad. it's a flawed album with some moments of pure musical innovation, but it struggles to keep its momentum and at times feels like it's trying too hard.
what i like about "but not tonight" is that it doesn't try. it's a total fluff throwaway, and regardless of what happened in the aftermath with the record label promoting it and trying to use it to break into teen pop, they wrote and produced it and something at the time told them it was worth putting out for the world to hear. there's a sentiment in the song that at the time of writing simply needed to be shared and the simplicity and joy of it are such a relief after listening through the grimace and glower of the rest of the album.
personally i've always gravitated towards the b-sides because there's usually a lighter hand and a departure from the rest of the album that's refreshing. "sea of sin," "happiest girl," "death's door," "surrender," "ice machine," "route 66," and "pleasure little treasure" are some of my favorites because they're such a break from the context of the album during which they were released.
hell, i'm listening to "(set me free) remotivate me" right now and it's a total throwaway candy pop track that i really like.
i guess i like bands for their sound, and appreciate them more when they don't sound like themselves. which usually means b-sides.