Brillo’s Beats - 7/11/25

I have been absolutely captivated by this mike + the mechanics album

As I scan through my record collection, which is growing in spite of my desire NOT to be collecting physical anything anymore, I often find an album that absolutely takes me by surprise. Mike + The Mechanics has been that album today, primarily side one. The production overall is super-polished and sits on that fence of synth pop and 80s guitar pop, all of it flirting with a hint of prog and an eye on arena. Side two is a load of cheesy tracks, the opener "I Get the Feeling" for instance, that are all very of the time. For 1985 this stuff was pretty fresh, but your mileage will vary. 

Side one though, my lord! "Silent Running" is a concept song that made it as a single, and much like Styx "Mr. Roboto" and Queenryche "I Don't Believe in Love" it tells a big story in its lyrics but can also be enjoyed as a radio hit. The difference with "Silent" is that it is not part of a larger project (concept album), but a self contained sci-fi story. Pretty rad! That song goes immediately into their smash hit "All I Need is a Miracle," which sounds so bright and wonderful still. There is a little self indulgent piece that actually works as a bridge into the side closer, "Hanging by a Thread," which is in its own right an absolute rocker. 

this is why we still bother with physicial media

As great as the internet is for access, it is overwhelming and incomplete. It has rewired how we interact with music. When you buy something like a record or CD, you get the joy of tactile discovery. The large art, the linear notes, the track listing, the wear and tear if you buy used (and should), and of course the joy of just pressing PLAY and listening to the tracks one after another. Every album is a time capsule, a studio snapshot of a band working to create art (or a commercial commodity) in their particular moods, skills, times. Had I got a Mike jones with Spotify, I would have cherrypicked the hits and moved on. Listening to the whole album gives you a better sense of WHO the act is and WHAT they are about. And for the < $6 US I paid for it, the whole process of discovery, acquisition, and investigation was joy well worth the price. And I can revisit it at my leisure! The only downside is, now I have to store it. But ownership is a small pride in itself, and there is something about having unfettered access without network connections, subscriptions, or streaming rights changes limiting you.

Listening to albums in their entirety is a joy that we are losing to time

I would strongly recommend finding a song you like, something you remember from the radio (or better yet, hear on my show), and seek out the album it was on originally... not the band's greatest hits or a decade compilation... and listen to the whole album, start to finish. You can still do this on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, and Apple but the track orders and even track listings aren't always preserved. For instance, P.M. Dawn "The Bliss Album...?" is missing a track, for instance, due to a lawsuit over a sample. If you have the cassette, CD, or vinyl, you get to hear it as Prince Be intended. Having the physical version of an album is the most "historically" accurate way to enjoy the music as the artists (or their management) intended. Buy the record, drop the needle, and listen start to finish. You may find new tracks to add to your playlists. You may find a new context, a new angle from which to hear a band. That is the real gift of physical media.

i’m not opposed to streaming

Just as I am not opposed to buying singles, making mix tapes, building playlists, or listening to the radio. Music can be enjoyed in a lot of ways. My concern is that we are forgetting the joy of the ALBUM... the package, the agonizing over track order, the listening to an album so many times that when you hear a song in the wild you immediately prep for the next song... My hope is not that you become a collector, but only that you understand the pure wonder of discovering a great album, one that you possess and let possess you.