Q4 Read It 2021
A bit late with this posting, but here it goes:
A Clash of Kings is the second novel in George R.R. Martin’s series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Like it’s predecessor, there is a lot plot covered in its many pages. A few highlights include the struggle between Stannis and Renly Baratheon to take the crown, Arya Stark’s journey, Theon Greyjoy’s heel turn, Tyrion Lannister becoming the king’s hand and Jon Snow travelling well behind the wall. With so many characters and plot points, it would be easy to get lost but Martin does a masterful job of keeping everything together. While it doesn’t pack as much of a punch as the first novel, it is still a terrific read and the description of the war at King’s Landing is a thrill.
9/10
The first of Ryan Holiday’s big three stoicism books is The Obstacle Is The Way. Released in 2014, the book is broken into three main sections – perception, action and will. The format is familiar to some of his other books of short stories taken from history. While summarizing some of those historic lessons, Holiday can make it all very simplistic to prove his point. After several years of reading his writing, some of the stories and lessons may be blunted by being familiar but Holiday does have a unique ability to make the reader want to learn more about the many stories he shares.
7/10
Great Expectations is Charles Dickens’ 13th novel and one of his most beloved. The story follows Pip, starting as a young lad who lives with his sister and her husband in the country with dreams of becoming a gentleman in the city. His dreams come true through a secret benefactor that pays his many bills. Along the way, Pip falls for the beautiful Estella who he meets through the mysterious Miss Havisham. Great Expectations is a very good story with many memorable characters and a few twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.
8/10
…you gotta let it go…
The Doors – Waiting For The Sun (1968)
![Waiting for the Sun (40th Anniversary Mixes) [Expanded]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81T5Hv8DfuL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
The third album by The Doors, Waiting For The Sun, was released in July 1968. After using up many of their original song ideas for the first two albums, the band was forced to write new ones. One holdover from older Jim Morrison ideas was second single, “Hello, I Love You”. The track that bears a resemblance to The Kinks’ hit, “All Day and All of the Night” went to #1 in the US and is a staple on classic rock radio. The driving pop of that second single was in stark contrast to “The Unknown Solider”. The first single released from the album was an anti-war song describing a solider being shot in the head while those at home merely read about the news over breakfast.
Several fine album tracks appear on side one including “Love Street” that rolls along like a hazy summer day, Ray Manzarek’s piano keeps the song moving. “Wintertime Love” feels like an updated take a song from the 1800s as Morrison sings, “winter’s so cold this year, you are so warm, my wintertime love to be”. Darker is “Not To Touch The Earth” which was originally a piece of a 17 minute recording for the album. The song takes in the more sinister side of California where the “dead president’s corpse in the driver’s car/the engine runs on glue and tar”. John Densmore’s hard drumming and the swirling keyboard make the surreal track disorientating.
Side two starts with the flamenco style guitar of “Spanish Caravan” and ends with the proto metal track “Five to One” that has a buried Robbie Krieger guitar solo. The songs in between are all fine but are less memorable than their side one brothers. While Waiting For the Sun ranks critically as one of the lesser albums from The Doors, it was their only #1 US album, staying there for four weeks. Casual fans can likely take a miss here but there are still several solid moments to keep the deeper listener satisfied.
7.5/10
The War On Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore (2021)
Adam Granduciel spent 3 years working on The War On Drugs’ fifth LP released in October of 2021, I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Working with co-producer Shawn Everett, Granduciel logged many miles between New York and LA with various sessions taking place in both cities. The album mixes synths with the anthemic 80s rock of Springsteen and Petty. “Harmonia’s Dream” pushes the synths up in the mix where the “summer comes and rain gets in”. Granduciel sings “And I need your kiss/like I’m dressed in morning mist” on the energetic “Wasted”.
Perhaps capturing the feeling of bouncing between cities, the title track sings “I don’t live here anymore/but I got no place to go”. Members of the band Lucious sing on the chorus and lift the track into one of the highlights. Leaving the lushness of other tracks, first single “Living Proof” is a straightforward track with mostly just guitar and piano that adds a more naked vulnerability.
On “Change”, Granduciel wonders if he was “maybe born on the wrong day”. It’s not just the lyric itself but the way the words hang there while the music continues. There are a few dips on I Don’t Live Here Anymore, and a bit too much gloss in places where a more minimal sound would have been welcomed. What is transparent, is the overall longing and searching in the lyrics that makes the album a place where even the adults are still trying to figure things out.
8/10
The Light Appears 