Songs of Pain: Early Recordings Volume 1

Daniel Johnston - Songs of Pain: Early Recordings Volume 1

Songs of Pain: Early Recordings Volume 1
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Music CD Cover

Artist: Daniel Johnston
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2003-05-20
Music Label: Dualtone Music Group
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Grievances
  2. A Little Story
  3. Joy Without Pleasure
  4. Never Relaxed
  5. Brainwash
  6. Pothead
  7. Wicked World
  8. Lazy
  9. I Save Cigarette Butts
  10. Like A Monkey In A Zoo
  11. Wicked Will
  12. An Idiot's End
  13. Wild West Virginia
  14. Since I Lost My Tooth
  15. Urge
  16. Living Life
  17. Tuna Ketchup
  18. Premarital Sex
  19. Don't Act Nice
  20. Hate Song
Music CD 2
  1. Phantom Of My Own Opera
  2. Man At War
  3. Only Missing You
  4. More Dead Than Alive
  5. I Will
  6. Poptunes
  7. You Put My Love Out The Door
  8. You're Gonna Make It, Joe
  9. Never Get To Heaven
  10. Follow That Dream
  11. Pow
  12. For The Love Of Pete
  13. Blue Cloud
  14. Grievances Revisted
  15. True Grief
  16. My Baby Cares For The Dead
  17. Mabel's Grievances

Free Music Notes for Songs of Pain: Early Recordings Volume 1

Free Music Review: Talented, well-crafted pop, often brilliant - but not for everyone.
Hit: 5 Stars

Few could argue that Daniel Johnston is an extremely talented songwriter and a truly original and perhaps even great artist. However, due to his unconventional, childlike singing voice, and his lo-fi homemade recordings, many will find his music to be unlistenable. Others, myself one, find that such qualities only add to the charm of his otherwise Beatles-esque pop ballads.

Accompanied by only a piano and recorded in his basement, Songs of Pain: the Early Recordings, is Johnston is at his very best. , on the two discs included in this collection, is at his very best. The amount of emotion that Daniel pours into his music is unrivaled; Kurt Cobain (a fan of Johnston) occasionally comes close, but Johnston, hands down, has him beat. There are times where you can hear Johnston's voice choke up as if he were holding off tears. After one song he actually does break into sobs.

Johnston's sound is difficult to describe. As I said before, the music is accompanied by piano, and is primitively recorded on his two-track in his basement. It's pop music heavily influenced by the Beatles, show tunes, and ragtime. Sometimes it reminds me of an old Mississippi blues singer, someone like Charlie Patton; only Daniel's lyrics are modern tales of teenage angst.Hhis themes as a writer are--his struggles with his Christian faith, girls, loneliness, mental illness, and music itself.

Songs of Pain is by far my favorite Daniel Johnson album, and really is the only one I would consider as being essential to own. Later in his career, Johnston switched from piano to guitar--a move which I did not appreciate. Also, the lo-fi sound here is, I believe, conducive to the emotionality of Daniel's music; his later albums have been cleaned up somewhat by professional production, while here the sound is raw and heartfelt.

Songs of Pain: Early Recordings Volume 1 Poster

Back in the early 1980s, when the punk-rock DIY spirit was going strong, emerging artists found a cheap and efficient way of distributing their music--the homemade cassette. Sometimes very crude and low-fi, the tapes became a hallmark of instant "indie cred." The erratic, troubled, and startlingly talented Daniel Johnston was one of the first musicians to really make a name for himself in this medium, and his first two tapes, 1980's Songs of Pain and '81's More Songs of Pain make up this collection, re-mixed but retaining their rough edges. The anger and sadness of "An Idiot's End," the wry twist of "Joy Without Pleasure," and the resignation of "More Dead Than Alive" exemplify the genius of his carefully chosen words. His lyrics can sting as well as delight, and his piano playing resonates with emotional depth. Hearing these songs makes one long to hear Beck doing a rendition of "Urge" or Johnny Cash taking on "Wild West Virginia." --Lorry Fleming

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