The Great Relisteninging 4: The Alarm to Morris Albert
So The Alarm. They are earnest. They rock hard. They write Meaningful lyrics, capital M intended. But here’s the thing.
I actually don’t like anthem rock. I DGAF about “We Are the Champions” or “Freebird”. “Rockin’ in the Free World” makes me want to peel my own face off and eat it. And so on. While I love much of what The Alarm is trying to do, and I would love if more people were as earnest and well-meaning as they point out the systemic inequalities in the world, to me, it gets exhausting. They’re often compared to U2 and that is warranted and inevitable, but U2 has a lot of great bops alongside the anthem “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”. Their musical mix means you can still have a good time while listening to them and not have to think about how shitty the world is when you’re just trying to chill with some albums at the end of the day. A spoonful of sugar, if you will. The Alarm doesn’t really let up, and after a while I have to change the record lest I go mad.
That being said, “Strength” is still a banger of a song.
And then there’s this.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Part of me thinks that having Feelings by Morris Albert right next to The Alarm deserves a special entry in the DSM-5. But this album, which I think was part of a haul from a friend since neither my husband or I recognize it, starts off with a few surprisingly fun songs, despite the fact that it also contains the maudlin megahit “Feelings”. At first it feels like pure ‘70s pop. Not necessarily something I want to listen to all the time, but still kind of fun.
Before I go any further, can we just take a minute to look at his shirt on the cover. What. Also, check out those brows. And I digress.
Then things turned bad. Three quarters of this album is complete and utter dog. Boring. Forgettable. Or, if not boring, then painful. I think it even smelled like wet dog. Though it did inspire me to talk to my friend about reforming his band so I can be a guest vocalist and do a raging punk rock cover of “Feelings”.
Albums covered:
The Alarm, Declaration
The Alarm, Strength
The Alarm, Eye of the Hurricane
Morris Albert, Feelings
I’ll be doing this for a while.
And for the record, I am this far along.