I like everything he's done, but those two aren't in my top three. I'm trying to find space for a Peachtree song, but it's not working.
I think I'd have a hard time including anything pre-Letters with that limited runtime, but I guess that doesn't provide the best retrospective of his career output as a whole.
The only one I would include is "Cigarette Lighter Love Song." On the fence about anything from LoSC. CLLS is five minutes though, so including it is a commitment.
Yeah, if I was going to include one I agree that would be the one! There are a couple of songs on LoSC that I could justify including, but I have a feeling that once I saw what I would have to remove to make room for them I would probably have a much more difficult time haha
I still have mad love for Marvelous 3 and Left of Self-Centered. Then he took a sharp turn on Letters and never looked back, which I love even more. Man, I miss the days before social media where I'd go through forum after forum to find any information on Butch's recording haha. That was primarily for Letters, but I definitely did it w/ Rise & Fall.
The problem I run into at that point is that I'm trying to fit three or four closers onto this thing, which is definitely not workable. Either of the last two tracks on Self-Centered would be deserving inclusions on any best of Butch playlist. I still love the M3 stuff too, as well as Self-Centered. I'd just say I like most of what he's done since more. The exception is I Liked You Better, which I think is his weakest record outside of the first Marvelous 3 album or the 1969 record. I remember the rollout for Rise & Fall very well. That was the first record that came out after I got into him and was probably the most I ever anticipated an album.
That 1969 record is meh overall, but I'd consider putting "Wreck Me" on a compilation like this. Love that song so much.
"Wreck Me" has one of those choruses where you listen and say "how the fuck did this song not blow up?!"
I still really like that record b/c there are some true gems on there and he wanted to try out a mellower sound, but there are a couple of tracks I don't really care for now. That was a wild time for Butch, man. He was putting out a lot of music in that 2006-2010 stretch.
That song, the intro, "Save a Place," and "Am I Still On" are all very good. They don't quite break into his upper echelon for me. I like it a lot, but I don't think it has any of his best songs (closest is "Don't You Think Someone Should Take You Home") and it doesn't really feel as cohesive as some of his others. I think at the time I was disappointed in it because it was such a step down from Sycamore Meadows.
I did a "Perfect LP" feature on Butch for Modern Vinyl. Picked the best 12-song/50-minute playlist that I could from his solo material. This was a lot of fun, and a huge challenge. Perfect LP: Butch Walker
Love the reasoning provided for all of your selections. What an impossible task. I'm sure mine would look different, but there aren't many Butch songs that you can argue don't deserve to be on a compilation like this. You can make a strong case for most.
Mine would probably have none of those songs on it, which goes to show how many amazing songs he has.
Thanks! I think cutting all of ILYBWYHNH was a pretty easy call, but other than that, yeah, this was impossible. I think you're nuts if you make a list without "Stateline," "Don't Move," "Closer to the Truth," or "Father's Day," but I suppose that's the beauty of something like this! What would yours look like?
I gave this a shot. It was incredibly difficult, but a nice excuse to revisit Butch's whole discography. Here's what I came up with: 1. Vessels 2. Mixtape 3. The Weight of Her 4. The Closest Thing to You I'm Gonna Find 5. Bed On Fire 6. Bethamphetamine (Pretty Pretty) 7. Coming Home 8. Synthesizers 9. Pretty Melody 10. Chrissie Hynde 11. ATL 12. Don't Move It might be a little heavy on singles, but it's hard not to be when you have to condense to 12 songs. There are so many more that I wish I had room to include.
Okay, seriously, when is this new goddamn album gonna drop? Who is responsible for holding up the process?! I WILL VISIT THEIR OFFICE AND GIVE THEM A DECENT SCOLDING IF I HAVE TO.
He mentioned a few weeks ago being excited for a summer tour, and that's still unannounced too. It all HAS to be coming soon, like either this week or next.