Created By: Jonathan Dysart (DJJD)
Original Creation Year: 2006
Year of Re-master: 2010
Song Listing
Side A
Side B
Side C
Side D
Origin of the Album
I have made some good albums in the past; some of them were not so good; some of them took more effort than others. But it happens so fairly rarely where everything comes together for an album, which what occurred for DJJD Volume 18. This event usually occurs a couple more times later on.
In my opinion, DJJD Volume 18 is my first major masterpiece.
I did not have a predestined design plan for this album, whether it was going to be hard rock album or a specific theme. The ideas and the songs just came out virtually spontaneously. My creativity broke loose and practically overflowed with songs. Some of that creativity and songs were used for revising DJJD Volume 15, DJJD Volume 17, as well as the next two albums.
This album has great chemistry and flows naturally as an organic whole. I cannot listen to these songs without associating them with this album. I was getting songs from everywhere, but most of the songs are from underground music or basically music not usually heard by the mainstream. It wasn’t until putting in the final pieces of the album with the inclusion of “It’s No Game Part 1” by David Bowie, “Novocaine for the Soul” by Eels, and “Round the Bend” by The Beta Band, that the album really gelled together.
In this project, I have either discovered or rediscovered artists that would have an impact on me. First of all was “The Flaming Lips”, an alternative rock band from Norman, Oklahoma, who basically changed direction from being a punk rock band to an alternative psychedelic rock band. The second was the solo work of Syd Barrett, the ex-Pink Floyd member who eventually had a drug-related mental breakdown which is mentioned in the Pink Floyd albums “Wish You Were Here” and “The Wall”. The third was the alternative band Eels, known for their melancholy pop with tormented lyrics. Also, I was already in a revival with David Bowie from DJJD Volume 17 as well as Bob Dylan, so everything just came together at the right time.
Concept and Theme of the Album
Like I mentioned above, there is not really a concept or theme of this album. Basically, the songs seem to fit magically in place. The only point I could say that I had some guidance toward is that the songs are basically outside the mainstream audience – underground music for a lack of a better term. Most of these songs are not major hits or were never released as singles. Some of these songs are known but for only a specific audience, like “The Flaming Lips” fans.
The other guidance factor, in some way, was the structure of the second half of the album. It comprised of songs from, or associated to, or heavily influenced by my Trinity of musical tastes: The Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra, and Pink Floyd. If my house was destroyed and I could take 3 CD with me, it would be one from each of these bands.
Here are those songs (not all of them) in the second half of the album that has some relationship with My Trinity of music.
· “She Came in through the Bathroom Window” by Joe Cocker: Famous cover song from the Beatles album “Abbey Road”.
· “Bengal Jig” by Wizzard: The leader of this band is Roy Wood, a former member of the Electric Light Orchestra.
· “Baby Lemonade” and “Love Song” by Syd Barrett: Syd Barrett was a former member of Pink Floyd.
· “Careful with That Axe, Eugene” by Pink Floyd: A released Pink Floyd song only found on the album “Relics”.
· “Do You Realize??” by The Flaming Lips: Critics have mentioned that the new musical direction of this band has major influences coming from the Electric Light Orchestra as well as Pink Floyd. The Flaming Lips did release a cover version of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” recently.
· “Across the Universe” by Rufus Wainwright: Cover song from the Beatles album “Let It Be” – a John Lennon classic.
· “Take This Love” by The Back Pack: This band is known to be a Beatlesque band, heavily influenced by The Beatles.
Concept and the Album Cover
I wanted to get an album cover that was surreal and psychedelic. What I originally found was a psychedelic tree picture which I used for the album cover.
When remastering this album, I have felt that the album was not that psychedelic as say DJJD Volume 15 was, more or less, and that the album was more offbeat from the mainstream. Therefore, having a surreal picture seemed more appropriate instead of the psychedelia. On the other hand, I still like the tree concept as part of the album cover.
After scanning the internet for a significant amount of time, I found this surreal picture of a tree opened up like a book. Within that book showed old Navigation maps and a landscape picture of a sailboat along the shore. That fit perfectly.
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