Cake: Have your take and Rank 'em too...

[jvk]

I felt a little post-post guilt for the Metallica thread, so to reconcile my own woxy yin & yang, I thought an act with a more Modern Rock lean to them might serve that purpose.

Trumpets? Check!
Lyrical non-sequiturs? Check!
Smirky satire and a bone-dry delivery?? Double-check!

Part of my fascination with Cake came from their CD covers. Not sure if they makes me a pinhead or not, but I liked the assembly line feel of drab backdrops, a tee-shirt-worthy graphic and the Cake logo stamped on for good measure. It is like they took KISS' playbook and reversed all of the plays.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d513/d51304x24or.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d538/d53821x2q94.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drc800/c871/c871948f4rc.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/dre800/e856/e85605k8oly.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drg400/g490/g49031b6u1x.jpg

There is a lot to be said for their music and song writing, but I'll table my take for later on. The question is, does a casserole of white-boy funk, hip-hop, country, new wave pop, and jazz, with guitar rock gravy still do it for you?

Did it ever?

Let's rank these mofos!


Motorcade of Generosity (1994)
Fashion Nugget (1996)
Prolonging the Magic (1998)
Comfort Eagle (2001)
Pressure Chief (2004)


(I love having time to waste on Fridays!)

[crank-e]

I love me some Cake as well but have really only spent time w/ Fashion Nugget. The War Pigs cover that I've heard on FM recently is great so obviously they must have stuff in btwn that I should check out. Would like to see them live someday too.

It's Friday-Cheers~

[jtmehrin]

I too have only spent time with a little Cake (Fashion Nugget & Comfort Eagle). I had Prolonging the Magic at one point, but it must not have done much for me because I sold it. Fashion Nugget is a seminal album in my life. I remember exactly where I was when I heard it. I feel its an underrated classic of the 90s.

Comfort Eagle has grown on me over the years.

I've been looking to get some more Cake lately.

ETA: I too enjoy the continuity of the cover art!

[clonE]

I recently picked up the B-sides release, dig the war pigs cover and a few other tracks are good too.

In general, Cake is great! I would put pressure chief at the bottom of the ranking though, and comfort eagle isn't super high above that. The first three are all strong, I'd have to listen to them or at least have a track list in front of me to really rank them.

Saw them on NYE last year, lots of fun. They must like MKE, they're here again this NYE.

[jcarwash31]

I also love Cake. I have a general idea of how I'd rank them, but I have to refamiliarize myself with a couple discs.

It's really been 12 years since Fashion Nugget? The Distance is one of those songs that, whenever I hear it, brings me back to a time and place. That time and place would be when I was 14 and in a tractor plowing. The reason is because I heard it on the radio so many times while I was working. When you spend several hours a day (10-12 hours on weekends) sitting in a tractor and listening to FM radio, you kind of remember that when you hear a song you like several times.

[jcarwash31]

In general, Cake is great! I would put pressure chief at the bottom of the ranking though, and comfort eagle isn't super high above that. The first three are all strong, I'd have to listen to them or at least have a track list in front of me to really rank them.

See I would probably be the opposite. I would have Pressure Chief and Comfort Eagle towards the top. They're all good, though.

[Chespo]

I'd put Nugget at the top with Motorcade a close second. I thought Magic suffered from a general lack of inspiration (as well as the loss of the original guitarist & drummer), and subsequently never paid much attention to the albums that followed.

[upwithpeople]

I like Cake, but this is a ridiculous poll. They're all the same album.

[drougan]

I like Cake, but this is a ridiculous poll. They're all the same album.


True, but what are we if not obsessively nitpicky in our ranking of things?

Fashion nugget (classic)
Prolonging (close if not tied)
Comfort eagle
Motorcade
Pressure (cause I own it, but litterally cannot recall a single song from it)

Almost all my favorite Cake songs take me to a place in time.

The distance: Late HS, generally a fun time in my life.
Sheep Go to Heaven : Freshman year, even funner (once you got past the money pinch)
Comfort Eagle : First Co-op job in college and my early WOXY listening.

[Buzzstein]

I felt a little post-post guilt for the Metallica thread, so to reconcile my own woxy yin & yang, I thought an act with a more Modern Rock lean to them might serve that purpose.

Trumpets? Check!
Lyrical non-sequiturs? Check!
Smirky satire and a bone-dry delivery?? Double-check!

Part of my fascination with Cake came from their CD covers. Not sure if they makes me a pinhead or not, but I liked the assembly line feel of drab backdrops, a tee-shirt-worthy graphic and the Cake logo stamped on for good measure. It is like they took KISS' playbook and reversed all of the plays.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d513/d51304x24or.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d538/d53821x2q94.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drc800/c871/c871948f4rc.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/dre800/e856/e85605k8oly.jpghttp://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drg400/g490/g49031b6u1x.jpg

There is a lot to be said for their music and song writing, but I'll table my take for later on. The question is, does a casserole of white-boy funk, hip-hop, country, new wave pop, and jazz, with guitar rock gravy still do it for you?

Did it ever?

Let's rank these mofos!


Motorcade of Generosity (1994)
Fashion Nugget (1996)
Prolonging the Magic (1998)
Comfort Eagle (2001)
Pressure Chief (2004)


(I love having time to waste on Fridays!)

Excellent idea for a thread my fellow pinhead. I would definitely put Pressure Chief last. I'm not sure what would be number one, but I do know that Comfort Eagle would be way up there. I'll have to listen to all the albums again before I do a precise ranking though. I'll get back to you on that.

I like Cake, but this is a ridiculous poll. They're all the same album.

I think you're in the wrong thread then. :P

[silentpaul]

Fashion nugget (classic)
Prolonging (close if not tied)
Comfort eagle
Motorcade
Pressure (cause I own it, but litterally cannot recall a single song from it)

Me, too. Except the first three jockey for position depending on my mood and which songs are getting overplayed on local stations.

Pressure was stylistically the same as all their other stuff, but nothing striking.

[wileE]

I thoroughly enjoy Cake. Saw them twice.

Not a big fan of Pressure Chief
Comfort Eagle grew on me
Motorcade of Genorosity was bought after the first show. I like it
Prolonging the Magic got me into Cake and I really enjoy listening to it.
Fashion Nugget I bought before the first show and is my favorite.

That's how they rank.

[jvk]

Here we go...


http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/dre800/e856/e85605k8oly.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d538/d53821x2q94.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drc800/c871/c871948f4rc.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d513/d51304x24or.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drg400/g490/g49031b6u1x.jpg


In my defence...

Comfort Eagle (2001): As an album it just rocks. I think Cake sacrificed some of the time they spend coming up with wry lyrical commentaries on society to focus on laying down some solid beats and guitar work. I honestly thought folks would rate this higher.

Prolonging the Magic (1998): A solid second choice, but in the end Comfort Eagle's title track knocked this one down to number two.

Fashion Nugget (1996): Probably most Cake fan's first Cake record. I like it, but I don't think most tracks survived the 12 years since its release.

Motorcade of Generosity (1994): Probably deserves higher, critically, but I worked backwards to get this record. Thanks to Lala, I first listened to this a year ago. No big woop in my opnion.

Pressure Chief (2004): If you're Cake and it's the mid 2000's, you're neither a novelty act nor a pop radio mainstay. I don't think Pressure Chief was the record to break through that stereotype barrier.

[jcarwash31]

I just listened to everything but Motorcade and I decided that my favorite is the one I'm listening to at the moment.

[alternachild]

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d513/d51304x24or.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drc800/c871/c871948f4rc.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d538/d53821x2q94.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/dre800/e856/e85605k8oly.jpg
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drg400/g490/g49031b6u1x.jpg


I see it as chronological really. The first two are so tight, and Prolonging The Magic is a classic. The latter, however, lacks the horns and similar fidelity I enjoyed so much with MoG and FN.

I honestly couldn't get into Comfort Eagle as much as the previous albums. There's a distinctive divide between albums #1-3 and the rest. And since I never took a stab at Pressure Chief (due to the weakness of "No Phone"), I still don't own it.

Their shift from less folk and country influence and more electronic elements wasn't a improvement, in my own opinion. It wasn't bad but not didn't maintain the same caliber.

[classicgrrl]

if you ever get to see Cake live I highly suggest it. they are fantastic live.

the horn player is god.

[jvk]

I see it as chronological really...
Or maybe you were too lazy to reorg the image urls! :D

[Buzzstein]

Okay I just figured it out.

01. Comfort Eagle
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/dre800/e856/e85605k8oly.jpg

02. Motorcade Of Generosity
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d513/d51304x24or.jpg

03. Prolonging The Magic
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drd500/d538/d53821x2q94.jpg

04. Fashion Nugget
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drc800/c871/c871948f4rc.jpg

05. Pressure Chief
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drg400/g490/g49031b6u1x.jpg

[alternachild]

Or maybe you were too lazy to reorg the image urls! :D

Actually, I did rearrange them from your post.

[The Sheck]

if you ever get to see Cake live I highly suggest it. they are fantastic live.

the horn player is god.

Last time I saw them the singer threw a hissy fit because the mirror ball wasn't working. Swearing and yelling at the roadies. Class act all the way. :rolleyes:

[Chespo]

Last time I saw them the singer threw a hissy fit because the mirror ball wasn't working. Swearing and yelling at the roadies. Class act all the way. :rolleyes:Not to defend such behavior, but you probably don't know the whole story. If your day job is literally to put on a Professional ShowBiz Performance which people are willing to pay to attend (since, God knows, the public expect to receive for free the other product you attempt to make a living off of), and perhaps someone on the team (who'd already been taken aside and corrected many times for making mistakes) made a mistake again... perhaps you just happened to be present at the last straw.

Last time I saw them, he soldiered through a good show despite suffering from bronchitis (as he admitted near the end).

[eno is god]

1 prolonging the magic
2 comfort eagle
3 pressure chief
4 fashion nugget
5 motorcade of generosity