The Record Club Final Word: Joe on Aoxomoxoa

The captain of each week of Record Club is supposed to fill out an exit survey after the week is over. There is no captain this week, but the blog demands content, and so here we are. Definitely feel free to fill one of these out over the next couple weeks if you end up writing a review for Beyoncé or the Beach Boys (pending on the vote for the latter). Do as much or as little as you want for Record Club. It's all good as far as I'm concerned.

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1. Were you happy with the reviews that were published? How do you feel about your week as Record Club captain?

Always happy with any reviews we get. I was happy to have yet another new voice from Rochester, and I thought it was amusing and well done that clearly Nate's [redacted] had no idea that he was writing a review for Record Club. I also appreciated the simple fact that this gave me an excuse to explore a previouly-unknown-to-me Grateful Dead album. That's really what RC is all about, right? Exploring music you might not have otherwise? This is what I tell myself as I lay my head on my pillow each night.

2. How was the variety of opinions? A wide range, kinda samey, or somewhere in the middle?

The same for sure. Mostly covered the "this is good, not peak Grateful Dead, that one song is a piece of shit" territories. Not a bad thing, in general. Sometimes you need weeks like the Swift Week when there are a ton of voices yelling over top of one another, and sometimes you need weeks like this, the ones that quietly affirm that you are not wrong in how you felt about the music.

3. Were there any differing opinions that made you view the album in a different light?

Multiple people made the "it's better live!" argument this week. This is something I've made very clear in the past that I will never agree with. However, I acknowledge the reality of the situation. If you're going to make that argument, when else if not for the Grateful Dead?

4. Was there anything about this album or this artist that you wished that people would've written about more?

Have any of my friends ever tried weed?? I'd be curious to hear how this album sounded on weed.

5. How do you feel about your album choice now that the week is over? A success? Any regrets?

No, this was good. This needed to be done. For better or worse, Grateful Dead is such a touchstone for so much of the music we consume, in and out of Record Club. It would've been doing us a disservice to continue to ignore them for any longer than 200 weeks.

6. Any other takeaways from the reviews? Or from this experience in general?

I will live with the undeniable truth that not many artists are going to attract the numbers that someone like Taylor Swift did. I have accepted that truth, even though it hurts a little.

7. What is an improvement that Record Club can make that would enhance everyone's experience, either as a captain or as a listener/writer?

Probably revisit that Corey Feldman album.