Personality Crisis

Tony Sly - 12 Song Program [2010]

2010-11-02T16:55:00.005+01:00

Tony Sly probably doesn’t need much of an introduction to people on this site. He’s already released many discs through Fat Wreck Chords, but this time the No Use For A Name front man is ditching the loud, distorted guitars for something softer. 12 Song Program is Sly’s first acoustic solo full-length and he proves he's capable of more than just playing pop-punk.
Back in December, the first taste of the record came when “The Shortest Pier” was posted and it’s a fitting example of what to expect. It’s retrospective and mellow, the tone and chorus depicting the lonely album art perfectly. The record closer “Fireball” is especially bittersweet and the way Sly sings the verses make it one of the album’s stronger tracks. It almost sounds as if he's actually in the room playing for you.
But that’s not to say there isn’t any fast-paced energy here. Some of the recognizable vibe from Acoustic, a split record with Lagwagon’s Joey Cape is present. “Second Act (End Credits)” is catchy and you can imagine it being played with a full band, much like you could when you listened to the stripped down version of the fist-pumping NUFAN tune “International You Day.” “Toaster in the Bathtub” is a cheesy song title, but it’s got an upbeat chorus and has some electric guitar underneath the strumming of acoustic chords and hand claps. He can still rock, even without a full band behind him.
Sly’s voice sounds as good as ever and he is responsible for most of the simple instrumentation, including the keyboard on tracks like “AM,” but he still gets some help. Karina Denike from ska-punk outfit Dance Hall Crashers never takes a solo, but she does contribute back-up vocals that blend in well with Sly’s on many of the tracks. The upbeat “Via Munich” features a violin and some accordion. Cape also sings a few lines of “Amends.”
At just a little over half an hour, Sly has created a nice collection of stripped down songs that’s actually a little shorter than some NUFAN records. If you’re looking for some great acoustic pop songs, or if you’re simply someone who has been anticipating this release since Acoustic came out, 12 Song Program doesn’t disappoint. (AP)

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Have A Ball [1997]

2010-07-30T11:03:00.002+02:00

After releasing countless singles (with an ever-changing lineup), Me First and the Gimme Gimmes continue with a flood of covers done the in the usual Fat Wreck Chords fashion. Contemporary hits such as "Rocket Man," "Mandy," and "Uptown Girl" are sung along with galloping pop-punk harmonies and verse-chorus-verse structures. Not the most groundbreaking or original musical outfit, but they sure are a lot of fun. Besides, their versions of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and Paul Simon's "I Am a Rock" make this one of the more entertaining releases of 1997. Warning: this is not intended for all those who take music seriously. (AMG)

Pour Habit - Suiticide [2009]

2010-07-29T16:19:00.004+02:00

“When Suiticide came out you have to realize that we were just kind of getting our songs together and our members were into everything from Guttermouth to Pantera, so it was us trying to find that in-between,” Colin responds when asked about the album’s original sound. “Through that we realized, ‘Let’s just do whatever we want to do and if it’s a simple three-chord Green Day pop song or a crazy Meshuggah wannabe song who cares? Let’s do whatever we can do and if it rocks, it rocks.’” It certainly does rock—and the good news is that the band already have another collection songs written that they’ll be recording this summer. However in the meantime you’ll be able to catch them on tour spreading their brand of punk to the masses and continuing to win crowds over one fan at a time. (FW)

Lagwagon - Hoss [1995]

2010-07-28T10:27:00.001+02:00

It seems that the maturity level of Lagwagon increased dramatically after the release of their second album, Trashed. On Hoss, there are no butchered covers, nor are there any half-hearted attempts to bring out the happier side of the rock & roll lifestyle. This is a good thing, though; Lagwagon have a "take no slack" mentality without coming across as macho tough guys. In other words, these guys want to be taken more seriously without falling into the category of being another Fat Wreck Chord clone band. They pull it off with Hoss, even if it still has that Lagwagon style of fast-paced pop-punk and harmonies. The drastic difference is that there's more of an edge to be found here. (AMG)

No Use For A Name - Leche Con Carne [1995]

2010-07-27T10:48:00.006+02:00

This was one of my favourite records 15 years ago. Now it's all comin' back to me. Relax and enjoy.

Roger Waters - Radio K.A.O.S [1987]

2010-07-24T10:58:00.003+02:00

Roger Waters' second solo album is yet another conceptual narrative, one that tells the tale of a wheelchair-bound boy who tries to halt the threat of nuclear war through his use of the HAM radio. The story line isn't held together as tightly as his first album, and the whole fable seems a little too far fetched, even when taken lightly. Unlike The Pros and Cons album, the music here overrides the narrative, but not by much, highlighted by the upbeat pop single "Radio Waves." The last tune, entitled "The Tide Is Turning," is the only other focal point of the album, an honest-sounding ballad that relinquishes a glimmer of hope in an otherwise unpromising world. Waters' anti-war theme is stretched full across the album, but the music itself struggles to capture any attention, bogged down by half-whispers and flat-lined melodies that are only slightly resuscitated from time to time with some trumpet and saxophone. The novelty of Los Angeles disc jockey Jim Ladd wears off quickly, as he was obviously used to add some lightheartedness to the album's pessimistic undertones. Waters' use of imagery and thematic depth are absent from Radio K.A.O.S., leaving his superficial spiel with barely any sustenance, which in turn hinders the moral of the album so that it fails to reach its fruition. While both The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and Amused to Death convey his talented use of concept, imagination, and lyrical mastery, this album seems to be nothing more than a fictional tale with a blatantly apparent message. (AMG)

The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious [2000]

2010-07-23T11:10:00.010+02:00

Rousing, stompin' garage rock from these Swedes, with plenty of mod and frantic punk energy to keep you grooving along. "Party Party!" they seem to be saying, and you just want to join. This is definite change-up from the usual hyper speed pop-ska-punk dross offered on Epitaph. Perhaps this arises from the fact that these guys are only distributed on Epitaph and yet are actually on the Burning Heart imprint. Plenty of fuzzed, struttin', propulsive guitar work on this disc to assault your ears. Well worth your time to take a spin. More records like this need to exist. (AMG)

Ramones - Mondo Bizarro [1992]

2010-06-07T10:07:00.002+02:00

A new record deal and the addition of an enthusiastic new bassist (C.J. Ramone) revitalized the Ramones, making Mondo Bizarro the band's strongest release in years. Returning longtime producer Ed Stasium certainly deserves much credit for helping the "bruthas" rediscover their unique combination of pop hooks, savage guitar riffing, and most importantly, sense of humor. This is immediately obvious on songs like "Censorshit" (which addresses the Tipper Gore - P.M.R.C. issue), "The Job That Ate My Brain," and the absolutely hilarious "Cabbies on Crack." Recently departed charter member Dee Dee Ramone also contributes a few surprisingly commercial (but still awesome) songs in "Poison Heart" and "Strength to Endure," the latter is sung by rookie C.J. "I Won't let it Happen" as an acoustic ballad in the classic Ramones mold. Although "Touring" is little more than a poor remake of "Rock'n'Roll High School," Mondo Bizarro still marks a solid return to form for punk rock's greatest institution. (AMG)

Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Leonard Cohen [1967]

2010-06-02T12:13:00.002+02:00

At a time when a growing number of pop songwriters were embracing a more explicitly poetic approach in their lyrics, the 1967 debut album from Leonard Cohen introduced a songwriter who, rather than being inspired by "serious" literature, took up music after establishing himself as a published author and poet. The ten songs on Songs of Leonard Cohen were certainly beautifully constructed, artful in a way few (if any) other lyricists would approach for some time, but what's most striking about these songs isn't Cohen's technique, superb as it is, so much as his portraits of a world dominated by love and lust, rage and need, compassion and betrayal. While the relationship between men and women was often the framework for Cohen's songs (he didn't earn the nickname "the master of erotic despair" for nothing), he didn't write about love; rather, Cohen used the never-ending thrust and parry between the sexes as a jumping off point for his obsessive investigation of humanity's occasional kindness and frequent atrocities (both emotional and physical). Cohen's world view would be heady stuff at nearly any time and place, but coming in a year when pop music was only just beginning to be taken seriously, Songs of Leonard Cohen was a truly audacious achievement, as bold a challenge to pop music conventions as the other great debut of the year, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and a nearly perfectly realized product of his creative imagination. Producer John Simon added a touch of polish to Cohen's songs with his arrangements (originally Cohen wanted no accompaniment other than his guitar), though the results don't detract from his dry but emotive vocals; instead, they complement his lyrics with a thoughtful beauty and give the songs even greater strength. And a number of Cohen's finest songs appeared here, including the luminous "Suzanne," the subtly venomous "Master Song" and "Sisters of Mercy," which would later be used to memorable effect in Robert Altman's film McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Many artists work their whole career to create a work as singular and accomplished as Songs of Leonard Cohen, and Cohen worked this alchemy the first time he entered a recording studio; few musicians have ever created a more remarkable or enduring debut. (AMG)

Hefner - We Love The City [2000]

2010-05-05T16:07:00.004+02:00

Why is it that most U.K. artists typically slag off London? Countless pop songs by artists such as Billy Bragg, Morrissey, Blur, and Elvis Costello have made the ring of disgust toward that fashionable city all too familiar. The indie rock trio in Hefner are also disenchanted. Their passion for hating Margaret Thatcher, the royal family, and the tyrannical moves by Parliament is a common theme comically twisted throughout the dozen track set list on We Love the City. Darren Hayman, who sings with a nasal twang mixed with the seduction of Suede's Brett Anderson, insists that the dread surrounding the city is not a healthy place for anyone despite the pointing fingers of the rich and the lost and the settling attitudes of the working class. Hayman blasts such foolish behavior and pleads for a little soul searching, but only if it's meaningful. "Good Fruit" and "The Greedy Ugly People" play into such mediocrity, swooning melodies shadowing the exchange of love for cynicism. Not even sex is enough for the disillusioned. Love is supposed to mend ways, lift spirits, and twist frowns, but London will never forgive. Sadly, most common people just accept that. "Painting and Kissing" frolics with adolescent frustration typically found to guilt most youngsters long into adulthood, and it's all because of London's deadbeat background. Hefner isn't looking for a scapegoat. It's bloody factual, according to the band. We Love the City might as well continue the rants left off by the band's angry predecessors. But surely one thing is for certain: It's always done with a bit of humor. (AMG)

The White Stripes - Icky Thump [2007]

2010-04-22T14:24:00.005+02:00

A lot changed in the White Stripes' world between Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump: Meg White moved to L.A., while Jack White left Detroit for Nashville, married and had a daughter, and formed the Raconteurs, a side project that won so much praise that some fans worried that it meant the end of the Stripes. Those fears were as unfounded as the speculation that White's new hometown meant that the band was going to "go country" (after all, Jack and Meg are wearing the costumes of London's Pearly Kings and Queens, not Nudie suits, on Icky Thump's cover). Though it was recorded at Nashville's state-of-the-art Blackbird Studio and covers everything from bagpipes to metal, Icky Thump is unmistakably a White Stripes album. The eclectic feel of Get Behind Me Satan remains, but is less obvious; interestingly, out of all the band's previous work, Icky Thump's brash and confessional songs most closely resemble De Stijl. "300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues"' acoustic blues and carefully crafted wordplay hark back to "Sister, Do You Know My Name." Meanwhile, "Rag & Bone" is a cute, ragamuffin cousin of "Let's Build a Home" that casts Jack and Meg as enterprising garbage-pickers; the sly grin in Jack's voice as he says "we'll give it a...home" is palpable. And, while Get Behind Me Satan was heavy on pianos, Icky Thump is just plain heavy, dominated by primal, stomping rock that feels like it's been caged for a very long time and is just now being released. Jack White's guitars are back in a big way; "Catch Hell Blues" is a particularly fine showcase for his playing. Once again, though, the Stripes defy expectations, and their "return to rock" isn't necessarily a return to the kind of rock they mastered on Elephant.
Aside from the searing "Bone Broke," which would fit on almost any White Stripes album (and in fact was partially written in 1998), on Icky Thump Jack and Meg push the boundaries of their louder side. Darker and slower than most Stripes singles, "Icky Thump" is their very own "Immigrant Song," with guitars that chug menacingly and lyrics that run the gamut from fever dream meditations on redhead senoritas to pointed political statements ("Why don't you kick yourself out/You're an immigrant too"). "Little Cream Soda" is also outstanding, pairing ranting, spoken-word verses with grinding surf-metal guitars that make it one of the Stripes' heaviest songs. However, the boldest excursion might be "Conquest," which turns Patti Page's '50s-era battle of the sexes into a garage rock bullfight, complete with dramatic mariachi brass, flamenco rhythms, backing vocals that would do Ennio Morricone proud, and dueling guitar and trumpet solos that capture the band's love of drama. As fantastic as Icky Thump's rockers are, its breathers are just as important. Though the Celtic detour that makes up Thump's heart feels out of place initially, "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" is indeed a sweet and genuine sounding homage to Scottish folk, bagpipes and all (and could also be a nod to the Rolling Stones' flirtation with British folk in the mid-'60s). And while its psychedelic counterpart "St. Andrews (This Battle Is in the Air)" doesn't work quite as well, it feels like the kind of quirky tangent that pops up on plenty of vintage albums as a palate cleanser. The Stripes' poppy and vulnerable sides get slightly short shrift on Icky Thump. "You Don't Know What Love Is" is so hooky it could just as easily be a Raconteurs song, though it boasts a guitar solo that stings like lemon juice in a paper cut. "I'm a Martyr for My Love for You" is the album's lone ballad, and while its melody is beautiful, it may be the album's weakest track. And though Icky Thump's track listing might be slightly front-loaded, the Stripes uphold their tradition of ending their albums on a playful note with the wonderful "Effect and Cause," which feels equally indebted to hillbilly wisdom and Mungo Jerry's sly jug-band shuffle. With its fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy, Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy, album -- and, as is usually the case, it's just great fun to hear the band play. (AMG)

Heavy Trash - Heavy Trash [2005]

2010-03-20T13:11:00.003+01:00

Heavy Trash, the band and the album, is a collaboration between Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray. In their day jobs they are purveyors of punk-blues in Blues Explosion and Speedball Baby, respectively. Anyone expecting their collaboration to sound much like either of their groups is in for a bit of a jolt. Not that it is a million miles from the sounds they are known for since you still get Spencer's instantly recognizable yelping vocals as well as loads of exciting, stripped-down and hooky songs that carry quite a punch. What is different is that they are working the rockabilly and early rock side of the street. Tracks like "The Loveless," "Dark Hair'd Rider" and "This Day Is Mine" kick up some serious duck-tailed dust, "The Hump" and "Justine Alright" are crazed handclapping, shouted chorus rockers, and the hip-shaking "Gatorade" sounds like it was recorded at a party in Hasil Adkins' backyard. The tracks that scale back the excitement are very good too; "Fix These Blues" is a pedal-steeled country ballad, "Take My Hand," a doo-wopping lament complete with a spoken interlude and "Under the Waves," a moody, highly arranged murder ballad that might be the best track on the album. Only "Mr. K.I.A." doesn't work, as it brings in some hip-hop influences and is too repetitive and, well, modern-sounding. Spencer is in top form throughout, dropping hilarious asides, hiccupping and whooping, crooning and howling like an unholy blend of Elvis, Gene Vincent and Lux Interior. He and Verta-Ray create a sound that is warm, rich and live, layering acoustic and electric guitars, percussion and Christina Campenella's sultry backing vocals into a rollicking, thrilling modern rockabilly record that puts everyone who has attempted such an enterprise since Songs the Lord Taught Us to shame. So many times with side projects like this the parting words are "don't quit your day job," in this case both men could easily do so because Heavy Trash is just as good if not better than their main projects. (AMG)

Pretenders - Learning To Crawl [1984]

2010-03-17T12:42:00.005+01:00

Chrissie Hynde took a long, hard road to rock & roll stardom, but when her band, the Pretenders, finally broke through in 1979, they wasted no time, growing from promising newcomers on the British music scene to major international stardom with a pair of smash albums to their credit in a mere three years. But the Pretenders' meteoric rise came to a crashing halt in 1982, when drug abuse claimed the life of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and forced Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers to dump bassist Pete Farndon, who would also succumb to an OD in April 1983. Hynde was forced by circumstance to reinvent the Pretenders for their third album, 1984's Learning to Crawl, but if the new edition of the group lacked some of the spark of the band that made the first two LPs, through sheer force of will Hynde created a masterpiece. While Hynde hardly held back in her emotionally potent songwriting in the Pretenders' early work, on Learning to Crawl there's a gravity to her lyrics that blended with her tough but wiry melodic sense and streetwise intelligence to create a set of truly remarkable tunes. "Back on the Chain Gang" is a touching tribute to her fallen comrades that still sounds bitterly rueful, "Middle of the Road" is a furious rocker that explores the emotional and physical toll of a musician's life, "Time the Avenger" is a taut, literate examination of a businessman's adulterous relationship, "My City Was Gone" deals with the economic and cultural decay of the Midwest in a manner both pithy and genuinely heartfelt, and "2000 Miles" is a Christmas number that demonstrates Hynde can be warm without getting sappy. As a guitarist, Robbie McIntosh brought a simpler and more elemental style to the Pretenders than James Honeyman-Scott, but his tough, muscular leads fit these songs well, and bassist Malcolm Foster's solid punch fits Chambers' drumming perfectly. Three albums into her recording career, Chrissie Hynde found herself having to put the past to bed and carve out a new beginning for herself with Learning to Crawl, but she pulled it off with a striking mixture of courage, strength, and great rock & roll; with the exception of the instant-classic debut album, it's the Pretenders' finest work. (AMG)

Au Pairs - Sense And Sensuality [1982]

2010-03-12T11:01:00.008+01:00

On their second album, the Au Pairs were very much in tune with the growth pangs of the punk/new wave scene as a whole in the early '80s. In stripping their music to a funkier, more rhythmic essence, and shifting the focus of their lyrics to the personal rather than the political, they lost some of the direct impact (and critical acclaim) of their debut. Musically, however, things were actually more interesting. The addition of horns and imaginative synthesizers allowed for more satisfying sonic diversity. The words were still confrontational, but more obscure in their intent. Although occasionally political (as in the blunt anti-Reagan screed "America"), they were far more concerned with questioning sex/relationship roles (as in "Sex Without Stress," "Intact," and "Instant Touch"). The record didn't get as much attention as their first LP, but it's just as much a touchstone of post-punk. (AMG)

Blondie - No Exit [1999]

2010-03-10T09:55:00.005+01:00

Once you've cherished Blondie you never really go back, even if for half of your life you must cherish them out of forgiveness, or just plain heartfelt concern. Debbie Harry loves to make curious decisions about her music, and it's always important to listen to her work carefully and several times (while trying to keep her performance in John Waters' Hairspray either firmly in, or out, of your mind as you do). In the old days, Harry and her guys covered terrific old blues and trippy, backwater pieces, popped up and pretty, punkified, otherwise unremarkable rock tunes, and flat out treated us to a show, whether live or Memorex. No Exit is a gritty downtown incarnation that almost sounds like a cutting room castaway, filled with raw and abject moments and digressions that suggest an improvised, irrelevant feel. The talkative "Screaming Skin" is a lyrically confused, stream of consciousness piece that sounds as if it was written on a paper bag on the subway -- and some people really like this stuff. But some of the instrumental tracks have the veneer of an afterthought, particularly in the percussion department. Miss Debbie is always at her rockin' finest when futzing with the blues (and country, really), which she does on most of the latter half of the disc like the consummate, crazy pro that she is. If nothing else, No Exit is a testament to authentic rock and roll durability, and, well, the abiding "wow" that is Debbie Harry. (AMG)

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town [1978]

2010-03-05T09:41:00.003+01:00

Coming three years and one extended court battle after Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town was highly anticipated. Some attributed the album's embattled tone to Bruce Springsteen's legal troubles, but it carried on from Born to Run, in which Springsteen had first begun to view his colorful cast of characters as "losers." On Darkness, he began to see them as the working class: his characters, some of whom he inhabited and sang for in the first person, had little and were in danger of losing even that. Their only hope for redemption lay in working harder, and their only escape lay in driving. Springsteen presented these hard truths in hard rock settings, the tracks paced by powerful drumming and searing guitar solos. Though not as heavily produced as Born to Run, Darkness was given a full-bodied sound; Springsteen's stories were becoming less heroic, but his musical style remained grand — the sound, and the conviction in his singing, added weight to songs like "Racing in the Street" and the title track, transforming the pathetic into the tragic. But despite the rock & roll fervor, Darkness was no easy listen, and it served notice that Springsteen was already willing to risk his popularity for his principles. (AMG)

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine - 101 Damnations [1990]

2010-03-01T11:08:00.003+01:00

Puns. Puns, puns, puns, puns, puns. There's the title (and the cover art), there's the songtitles -- "The Road to Domestos," "The Taking of Peckham 123" -- there's the endless stream of lyrical references, some hopelessly insular to those not living inLondon, others understandable wherever you go. Puns, then. It's Carter's calling card as much as anything, and is what kept many people from liking them, matched with singer Jim Bob's very Sarf London and generally undulcet tones. Thing is, Carter were never a comedy band per se; buried underneath all the one-off lines like "It was midnight on the murder mile/Wilson Pickett's finest hour" is a huge, beating heart. Empathy for the rejects, go-nowheres and losers of the world is the true Carter ethos, wedded to a fusion of endless cultural references, drum machines and samples, and often blasting guitars. The result wasn't quite the hip-hop/metal fusion of the late nineties, but in the duo's own unusual way, Carter were something of a unique and thrilling prospect at its best, which the highlights of Damnations show. Normally the name of the game is brash, quick, punk/glam via rough early eighties technology pump-it-up pogoers, as the album's late-breaking UK hit "Sheriff Fatman" demonstrated. The song itself may be about a total rat-bastard of a slumlord, but the name of the game is energy and fun. The tender, soppy side of Carter is what eventually comes through the strongest, though, whether it's the familial screw-ups alluded to in "Good Grief Charlie Brown" or the homeless person torched by two strangers in "An All-American National Sport." "G. I. Blues," which closes out Damnations with a lighter-waving end-of-the-concert sweep, may not be the smoothest of anti-war songs, but enough emotion comes through anyway that one can't easily resist it. (AMG)

Chuck Berry - After School Session [1957]

2010-02-23T13:18:00.004+01:00

Chuck Berry's first album boasts a picture of him lifted from his appearance in the 1956-vintage rock & roll movie Rock, Rock, Rock -- it's a daring pose if you look closely, the singer/guitarist/songwriter captured at his most animated, in what was a pretty bold pose for a black artist in an interracial movie, strutting and duck-walking across the screen with his guitar at full...exposure. That said, bold as the movie appearance was and the pose that was reflected in its cover, After School Session came out fairly late, given that his first hit, "Maybellene," dated from the summer of 1955. This was partly owing to the sheer novelty of rock & roll LPs -- during that period, only a relative handful reached the public, and a significant portion of those were the work of Elvis Presley or Bill Haley, whose associations with the gigantic RCA Victor and Decca labels, respectively, put them in virtually a separate universe from everyone else in the field, especially Berry, recording for the tiny independent Chess label. Chess Records hadn't even issued its first LP until the end of 1956, and that album, the soundtrack LP Rock, Rock, Rock, had included "Maybellene." After School Session was only the label's second-ever long-player, and its timing was predicated on the fact that, after "Maybellene," the rock & roll legend hadn't charted another major pop hit in almost two years (though he had generated some serious R&B hits, which are included here, among them the blues "Wee Wee Hours" -- which was what Berry originally purported to represent as his sound -- and the more rhythm-oriented "No Money Down" and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man").
It was the release and hit status of "School Day" in the early spring of 1957 that yielded this album, which is a brilliant compendium of the range, depth, and breadth of Berry's music across his first two years as a recording artist. The sounds ranged from the pounding, jargon-laden teen-oriented beat of "School Day" through those R&B and blues classics to the moody instrumental "Deep Feeling"; the Latin-flavored, Calypso-influenced "Havana Moon"; the slow, romantic ballad "Together (We'll Always Be)," which showed Berry working in a '40s R&B-pop mode similar to the music of the Ink Spots, and attempting a Nat King Cole style of soft singing; his more successful effort in that ballad vein, "Drifting Heart"; and the mysterious, ominous, darkly shimmering "Down Bound Train," which could almost have been Berry's (and black music's) answer to "Ghost Riders in the Sky." The 2004 reissue of After School Session includes three bonus tracks that greatly extend the range of the original album -- the driving rocker "You Can't Catch Me" (whose lyrics would greatly complicate John Lennon's life when he cribbed them for the opening of "Come Together" late in the Beatles' history); the even more pounding "Thirty Days"; and his debut hit, "Maybellene." All of it (including the rest of the original album's contents) shows off a glorious remastered sound that lets you hear the room ambience at Chess Studios and make out the exact spatial relationship between Berry and his backup singers on "Thirty Days." It puts the original CD to shame sonically, and boasts superior historical notes as well. (AMG)

The Pogues - Red Roses For Me [1984]

2010-02-04T10:01:00.004+01:00

What set the Pogues apart from any number of other energetic Irish traditional bands was the sheer physical force of their performances, the punky swagger of their personalities, and Shane MacGowan's considerable gifts as a songwriter. Unfortunately, none of these qualities comes through very clearly on their first album, Red Roses for Me. While the Pogues are in good form here, the production (by Stan Brennan) is thin and lacks the body or nuance to capture the finer details of the performances, robbing this recording of the fire the group would display on their later albums. And it's clear that MacGowan had not yet fully matured as a songwriter; there are a handful of superb songs here, such as "Transmetropolitan," "Streams of Whiskey," and "Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go," but some of the others suggest MacGowan was still learning how to fit all his ideas into his songs. Red Roses for Me is good and rowdy fun, but on Rum Sodomy & the Lash and If I Should Fall from Grace with God, the Pogues would prove they were capable of a lot more than that. (AMG)

Nomeansno - Wrong [1989]

2010-02-03T09:51:00.003+01:00

Following the release of Wrong, Nomeansno could have safely laid down their instruments knowing that they'd just put out the definitive jazzcore album. From the opening bass thuds to the final notes, there's nothing on the album that could be considered a misstep. The playing is incredibly skilled, with the Wright brothers effortlessly shifting tempos and time signatures and Kerr's razor sharp lyrics clicking right into place. Throughout, the album is fused with a sense of energy that was missing from Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed. Best of all is the silly "Rags and Bones" with Kerr (referred to on this release as "none of your f*cking business") claiming that he is "married to a cigarette butt lying in the gutter" over some of the most complex instrumentation you're ever likely to find in good ol' punk rawk. Although they still had a number of albums in them, Nomeansno would never top this one. (AMG)

NoFX - The War On Errorism [2003]

2010-01-20T09:51:00.004+01:00

War on Errorism, NOFX's umpteenth collection of snide skatecore, is a half-great collection of the bratty double-time anthems dominated by Fat Mike's snotty, sarcastic vocals. But while the album bristles with broad political criticism, it also lays out rhetoric that seems to present an isolationist punk rock policy of its own. Included with War on Errorism is the trailer for Unprecedented, a documentary that traces the bizarre events of the 2000 presidential election. This is accompanied by a handwritten op-ed piece by Fat Mike, Smelly, El Hefe, and Melvin, in which the band does a little consciousness raising around the vert ramp. "The U.S. is now the butt of a worldwide joke," they write, in reference to the election hullabaloo. "All everyone keeps saying is 'get over it' or 'that was so two years ago.' Well, we're not getting over it and neither should you." Musically, NOFX fuses its political cynicism with criticism of punk rock itself, and suggests that the best thing for all the kids and the bands might be to close ranks and start their own little hardcore community. "Irrationality of Rationality" and "Franco Un-American" -- two of the album's most melodic, catchy songs -- are also two of War on Errorism's most biting commentaries. The first personalizes the trickle-down effect of corporate decision-making over a lockstep hardcore rhythm; the second gets all new wavy as Fat Mike reasons out his own world view, and somehow rhymes "apathy" with "Noam Chomsky."
While NOFX makes its politics clear throughout the album, it also has ideas and questions about its own scene. "Separation of Church and Skate" wonders about the homogeny of punk in the 21st century, and the loss of danger in rock & roll. Later, "Mattersville" presents the blueprint for a California hardcore retirement community, a neighborhood of punks, where the cops can't come in and there's always beer and cheese. It's a fantasy, an update of Screeching Weasel's "Punkhouse." But it might also be a reaction to the heady subjects bandied about in War on Errorism's activist moments. In a subdivision surrounded by bands, punks, and skaters, no one would have to worry about bombs, evildoers, and those who put the "mock" back in "democracy" (from the seething "Re-gaining Unconsciousness"). War on Errorism is long on rhetoric, but it still fires off a few uncontrolled bursts of NOFX humor. "She's Nubs" is a crass yet sadly hilarious tribute to a handicapped fan; "Medio-core" channels the Dead Milkmen as it rips on rock & roll's ongoing regurgitation. The songs don't exactly jibe with War on Errorism's more serious sections. But if NOFX suddenly became all serious, America might really have a problem on its hands. (AMG)

The Toy Dolls - Fat Bob's Feet! [1991]

2010-01-13T15:57:00.006+01:00

Another typically good release from the Dolls, Fat Bob's Feet elects for a slightly more sparse sound than it's predecessor, Wakey Wakey. Other than that, the record maintains all of the Toy Doll's usual characteristics. You've got your big oi choruses, your rockin' punk anthems, and general silliness that you'll find on any TD record. Of course, Olga (who essentially is the Toy Dolls) continues to play phenomenal, melodic leads that no other punk band can touch.
The only thing that really distinguishes this album from the rest of their catalog is perhaps the kazoo work on "Olga Crack Corn", and the extra silly (even by TD standards) "Turtle Crazy". This is Olga's ode to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze that was huge at the time. The chorus is sung by a group of children, and is a hell of a lot of fun. Other highlights are "We Quit The Cavalry", "Bitten By A Bedbug", and "Back In '79". Just one more great release from one of the great punk stalwarts. You have my blessing to buy this album. Go forth and spend, my child. (RYM)

Glenn Branca - The Ascension [1981]

2010-01-11T10:20:00.004+01:00

If one chooses to categorize the music on this recording as "rock," this is surely one of the greatest rock albums ever made. But there's the rub. While sporting many of the trappings of the genre -- the instrumentation (electric guitars), the rhythms, the volume, and, most certainly, the attitude -- there is much about The Ascension that doesn't fit comfortably into the standard definition of the term. Not only does the structure of the compositions appear to owe more to certain classical traditions, including Romanticism, than the rock song form, but Branca's overarching concern is with the pure sound produced, particularly of the overtones created by massed, "out of tune," excited strings and the ecstatic quality that sound can engender in the listener. Though his prior performing experience was with post-punk, no-wave groups like the Static and Theoretical Girls, it could be argued that the true source of much of the music here lies in the sonic experimentation of deep-drone pioneers like La Monte Young and Phil Niblock.
Happily, the music is accessible enough that one can jump right in, regardless of one's direction of approach. Branca's band, unlike some of his later enormous ensembles, is relatively modest (four guitars, bass guitar, and drums), so the sound is comparatively clear and each member's contributions may be easily discerned. The chiming notes that begin "The Spectacular Commodity" are allowed to hover in the air, awash in overtones, before being subsumed into a rolling groove that picks up more and more intensity as guitar chords cascade one atop another, threatening to, but never succeeding in, toppling the whole affair. "Structure" plays with sonic torque, whipsawing between two differently stressed voicings of the same theme, pulling them back and forth like taffy.
But the title track is both the consummation of the record and the surest indication of Branca's direction in later years. It begins with a marvelously dense haze of ringing guitars, feedback, and percussion, with a foreboding bassline contributing to the strong sense of disorientation. Midway through, it abruptly shifts to harsh blocks of sound over a rapid rhythm, the blocks differing in texture but played in alternating sections, smacking into each other and further heightening the tension. These disparate sounds eventually coalesce into a pure, ringing tone that, over the last minute of the piece, explodes into a spectacular cacophony, a seism of bell tones, microtonal eruptions, and near orgasmic guitar bliss. An absolutely stunning, jaw-dropping performance.
Branca's music has served as a major inspiration to many alternative rock bands that surfaced in the '80s and '90s, notably Sonic Youth; both Lee Ranaldo (who plays on this recording) and Thurston Moore were regularly members of his early ensembles. The Ascension, in addition to being an utterly superb album on its own merits, uniquely invites listening from both adventurous rock fans and aficionados of experimental electronic music. For years, the vinyl release on 99 Records, with its stunning cover illustration by Robert Longo, was a highly sought-after collector's item. It was finally issued to compact disc in 1999 by New Tone. (AMG)

2009-12-23T13:41:00.000+01:00

Hefner - The Fidelity Wars [1999]

2009-12-17T16:03:00.007+01:00

What becomes of the brokenhearted? If you're Darren Hayman, you channel your pain and suffering into a remarkable pop record. Hefner's The Fidelity Wars is a classic breakup album, an unsettlingly acute musical diary born of sleepless, nicotine-stained nights, and best appreciated under similar circumstances. These tersely melodic confessionals chart romantic disintegration in unflinching detail, endlessly replaying each and every lie and betrayal. Although the scenarios change from song to song -- "The Weight of the Stars" depicts a one-night stand, "Fat Kelly's Teeth" explores infidelity, and so on -- the endings don't, as time after time Hayman is left to sift through the rubble, invariably swallowed alive by his own doubts, fears, and weaknesses. The bitter irony of The Fidelity Wars is that the honesty, vulnerability, and neurotic self-obsession which make Hefner's music so moving are the same qualities which doom each of Hayman's relationships to failure almost before they begin. (AMG)

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Zuma [1975]

2009-12-02T15:53:00.004+01:00

Having apparently exorcised his demons by releasing the cathartic Tonight's the Night, Neil Young returned to his commercial strengths with Zuma (named after Zuma Beach in Los Angeles, where he now owned a house). Seven of the album's nine songs were recorded with the reunited Crazy Horse, in which rhythm guitarist Frank Sampedro had replaced the late Danny Whitten, but there were also nods to other popular Young styles in "Pardon My Heart," an acoustic song that would have fit on Harvest, his most popular album, and "Through My Sails," retrieved from one of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's abortive recording sessions. Young had abandoned the ragged, first-take approach of his previous three albums, but Crazy Horse would never be a polished act, and the music had a lively sound well-suited to the songs, which were some of the most melodic, pop-oriented tunes Young had crafted in years, though they were played with an electric-guitar-drenched rock intensity. The overall theme concerned romantic conflict, with lyrics that lamented lost love and sometimes longed for a return ("Pardon My Heart" even found Young singing, "I don't believe this song"), though the overall conclusion, notably in such catchy songs as "Don't Cry No Tears" and "Lookin' for a Love," was to move on to the next relationship. But the album's standout track (apparently the only holdover from an early intention to present songs with historical subjects) was the seven-and-a-half-minute epic "Cortez the Killer," a commentary on the Spanish conqueror of Latin America that served as a platform for Young's most extensive guitar soloing since his work on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. (AMG)

Goodbye Nika, my friend!

2009-11-24T12:17:00.002+01:00

Simon Bonney - Forever [1992]

2009-10-07T16:31:00.010+02:00

Drawing on a fine range of performers (including Congo Norvell singer Sally Norvell and Ethyl Meatplow/Geraldine Fibbers frontwoman Carla Bozulich on background vocals), Bonney creates a mystic, almost mythic atmosphere on Forever. Much like the final efforts of Crime and the City Solution, but with an even more haunting, nearly religious atmosphere, Bonney's music conjures up the feeling of a West that never was, where hoe-downs and wild dances are replaced by contemplation, lyrically and musically. While it's facile to simply say Bonney does for country what fellow expatriate Nick Cave does for the blues, there's a similar sense of reverence and transformation at play. Bonney's deep but not cavernous voice suits his images and songs perfectly, eschewing over-the-top drama for a more considered approach. Main collaborators J.D. Foster, on guitars and mandolin, and Jon-Dee Graham, on lap steel, dobro, and bottleneck guitar, contributed excellent performances while avoiding musical clichés, just as Bonney looks to avoid simply aping Nashville or neo-traditional country both. "Ravenswood," Forever's stunning opening number, sets the overall mood faultlessly; Bonney's call for the rain to come down on him backed by a slow, deceptively powerful arrangement where the guitars sound like flashes of lightning in dark clouds. Low drums boom in the distance, as what almost sounds like an invocation unfolds. Many songs move at a faster clip; Forever isn't trudging in its pace, instead combining various influences and touches from the vocal/electric guitar/violin combination of "Now That's She's Gone" to fairly lush rock/country fusions. This said, even more energetic numbers as "Like Caesar Needs a Brutus," as the title alone indicates, grapple with questions of love and belief with strength, and nothing completely lets loose just for the heck of it. Then again, that's not the intent of Forever in the first place. (AMG)

I'm the happiest man on planet!

2009-08-03T05:29:00.007+02:00

My 1st baby, little girl named DORA two hours ago came to world.

Sonic Youth - Goo [1990]

2009-04-02T07:41:00.007+02:00

Any doubts as to the continuing relevance of Sonic Youth upon their jump...

...to major-label status were quickly laid to rest by Goo, their follow-up to the monumental Daydream Nation. While paling in the shadow of its predecessor, the record is nevertheless a defiant call to arms against mainstream musical values; the Geffen logo adorning the disc is a moot point -- Goo is, if anything, a portrait of Sonic Youth at their most self-indulgently noisy and contentious, covering topics ranging from Karen Carpenter ("Tunic") to UFOs ("Disappearer") to dating Jesus' mom ("Mary-Christ"). Even Public Enemy's Chuck D joins the fracas on the single "Kool Thing," which teeters on the brink of a cultural breakthrough but falls just shy of the mark; the same could be said of Goo itself -- by no means a sellout, it nevertheless lacks the coherence and force of the group's finest work, and the opportunity to violently rattle the mainstream cage slips by. (AMG)

U2 - Live in Cork '79 (bootleg) [1979]

2008-10-14T10:32:00.006+02:00

One of U2 bootleges from their beginings. Last song on this bootleg is Ramones...

...cover Glad To See You Go. Sound is poor, but music is what it counts. Enjoy it!

The Seven Ages Of Rock E07 What The World Is Waiting For (DiVX) [2005]

2008-10-10T08:30:00.004+02:00

The story of British indie, beginning with The Smiths, the archetypal indie group. The film follows...

...The Stone Roses as the heirs to the indie crown, Suede's dark sexuality and the media saturation of Brit-pop's Blur v Oasis. What The World Is Waiting For explores how indie ultimately lost its once cherished intimacy and integrity in front of 250,000 fans at Oasis's Knebworth spectacle in 1996 and how, by returning to its roots in clubs and bars (and even front rooms) with bands such as Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines and The Arctic Monkeys, indie became respectable again. (BBC)

The Seven Ages Of Rock E06 Left Of The Dial (DiVX) [2005]

2008-10-07T07:13:00.004+02:00

The rise of alternative rock in the USA. From its early underground days where bands like Black Flag drew...

...inspiration from the DIY ethos of punk, Left Of The Dial traces the history of the network of fans, clubs and fanzines that sustained the scene and launched the careers of bands like REM, The Pixies and Hüsker Dü. The film takes a fresh look at the explosion of the Seattle scene, culminating in the success of Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain, an artist whose triumph and tragedy continues to cast an inescapable shadow. (BBC)

I'll be away...

2008-09-11T13:10:00.002+02:00

from a blog for some time. Still redacorating my place.
Sorry :-(

The Seven Ages Of Rock E05 We Are The Champions (DiVX) [2005]

2008-08-13T10:35:00.003+02:00

We Are The Champions follows the development of some the biggest names in Rock, among them...

...Queen, Bruce Springsteen, The Police and Dire Straits and shows how, through events such as Live Aid and the rise of MTV, rock achieved a global influence on culture and politics. The film concludes in the early 90s, as U2 effectively brought the era to a close by reinventing the big rock show so completely, that fifteen years later most major rock tours are still pale facsimiles. (BBC)

The Seven Ages Of Rock E04 - Never Say Die (DiVX) [2005]

2008-08-11T19:01:00.006+02:00

The story of the longest surviving and certainly the loudest genre of...

...rock, heavy metal. With no sign of disappearing, metal has been the most controversial and misunderstood of all rock genres. Emerging at the tail end of the hippy dream from the rust belt of industrial England, heavy metal would go on to secure the most loyal fan base of all. With Black Sabbath as the undisputed Godfathers, we follow their highs and lows, and, along the journey, meet Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica. (BBC)

The Seven Ages Of Rock E03 - Blank Generation (DiVX) [2005]

2008-07-21T09:39:00.020+02:00

A tale of two cities, London and New York and the birth of punk. Each city created a bastard child...

that marked the biggest and fundamental shift in popular music since Elvis walked into Sun Studios. Blank Generation unpicks the relationship between the bankrupt New York and the class and race-riven London of the mid-1970's and explores the music of The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Damned and Buzzcocks. (BBC)

Sorry...

2008-07-17T15:56:00.002+02:00

... but I'm busy with redecorating my apartment so I'll be away from blog for a month or so.

The Seven Ages Of Rock E02 - White Light, White Heat (DiVX) [2005]

2008-06-18T08:44:00.005+02:00

The story of how artistic and conceptual expression permeated rock. From the pop-art multi-media experiments...

...of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground to the sinister gentility of Peter Gabriel's Genesis, White Light, White Heat traces how rock became a vehicle for artistic ideas and theatrical performance. We follow Pink Floyd from their beginnings with the fated art school genius of Syd Barrett through to the global success of 'Dark Side of the Moon' to the ultimate rock theatre show, 'The Wall'. Along the way, the film explores the retro-futurism of Roxy Music and the protean world of David Bowie. (BBC)

The Seven Ages Of Rock E01 - The Birth of Rock (DiVX) [2005]

2008-06-16T09:45:00.006+02:00

The rock revolution of the 1960s seen through the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. The first doomed icon...

...of rock, Hendrix was the synthesis of everything that had gone before him and all that was to come. The Birth Of Rock also explores the influence of rhythm & blues on a generation of British musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Cream and The Who, and how the song-writing of Bob Dylan and studio developments of The Beatles transformed the possibilities and ambitions of rock. (BBC)

Boys Next Door - Door Door [1979]

2008-06-11T10:27:00.003+02:00

If one compares Door, Door to later albums made by these soon-to-be-infamous Aussies -- albums released...

...under the Birthday Party moniker -- it sounds fairly tame and relatively straightforward. But that's not to say there's anything wrong with it. In fact, it's a frantic, edgy, and surprisingly catchy piece of post-punk mayhem; just don't expect anything as original or downright disturbing as "Big-Jesus-Trash-Can" or "Zoo-Music Girl." The album starts out in high gear with "The Nightwatchman," replete with ringing guitar figures, a boppy punk-pop chorus (yes, those are "ooh-ooh-ooh-oohs" you're hearing), and dirty sax lines. Sax pops up on "Brave Exhibitions" as well, providing a meaty partner to the lead guitar on circular, descending scales that bring some weirdness to a straight-up rocker. Things begin to get slightly more strange and troubled as the record plays on: "The Voice" and "Somebody's Watching" are filled with a paranoid mania and creepy, memorable musical phrases that make them two of Door, Door's highlights. (The lead guitar parts in the latter song make it seem as if Rowland Howard spent time listening to Television at the wrong speed.) And "Roman Roman" is a frenzied schoolyard chant that hints at some of the anarchic pandemonium the group could create on-stage. It's impressive how, even at this early stage, Nick Cave was a confident and unique singer, perfectly aware of the strengths and limitations of his voice; although he's not much for range, he knows how to come across in a scary and theatrical manner that perfectly complements the music. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the band's closing, mournful ballad, "Shivers," an unashamedly melodramatic example of post-adolescent anguish. (AMG)

Rolling Stones - Aftermath [1966]

2008-06-10T08:50:00.003+02:00

The Rolling Stones finally delivered a set of all-original material with this LP, which also did much to define...

...the group as the bad boys of rock & roll with their sneering attitude toward the world in general and the female sex in particular. The borderline misogyny could get a bit juvenile in tunes like "Stupid Girl." But on the other hand the group began incorporating the influences of psychedelia and Dylan into their material with classics like "Paint It Black," an eerily insistent number one hit graced by some of the best use of sitar (played by Brian Jones) on a rock record. Other classics included the jazzy "Under My Thumb," where Jones added exotic accents with his vibes, and the delicate Elizabethan ballad "Lady Jane," where dulcimer can be heard. Some of the material is fairly ho-hum, to be honest, as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were still prone to inconsistent songwriting; "Goin' Home," an 11-minute blues jam, was remarkable more for its barrier-crashing length than its content. Look out for an obscure gem, however, in the brooding, meditative "I Am Waiting." (AMG)

Ok...

2008-05-26T23:19:00.001+02:00

I'm gettin' married tomorrow, so I'll be away from the blog 'til next week.

See U all!

Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables [1980]

2008-05-20T19:51:00.005+02:00

A hyper-speed blast of ultra-polemical, left-wing hardcore punk, and bitingly funny sarcasm, Fresh Fruit for ...

...Rotting Vegetables stands as the Dead Kennedys' signature statement. As one of the first hardcore albums, it was a galvanizing influence on the musical and attitudinal development of the genre, also helping to kickstart the fertile California scene. The record's tactics are not subtle in the least; Jello Biafra's odd warble and spat-out lyrics leave no doubt as to what he thinks, baiting his targets of conservatism, violence, overbearing authority, and capitalist greed with a viciously satirical sarcasm that keeps his unflinchingly political outlook from becoming too didactic. The thin production dilutes some of the music's power, but the ragged speed-blur still packs a wallop, and the hooks cribbed from surf and rockabilly give it a gonzo edge. The songwriting isn't consistent all the way through the album, but classics like "Kill the Poor," "Let's Lynch the Landlord," "Chemical Warfare," "California Über Alles," and "Holiday In Cambodia" helped define the hardcore genre and, thus, must be heard. (AMG)

Judas Priest - British Steel [1980]

2008-05-19T23:14:00.005+02:00

With Hell Bent for Leather, Judas Priest had begun the task of developing their image for...

...increased mainstream attention, reveling in leather-and-motorcycle trappings while beginning to simplify and streamline their sound. British Steel brings that process full circle, offering the band's catchiest, most accessible set of tunes yet, while retaining the precision guitar assault and quasi-operatic vocals that had come to define their sound. It was the simplest music Priest had yet attempted, but thanks to the (mostly) top-notch songwriting and AC/DC-like willingness to allow the songs' grooves room to breathe, the record is a smashing success overall, with maybe one or two subpar tracks. There are a couple of trends beginning here that would take their toll later on -- the lyrics are a bit more juvenile, and the music seems to prize commercialism over complexity -- but in this context, neither really matters, as Priest display a real penchant for stadium-ready anthems. "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight" became genuine hit singles in the U.K., and deservedly so, while the album became their first to reach the U.S. Top 40, going platinum in the process. (AMG)

Dire straits - Brothers in Arms [1985]

2008-05-17T10:36:00.004+02:00

Brothers in Arms brought the atmospheric, jazz-rock inclinations of Love Over Gold into a pop setting, resulting...

...in a surprise international best-seller. Of course, the success of Brothers in Arms was helped considerably by the clever computer-animated video for "Money for Nothing," a sardonic attack on MTV. But what kept the record selling was Mark Knopfler's increased sense of pop songcraft -- "Money for Nothing" had an indelible guitar riff, "Walk of Life" is a catchy up-tempo boogie variation on "Sultans of Swing," and the melodies of the bluesy "So Far Away" and the down-tempo, Everly Brothers-style "Why Worry" were wistful and lovely. Dire Straits had never been so concise or pop-oriented, and it wore well on them. Though they couldn't maintain that consistency through the rest of the album -- only the jazzy "Your Latest Trick" and the flinty "Ride Across the River" make an impact -- Brothers in Arms remains one of their most focused and accomplished albums, and in its succinct pop sense, it's distinctive within their catalog. (AMG)

Blink 182 - Dude Ranch [1997]

2008-05-16T21:02:00.004+02:00

On their third album, Dude Ranch, blink-182 follow in the same path as their first two, turning out 15 tracks of...

...juvenile, adrenaline-fueled punk-pop. Some listeners will find their potty humor ("Dick Lips") somewhat irritating, but the group has written some surprisingly catchy hooks, which might win over skeptics. The songwriting is still a little uneven, but overall, Dude Ranch is an improvement over their first album, Cheshire Cat. (AMG)

Motörhead - Hammered [2002]

2008-05-13T10:11:00.004+02:00

Unlike many of the band's contemporaries, Motörhead manages to still release lean and mean rock...

...records, while keeping the songs simple rather than adding some electronic accompaniment or trying to be current or hip. Many of the other bands from Motörhead's era might still be worth checking out live (Iron Maiden, AC/DC), but each of those groups' new albums is almost always more forgettable than the last. In Hammered's "Walk a Crooked Mile," Motörhead has written at least one more classic to add to the band's large number of hits, which could easily fill a double CD. Epic in length and with a cool bassline courtesy of Motörhead main dude Lemmy Kilmister, "Walk a Crooked Mile" has a bit of a punk edge to it like a lot of Motörhead's tunes, but it also closes with a stylish '80s-style metal guitar solo. The rest of the material does not veer from the usual Motörhead formula, but it's all played dirty and in the gutter, and will undoubtedly appeal to Motörhead's dedicated fan base. (AMG)

The Verve - Urban Hymns [1997]

2008-05-07T22:16:00.004+02:00

Not long after the release of A Northern Soul, the Verve imploded due to friction between vocalist...

...Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe. It looked like the band had ended before reaching its full potential, which is part of the reason why their third album, Urban Hymns -- recorded after the pair patched things up in late 1996 -- is so remarkable. Much of the record consists of songs Ashcroft had intended for a solo project or a new group, yet Urban Hymns unmistakably sounds like the work of a full band, with its sweeping, grandiose soundscapes and sense of purpose. The Verve have toned down their trancy, psychedelic excursions, yet haven't abandoned them -- if anything, they sound more muscular than before, whether it's the trippy "Catching the Butterfly" or the pounding "Come On." These powerful, guitar-drenched rockers provide the context for Ashcroft's affecting, string-laden ballads, which give Urban Hymns its hurt. The majestic "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and the heartbreaking, country-tinged "The Drugs Don't Work" are an astonishing pair, two anthemic ballads that make the personal universal, thereby sounding like instant classics. They just are the tip of the iceberg -- "Sonnet" is a lovely, surprisingly understated ballad, "The Rolling People" has a measured, electric power, and many others match their quality. Although it may run a bit too long for some tastes, Urban Hymns is a rich album that revitalizes rock traditions without ever seeming less than contemporary. It is the album the Verve have been striving to make since their formation, and it turns out to be worth all the wait. (AMG)

Gang of Four - Entertainment! [1979]

2008-04-30T18:39:00.004+02:00

Entertainment! is one of those records where germs of influence can be traced through many genres and...

...countless bands, both favorably and unfavorably. From groups whose awareness of genealogy spreads wide enough to openly acknowledge Gang of Four's influence (Fugazi, Rage Against the Machine), to those not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it (rap-metal, some indie rock) -- all have appropriated elements of their forefathers' trailblazing contribution. Its vaguely funky rhythmic twitch, its pungent, pointillistic guitar stoccados, and its spoken/shouted vocals have all been picked up by many. Lyrically, the album was apart from many of the day, and it still is. The band rants at revisionist history in "Not Great Men" ("No weak men in the books at home"), self-serving media and politicians in "I Found That Essence Rare" ("The last thing they'll ever do?/Act in your interest"), and sexual politics in "Damaged Goods" ("You said you're cheap but you're too much"). Though the brilliance of the record thrives on the faster material -- especially the febrile first side -- a true highlight amongst highlights is the closing "Anthrax," full of barely controlled feedback squalls and moans. It's nearly psychedelic, something post-punk and new wave were never known for. With a slight death rattle and plodding bass rumble, Jon King equates love with disease and admits to feeling "like a beetle on its back." In the background, Andy Gill speaks in monotone of why Gang of Four doesn't do love songs. Subversive records of any ilk don't get any stronger, influential, or exciting than this. (AMG)

Pink Floyd - Meddle [1971]

2008-04-29T21:18:00.003+02:00

Atom Heart Mother, for all its glories, was an acquired taste, and Pink Floyd wisely decided to trim back...

...its orchestral excesses for its follow-up, Meddle. Opening with a deliberately surging "One of These Days," Meddle spends most of its time with sonic textures and elongated compositions, most notably on its epic closer, "Echoes." If there aren't pop songs in the classic sense (even on the level of the group's contributions to Ummagumma), there is a uniform tone, ranging from the pastoral "A Pillow of Winds" to "Fearless," with its insistent refrain hinting at latter-day Floyd. Pink Floyd were nothing if not masters of texture, and Meddle is one of their greatest excursions into little details, pointing the way to the measured brilliance of Dark Side of the Moon and the entire Roger Waters era. Here, David Gilmour exerts a slightly larger influence, at least based on lead vocals, but it's not all sweetness and light -- even if its lilting rhythms are welcome, "San Tropez" feels out of place with the rest of Meddle. Still, the album is one of the Floyd's most consistent explorations of mood, especially from their time at Harvest, and it stands as the strongest record they released between Syd's departure and Dark Side. (AMG)

Genesis - Foxtrot [1972]

2008-04-25T09:40:00.006+02:00

Foxtrot is where Genesis began to pull all of its varied inspirations into a cohesive sound -- which doesn't...

...necessarily mean that the album is streamlined, for this is a group that always was grandiose even when they were cohesive, or even when they rocked, which they truly do for the first time here. Indeed, the startling thing about the opening "Watcher of the Skies" is that it's the first time that Genesis attacked like a rock band, playing with a visceral power. There's might and majesty here, and it, along with "Get 'Em Out by Friday," is the truest sign that Genesis has grown muscle without abandoning the whimsy. Certainly, they've rarely sounded as fantastical or odd as they do on the epic 22-minute closer "Supper's Ready," a nearly side-long suite that remains one of the group's signature moments. It ebbs, flows, teases and taunts, see-sawing between coiled instrumental attacks and delicate pastoral fairy tales. If Peter Gabriel remained a rather inscrutable lyricist, his gift for imagery is abundantly, as there are passages throughout the album that are hauntingly evocative in their precious prose. But what impresses most about Foxtrot is how that precociousness is delivered with pure musical force. This is the rare art-rock album that excels at both the art and the rock, and it's a pinnacle of the genre (and decade) because of it. (AMG)

The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out! [1966]

2008-04-24T19:20:00.006+02:00

One of the most ambitious debuts in rock history, Freak Out! was a seminal concept album that somehow foreshadowed...

...both art rock and punk at the same time. Its four LP sides deconstruct rock conventions right and left, eventually pushing into territory inspired by avant-garde classical composers. Yet the album is sequenced in an accessibly logical progression; the first half is dedicated to catchy, satirical pop/rock songs that question assumptions about pop music, setting the tone for the radical new directions of the second half. Opening with the nonconformist call to arms "Hungry Freaks, Daddy," Freak Out! quickly posits the Mothers of Invention as the antithesis of teen-idol bands, often with sneering mockeries of the teen-romance songs that had long been rock's commercial stock-in-trade. Despite his genuine emotional alienation and dissatisfaction with pop conventions, though, Frank Zappa was actually a skilled pop composer; even with the raw performances and his stinging guitar work, there's a subtle sophistication apparent in his unorthodox arrangements and tight, unpredictable melodicism. After returning to social criticism on the first song of the second half, the perceptive Watts riot protest "Trouble Every Day," Zappa exchanges pop song structure for experiments with musique concrète, amelodic dissonance, shifting time signatures, and studio effects. It's the first salvo in his career-long project of synthesizing popular and art music, high and low culture; while these pieces can meander, they virtually explode the limits of what can appear on a rock album, and effectively illustrate Freak Out!'s underlying principles: acceptance of differences and free individual expression. Zappa would spend much of his career developing and exploring ideas -- both musical and conceptual -- first put forth here; while his myriad directions often produced more sophisticated work, Freak Out! contains at least the rudiments of almost everything that followed, and few of Zappa's records can match its excitement over its own sense of possibility. (AMG)

Spandau Ballet - The Best Of Spandau Ballet [1991]

2008-04-22T08:30:00.006+02:00

As one of the leading New Romantic bands, Spandau Ballet racked up a number of British hits -- as well as...

...one Top Ten American hit, "True" -- during the early '80s, becoming one of the most successful groups to emerge during new wave. The only other new romantic band to enjoy greater commercial success was Duran Duran, yet Spandau Ballet was there first, scoring three Top Ten hit singles during 1981 with their synthesized dance-pop. By 1983, the London-based quintet had shed its Roxy Music-inspired robotic art-disco and picked up on Bryan Ferry's latter-day crooner persona, revamping themselves as a slick, stylish white soul act. It was in this incarnation that Spandau Ballet experienced its greatest success, as "True" reached number one in Britain and number four in America. However, their time in the spotlight was shortlived. Though they had a few more hits in Britain, none of them were particularly big, and in America they disappeared at the end of 1984. By the end of the decade, the group had split, with their core members, brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, launching acting careers with the 1990 film, The Krays. (AMG)

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Greatest Hits [1995]

2008-04-18T09:10:00.004+02:00

Stevie Ray Vaughan was a great guitarist, but he had trouble making consistent albums. Greatest Hits rectifies...

...that problem by collecting all of his best-known tracks, from "Pride and Joy" to "Crossfire." Not only is it a terrific introduction, it's his most consistent album, demonstrating exactly why he was one of the most important guitarists of the '80s. (AMG)

Soundgarden - Superunknown [1994]

2008-04-11T09:01:00.003+02:00

Soundgarden's finest hour, Superunknown is a sprawling, 70-minute magnum opus that pushes beyond any previous...

...boundaries. Soundgarden had always loved replicating Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath riffs, but Superunknown's debt is more to mid-period Zep's layered arrangements and sweeping epics. Their earlier punk influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop and psychedelia. Badmotorfinger boasted more than its fair share of indelible riffs, but here the main hooks reside mostly in Chris Cornell's vocals; accordingly, he's mixed right up front, floating over the band instead of cutting through it. The rest of the production is just as crisp, with the band achieving a huge, robust sound that makes even the heaviest songs sound deceptively bright. But the most important reason Superunknown is such a rich listen is twofold: the band's embrace of psychedelia, and their rapidly progressing mastery of songcraft. Soundgarden had always been a little mind-bending, but the full-on experiments with psychedelia give them a much wider sonic palette, paving the way for less metallic sounds and instruments, more detailed arrangements, and a bridge into pop (which made the eerie ballad "Black Hole Sun" an inescapable hit). That blossoming melodic skill is apparent on most of the record, not just the poppier songs and Cornell-penned hits; though a couple of drummer Matt Cameron's contributions are pretty undistinguished, they're easy to overlook, given the overall consistency. The focused songwriting allows the band to stretch material out for grander effect, without sinking into the pointlessly drawn-out muck that cluttered their early records. The dissonance and odd time signatures are still in force, though not as jarring or immediately obvious, which means that the album reveals more subtleties with each listen. It's obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition. (AMG)

The Cure - Greatest Hits Acoustic [2001]

2008-04-10T09:03:00.005+02:00

A bonus disc to Greatest Hits, entitled "Greatest Hits Acoustic", featuring newly recorded unplugged...

...versions of the classic tracks, was also included in some editions. (AMG)

The Cure - Greatest Hits [2001]

2008-04-09T22:48:00.005+02:00

The Cure were never afraid of artistically defining themselves. They had their own sound, an eerie glamour...

...surrounding a dark whimsicality, yet fans flocked to them throughout the '80s and '90s. Commercial or cult favorites, they're impressive as being one of the '80s' seminal bands who culled more than 30 critical singles. Compilations like 1986's Staring at the Sea: The Singles and 1997's Galore showcased the Cure's accessibility; therefore, having a solid greatest-hits collection might be a bit nonessential. Then again, releasing an album like this at the tip of the new millennium calls for a celebration, and that's what the Cure did. They collected 16 amazing cuts which spanned 23 years and recall what once was. From the saucy synth strut of "The Walk" and the cabaret stylings of "The Lovecats" to the lilting swan songs of "Lovesong" and "Just Like Heaven," the Cure's ever-changing moods were switched up for something desirable and blissful. They are selectively classic, leaving this package to be its own storybook of sorts. The Cure did treat the fans with two new songs: "Cut Here" rises with early sounds of Madchester, but the glitzy swirls of "Just Say Yes" mark the Cure's return to form. Republica's Saffron joins Robert Smith for something campy and carefree. Greatest Hits is basically for the fans who have to have everything, but also a decent collection for those who never fully enraptured themselves with the Cure. (AMG)

The Sisters Of Mercy - Vision Thing [1990]

2008-04-02T08:53:00.004+02:00

After scoring big time with Floodland, Sisters of Mercy frontman Andrew Eldritch changed direction once again, heading this time for a guitar-based techno-rock feel. The title track became a club hit, where the driving tempo and distorted guitars provided a perfect dancefloor atmosphere. On "Doctor Jeep" and "Detonation Boulevard," the lack of variation becomes quickly annoying, however, and "Something Fast" fails entirely in its efforts to be introspective and wistful. The Jim Steinman-produced "More" and the clever "I Was Wrong" are the album's highlights, but it's a shame the rest of the album is so patchy. (AMG)

Sonic Youth - Confusion is Sex [1983]

2008-03-31T22:32:00.003+02:00

Abrasive and archaic, theatrical and confrontational, Confusion Is Sex marks the opening strides that...

...Sonic Youth made during their long slog through the American underground scene of the '80s. And yes, this album is underground if anything -- it's lo-fi to the point of tonal drabness, as the instruments seem to ring out in only one tone, that of screechy noise. Yet that tone in itself is part of the album's style, which is one of antithesis. The album isn't comprised of songs but rather soundscapes, while the instruments are your traditional guitar-bass-drums-vocals lineup but are performed most untraditionally. Taken as a whole, Confusion Is Sex is a spellbinding listen, especially the first time through. If you're a bona fide Sonic Youth fan, chances are you'll find it especially spellbinding -- the more of the band's albums you've heard, the better. However, if you're unfamiliar with the band, or a casual fan at most, chances are you're going to be thoroughly tested -- this is not an easy album to enjoy. As inaccessible as it may be, however, Confusion Is Sex is a cornerstone of Sonic Youth's career, their true opening salvo toward underground heroism, though miles and miles away from such highly regarded albums as Daydream Nation (1988) or Dirty (1992). (AMG)

John Lee Hooker - Best Jazz & Blues Hits [2003]

2008-03-25T13:34:00.005+01:00

What to say about this compilation? I believe it's bootleg but...

...you can't go wrong with John Lee Hooker, no matter bootleg or official. Get it and enjoy.

Joey Ramone - Don't Worry About Me [2002]

2008-03-17T08:49:00.006+01:00

In the wake of the sad passing of Joey Ramone, Don't Worry About Me is the first posthumous release...

...to come from his estate. Consisting of pop-punk anthems along the lines of '60s garage rock and very early punk, Don't Worry About Me is a sad reminder of how good Ramone really was. With a brilliant ear for melody, a songwriting skill based in simplicity, and the most unpretentious lyrics this side of Chubby Checker, Ramone didn't care about making groundbreaking music when he had mastered the art of pop-punk to a degree most of his disciples will never understand. "What a Wonderful World" and "1969" are excellent covers that do their source material justice, although Louis Armstrong probably never expected his torch song to be rocked out à la Sid Vicious' "My Way." But the two best tracks are "Searching for Something," his Beatlesque tribute to a girl, and "Mr. Punchy," a gorgeous pop song that features a guest appearance from the Damned's Captain Sensible. The anti-cancer anthem "I Got Knocked Down (But I'll Get Up)" is a heartbreaking stance on his condition that is pure punk rock all the way ("I want my life/I want my life/It really sucks/It really sucks") that only goes to show how even toward the end, he refused to give into sentimentality. Nothing new to see here, and that's a good thing, as Ramone's trademark whine never sounded so sincere as it did in his last studio recordings. (AMG)

The Specials - The Specials [1979]

2008-03-14T10:48:00.004+01:00

A perfect moment in time captured on vinyl forever, such is the Specials' eponymous debut album; it arrived...

...in shops in the middle of October 1979 and soared into the U.K. Top Five. It was an utter revelation -- except for anyone who had seen the band on-stage, for the album was at its core a studio recording of their live set, and at times even masquerades as a gig. There were some notable omissions: "Gangsters," for one, but that had already spun on 45, as well as the quartet of covers that would appear on their live Too Much Too Young EP in the new year. But the rest are all here, 14 songs' strong, mostly originals with a few covers of classics thrown in for good measure. That includes their fabulous take on Dandy Livingstone's "A Message to You Rudy," an equally stellar version of the Maytals' "Monkey Man," and the sizzling take on Prince Buster's "Too Hot." If those were fabulous, their own compositions were magnificent. The Specials managed to distill all the anger, disenchantment, and bitterness of the day straight into their music. The vicious "Nite Klub" -- with its unforgettable line, "All the girls are slags and the beer tastes just like piss" -- perfectly skewered every bad night the members had ever spent out on the town; "Blank Expression" extended the misery into unwelcoming pubs, while "Concrete Jungle" moved the action onto the streets, capturing the fear and violence that stalked the inner cities. And then it gets personal. "It's Up to You" throws down the gauntlets to those who disliked the group, its music, and its stance, while simultaneously acting as a rallying cry for supporters. "Too Much Too Young" shows the Specials' disdain for teen pregnancy and marriage; "Stupid Marriage" drags two such offenders before a Judge Dread-esque magistrate, with Terry Hall playing the outraged and sniping prosecutor; while "Little Bitch" is downright nasty. Those were polemics; "It Doesn't Make It Alright" reaches a hand out to listeners and, with conviction, delivers up a heartfelt plea against racism, but even this number contains a sharp sting in its tail. It's a bitter brew, aggressively delivered, with even the slower numbers sharply edged, and therefore the band wisely scattered sparkling covers across the album to help lift its mood. The set appropriately ends with the rocksteady-esque yearning of "You're Wondering Now," the song that invariably closed their live shows. Even though producer Elvis Costello gave the record a bright sound, it doesn't lighten the dark currents that run through the group's songs; if anything, his production heightens them. It's left to guests Rico Rodriguez and Dick Cuthell to provide a little Caribbean sun to the Specials' sound, their brass sweetening the flashes of anger and disaffection that sweep across the record. And so, this was Britain in late 1979, an unhappy island about to explode. (AMG)

The Red Krayola - Introduction [2006]

2008-03-12T09:18:00.004+01:00

Red Krayola's vibrancy -- and continuing relevancy -- can perhaps be traced not only to Mayo Thompson's own...

...vision of engaging pop music head-on in recent years, but also to the band's ever-evolving cast. On Introduction (a curious title since RK has been kicking around in one form or another since 1967) Mayo Thompson teams with longtime members Stephen Prina and Tom Watson. John McEntire (who in this band is actually considered a longtime member) recorded and mixed the set, and bassist Noel Kupersmith and accordionist Charlie Abel fill out the group. Thompson and cohorts make a move toward pop -- a sharp turn, in fact -- that was only hinted in the beautiful piano parts on 2004's Japan in Paris in L.A. Actually, Introduction is the most accessible album Red Krayola has ever issued. It's song-oriented and sparse. After a spoken word intro, Thompson folds "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" into a darkly prophetic weave, a point of engagement with how far not only music but culture have not only broken the circle but shattered it. Abel's accordion is a fine companion to Thompson's odd yet unpretentious, subdued rant about dislocation and global warming. Here country music, ragtime, folk music, and rock all come together, to shift and turn along with the various terrains he reveals in his narrative, eventually returning to the standard as away of taking it out, of returning the circle, bruised and bloodied but unbroken. This is followed by a syncopated pop song called "Cruise Boat," which swings along a jazzy groove even as the philosophical treatise continues. "Note to Selves" has an intro worthy of Jimmy Webb or Van Dyke Parks in the late '60s, then opens onto a beautiful ballad. Even the instrumental interludes, such as "L.G.F.," are positively dreamy. On the surreal "A Tale of Two..." moves from blues to abstraction without losing the blues or its hummability! "Pay Ops" is reminiscent of Captain Beefheart, and if it were a tribute it would be pleasing to the great Van Vliet. The continuing tale of "Puff the Magic Dragon" is from the other side, with gorgeous, warm, distorted guitars, and a shuffling drum line make this tune a wonder. The more experimental tracks, such as "Greasy Street," never lose their pop focus. Thompson's engagement with pop here is not a trick; nor is it a gimmick. He's looking at it deeply and trying it on for size even as he follows his own less conciliatory muse. "Swerving," "It Will Be (Delivered)," and "Vexations" will delight most fans of Thompson's to see how well he understands the indie rock form as well. The only track on here that is truly "experimental" is "Elegy," and even here, those with a fairly open mind will be lulled, hypnotized, and seduced by its shape, and its warm -- if a bit angular -- beauty. Introduction is the sound of a "new" Red Krayola, one not heard before; one that reveals more about Thompson than perhaps anyone ever knew. This is one of those records that will leave listeners still scratching their heads and smiling (at the same time) after repeat listens for years to come. (AMG)

The Breeders - Last Splash [1993]

2008-03-11T10:37:00.005+01:00

Thanks to good timing and some great singles, the Breeders' second album, Last Splash, turned them into...

...the alternative rock stars that Kim Deal's former band, the Pixies, always seemed on the verge of becoming. Building on Safari's driving, polished sound, Last Splash is half-brilliant singles and half-unfinished, uninspired ideas. When it's good, it's very, very good: "Cannonball"'s instantly catchy collage of bouncy bass, rhythmic stops and starts, and singsong vocals; the sweetly sexy "Divine Hammer"; and swaggering "Saints" are among the Breeders' finest moments, and deserved all of the airplay they received. And the charming country-pop of "Drivin' on 9," "I Just Wanna Get Along"'s spiky punk-pop, and the bittersweet "Invisible Man" proved Last Splash had a bit of depth. But underdeveloped snippets such as "Roi" and "No Aloha" drag down the album's momentum; likewise, the band tries to stretch their range on the rambling, cryptic "Mad Lucas" and "Hag," but neither quite comes together as a full-fledged song. Though instrumentals such as "S.O.S." and "Flipside" showcase the Breeders' chops and some nifty production tricks, they feel like filler; worst of all, Last Splash features an inferior, plodding new version of Safari's soaring "Do You Love Me Now" that emphasizes the album's unevenness. One of the definitive alternative rock albums of the '90s, Last Splash is equally inspired and infuriating; that it was the Breeders' last album of that decade makes it even more frustrating. (AMG)

Sex Pistols - The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle [1979]

2008-03-04T12:01:00.003+01:00

A wildly inconsistent but often entertaining collection, the soundtrack to the Sex Pistols' pseudo-documentary...

...contains great music, whacked-out novelties, and flat-out tripe in approximately equal proportions. Some formative recordings are included -- mostly covers like "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," plus a demo of "Anarchy in the U.K." that somehow manages to top the version on Never Mind the Bollocks in terms of raw rage and sheer power. "I Wanna Be Me" and a veiled chronicle of the band's breakup, "Silly Thing," are also necessary items. Devoted fans will enjoy "The Black Arabs"' disco medley of Pistols' hits, a French version of "Anarchy in the U.K." complete with accordion, two tracks sung by loony Edward Tudor-Pole (later of Tenpole Tudor), and Sid Vicious' awful but strangely appropriate reading of Frank Sinatra's "My Way." (AMG)

The Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me [2004]

2008-03-03T10:44:00.004+01:00

"The '80s almost killed me," admits the Hold Steady's Craig Finn on "Positive Jam," one of ten...

...rock & roll confessionals on the band's debut. That sets the tone for the rest of Almost Killed Me, as Finn reveals a lifestyle that included a "skater phase," a "raver phase," and a "razor blade phase." His lamentations are the appropriate voice for the band's debut, which sets out to recapture the glory of classic American rock and early indie rock. With rugged guitar riffs and solos and Finn's half-sung, scratchy voice, the Hold Steady mostly succeed, easily recalling the classic rock of early Bruce Springsteen or the sincerity of latter-day Hüsker Dü. When he's not remembering the parties and acting like "a Twin Cities trash bin," he reacts to the corruption of today's youth. Finn may seem like a fish out of water at this point, but having survived a self-indulgent life, his lyrics, as well as the Hold Steady's back-to-basics rock, are ironically welcoming. (AMG)

Bush - The Science of Things [1999]

2008-03-02T16:26:00.005+01:00

For their third album, The Science of Things, Bush returned to Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the Madness...

...producers who helmed Sixteen Stone, but along the way, they fell out with the duo. Rossdale claimed the two were only credited on the album for legal reasons, and that the real work was done by the band with engineer Tom Elmhirst, which is probably true, since it's slicker than Razorblade Suitcase but doesn't glisten like Stone. Science is carefully crafted and sequenced, flowing nicely from hard rockers to power ballads, but little of it catches hold. It plays better than the disjointed Razorblade Suitcase due to studiocraft, since the measured, detailed production fleshes out songs held together by a bare minimum of hooks and melodies. Without hooks, Bush's earnestness is unavoidable. Rossdale's emotive, gut-wrenching vocals and the band's hard, heavy delivery are all this record has to offer and the mystery is why the music has such little impact, either as emotional catharsis (which it was intended to be, if the tenor of the performances and Rossdale's interviews are to be believed) or as catchy commercial hard rock (which is what the best moments of their first two records were). In an effort to develop their own voice and to be taken seriously, Bush have left behind their natural strengths -- a knack for melodic hooks and riffs. They're undoubtedly sincere and have delivered a professional record, but once The Science of Things is finished it fades away, since it has neither the emotional nor musical substance to make a lasting impact. (AMG)

Whale - We Care [1995]

2008-02-28T08:19:00.004+01:00

Whale isn't necessarily a band, it's a studio project by a pair of Swedish television personalities, who...

...also happen to be ex-lovers. In other words, it's a highly stylized and manufactured album that is proud of its artificiality. Even more than that, Whale is about sex, particularly dirty, tawdry sex. From the blunt come-ons of "I'll Do Ya," to the lesbian fantasies about Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell on "Eurodog," We Care positively seethes with sex. No matter how dirty Whale gets ("Young, Dumb & Full of Cum" is about as far as they go), there is a jokey sense of good humor that keeps We Care from being an oppressively sleazy affair. What also helps is their reckless mixture of styles. Taking elements of trip-hop beats, heavy metal guitars, sing-song pop, and football chants, the band creates a joyously noisy racket that emphasizes their humor and their sexiness. The sound might grow a little monotonous at various points on the album, but We Care succeeds on its own raunchy charm. (AMG)

Santana - Very Best Of [1996]

2008-02-26T07:54:00.005+01:00

Limited edition digipak featuring 19 of the greatest from 1969-95 by Carlos & co., including...

...'She's Not There', 'Europa', 'Oye Como Va', 'Black Magic Woman', 'No One To Depend On', 'Evil Ways', 'One Chain' and 'Dance Sister Dance'. Also features both the front & back cover art of their 1974 collection 'Santana's Greatest Hits'. 1996 release. (Amazon)

Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill [1986]

2008-02-22T09:00:00.003+01:00

Perhaps Licensed to Ill was inevitable -- a white group blending rock and rap, giving them the first...

...number one album in hip-hop history. But that reading of the album's history gives a short shrift to the Beastie Boys; producer Rick Rubin and his label, Def Jam; and this remarkable record, since mixing metal and hip-hop isn't necessarily an easy thing to do. Just sampling and scratching Sabbath and Zeppelin to hip-hop beats does not make for an automatically good record, though there is a visceral thrill to hearing those muscular riffs put into overdrive with scratching. But, much of that is due to the producing skills of Rick Rubin, a metalhead who formed Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons and had previously flirted with this sound on Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, not to mention a few singles and one-offs with the Beasties prior to this record. He made rap rock, but to give him lone credit for Licensed to Ill (as some have) is misleading, since that very same combination would not have been as powerful, nor would it have aged so well -- aged into a rock classic -- if it weren't for the Beastie Boys, who fuel this record through their passion for subcultures, pop culture, jokes, and the intoxicating power of wordplay. At the time, it wasn't immediately apparent that their obnoxious patter was part of a persona (a fate that would later plague Eminem), but the years have clarified that this was a joke -- although, listening to the cajoling rhymes, filled with clear parodies and absurdities, it's hard to imagine the offense that some took at the time. Which, naturally, is the credit of not just the music -- they don't call it the devil's music for nothing -- but the wild imagination of the Beasties, whose rhymes sear into consciousness through their gonzo humor and gleeful delivery. There hasn't been a funnier, more infectious record in pop music than this, and it's not because the group is mocking rappers (in all honesty, the truly twisted barbs are hurled at frat boys and lager lads), but because they've already created their own universe and points of reference, where it's as funny to spit out absurdist rhymes and pound out "Fight for Your Right (To Party)" as it is to send up street-corner doo wop with "Girls." Then, there is the overpowering loudness of the record -- operating from the axis of where metal, punk, and rap meet, there never has been a record this heavy and nimble, drunk on its own power yet giddy with what they're getting away with. There is a sense of genuine discovery, of creating new music, that remains years later, after countless plays, countless misinterpretations, countless rip-off acts, even countless apologies from the Beasties, who seemed guilty by how intoxicating the sound of it is, how it makes beer-soaked hedonism sound like the apogee of human experience. And maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but in either case, Licensed to Ill reigns tall among the greatest records of its time. (AMG)

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - ACME [1998]

2008-02-20T17:07:00.004+01:00

Part of the reason the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is so distasteful to the legions of blues purists is that...

...Spencer cherishes not the mythology of the blues or the songcraft, but the groove, the actual sound of classic blues records. He could care less about songwriting or technique; what's important is the feel and the grit of the performance, whether it's on-stage or on record. Often, that means that the Blues Explosion's records are better when they're playing than they are in memory, but there's no question that ever since Extra Width, the New York trio was exceptionally shrewd in crafting albums that pack real sonic force. They also were sharp enough to subtly explore new territory with each album, gradually moving from the Stonesy blooze of Extra Width through the funky Orange and gutbucket Now I Got Worry to Acme, where pure sound matters more than ever. Like the Stones, the Blues Explosion never abandon their signature sound, even when they're branching into new territory. No matter how many electronic bleeps, hip-hop loops, or cut-and-paste arrangements rear their heads on Acme, or how many producers or remixers are employed (including Calvin Johnson, Steve Albini, Suzanne Dyer, Alec Empire, Jim Dickinson, and the Automator), the primal, two-guitar racket remains at the center of the Blues Explosion's sound. But the electronica and hip-hop flourishes aren't folly, either -- they confirm Spencer's ultimate goal of sound over structure, force over sense. And while there are only a handful of songs to latch onto -- the slow, sexy "Magical Colors," the gonzoid rant "Talk About the Blues," the Jill Cunniff duet "Blue Green Olga" -- the dynamic explosions of sounds guarantee that Acme is a captivating listen, at least the first time through. While frequently exciting, the sonic experimentations sound cerebral instead of primal. (AMG)

Tomorrow, my 100th music post!!!

2008-02-19T09:33:00.016+01:00

Thanx to all of U. Especially those who leave comments!

Jura [32]

The Wallflowers - Bringing Down The Horse [1996]

2008-02-19T09:22:00.005+01:00

No sophomore jinx here. Of course, there are only two Wallflowers left from their first release, so this could be...

...called a whole new band. No matter, because the music here is assured and contemporary with just enough of the past showing through to catch one's eye. Jakob Dylan has been polishing his compositional chops and it really shows on such cuts as "Invisible City," the hit "6th Avenue Heartache" and especially "One Headlight." A fine effort indeed. (AMG)

The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia [2000]

2008-02-15T19:06:00.005+01:00

Though they still tend towards pastiche, the Dandy Warhols' third full-length, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia, presents a...

...bakers' dozen of their most focused and cohesive songs. Where their earlier albums were eclectic to the point of being scattershot, this release manages to limit the band's style-switching to dreamy, sweeping epics like "Godless" and "Nietzsche," sussed, sleazy power pop like "Horse Pills" and "Cool Scene," and country and gospel ventures like "Country Leaver" and "The Gospel." The group's increasingly strong songwriting makes most of these experiments successful and distinctive, though the Dandys fall into their old habit of appropriating sounds they like wholesale with "Shakin'," a "tribute" to Elastica's uptight yet sexy riffs and rhythms. Not surprisingly, the most successful songs on Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia are the least derivative ones, such as anxious pop songs like "Solid," "Get Off," and the delicate, lovelorn ballad "Sleep." On those tracks, as well as the satirical single "Bohemian Like You" -- this year's model of their hit "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" -- the Dandys reveal themselves as a savvy pop band with a voice of their own. Though they're not all the way there yet, Tales From Urban Bohemia is a worthwhile step in their developing creativity. (AMG)

The New Bomb Turks - !!Destroy-Oh-Boy!! [1993]

2008-02-14T20:48:00.006+01:00

Destroy-Oh-Boy! is the kind of full-on flamethrower album that could make the most jaded cynic believe once...

...again in the curative powers of punk rock. On this set, the New Bomb Turks combine 1950s and 1960s roots rock at it's rawest, '70s punk at it's snottiest, and '80s hardcore at it's most intense. Then they filter out what's lame, put the good stuff together, and send it down the track at 150 miles per hour. The results are wild, frantic, and thoroughly enjoyable; Jim Weber's fuzzy guitar communicates nearly as much through the power of downstroke as Johnny Ramone himself, bassist Matt Reber, and drummer Bill Randt push the horsepower into the red with a fury that is a wonder to behold, and Eric Davidson proves he's one of the great frontmen of 90s punk: smart, funny, wise-ass when he wants to be, and possessing a genuine sense of purpose. From the moment they crash into "Born Toulouse-Lautrec," the New Bomb Turks grab your ears and won't let go, and you won't mind a bit. Points added for a great garage-style cover of Wire's "Mr. Suit." (AMG)

Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn [1967]

2008-02-13T22:49:00.003+01:00

The title of Pink Floyd's debut album is taken from a chapter in Syd Barrett's favorite children's...

...book, The Wind in the Willows, and the lyrical imagery of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is indeed full of colorful, childlike, distinctly British whimsy, albeit filtered through the perceptive lens of LSD. Barrett's catchy, melodic acid pop songs are balanced with longer, more experimental pieces showcasing the group's instrumental freak-outs, often using themes of space travel as metaphors for hallucinogenic experiences -- "Astronomy Domine" is a poppier number in this vein, but tracks like "Interstellar Overdrive" are some of the earliest forays into what has been tagged space rock. But even though Barrett's lyrics and melodies are mostly playful and humorous, the band's music doesn't always bear out those sentiments -- in addition to Rick Wright's eerie organ work, dissonance, chromaticism, weird noises, and vocal sound effects are all employed at various instances, giving the impression of chaos and confusion lurking beneath the bright surface. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn successfully captures both sides of psychedelic experimentation -- the pleasures of expanding one's mind and perception, and an underlying threat of mental disorder and even lunacy; this duality makes Piper all the more compelling in light of Barrett's subsequent breakdown, and ranks it as one of the best psychedelic albums of all time. (AMG)

Moby - Play [1999]

2008-02-12T23:42:00.001+01:00

Following a notorious flirtation with alternative rock, Moby returned to the electronic dance...

...mainstream on the 1997 album I Like to Score. With 1999's Play, he made yet another leap back toward the electronica base that had passed him by during the mid-'90s. The first two tracks, "Honey" and "Find My Baby," weave short blues or gospel vocal samples around rather disinterested breakbeat techno. This version of blues-meets-electronica is undoubtedly intriguing to the all-important NPR crowd, but it is more than just a bit gimmicky to any techno fans who know their Carl Craig from Carl Cox. Fortunately, Moby redeems himself in a big way over the rest of the album with a spate of tracks that return him to the evocative, melancholy techno that's been a specialty since his early days. The tinkly piano line and warped string samples on "Porcelain" frame a meaningful, devastatingly understated vocal from the man himself, while "South Side" is just another pop song by someone who shouldn't be singing -- that is, until the transcendent chorus redeems everything. Surprisingly, many of Moby's vocal tracks are highlights; he has an unerring sense of how to frame his fragile vocals with sympathetic productions. Occasionally, the similarities to contemporary dance superstars like Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers are just a bit too close for comfort, as on the stale big-beat anthem "Bodyrock." Still, Moby shows himself back in the groove after a long hiatus, balancing his sublime early sound with the breakbeat techno evolution of the '90s. (AMG)

Manu Chao - Clandestino [1998]

2008-02-09T21:48:00.002+01:00

The first solo album released by the former frontman of Mano Negra, Clandestino is an enchanting trip...

...through Latin-flavored worldbeat rock, reliant on a potpourri of musical styles from traditional Latin and salsa to dub to rock & roll to French pop to experimental rock to techno. Chao's voice tends to be a bit nasally, but the best songs ("Mentira," "Mama Call," and the silly novelty "Bongo Bong") here benefit from his infectious, freewheeling delivery which incorporates balladry, chorus vocals, rapping, and tossed-off spoken-word passages. Just about every track has odd sampled bits from what sound like pirate radio-station broadcasts (a possible link to the title). There are so many great ideas on this record that it's difficult to digest in one listen, but multiple plays reveal the great depth of Manu Chao's artistry. (AMG)

Leonard Cohen - The Best of Leonard Cohen [1975]

2008-02-07T08:38:00.001+01:00

The Best of Leonard Cohen samples 12 of the many highlights from the singer's first...

...four studio LPs. With a heavy emphasis on the debut, Songs of Leonard Cohen, and its follow-up, Songs From a Room, the set includes such masterpieces as "Suzanne," "So Long, Marianne," and "Bird on the Wire," as well as later efforts including "Chelsea Hotel" and "Famous Blue Raincoat." (AMG)

Leftfield - Leftism [1995]

2008-02-05T22:38:00.001+01:00

Leftism spans most of Paul Daley and Neil Barnes' singles output from...

...1992 to 1995 (excepting only "Not Forgotten") and adds several new tracks. Far from being just a stale progressive house LP, it spans a wide range of influences (tribal, dub, trance) and includes a good mixture of vocal tracks (with Toni Halliday, John Lydon, and Earl Sixteen) and instrumental workouts. (AMG)

INXS - The Greatest Hits (Japan) [2000]

2008-01-31T08:56:00.001+01:00

While INXS made a few consistent albums, singles are the best format for the group's stylish...

...dance-rock. Throughout the '80s and early '90s, the group racked up nine Top 40 hits and seven of those singles hit the Top Ten. Greatest Hits collects all of those hits -- including "Need You Tonight," "What You Need," "Devil Inside," "New Sensation," "Disappear," "Suicide Blonde," and "Never Tears Us Apart" -- adding minor hits like "Original Sin" and "Listen Like Thieves," but curiously bypassing the pivotal "Don't Change" and excellent "Bitter Tears," which was a bigger hit than several songs on the record. Nevertheless, Greatest Hits lives up to its title and provides a fine introduction to the band. (AMG)

David Bowie - Hunky Dory [1971]

2008-01-31T08:49:00.002+01:00

After the freakish hard rock of The Man Who Sold the World, David Bowie returned to singer/songwriter territory...

...on Hunky Dory. Not only did the album boast more folky songs ("Song for Bob Dylan," "The Bewlay Brothers"), but he again flirted with Anthony Newley-esque dancehall music ("Kooks," "Fill Your Heart"), seemingly leaving heavy metal behind. As a result, Hunky Dory is a kaleidoscopic array of pop styles, tied together only by Bowie's sense of vision: a sweeping, cinematic mélange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch, and class. Mick Ronson's guitar is pushed to the back, leaving Rick Wakeman's cabaret piano to dominate the sound of the album. The subdued support accentuates the depth of Bowie's material, whether it's the revamped Tin Pan Alley of "Changes," the Neil Young homage "Quicksand," the soaring "Life on Mars?," the rolling, vaguely homosexual anthem "Oh! You Pretty Things," or the dark acoustic rocker "Andy Warhol." On the surface, such a wide range of styles and sounds would make an album incoherent, but Bowie's improved songwriting and determined sense of style instead made Hunky Dory a touchstone for reinterpreting pop's traditions into fresh, postmodern pop music. (AMG)

Cornershop - When I Was Born for the 7th Time [1997]

2008-01-29T21:34:00.001+01:00

When I Was Born for the 7th Time is a remarkable leap forward for Cornershop, the place where the group blends...

...all of their diverse influences into a seamless whole. Cornershop uses Indian music as a foundation, finding its droning repetition similar to the trancier elements of electronica, the cut-and-paste collages of hip-hop, and the skeletal melodicism of indie pop. Tying all of these strands together, the band creates a multicultural music that is utterly modern; it is conscious of its heritage, but instead of being enslaved to tradition, it pushes into the future and finds a common ground between different cultures and musics. Like Woman's Gotta Have It, large portions of When I Was Born for the 7th Time are devoted to hypnotic instrumentals, but the music here is funkier and fully realized. Cornershop hits an appealing compromise between detailed arrangements and lo-fi technology. There may be cheap keyboards and drum machines scattered throughout the album, but they are used as sonic texturing, similar to the turntables, synthesizers, samplers, sitars, and guitars that drive the instrumentals punctuating the full-fledged songs. When it chooses, Cornershop can write hooky, immediate pop songs -- "Sleep on the Left Side" and "Brimful of Asha" are wonderful pop singles, and "Good to Be on the Road Back Home" is an impressive, country-tinged tale -- but what makes When I Was Born for the 7th Time such a rich, intoxicating listen is that it balances these melodic tendencies with deceptively complex arrangements, chants, drones, electronic instrumentals, and funky rhythms, resulting in an album that becomes better with each listen. (AMG)

Al di Meola - Di Meola Plays Piazzolla [1990]

2008-01-28T08:14:00.001+01:00

Latin music has been a strong influence on Al Di Meola since his early years, and in the '90s, he paid...

...especially close attention to the music of Argentina. A welcome addition to his already impressive catalog, Di Meola Plays Piazzolla pays homage to the late Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla (whose distinctive and very poetic brand of romanticism was considered quite daring and radical in Argentina). It would have been easy for an artist to allow his own personality to become obscured when saluting Piazzolla's legacy, but the charismatic Di Meola is too great an improviser to let that happen. Though his reverence for Piazzolla comes through loud and clear on these haunting classics, there's no mistaking the fact that this is very much an Al Di Meola project. (AMG)

B.B. King & Eric Clapton - Riding With The King [2000]

2008-01-24T17:14:00.001+01:00

The potential for a collaboration between B.B. King and Eric Clapton is enormous, of course, and the real...

...questions concern how it is organized and executed. This first recorded pairing between the 74-year-old King and the 55-year-old Clapton was put together in the most obvious way: Clapton arranged the session using many of his regular musicians, picked the songs, and co-produced with his partner Simon Climie. That ought to mean that King would be a virtual guest star rather than earning a co-billing, but because of Clapton's respect for his elder, it nearly works the other way around. The set list includes lots of King specialties -- "Ten Long Years," "Three O'Clock Blues," "Days of Old," "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer" -- as well as standards like "Hold on I'm Coming" and "Come Rain or Come Shine," with some specially written and appropriate recent material thrown in, so King has reason to be comfortable without being complacent. The real danger is that Clapton will defer too much; though he can be inspired by a competing guitarist such as Duane Allman, he has sometimes tended to lean too heavily on accompanists such as Albert Lee and Mark Knopfler when working with them in concert. That danger is partially realized; as its title indicates, Riding With the King is more about King than it is about Clapton. But the two players turn out to have sufficiently complementary, if distinct, styles so that Clapton's supportive role fills out and surrounds King's stinging single-string playing. (It's also worth noting that there are usually another two or three guitarists on each track.) The result is an effective, if never really stunning, work. (AMG)

Skunk Anansie - Stoosh [1996]

2008-01-23T09:17:00.001+01:00

The second offering from aggro-political rockers Skunk Anansie finds producer...

...Garth Richardson (L7, Rage Against the Machine) at the helm. Frontwoman Skin's vocals grab the listener by the scruff of the neck and demand attention. The rest of the band backs her with a frenzied, yet focused, sonic attack, giving serious punch to tracks like the breakneck "Twisted (Everyday Hurts)" and the lumbering, scathing "We Love Your Apathy." Stoosh finds Skunk Anansie still raging for political activism (albeit sometimes through muddy lyrics), and the band makes no bones about that fact (addressed succinctly on "Yes It's F*****g Political." Skin proves herself capable of more personal issues as well on the subtle, moody "Infidelity (Only You)" and the lighter (musically) pop/rocker "Glorious Pop Song." Skunk Anansie's full-frontal charge can be wearing at times, but for a good dose of aggressive, hard rock with better-than-average lyrics, Stoosh succeeds more than it fails. (AMG)

Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club [1997]

2008-01-23T09:10:00.001+01:00

This album is named after a members-only club that was opened in Havana in pre-Castro times, a period of...

...unbelievable musical activity in Cuba. While bandleader Desi Arnaz became a huge hit in the States, several equally talented musicians never saw success outside their native country, and have had nothing but their music to sustain them during the Castro reign. Ry Cooder went to Cuba to record a musical documentary of these performers. Many of the musicians on this album have been playing for more than a half century, and they sing and play with an obvious love for the material. Cooder could have recorded these songs without paying the musicians a cent; one can imagine them jumping up and grabbing for their instruments at the slightest opportunity, just to play. Most of the songs are a real treasure, traversing a lot of ground in Cuba's musical history. There's the opening tune, "Chan Chan," a composition by 89-year-old Compay Segundo, who was a bandleader in the '50s; the cover of the early-'50s tune "De Camino a la Verada," sung by the 72-year-old composer Ibrahim Ferrer, who interrupted his daily walk through Havana just long enough to record; or the amazing piano playing on "Pablo Nuevo" by 77-year-old Rubén González, who has a unique style that blends jazz, mambo, and a certain amount of playfulness. All of these songs were recorded live -- some of them in the musicians' small apartments -- and the sound is incredibly deep and rich, something that would have been lost in digital recording and overdubbing. Cooder brought just the right amount of reverence to this material, and it shows in his production, playing, and detailed liner notes. If you get one album of Cuban music, this should be the one. (AMG)

Happy birthday to me!

2008-01-22T07:55:00.000+01:00

Ok, now I'm 32!!!

Pixies - Bossanova [1990]

2008-01-21T19:02:00.001+01:00

When Bossanova arrived in 1990, it reflected the exhaustion the Pixies felt after...

...Doolittle's enormous success: For the first time, the band seems to be running out of ideas. Tellingly, Kim Deal contributes no songs, having formed the Breeders to give her work an outlet; that summer, their debut Pod won a warmer response than Bossanova received. Arguably the Pixies' weakest album -- though Francis has said it's his favorite -- most of it finds the band in fine form. Gil Norton's spacious, reverb-heavy production makes the Pixies sound like a Martian bar band, which fits the cover of the Surftones' "Cecilia Ann" and the glorious, shimmering closer "Havalina" perfectly. On the theremin-driven "Velouria," science fiction imagery displaces Francis' penchant for fetishistic lyrics; next to the token kinky song "Down to the Well"'s tired sound, it's a refreshing change. The similarly cryptic "All Over the World" and alien abduction tale "The Happening" add to the sci-fi feel. Quirky pop songs like "Allison," a tribute to jazz cool-cat Mose Allison, and "Dig for Fire," Francis' self-professed Talking Heads homage, heighten Bossanova's playful, slightly off-kilter vibe, but rockers like "Hang Wire" and "Blown Away," fall flat. However, "Rock Music" is one of the group's most fiery outbursts, and "Is She Weird"'s chugging grind and sexy, funny lyrics make it a classic Pixies song. The band was so consistently amazing on their previous albums that when they released a slightly weaker one, critics and fans alike judged them too harshly. But on Bossanova's strongest moments, the Pixies explored their softer side and found different uses for their extreme dynamics. Like a straight-A student who suddenly receives a B+, Bossanova might have been a disappointment initially, but its (small) failings emphasize the strengths of the rest of the Pixies' work. (AMG)

The Band - The Last Waltz [1978]

2008-01-18T08:55:00.002+01:00

As a film, The Last Waltz was a triumph -- one of the first (and still one of the few) rock...

...concert documentaries that was directed by a filmmaker who understood both the look and the sound of rock & roll, and executed with enough technical craft to capture all the nooks and crannies of a great live show. But as an album, The Last Waltz soundtrack had to compete with the Band's earlier live album, Rock of Ages, with which it bears a certain superficial resemblance -- both found the group trying to create something grander than the standard-issue live double, and both featured the group beefed up by additional musicians. While Rock of Ages found the Band swinging along with the help of a horn section arranged by Allen Toussaint, The Last Waltz boasts a horn section (using Toussaint's earlier arrangements on a few cuts) and more than a baker's dozen guest stars, ranging from old cohorts Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan to contemporaries Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Van Morrison. The Band are in fine if not exceptional form here; on most cuts, they don't sound quite as fiery as they did on Rock of Ages, though their performances are never less than expert, and the high points are dazzling, especially an impassioned version of "It Makes No Difference" and blazing readings of "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (Levon Helm has made no secret that he felt breaking up the Band was a bad idea, and here it sounds if he was determined to prove how much they still had to offer). Ultimately, it's the Band's "special guests" who really make this set stand out -- Muddy Waters' ferocious version of "Mannish Boy" would have been a wonder from a man half his age, Van Morrison sounds positively joyous on "Caravan," Neil Young and Joni Mitchell do well for their Canadian brethren, and Bob Dylan's closing set finds him in admirably loose and rollicking form. (One question remains -- what exactly is Neil Diamond doing here?) And while the closing studio-recorded "Last Waltz Suite" sounds like padding, the contributions from Emmylou Harris and the Staple Singers are beautiful indeed. It could be argued that you're better off watching The Last Waltz on video than listening to it on CD, but either way it's a show well worth checking out. (AMG)

Garbage - Garbage [1995]

2008-01-16T09:21:00.001+01:00

Garbage's self-titled debut has all the trappings of alternative rock -- off-kilter...

...arrangements, occasional bursts of noise, a female singer with a thin, airy voice -- but it comes off as pop, thanks to the glossy production courtesy of drummer Butch Vig. Not only is the sound of the record slick and professional, but all the songs are well-crafted pop songs. Unfortunately, only a handful of the songs are memorable, but those that are -- "Vow" and "Queer," in particular -- are small, trashy alternative pop gems. (AMG)

NoFX - White Trash, Two Heebs And a Bean [1992]

2008-01-15T09:40:00.001+01:00

The title of NOFX's White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean is a pretty fair indicator of...

...what's going on in the grooves -- specifically, tongue-in-cheek, politically incorrect forays into America's pancultural society. A SoCal punk band that recalls both the eclecticism and attitude of Camper Van Beethoven, NOFX rips through much more than standard-issue thrash; they transform Minor Threat's "Straight Edge" into a blues song with fake B.B. King vocals, go ska for the wry character study "Bob," and examine lesbian lifestyles with surprising maturity on "Liza and Louise." Not quite so understanding is "Johnny Appleseed," which pokes fun at the very concept of cultural diversity and is sung in a Hispanic accent by guitarist El Hefe. (AMG)

Neil Young - Decade [1977]

2008-01-15T09:32:00.001+01:00

Given the quirkiness of Neil Young's recording career, with its frequent...

...cancellations of releases and last-minute rearrangements of material, it is a relief to report that this two-disc compilation is so conventional and so satisfying. A 35-track selection of the best of Young's work between 1966 and 1976, it includes songs performed by Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Stills-Young Band, as well as solo work. In addition to five unreleased songs, Decade offers such key tracks as the Springfield's "Mr. Soul," "Broken Arrow," and "I Am a Child"; "Sugar Mountain," a song that had appeared only as a single before; "Cinnamon Girl," "Down by the River," and "Cowgirl in the Sand" from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere; "Southern Man" and the title track from After the Gold Rush; and "Old Man" and the chart-topping "Heart of Gold" from Harvest. This is the material that built Young's reputation between 1966 and 1972, although he is more idiosyncratic with the later material, including the blockbusters "Like a Hurricane" and "Cortez the Killer" but mixing in more unreleased recordings as the set draws to a close. He seems intent on making the album a listenable one that will appeal to a broad base of fans, and he succeeds despite the exclusion of much of the harrowing work of 1973-1975. Nevertheless, the album is an ideal sampler for new listeners, and since there is no one-disc Young compilation covering any significant portion of his career, this lengthy chronicle is the place to start. (AMG)

Alice In Chains - Dirt [1992]

2008-01-14T18:23:00.001+01:00

Dirt is Alice in Chains' major artistic statement and the closest they ever came to...

...recording a flat-out masterpiece. It's a primal, sickening howl from the depths of Layne Staley's heroin addiction, and one of the most harrowing concept albums ever recorded. Not every song on Dirt is explicitly about heroin, but Jerry Cantrell's solo-written contributions (nearly half the album) effectively maintain the thematic coherence -- nearly every song is imbued with the morbidity, self-disgust, and/or resignation of a self-aware yet powerless addict. Cantrell's technically limited but inventive guitar work is by turns explosive, textured, and queasily disorienting, keeping the listener off balance with atonal riffs and off-kilter time signatures. Staley's stark confessional lyrics are similarly effective, and consistently miserable. Sometimes he's just numb and apathetic, totally desensitized to the outside world; sometimes his self-justifications betray a shockingly casual amorality; his moments of self-recognition are permeated by despair and suicidal self-loathing. Even given its subject matter, Dirt is monstrously bleak, closely resembling the cracked, haunted landscape of its cover art. The album holds out little hope for its protagonists (aside from the much-needed survival story of "Rooster," a tribute to Cantrell's Vietnam-vet father), but in the end, it's redeemed by the honesty of its self-revelation and the sharp focus of its music. (AMG)

Shane MacGowan And The Popes - The Snake [1995]

2008-01-11T09:35:00.001+01:00

Shane MacGowan, who made a name for himself as the bandleader of...

...the Pogues until they got fed up with his asinine, self-destructive behavior and kicked him out of the group, returned with a new band (the Popes, get it?) and a bracing set of new songs that draw heavily on traditional Irish folk music while pinning your ears back with a raucous, full-frontal rock sound. The album opens with a bang: "Church of the Holy Spook" is either an oblique expression of twisted religious faith or an all-out assault on the Roman church; it's impossible to tell which. Its refrain is based on the chorus to "Give Me That Old-Time Religion," and it pounds into your skull like fists against a cathedral wall. When that tune segues into a headlong romp through the traditional "Nancy Whiskey," you know you're in for a wild ride. The band uses banjo, whistle, and pipes as well as electric guitars, so no matter how aggressive the sound gets, you never really lose that folky Irish flavor. The farthest MacGowan gets from his roots is on the schlocky "Haunted," a maudlin duet he performs with Sinéad O'Connor. That track and the bizarre "Mexican Funeral in Paris" are the only musical missteps on this enormously exciting album; though he still hasn't brushed his teeth, cleaned up his language, or quit drinking, MacGowan seems to be on the brink of some kind of renaissance. Here's hoping he keeps it up. (AMG)

Ash - Free All Angels [2001]

2008-01-11T01:49:00.001+01:00

This is a happy kick, with big guitars and big attack and onrushing...

...energy, and it's no tedious retro punk record, either. Seven years out of high school, and high a-top the Brit charts in their teens, the mid-20s Irish boys (and English girl) haven't lost any of their pop (either sense of the word). No, they've stepped it up a notch, while adding layers of a post-Nirvana/Jesus & Mary Chain firewall that sounds modern. Most of all, leader Tim Wheeler's sunny melodies, so rare for music this aggressive and harsh, come to him so unequivocally that he should have to donate the excess he wrote for this LP to some public trust. Free's high-action burners would make anyone want to sing: big wall-bangers like the utterly panting, lascivious "Cherry Bomb," the 1964 Beach Boys-inspired "Pacific Palisades," the dashed love of "Nicole," the bravado of "World Domination," the Undertones-esque "Walking Barefoot," the nasty edge of "Shark," and most of all, this LP's out and out bomb, the well-titled "Burn Baby Burn." In the spirit of Hüsker Dü, China Drum, Compulsion, and Replacements, these songs are hard-hitting yet in the pocket -- and Ash adds its trademark youthful enthusiasm, shining out of these grooves like a signal flare. And to keep Free from getting samey, they add some full-on dreampop in the single "Shining Light," and lull-out in the sublime strings-comely "Someday," "There's a Star," and the demure, purring "Sometimes." And as a changeup, there's the way-kinky, dance-groove rumpshaker, "Submission," with drummer Rick McMurray and bassist Mark Hamilton pounding the funky rock groove like a sped up Stone Roses' Mani and Reni. These flavors insure that the bursting crank-up of the bangers are that much more electrifying. Ash are even more hot-rod now with more experience. They're a great rock 'n' roll band by any measure. (AMG)

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik [1991]

2008-01-09T20:22:00.001+01:00

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' best album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik...

...benefits immensely from Rick Rubin's production -- John Frusciante's guitar is less overpoweringly noisy, leaving room for differing textures and clearer lines, while the band overall is more focused and less indulgent, even if some of the grooves drag on too long. Lyrically, Anthony Kiedis is as preoccupied with sex as ever, whether invoking it as his muse, begging for it, or boasting in great detail about his prowess, best showcased on the infectiously funky singles "Give It Away" and "Suck My Kiss." However, he tempers his testosterone with a more sensitive side, writing about the emotional side of failed relationships ("Breaking the Girl," "I Could Have Lied"), his drug addictions ("Under the Bridge" and an elegy for Hillel Slovak, "My Lovely Man"), and some hippie-ish calls for a peaceful utopia. Three of those last four songs (excluding "My Lovely Man") mark the band's first consistent embrace of lilting acoustic balladry, and while it's not what Kiedis does best as a vocalist, these are some of the album's finest moments, varying and expanding the group's musical and emotional range. Frusciante departed after the supporting tour, leaving Blood Sugar Sex Magik as probably the best album the Chili Peppers will ever make. (AMG)

Nirvana - Bleach (1989)

2008-01-08T12:54:00.001+01:00

This is one case where the legend really precedes the record...

...itself. Cut for about 600 dollars in Jack Endino's studio over just a matter of days, this captures Nirvana at a formative stage, still indebted to the murk that became known as grunge, yet not quite finding their voice as songwriters. Which isn't to say that they were devoid of original material, since even at this stage Kurt Cobain illustrated signs of his considerable songcraft, particularly on the minor-key ballad "About a Girl" and the dense churn of "Blew." A few songs come close to that level, but that's more a triumph of sound than structure, as "Negative Creep" and "School" get by on attitude and churn, while the cover of "Love Buzz" winds up being one of the highlights because this gives a true menace to their sound, thanks to its menacing melody. The rest of it sinks into the sludge, as the group itself winds up succumbing to grinding sub-metallic riffing that has little power, due to lack of riffs and lack of a good drummer. Bleach is more than a historical curiosity since it does have its share of great songs, but it isn't a lost classic -- it's a debut from a band that shows potential but haven't yet achieved it. (AMG)

Lou Reed - New York [1989]

2008-01-07T12:51:00.001+01:00

New York City figured so prominently in Lou Reed's music for so...

...long that it's surprising it took him until 1989 to make an album simply called New York, a set of 14 scenes and sketches that represents the strongest, best-realized set of songs of Reed's solo career. While Reed's 1982 comeback, The Blue Mask, sometimes found him reaching for effects, New York's accumulated details and deft caricatures hit bull's-eye after bull's-eye for 57 minutes, and do so with an easy stride and striking lyrical facility. New York also found Reed writing about the larger world rather than personal concerns for a change, and in the beautiful, decaying heart of New York City, he found plenty to talk about -- the devastating impact of AIDS in "Halloween Parade," the vicious circle of child abuse "Endless Cycle," the plight of the homeless in "Xmas in February" -- and even on the songs where he pointedly mounts a soapbox, Reed does so with an intelligence and smart-assed wit that makes him sound opinionated rather than preachy -- like a New Yorker. And when Reed does look into his own life, it's with humor and perception; "Beginning of a Great Adventure" is a hilarious meditation on the possibilities of parenthood, and "Dime Store Mystery" is a moving elegy to his former patron Andy Warhol. Reed also unveiled a new band on this set, and while guitarist Mike Rathke didn't challenge Reed the way Robert Quine did, Reed wasn't needing much prodding to play at the peak of his form, and Ron Wasserman proved Reed's superb taste in bass players had not failed him. Produced with subtle intelligence and a minimum of flash, New York is a masterpiece of literate, adult rock & roll, and the finest album of Reed's solo career. (AMG)