UMPIRE2's Semi-Personal MUSIC Thread

[umpire2]

NUMBER 594:


"Let It Be"---Beatles (1970)

Nothing more clearly stated the division of the Beatles than "Let It Be". The free, live performance (almost none of which was actually used on the record) was a kind of going away party by a band that really had not had any of the cohesiveness of a band for over a year.

Of the ten 'real' tracks on the record ('Dig It' and 'Maggie Mae' are not songs, they are Lennon-esque jokes of the form found usually on the Beatles' Christmas EPs), John Lennon contributed three songs: 'Dig A Pony', 'Across The Universe' and 'I've Got A Feeling'. Strangely enough, 'Dig A Pony' and 'I've Got A Feeling' are a part of the rough-style work Lennon was already doing with the Plastic Ono Band and would continue with Elephant's Memory over the next couple of years, while 'Across The Universe', by far the best of the three numbers actually seems prescient of the 'Mind Games'/'Imagine' work of 1971-1973, an overlapping pattern of quite different musical styles.

Two of the best tracks on the set are George Harrison's 'I Me Mine' and 'For You Blue', as the lead guitarist continues to improve his writing and glows through the ashes of the disintegrating Lennon/McCartney partnership.

As with the Lennon tracks, Paul McCartney's contributions read 'Lennon/McCartney' as composers, but Paul essentially wrote them all himself, the piquant 'Two Of Us' and the three A-side singles from the album, 'Let It Be', 'The Long and Winding Road' (two absolutely brilliant compositions) and the fun 'Get Back'. This is truly McCartney's record, more so because Lennon was no longer interested.

The final track is a bit of a curiosity, especially in the midst of the break-up of the Fab Four: 'One After 909' is the only real Lennon/McCartney track on the set and it was one of the first songs the two lads from Liverpool ever wrote together, about a decade earlier. It appears for the first time her as a bit of nostalgia within the swansong.

[umpire2]

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[michael saint]

I'm here...............Like always

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by michael saint

I'm here...............Like always

Hey, Michael. How are you?

I'm priming for the next post in about 20 minutes.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 593:


"BURN"---DEEP PURPLE (1974)

David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes arrive to inject a ton of bluesy rhythms into the band, shifting it fairly dramatically from it's hard-rock heyday....but it works. "Burn" is an outstanding effort, with the only minor negatives of 'You Fool No One', which....well, doesn't fool anyone and 'What's Going On Here' (I'll tell you 'what's going on here'---the guys took the basic chords and rhythm pattern of 'Strange Kind Of Woman' and pretended it was a new song), the rest of the set grooves!

The title track, 'Might Just Take Your Life', 'Lay Down, Stay Down', 'Sail Away' and 'Mistreated' are all excellent cuts and the instrumental closer ' "A" 200' is not bad at all.

Richie Blackmore stays around one more album before deciding that the R&B groove doesn't work for him, so he leaves to re-create Deep Purple in Rainbow...

[umpire2]

NUMBER 592:


"EVERGREEN"---ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN (1997)

This record starts out fairly tame, but by the time track three ('I Want To Be There When You Come') kicks in, the juices start to flow.

Down to a trio by this time, Will Sergeant, Les Pattinson and Ian McCullough give us an impressive set overall. 'Too Young To Kneel', 'Empire State Halo' and the title track rock and 'Forgiven' is a fine ballad. Other very good songs are 'I'll Fly Tonight', 'Baseball Bill' and 'Just A Touch Away'.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 591:

"Too Blind To Hear"---Budapest (2003)
I know next to nothing about these guys except that I love this record. It is medium-tempo pop-rock that has excellent melodies and instrumentation.

Every song is a winner, although I suppose in the big picture, none are commercially memorable in the '2000's' sense, where Black-Eyed Peas-esque beats with no melody at all reign supreme along with chauvinistic and vulgar gangsta rap.

The best of this batch are 'Is This The Best It Gets', 'Evade The Pain', 'Life Gets In The Way', 'Nothing New', 'Time' and 'Wake Up Call'.

If you never heard of them, give 'em a break.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 590:


"Let It Bleed"---Rolling Stones (1969)

How can you forget to pack an album that contains the likes of 'Gimme Shelter', 'Midnight Rambler', 'Let It Bleed' and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'? It must go to the island! They are CLASSIC in every sense of the word.

'Love in Vain', 'Live With Me' and 'Monkey Man' are also very good tracks and 'You Got The Silver' is OK.

Where the Stones blew it was in not including 'Honky Tonk Women' on this set and instead, substituting an absolute piece of trash called 'Country Honk', which, in no uncertain terms is what 'Honky Tonk Women' would have been if it had been puked and shit out of an old wino who had a bad case of the flu and then left to ferment on a Camden side street during a blistering summer day, just developing the most putrid stench imaginable. It is a disaster.

The album goes anyway, but if I am never subjected to that blasphemy again, it will be too soon.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 589:

"Band On The Run"---Paul McCartney (1973)

Denny Laine joins Paul and Linda McCartney (isn't Linda a fabulous contributor? Even better than Yoko!) on this 1973 set that was a big hit for McCartney. The title track is very good, as is 'Jet', 'Bluebird', 'Let Me Roll It', 'Mamunia' and 'Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five'. 'Picasso's Last Words' is pretty good and so is 'Mrs. Vanderbilt'. 'Helen Wheels', one of the singles released from the album is pretty commonplace, but not bad. 'No Words' is not so hot, but overall, the album is one of the best examples of early 70s pop-rock, before the radio became one vast wasteland of crap.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 588:

"My Aim Is True"---Elvis Costello (1977)

After "My Aim Is True", my opinion of Elvis Costello is lukewarm. He just put out too much product over the next ten years, and half of it was not worth much. In other words, every successive album (well, "This Year's Model", the sophomore effort is pretty good, too) had anywhere from three to five very good songs on it and seven to ten pretty boring numbers.

BUT, "My Aim Is True" is original, fresh and brilliant in it's stripped down mode.

'Alison' is a classic, but not far behind are 'Watching The Detectives', 'Welcome To The Working Week', 'Blame It On Cain', (The Angels Want To Wear My) Red Shoes', 'Miracle Man' and 'Waiting For The End Of The World'. 'I'm Not Angry' and 'Mystery Dance' are good, too.

Costello became an immediate icon with his Buddy Holly-eque appearance and quirky nature. In later years, Elvis learned to mix it up more, producing bluesy albums, romantic records and those with a Broadway show feel, but nothing since has topped "My Aim Is True'.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 587:

"Get Your Wings"---Aerosmith (1974)

Don't waste your time...............................................................trying to find a bad song on this album. It's impossible.

'Spaced' might be the weakest track, but it's damn good. The guitar work, rhythm section and vocals on this set are superb. Nothing is overdone and it is just right (as Goldilocks would say).

'Same Old Song And Dance' leads it off and 'Pandora's Box' closes it out with the same quality and in the middle you can bounce to 'Lord Of The Thighs', 'Woman Of The World', 'S.O.S.' and Tiny Anderson's 'Train Kept-A-Rollin' '. Even the slow ballad, 'Seasons of Wither' is one of the best things Aerosmith has ever done.

Great work, guys.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 586:

"CLOSE TO THE EDGE"---YES (1972)

The first Yes album I heard in its entirety (I had heard a few songs before, but in late 1972, one of my cousin's popped "Close To The Edge" onto my aunt's stereo and lowered the headphones over my ears. I was eight and in progressive rock heaven).

As everyone should know, there are only three tracks on the record (with the title track and 'And You And I' each divided into four movements). They are all fantastic. (I'm listening to 'Siberian Khatru' right now and I have the same feeling that I had nearly thirty-eight years ago-----why does this have to end???)

I should note that what I listened to originally was an 8-track tape (ugh!) and both 'Close To The Edge' and 'And You And I' had fades and channel breaks. I guess I didn't really know how annoying that was until I went and bought the LP myself around this time in 1973 and listened to it without interruption.

I hated 8-track tapes. Knowing I liked music, a couple of my aunts, my grandmother and even my parents gave me 8-tracks for Christmas and birthdays for like three years straight until I got through to them. Just sayin'...

"Close To The Edge"---wonderful.

[richief]

Originally Posted by umpire2

NUMBER 604:

"HEROES"---DAVID BOWIE (1977)

Boom Boom Boom Boom, Boom Boom Boom Boom, Boom Boom Boom Boom, Boom Boom Boom Boom....

The constant, industrial 4/4 can be quite hypnotic. So hypnotic, in fact, that one might lose sense of the melody and the lyric; but all are synergistic in David Bowie's "Heroes", a pulsing drill that indoctrinates one to the modern dance of robot, cyborg, android and....humanoid. The world of Metropolis...

How appropriate would an instrumental track of 'Sons Of The Silent Age' have been in Fritz Lang's classic film?

'V-2 Schneider', practically an instrumental, belongs, however, to a robotized Motown, perhaps in the urban re-development of 2020...

'Sense of Doubt' instrumentalizes (in my mind) the concern that the submarine will ever be able to make it off the ocean floor...the dark...and the damp seeping slowly in...

'Moss Garden'....lying unseen amidst the rust and dusty green, overlooking the Japanese bridge where a beautiful girl in a kimono crosses slowly...and disappears from sight...the crisp leaves of autumn twist in the breeze, holding on for one more moment to the branch that gave it life...as the music wafts over you...

Looking over one's shoulder while listening to 'Neukoln', you get the sense that something is terribly wrong in the Aleppo market and you picked a bad day to shop for dates...

"My, my! Someone fetch a priest.." 'Beauty and the Beast' declares the righteousness of the world gone wrong, but salvation awaits; 'Joe the Lion', the musical version of "a guy walks into a bar.."; 'Blackout' appears as a cracked mirror nightmare refugee from 'Aladdin Sane', but more appropriate here in the gray mist.

'Heroes' is one of the most inspirational bits of despair I have ever heard. The world is shit, there are monsters, there is sin....but we can beat them.....'cause we can be HEROES.

...and 'The Secret Life Of Arabia' is simply a snippet of the mysteries of the East. Bowie essentially tells us nothing...because there is nothing known to tell...that is the point...yet it rocks in an undulous ripple, like a belly dancer, revealing all, but revealing nothing...

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Somewhere someone has my collection of albums I lost during a messy divorce, amongst it is a German copy of Heroes with the title track in German and English, and I honestly think the German works better, still a cool album and one of my favourites from his depressive period along with "Low". Still I prefer the quirkyness of Pinups, the less serious Bowie could be fun, the more serious could be mind blowing though. I find with him it is the mood I am in that dictates what I think is the best he has done.
But that's just my opinion and it don't mean much when it comes to music, if I like it I will listen to it if I don't then it's easy for me to tune out.

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by richief

Somewhere someone has my collection of albums I lost during a messy divorce, amongst it is a German copy of Heroes with the title track in German and English, and I honestly think the German works better, still a cool album and one of my favourites from his depressive period along with "Low". Still I prefer the quirkyness of Pinups, the less serious Bowie could be fun, the more serious could be mind blowing though. I find with him it is the mood I am in that dictates what I think is the best he has done.
But that's just my opinion and it don't mean much when it comes to music, if I like it I will listen to it if I don't then it's easy for me to tune out.

I understand totally, Rich.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 585:


"Survival"---Grand Funk Railroad (1971)


Another record I bought at the used record store (I bought a TON at 50 cents to one dollar), probably around early 1973. Anyhow, I remember listening to that used copy over and over and over again in the mornings in winter after I got home from delivering newspapers and before I went ton school. I must have listened to it 50 times in the first month I had it, crackles and all until it started to skip on several tracks.

I bought it again in a new copy a few years later when I was in high school and had a decent stereo...and I still love it.

The covers of 'Feelin' Alright' and 'Gimme Shelter' are ripe and the original tracks, 'Country Road', 'All You've Got Is Money', 'Comfort Me', 'I Want Freedom' and especially 'I Can Feel Him In The Morning' are great; maybe not among the ten best Grand Funk songs, but contributing to an outstanding album.

Sure, Grand Funk were raw, but that is their charm. They always gave it their all.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 584:

"Argent"---Argent (1971)


From the ashes of the Zombies rose...Argent.

With three excellent songwriters like Russ Ballard, Rod Argent and Chris White, how could you go wrong?

Well, the band never made it big, although they did have a hit with 'Hold Your Head Up' from the third album ("All Together Now") in 1972 and two of their songs became hits for other bands ('Liar' from "Argent" was a single hit for Three Dog Night in 1972 and 'God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You', from 1973's "In Deep" was a hit for KISS in 1992). Argent produced seven studio albums in five years, mainly to lukewarm sales (and admittedly, a couple of those releases were pretty crappy) and then broke up.

Their debut, "Argent" in 1971, however is excellent. Particularly Side One. Side two has a couple of highlights in 'Lonely Hard Road' and 'Stepping Stone', but Side One is brilliant, with the aforementioned 'Liar', 'Like Honey', 'Be Free', 'Schoolgirl' (which is the most reminiscent of the Zombies) and my personal favorite, 'Dance In The Smoke'.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 583:


"Never Let Me Down"---David Bowie (1987)

Still in the "Let's Dance"/"Tonight" mode, Bowie offers more songs this time (eleven instead of eight or nine) and they are mainly very good.

I saw some negative reviews of this record when it came out, mainly saying it was redundant and Bowie was showing nothing new.

Wasn't anyone paying attention? Bowie works in groups of three. His Pop/Rock/Dance statement was not over yet. He had to complete the circle....and "Never Let Me Down" does it well.

There are some weaker tracks, like 'Beat Of Your Drum' and 'Shining Star' and a few that are good, but not exceptional in any way ('Zeroes', 'Bang Bang' and 'Too Dizzy'), but 'Day-In Day-Out', 'Time Will Crawl', the title track, 'Glass Spider', 'New York's In Love' and '87 and Cry' are really good rock tracks and we should be grateful that Bowie got them out of his system before moving on.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 582:

"TRILOGY"---EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER (1972)

Let me begin by saying that 'From The Beginning' is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Every time I hear the intro, I get shivers, followed by a warm feeling all over. If there was nothing else really good on this album, it would still get consideration. But that close call is not necessary, because there are several gems on the set.

'The Endless Enigma (Parts One and Two) are well-constructed songs that stand up well on their own; linked by 'Fugue', they make a neat set. 'The Sheriff' is a novelty-type song that makes use of a basic folky theme, but interspersed with shifting rhythms and strange mini-solos.

'Hoedown', a movement taken from Aaron Copland's ballet RODEO, and while not arranged any differently than the original, ELP make the song their own.

The title track is a nine-minute, multifaceted piece that introduces what I call the kind of 'pseudo-classical' themes that Keith Emerson is known for. It begins as a ballad, but also rocks out in in a middle passage that is somewhat reminiscent of "Tarkus". Very interesting.

'Living Sin' is a bit of an odd duck. A growly, angry sounding piece that is a bit disjointed, but somehow works. Not my favorite, but listenable as part of the whole.

'Abaddon's Bolero' is just that: a repeated theme that builds through each round, featuring changing modulations. Emerson's theme begins quietly, like a distant sounding martial call to arms that grows into massing army of sound that eventually crashes as if over a hill and into the thick of a battle. It is a stirring way to complete an excellent album.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 581:

"The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle"---Bruce Springsteen (1973)

"Well, tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance, because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance!"

Chauvinistic? Well, yes, but one of the greatest love story/American success story/in your face lines ever written.

If I were really pressed----I mean REALLY pressed---to pick my favorite song of all time, it would be a very difficult choice, but 'Rosalita' would be given serious consideration.

William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet has been given many turns in many settings in different time periods, but none better than the slightly-less-than seven minute interpretation by Bruce Springsteen; the semi-autobiographical story of the poor Irish/Italian/Dutch boy with a dream and his Puerto Rican girlfriend, whose father thinks she is too good for him. Part of the American Dream for minorities is to move up in socio-economic status, not hook up with some grubby, third-generation loser who wants to be a musician and hangs around the Jersey Shore playing in hole-in-the-wall bars.

Well, guess again, old man! Columbia just put my name on a fat check and I'm wrapping your little girls legs around my on the back of my motorcycle and speeding to The City, so go....well....enjoy yourself.

Brilliant in its passion, subtle complexities and novel-lengthy descriptions of working-class society, ethnic conflict, generational conflict and youthful exuberance.

And that is just one song.

"The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" only contains seven tracks, but every one is terrific in its own way. 'The E Street Shuffle' is a joyous bouncer that in convoluted terms celebrates the rag-tag band that Bruce put together; '4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)' is, in itself, a postcard that captures both a moment in time and a continuing tradition, although slowed and stumbling by economic depression, continues in the minds of all true Jerseyites forever and can be translated to other venues with unfortunate, but necessary variance.

'Incident On 57th Street" is another of Bruce's novellas dealing with non-quite-urban working class wannabes who get involved in the dark side in order to move up. Wonderful song (and the 'music-box' piano round that connects this track with 'Rosalita' is an amazing bridge from that dark side to the bright and optimistic light at the end of the tunnel.

'New York City Serenade' is a nice ode to the Promised Land; eyes focused northeast from Freehold to the center of the known universe.

'Kitty's Back' and 'Wild Billy's Circus Story' seem tame compared to the rest of the mix, but if you take them on their own merits, they are great songs.

Oh, Bruce. You have lost so much in 35 years...

[umpire2]

NUMBER 580:

"CARESS OF STEEL"---RUSH (1975)

When "Caress of Steel" was released, it's sales were disappointing, with figures less than half of "Fly By Night" in the first several months and, after a brief appearance on the U.S. charts, it disappeared.

Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. How dumb can people be?

"Caress Of Steel" is the real launching pad of RUSH as the band that we know as RUSH. The songs are bigger (with the exception of the silly, but listenable 'I Think I'm Going Bald') and Neil Peart's lyrics start to take off on his futuristic journey of strange and wonderful stories.

The six-part 'Fountain of Lamneth' is an inside out 'Seek the Dali Lama to Seek The Truth Story' of a boy who desperately wants to find the meaning of his life, and after years of trials and tribulations, discovers, as an old man that the meaning of life is life itself and what you do with it.

'Bastille Day' is a rousing opener that gives the ten-cent tour of the French Revolution; 'Lakeside Park' is an excellent power ballad and my favorite, 'The Necromancer' just rocks for more than 12 minutes.

What were people thinking?

[Doc Fantasy]

Originally Posted by umpire2

NUMBER 580:

"CARESS OF STEEL"---RUSH (1975)

When "Caress of Steel" was released, it's sales were disappointing, with figures less than half of "Fly By Night" in the first several months and, after a brief appearance on the U.S. charts, it disappeared.

Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. How dumb can people be?

"Caress Of Steel" is the real launching pad of RUSH as the band that we know as RUSH. The songs are bigger (with the exception of the silly, but listenable 'I Think I'm Going Bald') and Neil Peart's lyrics start to take off on his futuristic journey of strange and wonderful stories.

The six-part 'Fountain of Lamneth' is an inside out 'Seek the Dali Lama to Seek The Truth Story' of a boy who desperately wants to find the meaning of his life, and after years of trials and tribulations, discovers, as an old man that the meaning of life is life itself and what you do with it.

'Bastille Day' is a rousing opener that gives the ten-cent tour of the French Revolution; 'Lakeside Park' is an excellent power ballad and my favorite, 'The Necromancer' just rocks for more than 12 minutes.

What were people thinking?

I have many of Rush's early live shows with both Bastille Day and The Necromancer as part of their sets. It is great stuff. I also have Neil Peart's second show ever with the band. This is the stuff of legends.

[umpire2]

You said it, Doc!

[umpire2]

NUMBER 579:

"Deja Vu"---Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970)

How great might "Deja Vu" have been if David Crosby showed up?

Crosby was a major contributor to the debut "Crosby, Stills & Nash", but here, he delivers the two weakest tracks on the album, the frantic title track and the almost melody-less 'Almost Cut My Hair'. It appears as though he was just going through the motions on this set.

Are those songs awful? No...they are OK, but they are hopelessly lost amidst the great songs on the album by the other band members.

All three contribute one classic song to the mix (Stephen Stills' 'Carry On'; Graham Nash's 'Our House' and Neil Young's tremendous 'Country Girl') and all three also contribute a second very good song (Stills' '4+20', Nash's 'Teach Your Children' and Young's 'Helpless').

Stills and Young also collaborate on the very good 'Everybody I Love You' and the band covers Joni Mitchell's classic 'Woodstock'.

Clearly, "Deja Vu" could have been one of the top albums of all-time...had Crosby bothered this time out.

[Doc Fantasy]

Originally Posted by umpire2

NUMBER 579:

"Deja Vu"---Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970)

How great might "Deja Vu" have been if David Crosby showed up?

Crosby was a major contributor to the debut "Crosby, Stills & Nash", but here, he delivers the two weakest tracks on the album, the frantic title track and the almost melody-less 'Almost Cut My Hair'. It appears as though he was just going through the motions on this set.

Are those songs awful? No...they are OK, but they are hopelessly lost amidst the great songs on the album by the other band members.

All three contribute one classic song to the mix (Stephen Stills' 'Carry On'; Graham Nash's 'Our House' and Neil Young's tremendous 'Country Girl') and all three also contribute a second very good song (Stills' '4+20', Nash's 'Teach Your Children' and Young's 'Helpless').

Stills and Young also collaborate on the very good 'Everybody I Love You' and the band covers Joni Mitchell's classic 'Woodstock'.

Clearly, "Deja Vu" could have been one of the top albums of all-time...had Crosby bothered this time out.

I love these guys. Vocally, they are the best group ever. BUT, I have to disagree with you on Almost Cut my Hair. This song is an Anthem to the Hippie Counter Culture that Crosby is a big part. He was a contributing factor to what was called Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (PERRO) that had many of the Bay Area bands in San Francisco and from L.A. to join forces around this time. They produced some mighty fine jams. I have many of the outtakes and jam tapes from this era. All are great examples of what this song is rapping to the masses.

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by Doc Fantasy

I love these guys. Vocally, they are the best group ever. BUT, I have to disagree with you on Almost Cut my Hair. This song is an Anthem to the Hippie Counter Culture that Crosby is a big part. He was a contributing factor to what was called Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (PERRO) that had many of the Bay Area bands in San Francisco and from L.A. to join forces around this time. They produced some mighty fine jams. I have many of the outtakes and jam tapes from this era. All are great examples of what this song is rapping to the masses.

Fair enough.

But it's boring. In my opinion, of course.

I see David Crosby as a key figure in music from the mid-60s to the mid-70s....BUT he had several up and down periods during that time (mainly because of drugs), and I see his "contribution" to Deja Vu as a major down. It is like night and day between it and the 1969 debut.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 578:

"The Soft Parade"---The DOORS (1968)


After three highly successful albums which produced six hit singles (including two #1s), producer Paul Rothchild decided it was time to change things up a bit for The DOORS on "The Soft Parade", introducing strings and horns on all four of the 'A' sides of the singles released from the record. Also, all four singles were written by guitarist Robbie Krieger, the first time that Jim Morrison was not credited for contributing either lyrics, music or both to a DOORS track.

The first single, 'Touch Me' is a great song, but it is over-produced, as are all the singles from the album. It was a big hit, though, reaching #2.

'Tell All The People' is the most over-the-top of the singles. If you listen closely, it is a good song, but it comes across as an Act One closing number in a Broadway show, a-la The Music Man.

The other two singles are handled more gently, but 'Runnin' Blue' and 'Wishful Sinful' did not perform well as singles, finishing at #64 and #44 respectively. They are both excellent cuts, though.

The best songs on the album are Morrison's contributions, 'Wild Child', 'Shaman's Blues' and the paranoiac, frenzied and wonderful title track ("When I was back there in Seminary School...").

All-in-all, "The Soft Parade" is the weakest of the Morrison-era studio albums from The DOORS, but it is still better than anything that 99.9% of bands could ever dream of producing.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 577:


"Ghosts"---Strawbs (1975)


Imagine, if you will, a young boy of about 11 years, thrilled with the sights and smells of the Boardwalk...and clutching a precious dollar in his hand.

He approaches the stand containing a "Wheel of Chance", where in the mid-1970s, one shiny quarter can bring you "choice of the stand"...should you be lucky enough to pick the correct number or name of the 24 available that the large wheel affords.

24....24....a 1 in 24 chance....

The stand in question displays a myriad of record album covers across the back wall and a splay of different jackets across a flat to the left of the wheel.

With only slight trepidation, the boy moves through the small crowd that lines the front of the stand, and places the dollar down. Rapidly, the hawker scoops up the dollar and in the same motion deposits four quarters in its place.

The boy lifts three of the quarters and slides the fourth over the black Number Four on the board that runs the length of the stand.

"Make your choice, make your choice," the hawker urges as the wheel begins to spin, "one win, choice of the stand. It's easy, it's fun. A quarter to play. Make your choice. Last chance, last chance. No more bets..."

The wheels slows and slows and slows, it's leather flap cracking the metal channel markers of the wheel, looking for a port...looking for a home...slowing and slowing until finally settling on....Number Four.

"Well, look here! Look here! We have a winner! Choice of the stand!" the hawker with one hands sweeps dollars worth of vanquished quarters into a piggy-bank like slot at the end of the board, but as he passes the boy, he flips a well-worn green card, about two-thirds the size of playing card, in front of the boy and declares again, "Choice of the stand! Every game a winner! Take a chance! Take a chance!"

Before the next spin of the wheel, the boy waves the card at the hawker and points, toward the middle of the back wall...at a record cover displaying a grainy black and white photo of a woman and a small boy in what appears to be nineteenth-century dress, undercut by a cursive scrawl in blood-red..."GHOSTS"...

...and so, such a record came into my possession, all those long years ago...and it was great.

How to explain The Strawbs to the uninitiated?

Dave Cousins' band began as a folk group in England calling themselves the Strawberry Hill Boys. This was soon shortened to the Strawbs by the time folk-goddess Sandy Denny joined the band for a brief spell before moving on to Fairport Convention.

Over the years, The Strawbs became more pop-rock oriented, although their signature sound was one that never totally abandoned its folk roots.

"Ghosts" is one of the best sets ever produced by the band, starting with the three-part title track that moves from what is apparently a soft ballad, but building into an energetically rousing rocker over an eight-plus minute span.

'Lemon Lady', the second track is a more traditional pop-rock piece, but with an edge, as the "Lemon Lady"'s "pie" is adored by the singer....hmmm....I wonder if she is at all tart...

Dave Cousins writes or co-writes most of the songs, but the medley 'Starshine/Angelwine' was composed by bassist Chas Cronk, another song that is half ballad and half rocker and works very well.

Cousin's 'Where Do You Go' is bouncy pop, but fairly uninteresting, but the two part 'Life Auction' that follows is an excellently done piece that moves back and forth between dirge and martial chant, building to a crescendo ending.

Keyboardist John Hawken contributes the medium tempo 'Don't Try To Change Me', another nice tune.

Cousin's follows with two tender ballads to close the album, 'You and I (When We Were Young)' and 'Grace Darling'. They are brilliant in their melodic simplicity.

The Strawbs.

They're still around...

[umpire2]

NUMBER 576:

"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS"---KAISER CHIEFS (2008)


Although 'Spanish Metal', 'Never Miss A Beat' and 'Like It Too Much' are very good songs, it is side two of this album that really makes it. 'Tomato In The Rain', 'Half The Truth', 'Addicted to Drugs', Always Happens Like That' and 'Remember You're A Girl' are great.

No one is going to convince me that 10cc (particularly Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart) were not an influence on these guys. 'Tomato In The Rain', 'Always Happens Like That' and 'Addicted To Drugs' ooze 10cc.

Speaking of influences, though probably much less direct, 'Never Miss A Beat' reminds me of something The WHO might have down---not necessarily musically, but in the idea of the song.

I like these guys. One of my favorite bands of the last decade.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 575:

"A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS"---PINK FLOYD (1968)

Syd was like a ghost already, haunting the peripheries, but his influence was still strong in the band he helped create. David Gilmour had arrived to help ease the unpredictable and unreliable Barrett, if not necessarily 'out', at least ease him of the burden of chief songwriter that he was no longer able to handle. "A Saucerful of Secrets" is a mix of what Floyd had been and what Floyd was becoming. The Roger Waters-penned title track is a test of generally uncontrolled psychedelia that, more than likely, would have taken the band down the road to oblivion---yet, in this mix it works as a kind of connector piece.

Richard Wright's 'Remember A Day' and 'See Saw', Roger Waters' 'Corporal Clegg', along with Syd Barrett's 'Jugband Blues' are the stuff of what the original Floyd was made, interesting and different from anything anyone else was doing, but still anchored in the mid-late 60s rock vein.

Waters' 'Let Their Be More Light' and 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' were brilliant signs of the new Floyd and the bassist's ability to step into Barrett's shoes as the group's main composer.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 574:


"Larks' Tongues In Aspic"---King Crimson (1973)


This line-up of the ever-changing King Crimson features John Wetton (bass and vocals), Bill Bruford (drums), David Cross (mellotron, viola and violin) and Jamie Muir (percussion) along with mainstay Robert Fripp (guitars).

The song 'Larks' Tongues In Aspic' is in two parts, the first, which opens the album is a melodic and percussive progression written by the entire band and the second, which closes the album is a impressionistic piece by Fripp which builds on the basic themes of Part One. Both are jazz-oriented, but with clear rock sensibilities.

Three of the other numbers, 'Book Of Saturday', 'Exiles' and 'Easy Money' are vocal pieces (with lyrics by Richard Palmer-James) which would have fit comfortably in any of the previous Crimson albums, 'Book Of Saturday sounding the most like the Carl Palmer era.

The final piece, the instrumental 'Talking Drum', is also written by the whole band, and clearly has African rhythmic influences. It is the weakest of the album's offerings, as it really does not go anywhere for seven and a half minutes, but it does not detract from the overall excellence of the record.

[richief]

After all these years I still don't get Pink Floyd.

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by richief

After all these years I still don't get Pink Floyd.

Rich! You clearly were not taking the right drugs!!!

But...I do understand what you mean. Floyd is, in my opinion, a bit overrated (ducks). I enjoy the earlier material much better than the later; while I do think "Dark Side Of The Moon" is an excellent album, I don't think it is the best album of all time, or even close to it.

The band has producer a few pretty bad albums and, since "The Wall" have become redundant caricatures of themselves.

They have a tremendously loyal following, however, who believe everything they do is golden. I mean, heck, so does Celine Dion. Does that mean she is actually good or in any way original (shivers)???

Now Floyd is 100x better than Celine, of course, but not everyone is going to like them.

I'm a long time fan but agree that DSOTM is not the best album ever...not even the best Floyd album (Wish you were here). The earlier stuff is much better although I like David Gilmours last solo album.

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by arizona1664

I'm a long time fan but agree that DSOTM is not the best album ever...not even the best Floyd album (Wish you were here). The earlier stuff is much better although I like David Gilmours last solo album.

Like most bands with longevity, Floyd not only went through a couple of 'down' periods, but the success of DSOTM and "The Wall' put them in a position of trying to duplicate that success every time out, which leads to redundancy and at least a seeming shortage of original ideas.

Heck, with the exception of 'Money', all of DSOTM repeats only three themes.

Cheers, AZ!

Originally Posted by umpire2

Like most bands with longevity, Floyd not only went through a couple of 'down' periods, but the success of DSOTM and "The Wall' put them in a position of trying to duplicate that success every time out, which leads to redundancy and at least a seeming shortage of original ideas.

Heck, with the exception of 'Money', all of DSOTM repeats only three themes.

Cheers, AZ!

very true Ump....having said that, in their last tour they played the whole album every 6th gig. I was lucky enough to be at one of those and hearing the whole thing again brought a lump to the throat!

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by arizona1664

very true Ump....having said that, in their last tour they played the whole album every 6th gig. I was lucky enough to be at one of those and hearing the whole thing again brought a lump to the throat!

That reminds me......put any 'lumps' in anyone's throat lately, AZ???

[umpire2]

NUMBER 573:


"After Bathing At Baxter's"---Jefferson Airplane (1967)

Listening to Jefferson Airplane is like being in the middle of a folk festival that has been invaded by drugged-up psychedeliacs with a political agenda that is often distracted by overactive adolescent hormones....it's amazing.

"After Bathing At Baxter's" is set up in five 'mini-suites'. I don't know what was going on in the collective minds of the band, but two of the 'suites' contain one real dog of a song ('A Small Package of Value Will Come To You Shortly' in "Streetmasse" and 'Rejoice' in "Hymn To An Older Generation"). It is like the band was trying to hide this crap by wrapping it with older tunes. I don't know...but the rerst of thye album is great.

'The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil' (Paul Kanter) and 'Young Girl Sunday Blues' (Marty Balin/Kantner) work well---too bad they sandwich the above 'Small Package'(ugh!).

"The War Is Over" ('Martha' and 'Wild Thyme', both by Paul Kantner), "How Suite It Is" ('Watch Her Ride'(Kantner) and 'Spare Chaynge' by Jack Casady) and "Shizophrentic Love Suite" ('Two Heads' by Grace Slick and 'Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon' by Kantner) are all great songs.

Try it. Even without using hallucinogens, you should like it...

[richief]

Have I missed it or is Out of the Blue by ELO yet to come?

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by richief

Have I missed it or is Out of the Blue by ELO yet to come?

You haven't missed it.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 572:

"PORNOGRAPHY"---The CURE (1982)

F'in' 'A'!!! Who doesn't love Pornography...& The CURE???

Robert Smith penned "it doesn't matter if we all die..." and the eternal core of Goth was truly born...

The boys were down, disillusioned, despondent and frustrated during the recording of "Pornography", as acceptance, as well as success, had eluded them to that point.

Well, if brilliance is born of pain, then bring on more pain, because "Pornography" is brilliant.

The title track begins in a disjointed fashion to close the album, but in a way that is mindful of a birth, following a particularly difficult pregnancy, but the result...a glorious offspring...is all worth it.

'One Hundred Years', 'A Short-Term Effect', 'The Hanging Garden', 'Siamese Twins' and 'A Strange Day' are fabulous and 'Cold' and 'The Figurehead' are no slouches, either.

No wonder Trey Parker and Matt Stone think Robert Smith is the savior of the world...

[waroo99]

Ive never gone out of my way to listen to a Grandfunk Railroad song...though ive probably heard one somewhere along my journey....but they would be on my island...just for the fact that they have the coolest name any band has in the world ever.

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by waroo99

Ive never gone out of my way to listen to a Grandfunk Railroad song...though ive probably heard one somewhere along my journey....but they would be on my island...just for the fact that they have the coolest name any band has in the world ever.

You should probably listen to them first...you don't want to be stuck on the island with something you don't like...

[umpire2]

NUMBER 571:


"Pablo Honey"---Radiohead (1993)

Thom Yorke, Colin and Jon Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway came together as Radiohead and immediately produced a classic in "Pablo Honey". Sorry, Radio"heads", you fanatic fans, but the band has never topped this initial effort.

They have been generally excellent, but with a few ups and downs over the years, becoming somewhat legendary and the absolute darling of critics---but if you want A Radiohead album, and only 1, this the THE one.

'You', 'Creep', 'Stop Whispering', 'Anyone Can Play Guitar' and 'Ripcord' are excellent; the remainder (except for 'How Do You' and 'Thinking About You', which are only so-so) are very good.

These are songs, not droning background music for ambient-oriented art films, which a lot of Radiohead sounds like. Good, solid tunes. Island.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 570:

"Bare Wires"---John Mayall (1968)

Just lip-smackin' good. In many ways, John Mayall created, or at least "re-created" what is known as British Blues.

Fifty years ago, John Mayall put together an acoustic blues-band that would shortly evolve into the Bluesbreakers. Mayall's Bluesbreakers was THE schoolhouse and clearing house for the best of British Blues for the better part of three decades. Graduates? Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce (would there have been a CREAM without Mayall?), Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie (would there have been a FLEETWOOD MAC without Mayall?), Keif Hartley, Johnny Almond, and the list goes on...

"Bare Wires" is Mayall's first attempt to combine blues and jazz, and while he claims to have become quickly bored with the concept, it is one he would return to a half-dozen times over the years. Mayall enlisted Chris Mercer on tenor and baritone sax, Tony Reeves on stand-up and electric bass, Henry Lowther on cornet and violin, Richard Heckstall-Smith on soprano sax, Jon Hiseman on drums and Mick Taylor on guitar to accompany him on this experiment and the results are terrific.

Mayall, who usually wrote or co-wrote most of the material, contributed the seven-part 'Bare Wires Suite' (which is all of Side A), 'I'm A Stranger', 'Killing Time', 'She's Too Young' and 'Sandy'. Mick Taylor (who would move from Mayall to the Rolling Stones, replacing Brian Jones) contributed the instrumental 'Harley Quits' and 'No Reply' (with lyrics by Mayall).

There is not a bad track on the set. It is dynamite!!!

[Doc Fantasy]

Originally Posted by umpire2

NUMBER 570:

"Bare Wires"---John Mayall (196

Just lip-smackin' good. In many ways, John Mayall created, or at least "re-created" what is known as British Blues.

Fifty years ago, John Mayall put together an acoustic blues-band that would shortly evolve into the Bluesbreakers. Mayall's Bluesbreakers was THE schoolhouse and clearing house for the best of British Blues for the better part of three decades. Graduates? Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce (would there have been a CREAM without Mayall?), Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie (would there have been a FLEETWOOD MAC without Mayall?), Keif Hartley, Johnny Almond, and the list goes on...

"Bare Wires" is Mayall's first attempt to combine blues and jazz, and while he claims to have become quickly bored with the concept, it is one he would return to a half-dozen times over the years. Mayall enlisted Chris Mercer on tenor and baritone sax, Tony Reeves on stand-up and electric bass, Henry Lowther on cornet and violin, Richard Heckstall-Smith on soprano sax, Jon Hiseman on drums and Mick Taylor on guitar to accompany him on this experiment and the results are terrific.

Mayall, who usually wrote or co-wrote most of the material, contributed the seven-part 'Bare Wires Suite' (which is all of Side A), 'I'm A Stranger', 'Killing Time', 'She's Too Young' and 'Sandy'. Mick Taylor (who would move from Mayall to the Rolling Stones, replacing Brian Jones) contributed the instrumental 'Harley Quits' and 'No Reply' (with lyrics by Mayall).

There is not a bad track on the set. It is dynamite!!!

I was looking to see if I had something from Mayall around that time period, and Viola! I have a soundboard from 2/09/68 From the Fillmore in San Francisco of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers that has three of the sideman including Mick Taylor and Chris Mercer. There is good reason that Mayall has lasted as long as he has. It is the music that he produces.

[umpire2]

Thanks, Doc!

[umpire2]

NUMBER 569:

"Tarkus"---Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1971)

Side One of the sophomore effort by Emerson, Lake & Palmer is an excellent mix of instrumentals and vocal performances that create a fantasy/science fiction tale of devastation, war and mythical and technological monsters.

The instrumentals, 'Eruption', 'Iconoclast', 'Manticore', 'Aquatarkus' blend seamlessly with the vocals 'Stones of Years', 'Mass' and 'Battlefield', all using variations of two basic themes to construct the whole. It is like a soundtrack from a futuristic film.

Side Two is weaker, but not bad. 'Jeremy Bender' is another of those Keith Emerson compositions (with lyrics by Greg Lake) that show his fascination with American pseudo-'frontier' music (a-la Aaron Copland). It works on a 'listenable' level, but is no great shakes. 'Are You Ready, Eddy' is a basic rave, with no originality whatsoever, but, again, at least listenable.

The better tracks on Side Two are the harder 'Bitches Crystal', the fugue/vocal 'The Only Way', 'Infinite Space' and 'A Time And A Place'. They are excellent songs bracketed by the weaker tracks.

[umpire2]

NUMBER 568:

"Thrak"---King Crimson (1995)

King Crimson returns with an interesting mix of experimental rock, jazz-fusion and rock ballads on "Thrak". The industrial assault of the opener 'Vrooom', as well as the title track and, to a lesser extent 'Vrooom Vrooom' (which is a bit more melodic) is counterbalanced by the hard ballads 'Walking On Air', 'Inner Garden (parts 1 & 2), and 'One Time' as well as 'B'Boom', a Bill Bruford, & Pat Mastelotto percussion piece, while the remainder of the album flirts with jazz/rock fusion.

Not all of King Crimson is perfect, but whenever Robert Fripp assembles the band, the results are always interesting and ofttimes great.

[umpire2]

I have some reviews I would like to do, but I'll be damned if I waste my time writing them out only to lose them because of Gateway Time Outs!!!

[umpire2]