ABRAXAS.................SANTANA...................................

Like so many other classic rock albums, Santana's 1970 sophomore set ABRAXAS is celebrated for what are arguably the wrong reasons, with the curious result that the collection as a whole remains under appreciated. Sure, ABRAXAS yielded Santana's two biggest hits - the ageless and definitive covers of Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" and Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" - but there's a lot more here than a couple of radio staples. Running the gamut from the ethereal to the earthbound several times over, this is about as eclectic a package as one could ask for, and a major step forward from the fine debut disc the band had released just over a year earlier.
"Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" is an airy instrumental, and opens the album on its subtlest note. Many listeners might view it as little more than an extended intro to "Black Magic Woman," but I'd counter that Santana's most famous tune strikes me in turn as an intro to "Gypsy Queen," the Gabor Szabo piece into which it segues so beautifully. "Oye Como Va" certainly makes a statement, but "Incident at Neshabur" makes an even bigger one, proving conclusively that this band played covers out of choice rather than necessity. Lest anyone still harbor doubts, percussionist Chepito Areas' swinging "Se a Cabo" should help you to dance them away.
Keyboardist and lead singer Gregg Rolie wrote several fine straight rock and blues numbers during his tenure in Santana, the two finest of which appear on this album. "Mother's Daughter" is a darkly humorous, passionately performed tale of love gone wrong, while the steam shoveling "Hope You're Feeling Better" is, for my money, Santana's greatest rocker and more deserving than either "Black Magic Woman" or "Oye Como Va" of ABRAXAS' top honors. "Samba pa Ti" is a stately, spiritual guitar showcase for Carlos Santana, still one of his best, and the percussion feature "El Nicoya" closes the proceedings in a very similar vein to that on which they opened, its heavily reverbed production evoking windy mountain redoubts south of the border and west of the setting sun.
The reissue of ABRAXAS adds three live tracks from a 1970 London show - "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen," "Se a Cabo" and an early version of "Toussaint L'Overture" - which provide a nice taste of what the band was doing on stage while creating this album in the studio. No one really needs any additional reason to buy such a recording, of course, but they're here, and they're good. Perhaps no Santana studio release better displays the band's singular ability to pair market-friendly pop and rock sensibilities with esoteric musical exploration than ABRAXAS. It's a solidly excellent set, not an alternative greatest hits package, and a must for ears everywhere. Richard.b.Luhrs 

HIS "N" HERS.............................PULP................................

After 10 years of living on the fringe of the Sheffield music scene, "His `n' Hers" is the first album that put Pulp on the radar. While their earlier releases were patchy as best, "His `n' Hers" was a leap forward in terms of songwriting and solidifying their sound. The new "deluxe" edition pulls together the original album, plus an extra disc of goodies that make this the definitive version of this excellent, but largely forgotten album.

You can easily categorize Pulp's albums by theme. "Different Class" is the party album, full of sex, drugs, and the underdogs prevailing in life. "This is Hardcore" is their seedy, comedown-from-fame album. "His `n' Hers" is their most sexually charged record, with young people experimenting in sex being a prevailing theme throughout the 12 album tracks. Songs like "Acrylic Afternoons," the standout track "Do You Remember the First Time?" and "Pink Glove" all delve into this, while more mature songs like "Babies" and "Happy Endings" explore relationships and longing for something more than a "quick shag" (as the band would have put it.) Lyrically, "His `n' Hers" is not as full of dry wit and cynicism as the albums that came afterward, rather it is more of a storytelling album. While it is an excellent album, there are a few tracks that are forgettable and I often skip over them. "David's Last Summer", "Someone like the Moon," and "Have You Seen Here Lately?" are the weak links on the album, but having said that, they are hardly bad songs.

The new 2 CD re-issue is full of quality extras, which should please the die-hard fans as well as people buying the album for the first time. Many of the b-sides here have been previously released on various imports, but they are all here. Standout tracks include "Deep Fried in Kelvin," "Streetlights," and "Seconds." The demos included are also quite good, as are the three live tracks included. The real treasure, however, is the book, which includes new photos and liner notes written by Jarvis Cocker.
Universal has really outdone themselves with the new re-issue of "His `n' Hers," which will hopefully expose new people to Pulp's earlier work. The band is now defunct, but the re-releasing of their three landmark albums are a reminder of how good a band that they were. Ben Rowland 

RITCHIE BLACKMORES ..............RAINBOW...................

Rainbow was formed in 1975 by lead guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore immediately after leaving Deep Purple. He met and struck up a friendship with Ronnie James Dio, who was fronting the bluesy hard rock band Elf. Ritchie was so impressed with Ronnie and the band that he formed Rainbow out of Elf. In other words, when they first began, Rainbow was basically Elf (minus their own lead guitarist, of course) plus Ritchie Blackmore.
Although Elf was basically a bar-room boogie band, both Ritchie and Ronnie envisioned Rainbow to be more of a progressive metal outfit with lyrics concentrating on mystical, medieval, and occult themes. This is why Rainbow's first record has both of these styles represented on it.
It begins with what might be the greatest Rainbow song ever (certainly one of their greatest anyway, as well as one of THE best songs from 1975), a 4 1/2-minute song called "Man On The Silver Mountain." This is the original song that defined Rainbow's music: it starts with a good basic electric guitar riff, then the bass, drums and keyboards join in for support, and when Ronnie James Dio starts to sing, it quickly begins to take shape as the progressive heavy metal song it is. And it has one amazing guitar solo by Ritchie Blackmore!
"Self Portrait" is also a dynamic prog-metal tune, but "Black Sheep Of The Family" is a straight-ahead, slightly bluesy hard rock tune with some great slide guitar work by Blackmore, and is obviously one of the Elf-penned contributions to this record. It is also quite infectious; once you hear it, you can't get it out of your mind for hours.
"Catch The Rainbow," at six and a half minutes long, is the only long song on this album, and is also the most progressive-sounding. It's the one that really paved the way for their next album "Rising," as it sounds more similar to the songs on that record than anything on this one. It's a nice, introspective tune. "Snake Charmer" is almost the opposite; it is a short, loud, brash song that contains a lot of Dio-screaming on it. "The Temple Of The King" gets Rainbow back into fine progressive form, with lyrics conjuring up the medieval. The, they do a sudden roots-rock-about-face with the VERY Elf-sounding, piano-and-bass-driven, ultra-infectious "If You Don't Like Rock 'N' Roll," which some reviewers have dismissed on here, but I think it provides a neat departure for Rainbow on this album. Besides, it shows all of us where Ronnie James Dio really came from (no, not Hell): He came from rock's early days. That's right, he formed his very first band all the way back in 1958, called Ronnie and The Rumblers, so you can tell that he still had some of that influence left in him by the time this album was made. I think it's pretty cool. :)
The CD winds down with "Sixteenth-Century Greensleeves" and "Still I'm Sad." The former is probably the most medieval-sounding track on here, about a revolt against a tyrant, with some evil-sounding singing by Dio. The latter is simply one of the greatest heavy metal instumentals ever, with fast time-changes on bass and drums, and absolutely amazing guitar fretwork by The Man In Black.

If you know only a couple of their later hit songs, then give early Rainbow a try, especially if you already like Deep Purple. Some of these songs are very Deep Purple-ish. If you also like Ronnie James Dio's 80's stuff, then this CD is for you! And...If you don't like rock 'n' roll, THEN YOU'RE TOO LATE NOW! :) Robert J Schneider 

FRANCES THE MUTE..........THE MARS VOLTA...................

If one needed further proof of the contemporary revival/reassessment of the ambitiously overwrought sensibilities once so reviled in '70s rock, this aggressively mindbending second album by the Mars Volta offers it up in spades. Band mainstays Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala insist that labels like "prog" don't interest them, and that this is emphatically not a "sequel" to 2003's De-Loused in the Comatorium. What it is was thematically inspired by a stranger's diary allegedly found by late bandmate Jeremy Ward, the basis for an expansive, often amorphous musical head-trip that brews psychedelia, trance, hard-rock and free-jazz into a daunting new whole. The dozen tracks here represent but five "songs" proper, though the band's disdain for conventional track banding inspire it to sound more like a stream-of-consciousness soundscape from Can--or a dark, lyrically inventive, if decidedly troubled corner of their ids. On the "Umbilical Syllables" portion of "Cygnus.." and "The Widow" Bixler-Zavala invokes the wailing, Led Zeppelin II & III spirit of Robert Plant set against a feverish, swirling melange that's anything but the blues. The vocalist coaxes "L' Via l'Viaquez" en Espanol, while his band indulges its space-mambo conceits with an evocative spirit that recalls Latin Playboys at their most mischievous. It's an album that loops back on itself in a haunting ellipse--and one whose boundless ambition makes Pink Floyd sound like three-chord bar punters by comparison. --Jerry McCulley

APOCALYPSE DUDES....................TURBONEGRO.................

It's hard to take Apocalypse Dudes seriously, so it's best not to try. Turbonegro's greatest album mixes the best excesses of '70s and '80s hard rock and metal and delivers them with punk rock attitude. The result out-Spinal-Taps Spinal Tap, from the fake prog intro to "The Age of Pamparius" (which takes a swipe at Rush) to the call-to-arms "Rock Against Ass." They have enough catchy hooks to appeal to fans of fellow Scandinavian rockers the Hives, with lowbrow, so-dumb-they're-clever lyrics that should win over fans of the Farrelly brothers. --Robert Burrow 

LET IT BLEED...................THE ROLLING STONES......................

There was only one version of Let It Bleed. This is it. It was released simultaneously in the UK and US on Dec 5, 1969. The Stones had the guts to leave off their July megahit Honky Tonk Woman and instead (much to the chagrin of record company execs) put a countrified satire of their own hit on the album. The Let It Bleed sessions also produced 3 of their finest works that are not on the album (Honky Tonk Woman, Sweet Virginia, and Sister Morphine).
The album contains a huge chunk of the work that made the band famous for this era....Gimme Shelter, Love in Vain, Let It Bleed, Midnight Rambler, and You Can't Always Get What You Want have all pretty much defined not only the Stones but this era of English-speaking history to the world. The album is a staple in every serious rock collection.....it's that simple.
The album has several notable facts:
.....Brian Jones died the same day the last tracks were recorded in London
.....M.C. Escher and photographer Man Ray were both invited to design the cover (they declined)
.....it includes the 1st song not sung by Mick - You Got The Silver, sung by Keith (Mick's version was left in the can)
.....Gimme Shelter was written by Keith while he waited in his car for girlfriend Anita Pallenberg who was starring with Mick (and actually making love instead of only acting) on the set of Performance
.....the Stones have long been accused of stealing many of the song bits from Ry Cooder who was involved in the early sessions and laid down basic tracks that developed into many of the songs
The tracks were recorded between Feb 9 and Jul 2, 1969 at Olympic Sound, London, with final mixing done at Sunset Sound and Elektra Studios in L.A. between Oct 18 and Nov 3. You Can't Always Get What You Want dates slightly earlier, first recorded on Nov 17, 1968 at Olympic with Al Kooper on French horn, producer Jimmy Miller on drums instead of Charlie, and the 35 member London Bach Choir. In addition to the 9 tracks that made the album, the Let It Bleed sessions also produced:
.....the entire jam session on April 23, 1969 that became the album Jammin' With Edward
.....Honky Tonk Woman (released as a single - Mick Taylor's 1st session with the band)
.....All Down The Line (released on Exile On Main Street)
.....Stop Breaking Down (released on Exile On Main Street)
.....Sweet Virginia (released on Exile On Main Street)
.....Shine A Light (released on Exile On Main Street)
.....Loving Cup (released on Exile On Main Street)
.....Sister Morphine (released on Sticky Fingers)

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection. Richard.R.Carlton 

THE SMITHS .......................THE SMITHS...........................

1984. The year I was supposed to graduate from high school but I did not. I had to make up a phys-ed class worth 1/16th of a credit. All because I got an "F" because I told the drunk and vile phys-ed teacher to F***off. I was in-the-closet in high-school, suicidal, lonely, and this phys-ed teacher made it clear that he hated fags. Back then teachers - any teacher - could get away with anti-gay remarks.

This album, with its unabashedly homo-erotic cover art and covertly gay references - was what saved me not only that year but became the essential soundtrack for the rest of my life. It has become the album I come back to always -- more than any other Smiths or Morrissey work. I use to think the other later works from the Smiths and Morrissey were my "favorite" but over time it is this album that I find is the most sharply-focused and has the most "soul".

The Village People, David Bowie, Boy George, and others toyed with and were coy about sexuality, androgyny, and homosexuality - but to me The Smiths and this album in particular was the first real honest, and unabashedly direct about being homosexual. Gay life whether it was laid out in romantic longings and sentiments, or pure outright lust, were given equal (i.e., to "straight" love) and forthright treatment for the first time in my musical experience. The directness of the music, the way the instruments were played, and the production were a perfect match.
If you can distill Morrissey's and the Smiths sound, this work would be 95% proof. Others may say the production is so-so but I disagree. The sound is crisp, the drums and cymbals are tight, the entire album appears to have been played with such an alacrity - no other Smiths or Morrisey work seems to have such a directness about it.

Put on a really good set of headphones and listen to this album, there is no muddiness at all on this work. You hear the guitars, bass, drums, and voice - all distinct yet oh-so-drop-dead-gorgeously intertwined. The music is played so head-on that you get a sense that there is no sense or room for pretense. There is something almost classically baroque about the over-all structure of the songs and melodies that I find gives this album a "classical" and enduring feel to it. The later Smiths/Morrissey works tend to have a more theatrical or orchestral feel to them that while beautiful and grand seems to somehow rely too much on electronic drapery ("How Soon Is Now" being a lead example) you go back and listen those songs and then go back this album, their most seminal work in my humble opinion.
Now I LOVE all of The Smiths/Morrisey's work but their debut album to me is lyrically, musically, rhythmically, vocally, politically, socially, romantically, sexually, and spiritually, their most honest, direct, and purest to who they are/were. I'm not a rock critic but to me this album never ceases to amaze me that every time I listen to it, I always think what a little miracle this album really is - dare I say it is one of the most brilliant and miraculous musical points in rock history. Rickchicago

VAN HALEN...........................VAN HALEN...............................

It was the late 70's and unless you lived through it, it may be kind of hard to understand. Disco ruled the radio, you couldn't turn the dial without finding the latest and greatest by the Bee Gees or The Village People. The term "Rock" was now assigned to bands like Styx or Supertramp. The guitar driven rock of Led Zep, The Who and Kiss, were pushed to the back-burner of the American music scene. Then out of nowhere Van Halen burst onto the scene. With the opening chords of "Runnin' With The Devil" into "Eruption" and "You Really Got Me", Van Halen cemented the new American rock sound. No matter what era of Van Halen you prefer, DLR vs. Sammy, it's impossible to top the band's debut album. This was something new, something purely American, and opened the door to what we know as Hard Rock or Heavy Metal today. It's impossible to listen to any rock artist today and not hear the influence of Van Halen. The 80's hair-metal scene was basically made up of bands imitating this album. Is it coincidence that soon after Van Halen debuted disco died, and bands like Twisted Sister emerged? Why bother reviewing the songs on this disk, unless you have lived under a rock for the last 25+ years you have heard each of the songs on this album at one point or another? These songs are classics, and have stood the test of time. I have owned this album on vinyl, 8-Track, cassette and CD. If you don't own this disk already.....well what are you waiting for. Like The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper", or AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", "Van Halen" is an essential album for your cd collection. Graboidz

THE WHO BY NUMBERS..................THE WHO......................

This 1975 collection excels in large part due to its modest goal. It's the Who's singer-songwriter record. Without the ostensible shield his "rock operas" provided, Pete Townshend's personal demons strut about nakedly. Not a pretty sight, but an involving spectacle nevertheless. "They Are All in Love" and "How Many Friends" are forgotten Who songs, but they've aged beautifully. John Entwistle's "Success Story" sequences nicely with the rest of the album. And "However Much I Booze," "Dreaming from the Waist," and "In a Hand or a Face" are great decade-early exercises in mid-life self-pity. There are only three bonus tracks here--live versions of "Squeeze Box," "Dreaming from the Waist," and the earlier "Behind Blue Eyes"--but By Numbers is such a cohesive collection that they're less welcome extras than annoying distractions. Still, By Numbers now stands as one of the linchpins in a great band's catalog. --Steven Stolder 

ACHTUNG BABY............................U2......................................

In a word: staggering. I don't know if I've ever heard an album which can even come close to capturing the kaleidoscope of sheer emotion that floods from these twelve songs. Just as Alice in Chains dragged us to the pitch black depths of heroin-addiction with "Dirt", U2 does the same, only with lost love and heartbreak as the backdrop.
Amidst the gloomy themes of the album, rays of hope still shine through in the form of The Edge's signature effect-soaked licks and some serious head-bobbing rhythm from Clayton and Mullen. The great thing about this album is its accessibility: it literally has it all. Techno/hip-hop/rockers like "Mysterious Ways" and "Even Better Than the Real Thing", and the arena-friendly chorus of "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" will bring a smile to the face of mainstream (and hardcore) U2 fans, while deeper, more experimental fare such as the industrial-tinged "Zoo Station" and the indescribable guitar orgasm of "The Fly" will challenge the listener on their inaugural spins but eventually yield rich rewards. The heart and soul of the album, however, lies in three songs..."One", "Acrobat", and "Love is Blindness". Listening to these in this order under the right circumstances could change a life, rekindle a forgotten passion, or simply reduce the listener to a sobbing heap. They are THAT powerful.

The range of feeling captured in Bono's wailing vocals on "One" is absolutely incredible, especially in the surreal crys that end the song. "Acrobat" dabbles in electronic influences and uses thick sonic brushstrokes to paint a cavernous musical environment that is completely encompassing (and this is before Bono even utters a syllable). The album ends with one of the most bittersweetly-beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard in "Love is Blindness". From the almost gothically-eerie organ intro to the penetrating echoes of Adam Clayton's bassline, the song literally stabs at your soul. And the lyrics are poetic - for example: "Love is clockworks, and cold steel, fingers too numb too feel...squeeze the handle, blow out the candle, love is blindness." Words simply can't describe how perfectly this song captures the agony of loss. You have to hear it for yourself...and that goes for this entire album. Easily U2's best, if not the best of the entire 1990's. dj jazzyjoe

S F SORROW...............THE PRETTY THINGS...................

S.F. Sorrow has a significant place in rock & roll history, though it's hardly widely acknowledged. Generally considered the first "rock opera," the 1967 opus by erstwhile gritty rockers turned psychedelic visionaries predates the Who's vastly more popular Tommy by a year. (Incidentally, there are significant parallels between the plots of both records.) Some would therefore lay blame for all the theatrical tomfoolery that followed at the feet of the Pretties, but they didn't get much credit for their accomplishment, so they probably don't deserve much reproof. Like most everything that came out of London in the late '60s, S.F. Sorrow owes a debt to the Beatles in its sonic adventurousness (Beatles/Pink Floyd engineer Norman Smith deserves credit) and kaleidoscopic lyrical bent, albeit with darker hues (the protagonist's sweetheart is killed in a hydrogen balloon explosion). If your idea of a night at the opera centers around classic Brit rock, S.F. Sorrow is just the ticket. --Steven Stolder

BOY CHILD 67-70..............SCOTT WALKER.....................

This music has affected me like nothing I have heard in years, and I listen to A LOT of music. I can safely say that you've never heard anything like this before, EVER.
You'll probably get as far as the first song collected here, "Montague Terrace (In Blue)"(in blue, no less!), where Scott sings in that amazing voice: "We're swallowed in the stomach-room", and you will either automatically hit the "eject" button, or you will forcibly resist that impulse because you literally cannot believe what you are hearing. You'll try to deny it, to laugh it off. You'll swear you could never possibly actually LIKE this stuff, but you'll keep coming back. Scott Walker has you in his grip.
Prepare to do Internet searches on Scott Walker to learn more about the originator of this unbelievable music. Prepare to invest in all of his first 4 Cd's, only to realize that there are now newly re-mastered editions available with restored artwork and 24-bit sound. Prepare to buy the all of these new versions and end up with 2 copies of all of his early albums. Prepare to invest in his more recent works as well (skip Climate of Hunter, and do not listen to Tilt in the dark by yourself). I know all this, because this is exactly what happened to me. And I'm not even mad about it.
Imagine a rock-and-roll Sartre with Sinatra's vocal chops and backing band, singing songs about man's inhumanity to man, all played entirely WITHOUT irony. I couldn't believe it either, until I finally accepted what I was hearing. Scott Walker is clearly a genius, but definitely not a happy man, and alienation is his primary theme.
If this description does not deter you (and it should deter some of you), I urge you to purchase this collection and fall in love with the pure unbelievable HUMANITY of Scott Walker's art.

BTW: Keep Scott Walker to yourself, your friends will never, ever understand. It's that special. ntrop 

THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD............BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN........

If there were any justice in this world, this album would've sold the 11 million copies that Born In The U.S.A. did, due in no small part to its widely misunderstood title track. Alas, as Springsteen proposes on this album, there is no justice. While Springsteen's best-known and best-selling music may always remain his early songs filled with cars, girls, and the dreams of youth, and while that may be the image that most people have of the man, this album is undoubtedly the work of a mature genius. Not since the early Bob Dylan records has the seamy underbelly of the American life been explored so thoroughly and heart-breakingly in popular song. Influenced, obviously, by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (actually, the movie adaptation, as one sees in the linear notes) as well as other literary and news items focusing on immigrants, the working class, and the downtrodden - as well as drawing upon previous songsters who have explored this territory, such as Dylan and Woody Guthrie - The Ghost of Tom Joad is a set of story songs, done in the heart-breaking and plaintive way that only Springsteen could do them. The stories are Mosley set in California, often near the Mexican border, and involve the deeds of illegal aliens and other working class heroes involved in America's secret economy. Musically, this album is bleak and involved mainly Springsteen alone on acoustic guitar and occasionally punctuated with harmonica, as on his Nebraska album; however, a few songs feature other players, including some intriguingly subtle keyboard work that fits the mood so well you hardly know it's there. Springsteen sings these songs in the slurring drawl that they deserve, paying little heed to pitch or meter, and they can be hard to understand at times. This album doesn't make for easy listening. One cannot play this as background music, driving music, or at a party like one can many of The Boss's records with The E Street Band: this is definitely an album that you must devote your full attention to. It is one of the few records that truly deserves to be listened to when you're alone at night in your room with the lights off. Be prepared to cry, be prepared to feel your heart ache - be prepared to be moved. One of the true masterpieces of American rock music, and a criminally overlooked record which I hope some day will receive the praise it is due. Bill.R. Moore..

GREATEST HITS.................DAVID GRAY......................

David Gray's "Greatest Hits" contains fourteen songs that span his musical career and throws together eleven of his sixteen singles to date, one new; a second previously-unreleased song; and a couple of album tracks.
Needless to say, the majority stem from his most popular albums but there are a few that showcase a talent that was left overlooked for some time.
One such track is "Flame Turns Blue", a song originally recorded in 1999 that appears on the Lost Songs 95-98 record.
It begins with an acoustic guitar accompanying Gray's stark vocals and slow-builds into an absolutely beautiful ballad, complete with pianos and drums. It's one of those tracks you'll wish you'd discovered earlier and is a highlight of the "Greatest Hits" collection.
Likewise, Caroline, a track that is "eccentric" by Gray's own admission, having been written on his computer using lots of blips and bleeps and drum machine sounds. It works surprisingly well.
The new single "You're The World To Me" kicks things off in typically solid fashion, effectively showcasing the epic sweep and emotive power of the artist's songwriting and vocals. It nods to the brilliance of White Ladder but is unlikely to have the impact "Babylon" had on the masses.
And then the hits speak for themselves.
"Babylon" hasn't really shown any sign of ageing, "Please Forgive Me" continues to stir the emotions, "Be Mine" is a rousing love anthem, "This Year's Love" remains one for the hopeless romantics, and "Sail Away" offers one of two knee-tremblers, along with "The Other Side".
And a live recording of "Shine" also provides a welcome reminder of why Gray is considered such a terrific live artist too.
There are some omissions that would have fit in well with the existing selection on the greatest hits compilation, such as "Slow Motion" or some of his earlier works such as "Faster Sooner Now". This fine compilation is predictably satisfying to fans of David Gray. However, assuming that the hardcore followers will already own his fourth album - arguably his best work ever - "Greatest Hits" album is probably more something aimed at the peripheral admirers of the singer. Sellnotsell 

HOLY DIVER........................DIO...................................

The 1983 release Holy Diver was the first album by Dio, a band formed by legendary singer Ronnie James Dio immediately following his abrupt departure from Black Sabbath the previous year. An immediate multi-platinum success, it is an album that has stood the test of time and is now recognized as a classic metal masterpiece.

THE PACKAGING: The first thing you'll notice when you pick up Holy Diver is the terrific cover art featuring a demon (nicknamed Murray) drowning a priest. This created a great deal of controversy when it appeared in 1983, a time when concern over alleged satanism in rock music was beginning to run rampant. Murray would go on to be featured on a number of other Dio album jackets. The liner notes are pretty much just bare essentials, including a tracklist, credits, and a printing of the introductory lyrics to the song "Invisible".

THE BAND: To record Holy Diver Dio enlisted a group of stellar performers, including several he had worked with in the past. Virtuoso drummer Vinnie Appice came over from Black Sabbath with him, and bassist Jimmy Bain had been a member of the incredible lineup that recorded Rainbow's Rising. The lineup was rounded out by a young guitarist named Vivian Campbell, previously of an Irish hard rock band called Sweet Savage.

THE SOUND: If you're familiar with RJD's previous work you'll notice right off that this doesn't sound much like the music he recorded with Black Sabbath or Rainbow. It lacks the dark, brooding heaviness of the Sabbath recordings and the thoughtful classicism of early Rainbow. This album is characterized by energy and vitality, due in large part to the contributions of Vivian Campbell. Campbell's playing on this album is pure fire and passion, augmented by a great sense of melody. The rhythm section is equally impressive, featuring virtuoso drumming courtesy of skinsman Vinnie Appice and tight, in-the-pocket bass provided by Jimmy Bain. RJD is as wailing strong as ever, turning in a vocal performance both passionate and powerful. Keyboards are featured in a few places, played reasonably well by Bain and RJD. RJD himself produced the album with remarkable results for a first attempt. Although slightly lacking in bottom, the recording is very crisp with every instrument clearly audible and there's a certain shimmer to the top end that augments the album's aura of vitality. The vocals and guitars in particular are very well recorded. A lot of reviewers seem to think a remaster would be a great idea, but I really don't see what they think is wrong. All a remaster is going to do is increase the levels and squash all the dynamic range out of the recording. Why would you want to do that?

THE SONGS: The album kicks off in rip-roaring fashion with the scorching rocker "Stand Up And Shout". This is followed by the atmospheric title track which I believe is a carefully veiled attack on organized religion, nicely in keeping with the jacket art. This tune has gone on to become one of Dio's great classics and a concert standard. "Gypsy" is next, and although my least favorite track on the record is STILL a great tune, a hard rocker that's lyrically reminiscent of "Lady Evil" from the Black Sabbath days. After this comes two of my personal favorites, first the melodic rocker "Caught In The Middle" and then "Don't Talk To Strangers", which starts out like a ballad before kicking into overdrive. Two great heavy rock tunes are next, "Straight Through The Heart" and Invisible". Then comes arguably the most identifiable Dio song, the timeless "Rainbow In the Dark" with it's insistent keyboard melody and catchy chorus. The album closes with the slow, stately "Shame On The Night", another of my favorites from this album.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Ten of ten... this album has absolutely no weak spots and stands today as one of Ronnie James Dio's finest moments. If you like heavy metal, get this album. If you don't like heavy metal, get this album anyway. Gene Kodadek 

MECHANICAL ANIMALS................MARILYN MANSON..............

There's no question that Marilyn Manson's 1995 album Antichrist Superstar was a great-sounding record. It brooded, ripped, and clattered in all the right places, mixing industrial beats and samples with roaring heavy-metal riffs, echoing Goth keys, and the occasional tuneful pop vocal. But for all the sonic appeal, some of the songwriting wasn't too strong. No such problem on Manson's new record, Mechanical Animals, which forsakes some of the band's former grind in favor of dynamic glam rhythms and good old-fashioned melody. When the band tones down, as on the largely acoustic "Speed of Pain" and "Fundamentally Loathsome," Manson even sounds like a candidate for an Unplugged session. Most often, however, as on "Rock Is Dead," "User Friendly," and "The Dope Show," Mechanical Animals is a brash, decadent, and glittery display of self-indulgent hooks and melodramatic vocals that sounds like Aladdin Sane-era David Bowie and T. Rex at their most boisterous crossed with the more modern sounds of today's industrial nation. --Jon Wiederhorn

TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS...............INTERPOL........................

Interpol create literate, atmospheric, moody, trashy post-punk music that recalls '80s faves the Psychedelic Furs. And this is definitely a good thing. While most young bands are content to rhyme "make it" with "fake it," Interpol pens melodramatic tales of tortured and tortuous urban relationships that are truly refreshing. Like their peers the Strokes, they're bright, sophisticated, and meticulous enough to build stirring soundscapes. Turn On the Bright Lights is a must for anyone who missed Echo & the Bunnymen, the Furs, and Joy Division the first time around. --Dominic Wills

WORKINGMANS DEAD.........GRATEFUL DEAD.....................

From today's perspective, it's hard to imagine just how much of an impact this album had on the state of contemporary music, not least of all because it was recorded by the Grateful Dead. Up until this album, the Dead were an underground cult phenomenon with little to offer in the way of mass appeal. Furthermore, their previous studio efforts were too strange to suggest that they might be capable of something as extraordinary as what they offer here. More than anything else, the songs on Workingman's Dead sound as if they were old folk/blues songs derived from the public domain and adapted for faithful reproduction. That each song was an original, contemporary composition shows a level of maturity and growth that is simply astounding. Even more astounding is the tight focus of the songwriting. Previous studio albums by the Grateful Dead were rambling and opaque exercises in psychedelia that stood out mostly for their reckless experimentation. Here, the band doesn't waste a single note, while every word paints a specific portrait of the character portrayed.

This sudden improvement in songwriting can be credited entirely to the cementing partnership of guitarist/singer Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, who paired up to write six of the album's eight songs, with bassist Phil Lesh participating in another and Hunter writing one in its entirety. The name of the album derives from Garcia's recognition that Hunter's words portrayed mostly working class folk, thus making the project a "workingman's Dead." It's as accurate a description as could be applied. Whether it's a tale of a miner hoping to get work ("Cumberland Blues"), a dying laborer ("Black Peter") or a railroad jack-baller ("Easy Wind"), each character is accurately portrayed in faded sepia tones much like the album jacket. "Casey Jones" does such an accurate job of portraying a doomed train engineer that it elevates Jones to the realm of a 19th century folk legend, much like John Henry.
Workingman's Dead flaunts a mostly acoustic feel, giving the impression that each song could be as old as the characters portrayed. Completely absent here is any sign of rambling jams or gratuitous solos, with the music designed to suit the story as well as the time frame. Only Robbie Robertson and the Band could claim to have been so successful at capturing an era of Americana without sounding forced or derivative. On this album, the Dead capture the feel of an age gone by with an almost eerily personal representation of each song's protagonist. In the process of emulating our heritage, the Grateful Dead managed to create an album of songs that is now as much a part of our heritage as the songs and characters that originally inspired them. A Tom Ryan 

THE HISTORY OF THE BONZOS.....THE BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND.

The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band was to music what the Firesign Theater was to the spoken word, using a bizarro sensibility to produce comedy recordings unlike anything ever done before. They used every instrument they could lay their hands on, without regard to whether they could actually PLAY it, and played anything from rock to 20s-style vaudeville music. The Bonzos toiled from 1966 to 1970 in obscurity, except for the Beatles collaboration "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number" (the B-side of the "Let It Be" single). Pianist Neil Innes later did a lot of work with Monty Python.
This two-CD set is a strong collection of their best, including a few post-Bonzo gems from individual members, like Viv Stanshall's infectious "Labio Dental Fricative." "The Intro and the Outro" introduces the band members to a repeated two-bar riff, and when they run out of band members, it's "Big hello to big John Wayne on xylophone", and on to Adolf Hitler, General de Gaulle, Brainiac, etc. "Canyons of Your Mind" is an Elvis impersonation with a purposely awful guitar solo. The 20s-style pieces include the delightful "Mickey's Son and Daughter" and "Jollity Farm". At the opposite extreme, "Slush" sets a mournful dirge to a tape loop of a laughing bag (remember those?). There's rock ("I'm the Urban Spaceman"), blues ("Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?"), teen pop (the dandruff ode "King of Scurf"), film noir ("Big Shot"), self-reverence ("Look at Me, I'm Wonderful"), and more. Instruments come and go without warning. The indescribable "My Pink Half of the Drainpipe" stops dead in the middle for Stanshall to present "Rodney's bass saxophone solo, as promised". Stanshall promotes the bodybuilding regimen of "Mr. Apollo": "Before I was a poor stone apology, today I am two separate gorillas".

If you're going to own one Bonzo album, this should be the one. It'll give you the most Bonzo for your money. The only reason I don't give this five stars is that it's SO weird that there's a limit to how much you can listen to in one sitting. It's just too much of a good thing. If you're lucky, the CD will include the liner notes and pictures that were on the LP (such as Roger "Ruskin" Spear taking a sax solo while holding a cartoon thought balloon over his head that says "Wow! I'm really expressing myself!")Woburnmusicfan 

FOSSIL FUEL: THE XTC SINGLES 1977-1992...........XTC...........

XTC have always had a solid Canadian fan base and as someone who came to love them during my university years, their classic albums have always, in one way, shape or form been with me. That said, I welcomed the release of FOSSIL FUEL with open arms and knew that (for space limitations) it was time to say goodbye to those old LPs. Hardcore fans of the group may want the thing for its collectible value (initial UK pressings featured an embossed snail's shell as the actual CD cover)or as a great "mixed hits" car CD. But people who came to the group via APPLE VENUS should definitely try and find this set. Canadian XTC albums fall under EMI distribution (and appear on Virgin, the band's UK label for most of its career)and have all been readily available for years. FOSSIL FUEL, however, is a solid anthology and worth its weight in gold. Ralph Quirino

horgabost beach on the island of Harris

 

PORNOGRAPHY....................THE CURE...............................

It's a shame in a way that nowadays this album seems to fit in with a vast amount of similarly aggressive and agonising music. On it's release it was the first of it's kind and to describe its impact as harrowing would be a serious understatement.

Seminal it undoubtedly was but where other bands strive to achieve the same effect they fail because 'Pornography' is so sincere. Only Nirvana reached the level of outright desperation that brutally stabs out of this recording. But cacophony in itself is not enough. These are really great songs produced by a man who was driving himself way too hard.

In amongst the relentlessly attacking sound, evidence of a great songwriter emerges in moments of astonishing beauty. This is why the Cure's more recent releases fail. Smith was still discovering his ability and wrote as a man in some kind of genuine purgatory. Now, he's wealthy and comfortable and no matter how hard he digs, the well of desperate memories and wondrous revelations have run dry.

So considering it's utterly uncompromising sound it's not surprising that this shocking album didn't sell on release. It left people either stunned (like watching someone having a nervous breakdown at a party) or alienated, after all, it's predecessors were low key and fanciful in comparison.
It marked a change in Smith's life. Although the following album had it's moments of crushing beauty he moved firmly into the land of the 'Lovecats', commercial success and some kind of weird happiness. And unlike Kurt Cobain there really was a happy ending. Vitamino

PARALLEL LINES.................BLONDIE.......................

BLONDIE kicked around for several years and released a couple of albums without developing more than a very localized New York following, where the band was generally considered a sort of punk-pop fusion--and then in the late 1970s came PARALLEL LINES, which vaulted them to a superstardom seldom seen even in the high profile music world. And listening to the recording today it is easy to understand why: absolutely everything about the album is perfect.
As a whole, PARALLEL LINES manages to walk a fine line between several different musical styles. Most of the tracks have a bouncy, almost bubble-gum feel: catchy and memorable with driving rhythms. But the arrangements are anything but bubble-gum: they rely on a mix of synthesizers and traditional drums-bass-guitar in a way that essentially defines the entire "new wave" sound of the late 1970s. And the lyrics, often savage, frequently satirical, and always memorable, are edgy and witty and sharp and about as far from pop as one can get.
All of that would have been enough to make a hit album--but BLONDIE also had the front singer to end all front singers: Debbie Harry, who mixed tough and sexy and pretty and naughty to tremendous effect--and whose full-throated voice actually contrived to SOUND blonde. Whether we're talking about the sleek, disco-like "Heart of Glass" or the punk-edged "Just Go Away" or the new wave "Fade Away and Radiate," the music here suits her unique voice perfectly--and the result is a truly flawless group of recordings that set the standard for the next decade. Blondie would do several more recordings before the band collapsed, and some of them would be very good--but PARALLEL LINES is IT, a landmark in the pop music lexicon. This remastered release, which includes a couple of live recordings for good measure, is an essential in any pop music library. Strongly recommended. Gary.F.Taylor

A NORTHERN SOUL...............THE VERVE......................

"Urban Hymns" is a fine album, but "A Northern Soul" is the Verve's greatest record. Why? It's the intensity -- seldom have I heard rock music performed with such passion and desperation. The band, and especially Richard Ashcroft, pour their hearts and souls into every track as if their lives depend on it. Much has been written about the squalor surrounding the recording of "A Northern Soul" -- the drugs, the broken glass, the screaming arguments -- and you can hear the effects in the music. The production is far from perfect; it sounds murky, and the mixes sometimes sound odd. Every track is amazing, but special consideration must be given to "So It Goes," the title track, "History" and "No Knock on My Door." Richard sings with a far purer voice on "Urban Hymns" and his new solo record, but the pain he exorcises here -- it's about a break up of devastating circumstances -- and how he does it is stunning. It's absolutely tragic that this magnificent record tanked outside the U.K.; indeed, the band broke up because of it, almost for good. If you've only heard "Urban Hymns", I hereby command you, dear reader, to purchase "A Northern Soul" and bask in its imperfect, yet mesmerizing glory. Stan 

THE COVENANT, THE SWORD AND THE ARM OF THE LORD..CABARET VOLTAIRE

Cabaret Voltaire pre-date all of the much later North American IDM/industrial bands like Skinny Puppy, Ministry, NiN etc.
They started their own brand of electronic cut-up funk in the late 70's.
It could be said that without the likes of Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle etc, that the later bands would not have existed, as they all owe so much to the English Northern Industrial scene.
This album along with "Microphonies" sounds like nothing else before or indeed after.
The Cabs were never afraid to let influences from Detroit funk to European Avant-garde electronic music seep into the seems. If you think Industrial/Electronic music started in 1983, this is the perfect album to squeegee your third eye ! Threlly

SLATES...............THE FALL.............................

I love the Fall, some of their later records have gone by the wayside for me (they are outrageously prolific - and like Captain Beefheart - largely a vocalist songwriter surrounded by a variety of musicians).
I got my hands on slates at about the same time I wasn't graduating High School. My friends and I studied it meticulously, like all Fall albums (there's sometimes more just on the liner notes than many other bands have in their entire records!) This originally was a 10" vinyl LP and looked GREAT. The six songs had 4 downright poppy and unforgettable hooks in them - and the lengthy ponderous "slates" was - while droning on and on like a Delta blues piece, full of interesting verbosity from Smith.

This release is a gem - as it's saddled with some great extras - to fill out the CD length and allow for longer playing. The original release was just the first six tracks - ending with the fabulous "leave the capital".
"Fit and Working Again" was damned near anthemic for me at 18 - and even now evokes a kind of material excitement and madness of growing up.
"Older Lover" is brilliant and promising as well.

They were never really to sound like this again - and like many great things - a kind of recorded snapshot of musical and social history.
I hear these days that Smith is mostly an onstage drunk surrounded by musicians half his age who wouldn't even know Slates... but, that's another story that includes a fist fight from the boney old man with his former band mates... Ah! Rock stars! Geoffrey.R.Balme

GROTESQUE (AFTER THE GRAMME)...........THE FALL............

First off, the sound quality on the 2004 reissue is first quality and crystal clear.
If you love The Fall, and great Mark E. Smith vocals buy this reissue.
The CD starts off with a charging rocker 'Pay Your Rates' that hits several speed shifts, and a great opener, followed by 'English Scheme', a synth-keyboard driven rock beat and M.E.S. sounding like he's having a good time rapping along. Funny, toe-tapping and great vocals. The drumming is top notch. Next comes the classic 'New Face in Hell'. What a terrific song. It's hard to keep up with all that's going on behind M.E.S. This song cooks. The kazoo (!?) bridges the melody as it rolls and rises, cresting as always through the great M.E.S. vocals. Great guitar and drums. Trance beat follows with ''C'n'C-S Withering'. Whatever this song is about, it is hypnotic. Great stuff. 'The Container Drivers' is another Fall classic. I love this song on the highway as the truckers fly by. Cowpoke beat, a funny song and a real pressure cooker. 'Impression of J Temperance' has sinister feel to it. Still, no idea what M.E.S is rapping about. Hypnotic and a sort of menacing beat. 'In the Park' hops along, bobbing and weaving around the drums. A funky little tune. Does anyone other than M.E.S. know what some of these songs are about? 'WMC-Blob 59' starts off with the garbled static-coughed, distorted vocals and noise M.E.S. always seems to treat us to on his CD's. Mildly interesting, I guess. Blessedly short, once you know the CD, you will hit FF on this one. 'Gramme Friday' is a medium speed riff and drum driven song with some funny passages. 'The NWRA' closes the CD with a finger-snapping beat that M.E.S. raps over as the bass works it's way into the geometry happening behind him. As it pick up speed, it swings. No one plays it like the Fall. There are 5 bonus track on the reissue. All great songs and makes it even more worth your hard earned cash. 'How I Wrote Elastic Man' is very funny and a song that will stick in your head. The interview with M.E.S. at the end is interesting and entertaining. A generous CD if you are a Fall lover. Enjoy. Elaine Skillins 

WILDER..............THE TEARDROP EXPLODES........................

I'm not quite sure what to say about this album to those uninitiated into lead singer Julian Cope's weird world. First, I should say that its a great album that I've found endlessly listenable. The production is clearly of the British neo-psychedelic school of the early '80's, but it never sounds in the slightest dated - its crisp and clean, beautifully varied in texture (never over-chorused or -flanged or synth-heavy) and it accordingly sounds like it could have been made last week or 25 years ago. The instrumentation is similarly perfect - the rhythm section is great, and Cope and his mates use horns (!) brilliantly - for an example, check out "Passionate Friend." All this inspired craftsmanship is married to Julian Cope's magnificent songwriting and singing, which elevates this to five-star, favorite album territory. Cope's songwriting is just great - melodic as all get-out, destroying conventional structures, but always in the service of the song and not just for effect. Sometimes, as a song is ending, he's still wringing new melodies from the song - again, check out "Passionate Friend" (which sounds equally informed by the Turtles and the Buzzcocks). Its almost all upbeat, exuberant pop, yet nevertheless imbued with an abiding sense of mystery and loss. The lyrics are opaque but still dazzling and revealing, the singing passionate. Every song is great, and after 3 years of listening to this frequently, like all great art, something new is always revealed or reflected, yet I know I'll never get to the great mysteries at the heart of this record. (As you can see, after I slow start, I can't say enough about this record!) In conclusion, this is a unique record you won't regret purchasing if you're a fan of slightly twisted power pop or psychedelia, and especially if you are a fan of the Chameleons UK, the Church, XTC, Echo, or Robyn Hitchcock. As high a recommendation as I can make! Thedevilscoachman 

SURRENDER..................THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS...................

What do you do when everyone tries to sound like you? What no one would expect, that's what. The Chemical Brothers' third album "Surrender" recaptures the same vibe they found mining old-school hip hop on the "Loops of Fury" EP, only this time they find it in mid-1908s house. And, midway through the disc, you'll find some of the most adventurous psychedelic electro-pop ever assembled--even a collaboration with Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval that'll leave you feeling buzzed all day long.
With the Chems forsaking their trademark block-rockin' beats for the traditional 4/4 of the dance floor, it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise to anyone who bought DJs Tom Rowlands and Ed Simon's mix album "Brothers Gonna Work It Out"--this is just the boys going back to their roots here. Only, instead of simple club-ready retreads, they lay down some impressive sonics that simultaneously seem dated and futuristic, familiar yet not too accessible. Even the blatant Beatlemania of "Let Forever Be," with Oasis's Noel Gallagher, is forgivable since it's such a wonderful reminder of what these three did when they attacked us with that trippy ditty "Setting Sun" two years ago.

The Chems fancy themselves as album-making artists, not merely single-pressing DJs. At the expense of underground credibility, what the Chems have done here is bold and enticing. Track after track unfolds almost delicately, without the industrial onslaught of "Exit Planet Dust" or the heavy funk of the gold-selling "Dig Your Own Hole." The bottom line is, any Chem album is going to be bliss, but this time they've created something that absolutely commands repeated listening to fully appreciate--that's not a chore, but a gift that keeps on giving.

FLOATING INTO THE NIGHT.......................JULEE CRUISE..........

Given that David Lynch is my favorite director, it's really no surprise that I love Julee Cruise's FLOATING INTO THE NIGHT. The world was introduced to Cruise when she sang "Mysteries of Love" at the end of Lynch's critically-acclaimed masterpiece BLUE VELVET, released in 1986. That song is on Cruise's debut; it's probably the weakest of the songs contained in the album. That's good news, though, because "Mysteries of Love" is a pretty fine song. It pales in comparison, however, to the new material Cruise recorded for FLOATING INTO THE NIGHT - 9 utterly delightful compositions that redefine the word "dreamy".
Let me attempt to describe the album to someone who's never heard any of Cruise's songs. Imagine those old laid-back jukebox tunes from the 1950s. Take those tunes and add a dash of shadiness, then inject that mixture with a narcotic. That's what Cruise's songs sound like. Despite the album covers'  depiction of a naked woman floating off into the darkness, the songs on FLOATING INTO THE NIGHT glitter like a case of diamonds. True, they're dark; but they're dark in the same soothing way that sleep is dark. Indeed, the songs on FLOATING INTO THE NIGHT are like dreams converted to music. Take "I Remember", for example. The song rolls along tranquilly at its beginning, but around the midsection it suddenly circles around like a merry-go-round - an eerie surprise that only lasts long enough to throw us off guard before the song metamorphosis back into a 50's rock number. But honestly, what else would you expect from David Lynch, one of the most controversial directors in the film industry? Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti, the immensely talented composer who has worked with Lynch on nearly all of his productions, produced the album. Lynch wrote the lyrics for the songs (which are surreally beautiful and make the bold decision not to rhyme), while Badalamenti wrote the wonderful music. It's filled with tight drumming, strong bass, and anything else you'd expect from the dream pop of the late-1950s and 1960s. 
Not surprisingly, most of the album's fans are also fans of David Lynch's work - in particular, TWIN PEAKS, Lynch's brilliant TV series about a mysterious town in Washington and its wacky inhabitants. Julee Cruise actually appeared on TWIN PEAKS in a few episodes to sing some of the songs on this album, namely the be-boppin' "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart", the unnervingly mysterious "Into the Night", and "The Nightingale". The song will attract the most attention from PEAKS fans is "Falling", an instrumental version of which wound up becoming the shows instantly-recognizable theme song; the album version of the song also wound up in the shows second season.

One of my favorite songs on the album is "The Swan", a song with an opening like something straight out of a nightmare. There's an eerie calm through the rest of the song as well, but it gradually becomes more upbeat; still, there's something unpredictable and unnatural about the melody, the lyrics, Cruise's singing - the whole song. It's a very unusual composition that disturbs me - and impresses me - every time I hear it.

I simply love this album. I would call it an essential album. If you don't own it, then I would most certainly recommend that you correct that error and give it a spin in your CD player of choice. David Lynch, Angelo Badalamenti, and especially the wonderful Ms. Julee Cruise really hit it big with this dazzling masterpiece. If ever there was an album more surreal or dreamy, I can't imagine what it was like. This is a gorgeous record. Purchase it and dream on. Tom Benton

HEAVEN UP HERE..............ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN................

After their raw, exuberant debut album "Crocodiles", Echo & the Bunnymen went back to the drawing board. They came back with "Heaven Up Here," and from the very first listen it's clear that this record is chock full of Ideas, man. It sounds a lot like four [possibly] naive young men trying to deconstruct rock as they saw it in the UK in the early 80's: all sleek, chic, and retro-redundant.

Punk arrived in 1975/76 to teach the dinosaurs a lesson, and while it quickly became a parody of itself, the movement galvanized the efforts (and turned the mental/emotional/spiritual wheels) of thousands of would-be musicians.

The Bunnymen, it would seem, took punk's lessons to heart, and although they dispensed of its machinations early in their career, "Heaven Up Here" could arguably be termed the best punk-influenced record ever made. While some of the sounds on the record seem dated and cliched by today's standards, it's important to listen to this music with one's mind attuned to the context of the Times in which it was released.

Guitars shimmer and glisten like raindrops falling into puddles, as the bass churns out hypnotic Nuggets/Krautrock-inspired riffs and the drums pound out cymbal-less, tribal rhythms. And then you notice the Voice: It soars, dives, drives, and fights with the music, sometimes all in the course of a single song. This Voice drips with drama and pathos, delivering cryptic lyrics that draw you into a strange internal logic that actually begins to make a lot of sense after awhile. After thirty listens, one begins to think, "Aha! This song really DOES mean something!"
Yes, you should probably buy this album. And once you do, remember this Tip: "Heaven Up Here" actually sounds even better on an overcast, rainy day. Nik Zero

STEREOPATHIC SOULMANURE.................BECK.......................

This album is a disjointed and cluttered mix of hog-wash, one might say. One might also say it is a priceless window into the early years of Beck, when he didn't much care what he sounded like, what his style was, and who was going to buy it. As a pretty die-hard fan of Beck myself, this album is a true GEM. Anyone who has heard One Foot in the Grave (the album) will know what to expect to a degree, but Stereopathic Soulmanure is a bit rougher, scattered, and diverse than that. Uber raunchy grunge parodies are studded throughout, but seem to be faithfully followed with down-home bluesy tunes that are of an immense musical quality. Beck is a great composer, but is also a wild one. This album catches both of those aspects and, for the Beck fan, delivers genuine material from the cherished and unpolished early days of Beck, which are most definitely a thing of the past, as Beck skyrockets across the genres with an ever-modern and produced, but still original, sound. O . Baughman

FREEWHEELIN....................................BOB DYLAN.............

Released in March of 1963 this album, unlike his first, consists mostly of songs by Mr. Dylan himself. The songs, everyone a gem, seem to be a running commentary on what it must have been like to be in young in the early Sixties and getting mixed messages from those in power. JFK was alive with the promise of hope and a New Frontier, yet the war in Vietnam was hotting up.

Songs like the lead off "Blowin' in the Wind," "Talking World War III Blues," "A Hard Rain," and "Masters of War," which appears to be just as relevant now as it was forty years ago, seem to be a somber message of the turbulent times to come.
With "Don't Think Twice," "Girl From the North Country," and "Corrina, Corrina," Mr. Dylan shows us that he's not just about protesting and complaining, that he can sing the tender ballads as well, and why not, this was a time of hope, there was tenderness in 1963, however there were storm clouds on the horizon, Dallas and a full blown war were coming and this record seems to be a warning. Zachary Hackett

HORGABOST BEACH ISLE OF HARRIS, SCOTLAND

 

THE BASEMENT TAPES................BOB DYLAN.......................

The Basement Tapes can be heard as a manifesto for the '90s' underlying Americana agenda or as the greatest album never intended for commercial release. Homegrown 1967 recordings taped in the Band's fabled Big Pink hermitage in Saugerties, New York, many of the 24 songs resonated across American and English rock and folk long before their belated 1975 release through studio interpretations by the Byrds, Fairport Convention, Manfred Mann, Peter, Paul & Mary, and numerous other acolytes, as well as through myriad unauthorized bootlegs. Good as the covers were, Dylan and the Band rolled their own with an extraordinary coherence that sounds only more authentic in these rough-hewn, intimate, always musical performances, which dovetail with Dylan's stark John Wesley Harding and the Band's stunning debut, Music from Big Pink as well as the presciently lo-fi The Band. At a time when most rock culture was entranced with its post-atomic origins, these songs sounded timeless, plunging into pre-industrial folk, turn of the (20th) century barrelhouse and blues, and crackling, vintage rock & roll excursions with offhand verve and a thrilling disregard for what was hip. Time has only reinforced their visionary power. --Sam Sutherland 

ADORE.........................SMASHING PUMPKINS.......................

With Adore, Smashing Pumpkins return to the forefront of rock to do a dance with a new partner. Trading white-noise vocals and guitars for caramel crooning and dense synthesizers, frontman Billy Corgan drives bandmates James Iha and D'Arcy to a lush aural plateau. The darkness is still there--evidenced in the techno throb of the single "Ava Adore"--but the Pumpkins also tinker with Lennonesque lullabyes ("Behold! The Night Mare"), midtempo electronica ("Appels and Oranjes"), and tender calliope music ("Once Upon a Time"). Smartly, Corgan rarely upstages the watery sounds going on behind him; the trademark midsong blowouts are almost completely absent. Adore will strike your ears and heart in a way you didn't think the Smashing Pumpkins could. --Jason Josephes 

THE BEST OF BLACK SABBATH..........BLACK SABBATH...............

If you are trying to find an overview of the largest part of Black Sabbath's career in as few discs as possible, then this package is for you. These two discs are packed to the max with 79 minutes of material each, adding up to over 2.5 hours of prime Sabbath, covering the band's history until 1983. Here you can track Sab's development from the slow and sludgy pile drivers of the early albums, to their peak of creativity and complexity in the mid-70's, to their late 70's decline - both before and after Ozzy got canned. This collection in fact contains just three post-Ozzy songs (two with Dio and one with Gillan) before avoiding Sab's complete early-80's downfall altogether.

However, I would mostly recommend this for non-collectors who are not too attached to the original albums. This is because diehards will probably gripe about the song selection. This always happens with compilations anyway, but here there's a reason to be concerned. Disc A, with 16 tracks, covers just the first three Sab albums, with a whopping six tracks from *Paranoid* alone (out of the original eight). Meanwhile disc B, also with 16 songs, covers eight original albums, with some albums getting just one song each. Sure most fans prefer those early albums anyway, as the early years are piled up with more bonafide Sab classics. But the album considered by many fans to be their best, 1974's *Sabbath Bloody Sabbath* is woefully underrepresented with just three tracks here. This is curious because of the inclusion of the mostly disposable (and chintzy) acoustic numbers "Embryo" and "Don't Start (Too Late)" which are taking up space that could be used more wisely. So if you're looking for a comprehensive overview, you're still getting your money's worth with this package, but the lopsided selections will deprive you of a large part of the band's history, if you're the analytical type. But if you can forgive that problem, and if you're not a die hard Sab collector, you'll be happy with this gigantic collection. Doomsdayer520 

ONE LOVE....THE VERY BEST OF BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS

One Love, a remastered retrospective of poli-spiritual musical icon Bob Marley's major-label work completed before his 1980 death from cancer, may well replace 1984's Legend as the best-selling reggae album of all time. One Love is 20 cuts to Legend's 16, a set that plays in chronological order of release as opposed to party mix. As with the latter, One Lovepresents the sweet organ-driven and feedback-scarred live version of "No Woman, No Cry" as well as album versions of classics like "I Shot the Sheriff," "Get Up, Stand Up," and "Jamming." Single versions of "Buffalo Soldier" and "Exodus" sidle up to the full-band cut of "Redemption Song" and the soulful Marley/Curtis Mayfield medley, "One Love/People Get Ready." A fine sampler of the Tuff Gong years from 1972's Catch a Fire and onward, One Love is aimed at the casual Marley fan rather than the hardcore completist, though its final track is indeed a rarity: the Marley-penned, Lee "Scratch" Perry-produced "I Know a Place." A moving ballad-styled anthem of solidarity and freedom, it was recorded in 1977 and is unavailable on any other Bob Marley & the Wailers album. One Love gives clear evidence of why Marley's legacy endears and endures nearly a generation after his passing. --Paige La Grone 

PAY IT ALL BACK 3 .................VARIOUS ARTISTS ON U SOUND.........

If you are a fan of ON-U Sound, this is one of their best collections featuring label-mates Strange Parcels, Dub Syndicate and Gary Clail. Many of the cuts are otherwise unavailable or out-of-print including "Heart's Desire" by the Strange Parcels, and "False Leader" by Gary Clail. These 2 tracks are stellar by themselves. Mix them with several outstanding tracks by Dub Syndicate including "Stoned Immaculate", and "You Thought I was Dead" (featuring vocals by Lee Scratch Perry) and you have a great mix of music in this genre. Although I prefer the mix of "Disconnection" available only on the Strange Parcels album of the same name, you get a version of this excellent tune on this collection as well. Montana DJ 

STUTTER............................JAMES..............................

James was a wonderful and extraordinary band-they almost hit it big in the U.S. with 'Laid', but didn't quite crossover Ala Blur, Oasis, or heck, even Elastica. However, as is discernable from this, their wonderful full-length debut, they were a band with a unique vision, that I think didn't quite fit in with the trends/styles of the time (Imagine if they appeared now, in the wake of The Shins, Iron & Wine, or even Death Cab for Cutie!).

Nonetheless, STUTTER was an astounding debut for a young band. With an upbeat, punky feel (Gil Norton even engineered it: pre-Pixies, Catherine Wheel, Foo Fighters) combined with an aching folk sensibility, they were trying their hands at combing the waters of the Violent Femmes and The Smiths-yet in some ways they were more successful than either of those seminal bands. As you can hear on an album highlight, 'So Many Ways', their songs sometime achieve a sensitive, soaring beauty that might not be expected from this type of music. And the vocal arrangements are unique, intricate, and spectacular here-easily the most creative of all their albums.

In fact, discounting LAID (their unquestionable masterwork), this is easily their most creative, entertaining, and emotional release. From the stripped-bare version of 'Why So Close' (an edgier, rocking out version appears on their earlier e.p. HYMN FROM A VILLAGE-absolutely seek it out if you can find it-spectacular stuff!) to the fade-out speeded-up closer of 'Black Hole', this album is a delight.
James veered more into arena anthems and electronica experimentation's with some of their later albums, but STUTTER captured them at their essence: raw, punky, folky, witty, and beautiful. And yes, live, they were a marvel. RockerDad 

SURFS UP............DAVID THOMAS & TWO PALE BOYS..............

"I'd read the things people may know/ The stories they fit me into," David Thomas sings with his usual cryptic, mordant wit. For such a large man, he has a delicate voice, one that evokes desolate vistas and surreal places. He's been creating his own punk American Gothic since the mid-1970s with Pere Ubu and more recently with trumpeter Andy Diagram and guitarist Keith Moline (the Two Pale Boys). Surf's Up, the follow-up to their 1996 studio album Erewhon, sounds like deranged Midwestern surf music. Guitars are fed through echo machines and radio receivers, while Thomas's voice weaves around atmospheric beats. The title track in particular, a cover from Brian Wilson's lost Smile album, has an off-kilter tonal beauty--like Miles Davis meets a mad Beach Boys. It, like the entire album, is highly recommended. --Lucy O'Brien 

TERMINAL TOWER.................PERE UBU..........................

I'd always been curious about Pere Ubu. I'd always heard them name dropped along with bands such as Mission Of Burma and Gang Of Four, and I was well acquainted with Claw Hammer's amazing version of the Ubu classic "Final Solution," but it took me years to finally pick up one of their releases, due to their long, varied, and wildly inconsistent back catalog.
Fortunately, "Terminal Tower" captures Ubu in their earliest, best stages, what I like to refer as "the Pink Floyd that doesn't suck." The first three songs show Pere Ubu as a brilliantly skewed rock band. "Heart Of Darkness" is Mission Of Burma a half-decade earlier, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" is a slow, methodical song that unravels over the course of six-and-a-half minutes, with a haunting paranoid vocal softly intoning lyrics about suicide bombers that are still chilling 25 years later (especially with the recent events in Afghanistan) set to a droning Sabbath-esque fuzz guitar riff. "Final Solution" is a classic, anthemic hard rock song buried under a ton of guitar weirdness. It's not hard to see why bands like Claw Hammer, The Pagans, and Gaunt have all decided to do their own version of this song.
From there the mood lightens a bit, with Pere Ubu doing a few bouncy, yet equally absurd pop tunes. Dave Thomas almost evokes an eccentric, white Wilson Pickett on "Untitled," warbling "The Modern Dance...it goes like this!" Elsewhere "My Dark Ages" is Pere Ubu's claustrophobic take on disco, while "Heaven" could best be described as futuristic reggae, almost like Peter Tosh with whooshing spaceship noises in the background.

Here it is, the damaged, manic-depressive sound of Pere Ubu at it's most accessible without sacrificing it's crooked, quirky edge. Thusly, "Terminal Tower" is regarded as one the group's few essential releases, where the strangeness of the arrangements adds to the the greatness of the songs, rather than detracting from them. Barry Offwhite 

THREE EP"S.....................BETA BAND................................

Having listened to a great variety of music in the past few years, I think I can safely say that "The 3 EP's" is one of the most endlessly fascinating new finds I've stumbled upon lately. This collection of three separately released EP's (hence the title, heh) showcases a band that revels in eclecticism, adventurousness, and flat-out strangeness. Mutating frequently and unpredictably, these songs are generally built around the traditional rock-band lineup, but the Beta Band go well beyond facile classifications by embracing decidedly irregular song structures and incorporating found sounds ranging from piano to accordions to samples to God knows what else. All throughout, the band's obsession with detail is matched by a strong ear for melody. The opener "Dry The Rain" could actually make a decent single and perfectly exemplifies what this band is about, moving from twangy acoustic folk tune to upbeat horn-fueled anthem about halfway through. "I Know" is a hypnotic, repetition-oriented instrumental featuring some mangled beats and snatches of guitar noise. Starting out as a droning piece of acidy pop, "B + A" suddenly shifts into overdrive and morphs into a monstrous rave-up complete with hand claps, crashing percussion, and even an "aaaah, aaaah" chant. Things get even more interesting with "Dog's Got a Bone," a gentle, non-rocking mood piece driven along by little more than quiet acoustic strumming, accordions, and sweet vocal harmonies. "Inner Meet Me" actually manages to be catchy in its own unique way, with entrancing near-rapped vocals placed over a head-bobbing rhythm. "Monolith" is a fifteen-plus minute epic of almost comical weirdness, segueing from one ambient passage to another with no apparent pattern. A clinic on how to do a lot with a little, "Push It Out" begins as an eerily minimal piece before becoming steadily more expansive as it adds a series of new sounds throughout its running time. In yet another odd move, "She's The One" could almost qualify as a ballad, aside from the fact that it's more than eight minutes long and its soft sound eventually gives way to quasi-psychedelic jamming and some Alvin and the Chipmunks-style chanting. The last three songs, "It's Over," "Dr. Baker," and "Needles In My Eyes," find the band moving in a somewhat more accessible direction, but there's still plenty of gonzo experimentation and and startlingly original craftsmanship to be found. As cohesive as it is diverse, and as fun as it is wacky, "The 3 EP's" is a modern-day classic not to be missed by those seeking something out of the ordinary. Wheelchair Assassin