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Gypsy Tree – Airplane |
| January 7th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: 1 ]
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Released: 1993
Tracks: My Way; Love Don’t Grow; You Killed Loneliness; Mrs. Babbaloo; Parade; Father; Airplane; What’s the Point; Part 1; Green; Too Tall
Best tracks: Father, What’s the Point, Part 1 (I can’t decide!)
Tracks to skip: Airplane & Green. Airplane is just boring and Green bites, but it does mention the “Woods Mobil”, which is about 1/2 mile from the house I grew up in, and that’s pretty sweet. Doesn’t save the song though.
This a Dallas band that you’ve probably never heard of. Or will besides this review. I did some searching and I only found 2 references to the band, one from a studio they recorded in and the other an online CD store. The main reason why you don’t know who the group is: they’ve been broken up since ’95 or so. I just happen to have this in my collection and enjoy it.
Gypsy Tree is an acoustic guitar centered jam band with lotsa funky stuff thrown in. The guitarists (Ezra Vancil and Fil Taylor, who are the main songwriters. Kirk Sonnenberg (Drums) and Bart Sweazea (Bass) round out the group) like to use a lot of open chords, which makes everything really full sounding. I use a lot of open chords in my own writing as well. The faster songs are all right, but it’s the slower ones that are just excellent, like Father. It’s hard for me to describe this music in a manner that would make most people run out and buy it. Regardless, I enjoy it immensely. I think this is the only CD the band recorded.
Keep an eye out for Ezra Vancil, the primary songwriter and vocalist. I know a few years after GT, he was in a group called Dogma and the Universe. I have their demo, it rocks. He’s now fronting and writing the songs in Ezra Thomas, and they rock too. Anyway, if you can find this CD anywhere (you’ll have better luck in used CD stores in Texas) grab it up, it’s excellent.
Rating: 86
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Journey – Journey |
| January 7th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1975
Tracks: Of A Lifetime; In the Morning Day; Kohoutek; To Play Some Music; Topaz; In My Lonely Feeling/Conversations; Mystery Mountain
Best track: Kohoutek
Track to skip: none, they’re all great. Also it’s only 7 songs, not very torturous.
Most everyone has heard Journey. Power Ballads and all that. This album, the first one, has NOTHING to do with the later Steve Perry stuff. Mostly the same band members, but different attitude and execution. The music is very prog rock/fusion for a song, and then it’ll switch to a blues-rock thing for the next one. Then back. The album is pretty consistent in that regard.
Like I said, this is very different from the later stuff, even 3 albums later. However, it’s still damn good. I’m a total Journey Freak, so for me hearing this album is just another album I really dig. If you ever questioned the musicianship of the members of the group (Neal Schon-guitar, Gregg Rollie-keys and vocals, Ross Valory-bass; Aynsley Dunbar-drums and George Tickner-ryhthm guitar) then this album should easily let you drop that idea. Since Schon and Rollie had just come from Santana’s band, you know they’re gonna be good players. They don’t disappoint, this is their album.
Some of this music might seem a bit goofy and very dated in 2002, but so does most everything else that came out in ’75. I think this album really rocks and if you’ve got an open mind about what ‘Journey’ is supposed to sound like, you just might like it.
Rating: 80
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Rev. Horton Heat – The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of… |
| January 3rd, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1993
Tracks: Wiggle Stick; 400 Bucks; The Devil’s Chasing Me; Livin’ on the Edge (Of Houston); You Can’t Get Away From Me; Beer:30; Big Little Baby; Lonesome Train Whistle; Bales of Cocaine; Loaded Gun; Nurture My Pig; Gin and Tonic Blues
Best track: it’s hard, but I’d say Livin’ on the Edge (Of Houston)
Track to skip: Gin and Tonic Blues…skip Loaded Gun as well
The Reverend is still going strong, but I haven’t seen him live in many years. A great time, go check it out. I was introduced to his music by my friends Matt, Trent and Gary. I remember the first time I heard it we were on our way to a Tripping Daisy show and one of them put it in the CD player. I thought it was pretty damn cool.
I bought this my freshman year of college in Austin and actually purchased this and King Crimson’s Discipline at the same time. Very different albums. For me, all of the Rev’s music isn’t always consistent. About half of this album is incredible, the other half is just good. But man, this music is FUN. So much fun. Lots of humor and some really great playing by the band: Rev on Guitar and Vocals, Taz on Drums and Jimbo on Upright Bass. Jimbo is a monster.
Oh, I guess you need a description of the music, huh? Uh, a wonderfully crazy mix of punk and rockabilly. But that’s still too confining. I’ve heard bits of pieces of his other albums, but I like this one the best. Go see a live show and pick this up for a good time.
Rating: 82
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Frank Zappa – Lumpy Gravy |
| January 2nd, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1968
Tracks: Lumpy Gravy Part One; Lumpy Gravy Part 2 (with 22 sections between the 2 tracks)
Best track: Part One
Track to skip: don’t even think about it
This gets my vote for the weirdest FZ album. From what I’ve heard so far anyway. This is a weird album in 2002. I can’t imagine what the world thought of this in ’68. What makes it so dang weird is the structure. Sometimes it’s kick ass orchestral music, sometimes it’s very strange dialog about pigs and ponies and such. There is no apparent cohesion to it all, but the more you listen it all starts to be obvious.
The reason why Part 1 is better that Part 2, is that 1 contains more music, and 2 more dialog from inside the piano. The orchestral arrangements are gorgeous. The dialog is interesting, but not going to get you pumped or anything. Like I said, it’s really weird. I do have to say that it’s worth owning this album, because you can’t fully understand Frank Zappa without digesting this a few hundred times. It grows on you. Oh, FYI this is Phase II of Money, Phase 3 being Civilization Phaze III, Frank’s last work before he died.
Rating: 83
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Frank Zappa – We’re Only in it for the Money |
| January 2nd, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1967
Tracks: Are You Hung Up?; Who Needs the Peace Corps?; Concentration Moon; Mom & Dad; Telephone Conversation; Bow Tie Daddy; Harry, You’re a Beast; What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body?; Absolutely Free; Flower Punk; Hot Poop; Nasal Retentive Calliope Music; Let’s Make the Water Turn Black; The Idiot Bastard Son; Lonely Little Girl; Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance; What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (reprise); Mother People; The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny.
Best track: too hard, they’re all good. I guess I pick Mother People.
Track to skip: uh, none really. I don’t “get” Megaphone yet, so if you have to, that’s it. It’s still really interesting.
There has already been written so many things about this album, I can’t possibly add more. I can’t talk about the historical significance of it since I wasn’t even alive when it came out. All I can say is that it is a DAMN good album and one you should own. But of course I have to say more about it.
The lyrics of course are superb. Smacking around the Hippies, their parents, every stupid person of the era. Some of Frank’s best lyrics and overall statement. The words to Mom & Dad especially are excellent and they say stuff that just wasn’t talked about much back then. It’s one of the very rare instances of some very visible emotion from Zappa the lyricist.
As a whole, the album is just so damn funny. Just little things he’ll put into in the mix, my fave example being the 2 simultaneous conversations at the end of Flower Punk (which is a lyrical take-off of Hendrix’s Hey Joe). However, THE moment of the album is the little bit of orchestral music stuck in the middle of Mother People. For that 15-second snippet alone, it’s all worth it. Absolutely beautiful. Go buy this thing right now.
Rating: 95
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