Cheevyjames’ Musical Roundhouse

Released: 1992
Tracks: Brother; Got Me Wrong; Right Turn; Am I Inside; (Hidden Track)
Best track: I’m cheap, but it’s the whole thing
Track to skip: absolutely none

It’s nearly impossible to pick a ‘best’ track since all 4 of the non-hidden ones are fantastic. The guest singers (Ann Wilson on Brother and Chris Cornell on Right Turn) sound great on their respective tracks. So yeah, I can’t pick a best track here. Sue me. Do yourself a favor and go buy this.

Rating: 93

Released: 1973
Tracks: The Great Filling Station Holdup; Railroad Lady; He Went to Paris; Grapefruit – Juicy Fruit; Cuban Crime of Passion; Why Don’t We Get Drunk; Peanut Butter Conspiracy; They Don’t Dance Like Carmen No More; I Have Found Me a Home; My Lovely Lady; Death of an Unpopular Poet
Best track: He Went to Paris
Track to skip: none

There’s really something fresh and exciting about this album. His songwriting is great and he’s very enthusiastic throughout the whole thing. So many classics are on here. Consider that 3 of these songs are on his Greatest Hits album. There’s not a bad track on here and even if you own the Box Set, you’ll still want to pick this up for the 4 tracks from this album that aren’t on there. The album still has the huge country influence that all his early stuff has, but he dips more into the “Caribbean” vibe than I figured he would on this. There is some fantastic material on here and I think my favorite one is He Went to Paris. It’s a gorgeous and sad song; I love it. This CD is harder to find now; I think it’s going out of print. So, get it while you can…and besides, you can find it for around $10-a great deal for a great album.

Rating: 90

Released: 1975
Tracks: Bastille Day; I Think I’m Going Bald; Lakeside Park; The Necromancer (Into Darkness / Under the Shadow / Return of the Prince); The Fountain of Lamneth (In the Valley / Didacts and Narpets / No One at the Bridge / Panacea / Bacchus Plateau / The Fountain)
Best track: Fountain of Lamneth (the whole thing)
Tracks to skip: Going Bald, Necromancer

Besides the horrible By-Tor from the previous album, this was Rush’s first real attempt at doing some long songs that told stories. Necromancer is a sort of Part 2 for By-Tor, and maybe that’s why it’s not too hot. Side 2 (Fountain of Lamneth suite) is a lot better than side 1 and the whole Fountain thing is really cool. There are some great riffs in here and Panacea is a gorgeous piece of music.

If the album was just Bastille Day, Lakeside Park and The Fountain of Lamneth then it’d be very good, but very short. The bad songs in the first half drag it down, but the album is eventually redeemed by Lamneth. Rush fans should dig this, but I don’t think that Rush’s music has reached a ‘mass popularity’ quality yet. They’d get there, but just not yet.

Rating: 84

Released: 1990
Tracks: The Squirming Coil; Reba; My Sweet One; Split Open and Melt; The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony; Bathtub Gin; Run Like an Antelope; Lawn Boy; Bouncing Around the Room
Best track: Squirming Coil, possibly Lawn Boy
Track to skip: none

The absurd eclecticism continues here and all of these songs really are Phish Classics. I think anytime that any of these songs come up (OK, except for Bouncing, which a lot of idiots don’t like) at a concert everybody goes nuts. Good reason too, since there’s always some significant improv in these songs. Coil, Reba, Melt, Bathtub Gin, Antelope are all serious jamming songs.

The band is still kind of figuring everything out on this one, they’re not professionals yet. This album is essential for anyone who likes Phish since (as always) there’s something that everybody can enjoy on this. It’s by no means perfect, but I like it. And Lawn Boy is a great song.

Rating: 89

Released: 1989
Tracks: Teas’n, Pleas’n; Scared; Bones in the Gutter; Take Me Drunk; Feels Like a Hammer; Sport’n a Woody; Queen of the Nile; Outlaw; Here Comes Trouble; Ten Boots (Stompin’); That Dog
Best track: Scared
Tracks to skip: Take Me Drunk, everything after Queen of the Nile

The rest of the album has its highs and lows, but it’s really not an essential thing. I really like how these guys are proud to be Texans and just let it flow all through the music. It’s not quite “Texas Swing” but the music swings a lot more than most metal bands. Sport’n a Woody is so juvenile, but it still makes me chuckle. It IS a stupid song, but it makes me laugh, so who cares. Like I said, good and bad points about this album. Jason McMaster is now fronting a very heavy band in Austin called Gahdzilla Motor Company. If you’re doing some research into heavy metal of the 80’s pick this up, otherwise it’s not essential.

Rating: 71

Released: 1979
Tracks: Majestic; Too Late; Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’; City of the Angels; When You’re Alone (It Ain’t Easy); Sweet and Simple; Lovin’ You is Easy; Just the Same Way; Do You Recall; Daydream; Lady Luck
Best track: Daydream
Tracks to skip: When You’re Alone, Lovin’ You is Easy

Daydream is an incredible song and I have absolutely no idea why it’s not popular. It’s such a cool song. At the same time, I’m so completely sick of Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin that if I don’t hear it again for the next decade I’ll be happy. It’s a pretty good song, but it totally doesn’t deserve the amount of airplay (and concert play) it has.

All Journey fans should own this album, and if you’re not a big Journey fan it won’t hurt you to avoid it. However, if you do you’ll be missing Daydream (and LTS!!) so it’s your loss. This isn’t close to being my fave Journey, but it’s still pretty good.

Rating: 84

Released: 1984
Tracks: Fight Fire With Fire; Ride the Lightning; For Whom the Bell Tolls; Fade to Black; Trapped Under Ice; Escape; Creeping Death; The Call of Ktulu
Best track: Creeping Death or For Whom the Bell Tolls…can’t decide
Tracks to skip: Trapped Under Ice & Escape

It’s frankly jawdropping to hear the change between Kill ‘Em All and this. The songs are a lot more grown up and the band’s playing has increased many levels. This is absolutely powerful stuff. Every second of this album (minus the 2 stupid tracks) is perfect. And the album cover is so cool. Please, go do yourself a favor and buy this. Awesome, awesome stuff.

Rating: 93

Recorded: 1969, Released: 1997
Tracks: [Disc 1] 21st Century Schizoid Man; In the Court of the Crimson King; Get Thy Bearings; Epitaph; A Man, A City; Epitaph; 21st Century Schizoid Man; Mantra; Travel Weary Capricorn; Improv – Travel Bleary Capricorn; Mars [Disc 2] In the Court of the Crimson King; Drop In; A Man, A City; Epitaph; 21st Century Schizoid Man; Mars [Disc 3] 21st Century Schizoid Man; Get Thy Bearings; In the Court of the Crimson King; Mantra; Travel Weary Capricorn; Improv; Mars [Disc 4] 21st Century Schizoid Man; Drop In; Epitaph; Get Thy Bearings; Mantra; Travel Weary Capricorn; Improv; Mars
Best track (per disc): Disc 1-Schiziod Man (Fillmore), 2-Mars, 3-Bearings, 4-Mars
Track to skip (per disc): 1-none, 2-none, 3-the improv, 4-none

Disc 1 consists of BBC radio sessions (tks 1-4), live at the Fillmore East (5-7) and live at the Fillmore West (8-11). The BBC material is interesting since it’s older than the studio album (In the Court) by a few months. In the Court (the song)…has some alternate lyrics and Bearings is the only studio version of this cover song, written by Donovan. The F.E. recording of A Man, A City (later renamed Pictures of a City for the Poseidon album) is the song’s debut performance and the improv from the F.W. is actually fun! Right off the bat throughout the first disc you get the sense that King Crimson was already one of the best live bands in 1969. The band is especially ON FIRE on the F.E. version of Schizoid Man. Absolutely blistering stuff.

Disc 2 continues on with the band’s final concert before Ian McDonald and Michael Giles quit. It’s the entire show (minus a bit from the guitar solo in Drop In) so that’s really nice to be able to hear the whole last show. The show is pretty good, but not the ’69 Crimson’s best. There is a small dip in energy from the material the night before (disc 1 tracks 8-11), but sensing the significance of the occasion, the band rise up at the end and play a frightening version of Mars.

Discs 1 & 2 are what you’ll find in the stores, while 3 & 4 are only available through DGM (and as imports, but they’re harder to find nowadays). Disc 3 was recorded at the Plumpton Festival in August of ’69 and disc 4 is from a September show at the Chesterfield Jazz Club. Both of these discs sound inferior to the previous two (thus the web-only release), but to my ears the sound is just fine. I realize it’s 1969, so I don’t expect the quality to be like our standards today. I like disc 4 better than disc 3; I just wish disc 4 had the whole show (it’s missing Court and I Talk to the Wind, a song that’s not represented once here). It’s a stronger and more enthusiastic show than the Plumpton show.

By looking at the tracklist above, you’ll notice that there are many repeated songs in this box set. The band had only 10 or 11 songs in their set (was Moonchild ever played live? I’ll have to check) so repeats are bound to happen. In other words, if you’re just starting to get into Crimson you might want to hold off on the full 4 discs for now, but you would probably like the 2 disc version. In any case, serious Crimheads (or Crimdorks, whatever you prefer) drool over all this since many feel this is the best Crimson ever. I don’t agree, but this set (and the Marquee CD) shows that most bands in 1969 couldn’t touch King Crimson. Top notch.

Rating: 90

Released: 1965
Tracks: Help!; The Night Before; You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away; I Need You; Another Girl; You’re Going to Lose That Girl; Ticket to Ride; Act Naturally; It’s Only Love; You Like Me Too Much; Tell Me What You See; I’ve Just Seen a Face; Yesterday; Dizzy Miss Lizzie
Best track: hard to pick…maybe I’ve Just Seen a Face, or Yesterday, or Help, or Hide You Love Away, or Ticket, or…
Track to skip: Dizzy Miss Lizzie…what a horrid “song”

The cover songs pose the only real problem on the album. Act Naturally is Ringo’s obligatory song and it’s silly like all his songs are. I don’t care, I think Ringo’s songs are fun and mostly essential. The big “what in the hell were they thinking?!?!” on this is the addition of Dizzy Miss Lizzie. First off, the song BITES. It’s just a horrible, horrible song. All 3 of Larry Williams’ songs that The Beatles covered are all poor songs and I have no clue what any of the band saw in them. The other two (Slow Down & Bad Boy) are bad, but Lizzie is awful. The other main reason that The Beatles version bites is that the guitars are SERIOUSLY out of tune. More strangling of the guitars on this. Oh, it totally makes me cringe.

They should have just ended the album with Yesterday. They were embarrassed by it and wanted to show everybody that they hadn’t gone ‘soft’ or whatever so they closed the album with a familiar ‘rocker’ instead of the gorgeous Yesterday. Big mistake. If I can get to the button in time, I always stop the CD after Yesterday. Speaking of that, what a beautiful song that is! The most covered song in the history of pop music supposedly. You know, I really wish that people wouldn’t cover it. It’s absolutely perfect and NO ONE (ever) could do a better version than the original. I honestly think, except for rare exceptions, that Beatles songs shouldn’t be covered. There is no way that somebody else doing a Beatles song will do it better than The Beatles, so there’s no point. Now, if you can do something different with one, then it might be OK (I’ll judge on a song by song basis), but otherwise PLEASE STOP COVERING BEATLES SONGS!

Anyway, I was reviewing Help…This is a great album. I can’t pick a favorite song since all the ones listed above are all fantastic compositions. You can really hear them in this album breaking out of the ‘early Beatles’ phase and moving on to the good stuff. This is the best Beatles album until Revolver and one you should run and get.

Rating: 92

Released: 1992
Tracks: Sowing the Seeds of Love; Everybody Wants to Rule the World; Woman in Chains; Shout; Head Over Heels; Mad World; Pale Shelter; I Believe; Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down); Mothers Talk; Change; Advice for the Young at Heart
Best track: Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Track to skip: none, they’re all consistent

Rating: 85

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