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Nirvana – Nevermind |
| May 24th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1991
Tracks: Smells Like Teen Spirit; In Bloom; Come As You Are; Breed; Lithium; Polly; Territorial Pissings; Drain You; Lounge Act; Stay Away; On a Plain; Something in the Way
Best track: I have no idea, just pick one
Track to skip: Lithium’s not that hot; skip Stay Away as well
Ugh, it’s *that* riff. As I sit and listen to this overplayed song, I’ll try to be objective. I really heard this enough times to last me my whole life. I’m willing to bet this is the most played song in the past 11 years. Regardless of what all the media says, Grunge never really went away. I mean, most heavy rock bands still sound like this, the only difference being that they’re not all from Seattle and they dress more preppy so they can look good on the cover of Rolling Stone. Whoopie.
I’m still totally confused why everyone makes this album out to be The Messiah of Rock Music. IT ISN’T! Please, all of you critics and fans, get over it. Yeah it’s a good album, but it’s not our generation’s Sgt. Pepper. It wasn’t a ‘brand new thing’ like everyone would have you believe; it’s really nothing more than polished (but grungy!) hard rock. Most of these songs are pretty good, and generally I like Cobain’s lyrics, but there’s not really any musicial ability here. It doesn’t matter, because the songs and attitude are the main things. My whole view on this is that it ‘allowed’ Alternative music to be popular. Alternative Rock was popular long before this, but this album made it OK for all the middle class white kids to like it too. You gotta love trendy people. So, am I included in that? I was middle class, and I’m definitely white, so I guess so. At least I was enjoying it months before the whole thing exploded. =) But it doesn’t matter, that’s all really childish.
Is it a good album? Yup. Not revolutionary, but it’s still good. I never noticed how polished this sounds. There are some ‘ugly’ sounds, but it really is a pop record. Funny looking back on it now. I got through Teen Spirit just fine, and In Bloom and Come As You Are aren’t annoying me all. Hmm, maybe I could actually listen to this one on occasion and not hurl.
Nearly all of these songs are good and fun. A few, like Breed, Drain You & Something in the Way are very good. I do hear the minor King Crimson influence in Cobain’s guitar playing (the solo in Come…) so that’s nice. Territorial Pissings is the most honest sounding track, but you can still hear the slickness behind it all. Cobain’s screaming on it is pretty amusing. So, final verdict? Good album. It’s a very well produced album and the songs are mostly good. It’s not the revolution that is commonly associated with it, but it’s a very enjoyable album.
Rating: 88
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King Crimson – Live at Summit Studios – 1972 (KCCC #9) |
| May 15th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Recorded: 1972, Released: 2000
Tracks: Pictures of a City; Cadence and Cascade; Groon; 21st Century Schizoid Man; Improv: Summit Going On; My Hobby; Sailor’s Tale; The Creator Has a Master Plan
Best track: I don’t know, either Sailor’s Tale or Schizoid Man, Possibly even Creator..
Track to skip: My Hobby is REALLY goofy, but since it’s a side we never see of Crimson it’s worth it
I like this one. The sound is pretty good and the playing is too. It was recorded at Summit Studios in Denver on 3/12/72 and broadcast on the radio. The nice thing is that those listening on the radio only heard the first four songs. Bonus! This CD is the only thing released by King Crimson from 69-75 that does not have a mellotron anywhere on it. Fripp’s playing only guitar on it this and it’s a real nice change. Boz has improved, and of course Mel Collins is frequently conjuring the ghost of Coltrane. This CD is a lot looser than the other live stuff from this group, and they even laugh! Imagine that. The whole section that includes “My Hobby” is a series of goof-offs and it’s pretty amusing. They were no longer being broadcast by that point so I guess they could screw around a little.
The first 4 tracks are all pretty much just awesome. Boz’s vocal on Cadence isn’t the best, but the tune itself is great. I’m not a big fan of drum solos, so Ian Wallace’s drum-a-thon on Groon isn’t too fun to hear, but at least they aren’t using the VCS3 for it. It’s not too long and the track itself is one of the funkiest things Crimson ever did. I think that’s true of this whole band; the non-Fripp’s were all significantly more versed in Blues and Funk and the improvs reflected that. Creator Has a Master Plan, a Pharaoh Sanders tune, is pretty cool and they do some nice stuff in it. Again, Mel Collin’s sax playing is great on here.
This is a pretty solid CD and another worthwhile purchase from the KCCC. Very few bad spots, mostly just good music.
Rating: 89
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Miles Davis – ‘Round About Midnight |
| May 15th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1956
Tracks: ‘Round Midnight; Ah-Leu-Cha; All of You; Bye Bye Blackbird; Tadd’s Delight; Dear Old Stockholm
Best track: too hard, I guess I’ll pick ‘Round Midnight
Track to skip: none, duh!
I have to admit that I have never really actively listened to this album. I’ve had it for a few years and every time I played it, I just kinda had it on in the background. I never really listened to what each player was doing (and still on one listen it’s pretty hard when you have Davis, Coltrane, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums; they’re all great players), so it’s almost like I’m experiencing this album with fresh ears. Even this early in his career (11 years) Miles was just playing the perfect things all the time. Coltrane is a little bit subdued compared to what he’d become, but his tone is beautiful. Red Garland doesn’t get too many piano solos, but when he does it’s great. So yeah, this is mostly about Miles and Trane.
Miles does a fantastic solo in Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight. It’s so gorgeous. I have no idea why I never noticed Miles’ part on the main theme of Ah-Leu-Cha, because it’s awesome. At first it sounds pretty chaotic, with Miles and Coltrane playing totally different melodies on top of each other, but when you actually concentrate on what each player is doing it’s rather incredible. All 6 of these songs are really good and the solos and band interplay show why this is probably the most famous jazz quintet ever.
The remastered version of this album came out a few years ago and it features 4 bonus tracks. I’m so tempted to go get that, but I know that all the tracks are on the Miles Davis/John Coltrane box set. This is a great album with even better stuff to come. It’s more than worth your time.
Rating: 93
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Jaco Pastorius – Jaco Pastorius |
| May 15th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1976
Tracks: Donna Lee; Come On, Come Over; Continuum; Kuru/Speak Like a Child; Portrait of Tracy; Opus Pocus; Okonkolé y Trompa; (Used to be a) Cha Cha; Forgotten Love
Best tracks: Okonkolé y Trompa & Continuum
Tracks to skip: I hate to say it, but Donna Lee
My world is officially, rocked. OK, so it has been for some time, but it’s being re-rocked right now. Yes, Jaco IS a bad ass. No, he is not the best bass player ever. I still think Victor Wooten is a better bassist, but I never saw Jaco play so I suppose it’ll always remain a mystery. You know, it doesn’t matter! What really matters is the quality of this, Jaco’s debut album. The quality is good, the quality is good. It goes without saying, but I’ll repeat it again: if you play bass this is essential. The things he does on this simply were not done in 1976 by bassists.
His tone on the fretless is beautiful. I mean, his playing on Continuum (a classic) just melts me. Every song (‘cept Donna Lee) has something to offer. The thing is, for me at least, so much of his playing (and the other guys too) is so subtle that you might miss some of the cool stuff he does. I don’t know why Donna Lee does nothing for me. It’s a really strange way to start an album and it features only Jaco and a conga player. That’s it. The melody of the song doesn’t come through very well and it sounds like he’s just playing a bunch of unrelated notes. It’s not too impressive and it’s actually pretty boring. But then we get Come On, Come over (with vocals by Sam & Dave) which saves the day. Come On is really so, and totally, funky. The rest of the tracks are instrumental and they’re all great. Too hard to pick a best track, because you have the fretless stuff on Continuum, the totally cool strings on Speak Like a Child, his harmonics and melody on Portrait of Tracy, the steel drums on Opus Pocus, the AMAZING bass harmonic workout on Okonkolé y Trompa, and it goes on and on and on.
To present-day ears a lot of this music sounds dated (the fusion stuff), but in this case I think it’s excusable to delve into such ‘old’ music. I like this album and recommend it, especially to bassists. And you non-bassist musicians: once your bass player hears this you’ll wish he/she never had. Bassists unite!
Rating: 92
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Phish – A Picture of Nectar |
| May 15th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1992
Tracks: Llama; Eliza; Cavern; Poor Heart; Stash; Manteca; Geulah Papyrus; Magilla; The Landlady; Glide; Tweezer; The Mango Song; Chalk Dust Torture; Faht; Catapult; Tweezer Reprise
Best tracks: Cavern, Eliza, Magilla, Tweezer Reprise
Track to skip: none
This is an excellent album and a perfect place to start if you’re new to Phish. Nectar was the first Phish album I ever heard, thanks to my friend Clay at college. By the course of the first 4 songs, I was completely hooked (ha ha) and from that point forward I was, as they say, a Phishead. There’s just something so amazing about those first four. It starts out on a very fast funk-rock groove, then goes to a very mellow jazz piece, then to a medium tempo funk-rock groove and tops it off with bad ass, real country song. After about 20 seconds into Poor Heart I *knew* Phish was one of the most amazing bands I’d ever heard. I think that this album, as eclectic as it is, represents “Phish” better than any of the rest of them. I wouldn’t say it’s their best one (Billy Breathes is), but Picture of Nectar is what Phish sounds like. Just about everything they’ve done during their career can be traced back to here.
What else to say? I just love this album and I listen to it all the time.
Rating: 97
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Frank Zappa – Waka/Jawaka |
| May 13th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1972
Tracks: Big Swifty; Your Mouth; It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal; Waka/Jawaka
Best tracks: Waka/Jawaka & the head of Big Swifty
Track to skip: Your Mouth
This was recorded at the same time as the next album, The Grand Wazoo, and was also Zappa’s first project after getting out of the hospital from being pushed off stage. Even though this and Wazoo are from the same sessions, I like Wazoo a lot better. Yup, there are only 4 songs on here; the two outside (and long) ones are big band jazz (with a good bit of Miles Davis-type fusion thrown in) and the short & inside ones are kinda countryish.
Zappa fans generally regard this album as a sort of Holy Masterwork, but I don’t see the greatness in it. Both Big Swifty and Waka/Jawaka are incredible compositions, but the multiple solos in both just drag them down. If they were maybe half the length then they’d be great. As they are, they REALLY drag. And also I suppose that if he had of cut them down, then he’d have to add more filler in addition to Your Mouth and One-Shot Deal. Except for the absolutely kick bootie lap steel solo in …Deal, both of these are two of the worst Zappa songs I’ve ever heard. They’re just extremely boring; the band sounds really bored playing these. Maybe one of these years I’ll fall in line and proclaim this as the highlight of Zappa’s output, but for now I don’t think it’s that great and it’s not that enjoyable of a listen.
Rating: 71
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8½ Souvenirs – Happy Feet (version 1) |
| May 13th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1995
Tracks: Happy Feet; Kazango; Le Poinçonneur des Lilas; After You’ve Gone; Douce Ambiance; Blues en Mineur; No Lo Visto; Place de Brouckere; Black Trombone; Mozzarella Rag; Minor Swing; Come Di; Y la Chalupa Va
Best tracks: Kazango, No Lo Visto
Track to skip: Black Trombone
Ah, so much better! The original version, the one that set the ball rolling. The first of *3* versions! This isn’t my favorite of the two versions I have (a certain vocalist makes the 2nd version better), but I still love listening to this. The band (Kathy Kiser-vocals, Olivier Giraud-guitar/vocals, Todd Wulfmeyer-bass, Glover Gill-piano/kazoo/vocals & Adam Berlin-drums) have large amounts of excitement on this album. It was recorded live at the Continental Club in Austin and has a great feel to it. The band and audience are obviously having a lot of fun.
8 ½ Souvenirs are classified as a ‘jazz’ band, but they’re really not jazz in the sense that Charlie Parker and John Coltrane are. They fit in more with the ‘European’ style of jazz; think Django Reinhardt (4 of the songs on here are by him), Parisian, Tango, Italian, smoky French nightclub-kinda vibe and you get a good idea what they sound like. Like the best Austin bands, you really can’t pin them down under one listing and they’re frequently identified as being in many genres.
All 5 are great musicians, but the band is primarily Giraud and Gill. Kathy Kiser is a good vocalist, but this would be her last major stint with the band and she was replaced by the angelic and goddess-like Juliana Sheffield (more about her on the next album). Both Giraud and Gill are absolute monsters and are by far the highlights of this disc. Fantastic musicians.
There is a lot of humor in the music, a lot of swing, and every tune is designed for serious dancing. I have no idea if the band is still around, or who (besides Giraud) is still there, but back in the day they were absolutely one of the highlights of the Austin music scene. This is a great live document and I highly recommend it (remember: there are three versions, this is from 1995).
Rating: 93
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Steve Miller Band – Greatest Hits 1974-78 |
| May 13th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1978
Tracks: Swingtown; Jungle Love; Take the Money and Run; Rock N’ Me; Serenade; True Fine Love; The Stake; The Joker; Fly Like an Eagle; Threshold; Jet Airliner; Dance, Dance, Dance; Winter Time; Wild Mountain Honey
Best Track: there really isn’t one…
Tracks to skip: Serenade, True Fine Love, The Stake, Threshold, Dance
Death By Classic Rock! This is one of the Sacred Texts of Classic Rock Radio and talking smack about it would surely result in some sort of punishment or something. But I don’t care. OK, I don’t hate this album by any means, and it’s nowhere near as bad as the Genesis album I reviewed last night. The fact is, most people would have no problem with this album and it would fit in at most any party. Still doesn’t mean that I have to love it.
I know the music can’t help it, but it just sounds SO 70’s. It’s true that it’s hard not to, (esp. with the 70’s) but it’s something I’d personally try to avoid. So yeah, it sounds incredibly dated. And I really don’t like Steve Miller’s voice; I think it’s pretty awful. The lyrics are pretty much all very stupid (like Rock N’ Me, Jungle Love, etc.) so that doesn’t help the disc too much (way too many “Baby’s” and “Mamma’s” for me). Of course I know every single word to all these songs, but since I also know all the lyrics to all of Madonna’s 80’s songs it doesn’t mean that they’re that great. Oh, and Madonna is much worse than this. Like I said, this is stuff most people would enjoy (if you like Classic Rock), but I find it just without any real substance. I don’t care for it, but I’m sure some of you would.
Rating: 68
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Johann Sebastian Bach – Compact Companions |
| May 12th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1993
Tracks: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; The Well-Tempered Klavier, Book 1, Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C; Air on a G String, from Suite No. 3; Toccata and Fugue in D Minor; Mass in B Minor, ‘Gloria: Cum Sancto Spirito”; Concerto for Two Violins, 2nd Movement; Peasant Cantata, Klein – Zschocher müsse so zart und süsse; Chaconne for Solo Violin in D Minor; St. Matthew Passion Final Chorus
Best track: St. Matthew Passion Final Chorus or possibly the 1st mvt. of the Brandenburg Cto. No. 3
Track to skip: Concerto for Two Violins didn’t do much for me tonight
I should listen to this more often. It is very beautiful music. It’s pretty easy to see by looking through all that I have listed in these pages that I don’t own too much “classical” music. Maybe 5 or so discs? Well, it all boils down to: I need more. I had a great time listening to this CD tonight (I think my cats loved it too!) and it’s a great experience to just sit down and concentrate on absolutely wonderful music for an hour.
You readers may not necessarily know these pieces by name, but most will be familiar. Probably the most recognizable is the Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor; this is frequently used for ‘midnight madness’ sales and other ‘serious’ (ha ha) things. The first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 is also one that most everyone has heard many times in their life. I really enjoy this composition; it’s got a great ‘bounce’ to it and has some fantastic melodies.
I really did enjoy most everything on here, even Chaconne which I normally think is boring beyond belief. I guess the music struck me the right way tonight and the 13 minutes went by pretty quickly. Although way overplayed by aspiring musicians, it’s still an amazing piece of music. I even liked the Peasant Cantata, which is a vocal piece. Normally I don’t want to hear quasi-operatic singing, but this one wasn’t overdone at all and it sounded good. In addition to Brandenburg…, the piece that really worked with me was the final chorus of the St. Matthew Passion. My words to describe this are really useless, but this is such a massive work; beyond captivating. When it’s done right, it’s always a huge thrill to listen to ‘death’ and have it be the last track on a CD. Death is final. The death in this track (Jesus’, by the way) is monumental. The choir just surges and overtakes everything. I love it!
This CD is accompanied by a very nice book which has a good bio of Bach’s life, as well as a complete index of his works (um, how about 1,087 pieces of music written by him!). The CD/book is put out by Simon and Schuster and is a prefect introduction to the life and music of J.S. Bach. This is quite difficult to rate (and all these ratings are pretty useless anyway) since it’s only part of 8 compositions out of 1,087. I liked it, though, so I’ll give it a
Rating: 94
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Genesis – We Can’t Dance |
| May 12th, 2002 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1991
Tracks: No Son of Mine; Jesus He Knows Me; Driving the Last Spike; I Can’t Dance; Never a Time; Dreaming While You Sleep; Tell Me Why; Living Forever; Hold on my Heart; Way of the World; Since I Lost You; Fading Lights
Best track: probably Driving the Last Spike
Tracks to skip: everything after Last Spike. Yes, I’m serious.
There’s very little recording information for this. Were there any session players? Or did Phil, Mike and Tony play everything? But hey, the lyrics are there! (like we can’t understand English, geez) Reviewing another one of my wife’s CDs. I guess she likes it since she didn’t want to sell it. I’ve only listened to this whole thing only once, and that was 4 years ago. Of course I’m terribly familiar with No Son, Jesus, I Can’t Dance and Hold on my Heart, and I bet you are too. I’ve never been a big fan of Genesis (haven’t heard enough of the proggy stuff to make a decision yet), but I did use to think Invisible Touch was The Bomb. Hey, I was a kid, lay off!
Most of this doesn’t do much for me. It’s just kinda boring. There are good bits here and there, Driving the Last Spike has some cool bits and the lyrics to Jesus He Knows Me are kinda humorous. The singles here are catchy (of course), but there’s not much substance in them. Especially on the title track, it’s pretty silly. Of course I have no problem with silly stuff, I mean, think about how much Zappa I listen to and that stuff gets really silly. This song just tries too hard to be humorous and it just makes me cringe. Plus it seems that the song was written to accompany the video. Or: a soundtrack for the overplayed video.
Genesis is trying to be hip and relevant with this album, and while it sold many copies, most of it is just semi-cheesy Adult Contemporary non-offensive music. Too much keyboards for my taste. You’d be better off listening to something else to fulfill your life.
Rating: 41
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