Cheevyjames’ Musical Roundhouse

Released: 1981
Tracks: Heart of the Sunrise; Wonderous Stories; Yours Is No Disgrace; Starship Trooper; Long Distance Runaround; The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus); And You And I; Roundabout (live); I’ve Seen All Good People (live)
Best track: Starship Trooper
Track to skip: The Fish is REALLY repetitive, but it’s tolerable for all the cool bass stuff in it

I think the thing that has always put me off about Yes (and a lot of prog rock in general) is the vocals and keyboards. Of course both Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman are talented, but they really grate on me. If it weren’t for those two parts of the music I’d probably be a huge Yes fan. And yet, I can listen to Rush all day long and not get the least bit annoyed with Geddy Lee. I guess it’s what you grew up with or something.

This album is an excellent overview of Yes’ ‘classic’ period material (the ‘70’s) and it’s usually found pretty cheap. If I had of done some more searching I probably would’ve picked up the Very Best Of Yes, which has all these plus about 30 minutes more material. Eh, oh well. If you’re kinda curious about Yes, then I’d suggest getting the Very Best Of, but you really can’t go wrong with this either. At least with this you don’t have to sit through Yes’ 80’s material.

Rating: 87

Released: 1994
Tracks: Three – Dee Melodie; Wow and Flutter; Transona Five; Des Étoiles Électroniques; Ping Pong; Anamorphose; Three Longers Later; Nihilist Assault Group; International Colouring Contest; The Stars Our Destination; Transporté Sans Bouger; L’Enfer Des Formes; Outer Accelerator; New Orthophony; Fiery Yellow
Best track: either Étoiles Électroniques or Ping Pong
Track to skip: none really

I’m really glad I did, there’s some incredibly cool stuff on here. Des Étoiles Électroniques is a damn good song, and I have to admit I’m a sucker for female French vocals. The vocals are a big highlight of this disc. I love the equal usage of French and English (anything else?) all over this album. Also, the background vocals on all the songs are great, esp. on Ping Pong. I really like all the songs, they’re each different. Man, this is a really cool ‘headphone CD’. There are so many little production things that go on all throughout the disc.

Yeah, I’ll admit, normally I don’t care for stuff this simplistic or repetitive. This album (and band, I’m wanting to check out more) just has that certain something that makes me like it. I guess that’s why it’s good to be open-minded in music! Otherwise, I never would have given this a shot. I’m glad I did.

Rating: 86

Released: 1967
Tracks: Strange Days; You’re Lost Little Girl; Love Me Two Times; Unhappy Girl; Horse Latitudes; Moonlight Drive; People Are Strange; My Eyes Have Seen You; I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind; When the Music’s Over
Best track: Love Me Two Times or When the Music’s Over
Tracks to skip: Unhappy Girl, My Eyes Have Seen You, I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind

The main singles from this are very good and we also get some surprises on here. I’d say You’re Lost Little Girl is one of those surprises. The production on here is more advanced than on the first one, but at times it really distracts. I know it was ’67 and all, but all the ‘psychedelic’ production sounds so much better and more natural on stuff like Sgt. Pepper and Are You Experienced. It just sounds dated on here. Well, anyway, we get another 10 minute long epic on here, When the Music’s Over. I think I like this one better than The End. They’re both cool though. OK, so here it is: if you have to own one Doors studio album, get this. It’s not excellent by any means, and you can survive by getting the Best Of, but it’s still enjoyable. There are worse things to listen to out there.

Rating: 79

Released: 1968
Tracks: North Meadow; Newly-weds; One in a Million; Call Tomorrow; Digging My Lawn; Little Children; The Crukster; Thursday Morning; How Do They Know; Elephant Song; The Sun is Shining; Suite No. 1; Erudite Eyes; She Is Loaded; Under the Sky; One in a Million (mono single version); Newly-weds (mono single version); Thursday Morning (mono single version); Thursday Morning (stereo single version)
Best track: I have no clue, they’re all pretty good
Track to skip: the single versions of Newly-weds and Thursday Morning are pretty useless

For the most part the songs are what I call 60’s Jazz-Pop. And also this album is VERY British. It’s taken me a few years to figure out all the jokes here. Knowing what Fripp and Giles did the following year (In the Court of the Crimson King), the mass humor here comes as a bit of a shock. Fripp, being silly? Never! Yes, they’re all silly; pretty much this whole thing is silly. The two sides of the album are two kind of suites. Not really in the songs, just in the in-between bits. The first side (through Thursday Morning) is called The Saga of Rodney Toady which is written and narrated by Fripp. It’s basically a tale about a fat, dorky kid who gets picked on. Funny Stuff. The 2nd side, Just George, has the phrase “I know a man and his name is George” said in many different ways in-between the songs.

All of the songs are really tongue-in-cheek things and aren’t too serious. Lots of jazz guitar work from Fripp here, the highlight being Suite No. 1, a very impressive guitar display. The bonus tracks are here for the CD issue of the album and show the way that the group was pointing. Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield joined the group after the album proper was recorded, but appear on the bonus tracks. Under the Sky (written by McDonald & Sinfield) sounds like a 1969 Crimson outtake, the only thing missing is Greg Lake’s voice. The bonus version of One in a Million is useful since it has different lyrics, but the single versions of Newly-weds and Thursday Morning aren’t needed. Oh well. You know, I like this. It threw me for a big shock when I first bought it, but it turned out to be pretty good.

Rating: 86

Released: 1975
Tracks: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I – V); Welcome to the Machine; Have a Cigar; Wish You Were Here; Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI – IX)
Best track: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (all of it)
Track to skip: none

Shine On You Crazy Diamond is the best song on here and the rest are good too. I’m tired of commercial radio playing Have a Cigar and Welcome to the Machine to death. They’re good songs of course, but I just get sick of hearing them every time I turn on the radio. I know that, honestly, this whole album has a history of huge radio play, all the songs. Like any good album (not a ‘collection of songs’) this album screams for you to listen to it front to back, all at once. It’s a very whole and complete album.

David Gilmour’s guitar playing is especially good on the first part of the title track. The entire band keeps improving as musicians, but Gilmour is the one I happen to notice the most. He’s playing and singing with such an extreme amount of confidence on here. Honestly, this is just a great album, all of it.

Rating: 96

Released: 1966
Tracks: Taxman; Eleanor Rigby; I’m Only Sleeping; Love You To; Here, There and Everywhere; Yellow Submarine; She Said, She Said; Good Day Sunshine; And Your Bird Can Sing; For No One; Doctor Robert; I Want to Tell You; Got to Get You Into My Life; Tomorrow Never Knows
Best tracks: Your Bird Can Sing, Eleanor Rigby, Here There & Everywhere, Tomorrow Never Knows
Track to skip: none

Blah blah blah, James, who really cares? I’m just trying to say how damn good this album is. It doesn’t need a lot of words to describe it, so everything I say is pretty much useless. What I like: every song is good, it’s a cohesive album, the lyrics are great, it’s super eclectic, George Harrison gets *3* songs on here, George Martin’s production is especially excellent; the album’s overflowing with confidence, this album expanded the boundaries of pop/rock music like nothing before or probably since. What I don’t like: I will never make anything as good as this. Revolver is SO excellent.

Rating: 96

Released: 1982
Tracks: Invaders; Children of the Damned; The Prisoner; 22 Acacia Avenue; The Number of the Beast; Run to the Hills; Gangland; Total Eclipse; Hallowed Be Thy Name
Best track: The Prisoner
Track to skip: none at all

But like I said, everyone on here is stellar. For the debut of Bruce as we know him he does not disappoint. It’s not even fair to put Paul Di’Anno in the same profession as Bruce. Bruce Dickinson is one of the greatest male vocalists of the past 20 years. He’s just so dead on perfect for this whole thing. Both Dave Murray and Adrian Smith show the world that not only are they one of the greatest guitar duos ever, individually they are two of the best guitarists of the guitar-dominated 80’s. They have such a great sense of taste and subtlety. My favorite solos from each are probably Dave’s solo in 22, and Adrian’s in The Prisoner. Then finally we get to the bassist, someone who I affectionately call The Man. Steve Harris grew by leaps and bounds from the last two Maiden releases. His lyrics are a lot stronger, his music is more intricate and his bass playing is elevated to God status.

This is a classic, and excellent, album for many reasons: one, all 6 of the players (including producer Martin Birch) all display absolute and complete excellence; two, the songs are well-crafted pieces of art; and three, how can you not love that album cover! I love this whole album, every second of it, and I think it’s a pretty essential purchase.

Rating: 96

Released: 1989
Tracks: At the Graves; Sleepless Nights; Lies; A Visit From the Dead; The Wedding Dream; “Amon” Belongs to “Them”; Something Weird; Victimized; Let it Be Done; Cremation
Best track: too hard to choose, all the songs are really good
Track to skip: it’s a concept album, so none really

Guitarists Andy LaRoque and Pete Blakk are damn good. They’re obviously heavily influenced by the guys in Maiden and that’s probably one of the reasons this appealed to us back in the day. The guitar playing and the riffs are fantastic on this thing. So yeah, musically, this is a great album. I like the story, it’s pretty cool, but the thing that keeps me from listening to this very often is the vocals. Tolerable sometimes, silly others. But honestly, being that I’m a musician, I listen to this thing for the music. King’s a really good songwriter, but his vocal style (his trademark) is the least desirable part of this music.

Rating: 84

Released: 1974
Tracks: The Great Deceiver; Lament; We’ll Let You Know; The Night Watch; Trio; The Mincer; Starless and Bible Black; Fracture
Best track: Fracture
Track to skip: none

This has the same lineup as the Night Watch CD (Cross, Fripp, Wetton & Bruford) with Richard Palmer-James again on board to write the lyrics. As a ‘studio’ album, this blows the pants off Larks’ Tongues. This is a super meaty and very dark album. There are some lighter spots, like the gorgeous Trio and Night Watch as well as the goofy funk of We’ll Let You Know, but mostly it’s pretty dark. I think the title track is one of the most far-out Crimson songs ever. The highlight of this CD is Fracture. I’d say that this was the best KC composition up to this point. It’s an absolutely huge piece of music that shows off how talented of a guitarist and composer Robert Fripp is.

I love this album, all the way through. Even in the improvs there’s not a second of wasted time and they’re always engaging. This album is most likely considered to be self-indulgent by idiotic music critics, but I’d say it’s more ballsy than anything. Possibly one of the most ballsy Crimson albums as well. So, where does all that leave you? It leaves a great album (by anyone) and a great King Crimson album. The cool thing is, it only hints at how great a band this version of King Crimson was.

Rating: 93

Released: 1974
Tracks: Pencil Thin Mustache; Come Monday; Ringling, Ringling; Brahma Fear; Brand New Country Star; Livingston’s Gone to Texas; The Wino and I Know; West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown; Saxophones; Ballad of Spider John; God’s Own Drunk
Best track: Ballad of Spider John
Track to skip: none

So yeah, most of these songs are damn good. When I first got this I was thrown a curve ball by the mostly country feel. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. It grows on you, that’s for sure. The thing that’s always present is Buffett’s great songwriting, so in a sense, it doesn’t matter what style he’s doing. It’s still good stuff. I forgot to mention The Wino and I Know; man, another great song. I think my opinion of this album has just risen about 10 points in the course of listening to this. The only weaker songs on here are Brand New Country Star, West Nashville… and Saxophones, but they’re not bad at all. Country Star and Saxophones are both pretty silly, but I like Buffett’s silly songs so I don’t have a problem with them.

Special mention goes out to Ballad of Spider John. Although not written by Buffett (W. A. Ramsey is the author), it’s such a great song. I think it’s just so good. The album closes with God’s Own Drunk a song that my words don’t do justice to; you have to hear it for yourself. It’s a great way to end the album. Yeah, this is an album that might throw you on first listen. It did for me. However, tonight while listening to it I ‘got it’. Good album, really good album.

Rating: 87

« Previous entries