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Stevie Wonder – Innervisions |
| April 13th, 2011 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1973
Tracks: Too High; Visions; Living for the City; Golden Lady; Higher Ground; Jesus Children of America; All in Love is Fair; Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing; He’s Misstra Know-It-All
Best track: Living for the City, possibly Jesus Children of America
Tracks to skip: All in Love is Fair, Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing
Man, in listening though this one the overwhelming thought I have is that Stevie Wonder is so enormously talented and he made some amazing music. At least for what he did during the early-mid 70’s, this is seriously some of the greatest music ever. Yes, he had his moments where he fell flat (and this album is no exception), but for the most part it’s startling how insanely good this stuff is. Besides being an excellent singer, his sense for creating a stellar melody has few peers. Throw in deep, deep grooves, compositions that constantly push his own boundaries, some goofiness, playing multiple instruments (very well) and creative use of the keyboards specifically….and that just scratches the surface.
I absolutely LOVE the melodies on Living for the City! This is probably my favorite song on this album, even though it has that absurd middle section. I’ve never understood why it’s there. It’s annoying, but at least it’s not really that long. And truthfully, it doesn’t take away how great of a song Living for the City is. Also, if you want a version of the song with the middle bit thankfully cut out, it’s on the Song Review album. This is one of those songs that I love more and more the more I hear it. So many fantastic melodies here!
My other favorite song on this album is Jesus Children of America. It’s a fantastic composition with some more heavy grooves. Oh yeah, and the grooves are thick as hell on Too High and Higher Ground too. Both Higher Ground and Jesus Children have some great spiritual/socially conscious lyrics. These four songs are my favorites of the album. I do love the ballads on the first half too – both Visions and Golden Lady are great songs.
The “falling flat” parts (for me) are All in Love is Fair and Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing. Both of these songs back to back (middle of side two, no less) are hard to take in a row and it definitely drags the album down a bit. I know that All in Love is Fair is a very well-loved song. It just doesn’t have an effect on me as a composition…it just doesn’t move me. He’s Misstra Know it All isn’t the greatest song on the album by any means, but it’s a nice pick up after those two skippers and a good way to end the album. Those first six songs though? Man, absolutely great.
I definitely recommend this album if you like anything from Stevie Wonder’s 70’s albums. There’s so much good stuff here and the few “misses” are completely tolerable. Yet another example of Stevie Wonder’s awesomeness.
Rating: 94
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Cannonball Adderley Quintet – In Chicago |
| April 12th, 2011 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 1959
Tracks: Limehouse Blues; Stars Fell on Alabama; Wabash; Grand Central; You’re a Weaver of Dreams; The Sleeper
Best track: Limehouse Blues
Track to skip: none
This album was originally issued under Cannonball Adderley’s name, but as Coltrane grew into a big name, the album was reissued as Cannonball & Coltrane. I think the latter is more correct, as it’s clearly a group led by both saxophonists. In addition to Cannonball on alto sax and Coltrane on tenor, there’s Jimmy Cobb on drums, Paul Chambers on bass and Wynton Kelly on piano. In other words, the same group that recorded Kind of Blue…well, minus Miles Davis (and switch Bill Evans for Kelly on most of Kind of Blue’s songs). This album was recorded about a month before the first sessions for Kind of Blue, but it honestly sounds nothing like that album. That these players could make albums within a month of each other and sound this different, it’s very impressive. The Quartet in Chicago album is more rooted to more established style of jazz and probably wasn’t seen as amazingly groundbreaking. That doesn’t mean it’s not good, because it absolutely is good.
I think this is a very enjoyable album, even if it’s a bit short. Yes, I want to hear more! I love the back and forth of the soloing on Limehouse Blues and Cannonball’s tone on Stars Fell on Alabama is excellent. I mean, both of these guys are kings of tone so it’s not a surprise. The weaving back and forth on the melody of Grand Central is a ton of fun. Chambers and Cobb are both extremely solid and I love Paul Chambers’ bass line on The Sleeper. It has this great “lumbering” quality to it. That’s the perfect name for this song. Oh, I have to say I love Wynton Kelly’s singing along while he solos. You can hear this most clearly in the slower numbers like Stars Fell on Alabama and Weaver of Dreams. It’s nice to hear that subtlety when listening with headphones.
I like this album a good bit and it’s really enjoyable. There’s great playing all around and it’s good to hear this group in a different mood than what they’d do in the next couple of months. Keep in mind that both albums have the same material, just different covers.
Rating: 88
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Bebel Gilberto – Bebel Gilberto |
| April 11th, 2011 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: none ]
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Released: 2004
Tracks: Simplesmente; Aganjú; All Around; River Song; Every Day You’ve Been Away; Cada Beijo; O Caminho; Baby; Céu Distante; Winter; Jabuticaba; Next to You
Best Track: Next to You
Track to skip: Every Day You’ve Been Away
I love her voice, I love the instruments, I love the rhythms and I love the overall sound, but on a whole most of these songs don’t grab me – the compositions themselves don’t pull me in. That’s essential for any music and that’s what I can finally say is the problem with this album. I got it when it came out and there’s always something that didn’t quite work for me. It’s the songs. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bebel’s previous album, Tanto Tempo. It’s one of my favorite albums ever…by anyone. I guess it doesn’t surprise me that this album might be a letdown. It simply can’t be as good as the last one…right? I could subscribe to that, but it doesn’t work for me. Musicians always have the possibility of topping an astounding album with its follow up. It can definitely happen if everything is working in their favor. But…it didn’t happen here. This album really is a letdown from Tanto Tempo. A MAJOR letdown. I just don’t think the songs are as good…they don’t move me as well as the previous batch.
To be honest, on the whole I do like this album. And I try to be as open-minded about it and not compare it to the rest of Bebel’s output, but it’s inevitable. I do listen to this album a lot, and there’s certainly a ton I love about it. River Song is great and really makes my insides smile. Next to You is probably my favorite song that Bebel’s ever done. It has an absolutely stellar melody and her voice sounds heavenly on it. Next to You is such a gorgeous song. It’s one of those that I like to just put on repeat and melt away. Of course it’s the highlight of the disc.
The only song that really bored me was Every Day You’ve Been Away. There’s just not a lot there to hold my interest. As for the other songs, some are enjoyable; some are fine though easily forgettable. I did notice the “production” more on a few of these songs today, Aganjú and Cada Beijo in particular. Maybe it really is due to the producer. Bebel’s producer, Suba, was killed in a car wreck after Tanto Tempo was released and maybe he was the key to everything. I’ll have to pick up his album one of these days to see how it is.
Something was a bit off for this album, though I’m leaning toward the songwriting. Unfortunately, it didn’t really get corrected on her following album. Whatever. I do love the sound of Bebel’s voice on this album. She sounds amazing as ever…and she looks gorgeous on the album cover too. That’s always a bonus!
Rating: 83
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311 – Greatest Hits ’93 – ’03 |
| April 10th, 2011 under Album Reviews. [ Comments: 1 ]
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Released: 2004
Tracks: Down; Flowing; All Mixed Up; Amber; Come Original; Beautiful Disaster; Creatures (for a While); Do You Right; I’ll Be Here Awhile; You Wouldn’t Believe; Transistor; Don’t Stay Home; Homebrew; Beyond the Gray Sky; Love Song; How Do You Feel?; First Straw
Best tracks: Flowing, Come Original, Do You Right, Homebrew
Track to skip: Creatures
Back in the mid-90’s you couldn’t escape 311, esp. the mega-hit song, Down. I swear, if you were breathing in 1995 it was impossible to avoid hearing it. I was a freshman/sophomore in college in 1995 so it was impossible to get away from people who were huge 311 fans. Most of them seemed like huge douchebags (dudes with dyed blonde short hair), so it doesn’t surprise me that I refused to give the band an honest shot – I didn’t want to be associated with those people! Now, I don’t have to worry about being so judgmental and can listen to the songs on their own merits. It was actually my friend Brian who gave me a bunch of 311 songs on a compilation CD about 10 years ago that honestly turned me around to liking this band.
All that said, it’s still a bit much for me to listen to a full hour of 311. In small doses I really, really dig the band, but an hour of it gets old. Just my personal preference and I’m sure many others will disagree with me.
This album serves a great purpose in that if you’re a casual fan, this’ll be a great introduction for you. This album isn’t chronological which I usually don’t like in “best of” albums, but I think here it works in the band’s favor because everything sounds great all jumbled together. You don’t hear the progress, but that’s fine because they’ve been pretty consistent for the most part. On all of these songs, the production is great. You can hear everything perfectly clear and that’s what I love hearing in albums. I think on its own the remix of Homebrew works, but I still prefer the original version. Speaking of Homebrew, that’s a very cool song and the ending bit is absolutely the coolest thing the band’s ever done. That riff is insanely awesome and I wish it’d go on for a lot longer. It’s hard to pick a “best track” here, because I really love Homebrew, Do You Right (the two earliest songs), Come Original and Flowing. On Flowing I love the juxtaposition of the poppy harmonies with the heavy guitars underneath. I dig that Alice in Chains vibe on the verses of this as well. A nice addition to this collection is 311’s cover of The Cure’s Love Song. It’s a great version with the band putting their own stamp on it while keeping what was so great about the original.
I laughed that, of course, Down is the opening track on the album. It’s their biggest hit so naturally it’s going to come first. I still don’t love it (it was my most hated 311 song back in the day), but I really love the sound of the music on Down. Still, even 16 years later the vocals and words (from what I can understand) continue to annoy me. I don’t usually skip it, though. Honestly, the only track on here that really bored me was Creatures. The two new songs are average, but there are some cool bits here and there – the middle section of How Do You Feel is a great riff and I *love* the “Robert Fripp” style guitar bit in Last Straw. I do prefer the bands earliest work (the Grassroots & Music albums), but there’s no denying they continued to write cool songs as their career went on. I’d say if you like any of these songs, then go for it – you’ll find plenty to enjoy here.
Rating: 81
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