July 2021 Anniversaries
INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
It's not as good as Full Moon Fever mainly because it doesn't really move things on at all, but hey, if you're going to continue to work with Jeff Lynne, don't expect any original ideas. But it's still pretty great anyway, all involved are competent after all.
Learning to Fly
Kings Highway
Into the Great Wide Open
Two Gunslingers
The Dark of the Sun
All or Nothin'
All the Wrong Reasons
Too Good to Be True
Out in the Cold
You and I Will Meet Again
Makin' Some Noise
Built to Last
BROKEN ARROW
Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Neil and the guys sit down, have a bit of a jam and stick it out as an album. This is Young's vague, drifty era with plenty of murmured drowsy lyrics. It's not significantly different in style from Sleeps With Angels but lacks the majesty.
There's a live track at the end, 'Baby What You Want Me To Do' recorded on a microphone in the audience to simulate the unique crapness of a bootleg on a C60 tape.
Big Time
Loose Change
Slip Away
Changing Highways
Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')
This Town
Music Arcade
Baby What You Want Me to Do
AMERICAN V: A Hundred Highways
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash spent his last years recording the American series of albums in which he mournfully and powerfully made his peace with God. American V includes powerful covers of Gordon Lightfoot's 'If You Could Read My Mind' and Springsteen's The Rising track, 'Further On Up The Road'.
Help Me
God's Gonna Cut You Down
Like the 309
If You Could Read My Mind
Further on Up the Road
On the Evening Train
I Came to Believe
Love's Been Good to Me
A Legend in My Time
Rose of My Heart
Four Strong Winds
I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now
NOWHERE MAN EP
The Beatles
I had to make this as a Spotify playlist myself!. It wasn't hard though, all the tracks are from Rubber Soul. An exercise in cashing in by putting out the most popular tracks from an album so you can sell them again.
Nowhere Man
Drive My Car
Michelle
You Won't See Me
WOODFACE
Crowded House
I like Crowded House, they're tuneful and listenable, but they're a bit safe too. It's a fine line between being so accomplished that it all looks easy and looking a smidge too easy. Anyway, there's nothing wrong at all with any of this, including 'It's Only Natural', 'Weather With You' and 'Four Seasons in One Day'. It features that quintessentially 90's CD phenomenon, a hidden track achieved by extending the final track beyond it's actual running time to give a good lead up in silence. Designed to wake the napping listener.
Chocolate Cake
It's Only Natural
Fall at Your Feet
Tall Trees
Weather with You
Whispers and Moans
Four Seasons in One Day
There Goes God
Fame Is
All I Ask
As Sure as I Am
Italian Plastic
She Goes On
How Will You Go/I'm Still Here
Released: 19th July 1996
Prince
You can't trust anyone. Just as I was thinking that Prince was just content with lascivious funk, he comes out with a beezer like this, although apparently he's not that keen on it and it's another sop to his Warner's contract. This was about the time he was claiming that being in a record contract amounted to slavery. The opening title track and the following 'I Like It There' are both chunky rock-outs, before he slows it down for the lyrically inventive 'Dinner With Delores' - "Like a Brontosaurus; she was packing it in". Surely there's a better rhyme for "Delores". Chorus? Porous? Ignore us?
He tries out a Texan accent at the start of 'Right The Wrong' and embraces a bit of toasting on 'I Rock Therefore I Am' reminiscent of the Soup Dragons/Junior Reid reworking of the Stones 'I'm Free'.
I suppose it feels quite safe. These are structurally conventional songs, so it seems likely that he just dashed off a load of stuff that was neither shameful nor groundbreaking, but it does serve to emphasize how versatile he was capable of being.
Chaos And Disorder
I Like It There
Dinner With Delores
The Same December
Right The Wrong
Zannalee
I Rock, Therefore I Am
Into The Light
I Will
Dig U Better Dead
Had U
THE ERASER
Thom Yorke
I'm a lot more familar with Thom now, especially since I've been getting to grips with OK Computer over the past few weeks. This is like Ultra-Radiohead really and contains quite a lot of irritating noises and clicky bits which make it a complicated listen. I also listened to his fairly recent Desert Island Discs and I have to say he comes across as a very nice, self deprecating chap, although the request for an entire recording studio, complete with piano as his luxury did seem to be a little cheeky.
The Eraser
Analyse
The Clock
Black Swan
Skip Divided
Atoms for Peace
And It Rained All Night
Harrowdow Hill
Cymbal Rush
KNOCKED OUT LOADED
Bob Dylan
One of the 'not well regarded' category I understand, but I thought it was fine. 'Brownsville Girl' is epic, if only in length, and the cover of Kris Kristofferson's 'They Killed Him' seems to be something of a departure.
You Wanna Ramble
They Killed Him
Driftin' Too Far from Shore
Precious Memories
Maybe Someday
Brownsville Girl
Got My Mind Made Up
Under Your Spell
THE SEER
Big Country
I've bored everyone with how good BC were in supporting Bowie on the Glass Spider Tour. They must have been promoting this at the time. The title track is a collaboration with Kate Bush which involves quite a lot of her yipping away in the background - always a joy.
Look Away
The Seer
The Teacher
I Walk the Hill
Eiledon
One Great Thing
Hold the Heart
Remembrance Day
The Red Fox
Sailor
PLACEBO
Placebo
They got off to a flying start with this and have survived this long, but have never really kept up the pace, although I only say that as I haven't heard much of them since 'Nancy Boy'. Typical mid-nineties emo angst really, but Brian Molko's voice is quite special. As it's 1996 there's the old hidden track trick again.
Come Home
Teenage Angst
Bionic
36 Degrees
Hang on to Your IQ
Nancy Boy
I Know
Bruise Pristine
Lady of the Flowers
Swallow
H.K.Farewell
TIME
Electric Light Orchestra
Ooh. Hang on. Can I change my vote? Maybe this is my favourite album. No. It's good, but Discovery still just edges it. Completists may be heartbroken that I have skipped over Xanadu, but Spotify only offers a few of the tracks and I can pretend it doesn't count as a proper studio album. I was tempted to get the DVD, watch it and review that, but there are limits to what I am willing to do. I've credited Jeff Lynne with some groundbreaking inventions so far, but I begin to suspect that he also had a time machine hidden under a tarpaulin in his garden shed. This album is weirdly, indeed spookily, prophetic of the modern age. 'Yours Truly 2095' is about a robotic woman '"She has a jumpsuit and is also a telephone", in 'Ticket To The Moon' he sings "Remember the good old 1980's when things were so uncomplicated? I wish I could go back there now and everything could be the same". OK he also goes on about hover cars and that, but he's actually looking forward to the end of the 21st Century.
This is clearly a concept album, and it's quite a good concept I reckon. The protagonist has travelled into the future and doesn't much enjoy what he sees. Lynne is also unafraid to have a go at keeping up with his contemporaries. 'Yours Truly 2095' is very like The Buggles. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. I love the deeply robotic voice in the opening prologue which sets the scene. Very much what we now associate with Hawking and 'Twilight' is full on ELO. 'Ticket To The Moon' is wistful, but 'The Way LIfe's Meant To Be' will be of interest to Smokie's extensive legal team. The verse structure is identical to 'Living Next Door To Alice'. Mind you, I'd forgive them just for the deeply satisfying use of a kettle drum.
They chuck in an instrumental 'Another Heart Breaks' which mimics the synth-drum beat of 'Vienna'. Side 2 opens with the rather dull 'Rain Is Falling' No song about precipitation is ever going to get me excited. Next ELO try their hand at Electro-pop with 'From The End Of The World'. It's a pretty good Sparks pastiche with Jeff gamely having ago at a proper falsetto and a "Batmaaaan!" backing beat. Our current obsession with 24 hour news channels is accurately predicted in 'Here Is The News' "Coming to you every hour on the hour". It has a rather raw and buzzy synth melody. Love it. I haven't listened to King Crimson's '21st Century Schizoid Man' in many a year, but ELO have the sheer cheek to use nearly the same title. This isn't anywhere near as mad as that song. In fact it's moderately bland. Finally a big hit to close it all out. 'Hold On Tight' doesn't really fit with the themes of the rest of the album. Maybe Lynne just knew it was good single material and so just bunged it on. He sings the chorus in French for a bit of variety, but it's a standard traditional rocker at the end of the day. There is a little epilogue which reprises 21st Century Man.
Nice artwork too. I'm not finished yet, and I still have a way to go through material that I don't really know, but so far this has been about as enjoyable as it gets. I haven't listened to ELO in far too long and these last three albums represent everything that was so joyous about their music at that time.
Prologue
Twilight
Yours Truly, 2095
Ticket To The Moon
The Way Life's Meant To Be
Another Heart Breaks
Rain is Falling
From The End Of The World
The Lights Go Down
Here Is The News
21st Century Man
Hold On Tight
Epilogue
LIFE'S RICH PAGEANT
REM
I guess that by now REM are just about making an impression in the UK. I first became aware of Stipe for his vocal on 10,000 Maniacs 'A Campfire Song' and as previously noted I was impressed by the richness of his voice. Not what I'd expected. This starts quite up-tempo. 'Begin the Begin' and 'These Days' both plough forward with a good deal of conviction. In fact the latter is quite bang-crashy.
This is pretty much a blueprint for the mega-selling albums to come, which suggests that they may have become a bit formulaic in their middle period. More menacing, looping guitar a la Nirvana on 'Cuyahoga'. The go a bit mariachi on 'Underneath The Bunker' and Stipe's vocal is echoey and way back in the mix, but it's rather good all the same. Bluegrass twanging on 'I Believe' gives way to a more conventional rock song, which has a tinge of 'It's The End Of The World....' to it with it's headlong style. 'Just A Touch' has a classic punk riff. 'I think 'Swan Swan H' is my favourite track on this. The country-style guitar is nice surprise and suits the vocal well. The final 'Superman' is a bit They Might Be Giants-y. I will be expecting more of the same on Dead Letter Office.
Begin the Begin
These Days
Fall on Me
Cuyahoga
Hyena
Underneath the Bunker
Supper side
The Flowers of Guatemala
I Believe
What If We Give It Away?
Just a Touch
Swan Swan H
Superman
FROM NOWHERE
The Troggs
Well, it has 'Wild Thing' on it for a start, but it mainly led me to seeking out the Troggs Tapes on YouTube. Of course there are animated versions available, and the full 11 minute foul-mouthed bust up is there too. It does post date this album by four years, so it seems no surprise that if they weren't still achieving this standard then they were getting a little frustrated. Not enough fuckin' fairy dust.
Wild Thing
The Kitty Cat Song
Ride Your Pony
Hi Hi Hazel
I Just Sing
Evil
Our Love Will Still Be There
Louie Louie
Jingle Jangle
When I'm with You
From Home
The Jaguar and the Thunderbird
RAZORLIGHT
Razorlight
I isuppose it's rather bland and safe and is the commercial high-water mark for the band, but you can't deny they have some good tunes and the sentiment seems heartfelt. This is one of those albums (from 2006) which coincided with quite a lot of personal loss, so when Johnny Borrell sang "it's been such a fucked up year" on Los Angeles Waltz, it did hit home.
In the Morning
Who Needs Love?
Hold On
America
Before I Fall to Pieces
I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got
Pop Song 2006
Kirby's House
Back to the Start
Los Angeles Waltz
TIM HARDIN 1
Tim Hardin
Was it really released as '1'? No-one has that amount of hubris do they? Maybe the label, Verve Records had signed him up on a multi-album deal and were determined to make him see it through. He did keep the run going up to 4, with 3 being a live album but throws a curveball on his third album, called 'This Is Tim Hardin' which could be a debut or a retrospective (it's actually a sweep up of earlier recordings). He's generally billed as a folk artist, but there's more than enough blues on here too, however the sore thumb of the running order is 'Reason To Believe' which has been covered enough times by enough people, but Rod has made it his own after doing it on 'Every Picture Tells A Story'.
Don't Make Promises
Green Rocky Road
Smugglin' Man
How Long
While You're On Your Way
It'll Never Happen Again
Reason to Believe
Never Too Far
Part of the Wind
Ain't Gonna Do Without
Misty Roses
How Can We Hang On to a Dream?
OLIAS OF SUNHILLOW
Jon Anderson
The story goes that all the members of Yes were getting sick of the sight of each other (who knew?) so all went off on solo projects. We can possibly place Chris Squire's 'Fish Out Of Water', 'Beginnings' by Steve Howe and 'Ramshackled' by Alan White in the same band hiatus - but I'm just guessing on the basis that these were all 1975-1976 solo releases by the main band members at the time.
Anderson sticks to the early seventies prog obsessions with science fiction and fantasy themes. Leaving aside the flaky ideas, it's a nice piece and he reveals some deft musical talents as he performed it all himself.
Ocean Song
Meeting (Garden of Geda)/Sound Out the Galleon
Dance of Ranyart/Olias (To Build the Moorglade)
Qoquaq Ën Transic/"Naon/Transic Tö
Flight of the Moorglade
Solid Space
Moon Ra/Chords/Song of Search
To the Runner
THE BRIDGE
Billy Joel
He sings very quickly in the opener, 'Running On Ice'. Very fast piano work too. More of a mood piece then. One thing I'm realizing about Billy Joel is that he's never been afraid to jump on whatever musical bandwagon is running at the time, 'This Is The Time' employs a bit of Knopfler-esque guitar work, which was very much on-trend in the mid-eighties. He counts everyone in at the start of 'A Matter Of Trust' in a quite strained way, a bit like Al Swearengen passing bladder stones in Deadwood. 'Modern Woman' seems like his take on Robert Palmer, it bears more than a passing resemblance to 'Looking For Clues' to my ears, although that was six years old by this time. He's also reached that stage of his career where he gets to duet with other major stars, so Ray Charles is roped in for 'Baby Grand'. It's a nice piece of lounge jazz. 'Temptation' doesn't live up to the Heaven 17/Carol Kenyon classic of the same name. 'Code Of Silence' features kook-du-jour Cyndi Lauper, but she doesn't get much of a look-in, just a glorified backing vocal and a bit of squawking at the end. Took me ages to work out that the cover is a picture of a man (possibly Oor Wullie) on a bridge (DUH!)
Running on Ice
This Is the Time
A Matter of Trust
Modern Woman
Baby Grand
Big Man on Mulberry Street
Temptation
Code of Silence
Getting Closer
THE FRIENDS OF MR CAIRO
Jon and Vangelis
Undoubtedly one of my favourite alums of all time. I had a double cassette of this and Short Stories, but I preferred this to their first one. I love the etherealness of 'I'll Find My Way Home' and it feels like Woundrous Stories pt. II. Also the original State of Independence, before Donna Summer got her hands on it (although she did a good job too). But the central plans are The Mayflower, which sees Anderson having another stab at a space colonization narrative (5 years after Olias of Sunhillow), and the title track, a heartfelt tribute to the golden age of Hollywood. The closing light rocker 'Back To School' feels like filler but it's still as good as it ever was
I'll Find My Way Home
State of Independence
Beside
The Mayflower
The Friends of Mr Cairo
Back to School
Outside of This (Inside of That)