Autumn Ear Candy
Some More Dodgy Album Reviews
What with times begin hard and all that. I've still had to reign in the CD buying habit, but here is a quick round-up of some of the new seedees (and a rogue DVD) that have been added to the collection over the past few months.
Tori Amos - Live at Montreux (CD and DVD)
Recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in both 1991 and 1992, before and after the initial success of "Little Earthquakes", this album is a great record of that first few years of proper artistic and commercial success of who would become a true fave in the Ebbers household (well, in my bit of the house, anyway.)
The performances are vintage Amos, all performed solo on the piano and kept pretty much complete, which will please the bootleg collectors who will have had dodgy copies of this for years in various formats. You even get the crowd bollockings from Amos, who tells off people for talking. It's interesting to hear the 1991 show, which was a support slot, and features a really quiet audience who, for the most part, wouldn't know who she was. The song choice is all standard for performances of that era and you get the usual smattering of Led Zep covers, which is nice.
I think that the real gem of this release is the DVD set. The audio stuff is fine, but to actually see how Amos developed over the year is great on the DVD. If you were "umming-and-ahhing" over which set to buy first, then go for the video over the audio. It's a set of great shows and a nice piece to have in te collection... Now, if only they'd release the "Live in New York" video on DVD, then things would really be getting nice!
Ann Wilson - Hope and Glory
Ann steps away from the Heart banner for a while with her take on Percy's "Dreamland" concept (complete with Ann's version of "Darkness, Darkness") with a collection of cover songs (bar one, which closes the album) that all talk about Wilson's view of the world today. It's impeccable stuff all fronted by Ann's incredible voice and a host of guest stars ranging from Sir Elt to Sister Nance and backed by a great band who keep all the edges smooth, but rocking when the need calls.
The range and variety of songs on here is great, from the opening gambit of the Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky", which really should be terrible, but really works and sets the tone nicely for the rest of the songs, to Zep's "Immigrant Song" which sounds excellent, there's little on this album to complain about. The softer moments, such as "Get Together" and "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" keep it all together too. There's something on here for everyone.
This album is a "sit-down-and-mellow-out" too collection more than a balls-out party album, but it's all good stuff and more than an ample stop-gap before the Divine Sisterhood of the Wilsons unleash a new album on us (hurry up ladies, please).
Maria McKee - Live at the BBC
The main reason I was excited about this, apart from it being something from Miss M, is the fact that the first part of the collection was recorded at a gig that I was in the front row of back in the day. I've had this for years since I recorded it off the radio back in 1991 and even though this recording is missing one song that I have (can't remember which!) on that tape, it's great to have it as an official seedee on the shelf. The recording is good and the backing band are steady enough and I could spend hours listening to try and hear myself. The second part of the collection was recorded on the 1993 tour in Cambridge a few nights after I saw the Manchester gig. This features all her old Lone Justice mates and sounds great.
I'd recommend this if you were a fan, but wouldn't tell you to rush out and buy it if you were a casual listener. But that said, if you've got a spare fiver, get on Amazon and pick up a copy.
Thunder - Joy of Six (EP)
The final of the three EPs that make up the set that they've been releasing over this year to lead up to the new album. It's a collection of six songs that kicks off with a true Chunder riff and acoustically romps us through a jolly little tune that reminded me of "Love the One Your With" which takes us to a deadringer for "Bron-y-aur Stomp" on song two... And so the album continues in it's stripped down styl-ee. It's all good stuff and, I think, the best of the three EPs of the set. It's nice to hear the band ease back and give us something a little stripped down, even if the tone does get a bit down-beat half-way-through.
Of course, the best thing about the set is the packaging. The "Joy of Sex" style artwork complete with liner notes inspired by passages from the book are a great touch and really do show off the band's sense of humour, which is one of the reasons that the band are so endearing.
So, not an essential purchase, but definitely one for the nutswingers out there and a good primer for the album, which we will tackle next!
Thunder - Bang!
Hello Team! Hello Don!
So, album number lord knows what for one of the UK's finest, and it's business as usual as the album kicks off into the AC/DC style riff of the opener "On The Radio", a rant about how the media ignores bands like Thunder, which is obviously an irony considering the tune does sound really like "It's A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock And Roll". "Stormwater" follows and takes a Zep direction with a good slab of Bad Company added and rocks the pace up. I don't know what inspired "Carol Ann", but it sounds like a nightmare whatever the weather even though the tune is great!
And so it all goes. The songs are crisp and fun and exactly what you would expect to hear from the band. They have tried some new ideas on here to keep the sound fresh which keeps it from all being stale rehashes of "Backstreet Symphony", which is also good, as they could so easily just rewrite those old songs over and over again and never gets anywhere. Also, the album doesn't seem to have much of a mid-album slump which Thunder have suffered from before on older albums. The variety of songs and the pacing keeps it all rattling along nicely and keeps the album from getting lumpy.
The performances are all dependably solid. Mr Bowes' voice truly does get better, if it's possibly, with each album, with some great soulful vocals on here and a couple of big notes, especially on "One Bullet" (The album's "Low Life In High Places" social conscience song). The rest of the band can do this stuff in their sleep, but even so, they make the music rock along with a good light touch. It's a pleasure to hear a band so well tuned.
Sometimes I wonder what happened during the latter years of the pre-break-up Thunder and why they managed to produce some really lumpy material. Obviously the break and the lack of pressure to do what EMI tells them to do benefits them and allows them to produce classy material like this. It's a good thing and nice that they can have a Marillion-style cottage industry with the bands affairs that keeps them on the road and in the studio. I'd recommend this album to anyone who fancies a good bit of rock on an album that doesn't outstay it's welcome a all.
Marllion - Happiness is the Road
Jesus, where do I start with this monster? As usual, I forked out for the pre-order special edition and when the thing finally arrived, the package nearly broke the floor under the letter box, it was so damn hefty. This double-album epic came in two (count 'em) hard bound books fully illustrated in lavish colour (with my name in the thank you's obviously for paying up) with lyrics and beautiful arty imagery. A massive package which demonstrates value for money from a band that know how to look after and spoil their faithful.
As for the music, it's great. I can't pretend that I've digested two hour-long Marillion masterpieces, but I can say that I've been captivated by it when I've spun it and loved every minute of it. It's more of a "Marbles" than a "Somewhere Else" for sure with it's big ambient passages and aching vocal performances from the mighty H. These two disks will keep me occupied for a long time and it's a set of music that will keep giving and giving, I reckon and I think I'll have to write another review in a while when I've got more of a grip on it!
The retail versions, I think, come in a variety of combination, but I would whole-heartedly listeners grabbing hold of both parts of the set as they do run nicely and complement each other. Again, as with the Chunder album, since Marillion are keeping up this level of creativity and excellence, then there's no reason why they will ever produce anything shit again. These boys know what they it doing!
AC/DC - Black Ice
Right then, a new AC/DC album?! I'm glad to say that their new triple-disk concept album based on the life-cycle of a tadpole is a massive success. I am, of course, taking the piss here. This is exactly the kind of album you would expect from DC and it's a good steady rocker with some fine cuts on it. It's not going to revolutionise rock and roll, but it's a very worthy addition to the DC back catalogue. There are the usual lines of "best since Back in Black", but I think that they've said that with every album from the band since 1990. It's good, with some tasty treats held within. My only real thing is that I think it possibly could have been trimmed by about two or three songs to keep the snappy AC/DC feel to the album. Still, this is a better album that most rock and roll bands of their particular style could muster these days.
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Here we go. I'll keep this one short as I'll only have Marky-Boy bending my ear about it for years to come and I still haven't forgiven him for the St Anger Photo Affair.
This is a brutal sounding album which we hear a band who have spent a decade making pretty wretched records learn from their mistakes. They've taken away all the shitty bits of the newer albums, put the remainders together with the best bits of the older albums and created something that really is heavy and metal in the nicest possible way. It's not an easy record to digest in one sitting, that's for sure, but I suppose that 'Tallica are a band who have never shied away from giving the listener a challenge, after all, this is a band who thought it fit to release dross like "Reload" a few years back.
Everyone seems to like to compare this to "...And Justice For All", which is a fair comment, but I can hear the influence of "St Anger" and "Metallica" in there too. They seem to have got it right for a change, which is comforting, as it was getting a bit too predictable that I'd slag off each new album from them.
There Mark, I said it... I like it and think it's good.
Motorhead - Motorizer
Someone once said of Rush that they'll never make a bad album, they'll just make another one and I think it's the same with Motorhead and particularly, this release. It's full of the type of stuff you'd expect from the band and it rocks just as hard as anything they've created before. It's just that there's not that many stand-out tracks.
Saying that, the album as a whole is a good solid "rock and roll-ah" listen which is delivered with the band's usual dirty precision. Mikkey Dee and Zoomster provide the solid backing to Lemmy's gravelly shout and obscene bass noise. The humour is also well and truly in place with songs like "Rock Out" (lyrics: "rock out, rock out, with your cock out... and impress you lady friends!"). There's also songs about rock and roll in general ("Teach You How To Sing The Blues") and plenty of stuff in there for those with an interest in war. It's all present and correct here.
So, it's no "Sacrifice" or "Bastards", but then again, it's better than a lot of new rock albums I've heard this year.
Black Stone Cherry - Folklore and Superstition
The second album from one of the best new rock bands around at the moment. This collection of songs is solid and, even though it does weigh slightly heavier on the slow song side, does provide the listener with a good rocking selection of music. The songs on this album should sound great live and I'm looking forward to the Manchester gig next month to hear some of this stuff live. I'm not sure that this is as good as the debut, but it definitely is as near as damn-it.
Vanessa Carlton - Heroes and Thieves
The difficult third album. Tellingly, this is not that easy to get hold of in the UK, which is a shame. I had to get it from Amazon. It's a shame that VC couldn't maintain her profile after the initial flurry of the debut album and "1000 Miles", even the second album didn't make much of a splash over here and, as far as I know, we only got one tour over here.
Still, this is a decent enough collection of songs which carry on the style of "Be Not Nobody" and "Harmonium" nicely. The songs are all breezy piano-led numbers with Carlton's "Marmite" (you love it or hate it) voice singing the diary lyrics over lush string-section backings. It does all seem a little more mature, which is something that seems to be common from each album from VC, which is good. There's a guest appearance from Stevie Nicks on the amusingly titled "The One - with Stevie Nicks" that gives the album come celebrity clout and an element of baton-passing from rock's old guard.
So, it's all good and fine and dandy, but nothing to shake the world or write home about.
Eliza Carthy - Dreams of Breathing Underwater
The latest offering from Ms Carthy is more like the "Angels and Cigarettes" album than the "Rough Music" album. The focus seems to be slightly poppier this time around, which is fine as EC does tend to produce good stuff, whatever the style is. That said, there's plenty of folking going on here. It's all impeccably done, but it does drag a little in the middle and it's all quite dark sounding. I think I'll need to sit with this one a little longer before it sinks in as well as "Red" and the like.
Eastmountainsouth - Eastmountainsouth
I heard the opening number "Hard Times" on the "Elizabethtown" soundtrack and thought I'd invest a quid on Amazon-New-and-Used on the album to hear the rest. To be fair, the opening number is the best thing on here, but the rest is not crap by any standards. It's all breezy country / folky stuff with some excellent vocal performances on it. That said, the girl vocals are much better than the guy vocals. There also seems to be a bit of god-bothering going on sometimes during the album, but I've not listened to the lyrics that close or read them in the liner notes, so I can't confirm that. When all is said and done, this is a collection of pretty poppy country tunes performed with some lovely vocals and definitely an album to put on when the head aches a little and you need something more soothing that Death Magnetic on.
Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts and Flaming Red
These are the first two (I think) albums from Patty Griffin. The first ("Living With Ghosts") is a very stripped back selection of acoustic songs and the second ("Flaming Red") is a selection of band-performed songs which rock it up a little more in a country-stylee. The delivery is pretty low-key at times and Griffin sounds a little like Sheryl Crow in her vocal delivery, but never ends up sounding like a copycat and she always stamps her own mark on all the songs. If anything, I think that the "Living..." album is a little more consistent, which I didn't think I'd end up thinking, since "Flaming Red" is a little more upbeat. I think that since "Flaming Red" does tend to dip towards more acoustic stuff and loses the rockier delivery as it goes on, that "Living..." sounds a bit more consistent. That said, both albums are great for different types of mood and are worth a listen and a chunk of anyone's time.
O Brother Where Art Thou OST
I got this after seeing the movie on DVD and after I found out the Alison Krauss was a featured performer, contributing the lovely "Down By The River To Pray" which was part of the live Plant|Krauss setlist back in May. The project, put together by the mighty T-Bone Burnett has got some great stuff on it and includes all the best bits from the film. For two quid, you can't go wrong with this soundtrack album.
Thomas Crown Affair OST
The music in this movie just sounds so good. It's just a shame that the piece that they use for the opening scenes of the robbery isn't included. But all the rest of the cool stuff is, including the "Sinnerman" song. It's also a shame that Sting is on here, but you can't have everything, can you?!
Pendulum - In Silico
I'll dedicate this review to my good buddy Rich who is probably choking on his Guiness seeing that this is included in here. I'd also like to give a shout to Pete who told me to give this a listen to see what I thought. Hey chaps!
So, I like the cover art and the super Science Fiction painting on the booklet, as for the music, well it's hit and miss for me. There are parts during the album that I like and when it's good it reminds me of a cross between Tool, Duran Duran and Muse. When it's not good, it just sounds like one of those dance albums that they always advertise on the telly. The album trundles along until the third to last song ("9,000 Miles") when it all of a sudden turns into Tool crossed with Tangerine Dream without the Duran Duran, but with a little hint of the Muse still, and it sounds amazing. The last third of the album is great and really wakes up the listener with it's great noise.
So Pete, I love the last third of it. Rich, you'd hate it!
Magnum Season One DVD
I had to include this for some reason and even though this isn't really for DVD releases, I've included this because Magnum P.I. had one of TV's greatest theme tunes. Mike Post really excelled himself here with a tune that is so iconic that you cannot fail to picture Tom Selleck in his 'tache and Hawaiian shirt burning off in the red Ferrari as the music kicks in. This is one of my favourite TV memories from my younger years and it still holds up today. That said, the first ten f*cking episodes didn't use Mike Post as composer, so for the first couple of disks has this dreadful 70's cheese jazz soundtrack. Luckily it doesn't detract from the actual episodes too much, but you really feel that the proper music makes the show!
It's great to watch this show again and see how it generally has weathered the years pretty well. The characters really do make up for any of the crappy bits of the show, which there aren't many of. The better half took the piss when I got this asking if when I grew up, did I want a Magnum 'tache (no, I wanted a Magnum Ferrari and guest house) then spent time flitting in and out of the room to check out Sir Selleck in his little shorts for the most part of the viewing time. Anyway, you can see how the actors really did hit the ground running with their characters and it's this that make the show timeless in it's own way.
So, for seven quid, I can relive my childhood again and again and I've got season two on the way as I type!
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© 2006 Graham T. Ebbrell