CD Odyssey Disc 1884: Jake Vaadeland

I was asked last night about my top 10 albums of 2025. The year isn’t over yet, but this next record will be in contention to make the list.

Disc 1884 is… One More Dollar to Go

Artist: Jake Vaadeland

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? Jake Vaadeland kicks it old school. For Jake “kickin’ it” is putting on a suit and posing respectfully with your guitar.

How I Came To Know It: Whenever a festival comes to town, I make a point of listening to every artist ahead of time, so I know when to show up and when to leave each day. Often it is the early acts that catch my ear over the headliners. Frankly, by the time the headliners come on the audience is typically less engaged with the music, not more. Many would decry such claims later when showing the snippets they filmed on their i-Phones, but we who were there for the music saw what we saw.

But I digress…

Jake Vaadeland was one of the acts at this year’s Rifflandia, so I checked him out ahead of time. I loved it so much I made sure to show up early. Once I was at the show I bought both his LPs (and a t-shirt to boot) from the merch booth. And here we are…

How It Stacks Up: I have two Jake Vaadeland albums. They are both excellent, but “One More Dollar to Go” is #1.

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

Jake Vaadeland is unapologetically traditional. He is so traditional you will swear these are songs your mom used to play when you were a kid, maybe even your grandpa. You’d be wrong though, Vaadeland just writes tunes that are so timeless you think they’ve been around forever.

Writing original songs with a style and genre dating back anywhere from fifty to ninety years ago that are not derivative is damn hard. About as hard as writing a great pop hook, and way less appreciated. Vaadeland rises again and again to this challenge. In the process he has created a record that has potential to have the same staying power of the artists he honours.

That style sits somewhere in a golden nexus of heart-worn Hank Williams Sr. honky tonk, the bluegrass mastery of Bill Monroe, and the high-floating quaver of Johnny Horton. If that sounds like some impressive company, you’d be right. Vaadeland’s style floats in and out and around all three of these greats and in the process finds his own space to hunker down and do right.

Vaadeland’s vocals are sneaky good. So sneaky you don’t notice on any individual song, but across the full record you realize just how much range he has from the top of his head voice down into the almost Elvis growl of his lower register. He isn’t a show-off about it either, letting his vocal performance sit down easy into the song as one of many complementary parts.

The other parts come courtesy of his backing band, the Sturgeon River Boys. These fellas are a fine match indeed. Sometimes they mosey through a song, and sometimes they play a furious torrent of notes, but slow or fast they are always clean and precise.

With this kind of music that precision is critical, or you’ve got one hell of a mess on your hands. There is no room for being off the beat on this music, which is often front-end loaded and leaning dangerously forward through every chord shift.

Even played well, this style can veer off and become technical and emotionally empty, but that never happens. The record is warm and engaging throughout. If anything you feel like you’ve been invited over to the Vaadeland family home and an impromptu concert has broken out in the living room. Move the chairs, push the couches against the wall, and dance with your partner.

Much like the musical backdrop, the lyrics are very old school without ever feeling fake or forced. “One More Dollar to Go” is a modern classic about being broke. Being broke is never fun, but this song sure gives you reason to celebrate anyway. Never was being down to your last dollar so joyfully delivered.

“Hot Headed Woman” is about a woman who is hard to love and hard not to, and equal parts uncomfortable and sly in its character study. It’s not a healthy relationship, but the song’s restless energy is a case study in how some folks are just drawn to things that aren’t good for them.

“One More Dollar” and “Hot Headed Woman” are both up-tempo tunes which belie their sad subject matter. Elsewhere, Vaadeland shows his range with the slow and tragic tunes like “Old White Home” and “Neath the Shade of the Tree.”

Despite his old-school style, Vaadeland is fresh and energetic throughout. His love for this music is not a mere mask he puts on, but resides in his bones. This joy flows out of his songwriting and delivery alike, creating a record that gets better and better on every listen.

Best tracks: One More Dollar to Go, Hot Headed Woman, Old White Home, Don’t Go to the Valley, Lonesome Motor Inn, Neath the Shade of the Tree, A Glass of Wine Will Fix It Every Time

The Concert: December 7, 2025 at the Capital Ballroom, Victoria BC

Having seen Vaadeland earlier this year at Rifflandia (read more about that weekend immediately following the Sleater-Kinney review here) I was excited for what I knew was going to be a good show.

We were also cagey about getting there early. The Capital Ballroom is a lovely space but seating with good sightlines is limited and to score any, you gotta get there before the crowd does.

With this in mind we arrived 45 minutes before curtain but as ill-luck would have it there was a collection of fellow “olds” that had already secured all the prime balcony spots. I settled for a floor table that I knew from past experience was both awesome (near the soundboard/mixer) but fraught with peril (subject to random tall dudes standing in front of you.

As it happened, things broke in the likely fashion, with both great sound AND a part of the show starting partly at the back of some dude’s head. So it goes…

The set was richly decorated with old-time furniture and a lit Christmas tree, and put you into a mood that was both festive and comfortable. Into this scene landed Vaadeland and his Sturgeon River Boys, striking up the music and immediately dialing up the energy to 10.

Album play is one thing, but playing these kinds of furiously quick tunes live without a hitch is another level, and yet the boys were flawless – or at least so near flawless my amateur ear never caught the error. The bass player (not the one from the record) particularly enraptured me, with tasty low-end licks that both kept the time (the band has no drummer) and then made that time jump and bounce.

This being Christmas time, Vaadeland did a couple of carols, including a medley of tunes sung in tight harmony. This could’ve been a bit stuffy, but it was far from it, and I found myself enjoying old Christmas songs in a way I hadn’t done in years.

Vaadeland’s originals are what I had really come to see, however, and I was not disappointed. The set featured a good range of his many old-timey styles, all played with grace and energy.

From time to time, Vaadeland would hold his guitar up alongside his ear. I imagined it was whispering secrets to him, but it could’ve just been him checking the tuning. Whatever it was, he never missed a cue regardless of where he swung his axe.

The show was highly scripted, with the exact same banter I’d heard at the Rifflandia set, albeit expanded with the bigger set-list. This stuff is pretty great the first time you hear it but lacks the organic feel on multiple run-throughs. A minor quibble, in an otherwise thoroughly uplifting and entertaining show. That banter includes mid-set “advertisements for our sponsors,” where Vaadeland shills for Pepsi and a vintage clothing store in Saskatoon called “Better Off Duds” in true old school fairground style. I looked “Better Off Duds” up later and can confirm that, just like Diet Pepsi, it’s real.

The audience was…average. For the most part well-behaved and appreciative, but there were a small minority that talked loudly through portions of the set. I’m not sure why people come to a music show to talk through it, but there are plenty of sports bars that can accommodate that behaviour. I wish they’d gone there instead.

At the end of the concert, Vaadeland thanked both the technical team that ran the sound, but also the venue staff. It was a nice touch from a class act.

If you get a chance to see Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys live I encourage you to go. You’re in for a good time, although you may leave with a strange desire to drink a Diet Pepsi and shop vintage.

CD Odyssey Disc 1883: Blue Oyster Cult

With my car in the shop, this week will feature much longer music listening opportunities courtesy of…the bus! Here’s the first offering courtesy of my triumphant (?) return to public transit.

Disc 1883 is… Ghost Stories

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 2024 (original recordings from 1978 – 1983)

What’s up with the Cover? A ritualistic BOC logo inscribed on the floor, framed by four candles, has summoned three ghosts. I like to think they are the ghosts of Allen Lanier, Joe Bouchard and Albert Bouchard for reasons that I will reveal later.

Whoever they are, it is a good thing ghosts don’t get tired of standing, because there’s just the one chair.

How I Came To Know It: Blue Oyster Cult is my favourite band, and I’ve known them all my life. Of course I was going to check out their latest record.

How It Stacks Up: I have 12 of Blue Oyster Cult’s studio albums. Of the twelve, Ghost Stories comes in at…#11. Since this is my first BOC review in four years, and is also the final studio album awaiting review, here’s a full accounting:

1. Secret Treaties: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 866)
2. Fire of Unknown Origin: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 751)
3. Spectres.: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 514)
4. Self-Titled: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1505)
5. Agents of Fortune: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 463)
6. Cultosaurus Erectus: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 206)
7. Tyranny and Mutation: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1273)
8. Mirrors: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 685)
9. Imaginos: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 838)
10. The Revolution by Night: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1159)
11. Ghost Stories: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
12. Club Ninja: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 780)

If you want to read more Blue Oyster Cult reviews (who wouldn’t) all the records above and also four live albums can be found here.

Ratings: 3 stars

I’ve loved Blue Oyster Cult since I was a star-eyed child searching for their hidden symbol in every album cover.

It is this abiding love that has made most of their recent studio albums such a letdown. From 1998 to 2020, BOC released only three albums and I liked exactly none of them. Having never experienced this before (just check out the fanboy ratings of the records above) my reaction went from an initial no-this-cannot-be! horror that morphed over the years into a despondent resignation as the final notes ended on 2020’s disappointing “The Symbol Remains”.

Was there never to be another worthy studio album from my childhood heroes? Well, cancel the pity party, because “Ghost Stories” announces the boys (all five of them) as back. After twenty plus years of waiting, we’ve got a keeper.

The record has an unfair advantage, in that it is actually a collection of studio recordings made from 1978 to 1983, remixed in 2024 and dubbed “the final studio album” upon its release.

This era of BOC music features two critically lauded classic records (1980’s “Cultasaurus Erectus” and “1981’s Fire of Unknown Origin”) which are bookended by two records of lesser acclaim (“Mirrors” (1979) and “The Revolution by Night” (1983). I happen to love them all.

Stylistically, “Ghost Stories” feels like it spans these records yet belongs to none of them. Every tune is a facet of Blue Oyster Cult, making the whole feel more like a collection of singles and B-sides. Despite this, there is a weird cohesion on multiple listens, akin to an ‘island of lost toys’ kind of vibe.

Blue Oyster Cult has always been blessed with the ability to try on a lot of different aspects of rock and roll. They prog out, they do stadium, they do doo wop and barroom blues. It’s all here on “Ghost Stories”.

The band was always blessed by multiple songwriters and singers, all contributing to something greater. What’s missing on those later studio records I couldn’t tolerate is the absence of key contributors like Joe and Albert Bouchard and (as of 2020) Allen Lanier. On “Ghost Stories” they are reunited with lifelong members Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma and the alchemy of the five of them sharing space and ideas returns from beyond the grave.

The opening track is “Late Night Street Fight”. It’s a Bloom/Joe Bouchard collaboration that ends up sounding like something off a late seventies Alice Cooper record. It’s not my favourite, but I love the way the band embraces that lascivious acid inspired sound all the same.

This is followed by Buck Dharma sixties crooner inspired “Cherry” which is pop schmaltz, with just the right amount of strange added. It’s a song about a girl, but somehow the band explores the dawn of creation at the same time. BOC is here to challenge you, even when wearing the skinsuits of sixties teen idols.

The third song is “So Supernatural” an atmospheric number from Joe Bouchard that sways its way into a room like a curtain blown by an unseen wind.

Rounding out the songwriter round, we have “Soul Jive” cowritten by Albert Bouchard and Patti Smith (a collaborator with the band at this time, as well as lover of Allen Lanier). This one has a mix of barroom guitar groove and a sublime bit of guitar work from Buck Dharma. Lanier adds some tasty touches of organ. All these sounds shouldn’t work together, but they do, and that’s the fearless magic of Blue Oyster Cult.

“Ghost Stories” also features the studio versions of “Kick Out the Jams” (MC5 cover) and “We Gotta Get Outta This Place” (Animals cover), both of which appear live on 1978’s “Some Enchanted Evening.” I prefer those live versions, but the studio versions are no joke.

Despite my fawning, the record is not perfect. There are moments where it felt like the band was trying too hard to play empty stadium rock anthems, and while they are OK, you can see why they didn’t make the cut on the albums at the time. The production feels a bit too clean in places as well, which I blame on the band’s decision to use AI to help master the original tapes.

That’s the only blame in me, though, and most of all I am thankful the band dusted off these old gems, polished them up, and reminded us one more time what this band was capable of when firing on all cylinders.

Best tracks: Cherry, So Supernatural, We Gotta Get Outta This Place, The Only Thing, Kick Out the Jams

CD Odyssey Disc 1882: Celtic Frost

Apologies for my lengthy absence, Dear Readers. I took a short vacation and music listening time required to bring you my always-scintillating insights never quite aligned. That sad state of affairs has now ended, and…I’m back.

Disc 1882 is… Vanity/Nemesis

Artist: Celtic Frost

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover? The band have their “cool” faces on as they look out at us sternly from shards of broken glass.

Why the fragmented approach to the photo shoot? Well, you can’t tell from this photo, but all these dudes have Very Big Hair. I don’t think they would have fit on the cover otherwise.

How I Came To Know It: I knew Celtic Frost as a teenager. I loved the band name, but never got into them, so my knowledge was mostly second-hand by reputation (neither my brother nor I owned any). I was on an ill-advised (and since cured) break from metal in 1990 when this record came out.

I recently picked up their 1985 album “To Mega Therion” and liked it, so I decided to take a chance on this later offering.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Celtic Frost albums, and if you’ve been paying attention you already know which two. Of those, “Vanity/Nemesis” comes in at #2.

Ratings: 2 stars

Being trapped with this record for over a week means I got to hear it a lot. Often this plays to an album’s advantage, but not this time.

“Vanity/Nemesis” is a thrash metal record along the lines of early Metallica and Pantera, which are both bands I like. When I first put the record on I settled in quickly to the familiar sounds. The heavy chugging guitar is crunchy and deep, and the drumming is insistent to the point of being almost frantic. There are a lot of ingredients that should make for a solid record, and it had the particular advantage of being good driving music that I mostly experienced in my car.

There is even an early gem, in the form of “Wine in Hand (Third from the Sun)” that offers to pull you in. This song has some great Motorhead-style energy and an industrial underpinning that is part of what I appreciate about 1985’s “To Mega Therion”. The crunch of guitar comes in and out in the arrangement in just the right amount to leave you wanting more.

Unfortunately, this formula is not consistently delivered for much of the record. They don’t just double down on the crunchy guitar, they triple down, to the point of where it starts to feel forced. It is akin to moshing a bit too hard for a bit too long and throwing out your neck. All that crunch needs a bit of structure around it to make it work.

Celtic Frost gamely tries to provide this, but the changes of pace feel draggy and unfocused – like placeholders while the band impatiently waits to return to the crunch. The guitar solos also didn’t have the artistry to lift things up. They’re well played, but don’t add a lot to most of the songs.

All of this can be overcome with some grade A vocals, but apart from a couple tracks I list below, lead singer Thomas Gabriel Warrior did not do it for me. Warrior has a very distinctive style that is somewhere between the strangled rasp of Cirith Ungol frontman Tim Baker and the lascivious coo of ACDC’s Bon Scott. I love both those guys, and when Warrior is a bit “reeled in” I don’t mind him either.

Unfortunately, he is rarely reeled in on Vanity/Nemesis and his creative phrasing – which I think is supposed to sound dangerous and otherworldly just sounds…whiny.

The worst case of this is “Wings of Solitude” which is at its core a pretty creative tune, with a cool idea (what young metalhead hasn’t wished for “wings of solitude” at some point?). But Warrior’s delivery wrecks the fun, feeling overwrought and devoid of emotional resonance. Less cool Dungeon Master and more awkward kid tugging at your sleeve to tell you a disjointed version of the fantasy novel he’s reading. I acknowledge the line between these two is thin, but it is important.

The songs have weird and nerdy subject matter that is hard to follow, but as a longtime metal fan I know this is as likely to be a feature as a bug. I am more than happy to hear weird interdimensional, cosmic comic book stuff, but the weird also has to be cool, and often on “Vanity/Nemesis” it just ain’t.

Because of all of this, you want to sink into the basic chunking of the thrash guitar sound, but instead of that being a respite, its insistent presence feels more like it’s cornering you. Akin to that headache when you are still drinking late at a party and realize you should just go home.

As for this album, I am sure it will go to a lovely home one day as well. It just won’t be mine.

Best tracks: Wine in Hand (Third from the Sun), Vanity

PS: My version of the record is the 1999 re-release which has a couple bonus tracks, one of which is a pretty crazy cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes”. Intriguing, but still not enough to recommend the record.

CD Odyssey Disc 1881: Caitlin Rose

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey. Today I come to you live from…my holidays! Yes, I am taking a very short break, but I bring you this humble offering before I sail off to Parts Unknown (I know where I’ll be but this is a music website, not a travelogue).

Disc 1881 is… Cazimi

Artist: Caitlin Rose

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover? An out of focus Caitlin Rose appears to witness a stream of fuzzy musical notes passing into…or out of her head.

How I Came To Know It: I am sad to say I don’t remember, which usually means I read a review somewhere. A quick Google search shows there were reviews on at least two of my oft-visited music sites (Paste Magazine and Americana Highways) so there is a good chance one or both of these inspired the journey.

How It Stacks Up: Caitlin Rose has released four albums, but this is the only one I have, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 3 stars

“Cazimi” did not win me over immediately, and I would say it still hasn’t won me over completely, but it is proof that if songs have good bones they can survive a fair number of other shortcomings.

Rose is a pop singer, with a country flair to some of the tracks that might trick a modern country radio station to play her tunes. I wouldn’t know, as I don’t listen to the radio. That pop/country crossover takes the form of a lot of mid-tempo tunes with a bit of jump in the rhythm and a production that might be twang, but in the end just comes out as reverb.  

The issue on Cazimi is a couple of things, the first being the aforementioned production, which opts for a considerable amount of fuzz.

Long-time readers will know that while my musical tastes are wide (to the point of wanton) I have a bias toward clean production, with plenty of space for the songs to breathe. Cazimi is not this, and there is a lot of stuff going on at the same time. Also, Caitlin Rose’s vocals, which are almost exclusively up in her head voice sound overdubbed and cloudy throughout. The album employs a number of background singers, so it might be tight harmony and not overdub (I am no expert) but either way it creates a diffuse sound where I would have preferred things to be a bit more distinct.

The instruments fare similarly. The drums sound light and diffuse, and the guitars have a bit of a wall of sound that is unexpected given the light and airy flavour of the music overall. When they rock out you don’t get oomph out of them, because the mix is too busy.

Fortunately, Rose is also a very gifted songwriter, and there are plenty of solid offerings on Cazimi that overcome all of these triggering (for me) production decisions.

Most of the good stuff is front-end loaded to Side One, which is a trend I have never liked but that has been seen on records…forever. I continue to live in hope that I will get over it, but seems late in the day for that.

But I digress…

The first track is the delightfully wistful “Carried Away” which features Grade A songwriting. The melody has delightful jumps up the scale that punctuate how the narrator would like a slow climb into a relationship but instead finds herself in a sudden jump forward. The melody carries you away suddenly just like the lyrics say it will. Meanwhile, there is a guitar tag with a measured step down at the end of the verse that seems to add a bit of sad resignation to the moment. Music and lyrics in synch to deliver an emotional punch = good songwriting.

This is followed up with “Modern Dancing” which is a dance-friendly number. Not so much “cut a move at the club” as “twirl in your living room” but danceable all the same. It also has handclaps and a weird bit of funky synth that is an example of the busy production, only here I liked it.

The record starts to flag in the middle, with songs like “Lil’ Vespa” and “Black Obsidian” that want to feel either whimsical or poetic but come off forced.

Fortunately, before the end, we get a Side Two gem in “Blameless”. Many of the songs on the record have a very common mid to up tempo sound (there’s probably a classical term for this, but I can’t think of it) but “Blameless”’ comes in with a slow and mournful drag at just the right time. The song’s slow meandering undertow make you feel the feels, and the lyrics are inspired, showing that bad relationships need to be named for what they are. The chorus alters slightly throughout but my favourite iteration is:

“Do it outta habit, do it out of love or whatever you're holding to
'Cause you always come runnin' each time you discover that I'm as cold as you
And there's no point in making it painless
It's nobody's fault and, baby, we're blameless, blameless”

“Blameless” would benefit from letting the pedal steel lift out of the mix a bit, but as noted above, that’s not how this record is constructed. Fortunately, the emotional impact of the record overcomes one grumpy reviewer wanting to elbow his way onto the mixing board. In the end, I sat in the corner of the studio, arms crossed, and forced to admit that all things considered, yeah, I liked it.

Best tracks: Carried Away, Modern Dancing, Getting it Right, Blameless

CD Odyssey Disc 1880: Kora Feder

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey. It is the weekend and last night I enjoyed some board games with my lovely wife. Musical accompaniment was set on random via our 6-CD player. When we are “listening random” we each get three choices. Last night’s were: Tom Petty, Tom Jones, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, ELO, Grace Cummings and Creepshow.

I’ve reviewed one or more albums by all those artists so if you are intrigued to learn more, the blog has got you covered.

OK, on to an artist I have never reviewed before…

Disc 1880 is… Some Kind of Truth

Artist: Kora Feder

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? Half a Giant Head Cover does not a Giant Head Cover make! However, this cover makes up for that with bonus content – it is signed by Kora Feder!

How I Came To Know It: I read a review and then liked what I heard when I checked her out. I bought the album from Bandcamp, which is why I have Ms. Feder’s signature. Cool and thank you, Kora!

How It Stacks Up: Kora Feder has two albums out, but I’ve only got one, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

Kora Feder is a singer-songwriter with a young heart and an old soul. Listening to her records is like receiving a confessional from a close friend or curling up on the couch with a book of poetry for an afternoon of feeling the feels. It all depends on whether you want this to be about her or about you. Ultimately, like all great art, it is both at the same time.

I once had a friend tell me that he was “too old to relate to Taylor Swift’s music” which annoyed me, because great music is designed to transport you to a time in your life – maybe a more youthful time. Failing that, it connects someone else’s experience to your own, allowing you to hold a new perspective, or see your current ones through new facets.

Such is the quiet power of Kora Feder, who brings you in with every word, every note. It begins with her voice, which is youthful and green and full of sweetness and dappled sunlight. The rounded and unhurried phrasing reminded me heavily of Anais Mitchell of Bonny Light Horseman. It is a natural storyteller’s voice, but where the stories are less action/adventure and more personal journey.

The album wisely keeps the production to a bare minimum. Most of the songs start out with just a single piano or guitar to accompany Feder’s vocals, often with an open mic that lets you hear the slide of the strings at each chord change. I usually don’t like hearing that, but here it adds to the raw experience, like you’re hearing the song live at a small venue while sitting super close. Occasionally a bit of drum might come along to add volume, but it is relaxed and in the background.

The effect is that there is no barrier or space between you and these songs, and you are forced to confront their truths unvarnished and unprotected. This seems only right, as Feder puts her vulnerability centre stage, daring you to do the same.

The lyrics of this record are poetic brilliance, dealing with themes that are well-worn (finding yourself while travelling, navigating relationship and grief, and the age-old “what’s the point of it all?” we’ve all felt from time to time). But these are common themes because they are natural gateways to deeper thought, and Feder navigates them with grace.

Sometimes she grounds things in experience, like on “Orange Tree” where she celebrates her grandparents:

“Days like today I relate to the clouds
Grandma’s memory is fragile slowly emptying out
I try on her clothes to remind her where she wore them
The picket line the Pentagon and some Northern island
I’m wearing her favorite plaid shirt to weed the orange tree
I think it’s better on her but it’s fine on me
She can’t remember why there’s a hole in the left elbow sleeve”

On “In a Young Person’s Body” begins with Feder’s grief over the untimely death of John Prine, and delves deep into dark inner reaches of grief, echoing her uncertainty in the song’s refrain of:

“I looked in the mirror and all I could see
Was a worried old woman in a young person’s body”

It’s a sad song, and I wouldn’t have the heart to tell her that later in life you look in the mirror and see the opposite, and it isn’t any more reassuring.

But that’s the magic of this record, as it navigates space and time, the strum of the guitar or tinkle of the piano light and unobtrusively keeping you on the path. The journey is delightful, and I expect this record to compete for one of the best of 2025.

Best tracks: Rambling Man, Detroit Summer, Paragraphs, In a Young Person’s Body, Orange Tree

CD Odyssey Disc 1879: The Beths

This next record landed at #8 of my favourite records of 2022. If you’d like to see the full list, you can do so here.

Disc 1879 is… Expert in a Dying Field

Artist: The Beths

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover? A Yellowtail Amberjack or Haku. I do not know this because I am an expert in a dying field, I know this because of the Internet, which, unfortunately, can make anyone appear to be an expert. Emphasis on that word ‘appear’.

I sometimes feel like an expert in a dying field because of all the old Roman writers I read (I am currently reading Suetonius’ “Twelve Caesars”) but then I remember – nope, there are actual experts in that. I’m just reading a book.

Anyway, if you like fish, this cover has one.

How I Came To Know It: I was a fan of the Beths previous record, 2020’s “Jump Rope Gazers” (reviewed back at Disc 1443) and decided to give their follow up a shot.

How It Stacks Up: I have three albums by the Beths, and while I’m still getting to know their latest (2025’s “Straight Line Was a Lie”) for now, I’m putting “Expert in a Dying Field” at #1.

Ratings: 4 stars

There’s nothing more rare and beautiful than a band that just gets better with age. The Beths were already a band whose blend of frenetic indie pop and disaffected garage band sound had me captivated, but on their third studio album, “Expert in a Dying Field” they take their songwriting to new heights.

Despite this record finishing in my top 10 of 2022, when I first heard it this week my initial reaction was hesitant. There was a lot going on. The production was dense, with a lot of bang n’ clang of the sort that usually puts me off. However, the Beths are proof positive that a lot can be going on in the arrangement, and it can still be good when done well.

It didn’t take long for this record to remind me why I liked it so much three years ago. Everything I liked about 2020’s “Jump Rope Gazers” is present, but with a bit more polish and care applied.

When a band has a post punk sensibility, that extra polish can sometimes strip a band of the energy that makes them good in the first place. No risk of that on “Experts…” which stays out in front of the beat on most songs, leaving you breathless and eager for whatever comes next.

Elizabeth Stokes’ vocals remain a cornerstone of the band’s success. She can alternate between a slightly flat “who cares” tone of alternative rock and the sweetest pop icon you can imagine. Is she going to slap you or blow you a kiss? The answer is yes.

Musically this record is also a step up. While Stokes vocals could carry the load alone, the Beths are a tight band, and despite the fast tempo and saturated nature of many of these songs, they never sound muddy. The mix is very even across all the players, letting you appreciate the growl of the guitar, snap of the drum, or undercurrent of the bass with equal joy. Set your mind to follow whatever appeals, and you’ll like where the journey takes you.

Buried in all the forward lean and reverb the lyrics have an emotional frailty that draws you in. Sometimes it expresses itself dark and distressed (“some things are best left to rot” – from Best Left) but is just as likely to be vulnerable (“still only knees deep/I’ll never be brave like you” – from Knees Deep) or just downright unapologetically romantic:

“But here I go again
Mixing drinks and messages
So I'll say it plain
I just
I want to see you
I want to hear you say
Don't cry
I'm on the next flight
To be by your side”

     -      Your Side

For all the plain beauty in the words, these are songs that say plenty without my ever paying much attention to the lyrics at all. The experience was multilayered, well-balanced and fascinating through whatever facet you approached it.

Best tracks: Expert in a Dying Field, Knees Deep, Silence is Golden, Your Side, Best Left, When You Know You Know, A Passing Rain

CD Odyssey Disc 1878: Meat Loaf

It was brought to my attention that my last review (for Neil Young’s “Harvest” was published on Neil Young’s 80^th birthday. I 100% did not know this (Neil, not having invited me over for the festivities) although all those “best Neil Young song lists that were popping up make a lot more sense now.

Disc 1878 is… Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell

Artist: Meat Loaf

Year of Release: 1993

What’s up with the Cover? Our motorcycle riding barbarian from the original album (reviewed at Disc 1860) has returned, and while back on earth he has managed to find some pants.

Emboldened by his newfound clothes, and armed with a ball of hellfire that probably should be stored more securely when riding, he heads for the gates of hell, which are guarded by a the big bat demon from the original album, and also a golden angel.

The angel is there presumably to ask, “are you sure you want to do this?” and sadly for all of us, the barbarian is undeterred as are we, his hapless audience, who are about to be subjected to this record.

How I Came To Know It: Meat Loaf wasn’t on my radar in 1993, but I liked the video for the song “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” enough that when I saw this record sitting in the $3 bin earlier this year I said, “what the hell”.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Meat Loaf albums, and this is by far the lesser of the two.

Ratings: 1 star

“Bat Out of Hell II: Back to Hell” is the worst collection of aimless, pointless, directionless bombast I have heard in a very long while. If I could send this collection of songs back to hell, reader, I would do so.

The sequel to “Bat Out of Hell” takes all the lessons learned from the 1977 record and misapplies them so badly I felt multiple times that Meat Loaf and songwriter Jim Steinman were deliberately punking me.

Even the record’s most recognizable and arguably best song, the exhaustingly titled “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” can’t get it right. The original “Bat Out of Hell” title track is a song that successfully breaks all the rules. Almost a full 10 minutes of overblown glory, and you love every minute of it.

The video edit of “…I Won’t Do That” is a chunky 7:40 journey that is a bit tiresome in places, but lifted up by a really hot girl running through a mansion, and a guest vocal (famously not sung by the lip synching woman in the video) that is a delightful counterpoint to Meat Loaf’s signature vibrato.

The album version is almost five minutes longer, with no discernable melodic or narrative value in the extra content. Minus the pretty girl to look at, it quickly becomes interminable. We’re left to wonder just what Meat Loaf famously won’t do when he references “that”.

Through the course of the song he confirms he will do a number of his duet partner’s requests. These include: make magic with his ‘own two hands’ (barf), build an emerald city with grains of sand, cater to her fantasies (one of which includes being hosed down with holy water), take her on trips and provide a parting gift when she goes home. Check, check, and check.

Apparently, the only things he “won’t do” are break up with her or screw around, both of which are not things you typically do for love anyway. The mind is tempted to marvel at what else he won’t do but ultimately, we yawn.

And that’s one of the record’s good songs.

After this we get a whole load of songs that are overlong, go nowhere, and have sprawling titles like “Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back”, “Out of the Frying Pan (And Into the Fire)” and “Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are”. These song titles need an edit as badly as the songs themselves (which are respectively 7:58, 7:22 and 10:14 in length).

Along the way you will be treated to such tortured “Meat-aphors” as:

“If life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car”.

By track four – the aptly titled “It Just Won’t Quit” (n.b. also over seven minutes long) you realize that Jim and Meat really won’t. It was when I heard this stanza:

“Oh, is this a blessing or is it a curse?
Does it get any better? Can it get any worse?
Will it go on forever? Is it over tonight?
Does it come with the darkness? Does it bring out the light?
Is it richer than diamonds, or just a little cheaper than spit?
I don't know what it is, but it just won't quit”

…that I began to suspect this drivel was fucking intentional.

Whatever magic Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf captured on their first album is long gone. I imagine the two of them sitting around in the studio having a conversation like this:

“Hey Jim - I’ve got an idea. Kind of half developed, and featuring a strained and obvious metaphor. Can you help me out?”

“Sounds great, Meat. I can write that. But rather than developing it into an epic rock song, how about we just double down on that tired metaphor, throw in some overused phrase that you hear every day, and repeat it ad nauseum for a solid seven to ten minutes.”

“Um, yeah, OK – but let’s put a pretty girl in the video to boost sales.”

The record’s final song is the right-sized (five minute) and generally passable “Lost Boys and Golden Girls” which right at the end reminds you that Meat Loaf, for all his faults, has a great rock and roll voice, and that Steinman can write a song. But by then I had already endured 70 minutes of garbage and was too far gone to care.

Best tracks: The video edit of “I’d Do Anything for Love” (n.b. – not on the record), and “Lost Boys and Golden Girls”

CD Odyssey Disc 1877: Neil Young

Welcome to that rare event – back-to-back 5-star album reviews. This one is much more relaxed than the previous one.

Disc 1877 is… Harvest

Artist: Neil Young

Year of Release: 1972

What’s up with the Cover? Not much. Soft autumn colours suitable for harvest time, and some scripty font. On this one, Neil’s gonna let the music do the talkin’.

How I Came To Know It: In the early seventies “Heart of Gold” was on every AM radio station in the land, so this album is in my DNA. I didn’t buy my own copy until the late eighties, however (and that on cassette). Eventually, when I upgraded my collection to CD, this was one of the first converts.

How It Stacks Up: I have (or have had) 23 Neil Young albums. I thought for sure this was the last one to review but one remains. So the full list will have to wait, and for now I’ll simply note where “Harvest” ranks, which is #1. The best.

Ratings: 5 stars

After fifty plus years of “Harvest” gracing our collective consciousness, there isn’t much left unsaid in the hyperbole vault, but if it is a well-worn path I’m about to walk, at least it’ll be a beautiful one.

This record is a masterclass in songwriting, playing melodies that take you on a journey to the centre of the soul without need of a single word. Young’s quavering vocals are the perfect backdrop, but he could probably just idly make nonsense syllables and this record would be worth four stars.

Of course, he does much more than this, adding his finest storytelling and mood setting poetry to the music. The quiet and plaintive prayers of “A Man Needs a Maid” gives way to the spiritual wanderlust of “Heart of Gold”.

Over the years I have cycled through almost every track as my lyrical favourite. Perhaps the most heart-wrenching of all is “The Needle (and the Damage Done)” with its revelation that “every junkie’s like a setting sun.” Beautiful and tragic, and descending to darkness with a reminder that there’s “a little part of it in everyone” to remind us that all of society is affected by the tragedy, and every one of us could walk the path if fate were just a bit more unkind. We listen to this song a thousand times each time emerging both sadder and wiser at its revelations.

The record somehow manages to fill us with bone-deep weariness and transcendent wisdom at the same time. The combination is both rest and meditation, and the realization the two are not the same.

“Old Man” always comes to mind in this way. In my early twenties, this song brought a deep connection to restless youth. “Twenty-four and there’s so much more” and the trepidation on just what the “so much more” would entail. In my middle-age this song speaks just as strongly, with different accents and connections across the years – decisions made, and the ongoing work to fully come into who we are through the accumulation of our deeds. I fully expect to find yet undiscovered connections years hence when I’m in my eighties.

Great lyrics alone do not make a great record, however. While “Harvest” ranges from folk to rock sensibilities, Neil Young’s guitar is ever present. Sometimes strumming quietly along in fellowship (“Out on the Weekend”, “Harvest”) and sometimes digging in with discordant raw emotion (“Alabama”, “Words (Between the Lines of Age)”). Young’s tone and style of playing is one of the most unique in music, and the brilliance of it is sometimes overlooked on his folkier records.

The arrangements on “Harvest” also serve the story. Banjo, piano and harmonica come and go at just the right time. A song like “Heart of Gold” would be a classic played on a single acoustic guitar, but the delayed entry of that harmonica hook a couple of bars in – that’s what makes it transcendent. Later that step-down of the guitar tag provides the perfect juxtaposition to the harmonica’s high peal of manic exploration. The combination lets the song “search” high and low, as the tension between the two instruments, and the rival hooks they play, mirrors the restless nature of the seeker.

Over the years every song on this record has revealed its secrets to me like a flower in full bloom. Untold decades and countless listens later I simply can’t pick a favourite anymore. All of them.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1876: Arch Enemy

For the second review in a row we get a Swedish metal album released in 2007. Much as I love Sabaton, this next album is better.

Disc 1876 is… Rise of the Tyrant

Artist: Arch Enemy

Year of Release: 2007

What’s up with the Cover? Maybe the titular tyrant’s coat of arms? We’ve got an eye set in a triangle, some serpent tales, white fire and a whole lot of nasty looking talons.

Or maybe this is a seal on some crypt revealed when an old building gets taken down. Break this seal, and risk the rise of the tyrant, fools!

How I Came To Know It: I discovered Arch Enemy this year, after checking out their 2025 release “Blood Dynasty”. This led me on a delightful journey into their back catalogue, which is how I came upon “Rise of the Tyrant”.

How It Stacks Up: Arch Enemy has released 13 studio albums, but I ‘only’ have seven of them. I bought all of these in a glut since March and I can’t claim to know them well enough yet to know my favourite for sure. However, “Rise of the Tyrant” is pretty goddamned good, so I’m going to put it #1 and dare something else to knock it off. It won’t be easy.

Ratings: 5 stars

Arch Enemy’s “Rise of the Tyrant” is a perfect evolution of heavy metal as an art form. In biology it would be the xenomorph from the Alien film franchise, except instead of being a perfect killing machine, it is all the styles of metal, evolved to the farther edges of heavy.

The interweb describes Arch Enemy as “melodic death metal” which is fair enough, but doesn’t do justice to the range of traditions you will hear on this record.

Yes, there are classic death metal elements, notably the double bass drum action, and the menacing growl of Angela Gossow’s vocals. Gossow in particular is incredible here. Early Arch Enemy’s main drawback are the vocals of original frontman Johan Liiva. You won’t find any of those records on the CD Odyssey because with Liiva singing, Arch Enemy just doesn’t float my boat.

“Rise of the Tyrant” is smack dab in the middle of Gossow’s 14 year run as Arch Enemy’s vocalist, and this record is a standard bearer on how much she lifts that part of the band. Every word is understandable but still infused within an unrepentant raspy growl that screams “I am the danger” at you in a way that makes you like danger.

But unlike straight up death metal, Arch Enemy borrows from many other branches of metal tradition. “I Will Live Again” adds both thrash and symphonic metal into the mix, as it throws chugging riffs at you, over which soars the rich tone of guitar solos. The guitars on this record are courtesy of brothers Michael and Christopher Arnott.

I don’t know enough about this band to know who is most responsible for the solo work (Michael is a founding and continuing member of the band; Christopher is only on studio albums for a short run). Whoever it is, this is some of the finest metal axe work I have heard. It isn’t super complicated, but dear God man – hear the tone. Buck Dharma himself would be proud.

In a fit of what can only be described as showing off, they even throw in a short classically inspired piece of guitar-forward brilliance called “Intermezzo Liberte”. Yes the song title suggest a large dose of self-importance, but that’s OK when you can live up to the hype, and the brothers Arnott do just that.

If that weren’t enough there are moments on this record that Arch Enemy throw in decisions that are positively proggy. Imagine a latter-day Rush record, except with the violence dialed up to 10. Like Rush, Arch Enemy is not afraid to take a song in a totally new direction midway. Like that riff? Well, here’s a different one. You’ll like it too.

Ere the end, Arch Enemy even throws in some Doom adjacent sounds on “The Great Darkness” which features creepy chanting for good measure, along with yet another tasty guitar solo.

There isn’t much on “Rise of the Tyrant” to fault. This record knows where it is going and even though there are multiple destinations, they manage to hit every single one.

Whether you are a connoisseur of all things metal, or just a one-lane “I like what I like” headbanger, there will be something on “Rise of the Tyrant” that will get your blood pumping. Turn it on, turn it loud, and you’re welcome.

Best tracks: all tracks