CD Odyssey Disc 48: Tracy Chapman

Back to random. Some time back I rolled my first "protest folk" album - Spirit of the West's Labour Day. Here's my second, which coincidentally came out the same year (to much greater acclaim at the time).

Disc 48 is...Tracy Chapman (Self Titled)

Artist: Tracy Chapman

Year of Release: 1988 (dating this album - on the inside of the jacket it advertises "Full Digital Recording). DDD. Wow - there was a time when Triple D didn't mean what you were just thinking it means. Get your head out of the gutter!

How I Came To Know It: Like a lot of people, I heard "Fast Car" on the radio and was amazed. This was the first Tracy Chapman I bought.

Although not strictly how I came to know this, I am often reminded of this girl I briefly dated that had this rule where she would only allow Tracy Chapman to play in her car. We didn't hit it off, but as bizarre rules go, that one is pretty cool - and I am a bizarre-rules guru. I wonder if she still does that, and if she does is she secretly really sick of doing it but trapped in an oath of her own making. Or maybe when she got a new car, she was free of her solemn vow. The latter seems an honourable exit strategy.

How It Stacks Up: I have 4 Tracy Chapman albums - I'd say this is the best, but I think it is a lot closer for me than a lot of people would think, given this album's sterling critical reputation.

Rating: 4 stars.

Tracy Chapman really took the music world by storm back in 1988 with this album, and listening to it again after a while I can see why. She managed to really build a very unique sound all her own - a sort of protest folk with an urban beat. In "She's Got Her Ticket" you can even hear a reggae beat being laid down behind the folk guitar. It is a very cool mix.

Her topics are mostly about the down and out struggling to get ahead in a world with long odds. She makes you really care for these characters, and she does a good job of making their stories into a larger commentary on the injustices she sees around her.

Coming after the Decemberists, I really appreciated the deep and earnest emotion Chapman puts into these songs. When she talks about a revolution, you can feel it brewing in your gut. When she says she needs a fast car, you feel the urgency of that need.

Even love songs like "Baby Can I Hold You" and "If Not Now..." are really songs about troubles in love. The former sings of the regret of a love lost, the latter of a person who can't get her partner to commit to love at all.

It is pretty despairing stuff, yet strangely I find myself singing along. Not because I am revolutionary - at least not in the way Chapman would suggest. Because these songs are damned catchy, and they have great lyrics. Also, I have had this album a long, long time (going on 20 years) so I know it really well.

This is an album worth owning - I suspect a lot of people have it and rarely put it on anymore. The CD Odyssey is great for reminding me when I am doing this - and I was glad to get reaquainted with Tracy Chapman. If you have it, maybe it is time to haul it out for a listen, after all - as Tracy Chapman would say:

If not now then when
If not today then
Why make your promises
A love declared for days to come
Is as good as none

Best tracks: Talkin' Bout a Revolution, Fast Car, Baby Can I Hold You, For My Lover, If Not Now.

CD Odyssey Disc 47: The Decemberists

And...we're back to new album time. What can I say - I bought a lot of new albums. This one is the result of someone giving me a mixed tape.

Disc 47 is...Castaways and Cutouts

Artist: The Decemberists

Year of Release: 2002

How I Came To Know It: I learned about the Decemberists earlier this year, when my friends Catherine and Ross did me a mixed CD for my birthday. It is an awesome mixed CD - with songs from both of them all mashed up (it's a mash up!). And they both have great musical tastes. Anyway - the Decemberists is Catherine, and a few months ago I bought the album with the single she shared with me (and liked it). So I decided I wanted a second album (that's how I roll - when I'm not rolling randomly).

I picked this one for the cover art. A tried and true method of buying an album!

How It Stacks Up: I was surprised how many Decemberists albums there were (I thought maybe two, but there's a lot more). As for me, I've only got 2. They are close, but I've got to put this one at #2 of the two. More on #1 when I roll it.

Rating: 3 stars.

The Decemberists are an indie type band, in the modern style of that movement. I like them because they have a folksie quality to their music (if you read this, you know I go for the folk).

This album is kind of a summation of what is good about indie and what is bad.

What is good - the lyrics are clever, and the music well constructed with simple, but appealing arrangements. In the case of the Decemberists, they sing about a lot of weird-ass stuff that has a historical bent to it, and I like that.

This particular album has a track about a ghost, whose body lies in a ravine "Leslie Anne Levine" - yes they use the rhyme. There is also a song called "A Cautionary Song" which tells the story of a woman who waits for her children to go to sleep, and then sells herself to sailors in the harbour, and uses the money to buy her kids food (in this case "collard greens").

Other tracks have the annoying indie habit of painting an interesting image, or series of images that don't quite add up to a a full picture. It is kind of like Impressionist painting, but stepping back doesn't help you see it any better.

The second annoying element is that the lead singer's voice has that kind of high vibrato thing that a lot of these acts use. It is a great voice, but it has an affected feeling that makes it feel emotionally detached in places.

I think that's the idea, but I wish that these songs were slightly more linear, and sung with a little more heart. Still, overall a good entry in the Decemberists catalogue - and worth listening to. I'm glad I got introduced to this band. I'm going to let these two albums sink in and think about getting another one down the road...

Best tracks: Leslie Ann Levine, Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect, July, July, A Cautionary Song

CD Odyssey Disc 46: Pearl Jam Again!

To those who say randomness doesn't have any artistic merit, I give you another example of great coincidence. On the heels of reviewing the worst...Pearl Jam...ever - I randomly roll a disc from the collection, and it ends up being one of the best Pearl Jam discs ever.

Disc 46 is...Vs.

Artist: Pearl Jam

Year of Release: 1993

How I Came To Know It: Vs. was just another Pearl Jam album my friend Greg bought. It was one of his albums I was always happy to hear in the house.

How It Stacks Up: As noted moments ago, I have ten Pearl Jam albums. I would say Vs. is the second best one - or maybe tied for second.

Rating: 5 stars.

Vs. is an album where every track means something a little different for me. Some, like "Go" and "Animal" are just what I need when I am feeling angry and rebellious.

Others make me chuckle because of the misheard lyrics phenomenon. In "Glorified G" I used to think that "Glorified version of a pellet gun" was actually "Glorified version of a pelican." Of course, that would be silly. In "Rats" I mistook "lick the dirt off a larger one's feet" for "lick the dirt off Olajuwon's feet." This second error is more forgiveable, since Hakeem Olajuwon was a pretty big basketball star in 1993.

Anyway, I find my favorite tracks are the more acoustic ones where Eddie's mournful voice tells us a story. "Daughter" and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" are particular favourites. The latter deals with dementia, which I am encountering in my own family these days, and so is affecting me even more than usual. Because of the emotional resonance of these tracks and a couple others like "Dissident" and "Indifference" this album gets elevated to a 5 for me.

All the songs on Vs. are strong, and I like that they are very different from each other. Vs. even has a groovy funk guitar lick in "Blood" which I always groove on when it comes up. By contrast, I often find "Ten" (itself a great record) a little too much of one thing by comparison.

In short, Vs. was just what the doctor ordered to get the bad taste of "Back Spacer" out of my mouth, and a fine reminder as to why this band remains one of my favourites. If you have no Pearl Jam, this is a fine place to start.

Best tracks: Animal, Daughter, Glorified G, Dissident, Elderly Woman..., Indifference

CD Odyssey Disc 45: Pearl Jam

And now we return to the crapload of new discs I have recently purchased. I think I'm going to have to limit these and maybe file a few before I review them. Too late for this one, though.

Disc 45 is...Back Spacer


Artist: Pearl Jam

Year of Release: 2009

How I Came To Know It: My old friend and former room-mate Greg introduced me to Pearl Jam from the beginning. He was in a grunge phase and I was in a folk phase, which made for some interesting music listening. Years later, I came to love Pearl Jam, and this album is just me buying their new release.

How It Stacks Up: I have ten Pearl Jam studio albums, which I think is all of them. I would rate this one...10th. Sad but true.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

I am a big fan of Pearl Jam. Even during the folk/grunge stereo wars of the early nineties, "Ten" was always one album I could handle more than most. Later, I really developed a taste for them.

And I'm not just a "Ten is their only good album" kind of guy. I like most of their later stuff as well (but more on those when I roll them). That's what makes Back Spacer such a disappointment; I know they can do better.

This album is frankly a little too much like the mass produced rock you'll hear every day on the radio. It is just ordinary.

It's not just the music either - it seems like Pearl Jam's got nothing to say, or at least nothing that jumps out at me after 3 listens.

Even the sort of slow, introspective song "Just Breathe" just reminds me of Eddie Vedder's excellent solo album for "Into the Wild", just not as good.

This album's cover art also has songs listed without track numbers - something I hate. Also, they didn't capitalize their song titles. I hate that in E.E. Cummings, so don't expect me to give pop culture a pass either.

Worse, it is one of those cardboard albums with all kinds of junk and folders you can pull out. Pearl Jam is notorious for this in later years. Just give me the cover, and a sleeve or booklet with songs or some photos. I don't need a bunch of different stuff to pull out.

So - apart from the formulaic songs, the lack of inspiration and the annoying cover art and album design, just what the hell did I like about this album?

Well, even at their worst, Pearl Jam is still a tight band, they can still play well. Eddie still has one of the great voices in rock and roll history, and there are a couple of tracks that are passable.

So for old times sake, I gave it a slight thumbs up - also, maybe it will grow on me one day, like the band has done over the years. We live in hope.

The verdict - there are a lot of great Pearl Jam albums out there. Please, please don't buy this one and judge them too harshly as a result. They are a great band, with a great catalogue of music.

Best tracks: Amongst the Waves, Unthought Known

CD Odyssey Disc 44: Mary Chapin Carpenter

After a chosen disc, the dice gods return to pre-eminence with another blast from my folk/country phase of the early nineties (I am realizing there are a lot of these).

Disc 44 is...Stones In The Road

Artist: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Year of Release: 1994

How I Came To Know It: I can't remember how I came to know Mary Chapin Carpenter. My friend Norm liked one of her albums, but ironically, it was one of the last ones I bought. I think I heard music off of "Come On Come On" on country TV and took a flier. This album was just me drilling through the collection.

How It Stacks Up: I don't have everything by Mary Chapin Carpenter - and this album is when I stopped buying everything. I have four of her albums, and I'd put this one 4th.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

Mary Chapin Carpenter is a crossover artist between folk and country.

Back in the nineties I met this girl through mutual friends. I really wanted to date her, and she wanted nothing to do with me - but that isn't what this story is about (mercifully). She told me that in her early career, Carpenter was a pure folk artist in Virginia, but she commercialized and went into the country genre more heavily. I was fascinated with finding that early stuff, but never did back then, and now the fervour has left me (like my desire for the girl). Maybe another time - for the music that is.

Anyway, this particular album is a further progression for her into country. Her great songwriting, and smooth, full voice are still present, but the album is just a little too produced over all. Also, it has that annoying Bruce Hornsby-sounding piano on there. I'd like her to dress it down a little so the songs could shine a little more on their own. That's not possible though - I guess that's the way it is. Some things never change.

That said, there are good tracks on here, and an album that evokes a consistent emotion of lost youth, and coming to grips with maturity. While it is not as consistently good as her other work, and it has the early infection of "new country" it is still worth a listen. Just don't start with this one - if you start early, you'll hear her early sound in this album, but otherwise it might slip you by.

Best tracks: Why Walk When You Can Fly, A Keeper For Every Flame, The Last Word, The End of My Pirate Days, Jubilee

CD Odyssey Disc 43: Townes Van Zandt

Once again a new album (for me) makes an appearance. I've got about 7 or 8 new albums right now, so every other album could be a new one. I've added another rule that I can't do 2 new albums in succession.

This review is the beginning of what I think will be a long, satisfying relationship with Townes Van Zandt's music.

Disc 43 is...High, Low and In Between/The Late Great Townes Van Zandt

Artist: Townes Van Zandt

Year of Release: 1972

How I Came To Know It: I had never heard of Townes Van Zandt until Steve Earle did a tribute album to him. I reviewed that album back on September 4th of this year. I loved the songs, and decided I needed to hear the originals.

How It Stacks Up: Van Zandt has about 8 albums or so - most of which are from the late sixties and early seventies. I've got 5 Van Zandt albums, because I have been going nuts buying them. So fast, I haven't even heard them all yet. I've heard 3 and they are all equally good so far.

Rating: 4 stars.

Townes Van Zandt's most famous song is "Pancho and Lefty" which was remade famously by Willie Nelson in the eighties. I also recently found an album of Emmylou Harris that does the same remake back in 1978 (but I'll review that when I roll it).

Van Zandt is a "only a few in a generation" type talent. Steve Earle is quoted as saying "Townes Van Zandt is the greatest songwriter ever, and I would stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my boots and say so" - or something like that.

I think Van Zandt is one of many great song writers, and I'd put him in the rarified air of Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan and a few others. However, I wouldn't shout that from Bob Dylan's coffee table.

Don't get me wrong though - if the situation called for it, I'd stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table. I mean - maybe if he was already up there and invited me. Or maybe if he said something that really pissed me off. Or maybe if the floor was being flooded with some kind of horrible chemical spilling out of some nearby industrial plant and I had to choose between standing on Bob Dylan's coffee table and death.

Anyway - Van Zandt can write the blues, folk, and outlaw country and does all of them with equal excellence. I personally enjoy him the most when he does mournful introspective songs that put his personal demons on display, and help us see something universal in them.

Songs like "Greensboro Woman" sing of the tempations of the road, and "Sad Cinderella" is a beautiful song about a woman with fault of her own that is strongly reminiscent of Dylan's "Queen Jane Approximated" and which stands up strong to that classic.

Van Zandt also has fun tracks like "Mr. Mud and Mr. Gold" which tells the story of a poker game through the eyes of the cards. When you listen to the song you'll think it is a battlefield of Kings and rebel sons - but it's just a little seven card stud. I think. It moves pretty fast.

Unlike Dylan, Van Zandt is mostly lost to obscurity, yet once you have an ear for his name you'll hear many current artists pay homage to his legacy.

Ordinarily I would at this point complain that the album has 22 songs on it. However, this is really 2 albums of 11 songs each, so I'm making allowances. There are many five star songs on these 2 albums, but there are some that are not - and so the whole album can't get a perfect score. It comes close, though.

It is sad that Van Zandt's many bad habits took him from us so young, and reduced his ability to create. At the same time, his genius was salved by his addictions, and without them he may not have left us the same legacy. It is a hard truth that great art often comes with a great price. As Van Zandt himself sings in "High, Low and In Between":

What can you leave behind
When you're flyin' lightning fast
And all alone?
Only a trace, my friend,
Spirit of motion born
And direction grown.
A trace that will not fade
In frozen skies
Your journey will be
And if her shadow doesn't seem much company
Who said it would be?

Rest in peace, Townes Van Zandt. Thanks for all the great music I've heard of yours already, and for the songs awaiting me down the road.

Best tracks: You Are Not Needed Now, Greensboro Woman, To Live Is To Fly, High Low and In Between, No Lonesome Tune, Sad Cinderella, Snow Don't Fall, Poncho & Lefty, If I Needed You.

CD Odyssey Disc 42: Liz Phair

The CD gods have apparently determined that the meaning of life is Liz Phair. How do I know? Because...

Disc 42 is...Exile in Guyville

Artist: Liz Phair

Year of Release: 1993

How I Came To Know It: My longtime friend Greg bought a Liz Phair album when we lived together in the early nineties, and I really liked it. Not this album, though. "Exile In Guyville" was a recommendation of my other buddy Kelly, when he found out I liked Liz Phair.

How It Stacks Up: I have 5 Liz Phair albums (I had 6, but her last album was awful). I'd put this album #2 out of a top 3 that are all really good, and very close in quality. Most Liz Phair fans would put this album #1 and to them I say good for you. Well chosen. I'll keep it at #2.

Rating: 4 stars.

Liz Phair is a great alternative rock singer and songwriter. She broke out in the early nineties with this album ("breaking out" being a relative term when it comes to alternative music). She was immediately lumped into the grunge movement, presumably because she made music in the early nineties, was innovative and talented and had a pulse.

Like many acts of the time, she really isn't grunge at all. However, she is a great talent. Also, although unrelated to this talent, she is smoking hot. Do an image search of "Liz Phair" - go ahead - just her name. You're welcome.

Phair's almost monotone singing can seem a little weird at first, but it totally works with her simple arrangements and off-putting topics. For example, as I write this I am listening to the song "Canary" which I think is about an abused wife who one day decides to burn her sleeping husband to death in his bed. The deadpan delivery of this song makes it that much more resonant and creepy.

There are many songs that capture a very disjointed and troubled emotional life, which for all its weirdness is compelling to listen to. She also puts together song arrangements and phrasing that is very original.

I had a lot of trips in my car the last couple days for work, and this album got a bigtime workout (about 4 full listens) and it held up well. While the Odyssey allows no song skipping on Listen #1, after that it is open season, and even on the 4th listen, I didn't skip one.

This album happens to feature probably the single best break up/I hate you song ever written - "Divorce Song" and also probably the single most explicit sex song in "Flower".

I have two minor criticisms of this album.

First, it has 18 songs. Hey, Liz! Know when to say when. The material here is strong but I think 14 is pushing it. Also, she could have save 4-6 songs for her last two albums, which are a definite downturn (more on that in another post). It would be hard to cut back, but I'd've been glad to sit down with Liz over dinner or breakfast (hopefully in that order) and help her choose.

Second, the song listings on the back are written in a way that makes it hard to figure out what track is what. Just number them and put them in order - save the artwork for the cover.

As an aside, the title of this album has become an expression when Sheila and I play "Carcassonne". For those of you who don't know, Carcassonne is a tile-based game where you place your playing pieces or "men" on an evolving map, scoring points based on placement. Sometimes a great place to score shows up, but you can't take advantage of it because you've already placed all your men at that point in the game. We call that "Exile in Guyless-Ville".

This will be how you will feel if you see this album in the store, but already spent your last $14 on a Nickelback greatest hits package. In addition to regret, you'll also feel very dumb - and you will be.

Best tracks: Help Me Mary, Dance of the Seven Veils, Explain It To Me, Fuck and Run, Divorce Song, Flower,

CD Odyssey Disc 41: Judas Priest

I've bought a bunch of new albums recently, and I'm mixing them in with random rolls. This is a new purchase, and breaks the current tie between Enya, Michelle Shocked and Judas Priest in terms of the artist I've reviewed the most.

I already know who is going to to win the "most albums in the collection" award - but for now let's keep the suspense, and say Judas Priest takes an early lead at 3.

Disc 41 is...Rocka Rolla
Artist: Judas Priest

Year of Release: 1976

How I Came To Know It: My tales of coming to know Priest are in other entries on Judas Priest, but they've been in my life a long time. This album is a new review, and I had never heard it before. That said, my buddies Spence and Ross have told me I'd like this particular album - so I bought it. Thanks, guys!

How It Stacks Up: I now have 10 Judas Priest albums. I like them all quite a bit, so this is getting harder. I'll put Rocka Rolla 5th, but that doesn't mean it isn't good - it just means that it has stiff competition.

Rating: 4 stars.

I believe Rocka Rolla is Priest's first album, and came out way back in 1976. I think coming from North America, we all think Judas Priest started in the eighties, because until "You Got Another Thing Coming" broke in 1982, they were fairly unknown. Actually, they've been around a long time.

This record made me think of so many other great acts. There are songs like "One for the Road" where they sound a little like Zeppelin, tracks like "Never Satisfied" where they sound a little like Sabbath, and even a track"Dying To Meet You" which is some kind of cross between Blue Oyster Cult and 60s British folk.

There is no conspiracy or mystery here, though. Rocka Rolla is classic hard rock at its best. They are drilling the same well as these other bands, but they've got their own claim, certes. That said, Rocka Rolla never sounds derivative; it is distinctively Judas Priest.

My version of this album is the Koch Records re-release, which has the weird half-robot/half demon warmonger cover (see above). I think the original was just a silver bottle cap with "Rocka Rolla" written on it in a Coca Cola like font.

It also has a remake of Joan Baez' "Diamonds and Rust" which not all include on their song lists. I like the remake and I like the production on the album overall, so while I can't speak to the other versions, as far as this one goes, I say "buy it!". It is some of the best classic, hard driving rock and roll you will hear, and it sounds fresh over 30 years after release.

Best tracks: All these tracks are great, but I'd say the first 5 are the best (One For the Road, Rocka Rolla, Cheater, Never Satisfied, Run of The Mill.

CD Odyssey Disc 40: Tom Waits

The dice gods bring us a disc so good I've bought it twice.

Disc 40 is...Closing Time
Artist: Tom Waits

Year of Release: 1973

How I Came To Know It: Way back in the early nineties, I was watching TV and came upon Tom Waits doing a live concert. I tuned in when he was singing "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You." I really loved it, so I went and bought it, but it would take years, as well as a little help from my friends, before I really appreciated it.

How It Stacks Up: Sheila and I have beomce big Tom Waits fans, and we have 16 of his albums. I'd say this one is definitely top 5, but not sure where it fits.

Rating: 4 stars.

As I noted above, I first heard about Tom Waits by accident, and I bought this album based on very limited knowledge. I liked it, but it was at a time in my life where I had very little money, and would often buy CDs I later couldn't afford to keep. So some of them got sold - and this was one.

Years later, my friend Casey accidentally bought "Frank's Wild Years" (another Waits album) twice, and gave Sheila and I the extra copy. We both loved it, and before you know it we were drilling through all his stuff. Before too long, I had rebought this album - and was glad I did.

So, in a way Casey and I both bought a Tom Waits album twice - but for different reasons.

This particular album I believe is Tom Waits' first. It has a real laid back quality to it. It is before his "bizarre circus" phase, and sticks to more straightforward folk/blues themes. This doesn't diminish it at all - it is a damned fine debut album.

Tom has a voice like 40 grit sandpaper, and he uses it well. Because his voice and lyrics are so distinctive, I sometimes think he doesn't get his due as a music writer. Many of these songs sound like they are old standards, around for 60 years or more. Yet he wrote these songs - they seem timeless because great art will always survive the test of time.

Don't believe me? Think of the greatest rock song you know. Pick anything. Imagine it was released for the first time today. Would it be a hit? You bet it would. If your answer was "no" then you just happen to have picked a crap song. It happens. Pick a better one and try again.

I guess this is a bad time to point out that while Tom Waits has a dedicated fan base, he doesn't pump out hits. He is a hit with me though.

The bottom line: Yes, you should buy this album. Just don't sell it and have to buy it again. Or buy it twice and give the second copy away. Actually, this latter mistake is OK - you'll likely make someone very happy.

There are many great tracks on here, and not really any stinkers. I came close to going 5 stars, but it didn't quite kill me emotionally. It came damned close, though.

Best tracks: Ol' 55, I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You, Virginia Avenue, Old Shoes, Martha, Rosie. div>

CD Odyssey Disc 39: Kris Kristofferson

Hey, if it sounds country, man, that's what it is - it's a country review.

Disc 39 is...Kristofferson

Artist: Kris Kristofferson

Year of Release: 1970

How I Came To Know It: Another artist I was introduced to by my mother. I didn't get a lot of the songs then, but I liked the sound.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Kristofferson albums. This one is not always my sentimental favourite, but it is I think the best overall.

Rating: 4 stars.

It is fitting that I only recently reviewed a Lucinda Williams album before this one. Like Williams, Kris Kristofferson is an underappreciated songwriter who often has his songs co-opted and made famous by someone else.

Unlike Lucinda, Kristofferson is a kick ass vampire hunter in those Blade movies, who has a wicked potty mouth and a penchant for building contraptions to help the ultra-cool half-vampire Blade clean up the city streets of bad guys!

If Kristofferson had played "The Dude" in "The Big Lebowski" intruders in his house would be staining his rug with blood, not pee, and those nihilists would have lost a lot more than Aimee Mann's toe. Walter's car would've been a lot more kick-ass, and that bag full of dirty underwear would've been a UV bomb.

If that didn't work, "The Dude" would call up a few dozen truckers to level the bowling alley with tractor trailers.

I could go on - but I think I've made my point.

Back to the album - this is (I believe) his first, and came out in 1969 or 1970 (the date seems a little hazy). When I first went to buy it, I almost put it back thinking it was a Greatest Hits album, but it is just that there are a lot of recognizeable songs. Me and Bobby McGee, Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down and Help Me Make It Through the Night were all hits - mostly for someone else.

Janis Joplin and Johnny Cash did the first two, and the last one at least Kristofferson got partial billing in a duet with Rita Coolidge.

In every case, I prefer Kristofferson's version. And not just because it is "the original" - I'm over that. I just like his gravelly voice, and the raw honesty in his singing. For the record, I like the remake by Johnny Cash of "Sunday Mornin'", but I'm not a big fan of Joplin or Rita Coolidge (although I do take a perverse pleasure in putting them in the same sentence).

I really dig the song "To Beat the Devil" which is about a hungry singer who steps into a bar, and meets some old guy who buys him a beer and tries to convince him that he'll never make a difference. Amid a really cool, wild west sort of feeling, Kristofferson kind of raps out the encounter - and then remakes the Devil's song from a message of despair:

If you waste your time a-talking to the people who don’t listen
To the things that you are saying who do you thinks going to hear?
And if you should die explaining how the things that they complain about
Are things they could be changing, who d’you thinks gonna to care?

There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind who
Were crucified for what they tried to show,
And their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time,
cause the truth remains that no-one wants to know.

to a message of hope:

And you still can hear me singing to the people who don’t listen
To the things that I am saying, praying someone’s going to hear;
And I guess I’ll die explaining how the things that they complain about
Are things they could be changing, hoping someone’s gonna to care.

I was born a lonely singer and I’m bound to die the same
But I’ve got to feed the hunger in my soul;
And if I never have a nickel I won't ever die of shame
cause I don’t believe that no-one wants to know.

With the kicker, "I'm not sayin' I beat the devil. But I drank his beer for nothin' and then I stole his song."

I like the idea of stealin' the Devil's song - it is like getting the devil to surrender his gold fiddle, except you get a song AND he has to buy you a beer. I think that trumps Charlie Daniels.

Like most remastered classics, the producers felt the need to put 4 bonus, previously unreleased tracks. This time they got it right, with at least 3 being worth the price of admission, particularly the first track "The Junkie, and The Juicehead, Minus Me" which is a pretty good track about being down and out by a guy who was pretty familiar with being down and out.

The verdict: this is classic outlaw country, and one of the better examples of same. If you like that kind of music, this would do you right

Best tracks: To Beat The Devil, Me and Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through The Night, The Law is For Protection of the People, Sunday Mornin' Coming Down

CD Odyssey Disc 38: U2

Another random roll, another "best of". I am determined to put a new spin on this type of disc. No pun intended.

Disc 38 is...The Best of 1980-1990

Artist: U2

Year of Release: 1998 but music from...1980-1990

How I Came To Know It: These songs are all pretty famous - I heard them all on the radio throughout and after high school.

How It Stacks Up: best ofs don't stack up. It ain't right.

Rating: no ratings for best ofs - you do read this blog, right?

I could spend this review talking about how good U2 is (they are good), Bono's voice, the Edge's guitar - which may not be top 10, but is certainly responsible for a goodly portion of the band's unique sound, etc.

However, I'll save my accolades for U2 for when I roll one of their studio albums (I think I have 8).

Instead, since this album is a retrospective, I think it deserves a retrospective of my relationship with U2 over the years. Frankly, it is a lesson learned in keeping an open mind.

Or to be more precise - not keeping an open mind. In point of fact, when I first heard U2 I was in junior high, and I promptly decided I hated them.

They represented a form of music I didn't have time for - pop. They represented a movement I didn't appreciate - in this case anything everyone else liked.

At the time my musical goals were to demonstrate my deep and abiding love of Heavy Metal. My social goal was to not just follow the herd. Sadly, this sometimes meant I didn't give something the chance it deserved, particularly if it impinged on my growing sense of self.

Sure I was only 14 - but that's hardly an excuse.

So I shortchanged myself of one of the eighties great bands - U2, who were putting out good music when it was in short supply. I should point out I also rejected The Clash, and The Police, which I equally regret.

Luckily, years later Sheila reminded me of how great these bands are. I was afforded the opportunity to revisit them with eyes unclouded by hate (just like that guy in Princess Mononoke - except without the cursed demon-hand thing going on).

So I repent my early errors - and any listen to this particular "Best Of" will quickly demonstrates why. Fourteen great tracks - the majority of which I'll talk about when I roll the album they actually appear on.

This particular version of this album is the "Limited Edition" one - although since my copy is #39,662, I'm not sure how limited it really is. At least in practical terms, it means it has a second CD of the B-Sides of all these singles.

These are pretty interesting, although not surprisingly overall they don't hold up well against the hits on album 1. Some songs do stand out, so those are the ones I've put in the best tracks segment.

Strangely, there are 14 tracks on the A-sides, and 15 on the B-sides. How can that be? I know what you're thinking - the single "The Sweetest Thing" makes it uneven. Ah...that's what I thought, but there is a version of this song on both albums!

It is a mystery wrapped in an enigma - but one that will have to go unsolved for now.

Best tracks: From the B-Sides, "Dancing Barefoot", "Hallelujah Here She Comes" and "Endless Deep"