CD Odyssey Disc 212: Journey

Victoria has just emerged from an early and unexpected snowstorm. Of course, the Odyssey reports on music, not the weather, but I mention it because it has kept my very manly Miata trapped in port, so to speak.

Today I was finally able to get out - having no one to have lunch with I had lunch with myself at the Blue Fox. I got some reading time in on my new book (see sidebar) and the short drive there and back was sufficient to get through the album that's been languishing in the car since Monday.

Disc 212 is...Escape
Artist: Journey

Year of Release: 1981

What’s Up With The Cover?: A science fiction scene - a spaceship modeled after a scarab beetle bursts out of some kind of interstellar snow globe. This cover is OK, but it is far too prog for the power pop that it heralds.

How I Came To Know It: If you're my age or older, you know this album. Journey was huge in the early eighties, and this album is the biggest of them all. They sold out stadiums all over the world, and if you haven't heard "Open Arms" or "Don't Stop Believin'" then you are either deaf or were raised by wolves.

How It Stacks Up: I only have this one Journey album, and it is likely to stay that way, so I guess that means I like it the best - at least from a position of ignorance of their other offerings.

Rating: 3 stars.

As I noted in the "How I Came To Know It" section, Journey is an early eighties megaband, and "Escape" is their definitive album.

I've tagged it under the 'rock' genre, but they are really power pop. I think there is sufficient power in the pop that they are more on the rock side, however. They are a mix of power-chord guitars, synthesizers and piano for ambience, and Steve Perry's signature vocals. Journey do not do anything particularly innovative, and their main legacy to the music world is that they were popular - and yes that is damning with faint praise.

That said, they play their ordinary songs with all the gusto they can muster, and they take themselves so seriously, they force you to either do the same - or if you can't bring yourself to do that - then you admire the schmaltz of it all. Either way it is entertaining stuff.

Most of the songs are fairly forgettable, but the two biggest hits on this album are justifiably still going strong - even if it is only on AM radio and at hockey arenas.

"Don't Stop Believin'" is always played at Detroit Red Wings home games, and when the line, "just a small town boy/born and raised in south Detroit" comes on, the entire crowd of 18,000+ sing along in full throat. It is a pretty cool hockey tradition, second only to Canucks fans singing a verse of O Canada a capella at every home game.

The Detroit Red Wings music guy does inspired work - he also always plays Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" immediately following a goal from the visiting team. Listen for it next time you're watching a game.

Anyway, back to Journey, and "Don't Stop Believin'" which I contend is a five star song, whatever your opinion of stadium rock might be. From the opening bars played on piano, to Steve Perry belting out lyrics about young people finding their way (and each other) in the wide world, to the chorus exhorting listeners to hold onto our dreams, this song rocks.

The other hit, "Open Arms" is an early power ballad, which I mostly remember as being a primo slowdance song at high school dances. I have many pleasant memories of dancing to this song with the girl of my choice (or failing that, the first girl who was willing). This song reminds me of all the times I've walked along the front of the bleachers, trying to calculate just how far up the beauty chain I could reach and still get a yes to my invitation to dance.

The experience was nerve wracking, but well worth the chance of holding a real live girl close to you for three and a half minutes. Thank you, Journey, for all the girls who came to me with Open Arms.

I have the remastered version of "Escape" which follows the unfortunate trend of adding a bunch of bonus tracks. In this case, we get a B-Side ("La Raza Del Sol") which is forgettable and three live tracks from a 1981 concert in Houston. I wish bands would just put out a live album, and stop putting mediocre live tracks on their remastered studio albums.

In closing, if you like top forty pop - or simply haven't bought any new music since junior high, "Escape" probably ranks significantly higher than I've scored it, but my musical tastes have never been high on Journey. I'll tip my hat respectfully to them, but hold my applause to a measured three stars.

Best tracks: Don't Stop Believin', Stone In Love, and Open Arms - but only for the purposes of scoring a slow dance with a pretty girl.

CD Odyssey Disc 211: Wild Strawberries

I have not played this next album as much as KISS' "Destroyer" but that's because this album didn't come out until 1994, so "Destroyer" had an eighteen year head start. It has made up for lost time with heavy rotation since.

Disc 211 is...Bet You Think I'm Lonely
Artist: Wild Strawberries

Year of Release: 1994

What’s Up With The Cover?: It isn't the band. Some little girl gets a hug from a Mom or Dad figure (hard to tell). My guess is this is shortly after the girl has calmed down from a tearful tantrum at some family picnic. This is a typical alt-pop cover in the tradition of Belle & Sebastian (although Wild Strawberries are two years earlier). They depict photos of some scene that doesn't directly relate to the band or album title, but are simply 'arty'. I usually don't go for this, but I find "Bet You Think I'm Lonely" passable.

How I Came To Know It: I saw Wild Strawberries one late night watching Muchmusic's "The Wedge", a program that plays alternative music at late hours (prime time on Muchmusic is principally reserved for the worst the pop and hip hop world has to offer). They had a low budget video for "Life Sized Marilyn Monroe" and I loved the song. I wrote the title and band down and carried it around for the better part of a year until I finally found this album.

How It Stacks Up: A quick check of wikipedia (which as we know, is never wrong) reveals seven full length albums for the Wild Strawberries, although most look independent and hard to find. I have three of them, and of the three I think this is narrowly my favourite over number two.

Rating: 4 stars

"Wild Strawberries" are a Canadian alt-pop band comprised of a husband and wife team, Roberta Carter Harrison, and Ken Harrison. Ken writes the songs and plays keyboards, and Roberta sings. I'm not much of a keyboard expert, but Roberta Carter Harrison has a sweet voice, capable of being low and breathy or sweet and full when she's in her upper register.

I liked this band the first time I ever heard them, and when I finally had the whole record, it did not disappoint. Their sound is indie synth pop - bringing together the brooding haunting rock sound of Concrete Blonde, the indie pop of Rilo Kiley and that kind of detached R&B/funk sound that Beck does so well.. They are hard to quantify, but very good and deserving of considerably more commercial success than they enjoy.

The topics are often dark; the record opening with a song about a murder-suicide called, "That's The Way It Goes." At least I think its a murder-suicide. I've listened to it a hundred times, and just spent the last fifteen minutes poring over the lyrics (kudos to bands that print their lyrics). I'm now not sure if it is murder-suicide, or a double murder framed to look like one. The album ends with a song called "Angel Came Tumbling Down", which is about some single mother meeting a sad end in a small town. Both songs are depressing, but very good.

Another stand out is "Crying Shame" a song that opens by personifying what job loss feels like:

"Jenny lost her job on labour day
She looks so disconnected by she's really afraid
'My, my money's gonna fade away'
She says, 'Oh, what a crying shame."

And ends with a more general sense of the varied ways we view the truly down and out as we pass them on the street:

"Sometimes it's a dollar for the man outside the mission
Sometime's it's a fleeting note of social decay
Most of the time it's just peripheral vision
Oh, what a crying shame."

Knowing a few people who've lost their jobs this year through no fault of their own(including my lovely and wonderful wife) this song bit a little deeper this time around. It highlights how emotionally traumatic the experience is, and reminds us that wherever we're at on the wheel of fortune, we've got to hang together.

As for the Wild Strawberries, they voluntarily gave up jobs as a physiotherapist and a doctor to pursue their music careers, which scores pretty high on the bravery scale. Last I checked, Doctors do a lot better than Canadian indie bands.

It speaks to how the Wild Strawberries are willing to take risks to achieve what they want. These risks have never paid off financially, but on "Bet You Think I'm Lonely", they pay off artistically with a solid record I'll be putting on for many years to come.

Best tracks: The Way It Goes, Life Sized Marilyn Monroe, Bet You Think I'm Lonely, Crying Shame, Cinnamon, Angel Came Tumbling Down

CD Odyssey Disc 210: KISS

I've had a stressful couple of days in my life, and the Odyssey responded by serving up a record that has helped me through tough times for thirty-four years and counting.

I'm not saying it was planned that way, but I'll take a happy coincidence any time I can get one.

Disc 210 is...Destroyer
Artist: KISS

Year of Release: 1976

What’s Up With The Cover?: This is one of my favourite rock album covers of all time. The four band members stand on the top of some mountain, or pile of ruins, showing off some of the best froot boots in the world (that's what we called those elevator boots back in 1976 - although a quick Google search didn't show anything remotely the same in 2010). I drove my Mom nuts for many years begging to have a Gene Simmons Halloween costume based on this album cover.

How I Came To Know It: I bought it. In fact, as alluded to back in my first KISS review at Disc 31, "Destroyer" is the first record I ever bought. I got it either the year it came out, or maybe a year after. I was six or seven years old, and I still own that same record from all those years ago. It is a little crackley to listen to now, but you can still play it. Mostly, I just put on the CD now, but I won't part with the vinyl.

How It Stacks Up: I have eleven KISS albums, including two of the four solo efforts released in 1978. Of the eleven, I'd say this is the second best.

Rating: 4 stars, but only one sappy ballad too many from 5.

It is hard to know where to start with "Destroyer" it has been part of my life so long. KISS was my favourite band for many years and I alternately enthralled and freaked out my elementary school classmates with tales of the band's prowess, both real and imagined.

For example, the KISS army fan club had sent me important information about how Ace Frehley was descended from space aliens. To this I added that the expression "Ace!", which back in the late seventies meant "Cool!" existed because it was derived from Ace Frehley's name. I even had a few converts to this theory - many times more than would believe my exhortations about how Santa was actually your parents.

Back to the album, which is KISS at their best. I love their previous four albums, but with "Destroyer" it was like they took another step in their musical development. They added a lot more experimentation, including incorporating an orchestra and choir for "Great Expectations". This song also has Paul Stanley at his sexy, lascivious best as he sings:

"You watch me singing my song
You see what my mouth can do
And you wish you were the one
I was doing it to."

I can't believe I knew the lyrics to all the songs on this album before I turned ten. Of course, I thought the above meant that Paul was a really good singer, and not much more than that.

My favourite songs used to be "God of Thunder" which is an over the top fantasy-inspired rock song, and "Detroit Rock City" a song about an alcohol-fueled car accident (as a kid I missed the alcohol references as well). As I got older I began to appreciate the slightly softer songs like "Do You Love Me?" and "Great Expectations". This time around, I enjoyed "King of the Night Time World" and the rolling drum at the beginning (yes, I said something nice about Peter Criss but don't worry - I won't make a habit of it).

Of the two radio hits, "Shout It Out Loud" stands the test of time, but "Beth" remains a sore spot I've never forgiven this record for. As a 'real' KISS fan, I begrudged pop radio lovers adopting a KISS song as their own. Even from the beginning I used to skip this track - and on vinyl that's actual work! Of course, the Odyssey allows no skipping, so I had to sit through it for the first time in a while. This time around, I declare it...passable. That said I'll still be skipping it as an abomination in future - no sense giving up four decades of tradition on a whim!

With the exception of "Beth", every song on "Destroyer" is a winner and thirty-four years later this album still sounds fresh to me. It isn't because the music is complex - the songs are all pretty simple. It is that KISS is very good at what they do. "Destroyer" is good old fashioned escapist rock and roll, done at a high level.

Sometimes you need to escape, and music can make that happen. When I was a kid, this was my only record for a while. It helped me out then, and it helps me out to this day. It may be a schlocky KISS record to some, but for me it is probably the most emotionally evocative record in my whole collection.

Even if it wasn't your first album - even if you just bought it yesterday - it is still a kick ass rock record. Just do yourself a favour and skip track 8.

Best tracks: Everything except Beth

CD Odyssey Disc 209: Heather Masse

After a couple of compilation albums, it was nice to get back to rolling actual albums. Also back to folk music, one of my big loves, so a lovely homecoming all around.

Disc 209 is...Bird Song
Artist: Heather Masse

Year of Release: 2009

What’s Up With The Cover?: Check it out - a folk album cover that doesn't look like it was shot on a friend's camera phone. This one is simple, and maybe has an overly staged 'shot in the studio' feel, but it looks professional, which is good. Also, let's face it, Heather Masse has a natural beauty that really shines through here.

How I Came To Know It: I am a fan of the Wailin' Jennys through my friend Casey. As anyone who's read my Wailin Jenny's review back at Disc 92 knows, the Jennys have had lineup changes a fair bit. Heather Masse is the most recent addition (coming into the band in 2007). I took a flier, since she was a Jenny, and bought it unheard.

How It Stacks Up: I only have one Heather Masse album. I do have two "third Jenny" albums though, as I also have the solo effort of Annabelle Chvostek (Jenny from 2004-2007). Of the two, I prefer this one. I don't have a solo album by original Jenny Cara Luft (2002-2004), but I think I'll get one if its out there, just for purposes of harmony.

Rating: 3 stars.

As noted above, Heather Masse is the most recent replacement Jenny in the Wailin' Jennys, a folk band I have much love for, and for whom I am fearful, as they've had too many lineup changes, and don't look active at present.

That said, if she has ended up a folk refugee, Heather Masse is at least a well-equipped one. The songs on this album are consistently strong, both in writing and delivery. While a Wailin' Jenny now, Masse is not Canadian, and grew up in Maine (yeah, I cheated and checked her website).

While there, I was also not surprised she has a jazz background, as there is a jazz vibe in the background of a few songs. When it comes to the forefront, like on "Bathtub" it ends up too cute by half, but fortunately this doesn't happen often. Typically, her jazz stylings are seemlessly blended into folk music and add a nice upbeat vibe that offsets some of the more sombre songs on the album. "High Heeled Woman" is cute in exactly the right proportion. I love the chorus:

"I want a high-heeled woman
To make me feel small
I want a long legged woman
I like 'em nice and tall
She'll be kicking up dirt
And pickin' up trouble
I wanta a high-heeled woman
I've got to reach up to cuddle."

While there are other equally playful songs ("Mittens" comes to mind, a song that makes long underwear sexy - thus cementing Masse solidly as a Canadian in tradition, if not by birth).

In other songs, she is more introspective, such as the opening track "I Don't Wanna Wake Up Today", which thematically reminded me of the Cowboy Junkies' "Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning".

Unlike the Junkie's Margot Timmins, Heather Masse's voice is never a breathy whisper. Even at her softest, her power is strongly evident. To her credit, she never pushes it in a song just to show off, although you feel she could. She sings the song exactly as powerfully as is called for, free of ego, but with plenty of emotion.

I can't say I loved this album, but I liked it a lot, and almost gave it four stars. It is an album that requires some attention to draw out all its secrets, but it is worth the time. I've only owned it a few months, and have heard it less than ten times. Yet on every listen, I find myself liking it more and more. It makes me hopeful that she'll get in the studio with the other two Wailin' Jennys and record something apart from a live album (which is all the current line up has out). If not, I'll settle for another solo album when she's ready.

Best tracks: I Don't Wanna Wake Up Today, Bird Song, Our World, High Heeled Woman, Orphan Girl, Time's a Hoax

CD Odyssey Disc 208: Ella Fitzgerald

From a compilation of eighties metal to a compilation of easy listening jazz. That is how the CD Odyssey rolls. You think Odysseus thought he’d be at sea for twenty years? No – he didn’t have a clue. I'll learn that lesson now, and just take this thing one adventure at a time.

Disc 208 is...The Jazz Sides
Artist: Ella Fitgerald

Year of Release: 1995 but with music from the fifties and sixties

What’s Up With The Cover?: A picture of Ella, belting out a tune. This picture is jarring to me, because on the album her voice seems so effortless, but this picture implies extreme effort. This cover also suggests there are at least 45 other “Jazz Masters” out there, likely more. This is the only one I’ve got though.

How I Came To Know It: This album comes from my dalliance in the late nineties with all things swing. I can’t remember where I heard of her in particular, but it is hardly surprising, as she is one of the most famous jazz singers of all time. I think this album might’ve been a gift from my wife in a stocking, but not sure about that either. It has been kicking around the CD shelves for a while, in any event.

How It Stacks Up: This album is a ‘best of’ and even if it weren’t, it’s the only Ella Fitzgerald music I’ve got, so it can’t stack up.

Rating: ‘best ofs’ and compilations don’t get stars, jerky! I did enjoy this record though.

When I rolled this album I’ll admit I was less than enthused. My head’s not really in a jazz or swing frame of mind these days, and if not for the Odyssey, I wouldn’t be putting this on very often.

Also, for many years I’ve been down on Ella Fitzgerald, as ‘too perfect.’ In my mind, I’d rather hear the more raw sounding Billie Holliday. This time around I bounced back and forth, at times wanting to hear a little more rawness, and at times just admiring her natural ability.

Yes, she is a little too perfect, but unlike Holliday, she’s not focused on making you hear the hurt in the songs – she just wants to sing you a song as best she can. As it turns out, Ella Fitzgerald’s best is about as good as vocals get. If she sounds a little too perfect, that’s because she is damned near perfect. Just the right mix of raspy and breathy, and delivered in a way that makes you think she sang every song with just the hint of a smile on her lips.

Many of these songs are well-known standards that I’ve heard done by a number of artists, including “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” (Billie Holliday), “Everything I’ve Got” (Holly Cole Trio), “One More For My Baby (and One More for the Road)” (Frank Sinatra) and “Knock Me a Kiss” (Louis Jordan). I’ll admit in each of these cases, I prefer the non-Ella Fitzgerald version, but that doesn’t make hers bad. In fact, if anything they’re just a little too…perfect. There’s that word again.

Fortunately, there are other moments where I can’t imagine anyone doing it better than Ella Fitzgerald. On this record, “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love),” “Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon” come to mind.

In the end, this is a surprisingly mixed review for an artist who has so clearly mastered her craft. If you like music where every note is laid out neatly just so, this is definitely for you. If you like a little more interpretative flair, then I’ve laid a few ideas out earlier you might want to check out. Whatever floats your boat.

Best tracks: Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love), Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya, It’s Only a Paper Moon

CD Odyssey Disc 207: Grim Reaper

Ask anyone to name two British heavy metal bands, and you'll usually hear "Iron Maiden" and "Judas Priest" and rightly so - these guys are the pinnacle of eighties new wave British metal. But there are other bands my friends, not as well known, not as commercially successful. Not even as talented, but that still gave a generation of kids a little more music to bang their heads to. This review is dedicated to those bands.

Disc 207 is...Best of Grim Reaper
Artist: Grim Reaper

Year of Release: 1999 but music from 1984 to 1987

What’s Up With The Cover?: A fanged skeleton armed with a scythe glares menacingly at anyone foolish enough to buy this album for sentimental reasons. This cover is pretty standard fare for "Grim Reaper". Their first two albums feature Death rearing up on his horse and a skeleton on a motorcycle crashing through a stained glass window. I give these covers an A if you are 15 years old, and a solid B at age 40.

How I Came To Know It: I bought this record about five years ago for reasons of nostalgia. In the mid-eighties both my brother Virgil and I were solidly devoted to all things heavy metal (my art teacher once asked me if I was a 'heavy metal meathead' and I replied, 'yes, sir').

Virgil was a fisherman back then and he'd come in from a month at sea and basically buy any record in the metal section that had a good cover and featured a band we had remotely heard of. Grim Reaper qualified on all counts. I listened to his records, and thought Grim Reaper was pretty sweet. In fact, I even had a rock pin for my jean jacket. I still have both pin and jacket - here's a close up:
How It Stacks Up: This album is a 'best of' so can't stack up - this is a long-standing Odyssey standard, and I'll hold to it yet again.

Rating: It is a best of, so no rating is appropriate.

Grim Reaper is a proper metal album, solidly in the middle of that genre. It is not 'tinsel' metal, which is basically just hard rock masquerading as metal (like Van Halen or Def Leppard). It is not 'hair' metal, which is more about being pretty than it is about music (like White Lion or Skid Row) and it is not 'glam' metal, which is basically like hair metal, except the band wears make up and spandex (like Poison).

Grim Reaper is straight ahead metal. The rhythym guitar drives away - chuka-chuka-chuka - the lead guitar unleashes ferocious noodles in between the second stanza and the fade out chorus, and the lead singer shrieks (in tune) like an Opera star on PCP. Whether all this works or not, is where the burned rubber hits the road.

On the plus side, Grim Reaper are blessed with a very strong vocalist in Steve Grimmett. The man has powerful pipes, and can hold a crazily high note for an inhuman stretch. He doesn't have the range of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, but for pure shriek-ability, he holds his own.

The lead guitar is Nick Bowcott who while obviously knowing how to handle the axe, sadly seems to have studied at the Eddie Van Halen School for Noodlers. This generally means the noodle will be super-fast and proficient in a 'look what I can do!' kind of way, but it will have little relation to the song it is interrupting, and even less emotional content. Fortunately, this school of guitar solos also usually dictates the solo is not very long - I guess they play so fast that they use up all the notes available in under forty five seconds.

Grim Reaper's biggest failing is not their musical prowess however - it is their subpar writing. They could have been a great metal band, but most of the songs sound very generic, both musically and lyrically. They just don't have much to say, and the music's not good enough to hide that fact.

This 'best of' package has seventeen songs, which seems excessive for a band that only released three studio albums. On the plus side, I get most of their music all on one album. On the negative side, I get most of their music all on one album.

When I was fifteen, Grim Reaper was probably a top five band for me - below Maiden, Priest and Sabbath, but likely ahead of a lot of stuff that I now know is better. Now, they don't hold the same charm, although a couple of their songs ("See You In Hell" and "Fear No Evil") still hold up pretty well. For these two songs, and in memory of that kid with the jean jacket and the rock pins, I'll be keeping this one.

Best tracks: See You In Hell, Fear No Evil.

CD Odyssey Disc 206: Blue Oyster Cult

Ladies and gentlemen - on your feet, or on your knees. Here they are, the amazing Blue! Oyster Cult!

Disc 206 is...Cultosaurus Erectus
Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 1980

What’s Up With The Cover?: Let me just start by saying that all Blue Oyster Cult album covers are awesome. This one features the crazy spacy creature, 'Cultosaurus Erectus' which is some form of garganguan dinosaur - if you look down near the creature's neck you'll see a space ship, just to show you the awesome scale of the creature.

I have this on vinyl as well, and the back of the sleeve there is a bunch of faked archaeological pictures, with goofy captions like, "unfertilized egg from female Cultosaurus Erectus found in the Stalk-Forrest near Oyster Bay, Long Island". FYI, "Stalk Forrest Group" is the former name of the band. There is also an 'artist's rendition' of the creature, showing a huge long neck, and tadpole-shaped body. Here's a photo:
When I was a kid I'd sit and imagine just how such a creature could live. I mean, if you look at it's teeth carefully, you'll see they are actually fused together - it couldn't even bite something. I imagine it dines on some form of cosmic krill, that float in the outer atmosphere. I like to imagine stuff like that, which is why Blue Oyster Cult is a perfect band for me.

How I Came To Know It: My brother was a huge fan of Blue Oyster Cult, and so have I been since I can remember walking. I've known this album, and known it well since it came out when I was 10. I even recently purchased it on record.

How It Stacks Up: I have fourteen BOC albums - 11 studio and 1 live. I think they should be compared separately, and "Cultosaurus Erectus" is a studio album. Of the eleven, it is pretty strong, but BOC has a lot of good records. I'll say it is solidly in the middle - 5th or 6th best, depending on my mood.

Rating: 4 stars.

Long have I suffered through the Odyssey, wondering what cruel trick of randomness would deny even a single one of my fourteen BOC albums to me over 205 reviews. I wouldn't say they are the greatest band of all time (although they are close) - just that they are my favourite band. Finally, I caught a break and here they are. I even kept it in the car an extra day to celebrate.

"Cultosaurus Erectus" came out right before the album that would return BOC to prominence, 1981's "Fire of Unknown Origin". It isn't even close to as successful as that record commercially, but among BOC fans, it is held in equally high regard. Musically, it is easily one of the three most interesting records they've made, and lead singer Eric Bloom is at his best here.

The record is a perfect microcosm of all the strange elements that go together to collectively make BOC both brilliant and bizarre.

The progressive elements of their rock are as evident here as on any record. There are crazy time signature changes happening mid-song, and every instruments gets its chance to shine - including bass solos, piano solos and even saxophone solos. The lyrics are dominated by all manner of wacky and wonderful topics.

All three items come together in "Monsters" a song that alternates between a kick-ass riff laid down by guitar hero "Buck" Dharma, and a weird jazz solo on the saxophone played by guest musician Mark Rivera.

I usually can't stand sax solos, but on "Monsters" it is so jarringly perfect, I can't resist it. I can't imagine trying harder to ruin a song with goofy arrangements, and only managing to make it better.

The topic of the song appears to be a group of people who steal a spaceship to explore the universe:

"Got our hands on a ship
And stole away into the night
The four of us and Pasha dear
She to steer and we to fight

Fed up with rules and regulations
No more laughter left on Earth
Outer Space our one salvation
May God help us in our search."

Another standout is "Black Blade", a song about 60s fantasy novel star Elric of Melnibone, co-written by the author of the books, Michael Moorcock. Moorcock also helped Hawkwind write a couple entire albums about Elric, so the guy got around.

I also like "Unknown Tongue" a song I've listened to thousands of times and I'm still not sure whether it's about masturbation, speaking in tongues, self-mutilation or what. I think maybe a bit of all those things.

Even the lesser songs surprise me. As I was writing this review, I was listening to the album on headphones, and "Hungry Boys" caught my attention. A song dominated by a repeating guitar riff, but in the background (and in one ear only) a second guitar plays a strange rythym section of individual notes, each cut off at the end by a beat of silence, making it almost behave like a second (and rogue) drummer. Why? We don't know - but it is good.

Or in "Fallen Angel", which starts out with a weird, almost techno-synth sound that would come to dominate later efforts like 1983's "The Revolution By Night". Instead of overstaying its welcome, this sound instead effortlessly morphs into a straight ahead rock and roll song, occasionally resurfacing just enough to keep you interested. The song both lyrically and musically was written for driving fast and free with the wind in your hair. Hearing it reminded me why BOC is still popular at motorcycle events; their music is made for it:

"From the dust I rose on high
Thunder cloud in a two-lane sky
From the world I did rebel
A fallen angel

Highway lust was in my blood
No girl could ever take my love
Cold and cruel and then I fell
A fallen angel."

"Cultosaurus Erectus" is everything a good Blue Oyster Cult album should be. When you first hear it, you mistake it for straightforward high quality hard rock, but the more you listen to it, the more you'll realize just how much they expirement, and how many risks they take - all the while making it work.

Or to borrow a little motorcycle imagery - they throw themselves a lot of curves in the road, but they don't slow down for any of them - they just lean over and power through.

Best tracks: Black Blade, Monsters, Fallen Angel, Lips In the Hills, Unknown Tongue

CD Odyssey Disc 205: Enya

Thanks for your confidence, gentle reader. Back at Disc 24, when I had rolled a second Enya album, I appealed for calm, promising that the Odyssey would not be populated every 12th review with another Enya album.

This has borne out as true, and it is over 180 reviews later that the third Enya album finally makes an appearance.

Disc 205 is...Enya (Self-Titled)
Artist: Enya

Year of Release: 1986

What’s Up With The Cover?: Enya always looks good on her album covers (this comes from her innate advantage of being, you know, good looking). However, of all of them I like this one the best. She has a kind of art show punk look going on, which would never be replicated on later covers. After this, they all feature her in some combination of flowing velvet skirt, and wistful folk gaze. I like the edge on this one. Even the dogs work.

How I Came To Know It: It was 1991 and I had already purchased "Watermark" and "Shepherd Moons". This was a combination of me being interested in getting more Enya, and being advised by other Enya fans that this album was worth my time. Also, at the time it was the only other Enya album around.

How It Stacks Up: I still have five Enya albums, and this one holds up well. I'll put it 2nd.

Rating: 4 stars.

In previous reviews I've talked about Enya's style, which is new age, with Celtic folk inspirations. She comes by this naturally, getting started in her family's Celtic folk band, Clannad.

This is her first album, and of the five I have it is definitely the most mood-driven. The songs may not have the same range as we'll see on later albums, but they make up for that with a haunting moody feeling. All the songs are universally short, ranging from as little as 1:19 up to a long of 4:23, but they flow one to the next so seemlessly, the album at times seems like a single track.

As with most Enya albums, the lyrics are often in Gaelic, and when they're not, they're very basic - sometimes more than ooohs and aaahs.

The music has an unearthly quality; its hollow-sounding production makes Enya's already breathy voice even more ethereal. Using a technique for which she has made famous, she layers her own voice on top of itself over and over again, creating a kind of unearthly choir that makes you think her back up singers are a host of Elven spirits. If you're wondering what music you get to listen to when you're abducted by faeries, this would be a good guess.

The song titles evoke many Celtic legends, including one song called "Triad" that pays homage to early Celtic missionary St. Patrick, and mythical warrior poets Cu Chulainn and Oisin. There is also a separate song in honour of Celtic warrior queen and patriot Boadicea.

I admit that being a fan of Celtic Mythology, these song titles increase the album's coolness factor for me, but this record isn't about topic or lyrics as much as it is about capturing a simple yearning for a magical time long passed. It makes you want to find a comfortable patch of moss by a small stream in the woods, and just lie there, listen to the water and empty your mind of cares.

This is never more evident than in the instrumental, "The Sun In the Stream" featuring one of the more beautiful performances on the Uillean Pipes I've ever heard (and I've heard more than a few). Shout out to Uillean Pipes artist Liam Og O'Floinn.

This album won't blow you away, but it will quietly enchant you with its soothing grace.

Best tracks: The Celts, March of the Celts, Deireadhan Tuath, The Sun In the Stream, Triad, Boadicea, Bard Dance

CD Odyssey Disc 204: The Who

The next disc is one of the greatest albums ever made. Period. If you don't agree with me then clearly you are an idiot. If you don't like being called an idiot, then you should reconsider your opinion about this album.

Disc 204 is...Who's Next

Artist: The Who

Year of Release: 1971

What’s Up With The Cover?: For years I've thought very little of this cover. I mean, it is the four band members standing near a concrete block. Then a couple of years ago I had an epiphany about what was happening. The band members are in various stages of doing up their pants, and if you'll look at the concrete block you'll see telltale...moisture trails. That's right - this is a picture of the Who immediately after they have all stood together and peed on a concrete block. This is now one of my favourite album covers of all time.

How I Came To Know It: I have known these songs most of my life, but I bought this on CD sometime back in the mid-nineties, I think. I don't recall the catalyst for me doing so - probably just looking for a good Who studio album, since all we had at the time was the "Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy" compilation.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Who studio albums, plus the aforementioned compilation. "Who's Next" is the best of all of them - including the best of.

Rating: 5 stars, because my rating system only goes to 5.

One of my sidebar columns on "A Creative Maelstrom" is "Best...albums...so far." When I'm finished this review, I'll be adding "Who's Next" to that column and I feel very confident when the Odyssey is over, it will still be there.

Musically, lyrically, and in terms of overall production, I can't find anything wrong with "Who's Next?" I've owned it for a long time, and I still put it on all the time. It features at least three of the greatest songs ever written, "Baba O'Riley", "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".

The synthesizer sequences in "Baba O'Riley" are so groundbreaking for 1971, it is ridiculous. If you ever get a chance to watch Pete Townsend show how he put these sequences together by basically connecting a simple computer to a series of plug-ins do so. It was so complex, that in concert they had to resort to just playing a tape of that part, and coming in live on queue as best they could (hint: they usually did just fine).

"Behind Blue Eyes" is a song that gets you inside the head of the bad man, and feel sympathy for him. It adds personal angst knowing that this song is a deeply personal expression of Pete Townsend's own tortured soul. The fact that Roger Daltry then takes that song and makes it all about him is exactly why he is one of the greatest front men in rock and roll.

"Won't Get Fooled Again" finds that perfect balance between a call to revolution, and a cynical expression that nothing will change anyway. The only conclusion it eventually comes to is:

"I pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again."

The song also showcases each bandmembers formidable music talent for over eight and half glorious minutes. My only regret - the song isn't longer.

The original record has only nine tracks, ending with "Won't Get Fooled Again" but my version is the remastered/extra tracks version. There are seven extra tracks, which ordinarily would have me complaining of excess, but not here.

First, these songs are from the same period, not simple add-ons. Most are recorded in 1971 as well, and I suspect hit the floor of the cutting room only because of the limitations of vinyl.

Secondly, they fit musically and thematically with the rest of the record, so the transition into them is relatively seemless. They sound like they belong, and they are good enough to hold their own against what has come before.

Third, these songs are better than what most bands can do for their main effort. I particularly like "Naked Eye" and "Too Much of Anything" but they all have their charm. I might've left off the 'original version' of "Behind Blue Eyes", since I prefer the one that made the record, but having to listen to another version of is hardly torture.

"Who's Next" was originally going to be a concept album from Pete Townsend called "The Lifehouse Project". In Townsend's words, the Lifehouse Project was to be "a portentous science-fiction film with Utopian spiritual messages into which were to be grafted uplifting scenes from a real Who concert."

That actually sounds pretty good to me, but you can see why the producer (and I suspect the other band members) preferred to have an album with some regular rock songs, rather than a dense and hard-to-understand rock opera. Besides, they had just done "Tommy" two years earlier.

The result is that "Who's Next" has a tension between Lifehouse tracks, and more straightforward rock songs, and this tension makes a great album even greater.

This reminds me of one of my favourite Blue Oyster Cult albums, 1974s "Secret Treaties", which keyboardist/rhythym guitarist Allen Lanier wanted to make into a bizarre Lovecraftian concept album. Other band members wanted a more straightforward rock album and the result was a compromise between the two that was better than the sum of its parts - just like "Who's Next"

I've heard a lot of music in my life - I'd say more than most. I've rarely heard a record as good as "Who's Next" and I don't think I've heard any clearly better. This is must-have music - idiots excepted, of course.

Best tracks: All tracks, but standouts for me are: Baba O'Riley, Getting in Tune, Behind Blue Eyes, Won't Get Fooled Again, and from the bonus tracks: Naked Eye and Too Much of Anything

CD Odyssey Disc 203: Sweet

I struggled with whether to call this album a best of or a regular album, but eventually I came down on the side of album - read on for more details. Or, if you don't want more details, read on - but just be prepared for disappointment.

Disc 203 is...Desolation Boulevard

Artist: Sweet

Year of Release: 1974

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is the band members of Sweet - superimposed on an urban landscape through the technological expertise of the mid-seventies. It looks just a tiny bit fake, but the hair these guys have - that's real my friends. That was the hair that as a kid in the seventies I wish I had. Instead, nature provided me with the semi-afro. Well played, Nature, well played.

How I Came To Know It: I have known this album almost as long as I remember music at all. My brother owned it on LP very early on - probably by 1976 at the latest. I listened to it all the time. I only bought it on disc in the last five years ago.

How It Stacks Up: This is the only Sweet album I have - I like it, but it doesn't stack up against itself. Or does it...

Rating: 3 stars

Sweet is a mid-seventies rock band from England. For some reason they always settle in my mind as foils for the Bay City Rollers, who I think were contemporaneous.

The difference was, (and is), that Sweet rocks out, whereas the Bay City Rollers turned the 'sucks' knob to 11 and broke it off nearly thirty years ago.

I remember my Mom coming home from a garage sale one day in the late seventies thinking she had quite a find for my brother Virgil and I - a Bay City Rollers LP. I think she might've got it mixed up with Sweet. Of course, we rightfully loathed the Bay City Rollers with a zeal that only those dedicated to true rock and roll can do. Virgil initiated a game of frisbee in the living room with the record. It came at me pretty hard, so I dodged out of the way and the record promptly shattered on the wall. Back then they weren't as bendy as they became later.

We laughed and laughed. Mom was justifiably furious but I like to believe that deep down she thought it was a pretty good joke. In fact, after chastising me for not catching the record, Virgil even said to Mom, "What did you think we'd do with a Bay City Roller's album?", and I recall her conceding the point. It wasn't a great argument, but he said it with conviction, and it had come cheaply, so we got off easy that day. Of course, I was seven or eight, so my memory is a little hazy on this one. Anyway, I digress...

Back to Sweet, who early on could have gone the bubble-gum pop schmaltz direction of the aforementioned Rollers, but for the most part resisted (at least on their B-sides). Years later music lovers everywhere are still being rewarded.

This record has a slough of great tracks, starting with a song ubiquitous to rock radio to this day; "Ballroom Blitz". Who among you - upon hearing the opening drum beat - can resist singing along to "Ready Steve? Uh huh. Andy? Yeah. Mick? OK. Alright fellas - let's go!" I think that line counts as seven sentences.

When I was a kid my favourite was "Fox On The Run", which was also a big radio hit, although it hasn't survived the same way. The synthesizer that starts this song is the Platonic ideal of cheesy synths that all other later bands (i.e. Prism) would reach for forever after.

Sweet don't just rock out - they are also funny, introducing me to the phrase "AC/DC" as in "AC/DC - she got some other woman as well as me." I probably sang along to that song every week as a kid, having no idea what it was about. The perils of having a much older brother, I suppose.

The only setback on this album is that it is the American version. I didn't know this until recently, when Nick brought the original UK version to a music listening night. Half the tracks are the same, but the other half are different. Essentially, in the UK they released this album and another one "Sweet Fanny Adams" the same year. I think in the US they did a later release of just one record, incorporating some of the better tracks off of both, and this is it.

I recently had a chance to buy the UK version, and although it has some 'sweet' bonus tracks, I decided to stick with this one - not the original, but the original for me.

I still had to consider long and hard whether that meant I had chosen a 'best of' over a studio album (perish the thought). In the end I decided that this was the studio version in the USA, so I was going to count it as an album. I was going to give it four stars for nostalgia's sake, but the whole US/UK version thing blunts my enthusiasm enough to knock it back to a solid 3.

So to summarize: Desolation Boulevard - a solid rock and roll album, that holds up well over the years - whatever version you grew up with.

Best tracks: Ballroom Blitz, The 6-Teens, ACDC, Sweet FA, Fox On the Run, Into the Night

CD Odyssey Disc 202: Queen

The tie between Tom Waits and Queen for Odyssey supremacy was short lived, as I roll yet another Queen album (my eighth).

Disc 202 is...A Day At The Races
Artist: Queen

Year of Release: 1976

What’s Up With The Cover?: I love this cover - the Queen Coat of Arms (not to be confused with the Queen's Coat of Arms). I've owned this album for years but never really taken a good look at the cover. I see it has a crab on it, as well as two pretty faeries, one of whom is suffering a wardrobe malfunction.

How I Came To Know It: Just another Queen album I've drilled through over the last decade or more, once I got more seriously into them. I've known the band since I was ten, but this album came out when I was six, so it was a discovery of adulthood for me.

How It Stacks Up: I have fourteen Queen albums. Looking back at some I've previously reviewed, I see I've often assigned a range of rankings to each. The truth is each Queen album is different, and I like them all at different times. For a while, I'd have said "A Day At The Races" was top 3, but I think on this listen it landed fifth or sixth.

Rating: 4 stars but the thinnest of lines from 5.

After seven previous Queen reviews, I'm not sure what more I have to say about the band in general. To sum up - four of the greatest musicians (and music writers) in rock history, all in the same band.

"A Day At The Races" is an apt title for this record, as it has a generally upbeat, carefree feel to it. Piano influences seem heavier on this record than on some Queen albums, with some real show tune type stuff from Freddie Mercury, like "You Take My Breath Away", "The Millionaire Waltz" and the now permanently famous "Somebody to Love".

I admire these songs but the first two aren't standouts for me. "Somebody To Love" makes up for those, however. It is a song that sounds equally at home on Broadway or at Live at Wembley, while never losing its emotional content. There is a reason this song has survived in pop consciousness for thirty-four years.

That said, I generally prefer the contributions from the other band members on this record. Each of them has toned down their rock edge, without losing their sound.

This record also features one of my all-time favourite Queen songs (likely second only to "It's Late" - that being "Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)", a song with an entire stanza sung in Japanese. The English part is also great, and tells a touching story of two people separated (by distance or death, I'm not sure which) but who's love endures regardless:

"Let us cling together as the years go by
Oh my love, my love
In the the quiet of the night
Let our candle always burn
Let us never lose the lessons we have learned."

This song evokes so many memories. In literature I'm always reminded of one of my favourite poems, Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" which goes:

"Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night."

"Teo Torriatte" evokes the same emotions, but without all the depressing moaning. Also, May has better hair than Arnold ever did.

Speaking of Brian May, this week I learned something I didn't know about him; he has a Ph.D. in astrophysics. Apparently he was studying for his Masters years ago when the band broke big. He is a man of many talents, and this album demonstrates that range within his music, from the powerful indictment of new world colonization in "White Man" through the celestial grooves of "Long Away" to the five star love anthem of "Teo Torriatte."

And on that note (and because it's late) I'll wrap up. "A Day At The Races" has the amazing elements of any Queen album - the musicianship, the arrangements, Freddie's voice at the height of its power, and songs that become more and more interesting with each listen.

But beyond all these things, the record's greatest charm is how it takes all these elements and makes a surprisingly upbeat record. Listening to it makes me feel good, and it makes me think at the same time, and that is a good combination.

Best tracks:Long Away, You and I, Somebody to Love, White Man, Teo Torriatte