CD Odyssey Disc 280: Tom Waits

This is my ninth Tom Waits review, breaking a three way tie with Alice Cooper and Queen to put Tom at the top of the list in number of reviews on the CD Odyssey.

This is also review #280, which is personally exciting, because it means I get to update my MP3 player with new music (I only do it every ten reviews). Why you ask? Because it helps to pace myself - and I like silly rules like that.

Disc 280 is...Franks Wild Years

Artist: Tom Waits

Year of Release: 1987

What’s Up With The Cover?: Tom plays the accordion, over the top of various images, including a flying martini (which I would classify as 'wild') and what I think is the dark outline of the US Capitol building (which I would classify as 'not wild'). This cover is inoffensive save for the lack of an apostrophe in the album's title, which is definitely offensive. Punctuate, Tom!

How I Came To Know It: I referenced this record way back when I reviewed my first Tom Waits' album at Disc 40. As I wrote then, my friend Casey accidentally bought two copies of this album, and gave one to Sheila and I, thinking we'd like it. He was right.

How It Stacks Up: This is one of my favourite Tom Waits records. Of the eighteen we own, I'd put this one tied for 4th with the likes of Swordfishtrombone.

Rating: 4 stars.

Another great record from his 'bizarre circus' phase of songwriting, although this is the least circusy of all those records. "Franks Wild Years" is a concept album. The story is of a man living in a sad little town called Rainville, where it almost never rains. Our hero (Frank) dreams of leaving Rainville, and takes a fanciful journey of the mind to escape the duldrums of his existence, until eventually he finds his way back to reality. Or he actually decides to leave town, and we are witness to his adventures in excess. You're never sure what is real, and what imagined.

This is exactly the type of rich, uncertain landscape Waits' style is perfectly suited for, and the record has a whimsical feel throughout. This dreamy quality is punctuated by the decision to use so many contrasting musical themes throughout, ranging from the 'bizarre circus' of accordion and organ through to more traditional folk song sounds.

In fact, two songs appear twice, each time in two totally different styles. "Straight To The Top" is introduced to us with a Rhumba beat, and later redone in a Vegas style. "Innocent When You Dream" is first recorded in what Waits calls "Barroom" - which basically means it sounds like a bunch of drunks are singing it in the bar. Later, you hear the "78" version, which has that old school scratchy production you will remember if you've ever listened to your grandparent's 78s. This is likely where the drunks in the former version first heard it - or so we can imagine.

While this shows Waits' range, and also showcases how a good song can translate into many styles, I find it a bit excessive, and I could've lived without the 78 and Vegas versions respectively.

In fact, clocking in with 17 songs, and just under an hour long, the album is slightly too long, and I wish he could've trimmed it by a couple - and those two would be the couple.

That said, those minor criticisms are about the only bad thing I have to say about this record, which is both amazing to listen to, and bravely ambitious.

Songs like "Way Down In the Hole" are timeless, and sound like gospel blues tracks that were written seventy years ago. Steve Earle did an entire re-imagining of the song on his album, "Washington Square Serenade" in 2007, which is excellent, partly due to Earle's brilliance, but in equally large measure because of the high quality tune he had to work with.

The album has much to love on a lot of different fronts. The raunchy, hedonistic "Telephone Call From Istanbul" which converts the banjo from it's usual bluegrass plucking and replaces it with some kind of cursed instrument that when played steals your soul and replaces it with liquor. The lyrics reinforce that just about anything is possible in the dark corners of a large city:

"Sprawled across the roll top desk
The monkey rode the blade of an overhead fan
They paint the donkey blue if you pay"

and later a line that says 'let's party' since Hank Williams sang "comb your hair and paint n' powder/you act proud and I'll act prouder" in "Settin' The Woods On Fire":

"Saturday's a festival, Friday's a gem
Die your hair yellow, and raise your hem."

Waits takes us straight from excess celebration to the sombre, folk-like "Cold Cold Ground", with nothing but a stripped down guitar, bass, accordion and Waits' vocals, reminding us that the world of the bizarre is not limited to the city, and that there is plenty of excess driven by the quiet despair of a rural town:

"Gimme a Winchester rifle and a whole box of shells
Blow the roof off the goat barn let it roll down the hill.
The piano is firewood, times square is a dream
I find we'll all lay down together in the cold, cold ground."

The album ends with the sombre, "Train Song" as our hero returns to sad reality - whether that means back in Rainville, or just awake is unclear.

This is a great record, and a pretty good introduction to Tom Waits. Although I think it is slightly eclipsed by a handful of his other records ("Closing Time", "Rain Dogs" and "Mule Variations") it is close behind them.

Best tracks: Hang On St. Christopher, Temptation, Way Down In The Hole, Telephone Call From Istanbul, Cold Cold Ground, Train Song

CD Odyssey Disc 279: Beethoven

What does it take for a piece of music to survive two hundred years and still be wildly popular? Well, it has to be pretty damned good, that's what.

Disc 279 is...Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5

Artist: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Year of Release: 1802 (Symphony No. 2) and 1808 (Symphony No. 5)

What’s Up With The Cover?: Not surprisingly, a pleasant little classical painting. This one is "Grape Harvest at Heiligenstadt" by Baltasar Wigand. It was painted around 1820. Significant, because Heiligenstadt is near Vienna, and music lovers go there during wine season to take in Beethovenhaus. Or so I am advised by some travel website by a guy named Rick Steves, a fairly well known writer of travel guides.

As a person who enjoys using classic art for covers for mixed CDs from time to time, I heartily approve of this cover for doing what I would do.

How I Came To Know It: Um...it's Beethoven. I bought this because I wanted some Beethoven, this one had not only his most famous work, but the 2nd Symphony as well, and it advertised "Triple D" production value (see top right of photo). Many years ago a former coworker pointed out to me to look for this as a sign of higher quality recording. Classical music in particular can be a crapshoot on this front, so I was pleased this one worked out.

How It Stacks Up: These are the only two of Beethoven's Symphonies that I have, and they are both awesome. I am going to go with the obvious though, and put No. 5 ahead of No. 2.

Rating: 5 stars.

Again, classical music brings me face to face with my utter lack of knowledge of this genre. Except to say off the top that I know when I like the sound of something, and these two symphonies are absolutely incredible.

Of the two, No. 2 is a little bit more of an easy listen, with beautifully soft horn and violin sections, and No. 5 is the more memorable, with a bit more jump for the modern ear to catch hold of.

It is fitting I should roll this album now, as I recently had an inspirational experience relating to Beethoven's 5th while channel surfing waiting for a hockey game to come on. I don't know what possessed me to go to PBS to see something called "Discover Beethoven's 5th" but there I went.

For the next fifty minutes (I missed the beginning) I was enthralled as I sat and listened to something called the Discovery Orchestra, directed by George Mariner Maull, an affable conductor who takes a live audience through a discovery of classical music, breaking down each piece and showing you why it is pleasing to the ear, and how it works.

Because of this program, I learned what a Sonata is constructed of (an Exposition, a Development and a Capitulation), how he uses syncopation and (for that matter) what syncopation even is. In short, I got an inside look at exactly why Beethoven's 5th is so pleasing to the ear. It was like "Classic Albums" for the classics.

All this dissecting of the music might incline some to think you'd ruin its spontaneity to the ear, but the reverse was true. The show only covered the first movement, but as soon as it was over, I wanted to rush over and listen to the 5th over and over again.

Since then I've forgotten 90% of what Mr. Maull so energetically taught me, but it reinvigorated my love for this piece, and listening to it for the last couple of days was the reactive agent I needed to cement my love in place for what is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written.

I won't steal the Discovery Orchestra's thunder any further - if you want a small taste you can see a five minute youtube trailer for the concert here. Of course, to see the whole thing, you need to buy it from pbs - something I just might end up doing when I am again 'with job.' In the meantime, if you see it on your TV schedule do yourself a favour and PVR it.

In the meantime, if you don't own any classical music and are wondering wear to start, you can't do much better than a little of the old Ludwig Van. It will mess with your gulliver - but in a good way. Just remember to get the whole Sonata, not some 5 minute piece of it. Doing that to classical music is a crime against humanity.

For sentimental reasons I'll always regard Tchaikovsky as my favourite classical composer (you always remember your first), but if I were to take personal bias out of the equation, I can't see anyone matching these two works by Beethoven - especially the 5th. Incredible stuff, that still inspires the emotions to new heights over two hundred years after they were written.

Best tracks: Um...you can't really have a best track in this genre - they're meant to all go together in one listen.

CD Odyssey Disc 278: Black Flag

This next album was one I don't put on often, but turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Disc 278 is...Slip It In

Artist: Black Flag

Year of Release: 1984

What’s Up With The Cover?: There's no way to put this delicately, is there? I'll just say that the four rectangular bars in the top right corner is Black Flag's logo. Other than that, I'll just say they are punk rockers - they like to offend people. If this offends you, I'm sure they'll be very happy with themselves.

How I Came To Know It: I had heard of Black Flag, but never actually heard Black Flag. I knew they had a good reputation, and I was interested to hear what Henry Rollins sounded like before he went solo. One day a number of years ago Iwas in that big HMV in downtown Vancouver with friends and they had a display of a ton of Black Flag re-releases. I poked through them, and eventually bought this one, because one of the people I was with vaguely recognized one of the song titles.

How It Stacks Up: Black Flag has six studio albums, but I've only got this one, so I can't really compare it to the others.

Rating: 3 stars

Buying an album the way I bought this one is always a bit of a risk. You are going almost entirely without reference points. All I knew was that Black Flag was an eighties punk band, and I wanted some more exposure to that genre of music at the time.

When I first bought this album it didn't really speak to me, but I felt that it had promise down the road and so I held onto it. This time, when I rolled it on the CD Odyssey, I enjoyed it much more than in previous listens.

Although firmly in the punk genre, "Slip It In" has some melodic elements and guitar riffs that are reminiscent of metal music around the same time. Somehow on my first few listens, this escaped me, but really came to the fore this time. Maybe this is what early hardcore sounds like - that would make sense to me, but I stand to be corrected.

In particular, the instrumental "Obliteration" reminded me a lot of early Black Sabbath, who I'm sure these guys all grew up listening to. That same song also has early Alice Cooper elements, and reminded me of a lot of the stuff on "Love It To Death" - also a record I'd be shocked if writer Greg Ginn had not heard many times.

My favourite song on this album is the final track, "You're Not Evil", which is very much in the Black Sabbath feel, balancing back and forth between competing guitar riffs, and changing tempo.

The subject matter is typically punk - stark and angry, with a general anger toward hypocrisy and affectation. One exception to this is the title track, "Slip It In" which is I think what passes for a punk rock love song. If you're wondering what it is about the title pretty much sums it up. It has a happy ending, which is always nice in a love song.

Lyrically, there is not much here, but this isn't music driven by the lyrics. They are just there to direct the aggression in the song. I know that I have a reputation of over-emphasizing the lyrics, but I'd like to think I only note them when they warrant it.

On "Slip It In", I found the lack of lyrical content exactly what was called for by the music, and didn't miss a thing. In fact, when I listened to "Obliteration", the song was half over the first listen through before I realized it was an instrumental.

Musically, I found a real nice rock groove underneath the punk arrangements on this record that made it much more enjoyable than I've found it in the past. While I wouldn't say I love it, it is a good record that I'll likely put on more often down the road.

Best tracks: Slip It In, Black Coffee, You're Not Evil

CD Odyssey Disc 277: Evanescence

Over the past few days, I've heard this album in all three of the Odyssey-allowable situations (walking, driving and painting miniatures). I hope to soon be able to post my first painted miniature in almost eight months.

But first, the next review in the CD Odyssey.

Disc 277 is...Fallen

Artist: Evanescence

Year of Release: 2003

What’s Up With The Cover?: A close up of lead singer Amy Lee looking as vampish as possible (this will be a theme). I don't like this cover all that much, but the font for the text is pretty cool, so I'll give it that.

How I Came To Know It: I can't remember. This album was a really big deal back in 2003, so you pretty much couldn't avoid it. I believe my friend Kelly brought it over one night and I liked it, so I went out and bought it. That's my recollection anyway.

How It Stacks Up: I only have this one Evanescence album, and likely won't get their second, so this can't really stack up. So it goes.

Rating: 2 stars.

As noted above, Evanescence's debut, "Fallen" was a massive commercial success - selling over 17 Million copies worldwide, including going many times platinum in Canada.

Although Windows Media Player insists this is 'metal', Evanescence is better classified as hard rock. More specifically, it is hard rock for people who wish they were vampires. This is generally not a stamp of approval for music these days, but Evanescence does a fair job with the subject matter.

If nothing else, they capture the dark elements of vampirism, and the innate sense of loss and detachment the living dead should have. This is in marked contrast to more recent vampire reboots, that essentially make vampires into gothic superheroes, who enjoy lots of superpowers, but don't sacrifice any part of their humanity in the process. Evanescence skirts on the edge of this mistake, but manages to avoid making their subject matter sparkle in the sunlight and play baseball. Generally they get that vampires can only be cool if they are also tragic.

Musically, lead singer Amy Lee has a great set of rock and roll pipes, and the songs are written to showcase her talent. Although there is liberal usage of piano and strings, the album is essentially guitar driven and has an anthemic quality that makes it easy to listen to, but that doesn't make it stand out. In many places the production is busy and noisome, and generally has a lot of extra content that detracts from the songs themselves.

There are also places where the album reminded me of a lesser version of Alice Cooper, particularly the careful use of haunting piano pieces that are used to break up the hard rock sound with a more theatrical sound. Of note, some of the songs are published by "Dwight Frye Music Inc.", although I have no idea whether this company is referencing the Alice Cooper song from "Love It To Death" or the original screen actor from the 30s and 40s. Both seem equally probable.

Anyway, I like the decision to have this light and heavy contrast in the sound, and when they do this is when the songs are at their best. Not surprisingly, emulating Alice Cooper is a plus with me.

As a biographical side note, guitarist and song co-writer Ben Moody left the band in acrimonious fashion shortly after this album came out, which I found funny when reading the liner notes, where in his thank you's Ben thanks Amy, closing his acknowledgments with, "and finally, Amy, my best friend, you will always have 'all of me'. I guess now we see why we put that in quotation marks.

Anyway, this album is OK, and a bit of a guilty pleasure, but it has not aged particularly well. I'd still give it a thumbs up, and I'll be keeping it for a few songs that tickle my fancy. If nothing else, Amy Lee sings the hell out of it, and makes you believe the overwrought lyrics are sincere. I wouldn't say you should rush out and buy it, though.

Best tracks: Going Under, My Immortal, Tourniquet

CD Odyssey Disc 276: Rage Against the Machine

In the absence of a lot of long drives, I've been uploading albums I've rolled to my MP3 player for long walks to and from town, with middling success.

One thing I like, is that there aren't any engine sounds overtaking the sound, so each album has a better chance to be appreciated. One thing I don't like is my MP3 player's penchant for randomizing the order of the songs. I find at the end of every track, I have to manually go and select the next track. I'm sure I can fix this, but I'm not sure how yet. In the meantime, it is a work in progress.

Disc 276 is...Rage Against The Machine (Self-Titled)

Artist: Rage Against The Machine

Year of Release: 1992

What’s Up With The Cover?: I believe this is a picture of a Buddhist monk self-immolating in protest of human rights abuses in Vietnam. Self-immolation is a rather clinical term for such a drastic action, though. I think 'burning yourself to death' better catches the truly tragic nature of a picture like that. It is a reminder that even those trained to maintain a spiritual equilibrium can reach their breaking point. A sobering thought.

How I Came To Know It: Another of my friend Greg's discoveries when we lived together in the early nineties.

How It Stacks Up: Rage Against The Machine were hardly prolific, and they only have four studio albums. I've only got two of them, this one and the cover album "Renegades". I've borrowed the other two from my friend, Chris and am determined to listen to them before Friday. That said, I can't imagine they'll top their debut, so I'm putting RATM's self-titled album #1 - definitely of the two I own, anyway.

Rating: 5 stars.

Rage Against the Machine are, quite simply, the angriest band on earth. Having listened to heavy, angry music from an early age, I feel I am more than qualified to make this assertion. In recent years I've enjoyed some angry punk music, and I've been introduced to Black Metal and the even angrier (and much less listenable) Death Metal. I say Rage Against the Machine are the angriest of all.

Much of this anger comes from singer Zack de la Rocha's lyrics. In an angry band, de la Rocha serves as the angriest member. In fact, he's so angry, he is rumoured to be a class A jerk in real life as well, such that the band couldn't survive, and went on without him to form Audioslave with new singer Chris Cornell (late of Soundgarden).

I don't share de la Rocha's politics, and while I find it interesting to listen to, his aggressive and constant calls to class warfare could get tiresome, even when artfully delivered.

However, something magical happens when you combine de la Rocha's anger with the incredible riffs the band lays down - particularly guitarist Tom Morello, who is rightly famous for doing things with an electric guitar that seem to break the laws of physics. Lest you think that it is a trick of production, RATM proudly points out in their liner notes, "NO SAMPLES, KEYBOARDS OR SYNTHESIZERS USED IN THE MAKING OF THIS RECORDING." If this doesn't sound like a big deal, then you haven't listened to the record very carefully. Go back and listen again.

While I would put this record solidly in the metal category, they have elements of funk and rap throughout that take it in very novel directions. When I first heard this record, it was like nothing I had ever heard before. So angry, so precise in its execution, but also so damned funky.

It helps that it came out when I was in my early twenties, working a low income job, living paycheque to paycheque and going out with friends on weekdays to take in Alternative night at Scandal's nightclub. Many is the night I have moshed to "Bombtrack" or "Killing In The Name Of", singing along with the crowd as de le Rocha chants over and over, "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me." And yes, the irony of that kind of groupthink was not lost on me, even then. (I gave a small protest against my own actions by adding in the crossed arms over the head, a la Orwell's 1984).

The next morning I'd head off to work sorting bottles at the local recycling depot, with a hangover and a stiff neck from all the effort I put into vainly trying to make my curly hair flip around.

It would be easy to dismiss this experience as something unique to its time, but the Odyssey exists partly to test that theory. Over the past few days, I've listened to this album four times (and I'm soaking in it for a fifth right now).

I'm now in my forties, but the emotional power of this record still hits me right in the gut when I put it on. It is approaching twenty years old, but still has all the emotional resonance it had back in 1992.

I was also struck by some of the lesser known tracks on this listen. "Bombtrack" and "Killing in the Name of" have been played so often over the years, there is a tendency to forget all the other amazing songs on this record, including the alternating of pounding riff and smooth bluesy guitar solos in "Freedom", the innovate way "Wake Up" incorporates the riff from Zeppelin's "Kashmir" into a new song (without sampling), or even just the funky bass line that kicks off "Take the Power Back" (after all, a great band is a lot more than a singer and a guitar player).

I've heard the original band is back together, and while I'm always keen to see if they can get their anger back on, I am dubious if they will ever reach the heights of their first record. Here's hoping.

Best tracks: All tracks, although I will declare a runt of the litter, as I am wont to do - "Settle For Nothing".

CD Odyssey Disc 275: Hank Williams III

I drove a lot of small trips about town this week, and could've reviewed this album as early as yesterday, but it was fun having it in the car. I also added the "walking with my MP3 player" system to listening to the Odyssey, which will help replace the long car trips I used to have.

Disc 275 is...Damn Right Rebel Proud

Artist: Hank Williams III

Year of Release: 2008

What’s Up With The Cover?: A pretty cool cover - sort of Hank Williams III's coat of arms, if he were to have one. Tattoo art meets the Confederacy? Something like that.

How I Came To Know It: As I noted when I reviewed Hank III back at Disc 200, I found him through an old coworker at Treasury Board Staff. This album is just me buying his latest release.

How It Stacks Up: I judged this album too harshly in my last Hank III review, referring to it as the 'runt of the litter'. I had planned to place it 5th, but I think it is at least the equal of "Risin' Outlaw" so I'll give it a tie for 4th.

Rating: 3 stars.

One thing about a Hank Williams III record, you know what you are going to get. You're going to get some fine country music musicians, playing some serious outlaw country. You're going to get a lot of 'explicit lyrics' and you're going to get Hank III's usual topics back on display.

To recap, these topics are 1) Getting drunk 2) Getting high and 3) Telling People Where to Go. Many songs feature all three.

The best song on the album is firmly in topic #3, "The Grand Ole Opry (Ain't So Grand)" which calls out the Opry as a snobbish, exclusive club that keeps certain musicians out of it simply because they live lifestyles that Nashville elites find embarrassing.

In fact, Hank's grandfather, the legend Hank Williams Sr., was banned from the Grand Ole Opry in 1952 because of his alcohol and drug abuse. This continues to be a sore spot for many true country fans (myself included). The Opry uses his image, but has not reinstated his membership.

As ever, Hank doesn't pull his punches on any topic, calling the Opry's current stance "fuckin' bullshit" and then going on to suggest a few improbable sexual positions Opry members might like to consider

When the album isn't rudely calling out country's most enduring institution, it is ranging between defiant songs about embracing a lifestyle of parties and rebellion and morose tracks where the singer actively considers suicide to escape his life of excess.

Because of this dichotomy, Hank III will at times make you want to shout 'yeehaw' to the world, but before too long he'll make you feel guilty for doing so. He is an artist dedicated to living his art, and then unabashedly acknowledging the terrible price being exacted on his health and soul for so doing. In "Stoned & Alone" he sings: "Will you pick up the gun dear, and put me asleep/'Coz I'm sleepin' on misery and she's cuttin' me real deep".

Hank even steps out of his usual topics, and ends the album with an ode to blue collar workers called "Workin' Man":

"I woke up this mornin', kissed my wife goodbye
I pray to God that I'll make it home safe tonight
It's a dangerous job but I take that risk
I'll trade my blood and sweat just to feed my kids"

Hank III is relatively predictable on "Damn Right Rebel Proud", and there is a tendency to dismiss him as a novelty act. This would be a mistake, and he weaves some heavy themes through his songs. That they are laced with profanity is an honest expression of the world he inhabits - and he lets us inhabit it through his music, albeit from a safe distance.

Best tracks: The Grand Ole Opry (Ain't So Grand), Six Pack of Beer, I Wish I Knew, Candidate for Suicide, Stoned & Alone, Workin' Man

CD Odyssey Disc 274: Rush

With me driving less, I will likely get creative to find ways to listen to the Odyssey while still following all the rules on the sidebar. In a way I'm looking forward to hearing more albums outside of the car. Not all records are meant for the car, and this will level the playing field a little.

This next album is good in the car, or anywhere else - and is one of my favourite albums of this or any band.

Disc 274 is...Permanent Waves Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1980

What’s Up With The Cover?: A beautiful woman has her skirt blown up in the foreground, while in the background we see a tsunami wave leaving a path of destruction in its wake. I think. I don't fully get this cover, other than the obvious homage to the "Permanent Waves" album title. I know I like it, and not just because of the fetching model featured (although that helps).

Of note, this is the second album cover in the Odyssey featuring a woman with her skirt up, showing her underwear. The first was Alice Cooper's "Pretties For You" back at Disc 152, which handled the subject matter in a less violent, but far creepier manner.

How I Came To Know It: I knew the song "Spirit of Radio" for years, but it was my friend Kelly playing "Freewill" that not only hooked me on buying this album, but got me started on drilling through Rush's entire collection.

How It Stacks Up: I have eighteen studio albums by Rush, and "Permanent Waves" is tied for first. I love this record.

Rating: 5 stars

"Permanent Waves" is Rush at the height of their considerable talent. Still possessing the incredibly technical arrangements and virtuoso playing of earlier records like "2112", "Farewell to Kings" and "Hemispheres", "Permanent Waves" is all these things, but somehow more accessible to a larger audience.

The album only has six songs, but those six songs are each classics in their own right. The album begins with the hit "Spirit of Radio". In just under five minutes, "Spirit of Radio" sums up all the good and bad about music radio.

As long-time readers will know, I often take shots at radio, and as a band that has largely made songs not friendly to radio, Rush would certainly have been in their right to do the same. Instead, this song is balanced between hope and disappointment. The opening lines:

"Begin the day
With a friendly voice
A companion unobtrusive"

Completely captures my experience listening to the radio driving to work (albeit news radio, in my case). A quiet voice in the car that calms your nerves and sets your mind for the day ahead.

Sheila often tells me about how the song annoys her when Geddy Lee shrieks out how radio also "echoes with the sounds...Of salesmen! Salesmen!". So true, but such a perfect expression of one aspect of radio. The line jars you deliberately, but never loses the song's strong melody in the process.

"Spirit of Radio" winds itself up as more an indictment of the commercialism of modern radio, but the song contains a hopeful thread that radio could be better. For someone like me who long ago gave up on music radio, I'm glad that kernel of optimism remains, even amongst all the gibberish and gaga.

The second song on the album, is one of my all time favourite songs - "Freewill". A song whose lyrics are written by an Objectivist (Peart) but that an avowed Existentialist like me can still completely relate to. It is a song about taking responsibility for your own actions, and not falling back on blaming the heavens for your problems.

"You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose free will."

Every time I hear this song it fills my heart with the fiery fervour to carry on without any crutches, and own all my decisions - good and bad. It also always reminds me of one of my favourite poems by Thomas Hardy, "Hap" which covers the same themes. Since I like to slip a little literature in on my pop culture reviews, here's "Hap" for your reading enjoyment:

"If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: "Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my hate's profiting!"

"Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.

"But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan. . . .
These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown
Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain."

Awesome. Also, "Purblind Doomsters" would be a great name for a band. Given that I've just reprinted a Victorian sonnet, it is a good time to point out that amidst all the amazing music in "Freewill" Peart writes the verses in a rhyme scheme of ABCBDDEFFE, and then repeats it. It flows so seamlessly, you'd never notice unless you checked (which I did). Modern poets who think rhyme schemes are outdated should take a lesson from Peart. (Note - my quote above is the chorus, lest you think I can't read a rhyme scheme).

The song "Entre Nous" always makes me think of all those friends who don't necessarily share my belief systems (in various ways) but always offer something for me to think about, and always inspire me to be better. "Entre Nous" says it best:

"The spaces in between
Leave room
For you and I to grow."

Other songs on the album include a depiction of two storm fronts colliding ("Jacob's Ladder"), and a song about tidal pools ("Natural Science") that equates how the creatures in a tidal pool think they know their entire world, just as we foolishly act here on Earth, while floating in a vast universe we can never hope to comprehend.

The themes on this record are big, and Rush delivers on each one with grace and artistry. It is an album I put one when I need a lift, an album that makes me see things in a different light, and an album that makes me appreciate my life. It is a classic album that even years and countless listens later, keeps revealing itself to me.

Best tracks: All tracks, but especially Freewill

CD Odyssey Disc 273: Moby

This next record is one of those that got a ton of play when it came out, but is largely forgotten years later. I think in general the 'rock' genre reveres its old classics, whereas 'pop' and 'electronica' tend to be much more focused on the next big thing, without the requisite respect for those that paved the way.

At least that's the way I see it today - tune in later in the week for my opinion then.

Disc 273 is...Play

Artist: Moby

Year of Release: 1999

What’s Up With The Cover?: It appears to be Moby captured mid-jump. Perhaps he is 'playing', as per the album title. I know one thing for certain - his shoes are really ugly, and the rest of his outfit doesn't make up for it.

How I Came To Know It: I believe everyone knew this album back in 1999, and most people had it. I think we got it comparatively late, but I'm not gonna pretend we didn't believe the hype, because obviously we did.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Moby CDs - this one and "18" (reviewed way back at Disc 82). I slightly prefer "18" so I'll put "Play" in at #2.

Rating: 3 stars.

While listening to this album for the past couple of days it felt like I hadn't heard it in years. In fact, when I sat down to do this review and realized it came out in 1999 I was surprised it wasn't even older.

It was a massive record in its day. It was constantly on the radio, on the video channel, and played at every low-key cocktail party with the sense not to put on the Verve Remixes. It was also sold out to car companies to make commercials, much like today you can't go 10 minutes without hearing Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" advertising for Ford, or Chevy, or whoever.

I don't fault Moby or Monae, though. If the Who can sell out to car commercials, then so can anyone else. (In defence of the Who, they predicted they'd sell out decades earlier, so at least they warned us). Also, we all have to make a living, and Moby had toiled many years in obscurity before "Play" and I fully expect he needed the money. Artists suffer financially for their choices. We should let it slide if once in a while we hear them singing jingles for the local grocer like Michelle Pfeiffer at the end of The Fabulous Baker Boys.

Speaking of fresh produce, let's get back to the album. "Play" lays down some competent grooves, and this album is certainly listenable. I particularly like "South Side" which features Gwen Stefani, who brings a nice air of vocal authenticity to an album that can often slide into excess artificiality.

I also like the obvious love Moby holds for many different genres of music, as he interprets each into his own electro-pop stylings. In addition to "South Side" there are jazz overtones in songs like "Porcelain", blues in "Find My Baby", hip hop in "Bodyrock", Ragtime in "Run On" and new age folk with "Guitar flute & string". I had the impression listening that Moby wasn't just lifting riffs to avoid writing his own, but rather that he was paying homage to these other musical forms.

That said, I am just not a big fan of electronica, even when it has a sugar coating of pop to make it go down easier, and so I found the album lacking emotional resonance in many places.

Also, this record has 18 tracks, which is about six too many and they aren't numbered, which makes figuring out where you are on the disc annoying.

Finally, Moby has once again filled the CD liner notes with rambling essays on his personal beliefs which come off as very self-absorbed. While this annoyed me, I will give Moby full credit for being able to poke fun at himself. In real life he is a well-known vegetarian, but in the Canadian horror cult classic "Suck" he plays a character named, Beef, lead singer of a punk band who's main claim to fame is that they throw raw meat at their audience during shows.

If you haven't seen "Suck" it is pretty fun stuff. Not exactly Oscar fare, but a pretty good comedy send-up of the Vampire story as a metaphor for a band selling out to be famous. Also the bass player makes one hot vampire...

But I digress. Back to "Play". It may not be deserving of the mountains of praise it got back at the turn of the century, but it is still a solid album, even for folks like me who have a natural aversion to electronica.

Best tracks: Honey, South Side, Bodyrock, Natural Blues, Run On

CD Odyssey Disc 272: Judas Priest

The Odyssey decided to serve me up a little more Judas Priest (the sixth in fact) yet somehow still only deigns to give me one Blue Oyster Cult album.

Fortunately I like Judas Priest plenty - although not as much as my buddy Ross. Shout out to Ross for catching my mis-spelling of Ozzy. It has now been repaired. Now, on with one of Ozzy's musical offspring - Rob Halford.

Disc 272 is...British Steel

Artist: Judas Priest

Year of Release: 1980

What’s Up With The Cover?: OK I feel a bit stupid here, but I don't know what that is. Is it a razor blade with the Judas Priest logo on it? I think that's what it is. Because of this album's iconic status, it doesn't matter what it is. You see it, and you know you're looking at the British Steel album cover before your mind ever begins to source out what the picture is.

How I Came To Know It: I only recently purchased all of my Judas Priest - in the last ten years or so. In my youth I did know the hits ("Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight") but had no idea of the other songs until I bought the album in later years.

How It Stacks Up: I have ten Judas Priest albums. I'm going out there right now and saying "British Steel" is the best - so #1.

Rating: 5 stars

When I reviewed 1978's "Killing Machine" back at Disc 261 I was tempted to rank it my favourite Priest album, but it just wasn't quite heavy enough to be the best of the best.

When I reviewed 1984's "Defenders of the Faith" way back at Disc 35, I was similarly tempted to put it #1, but I mistrusted myself - thinking that it might just be the importance of that album to my heavy metal youth. Also, looking back, "Defenders" didn't have as strong a melodic quality - something I really liked about "Killing Machine".

Enter 1980's "British Steel" to end the debate with the perfect mixture of melodic rock, and pounding metal. This album, to me, is Judas Priest at their absolute best.

Want pounding metal riffs that blast you out of your chair? The album has those to spare from the very beginning. "Rapid Fire" opens the album with pounding drum and a powerful Tipton riff. The opening lyrics tell you what's in store:

"Pounding the world
Like a battering ram"

The album then proceeds to do just this. Following up on "Rapid Fire" is "Metal Gods" which is metal in mid-eighties form, five years before its time. Thor wishes he could write songs like "Metal Gods". Also, I love early references to 'metal' - a genre that is second only to rap in its penchant for self-reference.

"Metal Gods" is followed by the metal classic, "Breaking the Law" which still gets play on video shows when hard rock or metal are featured. Well into the eighties, you could count on seeing "Breaking the Law" on the Power Hour. The song could be released today and still be a hit.

But the genius of "British Steel" is that it isn't just a driving metal album like "Defenders of the Faith", it incorporates the hard rock infectiousness of "Killing Machine" in equal measure. Songs like "Living After Midnight" are those catchy, but heavy songs you could see leather-clad metal babes singing along to back in the eighties. They'd be leaning against their boyfriend's Camaro in the high school parking lot, big blown-out hair bobbing slightly to the music, a bottle of Molson Canadian in one hand.

These girls were all denim, leather and danger. They invariably seemed a couple years older than you at any given time. When you were thirteen, they were fifteen. When you were fifteen, they were seventeen. Just old and tough enough to scare the hell out of you, but not to the point where you didn't still want them. Good memories.

Even the bonus tracks on this remaster aren't offensive. Yes, they do put a live version of "Grinder" on which isn't demonstrably different than the studio version, as well as another soccer-chant style track with "Red, White & Blue", but they fit in well enough, and don't make the album over long.

As for the original album, it is a metal masterpiece in every sense, and deserves every ounce of its five stars.

Best tracks: All tracks. There are no bad tracks on "British Steel."

CD Odyssey Disc 271: Steve Miller Band

Another day, another review for the Odyssey! In the past, I used to listen to the news on my drive to work, and music on the way home. Now, like The Only Living Boy In New York, I get all the news I need from the weather report.

The result is a temporary increase to Odyssey entries, although once I am not driving out to clean out my office this will slacken. For now, I'm enjoying the variety.

Disc 271 is...Greatest Hits 1974-1978
Artist: The Steve Miller Band

Year of Release: 1978

What’s Up With The Cover?: It isn't a picture of Steve Miller (thankfully) but instead some stylized drawing of a horse, with a star in its eye, and flaming hair. Also, the horse's neck has the image of either a guy with a guitar or a pregnant woman. This is not a good representation of seventies cover art - it looks like it would be better suited for the wall of a 13 year old girl's room.

How I Came To Know It: I have some Steve Miller Band on record, but this particular purchase was Sheila's. She grew up with SMB as well (in her case, through a teacher that played it in class) and had some nostalgia for the music.

How It Stacks Up: This is a 'best of' so it doesn't stack up - that would be against the laws of nature and good taste.

Rating: not applicable - no ratings for 'best ofs'!

As I noted above, I've known the Steve Miller Band for a long time - as long as I can remember in fact. I even have some on vinyl - my brother's hand-me-down copy of 1976's "Fly Like An Eagle", which must've been a pretty big record, since six of its twelve tracks made the Greatest Hits album.

The Steve Miller Band is one of those seventies acts that was a victim of video. While they are talented musicians, the Steve Miller Band are not a terribly comely lot and the sad state of modern music is you have to look either pretty or weird to get noticed like you deserve. The Steve Miller Band was doomed from the start - they don't even look weird.

The music is pretty straight forward guitar driven rock and roll, with a bit of southern harmony thrown in. Everyone my age or older knows Steve Miller Band as many of these songs were pretty huge as we were growing up.

Consequently, I spent a lot of the time I should have been bending a critical ear to this CD instead singing along in the car. Steve Miller is made for sing-a-long time, whether it is clapping your hands just so after he sings "Billy Mac is a detective down in Texas" in "Take The Money and Run" or rhyming off the cities in "Rock N' Me" - ("I went from Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Tacoma, Philadelphia, Atlanta, LA"). And yes, I just typed that line from memory - such is the deep impression of early childhood memory.

Most of the tracks are very short, and I expect this helped get airplay in the mid-seventies when a lot of acts were rebelling against mainstream radio by putting out deliberately long rock songs. In places, I find myself wishing SMB would expand some of their stuff as well, but maybe the charm in their songs is partly their brevity.

Also, is it just me or is the riff on "Jet Airliner" almost exactly the same as the Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane"? If so, Don Henley's got some 'splainin' to do, because "Jet Airliner" came out in 1974, and "Life In the Fast Lane" is off of "Hotel California - which came out in 1976.

Musical conspiracy theories aside, this was an enjoyable little walk down memory lane. These songs wont' set the critical world on fire, but they are a fun time in the car.

Best tracks: Take The Money and Run, Rock N' Me, The Joker, Fly Like an Eagle, Dance Dance Dance

CD Odyssey Disc 270: Black Sabbath

Today I had to go to work just to start clearing out my office. I thought it would be depressing but it was actually OK.

Helping me along both there and back, was yet another kick ass album from the great Black Sabbath. Everything these guys touch turns to rock.

Disc 270 is...Master of Reality

Artist: Black Sabbath

Year of Release: 1971

What’s Up With The Cover?: Band name, album title, and that's about it. I like this album cover's simplicity and seventies vibe.

How I Came To Know It: After Nick and Spence re-ignited my passion for Sabbath many years ago, this was just me drilling through the collection.

How It Stacks Up: As I've noted in previous reviews, I have 11 Black Sabbath albums. Competition is fierce among these great records, so "Master of Reality" could only manage to lodge itself in at 5th, but that's pretty good.

Rating: 4 stars.

There's not much more to say about Black Sabbath that I haven't said before, so I'll quickly recap (the Father of all heavy metal, one of the greatest rock bands ever) and then move on to "Master of Reality" in particular.

The first thing that jumped out at me was Bill Ward's drumming on this album. He really hits them hard, and more often than not is delivering a complicated rythym that is just as important as Tony Iommi's guitar in creating the driving riffs on this record. This is particularly noticeable on "Children of the Grave" and during the bridge of "Sweet Leaf" which is one third Iommi guitar solo, one third Ward drum solo, and one third of them both hammering away at the same time - each making the other sound more interesting.

That is the great thing about listening to Sabbath - even after years of play, there is always something new coming out of their music. They would be great with their guitar riffs alone ("Sweet Leaf" has one of the best riffs ever written), but they are not content with that. They usually have two or three incredible riffs in one song, each of which feeds off the others thematically. Add in complex basslines, the aforementioned drums and the staccato rock chant of Ozzy Osbourne's voice and it is a modern day symphony.

Lyrically, this album is the source of much internet debate; chiefly with respect to "After Forever" which fans and critics alike tend to argue over.

The song's lyrics admonishing people for being hostile to religion, and warn that you'll have to answer for such decisions in the afterlife. I am not a religious persion, but this is certainly Ozzy delivering some of his best stuff. My favourite section:

"I think it was true it was people like you that crucified Christ.
I think it is sad the opinion you had was the only one voiced.
Will you be sure when your day is near say you don't believe?
You had the chance but you turned it down now you can't retrieve."

I have heard this song many times, and I can't see it being a satirical attack on religion - at most it is Ozzy speaking 'in character' as someone truly devout, warning us of a life of sin. What's more, the theme of making good moral choices - and living with poor ones - is further developed in "Lord of this World", which is a song from the perspective of Lucifer:

"Your world was made for you by someone above
But you choose evil ways instead of love.
You made me master of the world where you exist
The soul I took from you was not even missed."

The best part about both is that it doesn't matter if you are a devout Christian, or a sworn atheist - the songs are incredible. I just wish critics would stop trying to twist Ozzy's lyrics to suit their own worldview, simply because finding themselves at odds with their idols is off-putting. Just accept the art on its own terms and enjoy it.

OK - here endeth my Modernist lesson for the week. While I'm sermonizing, remember to hate Nickelback - listening to Nickelback is a cardinal sin under any ethical code.

On a lighter note, this album is best known for "Sweet Leaf" which is Ozzy's lovesong to marijuana. These lyrics can also be taken at face value - and certainly seem like they were written by someone under the influence of his subject matter. My favourite lines are "you introduced me to my mind" (something Ozzy has a hard time with in recent years) and "I love you sweet leaf - though you can't hear." This last line is second only to Neil Diamond's "And no one heard at all - not even the chair" as greatest lines commenting on the inability for inanimate objects to hear.

The two instrumentals on this album "Embryo" and "Orchid" are both good - typical of Iommi, as he demonstrates his ability to play a light, folksy guitar. I didn't love them, though, and they don't compare to classics like "Fluff" from "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath".

Overall, this album is a work of art, and its only real sin is that it has to stand alongside the many other great Sabbath albums that are giants not only in their own right, but beacons in the history of rock itself. For this reason, I went with 4 stars, but if I allowed half stars it would have made 4.5.

Best tracks: Sweet Leaf, After Forever, Lord of this World, Into the Void

CD Odyssey Disc 269: Prism

I've known this album for so many years, I thought I'd done everything while hearing it, but last night I was surprised.

That's because last night I lost my job. Or in my business it would be more precise to say, someone took my job (occupational hazard). Anyway, hardly the experience I wanted to add to the listening list. Since it can't be changed now, and I have a review to write, the following is my best effort to make lemonade from life's lemons.

Disc 269 is...Armageddon Artist: Prism

Year of Release: 1979

What’s Up With The Cover?: An unsuspecting city lies in the background, in a time-lapsed blur. Unbeknownst to its inhabitants a giant PRISM has fallen from the skies - bringing with it the eldritch power of synth-rock. Or it is a cursed item, bringing the same thing. Either way, it is fixing to be a traffic hazard, and someone should probably mark it off with flares.

How I Came To Know It: I have known this album since it came out in 1979 and my brother bought it and brought it home. It has been a pleasure ever since - although in more recent years the guilty version.

How It Stacks Up: I only have this one Prism album, although I have a best of on tape called "60 Minutes With...Prism". I am familiar with another album of their's "Young and Restless" but I prefer "Armageddon.

Rating: 3 stars.

As I noted above, this album has been around with me most of my life. Prism is a Canadian band that had a modicum of success and a few hits in the Great White North back in the late seventies and early eighties. They are a blend of synth-pop and hard rock. It shouldn't work - and many would argue that it doesn't - but I say it does, and I'm steering this ship.

Of course, "Armageddon" is primarily known for its title track - an epic of rock/synth bombast approaching eight minutes in length that dominates the first half of the original record's B side. It opens with a bunch of jet fighter pilots talking jargon, then a synthesizer version of "God Save the Queen" before fully launching into a song about the Third World War, complete with horn section, harmony and synth runs. It features lines like

"U Boats off of New England
Enemy submarines (oh no!)
From Boston to Miami
On a red alert you better scramble all the F-15s"

The 'oh no' is delivered by some women back up singers sounding like they are more excited than aghast at the suggestion the world is about to end. This is followed by a guitar solo and more harmony singing of "Armageddon - carry me home..." over and over again.

It is the most ridiculous, over-the-top, excessive, over-reaching song ever written, and despite all of that, it is still totally awesome. It is so bad, it is good.

The rest of Side B is taken up with "Night To Remember" and "Mirror Man".

"Night to Remember" is a song for gettin' with your girl, seventies style. Very schmaltzy. Of course, when I heard it first I was nine, and had no notion of getting with a girl. I thought it was a song about two people on the Titanic. This, because at the time there was a book on the Titanic sinking called "Night To Remember." I tried to read it but it didn't grab me and I probably moved on to something like "Lord of the Rings."

"Mirror Man" is most notable for that strange device that allows someone to make their guitars sing words through some synth effect. I can't remember what that's called. The Framptometer? Anyway, at age nine I thought this was the height of cool, but my zeal has lessened considerably over the years.

Memo to bands of the late seventies/early eighties - if you are going to have your synthesizer speak words through your guitar, you better be singing about Elric of Melnibone and you better be Blue Oyster Cult.

OK, now that we have covered Side B's strangeness, I can reassure you that Side A is actually much more straightforward rock, and mostly pretty good. Prism can lay down a memorable riff when they want to, and the early-eighties production tries, but fails to ruin songs like "Coming Home", and "You Walked Away Again", neither of which were hits.

So yes, Prism is a guilty pleasure, but you'll note I restrained myself and gave it only 3 stars, despite the 5 star silliness that is "Armageddon". Also, if there are two songs to have in your head as you drive home from having lost your job, you could do worse than "Armageddon" and a song that reminds you of the Titanic.

Best tracks: Coming Home, You Walked Away Again, Armageddon