CD Odyssey Disc 304: Soundgarden

After a quick return to Tom Petty, random patterns emerge again, with a quick return to Soundgarden.

Disc 304 is...Down On The Upside

Artist: Soundgarden

Year of Release: 1996

What’s Up With The Cover?: I'm not sure. Is it the band standing behind a curtain waiting for an encore? Given this was Soundgarden's last album together (until this year's reunion tour) it is a bit ironic, if that's what it is depicting.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Greg introduced me to the band well before this record. I bought this album many years after it came out (maybe ten). I'm not sure why I waited so long - I think the intervening years featured a lot of folk and swing music though.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Soundgarden albums. Of the five, I must regrettably put "Down On The Upside" in last place, at 5th.

Rating: 2 stars.

"Down On The Upside" is Soundgarden's last album before they broke up over creative differences (the number one reason for a band to break up assuming none of the members is dating Yoko Ono).

While I am a huge Soundgarden fan, and was excited to hear this record after somehow missing it in 1996. Whether it is the creative differences between the members, or just a change in their sound, it has never resonated with me. From time to time I put it on in the hopes that it will be better with some distance, but I am inevitably disappointed.

Part of the reason is the record is a disjointed mix of styles. This can sometimes be a good thing - showing a band's range (think the Beatles' White Album). However, it is tricky to pull off, and in the case of "Down On The Upside" it results in making the record difficult to get an ear for. In places, it sounds like a cross between old Soundgarden and Radiohead; in others it sounds like the band is channeling punk.

Mostly, I liked the record when they stuck to what they know best; namely Chris Cornell's powerful vocals soaring melodically over top of some ultra-heavy Kim Thayil guitar grooves. Notable songs include "Pretty Noose" and "Rhinosaur".

However, the record, which sits at a slightly bloated 16 tracks, has few moments like these two songs, which are the first two you hear. After that despite sharp playing and good production, few tracks are noteable. Worse, the album length is over 65 minutes as well, which is too long for a record of this nature (or for most records for that matter).

Cornell's lyrics are self-confident and speak of keeping your inner spirit despite the world around you threatening to drag you down. He means for the lyrics to come off as self-affirming, but to me it was a case of the artist protesting too much. It is clear on this album that he has some frustration to work out creatively. Instead, he chooses to sing about how everything is rosey, and it just comes off as false. Soundgarden would've been better off to channel all their frustrations with each other into the art (Fleetwood Mac did it for "Rumours", to great success).

The record has some good moments, and no one can deny they are incredibly talented musicians, but "Down On the Upside" is for completionists only in my opinion.

Best tracks: Pretty Noose, Rhinosaur, Blow Up The Outside World

CD Odyssey Disc 303: Tom Petty

After being ignored by the Dice Gods for almost 300 albums, Tom Petty makes his second appearance in ten albums. I've got plenty of Tom Petty, so this won't be the end of it either - but let's take it one album at a time, shall we?

Disc 303 is...Into The Great Wide Open

Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Year of Release: 1991

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is a picture of a 1926 painting by Jan Matulka, uninspiringly titled, "Landscape". I found the cover inspiring though, and love it when musicians help expose people to art they might not otherwise see. I wouldn't have this painting on a wall in my house, but I like it, and it suits the album well.

How I Came To Know It: I bought this album when it came out in 1991 (on casette tape, if the truth must be known). Like anyone with ears, I had really liked Full Moon Fever two years prior and this was his next offering. I sold it on casette tape years ago, and then more recently bought it again on CD in the last five or six years. I don't know how I did without it for the few years in the middle, but I guess I managed.

How It Stacks Up: I have fourteen Tom Petty albums (solo and with the Heartbreakers combined). I really like this album, but competition at the top is tough so I'm going to go 6th to 7th depending on my mood.

Rating: 4 stars.

I finished listening to this album days ago, and while I could have found time to squeeze in a review the truth is I've just enjoyed having it in the car, and listening to it while painting. It is an old friend that I don't put on nearly enough.

I bought this album way back in 1991 and I don't think I appreciated it as much then as I do now. I certainly liked it and given the modest size of my music collection then, I'm sure it got a lot of play (the proof being I've been able to sing along to every song on the album). I think it was just that coming out after the huge "Full Moon Fever" it was harder to contextualize its place in Petty's discography.

In the end time has not only been kind to "Into The Great Wide Open", it has improved it. Production wise it is very similar to "Full Moon Fever" with the addition of ELO's Jeff Lynne making a huge difference. Some Petty fans don't like the more pop-friendly sounds that Lynne added to Tom Petty, preferring the raw combination of garage and southern rock from his earlier period.

I like that earlier sound as well, but artists have to continue to evolve, and the sound on this record suit the songs perfectly. It found me wishing that Lynne had come in two albums earlier and helped out with "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)" and "Southern Accents", both of which would have benefited from his efforts.

The songs themselves are consistently strong, and I am again reminded how underrated Tom Petty is as a song writer. Thematically, he seems to be focused principally on the trials and tribulations of becoming famous. Not surprising considering in two years he had gone from an artist a bunch of people knew to an artist that everybody knew, including everybody's mother.

Petty channels this experience into a resensitizing to the subject of fame, and where many artists could have come off as disingenuous doing the same thing, Petty rises to the challenge.

The album is full of songs about the joy of pursuing your dreams, with "Learning to Fly" "Making Some Noise" and "Into The Great Wide Open" particularly notable. In the latter track, Petty demonstrates how things change culturally in twenty years. When he sings:

"Eddie waited til' he finished high school
He went to Hollywood, got a tattoo
He met a girl out there with a tattoo too
The future was wide open."

He reminds us that getting a tattoo in 1991 was hardly the commonplace thing it is today. Nowadays middle aged white collar workers routinely get them (guilty as charged) but in the day it meant taking a risk - in this case an indication of Eddie's willingness to take a risk on fame.

Later in the album, there are darker twists applied to this theme, but never better than "All The Wrong Reasons", a song about various characters so obsessed with success they abandon their own values. The upbeat and melodic nature of the track belies its dark content, a combination that musicians Mike Campbell (guitar) and Benmont Tench (piano, accordion) excel at.

Hearing Campbell and Tench adding their prodigious talents to this album was great, and as good a place to note that Petty reunited with the Heartbreakers immediately after having his biggest commercial success ever as a solo artist. Petty has never forgotten the lesson to always dance with who brought you. He ensured "Into the Great Wide Open" was a better album in the process.

"All The Wrong Reasons" has many strong lines, but my favourite on this listen was:

"Where the sky begins the horizon ends
Despite the best intentions
And a big ol' man goes up for sale
He becomes his own invention."

Or put another way, how easy it is to lose your way when you're learning to fly, and how fame can remove the familiar landmarks we rely on to stay on course. It is a reminder that when we sell out to ourselves, the first thing we do is lie to ourselves and say it didn't happen. Petty demonstrates on this song - and on this album - that he isn't going to lose his way.

At a time in my life when I'm rediscovering my own creative talents, rolling this record took on added significance. It is always a sign of good art that it can speak to you through the years, regardless of where you find yourself at the time.

Best tracks: Learning To Fly, Into The Great Wide Open, Two Gunslingers, All The Wrong Reasons, Makin' Some Noise

CD Odyssey Disc 302: Soundtrack

I'm a little bit rushed in this review, but I have to for a drive shortly and there is no way in hell I'm keeping this one in my car, so I'm doing this review now, to avoid pain later.

Disc 302 is...Natural Born Killers Soundtrack

Artist: Various

Year of Release: 1994

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is a picture from the movie - with Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis. I don't know what it is about Juliette Lewis, but she always looks dirty to me. And I don't mean in the good way - like "she's so dirrrty!". I mean she looks like she needs a shower. She has a perennial unwashed, trashy look about her. I don't like it, and I don't like her, but I'll leave it at that, because I need to save the bulk of this review's vitriol for the true villain of this piece - Oliver Stone.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of Sheila's records. She has a soft spot for it because it introduced her to a lot of different bands. I have no such soft spot.

How It Stacks Up: We have a total of 23 soundtracks. Of the twenty three, I dub this one the absolute worst - below even such cellar dwellars as "Moulin Rouge" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat".

Rating: 0 stars or in CD Odyssey parlance - two dogs.

At the outset, let me point out that I absolutely despise Oliver Stone. I think he is a two bit hack who consistently takes an obvious theme and then proceeds to beat his audience in the head with it, assuming we are all as stupid as he is.

Along the way Oliver Stone has managed to ruin perfectly good movies about one of my favourite sports (football in Any Given Sunday), one of my favourite historical figures (Alexander the Great in Alexander) and generally ruined his legacy from Platoon with follow-ups like Born On The Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth.

He has not made a good movie since 1988's Talk Radio, and of the abominations he's made since then, I put Natural Born Killers among the worst. Here we have all of Oliver Stone's weaknesses mixed together into a giant brew of lame stew.

We have an obvious theme beaten to death (in this case, that our society perpetuates violence by its media fascination); we have editing decisions designed to be edgy that are so poorly delivered they serve only to make the action impossible to follow; and we have Stone's incessant preachy voice, nattering on like a guy two rows behind you in the theatre who will not shut up despite consistent "ssshh!'s" from the seats around him.

But enough about Oliver Stone and how much I dislike his film making, let's talk about this album. For starters, I give its producer, Trent Reznor, full credit. Reznor is a gifted producer and has selected a number of good songs for the soundtrack. Stone manages to get his own name on the album as "Soundtrack Album Director" so I will grudgingly allow he would have had a roll in picking songs as well.

What then happens is truly wrong, as Stone manages to incorporate lame dialogue from his bad movie into almost every song - with characters talking (and often shouting) over large parts of the song - usually at the beginning or end, but often right in the middle.

Not content with ruining two plus hours of my life when I watched this film, Stone manages to remind me of it while he runs roughshod over such incredible artists as Leonard Cohen, L7, Patty Smith and the Cowboy Junkies. I found myself actually shouting 'shut up' at the character dialogue during the Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane".

To see how this should be done, listen to any Tarantino soundtrack, where character dialogue are separate tracks on the CD. Want to listen to scenes from the movie? Go ahead. But Tarantino respects the music he's chosen enough to let you hear it uninterrupted by that dialogue if that's what you want.

In the case of Leonard Cohen, Stone goes one step further, cutting both "Waiting For the Miracle" and "The Future" to roughly half their length. Basically, this album decides to take some of the strongest work of one of the greatest poet/songwriters of all time and edit it for length.

Not content yet with what could have been a 1 star album, the record continues by committing every major crime the CD Odyssey has previously named. More than 14 tracks? You bet - this album is a bloated twenty-seven tracks. Half of them would be good, if it weren't for Stone's hackneyed dialogue interrupting them (have I mentioned that?).

How about having the tracks easy to read on the back? Nope - in fact the tracks are not even listed on the back. You have to fold out the CD booklet to even look up what you're listening to. When you do you'll note that - yes - he has failed to capitalize every single song title. Really, Oliver - Patsy Cline didn't punctuate "Back In Baby's Arms"? Somehow I doubt that.

Best tracks: There are a few good tracks. If you'd like to hear them properly, I would recommend some fine albums, including L7's "Smell The Magic, Leonard Cohen's "The Future" and Cowboy Junkies' "The Trinity Sessions".

CD Odyssey Disc 301: Belle and Sebastian

After the power and majesty of Black Sabbath, it was quite a jump to the breezy, summery sounds of this next record.

Disc 301 is...Write About Love

Artist: Belle and Sebastian

Year of Release: 2010

What’s Up With The Cover?: Yet another "Jones Soda" type cover from Belle and Sebastian, who consistently do not feature themselves on their album covers. This cover is a good depiction of the album title, as a woman looks out the window pensively, pen in hand, no doubt figuring out just what she will write about love.

How I Came To Know It: I already had three Belle and Sebastian albums, so this one was just me buying their new release. I keep meaning to buy a couple more of their albums, but when I'm in the record store it slips my mind.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Belle and Sebastian albums, I would say this is right in the middle, either 2nd or 3rd, depending on how I'm feeling about "The Boy With The Arab Strap" at any given moment.

Rating: 3 stars.

As I noted way back when I reviewed "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant" at Disc 61, Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band, known for their sing-song stylings coupled with sometimes disturbing lyrics.

"Write About Love" is a much more polished effort than their previous albums, but I don't mind that at all. I often wonder why certain types of music (notably punk and indie) pride themselves on being roughly produced. I can see why they would want to avoid over-production, but having good production only helps the music.

This record has excellent production, and reminds me strongly of lead man Stuart Murdoch's side project, "God Help The Girl" released the year prior. "God Help The Girl" is a superior album to "Write About Love", but I'll talk about it when I roll it.

Having recently reviewed an album by The Elected, which boasts a similar sound, I found myself comparing this album to that one in my head. "Write About Love" comes out clearly on top, and most of the songs are excellent.

If "The Elected" is the soundtrack for disaffected young British boys, than this is the album for those same boys when they grow up and go to college, and find out that it is perfectly OK to be a little odd - in fact, colleges are full of girls who are attracted to slightly odd boys. Just remember that while slightly odd is OK, don't be creepy.

Belle and Sebastian are masters of writing the pop hook, and the songs on "Write About Love" are catchy, and have a festive high tempo feel that is reminscent of sixties pop music. The songs make you feel like driving around in a convertible with the top down in summer time. Fortunately I can do exactly this, in my manly Stormy Blue Mica Mazda Miata. OK - it isn't that manly, but neither is this music, and it is still good.

Lyrically, the record is better than most of Belle and Sebastian's earlier work, if for no other reason than they are not purposely obtuse. Where there is room for interpretation on what a song is about, it serves only to add interest, rather than to frustrate the topic in the interests of clever phrasing.

One noteable exception is in "Calculating Bimbo". Despite the jarring sound of the title, the song was drawing me in until right near the end, where Murdoch sings:

"If someone else is near me
You scuttle up the pavement
It's no one that I care for
I pause for an effect
You calculating bimbo
I wish you'd let the past go."

Passable lyrics, except that the band can't resist actually pausing after singing "I pause for an effect" - thus demonstrating how they are...pausing for effect (duh). It is the overly clever type of line that always infuriates me with this type of music. Frankly a talented band like Belle and Sebastian is good enough on their own, without nodding and winking at their audience like that.

Contrast this with the perfect combination of whimsy and thoughtfulness on the masterful "The Ghost of Rockschool", and all is forgiven, however. "The Ghost of Rockschool" has B&S doing what they do best, lilting melodies, soft horns tastefully in the background, sparse production and gentle, beautiful vocal harmonies:

"Everything hums as the blue heart turns
And the blue girl's dawn
Is when the sun goes down
My story tonight
Is from your solitude heights
I have a window on your constellation"

The lyrics aren't brilliant, but they have a logical flow, and are phrased perfectly into the music, without any pretense or gradeschool silliness.

This is a solid record in most respects and if not for the occasional clunker, I was tempted to give it four stars. Still, I'm going to stick with three.

Best tracks: I Didn't See It Coming, Write About Love, The Ghost of Rockschool, I Can See Your Future

CD Odyssey: The First 300

Earlier this week, I hit 300 reviews, and as is traditional at this time, I'm posting a quick entry to take stock.

Earlier this month I also passed the second anniversary of starting the CD Odyssey. It has been a lot more fun this time, and more memorable thanks to putting some of my impressions down in print along the way.

As I noted in my 200 review summary, after a suitable sample size, percentages tend to hold even, and it becomes increasingly easy to predict final tallies. That being the case, I won't keep a running tally of all the various entries I've done before.

I will note that in terms of what decade most of my music is from, the battle remains too close to call (this can drive a politician crazy on election night, but it's fun for the purposes of the CD Odyssey). The standings at present are:

Seventies: 67
Eighties: 74
Nineties: 76
Oughts: 73

The nineties were ahead after 200 as well, but the gap has closed considerably, and I have no idea which decade will end up on top (although the seventies looks destined for 4th).

Alice Cooper and Tom Waits have seen the most reviews so far, with 9, and Queen is close behind with 8 (Queen led after 200). There is a logjam of acts with 6 albums reviewed, including Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Rush, Kiss, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath. That is one kick ass logjam of musicians, methinks.

Five star reviews have increased slightly, and are now roughly one in every 9.5 reviews, which I think is a bit high. Still, when I look at the list of those that have recieved a 5 in the past 100 reviews I can't argue:

The Who - Who's Next
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
Townes Van Zandt - Our Mother The Mountain
Dire Straits - Making Movies
The Clash - London Calling
Judas Priest - British Steel
Rush - Permanent Waves
Beethoven - Symphonies Nos 2 & 5
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Stan Rogers - Northwest Passage

In that same period, two discs managed to get the much less desireable 1 star - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. I hated listening to these albums, but writing the reviews was devilish good fun.

At 300 discs, I think I'm roughly a third done, so it would seem I've got four more years of this - I wonder if blogging will have gone the way of myspace by that point? Or maybe CDs will be archaic technology by then, and I'll be having a problem getting my players serviced?

CD Odyssey Disc 300: Black Sabbath

For the third straight day, I have another review. This is the result of me not having a job and being increasingly fidgety. Also, I have finished my first book's rough draft and am awaiting feedback before moving forward, making me even more fidgety.

Lastly I had some driving around town, giving me a chance to get through another album. I guess whether you are driving around doing chores, or fidgeting about uselessly at home, it is good to do so with a record like this next one.

Disc 300 is...Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Artist: Black Sabbath

Year of Release: 1973

What’s Up With The Cover?: A man is tormented by demons - whether in his sleep or awake isn't clear. I think going to sleep in a bed with a headboard adorned with "666" he probably had it coming. I'd say these demons are succubi - spirits that use sexuality to corrupt the souls of men. A bed with a "666" headboard is like their home field.

I'd also say that although in 1973, this cover was probably more than a little controversial, nowadays it wouldn't likely cause anyone to lose sleep. OK - maybe Tipper Gore.

How I Came To Know It: As this is my 6th Black Sabbath album review, I've previously covered how I more generally got to know Sabbath. This particular album was always on my 'to get' list, but many years ago my friend Casey brought it over and I got a chance to hear it. This caused it to move up the list considerably.

How It Stacks Up: I have 10 studio albums by Sabbath, and 1 live album. Excluding the live album from the equation, I'd put "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" in at 6th. Bottom half, but only because of intense competition at the top. Since I've already reviewed 4 of the 5 albums that top it, you'll know why (or you can look - that's why there's a sidebar sorted by band name, jerky!)

Rating: 4 stars

"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is Black Sabbath's fifth studio album in only four years, and in many ways represents the end of their initial creative explosion (it would be two years more until "Sabotage" - a good record as well, but not on par with what came before).

All of Sabbath's main elements are here - the crunchy sound, heavy bone-jarring Tony Iommi guitar riffs that sound as timeless and fresh in 2011 as they did nearly forty years ago, and topics heavily featuring the occult and designed to generally frighten mothers around the globe.

Songs that deliver this signature sound on "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" include the title track, and "A National Acrobat" a song that slowly chugs its way forward, complete with lyrics by Ozzy that sound like some dreadful combination of sex ed class and a story by H.P. Lovecraft:

"I am the world that hides the universal secrets of all time
Destruction of the empty spaces is my one and only crime
I've lived a thousand times, I found out what it means to be believed
The thoughts and images the unborn child that never was conceived."

The lyrics only get weirder from here, and it is better for the sanity of both writer and reader if I impart no more of them. Let's just say Ozzie is beginning his final descent into the crazy and strangely insightful world he now inhabits (albeit sober, in more recent days).

Layered on top of this traditional sound, Sabbath is working early synthesizers on tracks like "Killing Yourself to Live" adding a thick fuzzy sound that legions of Seattle grunge bands like Soundgarden would draw inspiration from twenty years later.

And amidst all this heavy metal thunder, the almost classical sounding instrumental "Fluff" appears. A quiet little song that would be more at home on a British folk recording from the sixties. "Fluff" demonstrates Iommi's range with the guitar, showing he can be as gentle as Leona Boyd when he wants to - and yet miraculously avoid sucking. Iommi also plays piano on this, and other tracks on "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and acquits himself admirably.

There are only a couple of songs that are lesser, principally "Sabbra Cadabra" a love song, which takes on an ominous tone because of its title. When Ozzy sings:

"Lovely lady, mystifying eyes
Lovely lady, she don't tell me no lies
I know I'll never leave ya
I'm never gonna leave ya anymore no more."

I found myself thinking of the album cover filled with succubi, or any other kind of vampiric spell that takes away your will. That said, despite the promising idea, the music doesn't stand as strong as the other tracks on the album.

While I couldn't go quite as far as to give this record the coveted 5 stars, it came close. A testament to the consistently high standard of art that Black Sabbath was still putting out, five records into their career.

Best tracks: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, A National Acrobat, Fluff, Killing Yourself To Live, Looking For Today

CD Odyssey Disc 299: Stan Rogers

All this spare time has me painting a lot more, and the reviews just keep rolling out. If only my job hunt was going this well.

Disc 299 is...Northwest Passage

Artist: Stan Rogers

Year of Release: 1981

What’s Up With The Cover?: It looks like Stan Rogers set up a bunch of vaguely nautical objects in the local high school gym. This picture is as amateurish and lame as his cover for "Turnaround" (reviewed back at Disc 162). They've tried to gussy it up a bit with the added detail of the nautical compass points, but the effect is marginal.

The fact that Rogers is depicted seeking the Northwest Passage with a pretty basic map of Canada (likely borrowed from the same high school they took the picture in) is not helpful. If this is the map Stan is going to rely on to navigate with, he can expect to end up just like Franklin.

How I Came To Know It: I know a lot of these songs from my live Stan Rogers album, "Home In Halifax" (reviewed back at Disc 100). I've only owned "Northwest Passage" for a few months, having bought it earlier in 2011.

How It Stacks Up: When I bought "Turnaround" I picked it because it had very few tracks on the "Home In Halifax" album and I was disappointed. I therefore bought "Northwest Passage" because so many of the songs made it on the live album, and the results were much better. This is the best Stan Rogers album I've heard to date.

Rating: 5 stars.

I've discussed Stan Rogers' history on previous reviews, so I'll focus this review on this particular album. To quickly sum up for first time readers, Rogers has a deep baritone voice and sings very traditional Canadian folk songs celebrating both our history and our current culture (such as it was in 1981 at least).

"Northwest Passage" is Rogers doing these things at his absolute best. Of the ten songs on this record, fully six of them make it on the live album, "Home In Halifax", testament to the record's power (or maybe it was just that tour - but I like to think it is the quality of the music). This record is Rogers' "Five Days in July", "Moving Pictures" or "Who's Next". It is pitch perfect throughout.

In reviewing "Home In Halifax" I previously discussed "The Field Behind The Plow" which immortalizes the hard word of the Canadian farmer. This record has a companion piece as well, with "Night Guard" - the story of a former rodeo bull rider who saved up all his prize money to buy a cattle ranch, only to find himself victimized by local rustlers. Our hero is a man of action, and decides to go out one night and catch them in the act. As Rogers paints the scene:

"He told her that he'd got it for the game
A 'Winnie' 303 with his initials on the frame
Riding in the scabbard on his knee. Tonight he's gonna see
Who's getting all the stock."

...

"And here's the way he'll end it all tonight
'Cause all the proof he needs is lying steady in his sights
It may be just the worst thing he could do
But he squeezes off a few, then makes his call to town."

How the story plays out is never told - we do not know if the rancher shot or killed any rustlers, and really that type of finality is secondary to a Stan Rogers' folk song. What matters is we get a deep understanding of the character, and his place in Canadian society.

Other characters Rogers paints on this record include a man who's left the Maritimes to get a job in the Alberta oil industry (the ironically named "The Idiot"), a man taking a half-day off with his wife for a mental health day ("Working Joe"), and a woman fretting about her lost youth, ("Lies"). In each case, Rogers does more than present a detailed character study - he makes you want these characters to succeed, and to identify with them regardless of how similar or dissimilar their lives are from your own.

In so doing he takes ordinary stories, and he makes them into anthems about the Canadian experience, and from there, to the more global experience of being human. It is a gift to hear these stories sung, and damned good for the soul to boot.

And before closing, I would be remiss not to mention the five star masterpiece that is the title track, which regales the listener with the long history of adventurers seeking the Northwest Passage through Canada's frozen arctic. This song demands a sing-a-long, and I've rarely had it on where at least one (and usually several) people in the room don't join in unison as Rogers belts out:

"Ah, for just one time, I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea
Tracing one warm line through a land so wide and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea."

I took a lot of history in university, but truth be told I always enjoyed European history more - maybe it was all the court intrigues and wars that drew me. Whatever the case, this record - and "Northwest Passage" in particular - reminds me that Canada has its own majestic past, that must not be forgotten. There are dozens of reasons why this record is worthy of five stars, but for this alone, I might've done it.

Best tracks: So many - but of the ten, I really like eight, and love six. Those six are: Northwest Passage, The Field Behind The Plow, Night Guard, The Idiot, Canal Road, Free In The Harbout

Figurine: Baby Dragon and Ibis

It took months to finish the elf lord on war dragon I recently posted, but it took only a few hours to finish the extra pieces that came with the box.

Often with larger Warhammer miniatures, they include a couple of smaller figures. They are usually light on detail, and I suspect it is just cheaper for them to stamp out a sheet with them on it, than to customize for each box. As a result, you often get these little extras. Sometimes I save them for other set pieces, but this time I decided to paint them as stand alones.

First up was a very tiny blue dragon. Here it is, in all its baby glory:
And here from the back:

For some reason, Warhammer also gave me the figure of a bird, which was even more of an odd match. I did some research online and the closest bird I could find matching the figure's general profile was the ibis, so I painted it as one:
And again, from the rear. You can see in these close ups the relative lack of detail, but I did my best with highlighting and shading to put some value into these pretty basic figs.
Both of these are very small, measuring no higher than half an inch.

Next up - a dryad! I'm looking forward to that one, but I doubt it will be finished so quickly.

CD Odyssey Disc 298: The Elected

If you're like me and you don't listen to the radio, then you have to find new bands through other channels. Among my methods are referrals from friends, reviews and by drilling through a musical family tree of musicians. For example, if you like The White Stripes, you'll follow Jack White into his other projects, like the Raconteurs or the Dead Weather (the latter being both a referral AND a musical tree discovery).

This next artist is from the Rilo Kiley music tree.

Disc 298 is...Sun, Sun, Sun

Artist: The Elected

Year of Release: 2006

What’s Up With The Cover?: It looks like an old fifties photo of someone's summer cabin on the lake. I like this cover - it is the sort of cover I like to put on my own mixed CDs when I make them. This particular cabin doesn't look too great structurally, with the forefront of the building visibly sagging into the section behind it. The owners might want to call an engineer before moving in.

How I Came To Know It: As noted in the intro, this is via the Rilo Kiley music tree. One half of Rilo Kiley's creative energy comes from Blake Sennett, and "The Elected" are Sennet's side project. His Rilo Kiley partner, Jenny Lewis has done similar side projects, recording solo as well as collaborating with the Watson Twins. Most recently she did a nifty little summer album with her boyfriend Johnathan Rice (Jenny + Johnny).

How It Stacks Up: I only have this one album by The Elected, but if I were to compare it to Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis solo, the Watson Twins and Jenny+Johnny, then it would come in last. Sorry, Blake.

Rating: 2 stars

Rilo Kiley is one of the truly great finds in the oughts. If you are familiar with them, you will know they are a whimsical combination of pop music, indie and folk. Catchy melodies and clever lyrics that are dark in the way that pop music can be when it is trying to be good, and not just trying to get on AM radio.

Jenny Lewis is the main singer for Rilo Kiley, but each album also has a couple of songs sung by Blake Sennett. Sennett has a very high voice, kind of like the guy from Belle and Sebastian only more breathy (yes more breathy). The songs always sound like they should be on some British movie soundtrack, where the story follows some awkward kid with a bad haircut through his first experience with love.

Such films have many scenes where the main character kicks stones dejectedly through a park, wishing everyone would just stop asking him to fit in, when he has no desire to do so. He is met at this point by some equally awkward girl in the park. If such scenes are happening in the daytime (either bright ironic sunshine or reinforcing pouring rain is fine) the music you hear in the background wistfully underscoring the boy's mood will be a lot like this album.

It is important to note that if the same scene is happening at night in the snow, there will be no music, or if there is it will not be anything more than the ominous clank of a single piano key. In these cases, you have made a mistake at the video store. You are, in fact, watching a Swedish horror film and the boy is actually meeting a vampire.

Don't feel bad, though - it was an easy mistake to make. The store clerk probably whispered conspiratorially to you, "It's about a boy", and you thought he said "It's 'About A Boy'". An honest mistake. But I digress...

Back to the review. My main problem with "Sun Sun Sun", was that it felt like listening to the one or two Blake Sennett songs on a Rilo Kiley album, but without all the Jenny Lewis stuff. This is not a good thing, as the Sennett songs on Rilo Kiley albums are generally - how can I put this delicately? - inferior.

More specifically, "Sun Sun Sun" is a record full of self-effacing rock songs that aren't good enough to pull off the irony of what they are trying to accomplish. Every song has the same measured lilt, and Sennett's lack of range makes them hard to distinguish from one another.

Occasional efforts to do something innovative fall flat, including the always dreadful decision to add in a misplaced saxophone solo. At one point in the song "Did Me Good" Sennett changes his delivery to mimic a southern preacher sermonizing. I believe he does so to underscore the ironic effort of the character singing that his lost love will miraculously return to him. While I get where he is going, it is way to overt and just comes off as half-clever.

With all these problems, you might think I am drifting to sell this album, but there are a couple of songs that I genuinely enjoy - notably "Not Going Home" and "The Bank And Trust," the latter being a song about selling out that may or may not be a poke at his work with Rilo Kiley.

So to sum up, "Sun Sun Sun" is not a particularly strong album, but it does have a couple of good songs. Since the lesser tracks aren't really awful so much as they are average, I decided to go with 2 stars, along with a recommendation to stick to the Jenny Lewis side of the Rilo Kiley music tree.

Best tracks: Not Going Home, The Bank And Trust

CD Odyssey Disc 297: Rose Reiter

I had a bit of unexpected driving yesterday (specifically, I was jonesing for some McDonald's cheeseburgers after my workout) and as a result I was able to blast through another album pretty quickly - this time some local fare (the music - not the McDonalds - God knows where the ingredients for that are from).

Disc 297 is...Real V. 3.0

Artist: Rose Reiter

Year of Release: 2005

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is one of the 'giant head' series. Gordon Lightfoot would be proud. However, Rose Reiter's head is considerably easier on the eyes than Gordon Lightfoot's.

How I Came To Know It: Believe it or not, we are friends with some people who are friends with the artist and they gave us a copy of the CD to enjoy.

How It Stacks Up: I only have this one album, but I like it.

Rating: 3 stars.

This is the one of the more personal albums in the Odyssey. As noted above, Rose Reiter and I have mutual friends, which is how I heard about her music. In fact, about a year or two after I had received this album, I met the artist at a garden barbecue and had a good chat with her about music, literature and various other arty pursuits. She is a very interesting person, and it was a fairly unique experience to be able to discuss an album with the artist who recorded it. Thanks for taking the time, Rose!

Since I'm not one for excess back story, let's move right on to the album, which is a sort of pop/folk fusion sound reminscent of other Canadian artists like Sarah McLachlan and Mae Moore. I really enjoy both those artists, so it is no surprise that I enjoyed this album as well.

Reiter has a tremendous voice, and her talent is another example of just what a crapshoot it is to 'hit it big' in the music industry. I certainly hope she does soon, because seeing the dubious qualities of American Idol pop tarts selling gold records while artists like Reiter remain unknown to the masses is hard to take.

Stylistically, the music reminded me of a cross between Moore and McLachlan to me. There are some early songs on "Real V.3.0" where I would say she doesn't fully open up her vocals where I'd like her to (later songs prove she is more than capable), but overall her power is easily felt. On the songs where she doesn't belt it out it isn't through lack of ability, but more a conscious decision on the recording.

The songs vary in complexity of production, and the ones I liked best tended to be more sparse - usually just Reiter singing accompanied by a lone guitar or piano. These dressed down tracks do a better job of showcasing one of her strengths, that being the emotional truth in her delivery. "Let Go" and "This Life" spring to mind as two of my favourites in this regard.

As an aside, I once did a series of album of "duets" where I matched songs with the same title, as different songs by different artists. I matched "Let Go" with Blue Oyster Cult's song of the same name from their "Revolution By Night" album. Two more different songs couldn't be put on a mixed CD, methinks. I might've mentioned it to Rose Reiter when I met her but I can't remember now. I recall having had a couple of beers, so odds are I did.

My main criticisms are the usual ones. The record comes in at 16 tracks, which is two more than my maximum. I think this record would be tighter with 12-14 tracks, where the ear could get a good feel for the songs, without shifting gears overmuch. I also would've liked the song titles to be capitalized. I've never heard a convincing artistic argument for not doing so.

Lastly, while the production on this album is excellent, there is one song ("7:24") where studio discussions are featured that makes the song sound very unfinished. Leaving these sounds in may give a feeling of verity to the work, but it always serves to pull me out of experiencing the art when they happen - kind of like watching a play from backstage. This may only happen once, but I called Bob Dylan out for it back at Disc 159, so I am obligated to point them out for everyone else.

Overall, this album was a pleasant surprise from an artist I had no preconceived notions of. She is a talented singer/songwriter who deserves even greater success, and I wish her well on the road.

Best tracks: Let Go, Then, This Life, When I Come Down

CD Odyssey Disc 296: Outkast

This next record so filled me with dread that I spent two hours painting miniatures just so I could get it out of the way and on to something else.

Disc 296 is...Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
And cover #2 is:
Artist: Outkast

Year of Release: 2003

What’s Up With The Cover?: As this is actually two albums in one, the CD booklet is reversable so you can choose either cover. I've included both, in my order of preference.

First, is "The Love Below" cover, featuring Andre 3000 (or Andre Benjamin in the world of the surnamed). Andre looks stylish in two thirds of a red plaid three-piece suit. This cover exudes class and competence - but don't be fooled - it is mostly the car.

Second is the "Speakerboxxx" cover, featuring Big Boi (sic) dressed in his pimp-daddy clothes, which includes a gratuitous fur jacket, and those tan shoes that hip hoppers continue to think are cool to this day. Note that Andre's wicker throne is adorned with peacock feathers. Could this be a sign of bad luck? Most assuredly.

How I Came To Know It: To my shame, I bought it back in 2003.

How It Stacks Up: Although Outkast has six studio albums, I only have the one, and this is not likely to change. Of the one I have, I rank this one last.

Rating: 1 star

Long-time readers of this blog will know of my longstanding war against artists that insist on putting too many tracks on their album, and even worse - artists that turn one album of strong content into double album sets of mediocrity.

Say what you will about Outkast, but they don't believe in half measures. With this record, they've managed to break both rules. There are 39 songs on these two albums, at least 3/4 of which should never have left the studio.

The first album, "The Love Below," is a swirl of ambition including pop sensibilities, jazz, and the lighter side of hip hop. I will readily admit that I hadn't lived until I had heard a jazz fusion version of the Sound of Music ditty "My Favourite Things". However, it isn't like you think. The reason I now feel like I haven't lived, is because having been freed from hearing this monstrosity, I count each day as precious. In short - I survived.

Other gems are the spoken word opus, "Where Are My Panties" which recounts the inner thoughts of two exceedingly dumb people waking up together after a one night stand. The plot is complicated, but let me sum up: She would like him to touch her booty. He would like to touch her booty. Neither of them knows where her underpants are. The End.

The second album, "Speakerboxxx," is a more straightforward hip hop record, and by virtue of trying to do less, comes out the better record. Despite some unfortunate rhymes like "nasty hoes/eatin' pistachios", there are some good raps on this side of the record, at least when Big Boi doesn't try any topics too complicated.

However, any momentum from these songs is quelled by ridiculous and self-indulgent tracks that should have been left on the studio's cutting room floor, like "Bamboo" which sounds like Big Boi exhorting a two year old to deliver what said two year old interprets to be rapping (note to Outkast: a child's babbling is not rap, even when there's a funky backbeat). At least I think the song is "Bamboo"; Outkast does not deign to provide a song listing on the back, so you're never sure where you are on the record, even when you're following along.

The production on both records is excellent, and really works hard to polish up this disparate pile of turds, but only so much can be done in production.

According to the painfully sycophantic wiki entries I read, these records represent solo projects of the two artists (Andre Benjamin and Big Boi), packaged together, and it is true that they each sound awful in very distinct ways.

However, if you are a successful hip hop act (and Outkast had four records under their belt when they released this) why not just release your solo albums individually? KISS did it - in fact they did four of them. Some of these are bad, and you could argue the only one definitively worth having is Ace Frehley's, but you can't deny KISS had the guts to just do it. The way Outkast has gone about it just seems overblown, and the resulting music confirms it.

That said, there are good raps on this album, and the song "Roses" is a nasty little character assassination of some woman named Caroline, that would be worthy to nail to a coffee house door three centuries ago. It is a classic hip hop song, that eight years later has aged well, despite extreme overplay on its release.

This album was huge in 2003, receiving many musical accolades from critics, and selling in huge volume. Even I was swept up in the hysteria, buying it not just for "Roses" but also because of all the fawning reviews it was receiving. Maybe that is why I feel so jilted that it comes off as such an uneven mish-mash.

If I were being fair this record has enough quality content to get two stars. But was it fair to have me sit through 39 songs, when only nine or ten were any good? Was it fair to make me listen to a toddler rap? Was it fair to rhyme "backwards" with Bratwurst"? (As Big Boi shamelessly does in "Knowing").

No - it wasn't fair, and there is a price to be paid for such hubris. One star is me being generous.

Best tracks: From The Love Below, "Roses" and from Speakerboxxx "Last Call", which I like and it is easy to identify, since it's the second to last song. There are likely a couple others but because of the CD layout, I have no idea what they are.

CD Odyssey Disc 295: Prince

One thing about the CD Odyssey is that it makes me constantly adjust my ear to new forms of music. Having just listened to the seventies folk of Gordon Lightfoot, it took me a couple of listens to retune my ear to this next selection. Once I had, I found myself enjoying it.

Disc 295 is...Around The World In A Day

Artist: Prince

Year of Release: 1985

What’s Up With The Cover?: A very ugly piece of art, reminscent of collages (of which I've never been a fan). I believe that various songs are represented artistically on the cover (which carries on to the left if you fold out the CD cover, but isn't worth sharing). Also -the title of the album while here, is nigh impossible to read. I give this cover an emphatic thumbs down.

How I Came To Know It: I knew some of these songs from my high school days, but this album was brought to the house by my wife, Sheila, who remembers it from around the time she graduated (one of those cases where an age difference of three years now is nothing, but twenty-five years ago was more significant).

How It Stacks Up: We have four Prince albums, and I think we've each bought two of them, so it is fair to say we both like him. I'd put this one third of the four.

Rating: 3 stars.

"Around The World In a Day" (hereforward to be referened to as "Around The World") is Prince's follow up to the wildly popular soundtrack to "Purple Rain". It is no "Purple Rain" but "Around The World" is a solid album on its own merits.

This is one of those records that I admire technically, but overall doesn't resonate strongly with me. Amazingly, it is Prince's sixth studio album (seventh when you count "Purple Rain"), and by this point he is an established artist. Prince has always been willing to expirement with sound and melody, and being so established could only encourage him.

Of note, the title track that opens the record adds in traditional Indian sounds which seem very commonplace in today's pop/hip hop scene but I suspect would've been pretty innovative in 1985. Yes, the Beatles used the sitar, but this more Bollywood sound comes much later, methinks, and Prince is at the forefront.

Prince is never afraid to take risks, and for the most part his musical genius allows him to carry it off. As an example, the song "America" combines funky guitar, drum machines, liberal borrowing of the old standard "America the Beautiful" and then adds lyrics about the Cold War. Surprisingly the song works.

Similarly, the last track "Temptation", combines an urban drumbeat with what is more than a little reminscent of metal guitar noodling - then inserts classical piano sounds, the saxophone noodling ubiquitous to eighties music, and right in the middle adds in some spoken word rap about the subject in the title - specifically noting he's 'talkin' about sexual temptation." This bizarre combination of everything under the sun comes in at a less than humble 8 minutes, 18 seconds. Despite having no business doing so, this song generally works as well.

In fact, there are many places in the record where I found myself saying to myself, 'sure it kind of works - but why do it?' The only answer seems to be that he can, which sums up Prince's musical career pretty well.

After many reviews where I have savaged eighties production, I will say that it was refreshing to listen to an album where that style of production perfectly suited the music. Prince's music was built for that tiny, proto-electronica sound. Not only does it match, it even defies the odds and actually sounds pleasing to the ear.

I do have a gripe that Prince insists on spelling "for" as "4" and "you" as "u", years before texting caused an entire generation to downgrade their grammar. Hey, Prince - some trends aren't worth setting.

The best song on the record is the big hit, "Raspberry Beret". It is a real earwormer, and comes unbidden to me even years between listens. It is just a catchy, whimsical little story about a girl in a raspberry beret (and when it is hot out, 'little more').

When I go out for dinner at a restaurant, I'm fond of having sorbet for desert. Whenever there's a raspberry sorbet, I always state my order as "I'll have the raspberry sorbet. You know - the kind you find in a second hand store." The server, usually in her twenties, then stares at me blankly while my wife chastizes me and says, "she doesn't know what you're talking about!"

But I'm going to keep doing it. Sure it is an uneven joke, and not everyone appreciates it, but hey - if Prince can do his own thing, so can I.

Best tracks: Paisley Park, Raspberry Beret, The Ladder

Figurine: Elf Lord on Dragon

Unbelievably, I finally finished painting another figurine - the first since September 25th of last year. Yikes!

In my defence, this one was a very large and involved piece, and took a lot of work. It think it all turned out alright, though.

It is a Warhammer figure - a High Elf Lord on Dragon. When I do a big, involved figure like this, I like to build a diorama around it, which adds to the work, but does a much better showcasing of the piece when it is finished.

I went with blue for the dragon - I wanted the whole effect to have a windswept, cliff-face kind of feel, so I modelled all the trees to look like they had been slowly shaped by the wind as they grew.

I worked hard to give the dragon an organic feel - I like the way dragon's head came out, especially the tongue: The base has a bunch of model rocks which I painted to match the rocky crag the dragon stands on. Then I added some tufts of fake grass. Ideally, you want the figurine part and the added diorama part to flow seemlessly together, so the eye can't tell where one ends, and the other begins.

The elf lord himself is very regal, and is carrying a very long pennant. I painted it with a flaming comet - World of Greyhawk geeks will know why, but let's say no more about that, except it was fun to paint a flaming comet. This next picture shows the front of the pennant, as well as showcasing the spines on the dragon's back, which I wanted to have a translucent bone quality:
And so, now I can return to painting less ambitious projects - this one took a lot out of me and I'm looking forward to some simpler stuff for a bit now.

Until then, here's a parting shot of the elf lord, preparing to launch off its perch in the fading sunlight:

Today I also reviewed a Gordon Lightfoot album - so if you come here for the music, scroll down to read that. It was a good record, but does not feature any dragons.

CD Odyssey Disc 294: Gordon Lightfoot

This next album is one that has been in my life a very long time, but has never gotten old. I've heard it on record, then on tape, and now on CD. Never on 8-Track though - I guess that's something to aspire to.

Disc 294 is...Summertime Dream

Artist: Gordon Lightfoot

Year of Release: 1976

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is a Gordon Lightfoot staple: the big head cover. This time we are additionally graced with Gord's hand, which for him is quite a bit of detail. I like this particular 'big head' cover. Gord looks thoughtful and just a little tortured, which is what we want our folk artists to look like.

How I Came To Know It: My Mom owns this on record, so I've known it since I was a kid. When I left for university I taped it so I could bring it with me (no doubt Interpol is still tracking me down for this crime against copyright). And then many years ago, I bought it on CD.

How It Stacks Up: I have 12 Gordon Lightfoot albums, but two of those are compilations, so really only ten studio albums in the strictest sense. "Summertime Dream" is one of his stronger records, but competition is fierce. I'd say somewhere between 3rd and 5th, depending on my mood, which today has me putting it into 4th.

Rating: 4 stars.

It has been over a year since I reviewed a Gordon Lightfoot album (the last being "Don Quixote" at Disc 110), and that is just too long to wait for Gord. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, he is one of the great Canadian songwriters, up there with Leonard Cohen and Neil Young. Of the three, Gord may not be the best, but he's been in my life the longest, which counts for something.

So has this album, as I noted above. I know most of the songs on "Summertime Dream" by heart, and as I drove around listening to this album for the last couple of days I was unashamed to sing along - even with the top down. As Robert Frost once wrote, "There must be something wrong/to want to silence any song." Of course, Frost had never heard me sing. But anyway, back to the review.

This album's main claim to fame is the iconic and tragic "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", one of the greatest folk songs ever written, Canadian or otherwise. I talked about it a bit when I reviewed "Gord's Gold Vol. 2", back at Disc 107, noting that it is only in its true glory in the original recording off of "Summertime Dream". Hearing it again just reinforces this opinion.

Some might wonder why the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald decided to cross Lake Superior so late in the season with the threat of bad weather. It would be easy to say it was for the money, but I think this song reminds us of the blue collar sensibility that the job must get done. It is a song about real men, facing the elements every day with stoicism and courage. That they came up short on the Edmund Fitzgerald's last voyage is no slight. The best line I quoted in the previous review, but it is so good it bears repeating:

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd've made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'em."

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is so famous, it often eclipses the rest of this record, which is a shame, because there are many good songs. In particular, the opening track, "Race Among The Ruins" a song about a failed relationship - a common theme on this album. The song is a bit accusatory in places, but it hits the mark early and often. The song is fast-paced for folk music and features Gord's whimsical guitar picking that is so easily identifiable. He sings high and nasal, but never loses power or gravitas. Even though the song is about bad decisions, it leaves you the impression he is being just as judgmental of himself as anyone else.

The song's title once inspired a writing exercise with my friend Tony and I one summer when we were unemployed in Powell River waiting for university to start again. I wrote a sonnet by the same title, and although hardly a prizewinner, I still think it was one of my better poems (the competition not being terribly fierce on this front). But, anyway.

Later songs explore old relationships from different points of emotional contact, with the nostalgic "Never Too Close" and the heartbreaking and deeply personal "I'm Not Supposed To Care", which paints the picture as a lost lover leaves the house for the last time. Gord opens with:

"I think you had somebody waiting outside in the rain
To take you away.
You got places to go - you got people to see
Still I'm gonna miss you
But anyway."

The damaged and defeated way he sings "But anyway" always gets me right in the gut.

Later in the record, "The House That You Live In" sees Gord more upbeat, doing the Canadian folk song version of Rudyard Kipling's "If". It is a list of advice to follow as you go through life, from the perspective of the struggling artist. There is a lot of good advice in the song, but here's some of my favourite:

"When you're out on the road and feeling quite lost
Consider the burden of fame
And he who is wise will not criticize
When other men fail at the game
Beware of strange faces in dark dingy places
Be careful while bending the law
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your door."

The last two lights are repeated at the end of each stanza, and it always tickles my English Literature roots that the sanctity of the guest-host relationship is still alive and kicking 3000+ years into the history of western culture.

"Summertime Dream" might've been a five star album, but for a few songs that are overwrought - either musically or lyrically. In particular his political songs "Protocol" and "Too Many Clues In This Room" come off a bit preachy, with melodies not strong enough to sustain the average lyrical content. Otherwise, this is a solid record that continues to get considerable airplay on my stereo, many years after I first heard it.

Best tracks: Race Among The Ruins, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitgerald, I'm Not Supposed To Care, Never Too Close, The House You Live In

CD Odyssey Disc 293: Tom Petty

Today has been a good day for writing, as I've finished editing the first draft of my novel. There was a time early in my life that I just blithely assumed I would one day write a novel, but as years went by and the false starts piled up, I increasingly felt it was never going to happen.

Then this blog came along, and rekindled my love of writing, and before you knew it I couldn't stop. So for everyone who reads this, and has given me encouragement along the way, let me say a big thank you for keeping my creative fires burning. As of this morning, I'm one step closer to the dream.

OK, enough with the teary-eyed reverie. Let's get on with today's review.

It is well known that if I like someone as an artist, I tend to mine their collection pretty extensively. As a result, it is no surprise there are more than a few artists in the collection with 10 or more albums. Almost 300 discs in, there aren't many of these where I haven't reviewed at least one of their albums at this point, but this next artist was just such an exception. Until now, of course.

Disc 293 is...Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)

Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Year of Release: 1987

What’s Up With The Cover?: I don't know why bands listen to creative directors when they propose the idea of having a collage of portions of the band's face combined to make a new 'face', but I wish they'd stop. This cover is not quite as bad as the abomination that is Queen's, "The Miracle" (reviewed back at Disc 52), but it is close.

How I Came To Know It: I have been a big Tom Petty fan for years, but this album is actually one of Sheila's purchases. She has known it since it came out, but it was hard to find on CD and we only recently added it to the collection in the last few years.

How It Stacks Up: As much as I love Tom Petty, and as much as I wish to avoid my wife's displeasure, I think this is one of his weaker albums. It is still good, but not the best. I have fourteen Tom Petty albums, which I think is all of them. I would put "Let Me Up" at about 11th depending on my mood at the time.

Rating: 3 stars.

I first mentioned this album way back at Disc 33, when I reviewed the Elizabethtown Soundtrack. "Elizabethtown" has a version of this record's "It'll All Work Out" that I really love, and that I actually heard before I ever heard the original. "Elizabethtown's version is very dressed down on the production side. The song is a gorgeous, understated story of a lost love, but told from the perspective of someone removed enough from the heartache to come to grips with their own role in the break up.

The version on "Let Me Up" is a bit too pop music for my tastes, and has that eighties disconnect so common from roughly 1984 to 1988. It is still a good song, but having heard it the way it could be, I found myself wishing the original was as sparse as the re-recording.

And this is generally my complaint with "Let Me Up" as an album - it has annoying eighties production. Coming on the heels of reviewing INXS' "Listen Like Thieves" this may be a bit repetitive, but damn it, if I don't remind people often how bad production was at this time, what is to stop us from repeating the errors of music history? Frankly, with some of the indie music coming out, it is already happening. We must remain vigilant and so, I rant. OK - 'nuff said.

The good parts of "Let Me Up" are many. Principally the song writing is solid, and shines through any other shortcomings. This album comes after "Southern Accents" and before "Full Moon Fever" chronologically, but in many respects it is an oddball in that progression. I found the songs more reminiscent of the first four albums from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with that mix of jumpy rockabilly and southern blues rock. I like that early period of Petty's work, and it was fun to watch him and the band play with their earlier sound and find new ways to arrange songs.

Sheila's favourite on the record is "Runaway Trains", which I must admit is a beautiful song, which, like "It'll All Work Out", is about lost love. In this case instead of wistfully remembering what could be different, the singer is looking forward to the day when he can forget the girl and move on. Of course later in the song, this is turned on its head as she replies:

"She says 'I understand
I'm used to being alone
And holding my own hand
I'm stronger than you know."

Whoever's leaving who here, I like the idea explored throughout of how a train gets away from itself in the same way a relationship does - it gets a lot of momentum, and everything can be just fine right up to the moment it jumps the tracks. Only at that point do you realize something is wrong, and then of course it's too late to slow down or correct course.

The big hit on the album was "Jammin' Me", a song about the proliferation of media and television in every aspect of our lives. I didn't like this song when it came out, but on this listen it really grew on me. It is great in the car as well, with a nice forward moving tempo that makes you feel like you're getting somewhere even as the lyrics remind you that we're not getting anywhere. It is a song about all the mindless entertainment being shoved down our throats getting in the way of clarity of thought. Maybe I like this song better now because it has never been more timely.

To close, this is a solid album, and if I don't wax overly poetic over it, it is only because I have been spoiled by the sheer number of excellent Tom Petty albums out there. The guy knows how to make great music. "Let Me Up" isn't his best, but it is undeniably good. Without the eighties production, it would easily be a 4 star album.

Best tracks: Jammin' Me. Runaway Train, It'll All Work Out, All Mixed Up, Aint' Love Strange

CD Odyssey Disc 292: INXS

This next album is one that both Sheila and I owned when we moved in together. It is always fun to see which albums you and your partner both had before you met.

I remember mine was on tape at the time - I'm not sure if Sheila's was on CD or tape, but we have it on CD now - hence its place on the CD Odyssey.

Disc 292 is...Listen Like Thieves

Artist: INXS

Year of Release: 1985

What’s Up With The Cover?: I don't know how long I've owned this album, but in preparing to write this part of the review, I realized there is a guy faintly visible inside the giant block letters spelling the band's name. Dude has a very bad haircut, but I believe it was the style at the time, so I'll give it a pass.

How I Came To Know It: I can't remember. I've known INXS since high school, but as for "Listen Like Thieves", I think it might've been my old room mate Greg who had this record (again, on tape). At least that makes sense.

How It Stacks Up: We have three INXS albums, none of which is "Kick", surprisingly. Of the three, I'd say this one is as good as 1990s "X" and better than 1984's "The Swing", so I'll say it is tied for first.

Rating: 3 stars.

INXS is one of those bands that I find easy to like, but hard to love. The Powers of the Internet inform me that they have twelve studio albums, yet I only have three, and no desire to get a fourth (not even their mega-popular and aforementioned 1987 release, "Kick").

I think that they are a band of their time - the eighties. The drum machine sounds, and saxophone solos and all that stuff from the mid-eighties that usually annoy me, fit like a glove on "Listen Like Thieves".

The vocal stylings of Michael Hutchence are similarly a perfect fit for their time, he has a powerful voice that sounds like he's always singing in the back of his throat. It also has a detached quality that fits in with the synthetic sounds that were big in pop music at that time.

Hutchence died in 1997, due to strangulation with a belt - either for purposes of suicide or autoerotic asphyxiation (it is still a matter of debate). The brains behind the operation were and are the Farriss brothers, who have a real penchant for writing catchy pop licks. I rarely feel emotionally pulled into their writing, but I admit they are good at what they do.

"Listen Like Thieves" is the tale of two records, unfortunately. Side One is excellent, and has their breakthrough hit "What You Need" and a battery of other radio friendly, catchy pop songs, my favourites of which are the title track, "Listen Like Thieves" and "Shine Like It Does". "Shine Like It Does" manages to cross out of the emotional detachment of the time, and gives me a genuine sense of elation when I hear it.

It isn't the lyrics, either, which are largely forgettable. It is just the way the song is constructed to make you feel like things have always been OK, they're OK right now, and they're going to be OK in the future. Sometimes, that's all I need from my pop music, I suppose.

Side Two is a major drop off, with the best song being "This Time", and the remainder being largely forgettable. The obligatory 'we are respectable artists!' eighties instrumental "Three Sisters" is nearly unlistenable. Having one side not as good as the other is a bad combination when I owned this on tape - there was a lot of FF, then PLAY, then FF again, then RW, as I clumsily tried to guess where the next good song started.

In later years, INXS tarnished their legacy with the abominable, "Rock Star: INXS" - a reality TV show where the middle aged survivors of the band hold auditions to replace Hutchence as lead singer. They make long, impassioned speeches to the contestants about how they want a new front man - not just a replacement for Hutchence who 'could never be replaced.'

One by one, they eliminate the interesting contestants, until they settle on J.D. Fortune, a complete nob chosen principally because he sings and looks like Michael Hutchence.

Yes, I watched the show, and I admit I'm still bitter at having wasted the time, but it doesn't affect the joy I still get from "Listen Like Thieves" - an album of INXS' from a better time and a more honest place. It may not bowl me over, but it is still a good listen - especially on CD where it is way easier to skip the lesser tracks.

Best tracks: What You Need, Listen Like Thieves, Shine Like It Does, This Time