CD Odyssey Disc 509: Jimmy Rankin

I began listening to this album on cheap ear buds (I’d left my big headphones at the office over the weekend).  I hadn’t realized how spoiled I was with the good sound of a full set of headphones, but what a difference!  The ear buds have no richness in their sound, and are mostly bass and tinny high notes.  I’m glad that before I did the final review I was able to hear the whole record on a proper sound system, or this review might have gone a lot worse.

Disc 509 is…. Edge of Day

Artist: Jimmy Rankin

Year of Release: 2007

What’s up with the Cover?  Jimmy, playing the guitar down by the…er…fence.  I think he’s near the sea as well.  Having seen Jimmy live I can advise he’s not a tall man, but he can make that guitar sound plenty big.

How I Came To Know It:  I’ve been a fan of Jimmy Rankin since he was in the Rankin Family.  This was just me buying his latest solo album when it came out.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Jimmy Rankin albums.  I like the other two much more, so I must put this one third.

Rating:  2 stars

Back in 2007 when “Edge of Day” I couldn’t wait to get it home and give it a listen.  I had loved 2003’s “Handmade” (reviewed way back at Disc 130) and had impatiently awaited Jimmy Rankin’s next record ever since.  Unfortunately, I found “Edge of Day” a disappointment then, and six years later it remains merely OK.

I work hard to review every album on the CD Odyssey on its own terms, however, and every album doesn’t have to measure up to an artist’s best.  “Edge of Day” still has its moments and it still features Jimmy Rankin, who I think is one of Canada’s many brilliantly talented contemporary folk singers.

Rankin’s voice is excellent once again, particularly on “Slipping Away.”  The guitar work on this track is also superior, with a full and bluesy groove.  Jimmy hits the falsetto with practice ease as he sings “I heee-aaar you callin’” only to follow with an absent-minded “a thousand light years away.” The two lines are expertly divided by a measure of that bluesy guitar, and the effect of it all together is remarkable.  It puts you in a mood that evokes hot summer days on a porch, cold beer in hand, and not entirely pleasant memories on your mind.  It may always be the same old three or four chords in this kind of music, but that doesn’t make all the songs the same.

I also enjoy “When I Rise” which has that desperate feel that captures the plight of disadvantaged dreamers.  Best lines:

“If I was a pretty girl I wouldn’t be standin’ here

I wouldn’t be all alone - I’d have my way with the world.”

And:

“If I was a rich man, I wouldn’t have to break my back

Wouldn’t have to walk this line – you’d never see me tip my hat.”

This song reminded me of Patty Griffin’s “I Don’t Ever Give Up” thematically and it made me appreciate the stubbornly placed hope people place in blind luck when they’ve got nothing else to hold out for.  It is also interesting how easily we slip into old notions that girls should be pretty and men should be wealthy.  Jimmy draws our attention to long-standing sexual stereotypes and how hard they are to dispel when we foolishly hold ourselves to those standards, outdated as they are.

Another nice side note to “When I Rise” is former “Rankin Family” band mate (and sister) Cookie Rankin providing some pretty harmony on the chorus. 

Unfortunately, these moments on “Edge of Day” are just not frequent enough.  The album has brilliant musicianship, including the talents of slide guitarist Colin Linden, Gordie Sampson on vocals and mandolin, and Jimmy himself.  It is just that the songs have an adult contemporary feel that sucks a lot of the passion out of them.

Also, there was a broken-heartedness that made “Handmade” so deeply evocative that is missing on “Edge of Day.”  I sincerely hope that is because Jimmy was in a happier place when he made the record.  For all that I love a sad song, I wouldn’t wish any sadness on the artist just to make one.  I still wanted something a little deeper though, even if that something was just idle reverie.

Despite the good stuff in “When I Rise” the lyrics on “Edge of Day” are fairly spotty overall.  Jimmy’s voice makes most things sound good but there are some cringe-worthy items.  From “Touched by an Angel”:

“I’ve been touched by an angel, that’s one thing for sure…

I felt the flutter of her wings on my skin.

I fell harder than ever before

From higher than I’ve ever been.”

Overused phrases like “touched by an angel” (and later in the song “angels can fly/she’s living proof” isn’t much better) feel forced.  Add to that filler lines like “that’s one thing for sure” that mostly serve the rhyme, and it fully pulled me out of a song that might have given the depth of emotion I was seeking.  That said, worth noting once again Colin Linden’s slide guitar on this song, sweet and beautiful as ever.

Even not liking some of the lyrics, I can’t point to anything truly terrible on “Edge of Day.”  This is a record made by someone who understands how to write a song, and how to deliver it with passion and professionalism.  I didn’t emotionally connect to the album as a whole, but it is still a good effort from a talented countryman.

Best tracks:  Stranded, Slipping Away, When I Rise

CD Odyssey Disc 508: Gang Starr

Happy Saturday afternoon!  I’ve had a relaxed Saturday, starting with a friendly game of ultimate, then lunch out and now while Sheila naps I’m getting in another music review.  So here it is...

Disc 508 is…. Daily Operation

Artist: Gang Starr

Year of Release: 1992

What’s up with the Cover?  It would appear to be Guru and DJ Premier hanging out at their home office.  This picture is filled with all kinds of fun little details.  Along with the requisite cash, there’s a copy of what I think is “Message to the Black Man in America” by Elijah Muhammad, leader of a religious group in the U.S. called “Nation of Islam.” The other book looks like “the Bible of Gang Starr” based on its cover.  I think the portrait in the background is Malcolm X but I know very little about American history, so that’s just a guess.  A globe, a skull and a couple of typewriters round out the combination of business and activism that define the Gang Starr office space.

How I Came To Know It:  As I noted when I reviewed “Hard to Earn” back at Disc 382, my friend Casey introduced me to Guru’s solo work, and I discovered his stuff with Gang Starr from there.  “Daily Operation” is my most recent acquisition of Gang Starr’s music, and I’ve only had it for a year or so.

How It Stacks Up:  I now have four Gang Starr albums.  “Daily Operation” is good, but not great.  I’ll put it third out of four.

Rating:  3 stars

In their day, compact discs made listening to music so much more convenient, but they also provided artists the opportunity record twice as much music as had fit on vinyl.  More does not always mean better, and rap was particularly guilty of letting their albums get bloated.  This is what happened to “Daily Operation.”

“Daily Operation” clocks in at 53 minutes which is a bit long, but n terms of playing time, there are worse offenders.  The real problem is that there are eighteen tracks.  Too many tracks just makes it hard to get a proper feel for an album and sure enough, I had a hard time to get a feel for this one.

That said, Gang Starr have loads of talent.  DJ Premier chooses his samples well, and around this time the band was getting into sampling a lot of jazz licks along with the usual James Brown and other rap artists.  The biggest problem with jazz in its natural environment is that a lick  may start out pleasant but it usually ends up noodling off into self-referential smugness.  Caged in a sample, these licks are much more enjoyable.  I’d rather listen to a sax solo looped in a four minute Gang Starr song than that same jazz musician taking eight to ten minutes of  my life so he can demonstrate that he’s very proficient on his instrument.

Guru’s raps are creative and his phrasing his clever and pulls you naturally with and through the beat.  The guest rappers ’Lil Dap and Jeru the Damaja who appear on “I’m the Man” are great too, and add good variety to the ear.

As with “Hard to Earn” a lot of the raps on “Daily Operation” are about the most time-honoured rap topic of “I can rap better than you.”  “Flip the Script,” and “No Shame in My Game” are both excellent examples of this topic delivered with innovative rhymes, creative New York rhythms and catchy beats.

Some of my favourite put-downs on the album include this from “Flip the Script”:

“Your capabilities fall short

So imma gonna treat you like a dwarf

On a basketball court.”

And this from “No Shame In My Game”:

“I like to catch a buzz cuz I get into the beats more

MCs are washed up like dead fish on the seashore.”

In addition, the boys gets a bit more political, giving props to the Nation of Islam (remember the book from “What’s Up With the Cover”) and call out what they perceive as systemic faults in America in “Conspiracy.”

In terms of samples, there are some inspired choices, including horns from Caesar Frazier’s “Funk it Up” in “Ex Girl to the Next Girl” a song about a crazy ex-girlfriend that Guru is telling to please leave him along (in the song she is unhappy he’s got a new girlfriend and is trying to…er… ‘funk it up’?  I also dig the piano sample in “B.Y.S.” from Sugar Billy Garner’s “I Got Some.”  I’d never heard of either Caesar Frazier or Sugar Billy Garner but after hearing the samples, I want to know more.  If you wonder about how you feel about the practice of sampling, there are two reasons why it is a good thing.

This album feels like a transition in style from the more traditional early rap of 1991’s “Step in the Arena” and 1994’s “Hard to Earn.”  Like a lot of transitional albums, it doesn’t hit on all cylinders, but it hits on most.  If this record had been 12 to 14 tracks it could easily be a four star effort, but the extra content diminishes the overall experience, so I went with three.

Shame-filled admission:  In my last Gang Starr review, I referred to LL Cool J as a west coast rapper, which I think sums up just how much I know about rap (not much).  That error was so heinous that I’ve gone and corrected it, but since I’m an honest fellow, I’m coming clean on it now.  Consider this both 'oops' and 'sorry' rolled into one.

Best tracks:  Flip the Script, Ex Girl to the Next Girl, I’m The Man, No Shame In My Game, The Illest Brother, B.Y.S., Take Two and Pass

CD Odyssey Disc 507: Kyuss

Need to make this review fast, because I have some guitar practice to get in before my actual lesson.  I did practice this week, but learning the guitar is a huge task, and there isn’t enough time in an ordinary day to do it right.

Disc 507 is…. …And the Circus Leaves Town

Artist: Kyuss

Year of Release: 1995

What’s up with the Cover?  When I first got this album, this cover confounded me.  It was like it was a reflection, but the whole thing just looked…wrong, from the snow on the ground to the angles of the reflection, to the horizon line.  Then I realized, it wasn’t just a picture with a reflection, it was a picture with a reflection upside-down.  Turn it upside down and you see that the ‘snow’ on the ground is actually the sky, and the ‘sky’ is actually water – the area is flooded.  All the perspective lines finally work as well.  Check it out:

Trippy, dude...

How I Came To Know It:  I had idly heard of Kyuss over the years, but it was my friend Nick that got me interested.  He had received a list of heavy bands from a guy in a local band (who played with our mutual friend, Kelly).  He had given Nick a list of some bands he liked, and Nick was at home one night trying out samples of them.  When he put on Kyuss I liked what I heard, so I went out and bought the “Blues for the Red Sun” album based on reviews that it was the band's best.  When I liked that, I bought this one as a follow up, which is how I roll.

How It Stacks Up:  Kyuss only had four albums and I only have the two I just mentioned.  Of the two, “Blues for the Red Sun” is the superior record, putting “…And the Circus Leaves Town” at number two.

Rating:  2 stars

What to think of a band named after an original Dungeons & Dragons monster?  I suppose they should be congratulated for letting their geek flag fly.  Kyuss is named after the D&D monster “Son of Kyuss” an zombie-like undead creature that is mostly known for having highly infectious worms crawling through its various skull holes.  Ugh.  How do I know this?  Let’s just say, I’ve got my own geek flag to fly.

Anyway, Kyuss is a stoner metal band (more on that later) that had a brief and relatively low key career in the early to mid-nineties which ended with “…And the Circus Leaves Town.”  True to their genre, this music is composed largely of repeating guitar riffs that are very easy to nod your head to and let your hippocampus take the driver's seat from your frontal lobes for a while.

“…And the Circus Leaves Town” feels strongly influenced by the grunge scene.  In fact, the first half of the song “El Rodeo” lifts its melody directly from Pearl Jam’s 1991 song “Black.”  I love “Black,” but the way it is used in “El Rodeo” makes it sound too carnival-like and self-absorbed.  The song only really gets going half-way through where it moves on to a heavy lick of its own.  It would be easy to criticize this kind of melody lifting, but I think Kyuss does something sufficiently different with it, even if I don’t particularly like how they handle it.

The influence goes beyond one song, and grunge is heard throughout the record in the fuzzy guitar production and angst-flavoured vocals.  The whole album is deliberately raw and clearly focused on sounding thick n’ heavy.  It generally suits the basic song construction, although at times the lack of sound separation made me feel like I was in a nightclub with bad sound.  I’d prefer it to be a little crisper, in the way Tool would handle the same material.

With their repetitive chords that slowly chukka-chukka your way into your cranium you could probably call this “groove metal” but with song titles like “Thee ‘Ol Boozeroony,” “Jumbo Blimp Jumbo” and “Tangy Zizzle” I think “stoner metal” is a much more appropriate description.  Whether any of these songs relate to their title is impossible to tell.  The first two are instrumentals and “Tangy Zizzle” is not about a new flavour of Doritos even though it clearly should be with a title like that.

The album is inoffensive overall, and the grooves are good enough, but the best three tracks are all packed at the front end of the record, with “Hurricane” and “One Inch Man” having particularly relentless guitar riffs that get your head bobbing.

Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain.  The songs are played very well, but there just wasn’t enough going on to engage my ear and the longer it went on the less interesting it became.

Of some note, Kyuss guitarist Josh Homme has gone on to be in two fairly memorable supergroups in recent years, “Queens of the Stone Age” (who I don’t dig) and “Them Crooked Vultures” (which I do) so kudos to him for keeping the music alive long after Kyuss finished putting out records.

As for “…And the Circus Leaves Town” it had its moments, and I have no serious complaints, but it didn’t blow me away.  I’m sticking with a modest two stars for this one, with the expectation that, when I finally get to it, “Blues for the Red Sun” will be measurably better.

Best tracks:  Hurricane, One Inch Man, Thee ‘Ol Boozeroony

CD Odyssey Disc 506: Bruce Springsteen

I'm just home from a frustrating trip to the gym.  I’ve got a pulled quad and was unable to run at any reasonable speed.  Not only do I dislike being injured, getting older just means it is going to be more and more likely.  Of course, the alternative is far worse, so I guess on balance I’m pretty happy.

To assuage my lack of sports on the weekend I bought a few more albums because that’s how I roll.  I got another Lindi Ortega album, the new Billy Bragg and the new Steve Earle.  Sheila bought the excellent “Bold As Love” by Jimi Hendrix as well. All these records will get my standard “three listens, two of which must be consecutive” rule before I even consider putting them into the collection.  That’s how you make sure a new album sinks in and leaves an impression.  It is a rule that my buddy Spence taught me years ago and it has served me well.

It served me well for this next review as well, despite the album not being new.

Disc 506 is… Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release: 1973

What’s up with the Cover?  With a title as long and awkward as this album’s it is not surprising the lettering takes up all the available space.  Someone has cleverly bypassed this issue by putting the pictures – presumably of places in Asbury Park, New Jersey – inside the text itself.

How I Came To Know It:  Sheila and my buddy Casey kindled my love of Bruce Springsteen, and led me to buy a lot of his albums, but this one was bought by Sheila on her own.  She and Casey (and most people) like very early Springsteen more than I do.

How It Stacks Up:  We have ten Springsteen albums and they are all good.  That said, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” (hereafter referred to as ‘Asbury Park’) is not my favourite but it did pleasantly surprise me.  I would put it seventh of out of ten.

Rating:  3 stars – but almost 4.

It is always interesting to hear a long-established artist’s first big album, particularly if it comes to you after you know a bunch of their other music.  That’s how I came to “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.”

My main (and favourite) Springsteen albums are almost all packed into a run of records from 1978 to 1984, and coming in 1973, “Asbury Park” is odd to my ear.  Springsteen is only twenty-four and his voice still hasn’t fully taken on that raspy growl that is his signature sound for much of his career.  I like that growl, and its absence served as an initial barrier to my enjoyment of this record.

Similarly, the musical style on this album is very different than later records, with a clear nod to Bob Dylan’s rambling folk sounds and a distinct bohemian hippy feel.  Again, expecting the Boss’ more straightforward blue-collar themes, this also jarred my initial experience.

Knowing how well regarded this album is by people whose musical tastes I admire I knew I couldn’t leave it at that.  To counteract the problem I took a page from my ‘new record’ rule and gave it a couple extra listens to let the difference of the sound sink in. 

As will often happen with a good record, repeat listens made me appreciate it more and more.  With its heavy focus on piano and its lighter, folksier feel, this is a record that takes a bit of time to get into.  The lyrics fly at you pretty quickly, a flurry of imagery, mixing the whimsical and the gritty into one stream of consciousness.

This is exemplified by the first track, “Blinded by the Light” (famously covered by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1976), which has a whole host of internal rhyme ready to put marbles in the mouth of anyone quoting it.  It begins:

“Madman drummers, bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat

In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat.”

What the hell is going on here?  I have no idea, but I like it and at least the Springsteen original makes the mystery lyric “Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night” easy to understand.  You’re welcome, people who were wondering what the hell Manfred Mann was singing about all those times.

While I enjoy “Blinded by the Light’s” verbal gymnastics, at times on the record it can be a bit too much too quickly.  When Bruce drops out of singing and switches to a sort of melodic talking it feels a little too rough around the edges for my tastes, and draws me out of the song.  This was especially disappointing on “The Flood” which is a tune I really loved, but where Bruce’s stylings seem just a bit too affected (the organ at the end doesn’t help).  This is a personal preference though, not a fault of Bruce who gives a full effort as ever on his vocal performance.  I know enough music to know “The Flood” is some kind of modern masterpiece – it just didn’t speak to me.

Fortunately right after “The Flood” I was rewarded with a song that was the shape of Bruce’s future musical direction, with “The Angel.”  Just Bruce and lonely piano, the lyrics of this song inspired and eluded me simultaneously to the point that I had to cheat and look it up on the interwebs.  Turns out it is about a motorcycle outlaw, which made perfect sense once someone pointed it out to me.  It ends too soon, mournfully leaving me wishing for more:

“Off in the distance the marble dome

Reflects across the flatlands with a naked feel off into parts unknown

The woman strokes his polished chrome and lies beside the angel’s bones.”

Damn, that’s some fine poetry wrapped up in a rock song.

Musically, this album is very interesting melodically.  It takes risks and those risks pay off, and there is every reason in the world that this record is a critical darling.  When I started listening to it, I was expecting to rank the record tenth out of ten, but as I finish this review it has shot up the standings all the way to seventh.

Best tracks:  Blinded by the Light, Growin’ Up, Mary Queen of Arkansas, The Angel, For You

CD Odyssey Disc 505: D.O.A. and Thor

On the heels of my Jim Cuddy review comes two more Canadian bands, although these ones are not quite as likely to have the same influence on the future of music.

Disc 505 is… Are U Ready “(sheesh – you spelled ‘are’ – you can’t spell ‘you’ while you’re at it?)

Artist: D.O.A. and Thor

Year of Release: 2003

What’s up with the Cover?  Presumably the two bands dug out some old photos and put them on the cover.  D.O.A. look like they are ready for a hockey riot and Thor looks like the God of Thunder, which is pretty much his thing.

How I Came To Know It:  I don’t remember.  I think I was digging around the bargain bin at some record shop and when I saw this I couldn’t resist buying it, even though I knew it was not going to be very good.

How It Stacks Up:  Shockingly, this is the only pairing of D.O.A. and Thor I have in my collection.  Of my three Thor albums, this one is probably in the middle, but it is my only D.O.A. album of any kind.

Rating:  2 stars because I’m feeling charitable

As I mentioned in the “How I Came To Know It Section” I knew when I paid some of my hard-earned money for this album that it wasn’t going to overwhelm me artistically.  D.O.A. is a fun Canadian punk act, and Thor is one of my metal favourites from adolescence but the main draw here is the weird amalgam of the two of them on a single album.

Marketed right on the CD case as “incredible sporting tunes!” this was apparently an album meant to inspire you to think of the music you hear between plays at a hockey game.  Of course, it presupposes that sports stadiums don’t shill out a bit of money to play actual hits for the crowd which – even at local WHL games – they thankfully do.

Still, if they were to play these D.O.A. and Thor songs instead I don’t think I’d mind terribly.  Do we really need to hear “Cotton Eyed Joe” and ACDC’s “Thunderstruck” one more time when we could get some truly Canadian kitsch instead?

The twelve songs on “Are U Ready” are evenly divided between Thor and D.O.A. although most of the Thor songs have D.O.A. playing with his band.  They may both be ‘incredible sporting tunes!’ but they approach the challenge very differently.

The D.O.A. tracks made me really appreciate these guys, who are like the poor, northerly cousins of the Dropkick Murphys.  Based on this record, I prefer the boys from Boston (The Murphys 2003 album was the amazing “Blackout” but in D.O.A.’s defence they’ve been doing this stuff a lot longer and still sound pretty good).

Anyway, the songs are a mix of punk and Canadian rock, and are mostly about playing rough hockey.  Titles like “Give ‘Em the Lumber” and “Beat ‘Em, Bust ‘Em” pretty much sum up the experience.  One (“Overtime”) even features a sample of the Hockey Night in Canada anthem.  These songs are not great but they put a smile on my face and made me appreciate my country’s national sport that much more.  The best line, from “Beat ‘Em, Bust ‘Em,” is “drop the gloves, pop ‘em in the beak.”  I’m pretty sure popping someone in the beak is a uniquely Canadian expression – and a damned fine one at that.

Beyond giving me a laugh and a good time, I didn’t love the D.O.A. tracks but it did make me want to hear more of their early stuff, which I have a suspicion I’m going to like.

Before I comment on the Thor songs, I should mention that I absolutely loved this guy back in the eighties.  The albums “Keep the Dogs Away” (1977) and “Only the Strong” (1985) were staples in the music rotation (my brother has both on vinyl).  “Only the Strong” is still a guilty pleasure.

With that admission out of the way, I have to say the Thor songs on “Are U Ready” are not great.  They are not even about hockey – with 2003 seeing him still mired in his ‘create a new mythology’ phase.

One of the songs, “Triumphant” is a repeat from his solo album of the same name (reviewed way back at Disc 218) and is passable enough, with a pretty good knuckle-dragging metal riff, but a lot of this stuff is derivative of his work twenty years earlier.

In fact another track, “The Challenge” sounds largely like a repeat of one of his mid-eighties songs “Rock the City.” This is made worse by the fact that he puts a live version of “Rock the City” right on “Are U Ready” just in case it might have slipped by you.  Both the new song and the live remake sound like they are recorded in a tin can.

I’m probably harder on the Thor songs because after so many years of remembering him kindly I wanted him to be better, whereas D.O.A. was kind of new to me but the truth is this album was never intended to be great art, it was intended to be a good time.  By advertising itself as the kind of music you’ll hear in arenas, it sets the bar for success pretty low but at least it delivers as promised.

Most of all I got the sense that these two Vancouver bands had a genuinely good time putting this together and that counts for something.  It is mindless, but it is mindless fun, and although it warrants being sold, I’m keeping it on that basis.

Best tracks:  Are U Ready, Beat ‘Em Bust ‘Em, I Am Canadian

CD Odyssey Disc 504: Jim Cuddy

I’m just home from a whirlwind after work mission that included replacing my guitar capo with one that works (lesson tonight) and picking up my parcel from Amazon where I got four new CDs – just what I needed.

Those new CDs  run the gamut, from early nineties rap (EPMD’s “Business as Usual”), to sixties soul (the Chamber Brothers’ “The Time Has Come”) to modern alternative folk music (Neko Case’s “The Virginian” and The Staves’ “Dead & Born & Grown.”)

I’m looking forward to listening to all of them, and eventually reviewing them, but none of those are today’s albums.

Disc 504 is… The Light That Guides You Home

Artist: Jim Cuddy

Year of Release: 2006

What’s up with the Cover?  A street just after sunset.  I don’t recognize the city, but my guess would be somewhere in Canada.  The streetlights may be the lights that guide you home, but it is more likely to be the lamp on top of the taxi, especially after you’ve had a few.

How I Came To Know It:  I think I bought this as a gift for Sheila, since she is a big Blue Rodeo fan.  I remembered liking his first solo album (“All in Time”) and so this seemed a safe bet.

How It Stacks Up:  We have two of Jim Cuddy’s three solo albums (I noted that we’re missing his 2011 release, “Skyscraper Soul”) and I like both of them.  I’d like to say I prefer “All In Time” but I don’t put either one on that often.  I haven’t reviewed “All in Time” yet, but in writing this section I gave the tracks a quick preview and my initial reaction was that “The Light That Guides You Home” is slightly better.  We’ll see if that holds up when I give “All In Time” a full, fair shake but for now “The Light That Guides You Home” takes number one.

Rating:  3 stars but almost 4

Jim Cuddy is one of those artists that will have a lasting impression on the Canadian music scene for decades to come.  When I listen to more recent acts like Luke Doucet and Matt Mays I can hear his influences already rippling outward – and although he’s mostly a domestic phenomenon I expect singer/songwriters around the world that are in the know will come to know him, if not general audiences.

As you will likely know, Cuddy is mostly famous for being one of the principal members of the band Blue Rodeo (the other being Greg Keelor).  Cuddy is the part of Blue Rodeo that is more firmly rooted on the folk and country side of the ledger, and so as a solo album, “The Light That Guides You Home” is unsurprisingly more to that side of the Blue Rodeo sound.

That happens to be my favoured side of the Blue Rodeo sound, so this suits me well.  I generally prefer the band together, but this is a solid effort that stands up well against his Blue Rodeo discography – and is better than some of it.

I’ve mentioned it in previous reviews, but it bears repeating that Cuddy’s voice is a instrument.  It is so angst-ridden and powerful, and he can still hit the high notes on this album despite it coming out almost twenty years after Blue Rodeo first landed on the scene in 1987.  It is a voice meant for singing about the hurt and heartache inside us all, and on “The Light That Guides You Home” Cuddy wisely does just that.

Songs like “Maybe Sometime,” and “Will I Be Waiting” catch the oft-considered themes of regret and lost love.  They are songs that hearken back to a simpler time, when there was room to grow into love with someone.  With success, schedules become cramped and people grow apart.  The old ally Time becomes that menacing winged chariot Marvel warns his coy mistress about in the old poem; replacing bliss with deserts of lost opportunity.  As Cuddy puts it in “Will I Be Waiting”: 

“I don’t know where we go from this point on

So many hours are lost and days that are gone

When you come around again

Will I be waiting?

Well some things are hard to explain

Anticipating

That loneliness finds a way

Of changing your mind.”

For all those pressures, the album is balanced in its approach to love, and Cuddy avoids becoming maudlin with sweet love songs like “All I Need,” “The Light That Guides You Home” and “Pull Me Through.”  These songs – which outnumber the doubt-filled ones – show an optimism that love can conquer such sad little obstacles as time and distance.

Of all of these, my favourite is “Pull Me Through” which focuses on piano and Cuddy’s beautiful voice, painting life’s small but myriad challenges and how his woman will always pull him through.  The lyrics are basic, and even overused, as the object of his affection “takes the sting out of the rain” and “brings the sun back up again” but with the sparse production and Cuddy’s vocal delivery, it feels like he’s invented the concepts rather than just borrowed them.

It is funny that this is one of my favourite songs, because one of the things I love about Cuddy that goes underappreciated is his exceptional skill on guitar, and “Pull Me Through” not only doesn’t feature that, it has an oddly placed saxophone solo in the bridge that would ordinarily enrage me.  However, Cuddy uses it subtly, like an early Tom Waits song; letting the horn caress the song rather than misuse it.  Hey Sting – take a lesson here.  I don’t care if you have Wynton Marsalis – a little sax goes a long way.

Finally, this album shows Cuddy’s playful side, with fun-filled tracks like “Countrywide Soul” and “Married Again.” I’ll admit these aren’t my favourite songs but I can’t deny that “Married Again” is as catchy as it is goofy.  It tells the story of a couple that is terrible for one another but that keep getting drunk together and waking up to find they married each other again.  As Cuddy wisely notes:

“Sixteen bottles and a wedding trunk

Oughtta be a law against marrying drunk.”

Of course there is such a law, Jim – but maybe they were in Vegas.  They do things differently down there, I’m told.

All of the music, whether it is sorrowful, resilient or just plain fun, displays Cuddy’s mastery of song construction.  As I learn to play the guitar I’m finding that while a lot of country music has very similar chord progressions, how you put them together makes all the difference in the world.  If the songs sound similar to a lot of his Blue Rodeo work, that’s just because they sound good.

Best tracks:  Maybe Sometime, Pull Me Through, Will I Be Waiting, She Gets Down, Falling, What She Said

CD Odyssey Disc 503: Capercaillie

I’ve had a mostly fun weekend, although yesterday I badly pulled my quad muscle playing Ultimate.  In hindsight, it was cold, and I should’ve warmed up a bit more than I did.  I’m not getting any younger.  I’m going to take it easy this week with fingers crossed I’m ready to go next Saturday.

As for music reviews, no leg muscles are required so I’m ready to go right now.

Disc 503 is… Beautiful Wasteland

Artist: Capercaillie

Year of Release: 1997

What’s up with the Cover?  Capercaillie seated in some warm climate (likely Spain, given the liner notes).  The band is displaying an exceptionally wide range of terrible fashion decisions, from the reflective aviator sunglasses to Karen Matheson’s ill-considered footwear.  The whole scene is viewed through some sort of James Bond tracking circle, apparently composed of barf.  On the plus side the royal blue background is nice.

How I Came To Know It:  This was just me digging through Capercaillie’s library.  I bought this album fairly late, I think at the same time I bought the previous year’s release, “To The Moon” which is a far superior effort.

How It Stacks Up:  I have nine Capercaillie albums, which isn’t all of their work, but is certainly a lot of it.  “Beautiful Wasteland” is either at or near the bottom, so 8^th or 9^th.

Rating:  2 stars but almost 3

I imagine a beautiful wasteland would be stark yet inspiring; like a desert or a lonely heath.  In this context, “Beautiful Wasteland” is a poorly titled album, because it is overpopulated with extraneous sounds that inspire only intermittently.

The album is a mix of traditional Celtic arrangements, world beats (North African traditional chants) and new age production.  The band claims that the chants from Guinea form a ‘natural marriage” with their music which I think is true rhythmically, but otherwise jarring to the overall mood. 

If that is your thing, then “Beautiful Wasteland” is going to make you very happy, but if you’re looking for contemporary Celtic folk music in a more pure form (as I was) then the album is going to be maddeningly unfocused.

Fortunately, Charlie McKerron is one of the world’s finest fiddle players, and his work will always inspire.  That said he shouldn’t have to work so hard to be heard.  On “The Tree” – an updated traditional song – he manages to rise above the sort of new age mood the band surrounds his work with.  The fiddle melody in this song is awesome but I wanted to hear more of it.  The way the song is arranged it always felt like he was getting cut off before he got going.  Still, even a little Charlie is worth the price of admission.

On songs like “A Mur Gorm” the band’s other star, vocalist Karen Matheson, contends with the same challenges. The song, which translates as “The Blue Rampart,” is a beautiful mood piece but it needs a little more wasteland to be perfect.  It has too many odd piano flourishes or strangely placed bits of flute whimsy.  Some of this would be OK (anyone who has heard overly didactic folk music will know that you can go just as badly wrong in the other direction).  I would have done just a little less if I’d been in the studio with them.

The lyrics to “A Mur Gorm” are beautiful and awkward in that way translations can sometimes be.  Here are the first two verses, first in Gaelic.  FYI, the Cuillins are a series of mountains on the Isle of Skye:

“Mur b'e thusa bhiodh an Cuilithionn

'Na mhur eagarra gorm

Ag crioslachadh le bhalla-criche

Na tha 'nam chridhe borb

“Mur b'e thusa bhiodh a'ghaineamh

Tha'n Talasgar dumhail geal

'Na clar biothbuan do mo dhuilean

Air nach tilleadh an run-ghath”

And then translated:

“But for you the Cuillin would be

An exact and serrated blue rampart

Girdling with its march-wall

All that is in my barbarous heart

“But for you the sand

That is in Talisker, compact and white

Would be a measureless plain to my expectations

And on it the spear desire would not turn back”

Now this is how you do romance.  Also, while Talisker is no doubt a place, it is also a Scotch.  If I was pining for my anxious and yearning lover to scale some mountain peaks with a spear of desire, it would be great to have some single malt while I waited.

Less enjoyable is “Shelter,” which is apparently about some more modern societal malaise but it is hard to figure out exactly what it is about.  Also I found the mixed metaphor in the chorus to be distracting:

“This ain’t no ark of Noah

No mockery of history

A taxi ride to nowhere

Just a drifting boat at sea.”

If you’re going to go with the Noah’s ark/drifting boat analogy I wish you all the best, but don’t confuse it with a taxi ride to nowhere, which is quite a different thing thematically.  The song itself seems equally forced, with a chord progression that I think is designed to make you feel uneasy but just comes across as awkward.

Not so “Hebridean Halle-Bopp” which takes its inspiration from the passage of the comet Halle-Bopp the year “Beautiful Wasteland” came out.  While I have no idea what the lyrics are about, the tune captures the energy and cosmic connectedness of the event.

The album ends on a high note, with “Sardinia” a song written by McKerron that has a gorgeous ear-worm of a fiddle reel within it.  At this stage of their careers Capercaillie will never settle for just a fine fiddle reel, and there are more new age production elements thrown in as well.  Here they work, tastefully serving the song and letting the fiddle cut across the top, like it is designed to do.

Overall this record is uneven and in places strained.  At 56 minutes of playing time, I think it might have benefited from cutting a couple of the lesser tracks.  That said, it has moments of greatness and even a lesser Capercaillie album is better than most of the contemporary folk music out there right now.  I won’t be selling this album, even though I’ll likely be continuing to give my other Capercaillie albums more time in the rotation.

Best tracks:  M’Ionam, The Tree, Am Mur Gorm, Hebridean Halle-Bopp, Sardinia

CD Odyssey Disc 502: KISS

This review marks the completion of an artist – I’ve now reviewed all twelve of my KISS albums.  I think this is the largest artist I’ve finished yet.  Most exciting, but as Alice Cooper would say, ‘we’ve still got a long way to go.’

Disc 502 is… Hotter Than Hell

Artist: KISS

Year of Release: 1974

What’s up with the Cover?  This is a terrible cover.  It looks like KISS is appearing on some cheap Japanese game show, and I can only assume this is Gene Simmons hard at work marketing the band internationally.  Peter Criss looks like some bimbo trying to get into the band photo (dressed appropriately like a streetwalker).  And worst of all are the thumbs with green nail polish in the upper corners.  Dear God, why did there have to be the thumbs?

How I Came To Know It:  I’ve told the tale about how I came to know KISS at a very early age – to read all about it go and look at my other KISS reviews.  This particular album was me drilling through their even earlier stuff as an adult, and liking what I found.

How It Stacks Up:  We have ten studio albums by KISS, not counting two of the four solo albums the band put out.  Of those ten, I’m going to put “Hotter Than Hell” at 5^th, bumping “Dynasty” down to 6^th in the process.

Also, as this is the last of my KISS reviews, tradition dictates that I now recap how they measured up:

1. Love Gun: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 495)
2. Destroyer: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 210)
3. Dressed To Kill: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 318)
4. Self-Titled: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 321).
5. Hotter Than Hell: 4 stars (reviewed right here).
6. Dynasty:  4 stars but should’ve been 3 (reviewed at Disc 78).
7. Rock and Roll Over:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 217).
8. The Elder:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 55).
9. Lick It Up:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 31).
10. Creatures of the Night:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 383).

And the two solo albums:

1. Ace Frehley: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 94)
2. Gene Simmons: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 428)

If the two solo albums were in the main list, Frehley’s album would fit between “Hotter than Hell” and “Dynasty” and Simmons’ would be between “Lick It Up” and “Creatures of the Night.”

Rating:  4 stars

Late last week I had the opportunity to buy tickets to see KISS in my hometown, and listening to “Hotter Than Hell” reminded me why I’m glad I didn’t.  The band touring today isn’t KISS anymore.  Instead, tt was the band that made “Hotter Than Hell” that I fell in love with as a kid, and listening to this record reminds me why I still love that now extinct band today.

“Hotter Than Hell” is the middle of KISS’ first three records, and of the three it has the heaviest sound.  Ace’s guitar is thick and crunchy, particularly on harder tracks like “Got to Choose,” “Goin’ Blind,” and “Strange Ways.”  I don’t necessarily think this makes it better (in fact I slightly prefer the albums on either side to this one) but for this record it is the right decision.

Frehley also has a lot of writer credits on this record, which speaks well for it.  Ace is consistently the most legitimate rocker in the band, and his strong presence gives this album a weight that it wouldn’t have without him.

In retrospect, this is what is missing on a record like “Rock and Roll Over” where Paul and Gene have been allowed to run wild.  That record is fun, but the music feels subservient to the campy lyrics.  On “Hotter Than Hell” KISS’s lascivious shock-rockery is grounded in true rock and roll riffs, and heavy driving guitar.  The combination is a toe-tapping, head-banging good time.

The intro to the first song “Got to Choose” really benefits from Ace.  Paul does his usual lover-boy singing, complete with a little coquettish falsetto.  With the high harmonies of the band going ‘o, yeah!’ in the background the song could lose itself in a kitschy melody, but Ace grounds the whole thing with a thick guitar sound and a solo that wouldn’t be out of place in metal music ten years later.

“Got to Choose” has a noticeable bit of cowbell as well, and in fact the whole record has a whole lot of cowbell going on.  Will Ferrell would be proud.   In fact, on songs like “All The Way” I couldn’t help but think the song title referred to the amount of cowbell they decided to include.  In its own strange way, the ‘more cowbell’ approach works, and it isn’t like KISS was alone in the mid-seventies adding cowbell to their songs.  It was everywhere back then.

The title track is vintage early KISS, simple melodies with a tinge of fifties doo-wop mixed in with their proto-glam metal stylings as they warn us that the girl in question is so hot that she can both ‘leave you well done’ and ‘burn you like the mid-day son.”  Er…yeah.  KISS lyrics are an acquired taste.

There are a couple lesser tracks, notably the directionless “Let Me Go Rock and Roll” and “Comin’ Home” which tries to do way too much in way too little time (rock, glam, blues and a bit of Motown all in 2:39).

My favourite song on the record is the final track, “Strange Ways” – notably a Frehley song.  Exceptionally heavy guitar, raunchy vocals and some well-chosen chord progressions take this song out of camp and actually make it legitimately sexy.

Like most of KISS’ early efforts, this is a very short album, clocking in at only 33 minutes.  The songs are generally very short, with none over four minutes and a few under three.  I found myself wishing “Strange Ways” would go on a bit longer, because I liked the groove so much but generally I think the songs end tastefully when they should.

I often give this record short shrift in the KISS rotation, going with bigger splashes like “Love Gun” or “Destroyer” and when I want some early stuff, defaulting to their self-titled debut or “Dressed to Kill.”  It was great that the Odyssey made me pay a bit more attention to “Hotter Than Hell” and truly appreciate it as one of KISS’ hardest hitting true rock records.

Best tracks:  Got to Choose, Goin’ Blind, Hotter than Hell, Mainline, Strange Ways

CD Odyssey Disc 501: Dire Straits

Back from the gym (and sore from our first game of Ultimate for the season) it is time to exercise my musical muscles and unbutton this next fly review.  Get it?  Get it?  Man, I crack myself up.

Disc 501 is… Dire Straits (Self-Titled)

Artist: Dire Straits

Year of Release: 1978

What’s up with the Cover?  Looks like a blurry photo of a woman in an empty apartment, or maybe a dance studio.  It does not inspire.

How I Came To Know It:  Everyone my age grew up listening to “Sultans of Swing” on the radio, but the album itself was just me drilling through the Dire Straits collection many years ago shortly after I met Sheila and she rekindled my love for Dire Straits.

How It Stacks Up:  We have six studio albums by Dire Straits and one live album.  Of the six studio albums I’d put this one second or third, alongside “Brothers in Arms” – it just depends on what mood I’m in.

Rating:  4 stars

Some people are born to lead, others are born to play football, or paint pictures.  Mark Knopfler was born to play guitar, and on Dire Straits’ debut album he finally got the chance to show that to the world at the not so tender age of 29.

This is my fourth Dire Straits review (I seem to get one a year), and it is very unlike the other records.  On their first album more than anywhere else, Knopfler’s guitar is front and centre, laying down blues-inspired rock riffs that fill a room with emotion-laden notes that fit seamlessly in and around songs.

Knopfler always knows how to make his guitar improvisation fit in with the song being played; something many players never understand no matter how proficient they get.  The solo should serve the song, not the soloist and Knopfler gets this.

In later albums, I would provide equal focus on the lyrics of the some of the songs, but Dire Straits’ first album is so much about the music, it would be disingenuous to highlight what they’re singing about.  In fact the lyrics to the most famous track, “Sultans of Swing” are about a band playing music, and to one degree or another that’s what this whole album is about.

The riffs are evocative of old blues without being derivative of them.  They are also played at a faster tempo – there must be a word for this blues style played faster…ah, yes – I believe it is called rock and roll.

This album is only nine songs, and at the end of this review, I’ve done my best to shortlist the five best, but there isn’t a bad one among the other four either.

“Setting Me Up” channels Buddy Holly, then super-charges it and “Six Blade Knife” has one of the grooviest bass lines I’ve ever heard.  As ever, Knopfler makes sure the guitar work serves to highlight that bass line, rather than bury it under a bunch of superfluous notes.    These are two of the lesser tracks, but still excellent enough to deserve mention.

The big hit was “Sultans of Swing” and as Sheila was pointing out to me in the car earlier tonight, it has an impact not only the first time you hear it, but every time after (and this song gets a LOT of radio play).  The rolling rhythm guitar of Mark’s brother David, and everything jumping along as the band “plays Dixie, double-four time” (which I think means fast, and slightly in front of the beat – at least that’s what I hear).

The whole arrangement gives Mark lots of room to lay down little solos all over the place, like nuggets of gold glowing in the gravel under a clear, fast-flowing river.  You don’t need the extended solo that hits you at around the 3:30 mark of the song, but damn are you glad it’s there when it shows up.  The noodling that leads you out of the end of the song can only end in a fade out, because to cut if off abruptly would be a crime against music.

Not every song on the album is the immaculate construction of “Sultans of Swing” but the other tracks hold up strong against it, and deserve a sizable share of the glory for what makes this record good.  “Down to the Waterline” and “Southbound Again” are also up tempo guitar masterpieces that keep the record’s energy up at just the right places.

Slower songs like “Water of Love” and “Wild West End” establish a laid-back vibe that perfectly plays off those bigger and brighter rocks songs.  Both are playful, with “Wild West End” just slightly more introspective, as befits its presence near the end of Side Two (this was an important consideration in the vinyl era).

This album doesn’t really inspire me at some deeper level – which I need to award five stars – but it does pretty much everything else.  The musicianship is as good as anything in my collection, and that is saying something.  Knopfler’s voice will never blow anyone with power, but his understanding of where the vocals fit into the construction of a song makes everything he does sound just right.  He sings free and easy, rolling on and off the beat so smoothly you don’t even notice he’s messing with it.

Sure you can buy it for “Sultans of Swing” if that makes you happy, but you’ll keep it for everything else as well.

Best tracks:  Down to the Waterline, Water of Love, Southbound Again, Sultans of Swing, Wild West End

CD Odyssey: The First 500

Five hundred posts!

As is my wont, I like to stop every hundred discs and take stock of how things are going. A little snapshot along the journey.  If you don't want a little snapshot, that's fine too - just scroll down and check out my 500th review, which is for Hawksley Workman's album "Lover/Fighter."

For those still with us, the past one hundred albums held true form with the majority of the albums achieving ratings of either three stars (37) or four stars (30).  Ten albums got rated with a full five stars, so if you're looking for the highlights here they are:

Indigo Girls - Self Titled
Steve Earle - Exit 0
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Mark Knopfler - Golden Heart
Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Pearl Jam - Yield
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
The Decemberists - The King is Dead
Kiss - Love Gun

Only one album achieved the lowly one star, and that was Radiohead's "Amnesiac."  Sheila said I could sell it, but it seemed wrong to break up the set, so I'm keeping it with a stern reminder to myself not to play it again for a long time.

I also gave away one album after I reviewed it, a collection of Charlie Parker songs.  Talented guy, but I just couldn't get into it, and I'm tired of pretending I can.

One hundred albums ago, Alice Cooper had the most reviews with 14, Tom Waits was second with 11 and Steve Earle and Queen were tied for third with 10.

Cooper has built on his lead, as I have now reviewed a whopping 20 of his albums.  Tom Waits is still second with 13 now and Steve Earle now sits alone in third with 12.  In case your wondering what I have a lot of in my collection, there's at least part of your answer.

CD Odyssey Disc 500: Hawksley Workman

Last night Sheila and I had a fun night of games and drinks with friends.  Now I am up and ready to tackle this review, albeit with a slight hangover.

This is also my 500^th review!  Happy arbitrary number day to me!  I’ll also be doing a little recap, as is my wont when I reach such manufactured milestones.

Disc 500 is… Lover/Fighter

Artist: Hawksley Workman

Year of Release: 2003

What’s up with the Cover?  Like Tracy Chapman’s “New Beginning” this album has two covers – so here they both are!  Apparently they are thematic – one is Hawksley Workman as “lover” looking wounded and vulnerable in a ‘pale and wan poet’ sort of way.  The other is Hawksley as “fighter” dressed up in what he apparently thinks makes him look like a tough-guy outfit.  It actually makes him look like a pale and wan poet who is trying too hard.  These covers would be completely irredeemable except for the fact that they are unintentionally hilarious.

How I Came To Know It:  Sheila is the fan of Hawksley Workman so she bought this album after hearing a couple songs on the radio (Hawksley was a big thing back in the early oughts).  I also knew about him through a woman I worked with about ten years ago who was a big fan.

How It Stacks Up:  We only have two Hawksley Workman albums, this one and the preceding year’s “The Delicious Wolves.”  Of the two, this is the better record.  We used to have a third album, 2006’s “Treeful of Starlings” which after we heard it was about as welcome as the starling is to the Canadian ecosystem.  It was sold shortly after we got it.

Rating:  3 stars but close to 4.

“Lover/Fighter” is an awkward title for an album, but it ably describes the record’s themes, which revolve around desire and how it drives us to all sorts of dumb, divisive but beautiful things.

The songs are deeply romantic in places, but Workman infuses them all with a bit of sadness or discord.  Song titles like “Wonderful and Sad” and “Anger as Beauty” are indicative of the kind of duality Workman is going for throughout the record.  In places it edges toward bathos, but overall he keeps the ship afloat.

The style is classic Canadian pop, where the riffs are good but subdued into the arrangement (we Canadians are so polite, even with our guitar solos) and the urge to include a lot of piano or other instrumentation is rarely denied.

Workman has a wonderful pop voice, with a lot of range that he keeps tastefully restrained when he sings.  There is nothing worse in pop music than excessive warbling just for the sake of showing off (think Mariah Carey or most of the American Idol contestants that fawn over her).  Workman climbs up the scale only when the song calls for it.

The highlight of the record was also a single, the unfortunately titled “No Reason To Cry Out Your Eyes (On the Highway Tonight).” The song is brilliantly arranged, with cooing backup singers and a groovy little synthesizer riff that makes you want to dance around.  Of course if you’re driving, please restrain yourself.

The lyrics of the song aren’t terribly memorable, with Workman reminding you that the cars you seen on a highway at night are filled with tons of people crying; lost in their own misery.  Despite the theme the tune is uplifting, a soothing hug for people quietly suffering.  Hey, it seems to say, here’s a hug and a cup of hot cocoa, you’ll be OK.

“Smoke, Baby” was another hit and it has a sexy, sultry vibe to it.  This is a song to turn the lights down low and shut the cat out of the bedroom.  It would be perfect except for a strange decision to put an awkward rap section at the bridge by some woman called “Graph Nobel” who is apparently another Canadian pop artist.  She raps well enough, but I just don’t think it adds to the song.

Earlier this week I decided against going to see KISS when they come to town.  This was partly because it wouldn’t be the same without Ace Frehley and partly because I am just sick and tired of Gene Simmons and his constant self-promotion.  These thoughts were in my head listening to “Even An Ugly Man” which goes:

“Even an ugly man

Could kiss your lips

As if they were his to demand of

Or his to destroy like a lover of a demon.”

I doubt this song is about Gene Simmons, but I like to pretend that it is.

The album has a slight air of smugness about it that I don’t like.  This is not surprising from a singer who feels the need to change his name from Ryan Corrigan – a perfectly good name – to Hawksley Workman, which is not measurably any cooler.  That’s the kind of ego that will lead you to put silly pictures of yourself on your album covers.

After the ten listed tracks, there are two hidden ones, which was an annoying quality of CDs from this era.  Both are OK – in fact the first one, “Ilfracombe” is really cool.  The song is half exploration of the pros and cons of motorbikes, and half a philosophical treatise on how sometimes our desire for a free, unfettered life can have a hint of decay and wastefulness about it.  There’s that “Lover/Fighter” duality again!

Regardless of whether I like the two extra songs, there is no real reason to not just include them as songs 11 and 12 – still tastefully within my fourteen song maximum (for those just joining the Odyssey train, I think most albums with more than fourteen songs should have left something on the cutting room floor).

This album was a critical darling when it came out, and it is easy to see why.  It is ambitious pop music, and Workman seems willing to push the envelope of pop music, which is a genre in desperate need of such treatment.  It isn’t perfect, but it is a good album that doesn’t settle for easy wins.

Best tracks:  We Will Still Need a Song, No Reason To Cry Out Your Eyes (On the Highway Tonight), Smoke Baby, Autumn’s Here, Ilfracombe

CD Odyssey Disc 499: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

My apologies for the week of silence (hey, Tennyson took ten years people!).  My excuse is far less morose, thankfully.  It is just I rolled an album with a full eighty minutes of music on it right over the Easter holiday, so it was a bit of a slog to find uninterrupted listening time.

I gave it a full listen eventually, but it admittedly wore me out.  Today I even put it away early and walked to work listening to Nightwish instead.  Later in the car I switched to Motorhead.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement of interest.

Disc 499 is… Piano Concertos Nos. 23 & 24

Artist: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Year of Release: recorded in 1965-68 with the excellent London Symphony Orchestra, but the music is originally from 1782 to 1786.

What’s up with the Cover?  When you’re this big in the music scene, you get a statue.  What is Mozart’s statue idly pointing at, though?  Giving directions to some Vienna tourists?  Telling someone to move along?  The answer is lost in the mists of time.

How I Came To Know It:  Everyone knows Mozart.  This was just me trying to flesh out my classical music collection a bit, which remains woefully inadequate.

How It Stacks Up:  I only have two Mozart albums; this one and the Coronation Mass.  I prefer this one.

Rating:  4 stars.

I guess with titles like “Piano Concerto No. 23” you should expect a fair bit of piano, but whoa, little did I realize just how much would be involved when I got into this stuff.

Both Concerto No. 23 and No. 24 start off pretty promising, with great flourishes of string sections.  I love the sound of a fiddle even when it is played as the more sedate violin, so the opening movements of both Concertos appealed to me.

However, it isn’t too long before the opening bars are being repeated by piano, and the violins are kicked to the musical curb so somebody can noodle his way up and down the keys.  A violin sets the stage, and a piano repeats and then runs off with it.  It reminded me of when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant would riff off of one another on a Zeppelin song.

Like with Zeppelin, I found myself admiring the virtuosity of the experience but falling in and out of the mood because of the excess noodling.  Usually this was because the piano solos go on a little too long.  It’s like the composer is deliberately focused on the piano for some reason…

Anyway, a quick word on Mozart, who is self-evidently brilliant and a huge influence not only on later classical artists but a lot of modern music.  I think it no accident that when I grew tired of repeats of these concertos my first instinct was to play Nightwish, which is symphonic metal.  Obviously it isn’t as complicated, but the intricate relationships between the instruments (in Nightwish’s case, vocal, guitar power chords and double bass) take a lot of their inspiration from classical music.

Both Piano Concerto No. 23 (in A Major) and No. 24 (in C Minor) were written in 1786 and they have a lot in common.  Both have three movements, the first and third of which are more up tempo and bright and the second more thoughtful and introspective.  These large shifts is what keeps a piece of classical music like this interesting over the long haul (the two ‘songs’ are twenty-five and twenty-nine minutes long respectively). That said, the middle frames have sections that are a bit too “fifties Disney” sounding.  Maybe I first heard them in fifties Disney movies and that’s why I think that, but I couldn’t shake it, and it lessened the experience a bit.

Although not advertised in the title of the CD, this disc also had two Rondos (both written in 1782); “Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in D Major” and that Rondo I’m sure you were hoping I’d mention, “Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in A Major.”  O, Rondo in A Major, you sly minx, you.

I wasn’t sure what a rondo was, but to my ear they sound like a little musical call-and-answer session between two themes.  They fit well on this album, as they tend to establish the theme first with strings, then answer with piano, and then spend a third section blending them together, as though Mozart wants to say “behold how cleverly my two themes blend together into one!  Huzzah!”  Presumably he would say this while wearing some outrageous outfit and a curled wig; puffing his chest out and making exaggerated flourishes with his hands.  Such were the times.

Anyway, the musical progression takes four or five minutes and then repeats with a slight variation, so the two rondos are eleven and eight minutes long respectively, and both are lively and enjoyable.  One person I talked with about them thought they were used for dance music in the day, and I could totally see that.  On balance I prefer a girl who can do the hustle to a girl who wears a bustle but I could make it work.  You know what they say - when in Vienna…

As with all classical music, it is best when you take the time to relax and let it soak over you; even playing it right now on headphones while writing this review I am enjoying it more than I did on my walks to and from work, principally because there is less visual distraction.  Classical music is not background music, and if you play it that way you are missing out on the experience.

Overall I liked these tracks, but I didn’t love them.  I think the answer is next time to go with a violin concerto and put the focal point on the instrument that makes my ear the happiest.

Best tracks:  I think I like the rondos more than the concertos overall, but maybe that’s just the modern rock music guy in me looking for my music in more digestible bites.