CD Odyssey Disc 871: Tom Petty

The randomness of the CD Odyssey sometimes seems to have a strange magnetism, where I roll multiple albums by the same artist in a short span. Such a trend may be happening with Tom Petty. I reviewed “Southern Accents” only three albums ago and he’s back already. One more and we’ve got a trend…

Disc 871 is….Self-Titled

Artist: Tom Petty

Year of Release: 1976

What’s up with the Cover? Would you let your daughter date this man? What if I told you he would go on to sell 80 million albums? Still no? True, he does look like a reprobate, but he is one hell of a singer/songwriter.

How I Came To Know It: This is just another one of Tom Petty’s albums that I purchased a few years back when I was filling out my collection. Having a classic like “American Girl” on it didn’t hurt its chances to make it into the collection either.

How It Stacks Up:  I have fifteen Tom Petty albums (12 with the Heartbreakers and 3 solo). This is all of them except the “She’s the One” soundtrack. I know what you’re thinking - that I must be crazy for not having that one – but don’t worry; I’m sure it’ll happen. Anyway, of the fifteen I do have, I’ll put his self-titled debut in at a solid seventh, bumping “Into the Great Wide Open” down one spot in the process. Sorry ITGWO, but it happens.

Ratings: 4 stars

Raw and rambunctious. Those are the words that came to mind as I listened to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ first release. It is a brazen, groundbreaking collection of songs that has no doubt influenced countless artists in the 40 years since its release.

Only ten songs and 30 minutes long, this album says what it wants to say in a hurry and then switches off the amp and leaves the stadium while the crowd is still cheering. In some ways it is so fast and furious that it is over before it seems I can fully wrap my head around it, but that just leaves me wanting more. This is a far superior approach to albums that linger well past the 50 minute mark and have you looking at your watch by the end.

In some ways this album feels like it is all over the place, with elements of boogie woogie, country, new wave and Buddy Holly-style melodies. The opening track, “Rockin’ Around (With You)” has a bit of all four, and has no business working, but somehow Tom Petty’s vision shines through and makes it beat the odds.

I didn’t always enjoy all the competing sounds on the record, but at no point did it cross the line and become self-serving or ego-driven. Even the songs that weren’t my favourites (like the aforementioned “Rockin’ Around”) still impressed me musically.

Right after that crazy opening, the band mellows things out with the bluesy and moody “Breakdown” which manages to have a killer guitar riff, a killer bassline riff and a killer organ riff. Instead of competing with each other, each instrument is made better by the other two. Add in the grit and squall of Tom Petty’s vocal and you have a song that sticks in your head in an altogether enjoyable way.

Of the deep tracks (i.e. the ones you won’t hear on the radio) my favourite is “The Wild One, Forever.” This is a song about desperate and dangerous young love that you might expect to hear on a Springsteen album. The lyrics are simple as they paint a picture of the possibility of a great love:

“Well the moon sank as the wind blew

And the street lights slowly died

Yeah they called you the wild one

Said stay away from her

Said she couldn’t love no one if she tried.

“But then somethin’ I saw in your eyes

Told me right away

That you were gonna have to be mine.”

It doesn’t even matter that by the end of the song that this was a love that only lasted a few hours. In a way it makes it better. This is an album about youthful vigor and restless energy, combined with a prescient understanding that life is short.  Late night love affairs don’t come around every day, so when they do dive in with both feet. Or if you want to be on the safe side, just listen to the song and get a taste of the experience.

When you have an album this short and energized you can do something crazy like put your best song last, which is exactly what Petty does with “American Girl.” Forty years after it was released this song still sounds fresh and full of angst as ever. This is an anthem for all those people who need to run away, even if they can never escape themselves. It isn’t clear what this American girl is running from, but it doesn’t matter. We all want to run from something and similar to “The Wild One, Forever” this song lets you experience what that feels like without having to quit your job.

In a way, these two songs are a microcosm for the whole album. anthems to rebellion, fuelled by an instinctual knowledge that our days are numbered, so you might as well get on with all that youthful indiscretion while you still can.

Best tracks:  Breakdown, The Wild One Forever, Strangered in the Night, Fooled Again (I Don’t Like It), American Girl

CD Odyssey Disc 870: Hank Williams III

Greetings, gentle folk! Today I have the day off, and I plan to spend it doing whatever I want to do. Let’s make the first thing…a music review!

OK, technically the first thing was a coffee. But now…a music review!

Disc 870 is….Risin’ Outlaw

Artist: Hank Williams III

Year of Release: 1999

What’s up with the Cover? A pair of boots. If I saw those boots in a vintage store I would totally want them, until I realized that the left one was held together with duct tape. Then I would totally not want them. If I saw these boots on my car seat (as they appear to be here) I would say “Get your damned boots off the seat, Hank!” A fistfight would ensue, and Hank would win because he is hard core country, and I am just a guy with a blog. As Hank would say, “if the shoe fits wear it, and if the truth hurts bear it.”

How I Came To Know It: I learned about Hank III from a woman named Karen I used to work with at Treasury Board Staff in the Provincial Government back in 2000. This was the album she recommended back then. I’ve only run into her a few times over the past 15 years but “Risin’ Outlaw” has been a constant companion because of her. Thanks, Karen!

How It Stacks Up:  I have six Hank III albums. They all have their charm but I’ll put “Risin’ Outlaw” in at #2.

Ratings: 3 stars

A lot of people tell me they don’t like country music, and on the surface it is easy to see why. The top 40 country music coming out of Nashville for the past twenty years or so is awful. However, it would be a mistake to dismiss all country out of hand. There are amazing acts toiling on the edges of the industry that are making gritty, edgy, thought-provoking music that is 100% country. Hank Williams III is one of these.

“Risin’ Outlaw” is Hank III’s first album, as he began his journey to step out of long shadow cast by his grandfather, and the deep hole dug by his father. It isn’t easy to answer for the legacy of the former or the sins of the latter, but Hank III does a great job of ignoring the noise and staying true to himself.

Hank III clearly wants to create that distance, with “I Don’t Know” starting some classic country twang and opening the album with these lines:

“I might get drunk and rob a bank

Shoot my car if it don’t crank.”

Translation: I am going to do my own thing with this music, and I can’t say where it is going to end up for any of us. He would go on to do outlaw country, death metal and some kind of punk/rock/country mix all its own, so I’d say he lived up to his own hype.

There is an irony here, because all of the tracks on “Risin’ Outlaw” are written by other artists, so while all the honkytonk throwback songs may speak to the type of artist Hank III wants to become, they aren’t him speaking directly to us as he does on his later albums.

Fortunately, the songs chosen suit Hank III’s vibe very well, with themes of heartache, drinkin’, drugs and dangerous women sprinkled liberally through the album. These same themes will be featured on his later works where he clearly has more creative control. The composition of all of the songs is stellar, but I did miss some of the edge and potty-mouthed fare that Hank himself would sing later.

These songs definitely hearken back to Hank senior, and it was refreshing for the sound to return. It reminded me of what Dwight Yoakam was trying to do a few years prior. “What Did Love Ever Do To You” could easily be a Dwight Yoakam song with its mix of rockabilly and traditional country, but for the most part these songs are more Hank senior and less Yoakam.

Because the songs are so traditionally composed, they can sometimes stray into sounding derivative, but they are so good you forgive it and go along for the ride. Also Hank III is the real deal, and puts everything he has into the performance. You can tell that music is important to him, even when the songs are written by someone else.

Also a quick word on the musicians who accompany Hank III, all of whom are excellent. In particular stand-up bass player Jason Brown, who grounds these songs with a playful honky tonk sound that winks at the traditional while infusing the bottom end of the songs that is thoroughly modern.

In some ways, “Risin’ Outlaw” is a guilty pleasure of mine. It isn’t as edgy as any of Hank III albums that came later, and is probably the most produced of the lot. This should make me like it less, but I can’t resist the songs which are cleverly written and expertly played. For some this is as far as you’d want to go into Hank III’s catalogue, for others it serves as a great entry point for the grittier material to follow. I am definitely part of the latter group.

Best tracks:  I Don’t Know, You’re the Reason, If the Shoe Fits, 87 Southbound, Lonesome for You, 

CD Odyssey Disc 869: Gordon Lightfoot

After a lovely four day weekend it was back to the workin’ world today. That’s OK though, because I am a glass half full kind of guy, and I had Gord to keep me company there and back again.

Disc 869 is….Gord’s Gold

Artist: Gordon Lightfoot

Year of Release: 1975 but featuring music from 1969-1975 (and even 1966-68 if you count the re-recorded versions of earlier tracks).

What’s up with the Cover? This cover tells me two things:

1. No one does a ‘giant head’ album cover like Gordon Lightfoot. Just look at that beautiful man staring cool and confident out into the world.
2. Who Star Lord’s father is in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie.

How I Came To Know It: My mom owned this album on vinyl back when I was a kid. She played it a lot, and so did I. It was one of a handful of records from my mom’s collection that would get in regular rotation alongside my brother’s KISS and Blue Oyster Cult collection.

How It Stacks Up:  This is a compilation album so it doesn’t stack up. However, as compilation albums go it is a hell of a lot better than the risible “Gord’s Gold Vol. 2” (reviewed way back at Disc 107).

As an aside back at Disc 107 I wasn’t yet doing the “What’s Up with the Cover?” feature. That’s too bad, because I would have enjoyed savaging Gord’s grandpa sweater and mom jeans.

Ratings: compilations don’t get a rating.

Like I said in the teaser, I am a glass half full kind of guy, but it wasn’t always so. I wasn’t a happy kid. Not miserable or anything, but definitely more on the quiet side. I did a lot of my learning about the world through books and music back then, and while I’m hardly quiet anymore the books and music have stuck.

Gord’s Gold was a big part of that early experience. This was the Gordon Lightfoot album everyone owned, and our house was no exception. I’d slip it out of the paper jacket with all the reverence and dignity that my brother Virgil had taught me to treat a record with.

Then I’d settle down when I was feeling low - or maybe just thoughtful - and let Gord’s easygoing wisdom open my very young mind (I would have been about five when this record came out).

The song’s on Gord’s Gold are like old friends, except they are older than old friends. They are like relatives, like kind uncles. These were songs that showed me that a big man could be gentle and relaxed.

Many of the lessons Gord taught I was too young at first to properly understand, but accompanied by his even, slightly nasal tone, and his trilling guitar, I emotionally understood what they were about and have circled back to them year after year.

With “Don Quixote” and “Circle of Steel” Gord taught me about social injustice, from the perspectives of both those who fight it and those who are ground under by it. As a kid I just liked the heroic tale of Don Quixote. It was only later I recognized the social commentary. Years after that I realized the original story was a comedy that Lightfoot had repurposed. Whatever the tone of the story, Lightfoot gave me a romantic appreciation for the quixotic long before I ever used the word.

Lightfoot taught me about debauchery with “Steel Rail Blues” (about a guy who gambles away his train ticket) and “Early Morning Rain” (about a guy who drinks away his air fare). I’ve only ever managed the cab fare blues on this front, but I can attest to it being equal parts regret and adventure, just like in the songs.

Gord introduced me to heartbreak as well, although there is really no introduction to that until you’ve had it firsthand. Still, listening to “Ribbon of Darkness” and “If You Could Read My Mind” I knew that it was something great and terrible. When I was five I thought “Carefree Highway” was what happened when it was over. Then I lost my first great love and learned what “the morning after, blues/from my head down to my shoes” actually feels like. Thanks for the warning, Gord. Also, thanks for the song when it happened so I had something to keep me company when I felt most alone.

But the best thing “Gord’s Gold” ever taught me was how to be happy. Happiness is a state of mind, and these songs put me in it. The ones that really appealed were “Wherefore and Why” and “Rainy Day People”. The first song teaches you the secret to happiness:

“Come on sunshine, what can you show me

Where can you take me to make me understand?

The wind can shake me, brothers forsake me

The rain can touch me, but can I touch the rain?

“Then all at once it came to me, I saw the wherefore

And you can see it if you try

It's in the sun above, it's in the one you love

You'll never know the reason why.”

Sound like a lot of hippy mumbo-jumbo? Maybe, but take a deep breath and read it again. Gord is saying, ‘relax and take it all in.’ Try it, it works. And once it’s in you, you can pass it on, which brings us to “Rainy Day People”:

“Rainy day people always seem to know when you're feeling blue

High stepping strutters who land in the gutter sometimes need one too

Take it or leave it, or try to believe it, if you've been down too long

Rainy day lovers don't hide love inside they just pass it on.”

I’ve been lucky to have a few rainy day people in my life over the years, and on my better moments I try to remember to be one.

This record isn’t perfect. Gord inexplicably re-recorded the earliest tracks (no doubt yelling “why the hell should people recognize my hits!”). Fortunately in 1975 he was still at the height of his talents, and the re-dos are solid. Also, the “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” is a bit too CBC after-school special for my tastes.

Other than that though, this is some solid stuff, from one of the original rainy day people in my life. It may be just a lowly greatest hits album, but forty years later, “Gord’s Gold” still puts me in a thoughtful and meditative mood, open-hearted and eager to learn.

Best tracks:  Wherefore and Why, Bitter Green, Early Morning Rain, Sundown, Rainy Day People, Don Quixote, Old Dan’s Records, If You Could Read My Mind, Carefree Highway

CD Odyssey Disc 868: Tom Petty

I had the day off today and while doing some errands I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in five years or more and we went for an impromptu coffee. Then I ran into another friend, had another chat, and ended with a visit to the CD store, so it was a pretty pleasant day all around.

At the CD store I bought five albums (two Drive-By Truckers, a Bonnie Prince Billie, an Alejandro Escovedo and another Uncle Tupelo). Based on my purchases lately, it is clear that southern-fried rock is appealing to me, so it is timely that I rolled another album in that genre.

Disc 868 is….Southern Accents

Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Year of Release: 1985

What’s up with the Cover? An 1865 painting by Winslow Homer entitled “The Veteran in a New Field.” It is a fitting title for an album where an old rock ‘n’ roller like Tom Petty is trying on the trappings of a new age (the eighties). Tom should have taken a deeper lesson from the painting and noted that the old veteran is relying on a traditional scythe. No need for synthesizers and drum machines to mow down this field of grain.

How I Came To Know It: Some time ago I decided to plunge with both feet into Tom Petty’s discography. I knew “Don’t Come Around Here No More” from the Alice in Wonderland video for the song, and liked it. I was hoping for the best, but to be honest I was just happy to find more Tom Petty to buy. When I like an artist I get a little insatiable.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 15 studio albums by Tom Petty (some solo, some with the Heartbreakers). Of these, “Southern Accents” comes in at number 9. It is a good album, but Tom Petty has made a lot of good records and a few great ones, so competition is stiff.

Ratings: 3 stars

I had bad memories of eighties production on “Southern Accents” and when I rolled it, I braced myself for a negative experience. Instead I was pleasantly surprised.

That isn’t to say there isn’t some annoying eighties production on this record, because there is. The drums have no oomph throughout, and the horn flourishes on “Make It Better (Forget About Me)” and “The Best of Everything” are ill-placed and awkward.

“Mary’s New Car” is the worst offender, with Petty trying to do his best Cars’ New Wave impersonation and falling far short. “Mary’s New Car” also has the worst saxophone touches. It is like the dung in a wattle and daub house, except it makes everything fall apart, instead of holding it together.

Fortunately, the album features some of Petty’s strongest songwriting and the good songs are very good. They are so heartfelt and honest that they overcome the production to the point where you hardly notice it at all.

The album opens with “Rebels” which compares the rebellion of the south with a disaffected youth in the modern south. The rebel in “Rebels” is loaded with individual faults, keenly aware of his heritage of defeat, and feeling it in his daily life. The music is brash and angry, feeding perfectly into its subject matter.

The title track, “Southern Accents,” finishes side one the way “Rebels” starts it, with an examination of what it is to be from the south. Unlike the brazen “Rebels,” “Southern Accents” is introspective and thoughtful. The character makes just as many mistakes, but seems more resigned to it. The song is laced with a dignity for surviving against the odds, and on your own terms. The character dreams small and slow, but he is earnest:

“Now that drunk tank in Atlanta’s

Just a motel room to me.

Think I might go work Orlando

If them orange groves don’t freeze

I got my own way of workin’

But everything is run with a southern accent

Where I come from.”

The album is most famous for “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” which is co-written with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. Stewart knows how to make eighties production work to his advantage, and combined with Petty’s brilliance at turning three chords into something amazing, this song is the perfect blend of new wave and old southern rock. It is rightfully famous, and not just because of the music video.

Side Two (or the second half of the CD, if you prefer) was a bit of a letdown for me, and features all the songs I was complaining about earlier in the review. That said, while “The Best of Everything” is marred by bad horn, it is held together with some well-placed piano bits from Benmont Tench. It ends the whole album on an up-note and reminded me that in the final tally, “Southern Accents” rises above a few mis-steps to land as a solid rock album worth more of my attention and praise than I have given it in the past.

Best tracks:  Rebels, Don’t Come Around Here No More, Southern Accents, The Best of Everything

CD Odyssey Disc 867: Uncle Tupelo

I heard sad news today, with the announcement that singer/songwriter Guy Clark has died at the age of 74. Guy was an inspiration to songwriters everywhere for the past forty-plus years and will be missed.

Thanks for all the great music, Guy, and for reminding us to “spread your wings, hold your breath and always trust your cape.”

Disc 867 is….No Depression

Artist: Uncle Tupelo

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover? I call this a “Jones Cola” cover because it reminds me of the amateur photos featured on the side of a bottle of Jones Cola. I think it works for a cola bottle, but not as CD cover art. Make more of an effort, Uncle Tupelo!

How I Came To Know It: My friend Brennan introduced me to Uncle Tupelo sometime in the last two or three years. I can’t remember what song or songs he sent me, but it piqued my interest enough for me to dig deeper and listen to their body of work. I bought “No Depression” not long after.

How It Stacks Up:  I have two Uncle Tupelo albums, this one and the follow up “Still Feel Gone.” I have tentative plans to get their other two albums (they only released four). For now of the two I have, “No Depression” is my favourite.

Ratings: 4 stars

Uncle Tupelo’s “No Depression” doesn’t fit into an easy category. Southern rock crossed with country I suppose, with a healthy dose of what nowadays you would call ‘indie’ but back in 1990 we would’ve called “university rock.”

I don’t remember hearing these guys at university, but they could have easily been on the campus pub jukebox alongside Spirit of the West and the Crash Test Dummies. Not knowing them then was my loss.

The band’s principal lineup at this time was Jay Farrar, Mike Heidorn and Jeff Tweedy (the latter would go on to found Wilco to the widespread acclaim and rousing ‘huzzahs!” of music critics). The album has similarities to Wilco’s first album “A.M.” (reviewed way back at Disc 84). It has the same folksy foundations dressed up in rock and roll clothes, as if Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were playing a backyard barbeque.

Tweedy is rightfully respected as an innovative songwriter, but Farrar and Heidorn are equally important (Farrar perhaps even more so). Consequently, these songs are distinct from anything Tweedy did later with Wilco, but just as interesting. I particularly liked the phrasing of the vocals, which generally play around the edge of the song’s timing for maximum emotional impact. This, combined with songs that rarely come back to rest at their melodic beginnings, give the whole album a restless feel.

The songs are about a gritty and industrial south and the hard-scrabble characters that inhabit that harsh landscape. As the song “Whiskey Bottle” notes, the stories are about “people chasing money and money getting away.” Most tracks pick up the narrative where dreams are already broken and people are either picking up the pieces or (more often) too tired to bother anymore. Even a song with a hopeful title like “Life Worth Livin’” is grim and depressing:

"This song is sung for anyone that's listening

This song is for the broken-spirited man

This song is for anyone left standing

After the strain of a slow sad end

"It seems everybody wants what someone else has

And there's sorrow enough for all, just go in any bar and ask

With a beer in each hand and a smile in between

All around's a world grown mean"

Given this backdrop, it is no surprise that of the only two cover songs on the album, one is from Great Depression (the Carter Family’s “No Depression”) and the other is about a desperate outlaw (“John Hardy”).

This album is a grim portrait of the have-nots. Where Springsteen finds nobility in the hard done-by, Uncle Tupelo chooses to point out the ugly truths. The characters that hang out on the back porch on “Screen Door” say about their condition: “down here, where we’re at, everybody is equally poor.” The man waiting for a train to pass in “Train” takes the chance to review his prospects:

“A quarter after two

Sittin' in my car, watching

Waiting on a train

Ninety-seven flatcars

Loaded down with troop trucks and tanks

Rolling by.

“I'm twenty-one, and I'm scared as hell

I quit school, I'm healthy as a horse

Because of all that I'll be the first one to die in a war.”

Why would you want to listen to such a bunch of depressing music? Because it is really good depressing music. Because it is good to get out of your skin sometime and be reminded that not everyone is as lucky as you are. Or maybe because you’re having a down day, and just need a good wallow. That is OK too.

“No Depression” features a stripped down production that perfectly matches its stark subject matter, and while neither Tweedy nor Farrar have powerhouse vocals, the angst in their tone is perfectly suited to what they are creating.

This record doesn’t give you a break, just like its characters don’t get one. Despite this there is a strange undercurrent of hope, a pining in the chord structure that if nothing else, reminds us that we’re all in this thing together. Even though the album’s characters can’t vocalize it, or shake off the lethargy of their overburdened lives, there it is, lurking in the music.

Ultimately it is the music that hangs in the background as the one final rebellion against all the injustice in the world. When I finally pieced that together, I realized that there was some idealism in here after all. I also realized just how clever this record is to be both that honest and that subversive at the same time.

Best tracks:  Graveyard Shift, No Depression, Factory Belt, Whiskey Bottle, Train, Life Worth Livin’, Screen Door, 

CD Odyssey Disc 866: Blue Oyster Cult

This next album is my favourite album by my favourite band, so if I wax poetic, please be understanding.

Disc 866 is….Secret Treaties

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 1974

What’s up with the Cover? An illustration of the band in front of an ME 262 Messerschmitt, the world’s first jet fighter. They were developed by Germany, but this one is in the service of the Blue Oyster Cult Air Force (note the insignia on the tail).

In front we have the band looking a bit out of place, but somehow still totally cool, except maybe Eric Bloom who with T-shirt and cape looks like a nerd at a comic convention. In front of the band are some dogs, no doubt fixed and consequent.

That last sentence was for serious BOC fans only.

How I Came To Know It: I grew up with Blue Oyster Cult, so I’ve know this album for most of my life.

How It Stacks Up:  I have eleven studio albums by Blue Oyster Cult. “Secret Treaties” is my favourite. #1, baby!

Ratings: 5 stars

“Secret Treaties” is innovative and musically brave to the point of being foolhardy, yet never lets that innovation get in the way of being one of rock and roll’s greatest records.

The songs have strange rhythms, unorthodox time signatures, and psychedelic neo-Lovecraftian lyrics all thrown into a soup of sound. This should result in a muddy mess, but “Secret Treaties” never take a wrong step, consistently rocking out amidst all the prog.

A big part of this is how tight the band plays. Blue Oyster Cult is one of those bands that is blessed with great musicians who care about their craft. They are precise in their timing, but also possessed of that organic quality of musicians who have played together so long they are able to anticipate each other’s subtle nuance and build off of it.

The record opens with “Career of Evil,” with music by drummer Albert Bouchard and lyrics by Patti Smith (who was dating BOC keyboardist/guitarist Allen Lanier at the time). “Career of Evil” sets the stage for what is to come perfectly. Yes it rocks out, but in a very unorthodox way. First a lilting guitar riff, which then shifts multiple times, almost sounding like four different songs glued together. The only part of the song that sounds like a conventional rock anthem is the chorus, and yet it feels like a rock song throughout.

For all its craziness, “Career of Evil” is probably the most radio friendly song on the record. The next track, “Subhuman” is a bizarre and beautiful prog song, shifting back and forth between eldritch and arcane rhythms and a moody melody that evokes the mysteries of the sea. Buck Dharma’s guitar playing is sublime here as well, and as ever with Blue Oyster Cult, nestled evenly in the mix; there if you want to marvel at it, but not rudely above the mix of the rest of the players.

With “Dominance and Submission” the band completes a trio of bat-shit crazy rock songs that tease your ear with musical constructions they just aren’t used to. Then the boys switch gears with “ME262” which is like a cross between garage rock, Chuck Berry and some sort of proto-punk. It is bat-shit crazy as well, but a different bat-shit crazy.

Side Two opens with a couple of strange tracks, “Cagey Cretins” and “Harvester of Eyes.” “Cagey Cretins” has lyrics that include:

“I’m graduating in one more term

Because I haven’t any time to burn

Repeating taste of high-heeled shoe

An eel is waiting under the train

Being chased around by the neighbour’s cat

Well it’s so lonely in the state of Maine.”

I have no idea what this song is about. “Harvester of Eyes” is more understandable; it’s about some man or creature that harvests eyes. And it bears repeating, both these bizarre tracks are great rock songs.

The album saves the best for last, with two epic tracks, “Flaming Telepaths” and “Astronomy”.

“Flaming Telepaths” is a glorious blend of creepy piano, thunderous electric guitar riffs and lyrics that are grandiose and bizarre, evoking some dark world where magic, science and horror all meet. The song opens:

“Well I’ve opened up my veins too many times

And the poison’s in my heart and in my mind

Poison’s in my bloodstream

Poison’s in my pride

I’m after rebellion

I’ll settle for lies”

This song is the precursor to 1981’s “Veteran of the Psychic Wars,” telling a similar tale of someone who has delved into knowledge best left undisturbed. You might be tempted based on those lyrics that it is simply about drug use, but with BOC nothing is ever so simple. There is always some darker layer of the subconscious bubbling into a song’s music and lyrics.

“Astronomy” is an epic track about travel through time and space. Creepy mansions, mystical bars and ancient artifacts spun into a tale of wonder and mystery. The song is a mainstay of BOC’s live shows, and rightfully so. It is complex, full of shifts and unexpected turns, but also loaded with exceptional musicianship and rock riffs. It has a little something for everyone.

This edition of “Secret Treaties” is a remastered CD, with four bonus tracks. While not at the same level as the original eight tracks, the bonus material is very cool, particularly “Boorman the Chauffer” (sic) and “Mes Dames Sarat”. The band does a great version of “Born to be Wild” as well, previously only available on live albums. It is fun to hear their studio version, which does a good job of capturing the energy of their live performance. I could have lived without the misogynist “Mommy” and the superfluous single edit of “Career of Evil” but these are minor quibbles.

“Secret Treaties” is the third and final of BOC’s early prog phase, and the lessons learned on their self-titled debut and 1973’s “Tyranny and Mutation” are applied to perfection. Keep it strange, trust in your dark muse and fear nothing. Their next album, “Agents of Fortune” (reviewed back at Disc 463) feels positively mainstream by comparison.

This is a complex and dense rock album that despite hundreds of listens over forty-plus years continues to reveal new secrets to me. Because of this complexity, it can be jarring to the ear on a first listen, and I don’t recommend it as a newcomer’s first foray into the Blue Oyster Cult canon (for that, go with “Fire of Unknown Origin” reviewed back at Disc 751). However, make no mistake, this is one of the greatest rock records ever made, and worth the time you will invest getting to know it better.

Best tracks:  all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 865: Cake

Another good day at work followed by a little socializing at the end of the day has left me feeling in a mellow mood.

Disc 865 is….B-Sides and Rarities

Artist: Cake

Year of Release: 2007

What’s up with the Cover? I usually enjoy Cake’s simple yet evocative album covers and this is no exception. Nice touch to have the drawing of the car upside down to represent the “b-side’ of the album.

How I Came To Know It: I was already an avowed Cake fan when this album was released, so this was just me buying their latest record on spec.

How It Stacks Up:  I have seven Cake albums, which is all of them. Of those seven “B-Sides and Rarities” is more a collection of odds and ends than a studio album, but it is close enough for me to rank it. Sadly, it falls into seventh – or last – place. It is still enjoyable, but not as good as the rest of the Cake anthology.

Ratings: 3 stars

Cake has a style that is unlike any other band I’ve heard, which makes hearing their take on songs made famous by other artists that much more interesting. Cake takes each song and reinterprets it, creating a conversation between them and the original track in the process.

The album begins with Black Sabbath’s classic “War Pigs.” I have three other versions of this song including: the original, a live version with Dio as the lead singer and a cover by Faith No More. I like all the versions, demonstrating that a great song shines through no matter what. Cake brings their amazing indie funk timing to the equation. I’m not sure there is a rock band which keeps better time than Cake, and a groove-driven song like “War Pigs” just serves as a showcase for their talents.

The hits keep coming with a cover of “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” which was made famous by Kenny Rogers some 35 years earlier. Cake takes a country song full of heartache, speeds it up and infuses it with a desperate energy that showcases the tragic lyrics in a new and yet entirely recognizable way. All cover songs wish they could be this perfect combination of deferential and clever.

Cake’s strong work continues on the rest of the album, but unfortunately the remaining songs didn’t hold my attention the same. “Mahna Mahna” is as brilliant as anything I remember from the Muppet Show (and that was good). “Excuse Me, I Think I Have a Heartache” is a nice blend of honky tonk hurt and Cake’s big-band flavoured rockabilly approach to the song. I have nothing to complain about on either song except that neither track has ever interested me overmuch. It isn’t Cake’s delivery here, so much as their choice of source material.

And this is true for most of the rest of the record, where they take on old standards from the sixties and seventies, infusing them with plenty of their unique energy, but never getting me past the fact that the songs don’t grab me.

One of the most interesting tracks is “Conroy” a Cake-composed instrumental track that walks the edge of rock and electronica. It isn’t a style I would usually enjoy but here I welcomed it, maybe the more so because it is nestled between tracks that feel dated despite Cake’s solid efforts to modernize them.

The album also has a bit of what I would call filler in the form of a live version of “Short Skirt, Long Jacket” and “It’s Coming Down” neither one of which is as good as the studio version appearing on earlier albums. The final song is another live track, this time “War Pigs.” Not only had I heard their superior studio version, it is the opening track on the same album. It just felt repetitive at that point. The album would have been better as a 6 track EP than an 11 track LP with throwaway live versions.

Despite this, the strength of “War Pigs” (studio version) and “Ruby…” made everything worth it. Even the songs that I didn’t like as much became better due to Cake’s talent, elevating this record just north of 3 stars on skill and musicianship alone.

Best tracks:  War Pigs, Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town, Conroy, Thrills

CD Odyssey Disc 864: Til Tuesday

I had a weekend entertaining my mom and brother (happy Mother’s Day, mom!). It was fun showing them around my home town but all that socializing has me a bit knackered.

Fortunately, I had a pretty positive day for a Monday and the week ahead is full of both social events and work challenges. I’m looking forward to both!

Disc 864 is….Voices Carry

Artist: ‘til Tuesday

Year of Release: 1985

What’s up with the Cover? These four look like they stepped out of 1985, but that’s because they did. Aimee Mann now has long straight hair, so it is fun to see her funky eighties haircut, as well as that mix of apprehension and excitement on her face.

How I Came To Know It: I grew up with the song “Voices Carry” but never owned the album (my brother had it on vinyl and Sheila had it on cassette, however). I think I may have bought this for Sheila as a gift. I had a few years there where I mistakenly thought she wanted to revisit all her favourite eighties albums. I’ve since recovered.

How It Stacks Up:  ‘til Tuesday made three albums, but like most people I only have this one so there is no stacking up to be done. I have all eight of Aimee Mann’s solo albums but again, this is not a straight comparison.

Ratings: 2 stars

I’m not a fan of eighties production, and ‘til Tuesday’s debut album, “Voices Carry” did nothing to convince me otherwise. Instead, it almost convinced me of the value in downloading single songs instead of owning a CD just to own one track. Almost.

The production on this record is truly painful. Drum machines panck away in robotic fashion and a synthesizer drones throughout. Every now and then you hear a bass that sounds relatively organic (that’s Aimee Mann playing) but those moments are rare. The lead guitar is practically non-existent, or so overproduced you can’t tell for sure if it is even a guitar. At times I think it might have been a key-tar, but I can’t prove it.

Some albums are so perfectly suited to eighties production that it makes the album even better (like the Cars’ debut and some have songs so powerful they overcome the production decisions (like Springsteeen’s “Tunnel of Love”). “Voices Carry” manages neither. The arrangements are done in New Wave style, but are far too pop-sweet to have to jarring impact New Wave should have. The songs themselves aren’t terrible, but they don’t have what it takes to rise above the mess of synth and drum machine they are buried under.

Lyrically, this record didn’t engage me either. “Love in a Vacuum” is supposed to be a song about a one-sided relationship. Instead, I couldn’t stop imagining it as an upcoming Pixar movie about a bunch of animated dust-motes inside a vacuum cleaner.

Because, let’s face it, this album is all about the title track. “Voices Carry” is a great song, with a chugging guitar riff and pretty hook that has withstood the test of time. Everything that makes large swathes of this record fail, function beautifully on this song. Mann’s voice is waifish, but it sounds vulnerable and sweet here, not affected. The synthesizer is unearthly and even a little majestic, rather than artificial. This song is a winner, so much so that ‘til Tuesday is fated to be remembered only for it. If you have to be a one-hit wonder, this is a fine track to have as your legacy.

There are a couple of other OK songs that also appealed to me. “You Know the Rest” is all about the synth, but makes it work in a “Clannad meets Belinda Carlisle” kind of way. “Sleep” is the final track on the album and manages to draw me into an emotional connection. It is still very eighties, but has a genuine feeling of loss about it that shines through. Springsteen would be proud, even if it came a bit too late.

Aimee Mann is one of my favourite pop artists these days, and over the past twenty years she has released some of the greatest (and most woefully underappreciated) pop albums ever made. On “Voices Carry” she is still finding her style. Maybe it is revisionist history, but it feels like her talents are trapped in the confines of ‘til Tuesday’s style, and it doesn’t suit her. Lucky for all of us she went on to have an amazing career. Even this first effort has its moments, and is worth keeping in the collection.

Best tracks:  Voices Carry, You Know the Rest, Sleep

CD Odyssey Disc 863: Emmylou Harris

Greetings and welcome back to the CD Odyssey. Let’s get this show on the road without further ado – I’ve got places to be!

Disc 863 is….Blue Kentucky Girl

Artist: Emmylou Harris

Year of Release: 1979

What’s up with the Cover? Emmylou appears to the main attraction at an old western saloon, but they may throw her out when they realize she’s three dimensional.

In other news, this cover is a reminder of just how horrid country music fashion was in 1979. The guys in the background look more stylish.

How I Came To Know It: I was just drilling through Emmylou’s back catalogue a few years ago and took a rider on this album.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 11 of Emmylou Harris’ solo albums. I put “Blue Kentucky Girl” in 8^th place. Really it is really in a statistical tie with “Roses in the Snow” (reviewed back at Disc 459) for 7^th place. Not the greatest Emmylou album ever, but respectable in a strong field.

Ratings: 3 stars

“Blue Kentucky Girl” is not at the same level as Emmylou’s first four solo albums, but it is only a small step down from those lofty heights.

By now, long time readers will know exactly what I think of Emmylou and her voice, but for the new readers, let me sum up. Emmylou Harris has the voice of an angel. High, airy and powerful, it has a quaver full of heartache or sass, depending on what is called for. This album put’s her instrument on full display. On “Rough and Rocky” she sounds like she’s at the top of her range, powerful and pure, and then two thirds of the way into the song she shifts the key up, and shows you she’s got plenty more power under the hood.

Emmylou’s singing makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Whether she’s singing about heartache, (“Beneath Still Waters”), nostalgia (“Hickory Wind”) or enduring love (“Save the Last Dance for Me”) she draws you in like a siren.

As an entire album, the quality of songs on “Blue Kentucky Girl” aren’t consistently at the same level as those on “Elite Hotel” or “Quarter Moon In a Ten Cent Town” but side one certainly is, and is there that all the best tracks reside.

“Sister’s Coming Home” is an up-tempo song that sounds celebratory, until you realize that the song is about unwanted pregnancy. Emmylou has always been at the forefront of blazing trails for female country singers. She sang about topics that were uncomfortable, giving them depth and nuance through the strength and conviction of her delivery. In under three minutes of “Sister’s Coming Home” you know that momma doesn’t like the baby’s father, and that the sister in question is more than a little on the wild side herself. What does sister do when she’s safely back at home?

“Down at the local beer joint

Dancin’ on the hardwood floor

Her jeans fit a little bit tighter

Than they did before.”

Maybe it’s a last tour of the honkey tonks before the responsibility of motherhood, but that isn’t the impression I got.

Emmylou writes a pretty country song when the mood takes her, but she’s always been just as happy singing other people’s songs. Fortunately, she has an uncanny talent for picking the perfect songs. On “Blue Kentucky Girl” she finds great songs from the likes of Doc Pomus, Willie Nelson, Earl Scruggs and Rodney Crowell (who at this time was still an integral part of her “Hot Band”).

Emmylou’s muse will always be Gram Parsons, and the entry on this record is “Hickory Wind,” which is so perfect that having heard it, I have a hard time remembering the original version by the Byrds. When I put it on my first thought was, “good, but not as good as Emmylou.” Sorry, Gram.

Side One ends with “Save the Last Dance for Me,” a Doc Pomus song that sounds like a mix of country and an old sixties pop track (which makes sense, given it was first recorded by the Drifters in 1960). This is a song about love strong enough that it is never jealous. A woman tells her man to have a fun time drinking and dancing, and all she asks is that he save the last dance for her. It is a song of trust from someone who knows she has nothing to worry about.

The second half of the album was a strange mix of very traditional sounding songs, with late seventies production values. While this isn’t the first time Emmylou has tried to mix styles (she learned from the best, in Gram Parsons) it didn’t work for me as the album progressed. These are not bad songs by any stretch, but they just didn’t blow me away like the opening half of the album.

“Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” finishes the album, and it is the best song of side two. It is written by Rodney Crowell, who next to Gram Parsons, has always had an uncanny insight into who Emmylou is as an artist, and how to find her voice.

“Blue Kentucky Girl” isn’t the first Emmylou album you should seek out, but it is definitely worth having if you like her style, and as the last album she released in the seventies, sends the decade off in style.

Best tracks:  Sister’s Coming Home, Beneath Still Waters, Rough and Rocky, Hickory Wind, Save the Last Dance for Me

CD Odyssey Disc 862: Creedence Clearwater Revival

It feels like a long and disconnected week and it is only Wednesday. On the plus side I’ve had a creative surge, getting work done on my book, working on my second original rap song (because, why not) and even playing a little guitar on the side.

What I haven’t done is write a music review, and that is because this next three-CD set was a mammoth undertaking and I just finished listening to it tonight.

Disc 862 is….Ultimate Creedence Clearwater Revival

Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Year of Release: 2012 but featuring music from 1968 - 1972

What’s up with the Cover? Four guys from the Land that Fashion Forgot. From left to right the members of CCR (based on this cover are): Farmhand, Heartthrob, Undercover Cop and Proto-Hipster.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve known CCR all my life, but I could never figure out which album to buy. I went on an album listening binge recently and didn’t like any of them quite enough. Enter Sheila, who bought me this compilation for Christmas. Exactly what I needed!

How It Stacks Up:  Best Of albums and compilations don’t stack up!

Ratings: Compilations also don’t receive a rating.

It is hard to believe the amount of creative energy Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) crammed into the five years they were together in the late sixties and early seventies, but a compilation like this one underscores the point well. Two discs, forty songs and very little filler (there is a third disc, but I’ll malign that later).

In the course of those five years, CCR made seven albums (including three in 1969 alone). Today that would be unheard of or (as is the case with Green Day’s “Uno”, “Dos” and “Tre”) ill-advised. While no single CCR album has ever stolen my heart, there is easily enough quality content to justify a multi-disc set.

The band is a skillful blend of gritty riffs from the blues, bombastic rock guitar licks and the easy laid back feeling of country. The music is both relaxed and raw. The guitar is perfectly in the pocket of the tune, yet grimy and organic at the same time. It is the musical equivalent of Cal Naughton Jr’s Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt: wanting to be formal, but also here to party.

CCR is keenly aware of its mixed musical heritage, and this compilation includes a host of their various blues and classic rock covers. Whether playing old blues tracks like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” classic fifties rock like Little Richard’s “Good Golly, Miss Molly” or old-time classics like “The Midnight Special” they skillfully navigate the space between paying homage to the original and recreating the song in their own image. For the most part, I preferred the CCR cover versions, with the exception of “Suzie-Q” which starts off OK, but descends into an aimless nine minute wander.

For all that, my favourite tracks remain CCR originals. I remember hearing these songs on a.m. radio growing up, and hearing them again was like having an old friend stop by for a visit (where I grew up people used to stop in unannounced. It was a thing).

These songs take all the elements of their influences and mix them into a gumbo of southern boogie woogie that is very hard to resist. My advice is not to bother.

The compilation starts with “Proud Mary” which is relaxed and easy. No, I didn’t find myself wishing for the Ike and Tina Turner version. The CCR version is more homespun and relaxed, but no less beautiful. Like the Dude from the Big Lebowski (also a fan), CCR knows how to not get ahead of themselves. Let the song unfold, free and easy.

The next track is the raspy, gritty “Born on the Bayou” which shows that the same basic structure of “Proud Mary” can be reimagined into a song that is thick with urgency and rebellion. Even “Bad Moon Risin’” was enjoyable, despite being seriously overplayed for the past 40+ years.

On this particular listen, the songs that stuck out for me most were “Lodi” and “Someday Never Comes.” Both songs have a folksy quality to them, and a feel of lost opportunity, regret and disillusionment.

John Fogerty’s pronunciation is bizarre at times, and I’d like to think it is his strong Louisiana accent, but apparently he’s from California. For most of my life I have thought “Wrote A Song For Everyone” was “Rush On For Everyone.” On “Bad Moon Risin’” he growls “don’t gawr out tonight” which is good advice if there are werewolves about, but underscores why college boys don’t heed the advice of the local hillbillies. It is hard to respect being told not to ‘gawr out’. Or maybe they just thought John was telling them “There’s a bathroom on the right.”

The third CD in this particular compilation is a bunch of live tracks which the accompanying booklet breathlessly tells us were mostly recorded…in Europe! How exotic! Unfortunately, the live tracks just sound like the studio tracks, only drunk and a little sloppy. The already overlong “Suzie Q” is extended another whole two minutes. The final selection is a song called “Keep on Chooglin’” which is apparently how CCR describes their rhythm but I think a better usage would be “This song almost made me choogle all over myself.”

Even this gratuitous display of disc-shittery could not take away from the positive experience I got listening to the previous two discs, and the many amazing songs CCR’s legacy has left us. I wonder what they would have accomplished if they’d stayed together another five years, but maybe we should just be happy that they went out on top.

Best tracks:  Proud Mary, Born on the Bayou, Fortunate Son, The Midnight Special, Run Through the Jungle, Bootleg, Pagan Baby, Down on the Corner, Lookin’ Out My Back Door, Long As I Can See the Light, Lodi, Someday Never Comes (yes, that’s 12 songs, but I had 40 to choose from).