CD Odyssey Disc 930: Blue Oyster Cult

Happy Hallowe’en!

My brother recently gave me this next album on vinyl, completing my Blue Oyster Cult collection on that format. Thanks, Virgil!

It turns out rolling this album was prophetic at this time, since my hallowe’en costume today was…a cultist! Not a Blue Oyster Cultist mind you, but rather a Cultist for Cthulhu: photos available at my wife’s fabulous fashion blog “Sheila Ephemera.”

Disc 930 is….Extraterrestrial Live

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 1982

What’s up with the Cover? A Blue Oyster Cultist descends the stairwell back stage, presumably primed to intone the sacred words of commencement – “Hello, Cleveland!”

Also, two dogs, statant dexter on a backstage azure. Although that last part could just be a filter.

How I Came To Know It: I have known Blue Oyster Cult since I was a kid (my brother owned all their stuff) and I’ve been listening to this album since it came out. It was the last BOC album I added to my CD collection, but I’ve still had it for many years.

How It Stacks Up:  I have eleven studio albums by Blue Oyster Cult and three live albums, including this one. Of the live albums, my favourite is “Some Enchanted Evening” but between “ETL” and “On Your Feet or On Your Knees” it is virtually a dead heat. I’ll put ETL second for now because I just listened to it, but really it is equal, but different. More on that later but for now since we’ve reached the end of the live albums, let’s recap:

1. Some Enchanted Evening: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 391)
2. Extraterrestrial Live: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
3. On Your Feet or On Your Knees: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 716)

Ratings: 4 stars

The Odyssey can mess with my expectations. I had fully prepared to rank this album third best of my three live albums, give it three stars and create a nice symmetry in the rankings. Instead Blue Oyster Cult did what they haven’t done to me in a long time – they surprised me.

It was a pleasant surprise and a reminder that there was a time when Blue Oyster Cult was constantly updating their set list. Of the 13 songs on “ETL” seven are songs that don’t appear on their previous two concert albums.

Part of this is they have a lot of new content, having released three studio albums since their last live album (1978’s “Some Enchanted Evening”). The new tracks include the rocking “Dr. Music” and “Burning For You” (still a staple of their live shows) and the fantastical proto-metal of “Joan Crawford,” “Black Blade”, and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars” (sadly none of which appear in their live shows of late).

For all the new content, they start things off with the very early deep cut “Dominance and Submission,” which had never appeared on a previous live record. It is awesome, and I wish they would introduce old and unlikely tracks like this nowadays.

The set-list definitely has more of a rock edge as new material slowly edges out a lot of the more progressive acid rock of the band’s first three albums. This doesn’t make it better or worse, just different.

Regardless of song choice, they tend to be heavier sounding than their studio equivalents. The bass and drums pound out with the dread and fell majesty of an elder god breaking into our universe. “Godzilla” in particular thuds along with a blunt power which is a lot of fun, and it even has Eric Bloom doing a little of his patented front-man banter to start it off. It is a little impacted by some strange sounds that probably went with a kick-ass laser light show that don’t translate well to audio, but you still manage to get the idea.

“Black Blade” and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars” are two songs co-written by fantasy author Michael Moorcock about his fantasy hero, Elric of Melnibone. The songs appear on two separate studio albums, and it is great to hear them together live.

The band always throws a cover song into the mix, and “ETLs” contribution is the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues.” I’m not much of a Doors fan, but growing up in a small town I’ve heard a lot of bar bands wake up in the morning and get themselves a beer. Blue Oyster Cult’s rendition is a lengthy nine minutes but the beer gets delivered and the joy of the audience is evident on the recording. It probably would have helped to be there, but you get the idea.

The album’s production is a bit dull and I would like to hear the record remastered to a crisper, more separated sound. However, the echoing quality of the sound captures what it would be like to see BOC in 1982. They were on top of their game and you would have had to go to a big arena for the whole spectacle of it all. “ETL” makes you feel like you are there.

The “show” ends with the classic “ETI (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)” which is played in an almost proto-metal style that rocks pretty hard, although I missed the crispness of the studio version. Then things wrap up with “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” which the boys lay down with a vigour and enthusiasm that makes it feel like it is their first time ever playing the tune. Buck Dharma is particularly resplendent but by this time you just expect him to be one of the world’s greatest guitar players. He doesn’t disappoint.

While the sound quality is the weakest of the three live albums, the set-list is equal to anything that has come before. New songs blend nicely with old favourites, and the band is clearly having fun being kings of the world.

Best tracks: Dominance and Submission, Black Blade, Godzilla, Veteran of the Psychic Wars, (Don’t Fear) the Reaper

CD Odyssey Disc 929: Dwight Yoakam

I chose to review this next album in anticipation of also reviewing the live tour that is supporting it. As ill luck would have it, tonight’s concert has been postponed. Since I don’t know the reasons behind it, I’m not going to call Mr. Yoakam out; something serious could have happened.

While that show can’t go on, this one must so let’s get to it!

Disc 929 is….Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…

Artist: Dwight Yoakam

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover? A place where palm trees grow, rents are low and (given the album’s content) Dwight Yoakam is obviously thinking ‘bout makin’ his way back. Bonus points for identifying that musical reference. Hint: it’s not Dwight Yoakam.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review of it and it sounded intriguing enough that, coupled with knowing I was going to see him live, caused me to buy it.

How It Stacks Up:  A year ago I reviewed (and then gave away) my Dwight Yoakam compilation album (back at Disc 796). I have since purchased 7 of his studio albums. I must regrettably put this one last.

Ratings: 3 stars

It is always great to see a musician late in their career that isn’t afraid to experiment with their sound, and “Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…” finds a 60 year old Dwight Yoakam trading in his urban cowboy country for a more traditional bluegrass sound. I like it, but I wish he had gone even further down that road.

The songs are not new, but are selected from previous albums ranging from 1986’s “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc.” through 200’s “Tomorrow’s Sounds Today.” Yoakam makes a nice selection, mixing in major hits (“Guitars, Cadillacs,” “Please Please Baby”), minor hits (“These Arms”, “Gone (That’ll Be Me)” and a half-dozen deep cuts.

Since I never listened to mainstream country radio (or any other radio, for that matter), the deep cuts didn’t feel very deep. Half the songs I’ve been listening to over the past year. The other half are off albums I haven’t purchased yet, and were new to me. Regardless, whether you are a casual fan or a die-hard “own everything” type, these are all solid selections.

When I first started writing this review I was intending to bemoan that the songs are not sufficiently different from the originals and that is still true in part. The bones of the songs are left alone, and a big part of it all is the new instrumentation. A mandolin replaces a drum to keep time, and the banjo and the fiddle get more love in the arrangement. Of course, everyone is unplugged.

The big change is the way the music is played; something I didn’t clue into until I played the six original tracks I have on previous albums side-by-side with their “Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…” versions. Country music tends to play off the back of the beat, whereas bluegrass plays off the front. This means country tends to mosey and bluegrass sounds sprightlier. I know this because my guitar teacher taught me in the bluegrass style. He did this partly because it is very unforgiving when keeping time (and therefore teaches you to do it better) and partly because he loves bluegrass. But I digress…

The point of all that music nerdery, is that even though there aren’t a lot of other changes, just playing the songs as bluegrass songs changes their sound. On songs that are country dirges like “Sad Sad Music” or “Home For Sale” it doesn’t work quite as well, but apart from those two the songs are equal to – and sometimes better than – the originals, with the bluegrass timing often giving them a bit more jump.

Yoakam’s voice, with his high plaintive power, is still the star of the show. Thirty years into his career it is impressive how he can still generate such a unique and emotionally evocative tone. I would have liked to hear him in concert so I could assess just how much of that is post-production (the show is still being rescheduled) but I suspect he’s still got ‘it’.

 The only new content to Yoakam’s catalogue is (ironically) a cover. Yoakam gives Prince’s classic “Purple Rain” a bluegrass makeover. I’ve always felt that it is a shame that Yoakam is known so much for his covers, and less so for his original material, which is solid on its own. That said, Yoakam owns “Purple Rain”. Prince has always constructed beautiful songs, but hearing it reimagined as bluegrass made me wish it had always been this way. Mandolin, banjo and violin solos all fit right in like the song was made for them. It is a fitting tribute to a musical legend lost to us before his time.

Because the album stand on the shoulders of previously released on other records, I’m putting it at the bottom of my Dwight Yoakam collection but there is no shame in that. I started off grumpy with this lack of original content but it has grown on me with every listen. I’ve come to appreciate both the musicianship of the backing band, and also the subtle transformation the style works on the material.

Best tracks: Free to Go, Listen, Guitars Cadillacs, Purple Rain

CD Odyssey Disc 928: Thin Lizzy

This album was a bit too long. Not the original record, mind you. I mean the gratuitous amount of bonus content some Soulless Record Exec thought I would want to buy.

As a result my review has a gratuitous content section to go with it – keep reading past the “best tracks” entry for said content!

Disc 928 is….Vagabonds of the Western World

Artist: Thin Lizzy

Year of Release: 1973

What’s up with the Cover? Cartoon space opera meets Mount Rockmore. 1970s, we miss you.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve been buying Thin Lizzy albums for a while, but my friend Spence (who also put me onto the band in the first place) has been quietly insistent for some time to get “Vagabonds of the Western World.” I have resisted only because the only copy that ever seems available is a giant special edition version with a ton of extra tracks at a price well north of $30.

That remains the case, but I managed to find that giant special edition used for only $16 so I bought it. I didn’t want all the extra content, but I despaired at ever finding the regular record on its own. It’s so rare now it actually cost more on Amazon.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 7 albums by Thin Lizzy. Of those albums, I put “Vagabonds…” 5^th. I still like it, but there are better.

Ratings: 3 stars

This isn’t my favourite Thin Lizzy album, but it has a few great moments. I like Thin Lizzy best in the middle of their career, and in many ways “Vagabonds…” is the beginning of that sound.

While this record is the last with original guitar player Eric Bell, in many ways it feels like the band is starting to move away from the influences of sixties psychadelia and into that groove-driven rock that so perfectly suits Phil Lynott’s smooth and powerful vocal style.

That said, this record starts off on the wrong foot, with the bar-rock sound of “Mama Nature Said”. Kudos to Thin Lizzy for singing an environmentally conscious song way back in 1973, but this song has an uninteresting boogie woogie beat, and hackneyed lyrics that come across as overwrought. Lynott’s vocals almost win the day, but the song is just not set up to make him shine.

“The Hero and the Madman” has a ridiculous over-the-top story told in ultra-corny style. On later records this affectation works (such as three years later on the song “Emerald” from “Jailbreak”) but here it is just an unnecessary nerd-fest, and not in a good way. This song is followed by a very bluesy appropriately titled “Slow Blues” which is OK, but also didn’t inspire me.

By this point I was feeling let down by Phil and the boys, but luckily they won me back and then some with “The Rocker.” “The Rocker” is one of rock and roll’s great anthems. It is balls-to-the-wall bombast; a song that both shows and tells why rock stars get all the girls. It’s because they are just that cool, and Lynotte is the coolest of ‘em all.

Another standout is “Little Girl in Bloom” a song about teen pregnancy where Thin Lizzy replaces all of the usual shame of that story with compassion and good advice. “Go tell your dad and see how it goes” this song urges, and somehow manages to be ultra groovy doing so. The tune is soft and relaxed and feels more like a lullaby than a tragedy.

Then, just to add the edge back in, the next track, “Gonna Creep Up On You” which is sexuality at its most sinister and predatory. The juxtaposition of the gentle and kind-hearted “Little Girl In Bloom” with this nasty but brilliant bit of back-alley groove is awesome.

The album ends in a tasteful eight tracks, and while the final song, “A Song For While I’m Away” meanders a bit too aimlessly, it isn’t enough to wreck a record that has a lot of great moments, and shows all the promise of what Thin Lizzy is growing into on the albums to come.

Best tracks: The Rocker, Vagabonds of the Western World, Little Girl in Bloom, Gonna Creep Up On You

Gratuitous “bonus content” review:

There is more bonus content on Disc One than there are original tracks. It is all a bit exhausting, but let’s say something about the anyway, shall we?

First of all, Soulless Record Execs, if you are going to add ‘bonus tracks’ to the same disc as the record, try to limit yourself to two or three. The original “Vagabonds..”  is only eight tracks, but the bonus material adds another 10 songs.

They aren’t terrible (except maybe “Randolph’s Tango” which appears twice and doesn’t much resemble a tango either time). What they are is excessive.

The best of them is the fun-lovin’ and snappy “Cruising in the Lizzymobile” which is just as much fun as you’d expect from the title. Also the bonus tracks gave me a sweet radio edit of the band’s famous cover of “Whiskey In the Jar.” So I am slightly mollified, even if I think all this stuff belonged on a separate CD.

Best tracks (gratuitous bonus content edition): Here I Go Again, Cruising in the Lizzymobile, Little Darling, Whiskey in the Jar

Eve more gratuitous “second full CD of content” review:

Nope. I refused to listen to Disc Two, which is a bunch (13) of BBC live recordings I never wanted in the first place. I’m sure they’re great, but they belong on a live album not here. Besides, you have to draw a line in the sand at some point and say, “just give me the damned record.” ‘But Logan!’ you will opine, ‘what of the vaunted Odyssey rule #3?’ There is always the exception that proves the rule, my friends. This is it. If we don’t start saying no to bloated re-issues then the Soulless Record Execs will never stop reissuing them.

CD Odyssey Disc 927: Bonnie Prince Billy

I was back to work today after a week jam-packed with social engagements. I had a great time at all of them but tonight I’m looking forward to hunkering down with my wife and cat and watching the second half of the football game.

Disc 927 is….Ease Down the Road

Artist: Bonnie Prince Billy

Year of Release: 2001

What’s up with the Cover? A quaint seaside road invites you to ease down it. Just know when to hit the brakes or your car is going to spill into the drink.

How I Came To Know It: After my friend Josh put me on to Bonnie Prince Billy a few years back I went on a mission to listen to all of his albums. “Ease Down the Road” was one of several that appealed enough for me to buy it.

How It Stacks Up:  I have four studio albums by Bonnie Prince Billy. Of the four, “Ease Down the Road” is easily the best.

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

“Ease Down the Road” is Bonnie Prince Billy (aka Will Oldham) at his confessional best. This record is filled with a quiet grace that steals into the cracks in your soul, getting down into those places where you keep your darkness. Then Oldham makes that darkness beautiful.

The album is well suited to its name, with melodies that are light and easy. Oldham’s high and airy vocals always feel like they are expressing some deeper truth that the rest of us fail to grasp. They are loaded with emotion and well suited to the stark and straightforward lyrics that fill the songs on the record.

The opening track, “May It Always Be,” is a gorgeous love song from a man who is fully comfortable with his own failings, to the point that he turns them into virtue:

“If you love me, and I’m weak

Then weaker you love me more

To re-enforce what’s also strong

And all the love we have in store.”

“In the morning we’ll wrestle

And ruin our stomachs with coffee

Won’t we be won’t we be won’t we be happy

And we will rise in anger love and ardor

Shining shining sparkling shining

Shimmering in love’s armour.”

The album is filled with explorations of love, and more than a little sex as well. Oldham sings freely about oral sex, bodily fluids and even more specific carnal acts I think it best you discover on your own. He does all of it in a way that is so natural and beautiful that you feel a little bad that you ever thought such things were dirty. He’s not a handsome man, but he is a sexy one, and he’s not afraid to talk about it.

Even the title track, which features marital infidelity in the front seat of a car, somehow gets lifted above the sordid nature of its subject. Oldham seems unconcerned with the moral complexity of it all, closing the song with:

“Eleanor was thrashing

I stopped the car we got a beer

And then eased down the road

A little guilt, and some guilt spilt

And added to our load.”

The production on the album is subtle and understated but perfect throughout. Guitar, banjo and piano all blend in wherever they’re needed, bowing out when they aren’t. Harmonies from the backup singers give some songs a hymn-like quality, with Oldham preaching the gospel of humanity, in all its frailty, uncertainty and subtle strength.

The music is a match for the great lyrics. Even songs that aren’t my favourites like “The Lion Lair” have progressions that round on themselves lazily, never resolving when you think they will. Instead they leave you in suspension as they circle for an extra bar or two before landing effortlessly, just where they need to be.

My favourite track is “A King At Night.” Oldham completely loses himself in the character of someone thoroughly entitled, but completely at ease with themselves. The song’s melody dances with itself even as the character – who is more than slightly insane – revels in the troubled kingdom of his own mind.

“Ease Down the Road” is one of those albums that reveals a little more of itself every time I listen to it. In a few years it will probably grow to become a five star album as I dig deeper into its mysteries.

Best tracks: May It Always Be, Careless Love, A King at Night, At Break of Day, Ease Down the Road, Grand Dark Feeling of Emptiness, Rich Wife Full of Happiness

CD Odyssey Disc 926: Various Artists

I’m right in the middle of a very busy week where I have nine social engagements over five days. They are all fun activities but a bit more hubbub than even I’m used to.

Knowing in advance this would happen I invoked the rarely-used rule that allows me to choose the album I review, so long as it is newly purchased. I picked this one because it is a double album set with over two hours of music and I knew that I would have the time to listen to it and grok it in its fullness. Now that I have, so here it is!

Disc 926 is….Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys

Artist: Various Artists

Year of Release: 2006

What’s up with the Cover? This is a painting by 19^th century American artist Howard Pyle, titled “Marooned”. This painting resides in the Delaware Art Gallery. Cool paintings like this make me want to go to Delaware, but I admit there isn’t much else to draw me there, so I’ll probably skip it. Sorry, Howard.

How I Came To Know It: My coworker Chris sent me the song “Cape Cod Girls” by Baby Gramps. I loved it and when I found out it was on an album full of traditional sea chanteys I was very intrigued (I love a good sea chantey). The artist list alone compelled me to seek this out, but it took forever for someone to sell their copy so I could buy it used at the local record store for a good price. Recently, it happened!

How It Stacks Up:  There is second volume in the series called “Son of Rogue’s Gallery” released in 2013 but I don’t have it (yet) so I can’t stack it up.

Ratings: Since this isn’t really a best of, I’m going to rate it and give it 4 stars.

My last tattoo was of a kraken grabbing an anchor (photos below) so while I’m not a sailor it is fair to say I have an affinity for the sea. “Rogue’s Gallery” fed that affinity and then some, filling me with the rich history of the Age of Sail and the sea chanteys that tell the stories of the men that crewed its ships.

The album is appropriately named, with a treasure trove of artists contributing songs. These include big rock stars Sting, Lou Reed and Bono; folk and alternative stars Nick Cave, Lucinda Williams, and Richard Thompson; and a host of other folk artists obscure enough that I didn’t recognize their names. The whole of it is a labour of love by Producer Hal Willner.

The album covers a lot of ground, with over two and a half hours of content and 43 songs. Despite the length, I never got tired of it. Some of the chanteys are delivered very traditionally; others have a rock or alternative edge to them. I wouldn’t have wanted too many of the latter, and the album obliged me, having one appear only once every five or six songs.

I don’t usually research my albums, preferring to take the songs on their own terms, but with something so historically significant I couldn’t help but bury my head in the liner notes (which are excellent) and a few Google searches. Apparently many of these songs would have been sung by sailors while doing their various jobs on the ship. Different rhythms or tempos were used for different jobs. “Rogue’s Gallery” features tack & sheet chanteys, halyard chanteys, pumping chanteys, capstan chanteys, bowline chanteys and even a “stamp and go” chantey. Apparently this latter chantey was on large ships where a group of men would take a line and stamp down the deck, presumably to raise a large sail.

Along the way I learned new sailing slang (yes, I already knew some). I found out that the “Dead Horse” is the 30 days of labour before you are getting paid (since sailors got a 30 day advance when signing on). On the thirtieth day, the crew would celebrate by raising a horse banner and…wait for it…sing a song! “Bully in the alley” means you are too drunk to get back to the ship on your own power. We’ve all been there.

Musically, this record is a revelation. Every song has either a catchy rolling tune, a great story to tell or a bunch of ribald and racy lyrics; some songs have all three.

There are too many favourites to write about them all (see full list below) but I’ll note a few nonetheless.

The album starts with “Cape Cod Girls” by Baby Gramps which is a rollicking track with a gorgeous arrangement of guitar and what I think is a Jew’s harp. The rough and ready sailor’s voice of Baby Gramps is the perfect mood-setter for the record.

“Baltimore Whores” and “Good Ship Venus” are two of the dirtiest songs you will ever hear. They are so dirty I won’t even quote the lyrics to you, but I encourage you to Youtube them both.

“Bonnie Portmore” by Lucinda Williams is also gorgeous. When I first heard Loreena McKennitt sing this song in 1991 I didn’t think anyone could render a more heartbreaking version. Lucinda Williams plays it very differently, but the hurt and loss of a mighty tree felled to make the hull of a ship comes through just as strong. Great songs are great through many ages and many renditions. This one’s been depressing us since the 18^th century.

“Shenandoah” is a beautiful instrumental that will set your heart at ease and remove wrinkles from your brow (results may vary). It is beautifully played by Richard Greene and the scatologically named trio “Jack Shit”. Okay, then…

The only song that really irked me was a strange electronica version of “What Do We do With a Drunken Sailor” by David Thomas. It is great to be creative but when the experimentation is so great that the song ceases to be enjoyable you lose me. This version would be at home on the soundtrack to a Rob Zombie horror flick, but felt out of place on this record.

The first disc is better by a good margin, but the second disc has its moments including a beautiful vocal from Jolie Holland on “The Grey Funnel Line” and the aforementioned “Good Ship Venus”.

This record isn’t for everyone but if you like folk music then this will give you a lot of joy, and put some salt in your blood while doing so.

Best tracks (artist): Disc 1 - (12 songs): Cape Cod Girls (Baby Gramps), Mingulay Boat Song (Richard Thompson), My Son John (John C.Reilly), Fire Down Below (Nick Cave), Dead Horse (Robin Holcomb), Turkish Revelry (Loudon Wainwright III), Haul Away Joe (Mark Anthony Thompson), Blood Red Roses (Sting), Baltimore Whores (Gavin Friday), Rolling Sea (Eliza Carthy), Bonnie Portmore (Lucinda Williams), Shenandoah (Richard Greene and Jack Shit),

Disc 2 – (6 songs): Boney was a Warrior (Jack Shit), Good Ship Venus (Loudon Wainwright III), One Spring Morning (Akron/Family), Hanging Johnny (Stan Ridgway), The Grey Funnel Line (Jolie Holland), A Drop of Nelson’s Blood (Jarvis Cocker)

And as promised, here are a couple of tattoo photos to add a little more flavour to this nautically themed blog entry! I don't know how to put them all beside one another so this will have to do. 

CD Odyssey Disc 925: Shane MacGowan and the Popes

I spent Friday getting a new tattoo (or at least half of one) taking up the last available real estate on my arms in the process. It is only half done (colouring to come in December) but I already love it. Kudos to Leroy at Union Tattoo for another great piece of body art!

Now I just need to grow a third arm…

Disc 925 is….Crock of Gold

Artist: Shane MacGowan and the Popes

Year of Release: 1997

What’s up with the Cover? It is a painting done by frontman Shane MacGowan himself. The title is not provided but I call it “Four Homeless Leprechauns”. Kudos to MacGowan for trying other art forms, but this picture doesn’t work for me.

How I Came To Know It: When Shane MacGowan left the Pogues I did too (they weren’t the same without him) and I assumed he would drift off into obscurity. Then many years later my friend Greg played a song by “Shane MacGowan and the Popes” and I realized he’d resurfaced. This particular album has eluded me for years but I found a used copy out of the blue at a local record store a couple of months ago. Please keep selling off your music collection, digital people!

How It Stacks Up:  I have both studio albums by Shane MacGowan and the Popes as well as a best of/rarities collection. I also have a Popes album where MacGowan is no longer a full time member of the band, but appears on three tracks. Of the three studio albums, I put “Crock of Gold” second. The ‘best of’ album doesn’t stack up, as long time readers will know.

Ratings: 3 stars

“Crock of Gold” doesn’t live up to the lofty promise in its title, but it is nevertheless a good record. It’s more a crock of well-polished copper, which could’ve been a crock of silver if it had been a little more focused.

This is the second album that Shane MacGowan made with his new band the Popes, after he was turfed from the Pogues and while you can say what you want about what he’s like as a band mate, his talent is undeniable. Of the 17 tracks – more on that in a moment – MacGowan wrote or co-wrote all but five.

If you know the Pogues then you know the Popes, as MacGowan does not branch far from his roots on “Crock of Gold.” This is a collection of lilting Irish folk/rock songs that gently roll along like the swell of the Atlantic. There are few surprises, but that is OK because while the Popes may not switch it up much, they are very good at what they do. The band is tight and provide a lively backdrop upon which MacGowan can deliver his unique slurring style.

MacGowan is in fine form, by which I mean he sounds both brilliant and drunk in equal measure. He has always had the skill of sounding like he’s making it up as he goes along while keeping perfect time. It must be hard work to sound so perfectly casual. However, the age old problem of not being able to understand him half the time continues.

Many of the penny whistle and fiddle riffs providing colour for the songs sound very traditional, but it is pretty common practice in Irish folk music to throw in a bit of something old and I took no offence. On “Back in the County Hell” the tune is unmistakably “Me and Bobby McGee” and lest there be any doubt, MacGowan even sings a few lines right out of that song in the middle of it.

“B&I Ferry” channels some Clash-like reggae beats and “Ceilidh Cowboy” tries to add some western flare, but neither song really worked for me. Both felt like they were pressing too hard to be different amid a sea of very cohesive sound on the record.

That sea is pleasant but a bit too deep; “Crock of Gold” has 17 songs and a running time just shy of a full hour. The songs are all OK, but there are just too many of them. Musicians take heed; just because a CD can hold a lot of music isn’t an excuse to put more on it. This was a common problem in the nineties that more recent artists seem to have finally gotten over (maybe too over given the number of 30 minute records being released lately).

The album features three traditional songs, the best of which is “Spanish Lady,” a song about a man walking the streets of Dublin at midnight and catching a glimpse of a Spanish woman washing her hair by candlelight. I’m not sure what she was doing washing her hair at that hour, but the song makes you appreciate the moment.

Another favourite is “St. John of Gods” which features a character who goes around drunkenly telling everyone (including the courts) “F’ yez all”. At 7:17 this song goes on too long, and it’s impressive that it remains enjoyable throughout, despite spending a majority of the time telling you off. If you don’t like songs taking that long to tell someone off, well, you know what to do.

With six of the seventeen tracks also appearing on my “best of” compilation (including three of my top six listed below) I was sore-tested to give up on this record and clear up space, but there is enough other good stuff that I’m sticking with it for now.

Best tracks: Paddy Rolling Stone, Rock N’ Roll Paddy, Paddy Public Enemy No. 1, Lonesome Highway, Spanish Lady, St. John of Gods

CD Odyssey Disc 924: Rush

For many months I’ve been having a hard time reading the fine print on the back of CD cases (usually I’m looking for the release date). I attributed the problem to poor light or that I needed to clean my glasses. Turns out is just that my eyesight has gotten worse. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

Now that I know, everything looks fuzzy and I’m waiting impatiently for my new lenses to come in.

Disc 924 is….Power Windows

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1985

What’s up with the Cover? A teenage David Bowie dreams of becoming a starman. Actually it is some kid named Neill Cunningham. Maybe he was dreaming of being David Bowie? Maybe he was just dreaming that he could get a new television. He’s got three there and they all look pretty outdated.

How I Came To Know It: This was just me filling out the last of my Rush collection as I drilled through their discography. I admit I totally missed this album when it came out in 1985, despite being totally into hard rock at the time.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 Rush albums. “Power Windows” isn’t my favourite. I’ll put it #18.

Ratings: 3 stars

“Power Windows” is right in the heart of the synth-storm that Rush experimented with through the 1980s. Don’t expect Alex Lifeson to wail out a bunch of guitar solos, and if you’re searching for the melody then you best be looking to Geddy Lee’s keyboards. This is not your older brother’s copy of “Moving Pictures.”

Some Rush fans reject this period of the band’s development, while others love all things Rush. I’m somewhere in the middle on that subject. “Hold Your Fire” is one of my favourite Rush albums, whereas “Grace Under Pressure” and “Signals” are OK, but I feel like the production lets them down.

“Power Windows” is my least favourite of the four. I don’t hate it, but it is lacking the melodic brilliance of “Hold Your Fire” and the songwriting strength of “Signals”. It is about on par with “Grace Under Pressure.” It doesn’t have the brilliance of “Red Sector A” but overall the quality of the songs is higher.

One nice side benefit of not being so guitar-driven is that you get to appreciate the Geddy Lee’s bass playing. On the opening track, “Big Money,” he is in fine form, flowing through series after series of groovy and difficult bass riffs, all the while faithfully serving the rhythm of the song. Beyond Geddy’s bass, though, I don’t love the song. The lyrics are a bit hokey and the bridge is this weird combination of bells, beeps and a bit of Lifeson guitar that is good but seems to hang in digital space due to the production.

“Middletown Dreams” feels a lot like Signals’ “Subdivisions” in terms of theme, but is not executed as well. It is almost the sequel, replacing the restless youth of teenage dreams in “Subdivisions” with the more seasoned understanding of characters in their twenties and thirties. These are the kids who never got out of the suburbs but are finding ways to reconcile that within themselves. Again, an interesting theme (one Springsteen explores often as well) but in terms of execution the song is just a bit too jazzy in places for my tastes.

The record came out in the middle of the Cold War, and this is evident in songs like “Manhattan Project” and “Territories”. “Manhattan Project” tells the story of the first atomic bomb and while the subject matter is about the bomb’s development and the bombing of Hiroshima it is clear that the song is viewing that event from 1985 and everything that had resulted from a nuclear age. “Manhattan Project” is one of my favourite songs on the album. The lyrics aren’t overwrought, and the music walks the perfect line between the excitement of scientists in the throes of discovery and the ominous nature of what they were about to create.

Another favourite is “Marathon” which is about running a marathon, but also a lot more. On “Marathon” Rush perfects the use of their new keyboard-driven sound to capture the drawn out endurance of the race but also the triumph and exultation of completing the race. And here, when Lifeson’s guitar solo enters, it nestles in nicely and feels like it belongs.  The ‘more’ of “Marathon” is its reminder that life itself is a long race, and you’ll be just fine if you just keep at it. It is an overused metaphor, but the boys do a fine job of recycling it, and I feel genuinely inspired each time I hear this track.

As an aside, this song pairs nicely with Iron Maiden’s “Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” as rock songs about marathons. Maybe throw in the Popes’ “Loneliness of the Long Distance Drinker” for a lark at the end to represent the trip to the pub at the end of the race. But I digress…

The album ends with “Emotion Detector” and “Mystic Rhythms” which are both songs that are as awkward and overwrought as their titles would indicate. These songs are swamped by the new production values. “Emotion Detector” is the worst of the two, which has a tune that sounds like it belongs in an early eighties movie soundtrack: something about bike couriers or moving to a city. “Mystic Rhythms” would actually function better as a New Age Celtic folk song. As a rock song, the mystic rhythms just didn’t resonate.

“Power Windows” doesn’t have enough high points to work its way into my regular music rotation. I don’t hate the record though, and the musical genius of Rush is still shining through in places. I’ll hold onto it a little longer.

Best tracks: Manhattan Project, Marathon

CD Odyssey Disc 923: Red Tail Ring

This next album was one of a number of obscure albums I ordered on line after despairing to ever find them locally. My apologies to the local record stores, but they have received (and will continue to receive) lots of my money, so they don’t have anything to worry about.

What I do worry about is the rising cost of low production CDs. As the CD market dwindles mass produced albums are becoming cheaper and cheaper. However, low production runs of little folk bands like Red Tail Ring have a few copies printed and once they supply is depleted (within a year or two) the cost quickly skyrockets. Anyway, I got this next one in time, and here’s how it turned out.

Disc 923 is….The Heart’s Swift Foot

Artist: Red Tail Ring

Year of Release: 2013

What’s up with the Cover? Band members Michael Beauchamp and Laurel Premo continue the time honoured tradition of awkward folk album covers.

How I Came To Know It: I found this article from Paste Magazine called “10 More Obscure Folk Albums to Add to Your Collection” and Red Tail Ring was prominently featured. I liked the sound and so I ordered this album online (when the article said the albums were obscure he wasn’t kidding).

Of the ten albums noted in the article I only have this one, but I am on the lookout for three more, so it was a pretty sweet musical lead. I then went on to read his earlier article, “20 Great Folk Albums to Add to Your Indie Rock Collection” and found five more albums I’m now on the lookout for. Also, note the title of this second article, hipsters. Yes that stuff you call indie rock is very often what us old timers call ‘folk’. Everything old is new again.

How It Stacks Up:  I’m still searching for Red Tail Ring’s 2011 release “Mountain Shout” (missed the release window) so I can’t really stack this up against anything.

Ratings: 4 stars

Every now and then I warn readers that an album is “very folk” meaning if you don’t like folk, it isn’t for you. “The Heart’s Swift Foot” is one of those albums.

This record is folk down to the bones, and unashamedly so. I’ve become so accustomed to the pop production on modern folk music that hearing it stripped down again felt too raw at first. However after a few listens the record soaked in nicely.

The band is a duo with Michael Beauchamp singing and playing guitar, mandolin and banjo. His partner Laurel Premo sings, plays fiddle, banjo, dobro and something listed as “feet” which I assume is stomping. Obviously they don’t play everything at once (that would just be silly) but they manage to create a surprising amount of layers by creatively latticing in the instruments of the moment alongside their voices.

Neither is the most powerful singer, but they have very sweet tones. When they sing harmony they have a nice loose quality with enough separation that you can sway your focus from one to the other, or experience them as a single experience.

In terms of singing style, Premo reminded me a bit of a cross between a Rankin and a Wailin’ Jenny. She has the phrasing and sharpness of lyrics of a Rankin, but the sharp edge and understated authority feels like a Jenny. When she sings “A Clearing in the Wild” that voice takes you for a walk in the wild, where you lose yourself so completely that you’re sure she could break your heart with one unkind word. Of course, she doesn’t.

Beauchamp is no slouch either, with a natural storyteller’s tenor on songs like “Katy Came Breezing” and “Queen of the West and Other Stories.” The latter song is a series of thoughtful examples of how people change over time, and that this is OK. Drunks sober up, couples drift apart, life goes on.

There are a couple of instrumentals on the album, both of which showcase Premo’s skill on the fiddle. “J In the Broom Straw” is a lively jig that could probably develop a little further but developed just far enough to keep me interested. “Ladies Choice Waltz” is a slow waltz that evokes country dances and beautiful down-home country girls who can make you feel calm just looking at you. Hearing “Ladies’ Choice Waltz” will make you feel like you are dancing across a bare-wood floor with the most beautiful woman at the ball. In my youth I was a bit of an insomniac and I’d play certain songs right before I went to bed to help calm my spirit. “Ladies’ Choice Waltz” would have definitely been one of them.

The traditional “St. James Hospital” didn’t grab me, but I think it is because I’ve heard a hundred variants of this particular tune over the years and it has caused me to get very picky about how it ‘should’ go. The other cover song is “My Heart’s Own Love” originally by Hazel Dickens, a folk and bluegrass singer who played through the fifties, sixties and seventies. I don’t know the original, but Red Tail Ring do a hell of a good cover. On a very traditional sounding record, it was a fitting song to finish up with.

“The Heart’s Swift Foot” is an album that takes some getting used to, but is worth the effort. On every listen I got something new out of it, even to the point where songs I initially overlooked became favourites. On “Katy Came Breezing” Beauchamp sings “I’m flesh and bone with nothing to hide” and hearing his exposed soul hanging there on the edges of his partner’s sustained fiddle note, it is easy to believe. Don’t be fooled, though; this record has plenty to hide. Delving into all those tucked-away secrets makes it more and more enjoyable on every listen.

Best tracks: Katy Came Breezing, Queen of the West and Other Stories, A Clearing in the Wild, Ladies’ Choice Waltz, My Heart’s Own Love

CD Odyssey Disc 922: Frank Sinatra

I was going to save this next entry for tomorrow, but I need to fill some time before I head downtown for some shopping and appointments. If I go too soon I could be trapped in some waiting room without a book! This will not do.

Disc 922 is….A Swingin’ Affair!

Artist: Frank Sinatra

Year of Release: 1957

What’s up with the Cover? It’s a collage! Frank’s giant head is superimposed on top of a bunch of swingin’ dancers! Ring-a-ding ding!

How I Came To Know It: I’d like to pretend I was on a mission to buy more of Sinatra’s studio albums but the truth is “The Lady is a Tramp” wasn’t on either of my greatest hits records, but it was on this album. O, the embarrassment…

How It Stacks Up:  While I have a live album and two greatest hits records, this is my only studio album by Sinatra. However, I’m about to embark on a bit of a research project and I expect that will change.

Ratings: 5 stars

It’s been over six years since I reviewed a Frank Sinatra album, and in the intervening time I’ve come across a lot of classic vocalists. Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and Louis Prima to name just a few. Listening to “A Swingin’ Affair” was a timely reminder that when it comes to this style of music, there is Frank Sinatra and then there’s everyone else. Old Blue Eyes, The Chairman of the Board - call him what you will - he’s the best.

“A Swingin’ Affair” was one of four Frank Sinatra albums released in 1957, a rate so prolific that today it seems unthinkable. Of course, today we expect our singers to also be our songwriters whereas in Frank’s days you had songwriting specialists sitting in a room cranking out classics. When Frank went to record the tracks I expect he was greeted by a bunch of studio musicians that were masters of their respective instruments.

Frank Sinatra was a big deal in 1957 and I expect he had his pick of the best songs and the best players. That freedom is evident on “A Swingin’ Affair.” The musicianship on this record is exceptional, with every note perfectly timed, and delivered with grace and elan. The band pretty much plays it straight and lets Sinatra be the star, but there is just enough jazzy nuance amid the easy listening to give the songs edge.

Similarly, the songwriting on this record is exceptional. Frank covers a few Cole Porter tracks, a Gershwin tune (“Nice Work If You Can Get It”) and a bunch of other guys that I expect are famous in the easy listening jazz scene if I knew that scene well enough to recognize them.

The songwriting excellence isn’t just the tunes (although those are amazing) but also some of the cleverest lyrics I’ve ever heard. The album is generally themed around playful topics that are up-tempo and fun. Even when they delve into unpleasant topics like relationship breakdowns (“I Wish I Were in Love Again”) they do it in a lighthearted way. Whether it is the turn of the joke on the third rhyme like here:

“The broken dates - the endless waits

The lovely loving - and the hateful hates

The conversation - with the flying plates

I wish I were in love again”

Or the complex metaphor and double-meaning here:

“When love congeals - it soon reveals

The faint aroma - of performing seals

The double-crossing - of a pair of heels

I wish I were in love again”

This line plays off of the idea of being ‘hot-blooded’ in love and what happens when that love cools off. Later the double meaning of ‘a pair of heels’ evokes both two contemptible people out to hurt each other, but also the sexy image of a woman’s heels, delicately crossed at the ankle. That is some clever shit.

Another favourite is “I Won’t Dance” which features fun rhymes like “for heaven rest us/I am not asbestos” to signify that a woman that is so hot the man can’t trust himself to dance with her unless he’s made of asbestos.

Making all these great lines and great music work is Frank himself. Sinatra has an effortless ability at phrasing a lyric, landing every punch line and swaying on and off the beat without ever losing the melody. He can tell you the same two and half minute story a hundred times and make it interesting every time.

On top of this, the man is pitch-perfect, with an easy, even power in his voice regardless of what note he’s landing. On many songs he shifts key and never loses a beat (except those beats he’s deliberately letting hang for a fraction of a second). Like Amy Winehouse or Patsy Cline he routinely hits notes that seem impossibly placed in the progression of the music and makes it sound sublime. I don’t know enough about music to know what’s going on, but I can tell it ain’t easy to do (just try to sing along on some of these songs and see how far you get).

Although I must’ve listened to this record four times in a row while preparing to review it I never got tired of hearing a single one of the songs. It’s a happy accident that I bought “A Swingin’ Affair” for a single song and ended up liking all 16. If that’s not perfection, I don’t know what is.

Best tracks: all the tracks, but I particularly like I Wish I Were In Love Again, I Won’t Dance, I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good and The Lady is a Tramp

CD Odyssey Disc 921: Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle

Sheila was out for dinner tonight and I had to fend for myself. I’m not much of a cook and I could’ve had soup or canned ravioli but I gave in to temptation on the walk home and stopped for pizza instead. I regret nothing.

Disc 921 is….Colvin & Earle

Artist: Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover? Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle take a walk together. This is the most dressed up I’ve seen Steve Earle in a decade. Shawn must’ve called and reminded him it was picture day.

How I Came To Know It: I didn’t even know this album had happened until I saw it on the new arrivals shelf at a local music store. Steve Earle has rarely steered me wrong, so although I knew Shawn Colvin only in passing I decided to give it a shot.

How It Stacks Up:  I have no Shawn Colvin albums but many by Steve Earle. None of that is relevant here, as this is a one-off duet record, and so stands alone.

Ratings: 2 stars

As I noted earlier Steve Earle has rarely steered me wrong, but on “Colvin & Earle” I certainly didn’t feel steered right. This album isn’t bad, but I spent most of my multiple listens wishing it was better.

The record is a blend of Colvin and Earle’s respective folk styles, and they sing harmony on almost all of the tracks. The harmonies were so loose I found them discordant and distracting, however. It was so distracting I took to the internet to find out what those kind of harmonies are called so I could avoid them in future.

Apparently it is called “cross harmony” and the discordance is intentional. In an interview for the Guardian, Earle is quite proud of the fact that they happen “naturally” when he sings with Colvin. That may be so, but it wasn’t for me. If that means I’ve got an unrefined ear, so be it, but I like my harmonies to get along better. By the way, I’d link to the Guardian article but the writer claims the album has only two cover tracks on it and there are four. That’s just something you’ve gotta fact check, people. But I digress…

The tracks that are written by Colvin or Earle (or both) didn’t have the emotional oomph that I expect, at least from my experience with Earle’s songwriting. Also, while I could tell they were trying to do the album in a very traditional style the result was that a lot of the tracks feel stale. “Tell Moses” is full of religious metaphor but I couldn’t tell if they were paying homage or just trying the style on for size. The musical exercise didn’t translate to the album and made the whole song feel disingenuous.

As folk albums often do, the record has four covers (five if you count the Beatles song in the bonus tracks). Two of these (John Loudermilk’s blues-rock classic “Tobacco Road” and the sublime “Ruby Tuesday” by the Rolling Stones) had me wishing I could hear the originals instead. Colvin & Earle don’t do a bad version of either, but in converting them to a more traditional style the energy of the original didn’t translate. At least “Tobacco Road” has a more traditional tight harmony which was a welcome break from the “cross harmony” everywhere else.

The other two covers are very good, and are standouts on the album. Emmylou Harris’ “Raise the Dead” is excellent. When I first heard it I thought “this would sound great sung by Emmylou Harris!” which is how I found out it was her song. It is from a 1999 duet album with Linda Ronstadt called “Western Wall” which I am now looking for.

“You Were On My Mind” is a very pretty cover of an Ian and Sylvia Tyson song. Not only are Colvin & Earle up to the task, I think they give this song even more emotional impact than even the legendary Tysons managed. Kudos!

One original song really stood out as well. “The Way That We Do” has strong songwriting and it helps that Earle and Colvin take turns on the verses rather than trying to sing harmony at first. This strangely helps the discordant harmonies work better later on when they are introduced halfway through.

There are some pretty tracks on this album for sure, and it gets better as it goes along but not enough of it resonated with me, or it resonated in a way that didn’t feel comfortable. Despite this record being new to my collection, I must reluctantly bid it an early adieu and send it to a home where it will be better appreciated.

Best tracks: The Way That We Do, You Were On My Mind, Raise the Dead, That Don’t Worry Me Now

CD Odyssey Disc 920: Molly Hatchet

Will this CD Odyssey ever end? Not if I keep buying music, I suppose, and this weekend I bought five more albums.

They were (in no particular order): Kishi Bashi’s “Sonderlust”, Angel Olsen’s “My Woman”, the Drive-By Truckers’ “Decoration Day”, Daniel Romano’s “Mosey” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On.” The two early winners out of that collection were Kishi Bashi and Drive-By Truckers, but that’s all I’ll say for now – I’ll say more when I roll ‘em.

Disc 920 is….Flirtin’ With Disaster

Artist: Molly Hatchet

Year of Release: 1979

What’s up with the Cover? Frank frickin’ Frazetta, that’s what. The fantasy world’s undisputed art godfather did a bunch of album covers for Molly Hatchet and this is one of the best. This cover has everything the 12 year old boy in me could ever want: skeletons, snakes and a badass Viking warrior with an axe dripping blood. Even the ubiquitous Molly Hatchet banner looks cool.

How I Came To Know It: I grew up with this record (my brother had a few Molly Hatchet records). He liked Molly Hatchet well enough, but I strongly suspect he was influenced to buy this album for the cover art – and who could blame him? I got the CD version as part of a set containing Molly Hatchet’s first five albums about a year ago.

How It Stacks Up:  I have five Molly Hatchet albums. “Flirtin’ With Disaster” was the band’s biggest seller, but for me it only ranks third.

Ratings: 3 stars

Sometimes an artist can find their sound a bit too perfectly, and that’s the case with Molly Hatchet’s second album, “Flirtin’ With Disaster”.

On their debut record, the band showed their boogie woogie and blues-rock roots with something that fell somewhere between Little Feat and Allman Brothers. On the album that would follow (1980’s “Beatin’ the Odds”) they are a bit harder, as they begin to sidle up to early eighties metal.

But in 1979 Molly Hatchet was content to just lay down a straightforward riff and groove away. No complicated guitar solos. No fantastical topics (well a bit of western outlaw track with “Gunsmoke” but that’s about it). This is just southern rock, blasted out with gusto and damn any frills that might distract you from the core of the song.

With that disclaimer in mind, the songs on “Flirtin’ With Disaster” are solid and played with energy, and probably exactly what you’d want to hear in some rough-as-hell small town bar where the band is protected by a chicken-wire cage, a la the Blues Brothers.

When they hit the sweet spot within the sweet spot, as they do on side one tracks two and three with “It’s All Over Now” and “One Man’s Pleasure” it is a toe-tapping good time. When they go on a bit too long (as they do on the six minute “Boogie No More”) the limitations of the songs become apparent.

On the title track it feels like they are trying to write a hit, but the effort seems to suck out the grit established on the album’s more organic deep cuts. In fairness, the live version of the same song later on the record (my CD has four bonus tracks including live material) works a lot better.

In fact, when they play live it made me wish I’d seen them in some dive bar during their prime. I think it would have been one hell of a show, replete with fistfights, cheap bourbon and broken glass. Actually, probably just as well that I missed it; I only like a third of those things. I’m looking at you, Jim Beam. But I digress…

The album is a bit of a reverse bell curve, with two of the first three songs being strong and two of the last three (“Gunsmoke” and “Long Time”) bringing the level up again after a lot of uninspiring filler through the middle of the lineup. Despite this, the opening track “Whiskey Man” and the closer “Let The Good Times Roll” are mirror images of the same boring song, chugging along in a workmanlike but uninspiring way.

I can’t fault Molly Hatchet for doing what they do, and their fans were happy with it for sure. “Flirtin’ With Disaster” was their biggest selling album ever, going triple platinum and achieving the lofty heights of #19 on the charts.

But if I am being honest, I like them when they are either just a bit more raw, or a bit more heavy. The album that precedes this one marries the sixties into the seventies with electric boogie woogie, and the one that follows has an edge of metal that makes them a bit of a trendsetter. “Flirtin’ With Disaster” is still Molly Hatchet in their prime, and has its moments, but if it had taken more risks I would have liked it even better.

Best tracks: It’s All Over Now, One Man’s Pleasure, Gunsmoke, Long Time

CD Odyssey Disc 919: Daniel Romano

After a stressful and frustrating week, I’ve been enjoying a fairly relaxing weekend. There is no Dolphins game this week - we got our losing out of the way earlier than usual during a Thursday night game - but I’m still going to spend the day watching football.

Before I do that, let’s write a music review!

Disc 919 is….Come Cry With Me

Artist: Daniel Romano

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? Everything old is new again, and hip(ster) new bands love evoking the artistic feel of old sixties records. I love it too, and find this album cover both awesome and ironic in equal measure, as I expect Daniel Romano intended.

I suspect the jacket is by famous designer Manuel Cuevas. Sheila and I went to Manuel’s shop in downtown Nashville last year and I could have bought half the store…except that the jackets cost thousands. Maybe one day…

How I Came To Know It: My coworker Sam told me about Daniel Romano and recommended 2011’s “Sleeps Beneath the Willow”. I listened to it and still wasn’t sure, but then I saw this album at a discounted price at the local music store and decided to take a chance. Support your local music stores!

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Daniel Romano albums so far, all bought in the last couple of months. Because they are all new to me, it is hard to stack them up but I’ll take a chance and say “Come Cry With Me” is the best…for now.

Ratings: 4 stars

Sometimes an album is so reminiscent of an earlier era it is hard to tell if it is a clever throwback or a tired derivative.

I wrestled with this question while listening to “Come Cry With Me.” It sounds a great deal like Gram Parsons, from the song construction through the arrangements and even Romano’s vocal style. The more I listened, the more I realized this record is a love letter to that sound, not a rip off. The songs are in the same style but they are thoughtful, creative and original. If you were to mix them into a playlist featuring the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Byrds and Gram Parson’s solo work it could hold its own, which is high praise indeed.

Romano’s voice isn’t the strongest, but he knows how to write songs that stay within his range in a way that you generally don’t notice. In this way he reminds me of John Prine or Steve Earle, both accomplished masters at the same compositional sleight-of-hand.

A lot of the songs speak to heartache and loss, most notably the opening track, “Middle Child” which is a song about a child mourning that his mother never loved him. The echo in the production and the angst in Romano’s voice serve the topics well. Even on “Two Pillow Sleeper” which employs the overused metaphor of the empty pillow, Romano makes it work as he draws you in to country music’s oldest theme: broken hearts.

This sadness is juxtaposed against humour in other tracks. On “Chicken Bill” Romano tells the tale of a drifter getting a temporary job killing chickens on a chicken farm. The song is actually a two-parter, flowing from a Johnny-Cash like bass line on “Chicken Bill” and then flowing into the next track, “When I Was Abroad.” The song is an old country waltz in which Chicken Bill tells how much better his life was when he traveled abroad…or lived as a woman. Probably the former, but I think it is open to interpretation.

A highlight on the album is “I’m Not Crying Over You” where Romano crosses the album’s two themes, telling the story of a heartbroken man who insists he isn’t heartbroken at all, but just practicing for an acting role:

“When she left me, she thought that I was hurting

She heard that I was crying to her friends

But the truth is I just got a new job acting

So any tear that rolls my cheek is just pretend.”

The album ends with a live performance of “A New Love (Can Be Found)” and it is a standout track. Here’s the stark but affecting opening:

“Some stranger is with her for the first time tonight.

What’s a man to do, when he just can’t win?

And all the voices in my head are saying ‘cry your days away’

Why can’t somebody call to me and say:

‘Hey, mister, don’t let it bring you down

A new love can be found

Just open up your eyes

I wasn’t meant to be

No, not this time around.

A new love can be found.’”

The quaver in Romano’s voice is beautiful here, accompanied by a single acoustic guitar. This song is equal parts hope and heartbreak.

I’ll end with a couple of disclaimers. First, “Come Cry With Me” explores a very traditional and old-school country music sound. I happen to love that music, but if you don’t you aren’t going to like this record either.

Second, every Romano album is very different from the others. I just finished listening to his new release “Mosey” for the first time and it is full of horn sections and early disco. Romano does his own thing, and when he does it he delves deeply. You won’t always want to go that far into a single musical idea, and when you don’t he runs the risk of coming off disingenuous. All I can say is, give his records multiple listens because the more times you hear them the more you will notice that he is the real deal: a singer-songwriter that deserves a lot more fame than he’s achieved so far.

Best tracks: Middle Child, Just Between You and Me, I’m Not Crying Over You, A New Love (Can Be Found)