CD Odyssey Disc 1153: Steve Earle

Greetings, gentle readers! I was away briefly while dealing with a musical crisis. I lost my Sony Walkman Tuesday night and had no portable music for a day. Not having headphones and looking…er…slightly different (as I do) can make you a magnet for fellow weirdos when you are out and about in the world. While some of those encounters were strangely pleasant, it still drove me to search for my Walkman with renewed enthusiasm. I it lying between my bed and nightstand. Crisis averted!

Disc 1153 is… Jerusalem

Artist: Steve Earle

Year of Release: 2002

What’s up with the Cover? More annoying art from perennial Earle cover artist Tony Fitzpatrick. I like this one more than most of his stuff, and the whole snake without a head design is a pretty cool idea, but I still wouldn’t decorate my house with it.

How I Came To Know It: This was just me buying the next Steve Earle album when it came out. I’m a fan.

How It Stacks Up:  I didn’t buy Steve Earle’s latest album “So You Wanna Be An Outlaw” (at least not yet) and I parted ways with “Terraplane” so I now have 15 Steve Earle albums. I put “Jerusalem” fifth, although really it is tied with “El Corazon” for fourth. It is one of Steve Earle’s greatest records. Since this is the final Earle review, here’s the full recap:

1. I Feel Alright: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 14)
2. Exit 0: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 423)
3. Guitar Town: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 616)
4. El Corazon:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 395)
5. Jerusalem: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
6. Copperhead Road: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 398)
7. Train A Comin’:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 127)
8. The Revolution Starts Now: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 359)
9. Sidetracks: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 851)
10. I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 718)
11. The Low Highway: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 633)
12. The Hard Way: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 179)
13. Washington Square Serenade: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 226)
14. The Mountain: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 332)
15. Transcendental Blues: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 438)
16. Terraplane: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 980)

I also have Townes, which is an album full of Townes Van Zandt covers. I love this record and gave it 4 stars, but it seemed weird to stack up against his original material. If I did, I’d probably put it at around #6 and bump everything else down one.

Ratings:  4 stars but close to 5

Throughout Steve Earle’s career he has sung about whatever the hell he pleases, in whatever style appeals to him. He’d already been at it for years when in 2002 he released “Jerusalem” and decided to go ahead and add a whole other level of pointy to his message, and to hell with how Middle America felt about it.

“Jerusalem” came out the year after a bunch of criminals crashed aircraft into the World Trade Centre, leaving America reeling. Musicians – American and otherwise – turned their talents to the tragedy in a lot of different ways. Sarah McLachlan expressed her anguish on “World on Fire,” (on “Afterglow” reviewed at Disc 857) and Bruce Springsteen released an entire album dedicated to the lives of the people affected when the towers fell on “The Rising” (reviewed back at Disc 751). Toby Keith imagined a Statue of Liberty that shakes her fist and plants her boot in the ass of America’s enemies. Toby Keith is such a moron.

Back to Steve Earle, who decided to take the opportunity to use the first half of “Jerusalem” to deliver a pointed and unapologetic critique of American society. With a nation still grieving it was an aggressive move that offended a lot of people, but it also inspired some of the best music in Earle’s long career.

The record starts with “Ashes to Ashes” a song about how every empire crumbles, including lines like “every tower ever built tumbles” just in case you weren’t clear on what empire he is referencing. “Amerika v.6.0 (The Best We Can Do)” points the finger at anyone who shrugs and decides to settle, or as Earle puts it:

“I remember when we was both out on the boulevard

Talkin’ revolution and singin’ the blues

Nowadays letters to the editor and cheatin’ on our taxes

Is the best we can do.”

These songs feature an aggressive style that matches the aggressive lyrics. The electric guitars fuzz out and at times Earle’s voice is distorted like you are hearing it through a megaphone, which makes sense given the protest feel of the tracks. When it isn’t fuzzed out, he slurs or shouts his lines with visceral anger and frustration. All this distortion creates a sense of unease which is exactly the intent.

The final song in this four song mini-set, “John Walker’s Blues” is from the perspective of American teen-turned Taliban terrorist John Walker Lindh, exploring with heartfelt sincerity how a good Catholic boy from California turns into a terrorist.

Following this final salvo Earle turns his mind to his more traditional topics for the rest of the record. “The Kind” is a pretty little tale filled with cowboys with achin’ hearts and pictures of girls with secret smiles. After all the doom and gloom and anger, “The Kind” is a palate cleanser. It is like Earle is reminding you, “Hey, I still see beauty. I’m not permanently broken, just angry.”

The rest of the record is Earle doing this more traditional fare – tales of low level drug dealers in over their heads (“What’s a Simple Man To Do?”), the prison system (“The Truth”), and hopeless romantic notions (“I Remember You”). The latter is a duet with Emmylou Harris and one of the great songs about ended relationships you will ever hear. Emmylou sounds as good here as she ever has. It was this song that drove me down the rabbit hole of her music collection and for that alone I owe “Jerusalem” a lot.

The record ends with the title track, and sees Earle reconciling on a number of levels. The style of “Jerusalem” matches the quiet and subtle style on the record’s second half, but returns to the themes of war and violence and doubt from the first.

This time Earle is conciliatory and filled with optimism. The distorted production is gone and as Earle’s harmonica announces the arrival of the melody you get the feeling that you’ve come through a storm to a clear day. In the song Earle wakes to the sound of the TV announcing war in the Middle East, and feels an initial hopelessness but then he recovers. The song ends with these hopeful lines:

“And there’ll be no barricades then

There’ll be no wires or walls

And we can wash all the blood from our hands

And all this hatred from our souls.

“And I believe that on that day all the children of Abraham

Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem.”

Sadly, many people by this time would have tuned Earle out, no doubt preferring the visceral idiocy of Toby Keith or (hopefully) the gentler touch of McLachlan or Springsteen. The album “Jerusalem” resulted in Steve Earle being banned from most of mainstream country radio, which is a pretty sad indictment of free speech.

Not me. I’ve never agreed with everything Steve Earle says, but that should never be a prerequisite for great art. On “Jerusalem” Earle speaks from the depths a great and wounded heart, but it is also a heart with an amazing capacity for seeing the beauty in the world, and a willingness to forgive. It may at times be a journey through grief but it is a journey worth taking.

Best tracks: Amerika v.6.0 (The Best We Can Do), Conspiracy Theory, John Walker Lindh’s Blues, The Kind, I Remember You, Shadowland, Jerusalem

CD Odyssey Disc 1152: King Diamond

When I review a new (to me) record, I tend to give it at least three full listens before I start talking about it (once when I first buy it and at least two in a row before I wrote the review). It isn’t a rule, but almost any record deserves this common courtesy.

I started writing this one after only two and a half listens because the thought of having to listen to it for another day was too painful to contemplate.

Disc 1152 is… Conspiracy

Artist: King Diamond

Year of Release: 1989

What’s up with the Cover? King Diamond consistently has awesome album covers, but there is always the exception that proves the rule, and this is it. The saddest thing about this cover is you can tell that King Diamond thinks he looks super scary and intense. Instead he looks like a guy about to fail a job interview to be a clown.

“No, Mr. Diamond – we’re looking for someone to do children’s birthday parties. This is highly inappropriate.”

“No, Mr. Diamond this isn’t suitable for “rock star” either.”

How I Came To Know It: I bought a 5 CD set of King Diamond’s first 5 albums. It was a good deal. I got three albums I really wanted, one I could live with and…this one.

How It Stacks Up:  I used to have eight King Diamond albums, but I gave away “Abigail II” so now I have seven. Of the remaining seven albums, I rank this one eighth, slipping it behind the now departed “Abigail II”. It will remain in my collection because breaking up the 5 CD set would just wreck the boxed set, but it is going to sit in there and rot.

Ratings:  1 star

“Conspiracy” is what would happen if someone wanted to cross a creepy Alice Cooper concept album with the driving power of an Iron Maiden album – only crappy. I can see what King Diamond is going for here, and I usually like his mix of camp and power, but this record was just…not good.

As ever, King Diamond has a weird story to tell. Like “Abigail II,” “Conspiracy” is a sequel to a previous album (in this case 1988’s “Them”). The original story revolves around a house haunted with spirits, and “Conspiracy” sees the protagonist from the original return to the house in order to – o, who gives a crap. There is a plot here, but in order for me to be engaged in it I’d have to be enjoying the music, and I didn’t.

That isn’t to say it isn’t played with skill, because it is and guitarist Andy Larocque once again shows his virtuosity. Unfortunately, his prowess is wasted on songs that are bloated and unfocused.

King Diamond’s vocals are his usual weird mix of shrill and power, but with this being my fourth King Diamond review in my last 60 albums I was tired of hearing it. If you like an artist, you should revel in exploring their back catalogue, but instead King Diamond has just worn me out. It doesn’t help that this is the worst of what he has to offer.

There are weird waltzes, Phantom of the Opera organs, and an homage to the wedding march, There are also various characters voiced by Diamond – as he is wont to do – talking about stuff I either couldn’t make out or didn’t find interesting. The music is proggy without being interesting, and laden with power chords but lacking power. Songs shift around from one concept to another, all loosely stitched together and overlong.

Even the best song on the record, “A Visit From the Dead” is only half good. It spends the first two minutes with Larocque plunking away on what sounds like a very bad folk song and then turns into something that sounds like it was made for a bad horror movie for another minute. Finally at the three minute mark the song rocks out with a pretty killer riff. I liked that riff a lot and the guitar solo that follows is pretty solid also, but it was not worth the wait.

The most annoying thing about “Conspiracy” is I can’t even get rid of it easily, because it comes in a box set and tossing it would essentially make selling the box set later (which I am considering) almost impossible. This just made me crankier, and probably helped drop it down to its one lowly star.

I’ve got two albums left in that boxed set to review, and they are on notice. Do better!

Best tracks: ½ of “A Visit From the Dead”

CD Odyssey Discs 1150 and 1151

As you can see from the title, this post is two reviews in one. That’s because these two albums were re-released in a single CD case. This artist does this a lot, and I don’t mind one bit, because it takes up less space on the CD shelves.

Disc 1150 and 1151 are… Repossessed and Third World Warrior

Artist: Kris Kristofferson

Year of Release: 1986 (Repossessed) and 1990 (Third World Warrior)

What’s up with the Cover? This is some special re-release cover featuring the eyes of Kristofferson from “Third World Warrior” and some random shot of him rocking out on a guitar. The actual covers are:

How I Came To Know It: I first bought “Repossessed” on cassette at A&B sound in the late eighties. It was in a bargain bin at some ridiculously low price like $3.95. At the time I mistakenly thought that the song “What About Me?” was one I remembered hearing on the AM radio when I was a kid. Turns out that version of “What About Me?” is by Moving Pictures and as you can see very much NOT Kris Kristofferson. Epic music fail.

Fortunately, I liked Kris Kristofferson anyway, so I was happy with what I ended up with, albeit by accident.

As for “Third World Warrior” I didn’t know that album until this “Special Re-Release” double CD was released. I was keen to finally have “Repossessed” on CD and and getting “Third World Warrior” as well was a bonus.

How They Stack Up:  I have eight Kris Kristofferson albums I’ll put “Repossessed” in at #4 and “Third World Warrior” right behind it at #5.

Repossessed:

What’s up with the Cover?: Kristofferson rocks out, showing off his middle-aged man muscles in a tight black t-shirt. I rock a similar look from time to time, minus the muscles.

Ratings:  3 stars

There is something to be said for obscurity. It allows you the freedom to make whatever kind of music you want.

Kristofferson’s music through the late seventies and early eighties was a mix of outlaw country and sexy grooves for men who take their shirts off a lot in mixed company and the women who don’t mind.

“Repossessed” changes gears, keeping the mix of country and contemporary rock but with a stronger focus on the slow wear of years on the human heart. These are songs for the weary and the worn out, laced with a thread of social activism and stoic resistance that has always been a key part of Kristofferson’s sound.

The most heartbroken of all is “Shipwrecked in the Eighties” a song about one of Kristofferson’s long-standing causes; the fate of Vietnam veterans. In 1986, it had only been ten years since the end of that war and the horrors were still fresh in the minds of those unfortunate to have fought in it. Through it all, Kristofferson’s vocals meander with their gravelly truth:

“Well you fight like the devil to just keep your head above water

Chained to whatever you got that you can’t throw away

And you’re shooting through space on this river of life that you’re riding

And it’s whirling and sucking you deeper on down every day.”

The song is a mix of a guitar strum on the high strings, with an organ providing the bass notes. The beat drags with a weary doom, punctuated by a mournful harmonica that keeps the wound fresh. Kristofferson likens post-traumatic stress with death by drowning, and it is not a quick death.

On “Anthem ‘84” Kristofferson sings from the perspective of a soldier who has kept himself together, only to find his partner is losing herself. The soldier brings a foxhole mentality to the situation, and maybe the kind of toughness and inner strength needed to withstand it:

“If you’re looking for a fighter who’ll defend you

And love you for your freedom, I’m your man

I ain’t gonna leave you for the crazy things you’re doin’

Don’t ask me to lend a helping hand.”

Like “Shipwrecked in the Eighties,” “Anthem ‘84’” is buoyed by long lines of sprung rhythm that lilt along to Kristofferson’s rough vocals. He sings like he’s just taken a shot of whiskey, with a homespun truth that comes from having done it all, and lived to see the other side.

“Repossessed” has a lot of tough love about it, but it is still very much about love. When on “The Heart” Kristofferson sings “If they deal you down and dirty in a way you don’t deserve/You’ll feel better if you take it like a man” it may seem callous, but this brand of stoicism has gotten me through more than a few bad patches. He’s like that rough and kindly uncle that catches you crying out back but pretends he didn’t, and invites you to come out back and shoot some cans. Feels good to shoot some cans, and if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s OK. He’s just gonna be there in case you do.

I suspect for a lot of people this record comes off as a bit schmaltzy and there are places where Kristofferson probably crosses that line, but overall his honesty wins through. If it sounds schmaltzy it’s just because when manly vampire-killin’ real men like Kris Kristofferson show their feels it can be a bit awkward. But it is all the more real for that awkwardness. Because of this I forgive this record its excesses when they happen.

For an album made in 1986, “Repossessed” is surprisingly free of drum machine and synth fuzz and I was happy for their absence. It is still a bit tinny in places, but overall this album has a grounded feel that was missing from a lot of other artists of similar vintage at the time.

Most of all, it is a reminder that being tough and sensitive may seem like opposites, but really they’re yin and yang and you’ll need both of them to stay upright on life’s long road. There are records that do it better, but “Repossessed” a gruff charm to its delivery that is warm and real.

Best tracks - Repossessed: Shipwrecked in the Eighties, They Killed Him, What About Me, Anthem ’84, The Heart

Third World Warrior

What’s up with the Cover?:  Kristofferson is a master of the Giant Head cover, and this could be his crowning achievement. This head is real big, and real haggard.

Ratings:  3 stars

The other great thing about obscurity is you can say whatever you like, and on “Third World Warrior” Kris Kristofferson does just that, launching into a politically charged album without hesitation or apology.

The album opens with “The Eagle and the Bear” where Kristofferson makes it clear that he doesn’t care about either major superpower – his interest is in the regular folks who suffer whenever nations clash:

“I will fight and I will die for freedom

Up against an eagle or a bear

I will help my brother and we’ll sink or swim together

If you don’t like it mister, I don’t care.”

The song is grounded in a solemn piano piece, but in the background the snap of the snare is Kristofferson’s call to action.

Central America (particularly El Salvador and Nicaragua) feature prominently throughout the record as does the apartheid regime in South Africa and many of the songs have a protest sing-a-long quality that calls to mind rallies and placards.

In many places on the album Kristofferson just talks over the music, naming a wide mix of heroes (among them Gary Cooper, John Kennedy, Martin Luther, Malcolm X and Jesus) or calling out various things he wants fixed in the world. This was a bit jarring, because the songs are strong enough on their own in making their point, and the spoken word sections feel more like rhetoric than poetry.

Kristofferson dedicates an entire song to then-prominent politician Jesse Jackson, who was fresh from pursuing a run for president back in 1988. It is an upbeat celebration even though lines like “They ain’t ready for you yet, but it’s a start” showcase Kristofferson’s disappointment that Jackson wasn’t chosen to represent the Democrats (that was Michael Dukakis). It’s too bad Willie Nelson gets a guest verse. Willie seems like a nice guy and all, but as I just noted on my Rhiannon Giddens review, I’m not a fan of his voice.

The album has some beautiful background vocal work in places and I regret that the combined efforts of the liner notes and internet did not reveal specifically who it was. Whoever does those soulful shouts deep in the mix – thank you!

As you might expect from an album with a lot of songs about Central America, there are plenty of Spanish and Caribbean rhythms and you can smell the beach and the blue seas of lands that have always been luckier in their climate than their political stability. Sometimes these rhythms worked, and other times they were too processed and artificial as eighties production finally caught up with Kristofferson.

Whatever you think about any of the issues Kristofferson raises, you have to admire him for his fearlessness. This album covers a lot of uncomfortable topics back in 1990 and much of his traditional fan-base would have preferred he stuck to shaking ribbons from pretty ladies hair and singing about hangovers. He doesn’t care. Kristofferson pokes the bear, scoffs at the eagle and makes his points forcefully and without apology.

Best tracks – Third World Warrior: The Eagle and the Bear, Don’t let the Bastards (Get You Down), Jesse Jackson (Sung with Willie Nelson)

CD Odyssey Disc 1149: Rhiannon Giddens

On January 4, I listed my top ten albums of 2017 (see the full list at Disc 1088) but that was before I heard this next record. If I had known it then it would have bumped a few of these records down a spot – maybe coming in at #7 or so. This just shows that while “best of” lists may be stuck in time, there is no expiration date for when great music comes into your life.

Disc 1149 is… Freedom Highway

Artist: Rhiannon Giddens

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? Traveling the Freedom Highway is never an easy journey. This one is unpaved and Rhiannon Giddens is walking barefoot.

How I Came To Know It: This album was rated as the top album of 2017 by Penguin Eggs magazine so I decided to give it a listen and see what the fuss was all about.

How It Stacks Up:  I only have one Rhiannon Giddens album so it can’t really stack up.

Ratings:  4 stars but almost 5

If you ever want a crash course in black history in America, from slavery through the civil rights movement, and on to modern challenges, you couldn’t do much better than Rhiannon Giddens’ masterpiece, “Freedom Highway.” This is a record filled with stories of courage and love in the face of overwhelming odds. Over 50 memorable minutes it will move you, shame you and inspire you to a better world.

The record’s brilliance starts with its musicianship. Giddens has collected a true A-list of players, collectively capable of ranging through multiple styles that include bluegrass, gospel, Dixieland jazz, and – on one song – even a little spoken word. The record doesn’t just feel like an exploration of the history of African Americans, it is also a love letter to the many musical influences that permeate that journey.

On top of it all is Giddens’ voice; powerful and so laden with emotion I sometimes thought my heart was going to burst with pride. Other times I just needed a good cry. I recommend both experiences.

The album is a carefully curated collection of songs, most are original compositions, but there are also a few choice covers.

The record hits hard out of the gate, with Giddens’ “At the Purchaser’s Option” a song inspired by a slave advertisement selling a 22 year old woman, with the a 9-month child included “at the purchaser’s option.” Yeesh. The dispassionate language of the advertisement (reprinted in the liner notes) is a stark contrast to the anguish of the song as Giddens’ puts herself in the unfortunate shoes of the woman being sold:

“You can take my body, you can take my bones

You can take my blood but not my soul.”

The combination of hurt and rebellion Giddens’ sings these lyrics sets the tone for the whole record. The mix of gospel and bluegrass on “At the Purchaser’s Option” is just one of many tools in Giddens’ toolbox. “Better Get It Right the First Time” is a soul-drenched track with a hip-swaying groove that belies its angry topic of young black men getting shot in the streets in modern America. Giddens shows off her mastery of the pocket, and there is a spoken word section (bordering on rap) from Justin Harrington that fits in gloriously with the horn section and overall groove.

“We Could Fly” is pure folk, and the best song on the record for a pure showcase of Giddens’ vocals. This song will lift your soul. While you won’t fly, the way Giddens’ gently enters each chorus with a sweetness in her tone then quickly builds up to pure power will make you know what it feels like.

The covers are carefully chosen and fit naturally in with the new compositions. On a cover of Mississippi John Hurt’s “The Angels Laid Him Away” brings a light folk lilt to an old blues song, with a critical assist from a moseying guitar pick from Dirk Powell.

Later, Giddens covers “Birmingham Sunday.” This song commemorates four school girls killed in 1963 at the bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist Church, which had become a focal point for the civil rights movement. In preparing to review this record I checked out Joan Baez’s original as well. It is deeply affecting, but I prefer Giddens’ version, which has a bluesy gospel feel that elevates it a half step higher.

The only elements of the album I didn’t love were purely a case of personal taste. There were some jazzy elements that didn’t grab me, but even these were delivered with excellence and emotional resonance.

This is a record that teaches but never preaches, with an honesty that draws you into its stories like a magnet. With its unflinching look at some of the darker parts of American history the tone could easily have turned angry, but instead it cleaves to a resolute hope. These are tough topics, but at the core of it all there is love and the dream of a better tomorrow.

Best tracks: At the Purchaser’s Option, the Angels Laid Him Away, Birmingham Sunday, Better Get It Right the First Time, We Could Fly, Come Love Come

CD Odyssey Disc 1148: Guns N Roses

Over the weekend I dug a little deeper into the Little Feat back catalogue, and liked what I heard. If you’ve read those reviews you’ll know my friend Elaine put me onto Little Feat, but it was cool checking out a few more of their albums from the seventies.

I also discovered a newer band called Lucius via a local server named Josh with whom I have been exchanging musical recommendations.

So thanks to Josh and thanks again to Elaine and…let’s get on with the show.

Disc 1148 is… Use Your Illusion II

Artist: Guns ‘N’ Roses

Year of Release: 1991

What’s up with the Cover? This is exactly the same cover as the band used for “Use Your Illusion I” as I noted when I reviewed that album back at Disc 778. It is a tiny detail pulled out of the famous Renaissance painting by Raphael called “School of Athens” basically featuring a ‘greatest hits’ package of philosophers. The only difference is on Illusion I the cover has a yellow filter applied, and here there is a blue filter. More on that later.

How I Came To Know It: Just me buying it when it came out because I liked Guns ‘N’ Roses’ first two albums. Like “Illusion I” I sold it for beer money and recently brought it back into the collection.

How It Stacks Up:  I have four Guns ‘N’ Roses albums, or I did before I parted with “Illusion I” a second time. Of those four, “Illusion II” is third best. And because this is the last of the Guns ‘N’ Roses in my collection, here’s a recap:

1. Appetite for Destruction: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 609)
2. GNR Lies: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 724)
3. Use Your Illusion II: 2 stars (reviewed right here)
4. Use Your Illusion I:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 778)

Ratings:  2 stars

Any album that you are willing to sell for beer money when you are hard up should be viewed very carefully before re-entering your collection. While the bloated and masturbatory “Use Your Illusion” (UYI) records are poster children for excess and artistic hubris, “Use Your Illusion II” is the better record overall.

How bad can an album be that starts with the famous “what we’ve got here is failure to communicate” speech from the prison captain in Cool Hand Luke? The song it is attached to “Civil War” is also pretty cool, a mid-tempo full of much of what makes Guns ‘N’ Roses a great band: Axl Rose warbles away, and Slash’s guitar wanks away with glorious excess. If only the whole record lived up to this initial promise.

There is other good stuff here, including the schmaltzy but surprisingly effective “Yesterdays” and a famous cover of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” Yes that song is often mocked but while you might revel in delivering your best “heaven’s doe-wahr hey hey hey hey – yaow” for laughs it is a pretty killer cover. It went top ten in eight countries so for some of the haters out there there is some revisionist history at work.

In Guns ‘n’ Roses tradition, the band also likes to get angry at stuff – often stuff that seems kind of petty and uninteresting. “Get in the Ring” is a song that I believe is challenging their critics to a fight. Which is weird but I think the song is mainly designed to just be as offensive as possible. It’s no “Out Ta Get Me” but it delivers what it intends to deliver.

“Breakdown” is an almost winner that I liked in the day even though it features a goofy voice in the back of the mix saying “Let me here you now!” in a funky way while Slash wails on the guitar and someone bangs on the keyboards. It is a hot mess, but Axl’s vocals sell lyrics that in lesser hands would be schmaltzy and disconnected. The end of the song is marred by some guy saying “But…it is written if the evil spirit arms the tiger with claws, Brahman provided wings for the dove. Thus spake the super guru. Did you hear that?”

Yes, gentlemen, sadly I did, but hearing it does not mean it makes sense.

Unfortunately most of UYI II does not survive this veritable swamping of excessive production, goofy spoken word parts, nine minute rambles and vague references to Indian rhythms that feel like the Beatles if they were on bath salts.

“Locomotive” delivers some “Appetite for Destruction” style energy but it is over eight minutes long and my interest was waning long before the song did. After this there is one highlight; the powerful “You Could Be Mine” is also Appetite-esque but way better and a relatively restrained 5:43. then a  whole lot of songs that made me wish it was over. From Track 9-14 I would just keep “You Could Be Mine” and flush the rest.

Overall the record is 14 songs and 75 minutes. While I’ve said it before, it bears repeating that if you took the best of what UYI I and UYI II have to offer and combine it into something called “Use Your Illusion 1.5” (only with a green cover – get it?) you’d have one solid respectable record. On their own, these are a couple of bloated hot messes desperately in need of a studio boss standing behind the mixing board and saying “no” more often.

Best tracks: Civil War, Yesterdays, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Breakdown, You Could Be Mine

CD Odyssey Disc 1147: Margo Price

The Odyssey continues with a little country music. There is a lot of bad country music out there, but there is also a lot of good stuff if you dig for it. here’s some of that.

Disc 1147 is… All American Made

Artist: Margo Price

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? Margo fading into the landscape…or is she part of the landscape? Or is she the Ghost of Scrub-Brush Ridge? I like that last one. It’s not a thing, but it should be.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Anthony introduced me to Margo Price through her first album, “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter” in 2016. When “All American Made” came out in 2017 I liked the first few songs so gave it a chance.

How It Stacks Up:  I have both of Margo Price’s albums and if you’ve been reading along you already know what they are. They are equally good, but I’ll put “All American Made” in a photo finish at…#1.

Ratings: 4 stars

Anyone who says that modern country music has nothing to offer us has never heard Margo Price. On “All American Made” Price once again shows that traditional country music can be socially relevant and authentic now if it is done right.

Price is one of several female country artists currently shaking things up in a genre that has a tendency toward being stale, superficial or both. Others fighting that tendency include Courtney Marie Andrews, Lindi Ortega and Nikki Lane. All are talented singer-songwriters that aren’t content to just sing three and a half minutes of ‘yeehaw’ and “I feel sexy” and instead dig down deeper. Check them out as well.

Price is the most pure country of the four, and with two top twenty records has had the most commercial success, although even that is a woeful lack of appreciation given the quality of records she’s making.

Price doesn’t have powerhouse vocals, but she makes up for it with a sweet tone and an honest delivery. On “All American Made” this is supplemented well with some solid playing by the backup band. The songs mosey when they need to mosey and gallop when that’s what’s called for. Price’s acoustic guitar work is subtly strong and Jamie Davis (electric guitar) and Luke Schneider (pedal steel) are both the right fit for Margo’s sound, with a light touch that delivers a lot of emotion without ever upstaging the star of the show.

As with her debut album, Price isn’t afraid to explore scars and faults, whether they are with her or in the music industry in general.

There are plenty of men behaving badly on the record, but Price never lets that be an excuse for self-destructive behavior. As she sings on “Weakness”, “I can hurt myself much more than anyone else can.” While she can – and does – call out selfish lovers and self-obsessed louts, she never shies away from taking responsibility for situations, right down to when she shows those louts the door. It is empowering stuff which rejects the vacuous expressions of cowgirl power you see from her mainstream Nashville counterparts. Instead Price opts for self-examination and the agency, and power that blossoms from knowing yourself first.

That’s not to say Price won’t call out idiots directly; she can and does. One of my favourites is “Cocaine Cowboys” which takes aim at all the idiots who dress up in western clothes but are a far cry from the real men they emulate:

“Cocaine cowboys they’re bad in the saddle

But they’re coming from New York, LA and Seattle

They’re all that, they don’t rope no cattle, they don’t ride no bulls.”

This song reminded me of all the drunken yahoos you encounter in Nashville walking up and down Honky Tonk Row. Later in the evening that scene can become quite a shit-show every bit as drug and liquor crazed as Las Vegas, but with more cowboy hats.

Price isn’t afraid of broader social issues. On “Pay Gap” she speaks out against women artists getting paid less than their male counterparts. In addition to being a timely commentary, “Pay Gap” is a cleverly structured song. I’m no expert, but I believe the verses are in 4/4 time but when Price gets to the chorus (“pay gap, pay gap/why don’t you do the math”) she switches to 2/4, letting the song’s time signature underscore her point. At least I think that happens. I’m not great at time signatures. “Pay Gap” also has some sweet Mexican-style flourishes of guitar and accordion.

Price takes on the plight of the American farmer on “Heart of America” and her more general concerns with America on the title track. That title track is an exceptionally poignant piece that would have been a lot better if it didn’t have an intro and outro sampling a bunch of presidential speeches. It is too obvious and doesn’t add to a song that delivers the message just fine on its own.

My other quibble is with “Learning to Lose,” a duet with Willie Nelson. The song is fine but I’ve never been a fan of Nelson’s voice. I know that this opinion is heretical and a bit rich coming from a guy who fawns over Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, but it is how I feel. Also, Price and Nelson sing with different phrasings rather than in harmony (or even unison). It is deliberate and done with skill, but it still felt disjointed to my ear.

Those are my only real quibbles with “All American Made,” though. This is a really great record from an artist who is showing that she is fixin’ to be around for a while. She’s dropped two albums in two years and I already can’t wait for what she does next.

Best tracks: Don’t Say It, Weakness, A Little Pain, Pay Gap, Cocaine Cowboys, Heart of America, Do Right By Me

CD Odyssey Disc 1146: Billy Bragg

With my holidays over let’s get the pace of these music reviews back on track. How the hell will the internet decide what’s worth listening to without the CD Odyssey?

I was further delayed by the length of this record, which was a deluxe edition with two CDs, one recorded with a backing band and one solo with just Bragg and his guitar. It was 77 minutes of Billy Bragg which is a lot of Bragg, but I liked both versions.

I’ve seen this a lot lately, with Frank Turner (2015), Lucinda Williams (Blessed in 2011) and a Josh Ritter re-issue (Hello Starling in 2010) all being released with “acoustic only” CDs on albums. I like the trend. Sometimes I like the full band, and sometimes just the guitar but it is nice to have the option.

Disc 1146 is… Mr. Love & Justice

Artist: Billy Bragg

Year of Release: 2008

What’s up with the Cover? I have no idea if there is any significance to the buildings that Billy Bragg is staring at on this cover. Whatever the case for an album about love and justice this cover is appropriately laid out in shades of grey. Life is complicated, man.

How I Came To Know It: A while back I did a deep dig through Bragg’s back catalogue and identified all the albums I wanted to have in my collection. “Mr. Love & Justice” was devilishly hard to find for some reason and it took over six months before some kindly anonymous stranger dropped off a used copy at Ditch Record Store.

How It Stacks Up:  I have nine of Billy Bragg’s 13 solo studio albums which for now is all I want. “Mr. Love & Justice” comes in at ninth place. This is not an indictment of its quality, however – it is a testament to how much I like the other eight albums.

Ratings: 3 stars

In the last decade Billy Bragg’s boisterousness has faded a bit, but his principal passions – love and various social and political causes – burn as brightly as they ever have. If anything, his mellowing vocals help the message go down easier. I don’t think he’s lost his edge, I think he’s learned you don’t have to shout to be heard.

These themes are once again present on the aptly titled “Mr. Love & Justice”, a record that explores both concepts, although on balance the songs about justice land stronger overall than those about love.

The opening track, “I Keep Faith” is the exception to this. It is a gentle song of forgiveness and endurance – two key and underrated strengths to any great love affair. It is also Bragg’s strongest vocal performance on the record. He’s not a gifted singer, but he has a resonant tone that matches well with the heavy twang of his guitar playing here.

After this, love takes a step back. “I Almost Killed You” feels like a throwback to mid-eighties Bragg but it had me wishing I could hear those early songs, not reinvent them. “You Make Me Brave” feels a bit schmaltzy, and when Bragg delivers it a capella on the acoustic Disc 2 it doesn’t help. Instead it reminded me of that kid singing “Killing Me Softly” in “About a Boy” but…more awkward. And that’s a lot of awkward. I’m sure this song gets played at Billy Bragg fans’ weddings but I would recommend they switch to “Handyman Blues” if you’re looking for heartfelt expressions of love and devotion. But I digress…

Bragg more than makes up for any clunkiness in the love department when he dons his social justice warrior’s hat. This worked strong on the acoustic version of the CD particularly, giving the album an imminence that made you feel like Bragg was busking in the streets where he got his start – but this time the new songs were welcome. It also helps that Bragg has the ability to pull a lot of background power out of his solo guitar playing and not lose the plot.

I liked the acoustic CD better overall, but most of the songs were good either way. I particularly loved both versions of the peace song “Sing Their Souls Back Home.” On the full instrumentation version there is a built in chorus and backup singers that makes you want to sing along. On the acoustic version, it is just Bragg and his guitar but he sings with such full heart and passion that you can hear the ghosts of all those backup singers joining him in spirit.

“Farm Boy” is a worthy entry in the canon of war songs that feature characters far from home, confronting moral quandaries as they encounter their enemy only to find them not so different from themselves. It had me thinking of John McCutcheon’s “Christmas in the Trenches,” and Steve Earle’s “Rich Man’s War”.

Whatever you think of the reasons for any specific war, the heroics and human cost of the soldiers that fight them is something that Bragg has always understood and respected. For him, love and justice will always be inseparable concepts and his concern for young men cast into peril and foreign lands shines as brightly as ever.

Whether Billy Bragg is going acoustic or electric, he is always plugged in to the nobility of the human spirit and like all his work, “Mr. Love & Justice” has a tender but principled optimism that helps make it soar.

Best tracks: I Keep Faith, Sing Their Souls Back Home, Mr. Love & Justice, O Freedom, Farm Boy

CD Odyssey Disc 1145: The Mountain Goats

Apologies for my extended absence, gentle readers. I have been on holiday and have had less qualifying listening time than normal. See Rule #4 in the sidebar for what qualifies.

I have bought a fair bit of music lately – too much to quickly discuss in fact – but here are the highlights:

• “Small Believer” – an intimately beautiful indie folk record from Anna Tivel from 2017.
• Thunderpussy – the 2018 eponymous debut from a hard rockin’ all woman band I expect to hear a lot more from in future.
• “When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog” – 2004 debut album from Swedish indie pop singer Jens Lekman.

More about these amazing albums - and the other seven, which are also good - when I roll them.

Disc 1145 is… Transcendental Youth

Artist: The Mountain Goats

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? It looks like these transcendental youths are burning a lot of oil. They should get that checked, because you never know when you’re going to run into a bunch of floating demon faces on your way to a pool day in Nirvana…oops, too late.

How I Came To Know It: This was just me drilling through the Mountain Goats back catalogue after I realized how much I liked them.

How It Stacks Up:  I rank “Transcendental Youth” fifth out of my eight Mountain Goats albums. So solid, but not the star of the show.

Ratings: 3 stars

Few artists do depression like John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats – he knows how to push his characters down into the depths of self-examination and then welcomes the listener to learn from their mistakes. His characters are often tragic, but rarely are they only tragic. Instead they have a core of nobility or at the very least endurance, that gilds the edges of their failure.

Darnielle has explored a lot of his own troubled youth in this way, and is so gifted a songwriter that if he were to stray to fiction the journey would be so seamless as to not matter. Whether fiction or biography or both, “Transcendental Youth” sees Darnielle turning his eye to the addicted and unemployed underclass of people living in and around Seattle.

The album has a lot of inner strength, but it isn’t founded in a “do the right thing” mentality nor even a “shape up!” mentality. Instead, it explores why people in dire straits have self-destructive qualities that to the rest of us don’t make any sense. The album begins with “Amy aka Gladiator 1”:

“Do every stupid thing that makes you feel alive

Do every stupid thing to try to drive the dark away

Let people call you crazy for the choices that you make

Find limits past the limits, jump in front of trains all day

And stay alive, just stay alive.

“Play with matches if you think you need to play with matches
Seek out the hidden places where the fire burns hot and bright
Find where the heat's unbearable and stay there if you have to
Don't hurt anybody on your way up to the light
And stay alive. Just stay alive”

In short – some people hurt themselves just to prove they’re still alive. Darnielle lays down his theme early with these lines – this album is for those people. They make a lot of bad choices, but he’s here to explore them, not judge whether it all makes any sense.

“Transcendental Youth” is a record for the invisible and the forgotten, and Darnielle sings their stories with a matter-of-fact delivery that makes it feel even more tragic. As he notes on “Harlem Roulette”:

“The loneliest people in the whole wide world

Are the ones you’re never going to see again.”

It’s an anthem for everyone you pass on the street and don’t even notice. The record is full of unclean apartments, drugs, vomit and petty crime. Don’t expect a record filled with party music, unless you are having very depressing parties; the kind where everyone ends up either in prison or in the hospital.

Darnielle is a master at phrasing and it aids in all this morose storytelling. He keeps the arrangements simple for the most part. The reverb on the piano is appropriately stark and haunting, and the horn section is used to lay down minor notes that paint around the edges of all that misery.

It works, although there are times when the album goes too far. Not with the misery – that’s to be expected – but with all those jazz notes. They suck some of the life out of the melodies and make songs that should strike straight from the heart come at you at a more oblique angle, dulled and diffuse. I don’t mind you depressing me, John, just lay off the jazz.

I also found the obscure and irrelevant song titles annoying, like modern poetry where the title of the poem helps you ‘get it’. The songs are clever enough on their own without resorting to this. Yes, we get that the person burning themselves on “Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1” in the first track is a type of “spent gladiator.” I just don’t think layering one more metaphor adds more meaning to the song at the end of the day, and it just confused me later trying to sort out the songs.

Despite this annoyance, the record still succeeds with Darnielle’s songwriting brilliance and its ability to put you into the mindset of people that too often we walk by every day without a second glance.

Best tracks: Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1, Lakeside View Apartments Suite, Harlem Roulette, Until I Am Whole, Spent Gladiator 2

CD Odyssey Disc 1144: Patti Smith Group

After almost nine years of reviews dead zones are starting to show up in my music collection where I’ve already reviewed everything in sight. I had to go through almost 60 CDs before I found one that I hadn’t already reviewed.

Does this mean the end is in sight? Hardly – it just means there will always be statistical anomalies, even when you dedicate yourself to the random will of the dice.

Disc 1144 is… Wave

Artist: Patti Smith Group

Year of Release: 1979

What’s up with the Cover? Patti Smith as a crazy bird lady. Part of me wants to invite her over for drinks and an equal part of me wants to cross to the other side of the street. This photo is by famous photographer (and lifelong Patti Smith friend) Robert Mapplethorpe, in case you are wondering why it is so awesome.

How I Came To Know It: After Sheila got me initially interested in Smith, I dug deeper and this was one of the albums I discovered. I liked it, making the purchase of a boxed set of her first five CDs (including “Wave”) a very easy decision to make.

How It Stacks Up:  I have five Patti Smith albums and I like them all. “Wave” holds off “Dream of Life” by the narrowest of margins to take third place.

Ratings: 4 stars

On “Wave” Patti Smith adopts a more pop-friendly approach than her previous three records, but it remains Patti Smith at its core, with plenty of intensity and experimentation sprinkled throughout.

One constant with Patti Smith are her distinctive vocals. On “Wave” they are classic Smith: low but powerful, with a swell of energy that makes you feel like she’s a priestess chanting before a dark and ancient god.

The opening track (and the only one to remotely chart) is “Frederick” is a good example of all of these elements. The song has a radio friendly production, with organ filling in Smith’s ordinarily stark approach. Like a lot of the songs on “Wave”, “Frederick” has a yearning quality, with Smith surrendering herself to a love that is both primal and cosmic.

The theme develops further on the next song, “Dancing Barefoot” which takes the esoteric notions of connectivity in “Frederick” and makes them flesh and blood. The mystery remains but light-hearted organ gives way to eerie guitar with a Middle Eastern-inspired sway in their rhythm. Smith slowly winds her voice around the song’s melody with the insistent refrain:

“Here I go and I don't know why
I flow so ceaselessly
Could it be he's taking over me”

There is a surrender here that is partly a choice and partly an irresistible need that demands resolution.

Smith often examines the concept of celebrity and stardom, and she channels this ably into a cover of the Byrd’s “So You Want To Be (A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star)”. Smith converts the sixties protest quality of the original with a visceral and raw warning of the dangers of the rock and roll lifestyle. Horn sections are removed and replaced with the thump of drum and sweet harmonies are swapped for the screech and distortion of electric guitar. It is advantage Smith and after a couple of times swapping back and forth between them the Byrds’ version started sounding thin and hollow.

Smith’s artsy and experimental side comes out more noticeably on Side Two (or the second half of the disc, if that’s how you roll). Songs like the politically charged “Citizen Ship” and “Broken Flag” interlace with the downright weirdness of “Seven Ways of Going” and the title track, “Wave.”

“Broken Flag” is the star of Side Two, a song of revolution filled with the glory of change and the sacrifices needed to make it real. The song has a military beat and swelling piano, as Smith converts her priestess chant to warrior-poet.

The title track is Smith back to her spoken word persona, as she rambles on sounding slightly crazy and obsessed, like a stalker who sees the world in different angles and colours than the rest of us. However, it is more than that, as she also forces you to pay closer attention to the desperate and awkward need for connection inside all of us to one degree or another.

My copy of the album is on CD and has a couple of bonus tracks (take that, vinyl people!). One is a New Wave jumper called “54321/Wave” which is plenty of fun, and the other is a cover of the Blue Oyster Cult song “Fire of Unknown Origin” that she cowrote with BOCer Allan Lanier.

Smith’s version here is so twisted and distorted it feels like the titular Fire of Unknown Origin has stolen Patti Smith to some alternate universe and you’re hearing her warped and warbled voice from some land where the laws of physics don’t apply. It isn’t exactly a dance number, but it is fun to see what can be done with a song when you push it to its artistic limits.

Like most Patti Smith albums “Wave” grew on me with each listen. There are always layers to her work, both within songs and the way she orders them to make a record. “Wave” feels a bit like Smith can’t decide if she wants a hit or just to keep hitting back at the conventional. Ultimately it is a bit of both, and while that might annoy purists, I thought it worked well.

Best tracks: Frederick, Dancing Barefoot, So You Want to be (A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star), Broken Flag