CD Odyssey Disc 1204: Girlschool

Welcome back to the Odyssey! For the second month in a row we get to delve into some Girlschool. Yeah!

Disc 1204 is… Hit and Run

Artist: Girlschool

Year of Release: 1981

What’s up with the Cover? Our four leather-clad heroines survey the damage to a brick wall after they ran their rather large sedan into it. Think they’ll be reporting it? The album title suggests…not.

How I Came To Know It: I just (Disc 1191) told the story of how the 4 CD set of Girlschool albums came to be in my collection so I won’t recount that again.  I will note that I originally came to know Girlschool through their guest appearances on a Motorhead compilation.

How It Stacks Up:  I have four Girlschool albums, and I am putting “Hit and Run” in at number one, baby!

Ratings:  4 stars

“Hit and Run” is fast, furious and full of rebellious life; the musical equivalent of being punched in the teeth and yet somehow enjoying the experience.

This is Girlschool’s second album and their most commercially successful. In this regard a bit of context is important; it achieved #5 in the UK but only #50 in Canada (although it did go gold, so we loved them in our way). It had no real big hits, which is perhaps fitting for a record that doesn’t have a single so much as a solid mass of standout songs that deliver a consistent energy throughout.

Girlschool were Motorhead protégés and the influence is strong. Like Motorhead they straddle the line between punk and metal. Here you will get a lot of basic songs without a lot of chords played in the frenetic style of punk music. Like a motorcycle that has a front wheel vibrating ominously through a fast turn, Girlschool sounds like they are on the edge of losing control but never do.

Helping centrifugally balance the turn are churning metal riffs that would be at home on many an eighties metal album in the decade to come. The title track has a killer groove that sits down somewhere between the pomposity of KISS and the driving groove of Judas Priest. This time the song isn’t about bragging about lovin’ and leavin’, but the hurt feelings of the left behind. Girlschool doesn’t wallow, though, “Hit and Run” is a rallying cry to reject self-pity that raises a middle finger to fate and circumstance alike.

My early music experience is more metal than punk and the more crunchy riffs of songs like “Future Flash” appealed to me more than the punk flavours, but all of it is good. In both its incarnations, this is simple rock and roll, played with spit and spite. While I would tune in from time to time to the lyrics, it would be a mistake to look for a lot of complicated messages. Just let the visceral experience wash over you.

The band does a great cover of ZZ Top’s “Tush” filled with Motorhead-esque industrial crunch. It is great, but the fact that it isn’t even one of my favourite tracks is even more telling about the album’s quality. I’d rather here Girlschool blast their own stuff. When you can stand like that side by side with a hard rock classic you’ve got a classic or two of your own, chart topping be damned.

Listening to “Hit and Run” I could also hear the echoes of history, as the record feels like the natural ancestor to many all-girl bands that followed. L7 comes to mind, and – more recently – Bad Cop Bad Cop.

This particular edition of the record has a bunch of “bonus tracks.” While I liked the covers of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates’ “Please Don’t Touch” and Motorhead’s “Bomber” there were three more tracks that made the experience a bit bloated, and didn’t sufficiently add to the record. If you are going to put bonus tracks at the end of a CD (and I generally wish you wouldn’t) then limit yourself to two.

That’s a minor quibble though on one of the truly great metal albums of the early eighties, and one I expect to be in regular rotation for years to come.

Best tracks: C’mon Let’s Go, Kick It Down, Following the Crowd, Hit and Run, Watch Your Step, Back to Start, Future Flash

CD Odyssey Disc 1203: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

I’m in the middle of a nice long weekend of my own making. Yesterday I had no plans and was able to just chill out and listen to music outside of the Odyssey’s rules. I gave a listen to a couple of modern folk albums, one of which I liked and one of which I didn’t, and then I changed things up with some Warren Zevon (1989’s “Transverse City”).

But now we must return to our official journey…and Ms. Sharon Jones.

Disc 1203 is… Naturally

Artist: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Year of Release: 2005

What’s up with the Cover? Ms. Sharon Jones, chillin’ in an easy chair. That lamp looks nice, but if I were her I’d get out of that room before the whole thing gets overtaken by line animation. Turning a woman with the bigger-than-life personality of Sharon Jones into a line drawing would be a crime.

How I Came To Know It: Originally through my buddy Nick buying a different album (“I Learned The Hard Way”) that I loved. “Naturally” was me, now hooked thanks to Nick, digging through her discography.

How It Stacks Up:  I have four Sharon Jones albums and they are all awesome. However, this is the part where we rank that awesomeness and “Naturally” can only manage the bronze – third, if you’re numerically inclined. As this is the last Sharon Jones album in my collection, here’s a full recap:

1. I Learned the Hard Way: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 629)
2. 100 Days, 100 Nights: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 803)
3. Naturally: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
4. Give the People What They Want: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 608)

Ratings:  4 stars

“Naturally” is a throwback to the heyday of soul in the late sixties and early seventies, but like all other Dap-King albums, it never feels derivative. Much like Sharon in that old chair on cover, the music settles itself down beside its early inspirations so comfortably if you were to come into the room and see them all lined up on a couch you wouldn’t know who was modern and who was historical.

So why listen to Sharon Jones when you could just go to the original source material? A couple of songs into “Naturally” you’ll realize the foolishness of the question. You listen to Sharon Jones because she is every bit as good as the source material. There’s no reason to choose.

When you have a big soul band (the Dap-Kings have eight members in addition to Jones) you have to be tight. If someone comes in early or late, you’re going to notice. Fortunately, the Dap-Kings never let you down. I have a lot of music in a lot of styles and I can’t think of a band that plays more seamlessly together than these guys.

But in soul music, being tight doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t work the magic of the pocket. Again, the Dap-Kings do not disappoint. “Natural Born Lover” starts with just Jones and drummer Homer Steinweiss dropping the perfect rhythm for a couple of bars and then the whole band arrives en masse. Guitarist Binky Griptite drops a funky rhythm on guitar, Bosco Mann kills it on the bass and the horn section adds flourishes everywhere they belong and nowhere they don’t. The whole thing has that satisfying feel of a gymnast sticking a landing or an NFL wideout tapping his toes in on a sideline; it just feels right

“Natural Born Lover” is fun lyrically as well, as Jones extolls the virtues of her man in the sack. We learn he is an ‘NBL’ (natural born lover) who ‘TCB’s (takes care of business). It is impossible to sit still with this song playing. You gotta let your backbone slide and your head bob, even on a bus full of strangers (I regret nothing!). The song is sneaky-complex as well. On the surface, it is just a killer groove, while underneath a lot of clever flourishes of horn, drum and guitar added in artful splashes that never distract from the core of the song.

Against this backdrop of excellence Jones is free to belt it out, flowing around the pocket to give the songs that extra swing without wrecking the groove. It is a rare skill. It isn’t something you can teach, it’s something you either have or you don’t. Frank Sinatra has it. Dean Martin has it. Ozzy Osbourne has it. And Sharon Jones has it as well.

The record has a nice mix of slow romantic crooners like “You’re Gonna Get It” and up-tempo booty shakers like “Your Thing Is a Drag” giving the record as a whole a nice ebb and flow as well.

Fun feature that downloaders don't get to enjoy: the liner notes include the astrological sign for all the band members. I was not surprised to read that band leader and bassist Bosco Mann is a Leo.

The songs are all written by Mann with the exception of a rendition of the Woody Guthrie song “This Land Is Your Land” that is the best version I have ever heard. Chances are you have heard this song already – it is played over the opening credits of the George Clooney/Anna Kendrick movie “Up In the Air”. If you liked it do yourself a favour and get the rest of the album.

Best tracks: How Do I Let A Good Man Down?, Natural Born Lover, You’re Gonna Get It, How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?, This Land Is Your Land, Your Thing Is a Drag

CD Odyssey Disc 1202: Trapper Schoepp

I’m feeling pretty tired this evening, but I am also ready to move on to my next album. Since that doesn’t happen until I talk about the one I’m on, here we go...

Disc 1202 is… Run, Engine, Run

Artist: Trapper Schoepp and the Shades

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? Trapper Schoepp does his best Han Solo. The vest is a bit too big, and he’s too short to pretend to be a Stormtrooper, but otherwise he’s a handsome kid who looks like he can shoot from the hip – and do it first. I don’t know those other guys, but they look like rebels. They’re all a bit…shady.

How I Came To Know It: I bought this from Trapper Schoepp himself at the Commodore Ballroom a couple of years ago where he was manning his merch table. I also had a nice conversation with Schoepp who is a personable young fellow with a twinkle in his eye.

How It Stacks Up:  I have two Trapper Schoepp albums. I like them both, but “Run, Engine, Run” is going in at #2 behind 2016’s “Rangers & Valentines”

Ratings:  3 stars but almost 4

“Run, Engine, Run” has some pretty melodies and some solid playing and while it may not invite you into life’s deeper mysteries or re-invent the folk-rock genre where it abides, sometimes a pretty melody is enough.

Schoepp has a knack for a catchy hook, and “Run, Engine, Run” has plenty to offer. These are songs that sometimes sway and sometimes kick, but they always do it in a way that makes you want to join in. Schoepp writes short songs (most are under four minutes) that develop quickly. Sometimes it happens a bit too quickly, giving the experience an ‘empty calories’ feeling, but for the most part Schoepp has a natural talent for storytelling. It is hard to blame his efficiency or economy of purpose when the destination is so enjoyable. In short, he gets to the point, and a lot of moany, meandering folk singers could learn from his straightforward style.

Schoepp has a solid voice that sounds youthful (which he is) and exuberant (which he also is). The Shades are a solid backing band, and there were some guitar licks that had a rich tone to them. I don’t know who they belong to though; there are three band members credited with “guitar” and the only time I’ve seen Schoepp in concert he was a one-man act, so the arrangements were all stripped down to just vocals and one guitar (his).

Many of the songs have heavy themes of travel and show that Schoepp is well acquainted with the road. The best of these is the title track, which is about Schoepp’s memory as a 16 year old riding with his grandfather in a red Mercedes. If I remember from his concert, grandpa eventually gave the car to Schoepp, which is pretty cool. The song has a galloping guitar that makes it fittingly perfect driving music and Trapper sings the song with a veritas that speaks to how significant the moment was for him.

I also liked the touches of fiddle on “Run, Engine, Run” which also make an appearance on the opening track “So Long.” I liked the fiddle so much I wanted to hear more of it than the album offered so I looked the player up. Turns out it is Gina Romantini. I look forward to hearing more of her work…er…down the road?

When the album is folksy, it tells small stories that are unpretentious and sincere. When it rocks out, it makes you want to drive fast and go looking for adventure down some Midwestern backroad. I’m currently between cars, and “Run, Engine, Run” made me wish I had a fast one. Who am I kidding, though? Everything makes me wish I had a fast car. Damned midlife crisis.

The songs on this record didn’t stand out quite as strongly as Schoepp’s more recent “Rangers & Valentines” but that is a tough comparison. Regardless, “Run, Engine, Run” is consistently good and for a debut record it shows Schoepp’s ear for good production and his talent for songwriting. While the songs don’t always develop in creative new ways they do have that timeless quality which belies good bones. Timeless is hard to achieve, but Schoepp has done it here, and I think this record will age very well over the years.

Best tracks: So Long, Wishing Well, Tracks, Run Engine Run

CD Odyssey Disc 1201: Corb Lund

I’m mid-way through a lovely long weekend. I’ve had a couple of evenings out with friends, and tonight I’m looking forward to a quiet night at home with Sheila and a chance to listen to some albums I bought last weekend that I haven’t got to yet (one each of Rodney Crowell, the Bottle Rockets and the Scorpions).

On one of my outings I was asked if I was a completionist when it comes to collecting music. The answer is that I used to be, but not anymore. Partly, this is me trying to get real on the space demands created by my habit. Part of it is just letting go of the obsessive need to own every album by an artist I like.

That said, I need very little encouragement to drill deep into an artist’s back catalogue. Depending on the artist I might find one or two more albums that I like, five or six or…all of them. The last time “all of them” happened was with the incomparable David Francey, but that is now more the exception than the rule.

Disc 1201 is… Losin’ Lately Gambler

Artist: Corb Lund

Year of Release: 2009

What’s up with the Cover? You’d expect an album with the title “Losin’ Lately Gambler” to feature someone gambling, but instead we see the inveterate gambler in his other natural habitat, the dive bar. He’s looking back a bit fearfully here, making me wonder if he’s just seen his bookie in the doorway.

How I Came To Know It: This was just me drilling through Corb Lund’s music after I realized how much I liked him (see intro above). Yes, just like David Francey, I liked everything.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 8 Corb Lund albums and “Losin’ Lately Gambler” is in a tie for the best one, but since I’m not big on ties I’ll put it at #1, bumping “Cabin Fever” down by one in the process.

Ratings:  4 stars

“Losin’ Lately Gambler” is like an old rancher home up against the road; unassuming and simple at a glance, but once you go inside there is a big back porch that opens onto some spectacular vistas. Lund’s voice, smooth and strong, is like the old farmer who lives there, holding a cup of joe in a tin cup as he points to landmarks in the distance, each one with a story to tell.

Corb Lund has made no secret of his love for his native Alberta, but on “Losin’ Lately Gambler” he is even more effusive than usual. Even the songs that aren’t directly referencing the Province have themes (farm veterinarians, plains riding outlaws) that feel most at home there.

Corb has always been a master of making new songs sound like old-time trail songs. It doesn’t feel derivative, but rather like you are living in an earlier simpler time. Once he sets that tone, however, Lund cleverly introduces modern concepts as well such as prescription drug addiction (“Horse Doctor, Come Quick”) and oil development (“This is My Prairie”).

Sometimes old and new themes cross over, such as on “A Game in Town Like This” which could be in the old west if it weren’t for references to early morning traffic. Like many of the songs on “Losin’ Lately Gambler” Lund has a sharp talent for voicing different characters. Here, the narrator employs a time-honoured gambling fallacy, figuring that if he’s losing a little bit less then in a way, he’s winning. On “Horse Doctor, Come Quick” the singer insists it’s his horse that’s sick, but you quickly divine he’s after the resulting prescription for himself.

Lund can’t resist a novelty song, and “Losin’ Lately Gambler” has a couple. “Long Gone to Saskatchewan” gives playful props to Alberta’s neighbor, and “Talkin’ Veterinarian Blues” is a Dylanesque rapid fire rhyme about raising livestock. “It’s Hard to Keep a White Shirt Clean” is…exactly what it sounds like. On some records, these songs start to annoy me on repeat listens, but the ones here are both musically sound and humorous enough to stay fresh over time.

The best song on the album is “This Is My Prairie” where Lund plays the part of a rancher seeing his lands poisoned by development and determined to take a stand. It is heartfelt and well-rounded, with the rancher recognizing those workers are trying to make a living as well. It is also dark, ending with grim suggestion that the rancher is about to take the law into his own hands.

The record has great guitar work throughout, but with three guitarists credited in the liner notes I can’t say for certain who the maestro is on the strings; maybe it’s all of them. I particularly liked the Mexican-flavoured trill on “Devil’s Best Dress” but there is plenty of great musicianship throughout.

“Losin’ Lately Gambler” is a delightful mix of honky-tonked blues and down home country and western storytelling. On it, Corb Lund wears his heart on his sleeve throughout, inviting you into his homeland with heartfelt honesty and more than a little humour.

Best tracks: A Game In Town Like This, Alberta Says Hello, Devil’s Best Dress, Chinook Wind, This Is My Prairie

CD Odyssey: The Road to 1,200

If you’ve been reading long enough, you’ll know I enjoy taking a moment to pause every 100 albums and look back. For the actual 1,200^th review, scroll down (it is a good record) but for now, let’s take a look back at how we got here.

The number of 5-star albums really took a nose dive over the last 100 reviews. About 1 in 11 usually makes the cut, but from album 1101 to 1200 there were only four. They were:

·         Tom Petty – Damn the Torpedoes (Disc 1101)

·         Rollins Band – Weight (Disc 1126)

·         Daniel Romano – Sleep Beneath the Willow (Disc 1132)

·         Heather Maloney – Making Me Break (Disc 1200)

The first of those albums I’ve known all my life and the last I found in a music review, but the other two were recommendations. It is a good reminder that if you want to bring great music into your life, then be open-minded to suggestions

Fun fact: I previously parted company with a Daniel Romano album (“Modern Pressure”) showing another side of musical discovery: just because you like one record by a band, doesn’t mean you have to like them all.

Three was only a single 1-star review in the last 100, and that was King Diamond’s “Conspiracy”. In fact, I got so sick of hearing King Diamond that I decided to part with his entire discography. Goodbye and good riddance, King. In addition to the King Diamond purge (8 records total, 4 of which I reviewed in the past100), 7 more albums were also sent packing, mostly with a mix of regret and affection. These aren’t bad albums, they just didn’t quite make it to – or back to – the shelf:

• Whitehorse, “The Road to Massey Hall” (2 stars) – I love Whitehorse, but this album just didn’t click with me.
• New Pornographers, “Whiteout Conditions” (3 stars) – I like about half of what the New Pornographers do and since I was going to see them live I took a chance that “Whiteout Conditions” would be one of them. It came pretty close, but in the end didn’t make the cut.
• M. Ward “Post-War” (2 stars) – I love M. Ward as part of She & Him with Zooey Deschanel. His solo work? Less so.
• The Mastersons “Transient Lullaby” (2 stars) – I’ll often buy a band’s new album unheard if I liked their previous work. That’s what happened with this record, which turned out to be OK, but not shelf-worthy.
• Timbuk 3 “Greetings from Timbuk 3” (2 stars) – I bought this for the hit single “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” many many years ago. I liked a couple of other tracks as well, but not enough to keep it. Don’t feel bad, Timbuk 3 – I’ll always cherish your other album, “Eden Alley” (reviewed back at Disc 814).
• Guns ‘n’ Roses, “Use Your Illusion II” (2 stars) – One day I’m going to learn that albums I was willing to part with for beer money in the nineties are not going to win me over twenty-five years later. Case in point – this one.
• La Sera, “Music for Listening to Music To” (3 stars) – Almost kept it, but it just didn’t speak to me. I’ve got high hopes for my other La Sera album, though.

Alice Cooper continues to be my most reviewed artist, holding steady at 28 albums (where he will remain until he releases something new).

In terms of most reviewed artists, little changed other than Alice Cooper increasing his overall lead. I’ve now reviewed 28 albums by him, which is all of them at this point. Tom Waits and Steve Earle are tied for second place with 19 and Bob Dylan comes in right behind them at 18.

Thanks for reading!

CD Odyssey Disc 1200: Heather Maloney

I just got through a rather long and arduous day at the office. At the end of it I couldn’t bring myself to walk home or even catch the bus so I called a cab…which didn’t show up. When I called back I discovered he was parked outside the pub next door, no doubt picking up where I secretly wanted to be rather than where I actually was.

For all that he was a good fellow with a tough job and despite the late hour, his day was just beginning. I gave him a big tip for his trouble; perspective is important in life.

Disc 1200 is… Making Me Break

Artist: Heather Maloney

Year of Release: 2015

What’s up with the Cover? Maloney as mythical bird woman. I guess when you sing this well, people just assume you’ve got some bird in you. This amalgam of photography and art is by Kevin Hill, and the liner notes are festooned with his re-imaginings of birds, flowers and pictures of Maloney, all of them beautiful.

How I Came To Know It: I read about Maloney in a music magazine and decided to check her out. I liked what I heard.

How It Stacks Up:  I have two Heather Maloney albums and “Making My Break” is number one. In preparing to write this review I see she has released a new album in 2018 and I’m excited to find it as well.

Ratings:  5 stars

It doesn’t matter how long the day is, or how cold the night; some records make your spirit soar. “Making Me Break” is one of those records. Its opening song is “Linger Longer” and from the very first notes it makes you want to do exactly that. Which is what I did, eschewing music review writing (my apologies, dear reader) so I could spend another day with the lovely and talented Heather Maloney.

It all begins with Maloney’s voice, which is a mix of power, sweetness and a home-spun quality that reminds you that while “Making Me Break” has pop song structures, it has a heart that is 100% folk.

“Linger Longer” doesn’t say a lot – it is a simple song of love and redemption – but Maloney throws herself into it with such joyful abandon you are instantly swept up into her world. From here, she reveals an album filled with beautifully structured little songs that seem a bit twee if you don’t pay attention, and filled with thoughtful majesty when you do.

Maloney brings a thoughtful hippy vibe to her singer-songwriter routine and she sees magic all around her. On “Otherwise” she looks around an urban setting and sees nature blossoming out of every crack:

“Deer on the highway

Seedling in concrete

Spiders weaving webs on the lamps of the streets

You are free.”

When she sings “Don’t let them tell you otherwise” she could be encouraging her listeners to see the same beauty, or maybe they’re just words of encouragement to all those deer and plants and spiders. Either way, it is an uplifting sentiment.

This open-hearted innocence shines brightest on the masterpiece, “Hey, Serena” a song about Maloney learning that a friend from her childhood has become a stripper. Maloney starts with a genuine concern that Serena is OK with her choices, not because she is judging, but because she wants to better understand the context of the journey.

Backed by a sparse production and lightly plucked guitar, she explores how the girl she knew became the woman she is now, she calls out a plea of “someone deliver me from my confusion”. Ultimately it is Maloney’s own insightful mind and self-examined soul that guides her unerringly to all the answer she needs as she resolves with:

“Hey, Serena, tell me are you well? I can’t tell from here.

I know it must be true that I’m projecting onto you my fear

Cuz I know how it feels to count on sex-appeal to meet my needs.

Be it the rent to pay, be it a power-play or love…or security.”

There’s two very tasteful but sexy photo/art pieces of Maloney in the liner notes and they fit there as naturally as the pictures of origami, dandelions and family portraits they line up beside. Looking at them all, I was again struck by how well rounded and considered an artist Maloney is. She was never judging. Instead she’s making sure her old friend is happy…and joining her in solidarity at how Goddamned complicated it can be for a woman to express her sexuality on her own terms.

On “Eighteen Fifty-Five” Maloney points out that an old photo isn’t a whole life – it is just a single moment in a lifetime of moments. Like the friend on “Hey, Serena” and the urban survivors on “Otherwise” her music insists you see a full picture of her subject matter. because the more facets you can see something from, the more bright and beautiful it becomes.

The combination of her sweet and easy vocal power matched with a thoughtful and optimistic examination of the world around her creates a record that fills you with a breathless wonder. On “Dandelion” Maloney sings “I will crown you with whatever grows prettiest.” And this sums up how her record approaches life in general. Some people have so much pretty inside it rubs off on everything they touch. Or in Maloney’s case – whatever is lucky enough to catch her attention long enough to inspire a song.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Discs 1198 and 1199: Kris Kristofferson

My brain is a little worn out from work, so I took a day off today with Sheila to recharge. I’m looking forward to the resulting four day weekend.

Today you get two reviews, because these two albums were re-released on a single disc. You also get a negative review and a positive review about the same artist.

Disc 1198 and 1199 are… Surreal Thing and Easter Island

Artist: Kris Kristofferson

Year of Release: 1976 (Surreal Thing) and 1978 (Easter Island)

What’s up with the Cover? Two LPs on 1 CD! This was a big deal when CDs came out. Convenient as it is for space-saving, I prefer to talk about the actual covers:

Surreal Thing: Kristofferson is back lit in some concert event, getting his “seventies Elvis” act on, country style. Like the record itself, this cover says “Vegas, Baby!” but not in a good way.

Easter Island: Kristofferson doing the classic “head and shoulders” shot, right down to the cheesy studio backdrop of clouds. Speaking of original LPs, my mom owned this on vinyl and I used to stare at the cover and marvel at just how incredibly blue his eyes were. The small blurry version here doesn’t do it justice, but take my word for it.

How I Came To Know It: As I noted above, I grew up with “Easter Island” and was on the lookout to get it on CD for a while. Finding it attached to “Surreal Thing” just ended up being an unhappy accident. That’s called foreshadowing.

How It Stacks Up:  I have eight Kris Kristofferson albums I’ll put “Easter Island” in at #3 (bumping a bunch of other albums down in the process) and “Surreal Thing” in last at #8 (bumping…nothing). Here’s a recap:

1. The Silver Tongued Devil and I: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1066)
2. Kristofferson: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 39)
3. Easter Island: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
4. Who’s To Bless and Who’s To Blame: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 54)
5. Repossessed:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1150)
6. Third World Warrior: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1151)
7. To The Bone: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 54)
8. Surreal Thing: 2 stars (reviewed right here)

Clever readers will note that #4 and 7 are both reviewed at Disc 54. That’s because they were also a “2 LPs on 1 CD” package, and back then I didn’t have the foresight to assign them their own number.

Ratings:  2 stars for “Surreal Thing” and 4 stars for “Easter Island”

Surreal Thing:

“Surreal Thing” came out right before Kristofferson role as an aging and cynical rock star in the original “A Star Is Born” and the influences show. This record has its moments, but large parts of it are a bloated mess of excess production and sprawling rock-country anthems.

I put a lot of stock in Kristofferson as a man of integrity and a talented singer-songwriter, so cognitive dissonance makes me wonder if this was the Soulless Record Execs getting the better of him. Whatever happened, it wasn’t good.

The songs on “Surreal Thing” are weak compared to Kristofferson’s other work, but they’re made worse with a lot of overly lush production and Broadway show style backing vocals. Fellow gravel-voiced vocalist Leonard Cohen has always been a master of adding beautiful female background singers to augment his limited vocal range. It feels like Kristofferson is trying to do the same thing on “Surreal Thing” but it just made the songs too busy.

Throughout the seventies most Kristofferson records include some form of “let’s get it on” song, and he is the master of the art form. The most famous of these is “Help Me Make it Through the Night.” Kristofferson even turned the notion on its head with “The Silver Tongued Devil and I” where he warns the woman off even as he tries to convince her otherwise.

“Surreal Thing”’s entry is the most ribald of them all, with “You Show Me Yours (and I’ll Show You Mine)” which gets right to business from the opening stanza:

“If you're feeling salty, then I'm your tequila
If you've got the freedom I've got the time
There ain't nothing sweeter than naked emotions
So you show me yours, hon, and I'll show you mine”

This song is so sexy it is a bit ridiculous, but it is ridiculous in a good way. Or maybe it is just that I’ve been hearing it since before I knew that it was about more than a drink-making competition.

My favourite song on the album, “I Got A Life of My Own” has most of these overblown elements but it is so good I forgive it. I’m a sucker for a freedom anthem song (another common theme for Kristofferson), and I suspect Kristofferson shares my dislike at being told what to do. At the same time, “I Got A Life of My Own” subtly slips in the knife that sometimes you really ought to take good advice. Bonus points for making the knife both metaphor and reality in the lyrics.

For the most part the album isn’t this clever again, with strained metaphors in “The Prisoner” and a vitriolic attack on a critic in “Eddie the Eunuch.” I usually love a good attack on a critic (Public Enemy’s “Caught (Can I Get a Witness)” and Guns ‘n’ Roses “Get in the Ring” come to mind) but this one fell flat for me. Although bonus points for using the song’s title to allude to the song’s target having no balls.

Longtime readers will know I am a stalwart defender of Kris Kristofferson. I think he is one of the great country songwriters of his generation. I even like the way he sings. I prefer his version of “Me and Bobby McGee” to Janis Joplin’s, and I’d rather hear him sing “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down” than Johnny Cash.

That said, “Surreal Thing” is a weak record overall, despite a few gems along the way.

Best tracks – Surreal Thing: You Show Me Yours (And I’ll Show You Mine), I Got a Life of My Own, If You Don’t Like Hank Williams

Easter Island

Two years after “Surreal Thing” (and one “Star is Love” appearance with Barbara Streisand) Kristofferson finally gets the whole overblown star thing out of his system. The result is the far superior “Easter Island.”

“Easter Island” incorporates a lot of the excess production begun on “Surreal Thing” but harnesses its powers for good, rather than evil. The arrangements are lush in places, and there is plenty of backup singers but everything is working together to give the songs momentum and purpose.

Kristofferson has not one but two ‘let’s get it on’ songs, “How Do You Feel (About Foolin’ Around)” and “Lay Me Down (And Love the World Away)”. Kris loved songs with long parentheses-infested titles. I cannot explain this. “How Do You Feel…” happens early on the record and has an early seventies feel, with some guitar picking and an idle grass-in-the-side-of your-mouth mosey to it before it..er…gets down to business.

Kristofferson acknowledges his Silver Tongued Devil in this song as well, but it is clear from the beginning that this time they’ve joined forces:

So many people got so many lines

They've all been tried and it's true
They've all got so many reasons for changin' your mind
And there ain't none of 'em new
But there's just so little distance between me and you

I think we're two of a kind
We won't do nothing you don't want to do

And I won't tell you no lies
So tell me how do you feel about foolin' around

Down from your head to your toes?
Ain't nothin' realer than right here and now

If that's as far as it goes”

As for “Lay Me Down…” has a slightly disco feel to it that shouldn’t work, but kind of does. It is no “How Do You Feel…” but it still manages to be a toe-tapper.

Kristofferson isn’t always thinking about sexual conquest, and “Easter Island” has a good range of both style and subject matter. Some of the songs are very traditional country crooners (“Forever in Your Love”) others seventies rock anthems celebrating powerful and beautiful women (“Spooky Lady’s Revenge”). I love the slow build of “Spooky Lady’s Revenge,” which rises in intensity until by the end you feel like Kristofferson is standing on the edge of some mountain top arm raised to the sky in rock triumph. Or you might think it is just overblown late-seventies schmaltz. If you think the latter, then I feel sorry for you. Let a little joy and celebration into your life!

“The Sabre and the Rose” is a five minute song packed with action and intrigue fit for a two hour film. Outlaws flee to an isolated whorehouse in the backcountry, but one of them falls in love, and he and his newfound love flee naked to the river, leaving the Sabre and the Rose burning in the distance. Kristofferson drenches his story in great imagery – here the outlaws set out on their quest for the legendary house of ill repute:

We swang into the saddle sick as breathing
And slapped 'em once for pleasure with the reins
The horses snorted frosty in the moonlight
Somethin' dark was singing in my veins

Older than the voices in my brain”

 This song is as exhilarating as a wild west gun fight, exhilarating as a romantic encounter and spooky as a ghost story, all rolled into one.

The title track is an interesting bit of subterfuge from Kristofferson. As a kid, I just assumed Kristofferson was singing about the mysterious carvings on Easter Island. When you listen carefully, he’s comparing that dead civilization to America, citing it as a warning against the hubris of empire.

My CD (which I got used) has a bit of skip in the final track, which is disappointing, but otherwise “Easter Island” was a pleasant surprise. I reserved sixth spot for this record early on, but at every turn it surprised and delighted me to the point that it moved up the #3.

Best tracks – Easter Island: How Do You Feel (About Foolin’ Around), The Sabre and the Rose, Spooky Lady’s Revenge, Easter Island, The Fighter

CD Odyssey Disc 1197: David Francey

My bus broke down this morning and I had to walk to work. It’s funny, I never thought to mention it to anyone since I first arrived at work. The truth is, it didn’t feel like a big deal at the time and it doesn’t now. It helped that it wasn’t raining, wasn’t terribly cold and I had an amazing album to keep me company. Let’s expound on that last item, since this is a music review blog and not a weather report.

Disc 1197 is…The Waking Hour

Artist: David Francey

Year of Release: 2004

What’s up with the Cover? David enjoys a cup of coffee in the early morning sun. Simple but thoughtful, just like this record.

How I Came To Know It: I read about him in a folk music magazine and decided to check him out. I liked him a lot.

How It Stacks Up:  I already owned seven David Francey albums when I reviewed my first in May. I am now up to 10. I’ve bought his albums with such gleeful abandon I have no idea which ones are the best for sure, but I suspect “Waking Hour” will do well when the dust settles. It is in a dead heat with “Skating Rink” (reviewed back at Disc 1143). Depending on how I feel at the moment I would rank them 2-3, but in exactly what order is hard to say. Today I’ll put “The Waking Hour” just behind, but tomorrow I’ll put it just ahead. It is that close.

Ratings: 4 stars

On “The Waking Hour” David Francey takes his ability to observe everyday details and makes them extraordinary, and takes universal experiences and makes them intensely personal. In short, he is a born poet.

To listen to a David Francey album is to walk through an ordinary day and feel like you are seeing it in colour for the first time. On “The Waking Hour” we get to wake up with Francey, sometimes experience his existential (often romantic) doubt and sometimes just explore the dangers that lurk in the morning news broadcast. Whatever you are doing, it feels more important and universal. I do a fair bit of existential musing myself, and hearing a record like this was a reminder that inspiration for art is all around us.

Sometimes the songs take a highly personal bent, such as on the title track. The song has a sublime bit of finger picking from guitarist Kieran Kane that is favourably reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel’s “April Come She Will”. It also has a touching mix of sorrow and innocence, made more poignant by mixing in old nursery rhyme lines (“I am Wednesday’s child of woe/I try not to be ungrateful”) paired with adult admissions of anger and darkness (“But I was born at midnight’s black/With a heart that can be hateful.”). With each line ending with a chorus of quiet desperation, as Francey observes:

“And the heart that’s breaking

Never makes a sound.”

‘nuff said.

OK, I’ve wiped my tears and I’m moving on. There are plenty of other songs of similar ilk on the record, but Francey also explores America in all its many facets. Francey is Scottish by birth (with accent to prove it) and Canadian by choice. Many songs on “The Waking Hour” explore the United States with a wide-eyed innocence of an artist determined to see the world, as Akira Kurosawa might say, “with eyes unclouded by hate”. These songs will give you a serious case of the feels.

“Highway 95” has Francey traveling through the Carolinas, filled with the wonder of the beauty of it all and a slightly unsettled feeling of knowing that while beautiful, this place is not home.

The album holds a lot of forgiveness. “Morning Train” is an appeal for unity and tolerance, even as “Fourth of July” is a recognition that in the wake of 9/11 that America is filled with grief and anger. Francey doesn’t judge one way or another, and when he does you can tell it is only part of the process of him trying to better understand. It is an approach that will be put hard to the test on the album’s best song.

That would be “Wishing Well,” where Francey recounts what it was like for him to wake to the morning news announcing that the Oklahoma Bomber had been executed. The song is a mix of Francey struggling with trying to feel compassion for someone guilty of such a monstrous act:

“I should feel compassion, I know I should

I don’t know if his dying does any good

He was good as gone when the building fell

When they ran out of wishes at the wishing well.”

And the stark imagery of death by lethal injection:

“Lying on his back, eyes open wide

And the prick of the needle and the silent slide

The Press lined up, with their stories to tell

How there’s no more wishes at the wishing well.”

The song has a finality in its delivery that underscores how Francey sees the waste of it all. It is a lament over one of the most terrible crimes in American history at the moment the world focused all its attention on the killer one last time.

The record is more than just great writing, however. Every musician is at the top of their game, providing a gently rolling lilt that perfectly matches Francey’s effortless delivery. You hang on every word, yes, but it is easier to do when the musicianship is so free and easy.

Listening to “the Waking Hour” I only had two regrets. First, that Francey got started on his music career so late in life. Second, that it took me so damned long to find him. I’m glad to be making up for lost time.

Best tracks: The Waking Hour, Highway 95, Ankle Tattoo, Wishing Well, Over You, Fourth of July

CD Odyssey Disc 1196: Neil Young

I’m in the middle of a lovely weekend full of social activity and I’m feeling recharged with the energy we extroverts get from the company of others. Tonight there will be more of the same but right now there is a brief lull, so I’ll get in this music review while I can and maybe squeeze in a nap later. Even we extroverts need a little down time.

Disc 1196 is…Chrome Dreams II

Artist: Neil Young

Year of Release: 2007

What’s up with the Cover? I think this is a hood ornament, but I don’t know for what kind of car. This one kind of reminds me of the NATO logo, which is kind of cool.

How I Came To Know It: Neil Young has made a lot of records over the years and although I have quite a few, I decided a few years ago to check out all the other ones that hadn’t crossed my path and see if they were shelf-worthy. “Chrome Dreams II” was one that caught my fancy.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 Neil Young albums and I rank “Chrome Dreams II” at number 9. Pretty solid, but there are a lot of great Neil Young albums.

Ratings: 4 stars

If an artist is lucky enough to last that long, there comes a time when they can pretty much do what they want creatively. By 2007 Neil Young was well past that point and “Chrome Dreams II” feels like an album from someone who has as much artistic freedom as they could wish for.

Sometimes this can lead to a bloated self-indulgent mess, and this is true even of some Neil Young albums (think “A Letter Home” reviewed back at Disc 850) but fortunately on “Chrome Dreams II” Neil demonstrates his exceptional range well, both as a songwriter and a guitar player.

As you may know, there is no “Chrome Dreams I”. It was supposed to be released back in 1977, but the studio instead went with the release “American Stars ‘n’ Bars” instead. That record didn’t inspire me (I reviewed back at Disc 855 and promptly sold it).

In titling this record “Chrome Dreams II,” it felt like Neil was making a statement that he was back in charge of his career, and would do whatever he damned well felt like doing.

The result is a record that evenly mixes the hard rocking style of albums like “Freedom” with the more pastoral folk music of “Harvest.” Despite this, the record never feels disjointed.

This is a record that celebrates the human condition; our ability to love nature, love art and ultimately love each other. It is often understated, but always beautiful. This record made me feel good; it was a warm blanket on dark bus rides and rainy walks for the last few days.

A number of songs work in horns or piano to positive effect, but the star here is Young’s work on guitar. Young has a signature tone to his playing, filled with a hippy-infused distortion. At a visceral emotional level, Young’s playing feels free and unfettered, but underneath it all there is a sneaky discipline that artfully works within the bounds of the melody, and climbs in and out of the beat without ever losing the groove. I’m sure there are other Neil Young albums where he plays as well as he does on “Chrome Dreams II” but none come immediately to mind.

There is the bluesy-ballsy riff on “Dirty Old Man” and the gentle strumming on “Beautiful Bluebird” and both are equally sublime. “Beautiful Bluebird” is a heartfelt pastoral song about nature, and “Dirty Old Man” is a tongue-in-cheek character study of a morally-questionable alcoholic guy making bad decisions. It is surprising they can fit together on the same record, yet somehow they do.

Free from any radio-friendly requirements, “Chrome Dreams II” has two mammoth songs, the 18 minute “Ordinary People” and the 14 minute “No Hidden Path.” Both are incredible tracks that never drag or lose their energy despite their length. “Ordinary People” is Young’s love song to all the regular forgotten people. Sometimes they get caught up in the machinations of the rich and powerful, but still manage to live their lives with a quiet dignity every day.

“No Hidden Path” is an appeal for guidance from those we’ve lost, with a thread of optimism throughout that makes you feel like Young’s prayers will be answered. It also features some of the most killer guitar work I’ve ever heard.

While “Chrome Dreams II” managed to avoid the fate of “Chrome Dreams I” it still feels like it does not get the amount of credit it deserves. If you are looking for a Neil Yong album a little off the beaten path, this is a record worth your time.

Best tracks: Beautiful Bluebird, Ordinary People, The Believer, Dirty Old Man, No Hidden Path