CD Odyssey Disc 1831: Tom Jones

As I pulled into my parking spot tonight my neighbour said with surprise and delight, “is that Tom Jones you’re playing?” Why, yes it certainly is – the skyscraper that is my musical tastes has many floors, and if you pick the right one you’ll find Mr. Jones waiting to escort you to the lounge for drinks, crooning, and whatever comes after.

Disc 1831 is…The Golden Hits

Artist: Tom Jones

Year of Release: 1986, but featuring music from 1965 - 1969

What’s up with the Cover? Feast your eyes, ladies, for it is Tom Jones, decked out in fancy blazer and ruffle-cuffed shirt, Behold the Welsh sex god, here to croon his way into your hearts, driving you to such distraction you may return home from his concert in a commando state of mind.

How I Came To Know It: My mom has been downsizing of late and recently passed along her CD collection. Some of those CDs belonged to my dearly departed stepfather, and Tom Jones is one of those (Mom’s more of a Johnny Cash kind of gal).

How It Stacks Up: This is a greatest hits record, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: Usually there is no rating for compilations, but this one is half songs from other records, and half singles? What to do? Stay strong, L – no rating!

Back in 1986 CDs were new to the market most who bought them were audiophiles willing to invest in new equipment – often middle-aged folks. With limited selection available, what to market to this demographic? How about some hits from yesteryear, showcasing the versatility of the new system: play whatever you want! No searching! No complicated needle drops! If the music is familiar, well, sometimes better the devil you know…

Tom Jones is definitely the devil you know. His manly crooning showed that you could be a little rough around the edges and still romance the hell out of that microphone. That deep and profound baritone vocal, reverberating through your bones, makes everything more important. And when Jones wants to climb up into a high head voice he does it with the sure-footedness of a man ascending a polished marble staircase in Cuban heels; dangerously, recklessly, and absolutely certain he will not slip or stumble once.

The songs on this compilation are all early Tom, from his first few records and singles in the mid to late sixties. There’s an undercurrent of that sixties British folk revival in the production and delivery, but Tom transcends that and makes things more grandiose and theatrical, like a collection of James Bond theme songs (n.b. Tom did to the Bond movie song for 1966’s “Thunderball” which is regrettably not on this record).

There’s little not to like in this collection of Golden Hits, as even the schlocky stuff like “Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings” and “Without Love” transcend their own silliness, apparently through little more than Jones’ will to overcome. He’s one of the only artists I know that can both embrace schlock and then subsume it into genuine art. It’s a dangerous line to walk, but once again, there’s no slipping.

Jones is no songwriter but with his voice he doesn’t have to be. Can you imagine anyone else sing the jaunty “Not Responsible”? the tragic hyperbole of “Delilah”? Reader, you cannot. And while Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard both do strong versions of “Green Green Grass of Home” I gotta give the edge to Tom again.

Things aren’t perfect, however, even on a collection of Golden Hits. I know that “What’s New Pussycat” was a big hit for Tom, but this song was silly when it came out and it has aged poorly. Worst of all they refrain line of “you and your pussycat…nose” (later eyes, then lips) ends with a flat and discordant note that I can’t forgive. As the repeat listens I came to dread its arrival at Track 6.

Fortunately, the rest of the record was a lot of good, semi-clean fun. A love letter passed down many decades later to my stepfather, to my mother, and now to me.

Best tracks: Green Green Grass of Home, Not Responsible, It’s Not Unusual, Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings, Detroit City, Without Love, Delilah

CD Odyssey Disc 1830: Fust

Yesterday I bought three new albums – one Powerwolf, one Arch Enemy and one Head and the Heart. One of these is not like the others, but variety is the spice of life here on a Creative Maelstrom. Look for them on future reviews…when I randomly roll them. For today, I offer you a little indie folk.

Disc 1830 is…Genevieve

Artist: Fust

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover? A house in the country. It looks like the house is unfinished or needs a renovation. At the very least it needs a coat of paint, because it is seriously washed out.

Come to think of it, that gravel road looks pretty washed out too.

How I Came To Know It: I was reading a review on Paste Magazine of Fust’s 2025 album, “Big Ugly”. That sounded pretty good, and not only did I check out “Big Ugly” I decided to dig into the band’s back catalogue. Which led me here.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Fust albums (including the aforementioned “Big Ugly”). Of the three, “Genevieve” is my favourite. #1! I reserve the right to let “Big Ugly” challenge for the title down the road, as the contest is a close one.

Ratings: 5 stars

“Genevieve” is like a warm and lazy summer day, languorous and lovely and good for quiet reflection. Listening to this record chilled me out and calmed my mind.

What’s the Fust formula for casting such a spell on the over-revved engine that is my mind on most days? Well, it isn’t anything revolutionary if that’s what you’re expecting. If anything, Fust’s brand of indie folk is very much in the middle of the movement. You’ve got strummed guitars, and a quavering high voiced singer/songwriter (Aaron Dowdy), and melodies that lilt along in a way that’s predictable in a good way.

If anything it is the delivery. It isn’t easy to play songs that are this laid back, you always run the risk of rushing the beat (sounds messy) or falling into a drone (sounds boring). Fust rides in the back of the beat’s saddle like a veteran cowboy, gently steering the direction of the story with Dowdy’s well-crafted lyrics, and expert phrasing.

There are a couple of ways lesser indie folk bands typically irritate me. The first is replacing good songwriting with a lot of clangor and flourishes of instruments, hoping all that noise can mask they don’t know how to end a song. Not so, Fust. “Genevieve” has a lush production to it, but it is used to create warmth to the sound, not to hide anything.

My other annoyance in the indie folk world is fragmentary lyric writing, where the band is so focused on clever turns of phrase, they fail to tell the story. Folk music tells stories, and if you’re going to enter that world (even obliquely through the ill-defined “indie” aesthetic) you better be prepared to tell a story.

Again, no problem here. These songs are powerful and deeply moving. The music will cause you to sink into a comfortable mental space, and once there you can expect to hear tales that explore complex emotional and social circumstances.

On “Town in Decline” a couple goes about their daily routine, cooking breakfast, cleaning the gutters, all against the backdrop of the factory closing, and the knowledge that the jobs are gone. The layers in the simplicity of this song are exquisite. The ability to endure hardship with quiet grace, but also the deeper tragedy of knowing this isn’t sustainable, and the bills are going to come in soon enough. This is not referenced directly, but in the background as we look in on this loving couple and extrapolate their story across the broader decline of the community.

On “Open Water’ we get a thoughtful Dowdy comparing a great love to the vast uncertainty of open water, applying the same to the call of the artist to create, before the final stanza finds our narrator pining for a simpler life:

“The sun lights up our city
And it writes a little ode to open water
Says you can have your distance but can't escape the ether
So what I want more than anything better
Is a little old home to call my own
Where I like the wallpaper and what the sun's done to it”

Notable that the vast depths of love and art aren’t lost here, they’re just situated alongside and within the quiet beauty of hearth and home.

And in that we find the magic of this record, and what elevates its greatness. The music on this record puts you into a safe place of quiet contemplation, then it hits you with some Big Thoughts. Most of all, it posits that these things can exist – must exist – forever intertwined with one another.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1829: Rush

This next album is long – I wouldn’t have been ready to review it this soon except fate intervened when I forgot my access card at home. That extra commute time is just what Dr. Music ordered and…here we are.

Disc 1829 is…Clockwork Angels

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? What time is it? Why, two tines and quadricross past the tridentulon, as anyone can plainly see!

I could explain how this clock is floating in a red storm of chaos as well, but that would make even less sense than that previous sentence.

Despite the weirdness of it all, Rush fans know exactly what time it is. 9:12. In the evening. Which is…well, if you know, you know.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a Rush fan when this came out, so this was just me buying their latest record.

How It Stacks Up: I have 19 Rush albums, which I acknowledge is a lot of Rush albums. All of them, in fact. “Clockwork Angels” is in the middle of the pack – still awesome, but only able to land at #10 due to heavy competition at the top.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Clockwork Angels” would prove to be Rush’s last studio album. For a lot of bands the last record is the final whisper of talent before the doors of time lock them in and consign them to memories of their former greatness. Not so, Rush. With “Clockwork Angels” the trio demonstrated they still had plenty left in the tank, delivering yet another great record in an already impressive discography.

The first thing I noticed about “Clockwork Angels” was the crunch. Latter-days Rush tend toward a lot of complex explorations of sound, and while it is candy for the ears, it also sometimes loses a bit of the edge that makes rock and roll…rock and roll. I should note that even when Rush isn’t biting as hard, it is still awesome (to wit: the brilliance of the very synthy “Hold Your Fire” reviewed way back at Disc 410).

For all that, the thump of “Clockwork Angels” immediately establishes itself. This record has plenty of hair tossing riffs. This being Rush, don’t expect a song to dwell on any one riff for too long though – the boys are as committed as ever as switching things up multiple times within a single song, and dozens of times across a record. But within all that frenetic brilliance, this record hits harder than most.

As ever we are treated to the expansive mind of lyricist Neil Peart, who never found an intellectual concept he wasn’t willing to dive down to the bottom of, punch through that bottom, and come back up through a bizarro world that reflected whatever he discovered in a new and creative light. Here, Peart embraces a steampunk aesthetic. Many were doing this in 2012 (steampunk was a bit of a thing for a while there) but few did it in as interesting and unique way as Peart.

His drumming is also powerful, and he embraces the low end of this record, hitting hard but as technically brilliant as ever (love it all, but on this listen “Carnies” stood out in particular). There aren’t a lot of bands that you can just sit back and enjoy just the drumming, but Rush is one of them.

Peart died early in 2020, leaving a big hole in the music world with his passing. To read my tribute to Neil, click here.

Even when singing about nerdy sci fi/alternative reality stuff, Rush always find a way to reveal their sensitive side, and my favourite entry on “Clockwork Angels” is “Wish Them Well”. The older I get, the more inclined I am to pass on pointless conflict with random idiots. Life’s just too short to waste time on altercations. Rush embraces this strategy. Sample lyric:

“People who judge without a measure of mercy
All the victims who will never learn
Even the lost ones, you can only give up on
Even the ones who make you burn

“Thank your stars you're not that way
Turn your back and walk away
Don't even pause and ask them why
Turn around and say goodbye”

I like that they take the time to say ‘goodbye’ as they walk away. Even when giving someone the snub, Rush are polite about it.

I admit that despite my love for this record, it had been a while since I put it on. Rush is a band that infuses a lot of dense musical concepts into their work, and it doesn’t lend itself to a casual listen, or a party anthem. Nevertheless, revisiting “Clockwork Angels” was a joy and an overall reminder to revisit their music more often. There’s always something new to discover and even at their heaviest, this is a band that at its core is about being thoughtful and self-examined. Chicken soup for a complicated multiverse.

Best tracks: Caravan, Carnies, Halo Effect, Seven Cities of Gold, The Wreckers, Wish Them Well

CD Odyssey Disc 1828: Orville Peck

Hoping to hear about the new Ghost album? Well, outside of this teaser, you won’t be. I barely made it through one listen earlier this week. A terrible record from a band I otherwise love. At a recent visit to the record store I exclaimed that with their latest effort it felt like Ghost was deliberately making fun of its audience. To which a fellow Ghost fan behind me noted, “haven’t they always been doing that?”

“Yes”, I replied, “and I’ve generally enjoyed it, but this time they crossed the line.”

On to review an album I liked considerably more…

Disc 1828 is…Stampede

Artist: Orville Peck

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? Our titular masked cowboy, chillin’ with cool kids of various persuasions. I love Peck’s outfit, which gives me ideas for how I can repurpose my suits upon my retirement.

How I Came To Know It: Orville Peck doesn’t always work for me, but I’m sufficiently intrigued to give each of his releases a chance. Often, I move on. This time, I lingered.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Orville Peck album (although I have been on the hunt for 2022’s “Bronco” for some time now). Until I find it, there’ll be no stacking up.

Ratings: 4 stars

Duet records tend to be a mixed bag. Some of the pairings can sound like two songs stitched together awkwardly and some just feel forced or – worse – a competition. On “Stampede” Orville Peck avoids all the common pitfalls and delivers one of the finer collaborations I’ve heard in a while.

Peck accomplishes this by making each duet a true partnership. He lets himself be immersed in the style of each collaborator, while bringing his unique sound into the mix. The result is like the design a talented barista puts on top of your latte; distinct and intricate, even as it blends into itself before your eyes.

The album’s opener is a great example. “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other.” The song’s a duet with Willie Nelson, and despite his propensity for a more Vegas style urban cowboy delivery, Peck allows Nelson’s moseying style to take the lead. The song has a timeless sway, and a lot of heartfelt fun. Fun fact about this song for those who don’t have the benefit of liner notes – this is a cover of a 1981 single by singer/songwriter Ned Sublette. Kudos to Sublette for being so far ahead of his time to write a song about gay cowboys, but if you’ve heard the original it suffers from Sublette’s vocals which are just…OK.

Not so with Willie Nelson and Orville Peck in charge. I’m not a huge fan of Willie Nelson, but that quaver is unmistakable and as welcome here as a tall glass of lemonade on a hot day in the south. It pairs well with Peck’s rich baritone and natural showmanship. Both men command a stage with their vocals, but they do it with very different approaches. The blend is quite lovely.

A few songs later, Peck is up to similar (but different) tricks with Beck on “Death Valley High,” a song that would have been at home on Midnite Vultures except for all that Las Vegas back-country sound. This is western music yes, but it’s the kind encrusted in rhinestones. The Beck/Peck combo is also great. The two singers are again distinct, and the tradeoff between them is a delight. It is also a thoroughly groovy song that will have your head bobbing and (if driving) encourage lead in the foot.

If “Death Valley High” isn’t sufficiently groovy, fear not, because later on the record you’ll get the absolute treat of Peck pairing up with latter-day disco diva Kylie Minogue on “Midnight Ride”. This song has that Minogue-specific back beat that commands you to dance, and to do it right now. Peck channels his best Vegas Elvis vibe (which, FYI, is really good) and matches her energy groove for groove, hip shake for hip shake. Listen to this song at your peril, because it is a serious earworm.

That’s a sampling of the funkier side of the record, but there is also plenty to offer on the country side of the ledger. Peck’s collaboration with Margo Price on “You’re an Asshole, I Can’t Stand You, and I Want a Divorce” that channels “Fairytale of New York”, minus the holiday spirit.

On “Papa Was a Rodeo” Peck cuts up some serious old timey fun with Molly Tuttle. It is a bit weird where Peck says, “pick it, Molly” before her solo. Like Molly needed anyone’s permission or encouragement to be the world’s greatest living guitar player. Yeah, you heard me.

There are even songs on this record I normally dislike (Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting”, Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy”) that in the hands of Peck are lifted up to brilliance (“Rhinestone Cowboy”) or in the case of “Saturday Night…” at least made tolerable. For the latter, I think I noticed the lyrics for the first time ever, and it helped considerably. Thanks, Bernie Taupin.

This willingness to meet multiple styles halfway could easily make for a disjointed record, but through it all Peck is the stylistic centrepiece. He has a natural charisma that oozes out of every note he sings, and he stands tall as an equal partner with some of music’s greatest legends (also, with Midland, but even that works).

While not every track is as bangin’ as “Midnight Ride” there is a balance of excellence overall. Also, it is a lot of fun, so if you don’t like fun, maybe avoid it. But seriously, that thing you have where you don’t like fun? You should get that checked out.

Best tracks: Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other, The Hurtin’ Kind, Other, Death Valley High, Papa Was a Rodeo, Midnight Ride, You’re an Asshole I Can’t Stand You (And I Want a Divorce), Rhinestone Cowboy

CD Odyssey Disc 1827: Meryn Cadell

I bought back this next album way back in 1991 when I had precious little purchasing power. I suppose I chose well, since after all these years, its still here with me.

I also bought the Infidels’ self-titled album in 1991, primarily for the song “100 Watt Bulb.” Don’t be looking for that review, though. They can't all be winners.

Disc 1827 is…Angel Food for Thought

Artist: Meryn Cadell

Year of Release: 1991

What’s up with the Cover? Meryn’s thoughts are so infused with angelic energy they glow like an electric halo around her head!

Meryn does not appear stressed by this. I suppose if a nimbus of angelic radiance formed around your head every time you had a thought you’d eventually get used to it. Stay calm, don’t walk near power lines or wear a metal helmet, etc.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of the oldest CDs in my collection, with a battered and slightly broken jewel case to prove it. I bought this when it came out, after hearing good things, likely from a girl I was trying to impress at the time. I remember the vague notion of doing this, but not the specific girl. Damn…

In any event, this puts me in a very small minority of people who did not buy it solely for its one hit, “The Sweater”. More on that later.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Meryn Cadell album, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 3 stars

I’m often asked if I listen to podcasts, usually as a precursor to someone recommending one that they like. I appreciate the interest (and some of the topics described intrigue me) but I always answer in the negative, adding that I only have so much “listening” time in my life and every single second of it gets spent on music.

Meryn Cadell’s “Angel Food for Thought” is still music…at least in part, but this is as close as I get to having someone just talking in my ear. Cadell’s record is a mix of spoken word, back beats, and a sprinkling of singing here and there as if they knew I might just tune out if I didn’t hear a melody.

From the beginning of “Angel Food…” it is clear Cadell has no interest in picking between music and spoken word, and they spend the next 35 lightning-fast moments bouncing back and forth between speaking and singing, sometimes within a single track. However, it doesn’t feel jarring because the transitions are so seamless, and because Cadell’s delivery in both mediums is naturally musical. They’ve got phrasing that makes every poem feel like music, whether there is a tune behind it or not. If you’ve never been to a spoken word show, the dividing line is often this ‘feel’ for the beat that separates success from failure. Here we have success.

That said, this album has a lot going on and it switches gears and topics quickly. Despite its short length it squeezes in 20 tracks, most of them clocking in around one and half to two minutes long. Don’t like something? It’ll be over ery soon. Do like it? Sorry – same rule applies.

My criticism of the record is that it feels like a lot of the ideas are only half formed. Poems with amazing conceptual possibility, but over before they fully take flight. But even as I rebelled against Cadell’s constantly shifting attention, I couldn’t deny the sheer genius of their wit. This record is loaded with clever turns of phrase, each of which explores a complicated and sometimes painful world of love, broken relationships and even the basic struggle just to pay the rent.

When they do go full “sing” voice, Cadell shows a gorgeous tone, rich and pure and sitting at the nexus of folk and pop. “I Say” is particularly beautiful, sinking into a deep introspection that pulls you to a lonely but important place to uncomfortably confront your doubts and fears. “Confide” does the same, reminding you that you need face tough emotions and come to terms with them. Need a wallow? “I Say” and “Confide” is a double-gut punch that’s as good as therapy. I needed plenty of wallow time in 1991, and Meryn was always there for me.

On the spoken word front, “Martina” was a favourite of mine that holds up well years later. The song is about a woman walking home at 3 a.m. alone, fearful that she will suffer violence for no other reason than being out a bit too late. The character wears high heels, and Cadell uses the sound of their clacking on pavement as the backbeat to the anxiety the title character feels. Years later artists like Dessa (“Fire Drills”) and Amyl and the Sniffers (“Knifey”) honour this theme but, at least for me, Cadell did it first.

On a record that can’t decide if it is spoken word or music, it is probably fitting that its one hit, “the Sweater” is a bit of both. It is also one of the lighter songs on the record, telling the story borrowing a boy’s sweater and spending a few days fantasizing about a boy, who ultimately was a) not that into you and b) not worth being into either. As tales of high school trauma go, it’s a timeless one, and well delivered.

The record ends with “Barbie” a song about growing up to find out that you don’t live in a dream house and Ken may not be as emotionally available as he seemed in doll form all those years ago. It’s a fitting end to a record that is chock full of razor-sharp observations, and the disenchantment we all feel when we grow up and find out what adulthood actually looks like.

In the end the record is a little bit genius and a little bit overwrought, but this never bothers me since when I put it on I know what I’m signing up for. Now, so do you.

Best tracks: Secret, Inventory, I Say, The Sweater, Martina, Confide, Barbie

CD Odyssey Disc 1826: Al Stewart

A long-time and loyal reader recently asked me to consider not reviewing compilations, and sticking to studio and live records exclusively. I get it. I am enraged every time I see compilation albums on “greatest records of all time” lists (I’d be looking at you, Rolling Stone – except that I don’t look at you anymore). I avoid that crime by not assigning ratings or rankings to them.

I appreciate the suggestion (and the loyal readership) but I can’t very well change the system 1,800+ records in. Once a reviewer starts making exceptions people start disobeying the rules and then it’s nothing but work work work….

So with apologies to those who feel likewise, herewith is a “best of” review. I’ll keep it entertaining by seeding it with Princess Bride references. Hint: they’ve already started…

Disc 1826 is…The Very Best of Al Stewart

Artist: Al Stewart

Year of Release: 1988, but featuring music from 1973 - 1981

What’s up with the Cover? If it was just the inset photo, this would qualify as a Giant Head Cover (much beloved for many years here on the Odyssey) but it being inset it only manages to land a designation of 'Medium Head'.

Upon that Medium Head Al Stewart has a luxurious mop of hair, so bushy, big and absent of any modern hair care products that it extends past the frame in a way that would make a passport photographer grimace.

I once had a head of hair even more resplendent than this (I have a driver’s license photo where it extends not past one side of the frame, but three sides!). As with Mr. Stewart, time has been unkind to this head of hair and now only photos remain.

But I digress…

How I Came To Know It: Sheila (who grew up listening to Al Steward on the radio) grabbed this one at a thrift store. I did not know anything about Al Stewart, but our thrift store CD rules dictate that anything brought home gets a chance, no matter how weird.

How It Stacks Up: No stacking compilations

Ratings: Compilations aren’t rated. If you want to know more about how I feel about Al Stewart you’re gonna have to read to the end.

By 1988 a lot more people had CD players, and they were hungrily looking for content. Unlike me in 1988, most of those people were well off and older, so you can find a fair bit of compilation albums from artists in the seventies that appealed to folks of a certain vintage.

Enter Mr. Al Stewart, and his smooth and silky sounds of British folk revivalism. British folk revivalism in the seventies wasn’t about obscure reels from the highlands or keening murder ballads, it was about bringing the sensibility of folk (telling a story) to the masses. The result packed a lot of schmaltz.

Stewart’s vocals are made for such a movement, with a pure and light tone as soothing and inoffensive of a gentle summer breeze. Even when Stewart is singing about harsh topics, you can’t help but feel relaxed. Nazis on the hill you say? Be there right after I finish this glass of sangria…

“Wait a minute”, you exclaim, “This album has Nazis! I was told Al Stewart was a chill laid back pop/folk singer!”

He is, gentle reader, but in the same way some stories have Cliffs of Insanity and shrieking eels, other tales have Nazis - bad guys help drive a plot. The only difference is Nazis are real. In fact, the song featuring Nazis – “Roads to Moscow” is one of the album’s better tracks. It is an eight-minute opus telling the story of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 all the way through to their eventual defeat four years later. If my 10 Sabaton albums didn’t already tip you off, I’m a sucker for a history nerd song, and “Roads to Moscow” pushed all the right buttons. it is a fine example of a “never get involved in a land war in Asia” song (for the best ever please listen to Mark Knopfler’s “Bonaparte”).

As for production and arrangement decisions, this record is not afraid to try things. We’ve got flamenco (“On the Border”), samba (“the Running Man”) and even a little Ziggy Stardust rip-offery (“Lord Grenville”), all of it wrapped up in a sweet AM radio pop friendly coating to help it go down easier. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Despite harsh topics like Russian winter war, Al Stewart isn’t here to make you feel bad. The worst moments in his breakup song “Delia’s Gone” feature rain at the beach and some disconcerting “dream figures with moons for eyes” (?). Compare that to Johnny Cash’s “Delia” where our title character gets shot. Dead.

I didn't grow up listening to the radio much and the station in my hometown wasn’t Al Stewart friendly anyway so the only song I knew on this record going in was “Time Passages”. It’s a masterclass in writing a pop melody. I fell smitten from the first bar and despite two unconscionably bad saxophone solos (yes, two – in the same song) I still couldn’t help but love this enduring standard of AM radio gold.

Another feature of the CD is it can hold a lot more music, so artists weren’t stuck with the radio edits of their hits (although in the case of “Time Passages” that would have been welcome). You can throw on some epics like “Roads to Moscow” and the even more bloated “Nostradamus Part One, the World Goes to Riyadh, Nostradamus Part Two (live)”. Yes, that’s the title of the second song where, over a 13 minute span, Stewart sets large swaths of Nostradamus predictions to music. I admit I liked this more than is seemly (see: history nerd comments above).

Only about a third of thrift store albums survive into the collection, so you won’t read about all of ‘em. This Al Stewart stuff turned out to be a hidden gem, however, and any fun I have poked above was of the gentle variety.

Best tracks: Time Passages, Delia’s Gone, Road to Moscow, Merlin’s Times

CD Odyssey Disc 1825: Sharon Van Etten

Based on the dedication notes, this next album was a pandemic record. It was a crap time for live concerts, but at least artists were at home writing and recording for when the world restarted.

Disc 1825 is…We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong

Artist: Sharon Van Etten

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover? Is that a beautiful autumn sunset or the rosy glow of the apocalypse?

Is that the Van Etten family farm, or just a rancher with a well-stocked storm cellar to hole up in until after the zombies lose interest and move down the road?

Either way you’re going inside, but in the second case you’re going to want to keep the light and noise to a minimum.

How I Came To Know It: I had liked Van Etten’s previous two releases, so this was me giving her latest effort a chance. Turns out, I liked it as well.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Sharon Van Etten albums, and “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong” comes in at…#4. Depending on how optimistically you see the world, this is dead last or ‘just out of the medals’.

Ratings: 3 stars

This album was a slow boil for me. For one thing, I probably didn’t give it enough love before it disappeared into my collection a couple years ago (after which it had to compete with other Van Etten favourites when I was looking for inspiration under “V”). For another, it has a lush production and layered arrangements that I don’t tend to favour. However, in time I fell under its dreamy spell.

If you don’t know Van Etten, she is an indie pop artist, with an ethereal voice that keens at you from the Other Side, and a penchant for writing songs that cause you to slip into a thoughtful reverie. It isn’t a fast experience however, and you have to be willing to open up to her in an unhurried way.

It didn’t help that the better songs on this record come later. The opening track, “Darkness Fades” is pretty but has a lot of layers for an intro moment to a record. I liked it a lot better after a couple of listens. The second song, “Home to Me” had promise but that promise is dashed upon the artificial rocks of a synthetic drum machine. It isn’t that I’ve never loved a drum machine, I just find it hard.

However, it isn’t long before Van Etten wears you down with her persistent vision of music that mixes unexpected melodic structures with a wall of sound sensibility. You have to sink into this record, because it doesn’t work if you insist on trying to float on top of it. Lose sight of the horizon and drown in the sound. You’ll like it.

For all that the first song that opened my heart up was “Anything” at Track 4, which drew me in with a stark and simple guitar strum. Sure, the symphonic “all the things” sound came along, but it held off for a bar or two, by which time I was good and hooked.

The song also starts with some existential dread in the lyrics:

“Up the whole night
Undefined
Can't stop thinking 'bout peace and war”

‘been there. This song isn’t a salve for such geopolitical anxiety, but it does let you know – musically and through words – that you’re not alone.

After a couple more what I’ll call “soup tunes” we come back to some stripped-down happiness again, with “Come Back,” a song that showcases Van Etten’s exquisite head voice. The song also has a gentle and insistent build that makes you feel like something grand is happening. This record has many a song where things slowly grow and soar, with mixed results. Sometimes all the add-ons drown the melody out, and sometimes they infuse simple lyrics with a deeper import. On “Come Back” it’s the latter.

Overall, I enjoyed “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong” even when, from a production perspective, I felt the title was very much on point. But it improved on every listen, which I tend to see as a sign the artist is onto something good. Also, while some of the songs were too lush for my tastes, they did serve to create dynamics and range that made me appreciate the quieter moments that much more.

Best tracks: Anything, Come Back, Mistakes

CD Odyssey Disc 1824: Black Sabbath

Let’s go check out an iconic band of my youth, albeit with a less than iconic lineup.

Disc 1824is…Cross Purposes

Artist: Black Sabbath

Year of Release: 1994

What’s up with the Cover? If you like an epic story, then this cover might be an angel at the end of the War of Heaven, realizing that backing Lucifer might not have been the best choice.

If you are just here to party, then maybe this angel just stood too close to a candle while getting a beer from the cooler on the deck. She’ll be fine – certainly not damned to hell - just singed and a little embarrassed. Help put her out and then get that seraph a drink!

How I Came To Know It: Despite being a long-time Black Sabbath fan (my first Sabbath review was way back at Disc 6!), this era of Sabbath was never on my radar. Then recently my friend Spence was exploring these albums. I was intrigued and that intrigue – plus the aforementioned house money – resulted in an impulse buy.

How It Stacks Up: With the purchase of two new Sabbath albums I now have 12. Of those 12 I put “Cross Purposes” in at…#11. So not last.

Ratings: 2 stars

The key to enjoying “Cross Purposes” is recognizing that Ozzy is long gone. Ronnie James Dio is also gone, and this time he’s not coming back. Absorb that reality and make peace with your grief.

Don’t feel too bad. You can still enjoy this record, but you’re going to have to lower your expectations a bit. OK, are they lowered? Then let’s proceed safely and judge “Cross Purposes” on its own merits

Tony Martin is not a bad vocalist. He’s actually a good one. If he were a James Bond he’d be Timothy Dalton. Dalton’s never gonna be Sean Connery or Daniel Craig. He’s probably not gonna even by Roger Moore. But he’s got a couple of movies in him and they are watchable. Enjoyable, even.

So no, Tony Martin is not the mad genius of Ozzy Osbourne, and while his anthemic vocals are in the style of Ronnie James Dio, there is only one Dio. It took me a couple of listens to get over this, but once I did I appreciated Martin’s talents. In most metal bands he would be great but standing as he does in the massive umbra of Ozzy and Dio, he’s going to draw comparisons that aren’t his fault.

But make no mistake, dude can sing. When “Dying for Love” came on at track six it caught me in mid-step (OK, mid-bite, I was eating a plate full of chicken). The song is stripped down and slow. The kind of song that will quickly expose an average singer. Martin rises to the challenge, soaring up and over the melody with gusto and easy power.

As for the rest of the band, with apologies to the more than capable drumming of Bobby Rondinelli, I found myself missing both Bill Ward and Vinnie Appice. They are co-equals for me in Sabbath drumming greatness. Rondinelli is…not.

Iommi and Geezer hold down guitar and bass perfectly well, but the songwriting doesn’t do them a lot of favours, sounding both of its time and occasionally derivative. When Soundgarden plays, I often hear the echoes of Sabbath in their work, but on a few “Cross Purposes” tracks (“Back to Eden”, “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”) reality was reversed and I heard Soundgarden in Sabbath. That ain’t how it is supposed to work.

For all that, on standouts “Cross of Thorns” and “Immaculate Deception” the band recaptures some of the old Sabbath magic. All that creepy majesty returns, and you get that doomy, crunchy riff action and arcane “is something important happening?” lyrics that reminds me favourably of the Dio years.

As I wrapped up my third listen of the week, decision time descended upon me. My overloaded CD shelves looked down at me threateningly – did I dare take up precious space with this record? Would I ever play it again?

I considered the reissue that I had purchased. Packaged as it was in a modern cardboard case, it was noticeably skinnier. Yes – it would definitely take up less space! As I sat on the knife-edge of a decision that helped save “Cross Purposes” from the resale pile.

If it had been an old school jewel case it might’ve been screwed.

Best tracks: Cross of Thorns, Immaculate Deception, Dying for Love, Evil Eye

CD Odyssey Disc 1823: Various Artists do Doo Wop

It’s been a lovely weekend full of musical encounters, planned and unplanned. Yesterday, I had an impromptu conversation about Austrian band Son of the Velvet Rat in the post office lineup, and later that evening spent time with friends sharing music.

Along the way I ran a few chores, and had the happy soundtrack of Doo Wop tunes to keep me company in the car. Here’s more about that.

Disc 1823 is…Doo Wop Vocal Group Greats

Artist: Various Artists

Year of Release: 2005 but featuring music from 1951 to 1963

What’s up with the Cover? It’s Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers dressed up and ready to doo wop you in your earholes. Don’t worry – it feels good.

How I Came To Know It: There’s a section on my local record store (Ditch Records) where they have a whole pile of box sets from the golden age of the CD, when this was a thing people bought. Even though I’ve been buying CDs faithfully since the late eighties, I never got caught up in the box set hype, preferring to buy studio albums most of the time. Also box sets are awkwardly shaped and hard to file.

However, one day I was in the cramped corner of the store housing the box sets (the tyranny of vinyl requiring the majority of the space these days) when my eyes alighted on this treasure. Doo Wop doesn’t have a bunch of studio records (back in the day pop music was mostly singles) so this was a great way to get a whole bunch of songs from a genre I love but have very little of.

How It Stacks Up: This isn’t an album, it’s a compilation, and so can’t stack up.

Ratings: compilations also don’t get ratings, since they’re not true albums. Rules!

Three discs and 60 tunes is a lot of DooWop, but at no point over the past five days did I ever feel that volume as a burden. If there is a style of music that lifts your spirits more than Doo Wop, I don’t know what it is. This stuff makes you feel good. It is the summer sun and holidays of musical genres.

If you aren’t familiar with Doo Wop it was a style of American music in the fifties and early sixties that featured multi-part harmonies, nonsense words often sung as musical accompaniment in place of instruments, and chord progressions that traipse along in a way that is both predictable and uplifting (lots of triumphant fifths).

This is early pop music at its best, and like a lot of good pop music you can guess what’s going to come next in a tune and then feel delicious joy in being right. On repeat listens, you can sing along and frankly, it is hard not to. When Barry Mann sings “who put the bomp in the bomp, be bomp be bebomp” if you don’t immediate respond with “who put the dip in the dip de dip de dip” then there is something wrong with you.

In this collection we have a wide range of what Doo Wop represents, although don’t expect a wide range of topics. It is mostly romantic warbles about how much you love your gal (or your fella), with a few featuring unrequited love. Even those are pretty gentle stuff. No murder ballads or self-harm here, beyond maybe some impassioned sobbing into one’s pillow.

Some of these songs are deep down in my marrow from early childhood experiences, likely appearing on AM radio in my family car growing up (a sky blue 1961 Rambler). Tunes like Danny & the Juniors’ “At the Hop”, the Platters’ “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, the Shirelles “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and the Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” were instantly recognizable.

For all that familiarity, it was a joy to discover a host of other songs for the first time. I felt like I was getting a lucky peak into a simpler time – an idealized version of the fifties and sixties. The real version of those decades was a lot more complex, but listening to Doo Wop puts you in a dreamlike alternate universe where all things are rosier. A Pleasantville where the sun always shines, and milk never sours.

And while this music is simple fun, it also has had a lasting impact on music for generations to follow. Many of your favourite heavy bands of the seventies and eighties grew up on Doo Wop, and many bands twenty years later raided these records out of their parents’ or grandparents' record collection. I have a lovely version of Blue Oyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma covering “Come Softly To Me”. Blind Guardian covers “Barbara Ann” in my last review. Even when bands aren’t always wearing it on their sleeves, you can be sure its working its happy magic under the surface.

Be warned that these songs have a heavy Pollyanna vibe. Doo Wop doesn’t veer into schmaltz so much as it is steeped in it. Art shouldn’t always be this easy and free, but in a complex modern world, it was nice to spend a few days in a stylized time where love is grand, and everyone has a swing in their step, and a song in their heart. Dip da dip da dip, indeed!

Best tracks: Come Back My Love, Out of Sight Out of Mind, Twilight Time, I Met Him on Sunday, Sixty-Minute Man, For Sentimental Reasons, I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Come Softly To Me, Little Darlin’, Don’t You Just Know It, Little Bitty Pretty One, Once Upon a Time