CD Odyssey Disc 1857: Wicked Lady

With this next review (which spans 1968-1972) the last three reviews will have dropped in on four different decades of music. Fun!

Disc 1857 is…The Axeman Cometh

Artist: Wicked Lady

Year of Release: 1968-1972

What’s up with the Cover? I’m not one for censorship, but I’m also not keen on having my account suspended, so I will not be sharing the cover of “the Axeman Cometh”. Instead, you get this generic rendition of the band’s logo.

If you were to look up the cover (n.b. not to be done at work), you will not find an axeman. Instead you will find an old-timey photo of a wicked lady wearing nothing but a hat, a belt, and some jewelry standing in what could be characterized as an ‘immodest’ pose.

On reflection, this lady is not necessarily wicked at all. For all we know she’s a devoted mother of three who models for an avant-garde jewelry company. However, she is naked so before you search her out, you’ve been warned.

How I Came To Know It: I found this recently in my local record store’s metal section. I kept passing it over, and then somewhere I was reading a metal review and it was referenced in passing, igniting my interest. Since I had some gift money I decided to give it a chance, unheard, on a whim.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Wicked Lady album so it can't stack up. Technically it is their complete works, but I can’t confirm they ever released a studio album (their internet presence is very light) and there are only eight tracks, so I’m treating this as a regular record, rather than a compilation.

Ratings: 4 stars

While I found “The Axeman Cometh” in the metal section of the record store this is not strictly heavy metal. I call what Wicked Lady gets up to “Riffnoodle.” They like a good riff, but they like to noodle from that riff even more. It’s a psychedelic hard rock situation that really gets into itself and stays there for a very long time. All songs are played in the key of Wankery.

“Whoa,” you say with trepidation, “that sounds like it’ll be pretty self-indulgent” and you’d be right. This era of hard rock is full of bands that do whatever the hell they want, for as long as they want (n.b. often this is very long) and radio play be damned. I don’t have a lot of Riffnoodle in my collection for this reason, although some will swear by it, and if you love Cream, or Blue Cheer or Sir Lord Baltimore or other bands of this vintage and style, you are going to like Wicked Lady. If that’s not your cup of tea then – much like the album’s cover – you’ve been warned.

As for me, I wanted all these 6-10 minute long wank fests to annoy me, but it never happened. That’s for a simple reason, and that is guitarist (aka ‘axeman’) Martin Weaver is so damned good. This band plays songs that sound like extended jam sessions but they are so tight, and so deep into the groove that you don’t mind the excess of it all. Wankery here is a feature, not a bug.

According to the Internet (actual websites, not just the AI summary) the wah-wah pedal was invented in 1966, and Wicked Lady are early and devoted adopters. Many of these songs feature extended wah action, as well as various other filters and effects that I know nothing about, being mainly ignorant of the inner mysteries of the guitar once it has been plugged into an amp.

Again, this wah action could get annoying very easily, but in the skilled hands of Wicked Lady it never does. Yeah, it goes on for a long time, but the solos are delicious to the ear. You can practically smell the blue haze of a hotboxed recording studio, but miraculously no one loses focus or intent for a second.

In between solos, the band jams away, the riffs being the bread that lets you get your ears around all that meaty guitar work. It’s like a Montreal smoked meat sandwich – there’s clearly too much meat stuffed in there, but you can’t deny it’s tasty. Even the bass solos (there are extended bass solos as well) are delicious.

The production is what you would expect from a band you’d never heard of – not great, and at least on the CD it felt distant. In the 2012 re-issue liner notes Weaver writes “If you can’t play Wicked Lady loud – don’t play it!” and while this is true, the production doesn’t make it easy to accomplish. Don’t despair, however. I just keep doggedly turning the stereo’s nob to the right and eventually I got there.

Once I arrived, it was like a bath of excess rock and roll majesty that didn’t teach me any valuable lessons about life, but was fun to soak in nonetheless.

Best tracks: Run the Night, The Axeman Cometh, Wicked Lady, Out of the Dark

CD Odyssey Disc 1856: Suzanne Vega

For the second straight review we get a record that failed to impress enough to stay in the collection. As Bad Santa teaches us – they can’t all be winners.

Disc 1856 is…Nine Objects of Desire

Artist: Suzanne Vega

Year of Release: 1996

What’s up with the Cover? It would appear we are the apple of Suzanne Vega’s eye.

Could the apple be one of the objects of desire referenced in the album’s title as well? It would be on brand for the apple, that known agent of temptation.

How I Came To Know It: I discovered Suzanne Vega through my friend Greg, but this album was one of a trio of used CDs I picked up a couple years ago at the local record store, presumably when someone parted with their CD collection.

The Great CD Purge of a few years ago has mostly ended, but every now and then I find some good stuff when yet another person decides to let a streaming service’s algorithm tell them what they should listen to. Their loss – my gain.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Suzanne Vega albums. I had reserved third spot for this record but having now listened to both it and her 1985 debut (reviewed back at Disc 1655) I’m afraid the earlier record edges it out leaving “Nine Objects of Desire” newly ensconced in fourth.

Something had to be last – I just wasn’t expecting it to be this…

Ratings: 2 stars

Sometimes you can groove yourself right out of a good song, and on “Nine Objects of Desire” this happens just one too many times to be forgiven.

My favourite Suzanne Vega album is “99.9 F” (Disc 456) which has no "Luka" and no "Tom’s Diner," but does find Vega leaving behind the stark folk-pop feel of her earlier albums and embracing a more electronic dance type of sound that is surprisingly refreshing. “Nine Objects of Desire” is the follow up to “99.9 F” and doubles down on this approach. Based on an early and offhanded listen I was drawn in by the similarity of its vibe. Unfortunately, Vega then took a turn for jazz lounge that often left me stranded.

There are good signs early, notably “Headshots” which like a lot of Vega’s songs, takes a slice of life or image and muses on that topic. In this case the headshot of a model in an add for…headshots? Cue deep thoughts. It isn’t about a lot, but it has that same mid-tempo techno-adjacent backbeat that I loved on her previous record. Kind of danceable, but mostly for swaying a bit, and ordering a martini.

However, it isn’t long before we see things taking a turn toward Sade. If you like Sade (and many do) this will not trouble you in the least, but reader, I must here admit that Sade is one of my least favourite recording artists of all time. It is the kind of music where unwary but promising songs are jumped by the twin goons of pretention and jazz (n.b. not actual twins, but hard to tell them apart in a smoky bar).

These two well-dressed hooligans take an initially groovy tone like “Caramel” and rough it up with meandering self-conscious stuff that I imagine boring people play at their dinner parties. I can’t know for sure, because I don’t attend boring dinner parties. Dinner parties, yes please, just not boring ones, and definitely not ones where they are playing Sade on their Bluetooth speaker. Or if they are playing it, that I remark on just how little I like it (I have a hard time holding my tongue in the presence of Sade).

But I digress.

Back to the record, which isn’t always a fail. “Stockings” has a lot of the same troublesome elements present on “Caramel” but does a better job of shaking off the bad influences. Once again, we’ve got Vega going on about a single image (woman working at her stockings) and takes it to a place of deep whimsy and character development.

Unfortunately for every song that lands this delicate and delightful chemistry, there are two more that meander without aim, and get swallowed up in the excess production.

For all its techno-flavours, “99.9 F” maintains the simple charm of Suzanne Vega’s earlier records. With “Nine Objects of Desire” she doubles down on layers of sound that drown many songs that, handled just a bit differently, could be great.

I will note that I did like “Nine Objects of Desire” a bit more on each listen, which is a good sign, but it still wasn’t enough for me to decide to keep it. I hope it has better luck in its third home, wherever that is.

Best tracks: Headshots, Stockings

CD Odyssey Disc 1855: John Cougar Mellencamp

Last week my amazing wife Sheila sourced me a used CD rack (these are increasingly hard to find – thank you, Sheila!). It holds another 90 albums!

Sadly, this record will not be one of them.

Disc 1855 is…The Lonesome Jubilee

Artist: John Cougar Mellencamp

Year of Release: 1987

What’s up with the Cover? John sits at the bar with a local workin’ man. I expect John is suggesting through this photo that he likes hanging out with the regular folks. That would work better if he weren’t looking away awkwardly. It’s got a very “sit near me, but not with me” vibe.

I prefer to think right before this photo was taken John sat down and tried to befriend this guy to which he replied, ‘not interested’ and we’re catching the moment mid-spurn.

How I Came To Know It: I saw this record in the bargain bin at my local record store for a low $3. I liked one of the songs from when it came out, so despite my historic misgivings about Mellencamp, I decided I would give it a go.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Mellencamp albums, this one and the classic “Uh Huh”. “The Lonesome Jubilee” comes in at a distant second.

Ratings: 2 stars

When I reviewed “Uh Huh” back at Disc 1794, Mellencamp made me eat the unkind words I’d spoken about him in my youth. Did “The Lonesome Jubilee” have a similar impact? Two words: uh-uh. That is not to say this is a terrible record, only that it is just OK.

“The Lonesome Jubilee” has two things to say, and Mellencamp says them a lot, without much variation. Thing 1: “The good old days were pretty great, eh?” and Thing 2: “Boy, things aren’t great these days.” These are not earth-shattering but they can make for a song or two. The results here are a bunch of inoffensive, efficient, radio friendly social commentary with no surprises.

The draw from the outset for me is the lively and vibrant “Paper in Fire” featuring the talented fiddle playing of Lisa Germano. This caught my attention for a couple of reasons back in 1987. I’m not going to deny it – one of those reasons was how great Germano looked playing that fiddle in that shift dress in the music video.

The main reason though, was in 1987 I had limited exposure to fiddle music and Mellencamp bringing that American style fiddle playing into pop music was novel and interesting. My deep and abiding love for all style of fiddle playing was still just around the corner, and through “Paper in Fire” I was unwittingly whetting my appetite for things to come.

I have since come to be exposed to a lot of fiddle music by some exceptional masters of their craft. Germano’s playing is still solid – even with Mellencamp mostly using it in the arrangement like trumpet flourish – but with so much more under my belt now it is just one of many fun fiddle hooks, and no longer a revelation.

Back in 1987 “Cherry Bomb” was also a hit but unlike “Paper in Fire” I hated that song, which was severely overplayed. I am pleased to tell you this hate has been purged from my heart, and I now think it’s one of the record’s better offerings. Sure it has a sometimes tired and obvious exploration of “we were once kids, and now we have kids” but the tune is solid and I dig Crystal Taliefero’s guest vocals.

This is also a good time to point out that the “Lonesome Jubilee” “Cherry Bomb” is not the same song as the Runaways song of the same title, which is both better and has more to say. But there is room in my heart these days for two “Cherry Bombs” so that’s not a problem.

The rest of this record is just OK. I wasn’t irritated by any of the songs (well, OK, “Rooty Toot Toot” is pretty irritating), but nor did I feel like I was going to be urgently fumbling through my music collection so I could hear them either.

“The Lonesome Jubilee” demonstrates that Mellencamp knows how to write and sing, but it mostly had me thinking of other artists in my collection that just do what he’s doing better. It is a bunch of “life is harder now” stuff, competently delivered, but a bit preachy and unsurprising.

Two stars for this two-note record that is going to be moving along out of my collection.

Best tracks: Paper in Fire, Cherry Bomb

CD Odyssey Disc 1854: Lucius

I an generally against bands that self-title a record later in their career. I’m not saying you have to make your first record eponymous, but if you don’t, you’ve missed your chance. If your fans have to call your record “The White Album” or “The Black Album” or “The Avocado Album” that should tell you that you have missed your chance. At this point you’re just confusing everyone.

Fortunately, a badly timed album title does not a bad album make, as this next review confirms.

Disc 1854 is…Self-Titled

Artist: Lucius

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? This feels like an appropriate time to note that I am uncomfortable around dogs. Not just big scary dogs either, like I imagine this one is. Even small well-behaved dogs have a disconcerting trait – their slavish devotion. It’s off-putting. Make me earn your respect, dog!

Inside this album there is a fold-out poster of the band, all white and red and looking like a seventies art-school horror film. Why couldn’t this be the cover, Lucius? Why?

How I Came To Know It: I was already a Lucius fan. Their 2022 album “Second Nature” has somehow eluded me so far, but I was able to find this one a bit easier, and snapped it up at my local record store.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Lucius albums so far. Despite the crime of delayed eponymy I noted in the intro this album lands at #3.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

While I liked 2022’s “Second Nature” it is their self-titled follow up that sees Lucius fully recovering their form. This record sees the band delivering their smoothest and grooviest record yet.

By the same token, it is also much less experimental than previous efforts and sees the band staying to a more mainstream lane. This is not a criticism, because the lane travelled here is candy to the ear. And if these melodies sound effortless and straightforward, then I would remind you that writing melodies that sound like that is hard.

As ever, whether the songs are dressed up with production or stripped down to their basic elements, the secret to every Lucius album are the co-lead vocals of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig. The two of them blend their two instruments into a single sonic experience. You’d think they were twins the way they match tone, but nope – they’re just really good.

Fifteen or so years into their career they still sound youthful and vibrant as ever. They’ve settled into their sound like a comfy chair, and it feels like they are singing in a “don’t have to prove a thing” way that removes any strain from the experience. Easy, breezy and thoroughly relaxing for the soul.

If these songs were angst-ridden dirges that might be a problem, but the vibe here is a chill groove. Feeling laid back is the order of the day.

That said, there is a dance club quality to many of the songs, just not a frantic bust-a-move kind of dance club. More the sultry swing-n’-sway kind. Maybe an artful upward slide of palms on hips that lifts the hemline of your dress an inch or two; sexy but still tasteful. A club where the lights don’t flash so much as shift colours to the tempo of the music. A club where people are overdressed and drink Manhattans, but you forgive them because everyone look so goddamned fabulous.

The album’s production pairs well with this low-light glow, featuring lots of echo and ambient warmth, embracing and reassuring you. Even on songs like “Stranger Danger” which rely heavily on synthesizers, things still feel stripped down and vulnerable, but never stark.

My only quibble about this record is that for a band that creates such lovely melodies, Lucius can sometimes decide to let the production try to solve their ending rather than resolve them. The songs spiral upward, adding layer after layer of sound in place of a natural finish to the song. Done well it feels dreamlike, but sometimes I wanted a bit more resolution from the tune itself.

A minor quibble on a record that had me feeling relaxed and comforted from the opening notes. I didn’t feel challenged by the music or the lyrics, but I did feel the love, and sometimes love is all you need. That, and maybe an album title.

Best tracks: Final Days, Gold Rush, Mad Love, Stranger Danger, Hallways, Old Tape

CD Odyssey Disc 1853: Dropkick Murphys

For our next review, let’s ship off to Boston, shall we?

Disc 1853 is…Okemah Rising

Artist: Dropkick Murphys

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover? Someone has left a perfectly good guitar laying on the railroad tracks. Or has this a guitar just had enough and thrown itself there, intent on ending it all. It’s final thoughts likely, “No – I won’t play one more Liona Boyd song. I won’t do it. I’d rather die here on the tracks!”

Apologies to Liona Boyd fans but hey – you got mentioned. Take the win.

How I Came To Know It: I’m a longtime fan of the Dropkick Murphys. I fell away from them for a bit, but in recent years I’ve caught up on their music and I’m back in the swing of it. I bought this one when it came out.

How It Stacks Up: I have 10 Dropkick Murphys albums which is not all of them, but is a lot of them. I put “Okemah Rising in at #8. I still liked it, but not as much as seven other ones, I suppose. If you are looking up previously reviewed Dropkick Murphy albums for comparison, it won’t work. I reviewed those when I only had seven, so things have shifted a bit. You’ll just have to wait until I review the final one and recap.

But I digress…

Ratings: 3 stars

The Dropkick Murphys perfected the art of the sing-along decades ago. On “Okemah Rising” they are once again paired with sloganeer and folk anthem writer Woody Guthrie’s lyrics and the result is predictable: a good time had by all.

In recent years the Murphys brand of Irish folk/punk has veered a bit closer to Irish folk over punk, and that trend accelerates on he acoustic “Okemah Rising”. Expect plenty of penny whistle and singing in unison. If you don’t find yourself with an insane desire to sway in a barroom, pint in hand, then I suggest you turn the record up. You’re missing it.

You may also be missing co-lead vocalist Al Barr, who is on hiatus from the band for this one. Fortunately we still have the rich and raunchy tone of fellow long-time Murphy Ken Casey. While I like the combination of the two of them, Casey holds things down just fine, and they bring in some guest vocalists here and there to keep it interesting.

The best of these is the ever-brilliant Jaime Wyatt, who shows up for the final verse of “Bring It Home”. “Bring It Home” is merely an OK song to this point, veering toward full kitsch as it tells the tale of a man bringing home appliances for his wife until he comes home one day he’s been replaced by the neighbour.

Fun but unremarkable and then Wyatt’s vocals kick in and stop the world with rich, sumptuous, evocative power. Sure, she’s tasked with singing the punchline of the joke, but never was a joke more sublime to hear.

The album’s biggest advantage is yet more songs where the lyrics are by folk master Woodie Guthrie. Guthrie had a fun time writing “Bring it Home” but for the most part he cleaves to what he knows best – class struggle, defence of the working man, and a general celebration of the blue collar, stained with sweat and proud of it.

Guthrie also takes it to the fascists directly, with “Run, Hitler Run” a song about chasing down Hitler with justified ill intent. It may have been 80 years ago, but this song proves that dissing Hitler just never gets old, and I enjoyed wishing him harm just as much as if it were 1945 again.

For all the fun, this record suffers by comparison to “This Machine Still Kills Fascists” (which landed at #5 on my “Best of 2022” list for that year). That record is a late-career classic. It is also fuelled by Woody Guthrie’s lyrics, and I got the overall impression the Murphys used the best of Guthrie’s stuff on the previous album.

However, even a second-tier iteration of “This Machine…” still makes for a record that is solid, raucous, and upbeat, and every bit a worthy celebration of Woody Guthrie, the Dropkick Murphys and the staying power of both acts. I had a great time, even as I wished for the songs to be just a bit more creative and varied.

Minor quibbles. The album still kills fascists - literally in the case of “Run, Hitler, Run” - and it has a nice mix of social commentary, celebratory revelry, or a combination of both. Not the best the band ever did, but a damn fine time all the same.

Best tracks: My Eyes Are Gonna Shine, Watchin’ The World Go By, Bring It Home, Run Hitler Run

CD Odyssey Disc 1852: Mean Mary

On the heels of a movie soundtrack, we get a record that is the soundtrack to…a book. Strange, but true.

Disc 1852 is…Blazing: Hell is Naked Soundtrack

Artist: Mean Mary

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? Just words. Considering one of the underlying themes to this record is the observation that “a woman would run naked into the street to save her baby, but a man would stop to put on his pants first,” this cover is an opportunity missed.

How I Came To Know It: In a very short window of time I have become a pretty serious Mean Mary fan. This was just me digging into her back catalogue.

How It Stacks Up: I have six Mean Mary albums, and I’m on the lookout for two more. I love every single one of the six I have, but something had to be last. I’m going to put “Blazing” in at #6. Competition is fierce.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Blazing” is an oddity I’m not sure I’ve encountered before – a soundtrack to a book. In this case, a book called “Hell is Naked” co-authored by Mean Mary (aka Mary James) and her mother Jean. The pair write a lot of books together, and a cursory overview suggests the characters make it into many of Mean Mary’s songs. This is the only time I am aware of where a whole album is dedicated to a book also written by the songwriter.

I have not read “Hell is Naked” – and apart from some overviews I’ve read (that include the observation I quote in “What’s Up with the Cover?”) – I don’t know much about it. The good news is you don’t have to know anything about the book to enjoy this record. It is just more of Mean Mary doing what she does best – writing and singing great songs and playing the banjo with skill and artistry few can match.

Let’s start with that banjo playing, which is transcendent. It stupefies me to listen, and made writing this review difficult, because when Mary is deep in her instrument the beauty is overwhelming. I can’t do anything but sit and let it soak over me. I had to turn the volume down just to concentrate on writing. And I hated doing it, too.

The album is replete with examples of banjo at its absolute finest, but the best is “Rainy”, a mid-tempo instrumental appearing at Track Two. “Rainy” is the light splash of a warm summer rain, and trills along in a way that makes you want to dance in that rain. You will get water in your shoes and – against all previous experience – you will find the experience joyful.

This song calmed and lifted my spirit in a way that reminded me of early experiences on first hearing the fiddle of Capercaillie’s Charlie McKerron. My heart wondering, “can this be happening, and please let it happen for a little longer.” “Rainy” is sadly over in 3:12, but I took solace that I had it on recording, there for whenever I needed it.

I’ll now go back to the start, and the opening track, “Harlequin” on which Mean Mary eschews banjo for fiddle and guitar. The song has a bluesy barroom sway that introduces you to the titular character in a way that is soaked in sin and mystery. One of many great lines that draws you in by only teasing what may be going on…

“Bogged down in the Tinsel Town of sin
Harlequin, dressed up as paladin
Confident—but not confiding
You fool the world by hiding—what’s within”

Cool.

The album showcases Mean Mary’s considerable range of style. “Harlequin” is all sway and smoke, and songs like “Sugar Creek Mountain Rush” are pure bluegrass jump n’ holler, and just as compelling.

Mary also delivers a devout and deeply moving version of “Rock of Ages” arranged with just vocals and banjo. Think the banjo can’t properly deliver a solemn hymn? Think again.

All of the songs benefit from Mean Mary’s compelling warbling tone. Her vocals are like the ocean: on the surface a a myriad of tiny variations and light touches that make every note unique, and underneath an inexorable power that flows over and through you.

The album’s final song, “I Face Somewhere” has a “final credits/triumphant last scene” feel that befits the end of the book’s “soundtrack”. It’s the first and only time we feature an electric guitar (played by Mary) and it is used to create a rock n’ roll groove that drives off into the distance in the rarely welcomed fade out. Great stuff.

I hope one day to read the book “Hell is Naked”. The CD case has excerpts from it alongside each song and the writing looks top grade. But even if I never get to it I’ll be glad to have the record, which stands tall and inspiring, independent of any other artistic medium that might be associated with it.

Best tracks: Harlequin, Rainy, Face Somewhere, Sugar Creek Mountain Rush, Rock of Ages, I Face Somewhere

CD Odyssey Disc 1851: Soundtrack and Muppets!

The albums on the CD Odyssey are selected randomly. If it’s in the collection, and it hasn’t already been reviewed, it’s eligible. This can generate some unintended consequences. In this case…Christmas in August.

So strap in. Things are about to get weird…

Disc 1851 is…The Muppet Christmas Carol

Artist: Er…a bunch of Muppets?

Year of Release: 1992

What’s up with the Cover? A bunch of Muppets! Also, a glowering “Michael Caine” lurks in the background. Based on his sourpuss expression, this is “Christmas Eve” Scrooge, not “Christmas Morning” Scrooge.

How I Came To Know It: I loved the Muppet Christmas Carol movie but I would never have bought the soundtrack. As it happens, I didn’t. Sheila picked it up for a single dollar in a thrift store. To which I say, “why not?”

How It Stacks Up: I have upwards of 37 soundtracks. I may have the count wrong, as I lose track of the ones that are both soundtracks and also albums by individual artists (e.g. Eddie Vedder’s “Into the Wild,” Queen’s “Flash Gordon”).

Let’s go with 37, of which I put the Muppets Christmas Carol in at…#30.

Ratings: 2 stars

Well…here we are, doing this. If you skip this one, I won’t blame you. But if you stay, I promise to avoid excess analysis of the music. The Muppets didn’t intend for it to entertain you that way, and neither do I.

Let’s start with the movie. Is this the best version of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”? Better than that 1935 one, which is excellent but wrecked by your parents forcing you to watch it? Better than 1988’s “Scrooged” where Carol Kane (as the Ghost of Christmas Present) hits Bill Murray’s Scrooge with a toaster?

Tough competition to be sure, but I’m going to side with the Muppets over both. Not as artsy as the thirties one, and not as edgy as the eighties (and sadly lacking any dancing showgirls), but it’s got heart to spare.

As for it being a musical, this does not usually land with me. I am not a fan of the genre, and all the musical scores/original cast recordings are – similarly – possessions of my better half. Sure there are exceptions. I love two songs from Les Mis (Disc 111): “Red and Black” and “Do You Hear the People Sing?” If those songs don’t get you going you should check your pulse. From “Chess” (Disc 156) I love “One Night in Bangkok” (yes, that’s where it’s from) and “Nobody’s Side” (listen to it and then lie to me and tell me you didn’t like it).

However, mostly when I watch musicals I’m either dreading some character bursting into song or hoping the number will end so we can get back to the story. They’re not for me.

But damn it, these Muppets. They go and make me feel the feels with their infuriating and catchy tunes about the power of love. I tried to shake it off and make fun of the situation, but despite myself this soundtrack made my heart grow three sizes. Yeah, yeah – different story. Sort of.

The song “Scrooge” has clever turns of phrase a-plenty, and I enjoyed Kermit and Tiny Tim scatting on “Christmas Scat” more than decorum should allow, but mostly, this record just made me feel good.

There is one “bummer” song, which is “When Love Is Gone” about the lost love of Scrooge’s youth. It feels like Oscar bait, and while schmaltzy enough to secure an Oscar, wasn’t even nominated. Like it would have had a snowball’s chance against either song from “Beauty and the Beast” that year. Fun related fact: “When Love Is Gone” is by a character also named Belle and was removed from later releases of the film for being too much of a bummer.

Also solid, “Marley and Marley” delivered by perennial Muppet curmudgeons Statler and Waldorf, which includes a very catchy ghostly refrain of “whooaaah” at the end of each line.

But I digress dangerously close to that ordinary musical review thing I promised you I would avoid. My apologies.

This record is best enjoyed over the holidays building a puzzle (if your cabin doesn’t have cable) or while watching the movie (if it does). If possible, select the “Belle’s bummer song” version – it is better.

Do I recommend this album in the middle of summer during your morning commute? No. Well…sort of?

Do I think it belongs on a serious music review website? Probably not, but I would remind you I review all the albums, not just the ones that make you feel cool enough to pop your collar and roll a pack of smokes into your t-shirt sleeve.

Most of all, this soundtrack will bring peace, goodwill and joy to all. If you’ve seen the movie, it does the same thing, only double. And lest you think this is me being nostalgic for my childhood, I was well into my adulthood when this came out. You’re never too old, and it’s never the wrong time to be infused with a bit of Christmas spirit.

Now run outside and invite someone to know you better, man! Wish a stranger a Merry Christmas in August! Maybe buy them a goose. Unless that feels weird, which I expect it will.

Look at that – you’ve made it to the end. Next time we return to regularly scheduled music reviews. It’s safe, I swear. I don’t even own “The Muppets Take Manhattan”. Yet.

Best tracks: Scrooge, Marley and Marley, When Love Is Gone, It Feels Like Christmas

CD Odyssey Disc 1850: Craig Finn

Welcome to the long weekend! Let’s get things kicked off with the second review of a 2025 release in the last three albums. It’s almost like I just keep buying new music, or something…

Disc 1850 is…Always Been

Artist: Craig Finn

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? I’m not sure you could be a rock star and look less like a rock star than Craig Finn.

Here he looks like a guy travelling to a regional meeting of chartered accountants, and getting his photo taken near his airport hotel on his way to the convention centre.

How I Came To Know It: Craig Finn is also the lead singer and creative force behind the band, “The Hold Steady”. My friend Chris got me into the Hold Steady with a birthday present one year (thanks, Chris!) and from there I followed the breadcrumbs to Finn’s solo career.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Craig Finn solo albums. I’m on the lookout for four more but the “how it stacks up” section strictly stacks against albums currently in-hand. Of the two that currently qualify I put “Always Been” in at #1. Which is saying something, considering the other album (“A Legacy of Rentals”) made my Top 10 list of 2022.

Ratings: 4 stars

Somewhere in between the troubadour taletelling of a country singer and the artsy phrasing of a spoken word performer likes the artistry of Craig Finn. The two genres aren’t as far apart as they may appear – you can catch both in a dive bar, both tell stories about characters that are down on their luck, and the main difference is the prevalence of guitar vs. piano, and whether people applaud of snap their fingers between numbers.

Finn walks this thin and dusty line, subsumed into his characters in a way that would rival a method actor. Listening to “Always Been” is to experience Finn disappearing into his stories so completely that you’ll feel like you’re in a virtual reality game (minus the sports and gunfights).

Finn has a warbling and angst-ridden tone that tells you something is being pinched when he sings – usually the conscience or emotional wellbeing of his characters.

Or for most of “Always Been” a single character, and facets and moments from his life. There is a bit of exploration of other folks but for the most part this record is a loose concept album about one man’s emotionally complex life. Finn lets you figure it out for yourself through specific images and moments, rather than a biography, so you have to piece things together.

Near as I can tell our fella is a fallen priest who struggles with his emotions, some PTSD and drugs. Somewhere near the end he gets born again, cleaned up, and watches others not as fortunate in navigating the dark night of the soul end of lost or dead.

You feel the wounds of our ordinary hero in real time. Wince alongside him at his wounds - some self-inflicted, some just the wear of moving through a harsh world – and emerge from the other end, glad to have survived and maybe a little sadder and wiser.

Along the way you will be treated to the mastery of the written and spoken word that is Craig Finn. Finn is a born poet, and he crafts lyrics that transport you with precise imagery and emotional precision, without ever feeling unnecessarily clever. Finn reminds us that there is another level to songwriting. Townes found it, Dylan found it, and Finn deserves his place in that same conversation.

Sometimes it is a small selection of lines that grab you, like these from “Bethany”:

“Drifted through the rituals
Prideful high and pitiful
Pissing off a petty vengeful god.”

Other times, it is the storyline of our character that draws us, as in “The Man I’ve Always Been”:

“There’s men that want to lead you into battle
There’s men that want to hold you down in bed
When I finally left Seattle
I was haunted by the needle
That city always held above my head”

That internal assonance, and delayed rhyme scheme is vintage Craig Finn, and you’ll get a lot of it on this record and, frankly, all his others. It lends itself to narrative tension and gut-punch lines at the end of each stanza.

There will be a lot of this, and a lot to pay attention to, but the payoff is worth the effort. You don’t read Nabokov just for the story, you read Nabokov to soak in the mastery of language, and that’s the same when listening to Craig Finn. If you don’t want to do that – if you prefer a “good banger” where what the singer is going on about is secondary to the melody – then you will not like this album as much as I do. You have been warned.

For me, however, this stuff is pure gold. I listened to “Always Been” a good four times in a row this week, and the stories just got more and more compelling with each iteration. Will this be good enough to land on 2025’s top 10? Too soon to tell, but it’s a contender.

Best tracks: Bethany, Crumbs, The Man I’ve Always Been, A Man Needs a Vocation, I Walk With a Cane, Clayton