CD Odyssey Disc 1835: Warren Zevon

It was my first day back at work in 11 days, so maybe it’s appropriate I start the week off with an album cover full of men with suits.

Disc 1835 is…The Envoy

Artist: Warren Zevon

Year of Release: 1982

What’s up with the Cover? We must assume this is a depiction of the titular “envoy” off to do some international diplomacy on that waiting jet.

In addition to Mr. Zevon playing the title role, we have a whole lot of other dudes milling around in blue and black, feeling their own importance.

The dude to the left has a briefcase. Remember in the days before laptops when we walked around with briefcases full of important papers? Forgot to bring something important for that critical international summit? I’m afraid you’re officially S.O.L., my friend. Maybe ‘envoying’ isn’t for you.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Randall put me on to Warren Zevon, but by the time I was buying up obscure albums liked “The Envoy” I was already well into my own personal journey through the back catalogue.

How It Stacks Up: I have 10 Warren Zevon albums. Of those, I put “The Envoy” at #5, narrowly edging out “Sentimental Hygiene”.

Ratings: 4 stars

I once did a presentation at university on Robert Frost’s political poetry. If you don’t know Robert Frost’s political poetry, it is because it is not his best work, nor his most memorable. He wrote a fair bit of it, but he did it for himself.

Like Frost, Warren Zevon sang about whatever he wanted, in whatever style that appealed in the moment. Also like Frost, Zevon is a gifted, brash and brilliant writer whose legacy has been more than proved with the passage of time.

Did someone say political poetry? Zevon has you covered. The title track is not a metaphor for someone engaging in diplomacy, it’s a literal song about an envoy. Zevon demonstrates the dread import of foreign affairs with music that feels like the theme song to an international thriller, only cooler. It helps if you are a news junky, but either way it’s nice to have a song celebrating the heretofore unsung heroes engaging in the complex and unforgiving world of international politics.

Zevon goes from the slow majestic build of “the Envoy” with “The Overdraft” which has the reckless fast pace of a driving song, spilling you around corners with fast breaking electric guitar, and Zevon’s ever-present breathy baritone delivery.

From here, Zevon lightens up a bit, with “The Hula Hula Boys” a tongue-in-cheek ballad about a man who loses his girl to some local Hawaiian lads. The song has the laid-back luau sound of Hawaii mixed artfully with Zevon’s signature rising melodies. It is majestic, but farcical, and proof that Zevon is equally good at gravitas and humour, applying them simultaneously when the need arises.

Not content with trying on two styles, Zevon adds in an original Doo Wop number, with “Let Nothing Come Between You”. This one felt so aligned with that late fifties sound (recently reviewed back at Disc 1823) I was sure it was a cover, but turns out it was a Zevon original.

My favourite song on the record is “Never Too Late for Love,” mostly for its majestic melodic structure, and the heroic refrain of:

“You say you’re tired
How I hate to hear you use that word.”

Zevon’s vocals in that moment lift you up with sheer force of will, and maybe a little chastisement as well – like he knows you can do it. The first half of the song is all heavily struck piano, filling you with the reverberations of hope, and then later electric guitar crashes in, perfectly mirroring the spiritual lift Zevon exhorts out of his listener. This song finds hope among the wallow, and yet never feels trite or forced. Great stuff.

“The Envoy” is a fine example of Warren being brilliant in a way few appreciated. This record had zero hits, and only one song that even charted (“Let Nothing Come Between You” managed a modest #24). And yet, the strange and marvelous genius of “The Envoy” endures, because just like a Warren Zevon melodic hook, good things rise up, inexorable, to inspire us when we need them most.

Best tracks: The Envoy, The Hula Hula Boys, Let Nothing Come Between You, Never Too Late for Love

CD Odyssey Disc 1834: Paul Cauthen

I am not a fan of the EP. I can forgive a single (hey, we all gotta pay the bills) but if you don’t have enough material for a record, keep touring and write more material. I’ll see you when you’re got north of eight songs and 30 minutes.

Despite my bias, I do sometimes succumb to an EP, but usually only years after, when I’m confident the artist isn’t going to just release the same songs, plus five more to make up their next LP. I’m looking at you, Miya Folick and the Beaches. Love you both but…er…stop that.

Disc 1834 is…Have Mercy EP

Artist: Paul Cauthen

Year of Release: 2018

What’s up with the Cover? A visual re-creation of the concert experience, by which I mean the angle to see the artists can be awkward, and any photos you take are likely to end up a little blurry.

But you don’t go to a live show for glamour shots, you go for the music. Not coincidentally, that’s why we’re here as well.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Ross introduced me to Paul Cauthen. This particular album was an impulse buy when I was looking for something else under miscellaneous “C” in the country section of my local record store.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Paul Cauthen albums, if you decide to count this EP (which I will do). One of them has to finish third and this is it.

Ratings: 3 stars

Groove country? Lounge western? That is the best approximation I can muster for what to expect from a Paul Cauthen album. Cauthen is clearly country music but there is something a little extra embedded in his sound that gets into your spine a few vertebrae below where “mosey” typically resides. Imagine Waylon Jennings crossed with Studio 54 and you’ve got an approximation.

The Waylon Jennings comparison runs deeper than just the seventies country swagger (although there is plenty of that). Like Jennings, Cauthen is blessed with a sexy baritone warble that makes everything he says seem that much more meaningful. You know that very cool, vaguely dangerous dude who sits in the corner of the pub. He speaks sparingly, but when he does it’s something incredibly wise or, if not wise then at least memorable.

That’s Cauthen, except when that guy with a couple of bourbons in him and is sharing all kids of wise and/or memorable stuff and maybe dancing a bit when the jukebox plays something with a bit of jump.

A lot of country music has an amble to it, but Cauthen rides his music at a mid-tempo gallop. It all sounds country except sitting up in the middle of the beat it strays into lounge territory. Tom Jones if Tom Jones had deeper thoughts.

Although this is Cauthen’s second album as a solo artists (and his seventh if you count his previous work in the band “Sons of Fathers”) there are elements that felt a bit unformed to me. The sound I’ve described above is all there, but the songwriting doesn’t have the same immediacy of purpose as the albums that follow (2019’s “Room 41” and 2022’s “Country Coming Down”). This is Cauthen as a highball: tasty but a bit watered down in places.

The album’s best song is the opener. “Everybody Walkin’ This Land” is what would become Cauthen’s signature sound on later records, as he runs through a litany of different kinds of folks (some good, some bad) but all of who are forced to share the land together. The best I could take from it was Cauthen’s philosophy of “we’re stuck with the jackasses as well”, and while we don’t accept their behaviour, we can invite them to change for the better and see how it goes.

All the songs have some degree of the frenetic energy of “Everybody Walkin’…” but not all of them pull it off with the same aplomb. Think about that guy at the club who has had one too many and is cutting it up on the dance floor. 75% of his moves are expressions of wanton brilliance, but 25% are him losing his balance and bumping into your table and spilling your drink.

Overall, this record feels slightly undercooked (most EPs do), but all the brilliance that makes me a Paul Cauthen fan are there, and the good easily outweighs the bad. Hopefully that’s the case for everybody walkin’ this land as well. I suppose it depends on the day.

Best tracks: Everybody Walkin’ This Land, Resignation, Cadillac

CD Odyssey Disc 1833: Prince

Greetings, readers! I am in the middle of a week of vacation, which is why you are getting this review a bit earlier on a Wednesday than you ordinarily might.

Disc 1833 is…Self-Titled

Artist: Prince

Year of Release: 1979

What’s up with the Cover? Prince shows us how to make a stock ‘head and shoulders’ shot into something sexy. What makes it sexy? The porn-star moustache? The lack of a shirt? The tantalizingly almost-visible right nipple?

Yes, all these things, and one thing more: Prince knows he is sexy. And when he stares at you with those big, beautiful eyes, you know that he knows.

How I Came To Know It: Over the last few years I’ve been slowly exploring Prince’s back catalogue. I found this one in the used section of my local record store, after some very foolish person decided to part with it.

How It Stacks Up: I have nine Prince albums in the collection (up from four in 2011 and seven in 2020). I highly doubt I’m done. However, I rank against what I have in the moment, so today I’ll put this record in at…#3.

Ratings: 4 stars

In 2006 Justin Timberlake proposed to bring sexy back, but in 1979 Prince wasn’t interested in such temporal niceties. His self-titled sophomore effort is suffused with sexy in a way that transcends space and time. Sexy is Everywhere, All at Once, All the Time. If you are ready to slide into that reality, then you are ready for this record.

Marvin Gaye wishes he could have this kind of staying power on a theme. That is not to say this record is without variety – it is just to say that all that variety exists in the context of sexy times.

Sometimes, Prince drops fast-moving funky grooves. Let’s call this ‘vertical sexy’, the kind of sexy you experience on the dance floor. Maybe you are dancing with a partner and reveling in the mirroring and call-and-answer crazy when you’ve got a groove going, and so does your partner (or partners – the dance floor being a wondrous and chaotic place). You’re showing off your moves, you’re checking out other people’s moves. The vibe is fan-fucking-tastic. Know the feeling? Well, Prince has the music you need.

Let’s start with “I Wanna Be Your Lover” which is one of the funkiest dance tunes ever written. You will dance until you split your pants grooving to this song, but you will be so in the throes of the music you won’t notice until later. Do not worry; it is dark in the club.

Do you love the opening riff of Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration”? Then you’ll also like the opening of “I Wanna Be Your Lover” which came out a year earlier and very much ‘inspired’ (and I’m being kind here) Kool’s “Celebration”. “I Wanna Be Your Lover” eschews the more mainstream celebration vibe, however and goes deep into the twisty Tunnels of Undiscovered Groove. Funky drum? Yes! Synthesizer wonderment? Yes! The funkiest guitar that ever funked up Funktown? Hell yes!

Prince follows this song up with “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” a song that shows the proto-eighties funk sound that Prince would later make famous three years later on “1999”. He’s already working it here – there’s just less people noticing at this time.

Rounding out the top three “vertical” tunes that start the record is “Sexy Dancer”. If the previous two songs were not funky enough for you, Prince has a balm for you, and that balm is a bomb - “Sexy Dancer” If some of the funkiest bass and guitar riff action on this song is not enough to get the juices flowing, don’t worry, Prince has added some sexy panting. Yes, panting – and not the split in the bottom kind I mentioned earlier although…related.

The record also features many slower songs like “When We’re Dancing Close and Slow”, “With You” and “It’s Gonna Be Lonely” that I would call ‘horizontal sexy’. I hope I don’t have to explain why, but if I do then you should ask your parents instead. This column provides music advice only. This stuff is Prince at his most…romantic. Not sure that’s the word. How about…intimate? It shows off his delightful high head voice and also that he knows how to play a more nuanced and gentle guitar style when the occasion calls for it.

Speaking of guitar, it is worth pointing out that even at this early stage of his career, Prince is already showcasing his virtuosity on the instrument. The soft and sensitive tones of “With You” and the raunchy rock power featured on “Bambi” are played with equal and amazing skill. Prince is so compositionally brilliant and musically innovative that it is easy to forget what a talent he was on guitar.

Near the end of the record Prince gives us “I Feel For You”, made famous by Chaka Khan many years later, Prince delivers the original (yes, he wrote it) almost as an afterthought.

This record is a hidden gem and only hidden because of the sheer volume of awesome things Prince did in the years that followed. Do yourself a favour and go back to the beginning. You’ll be glad you did.

Best tracks: I Wanna Be Your Lover, Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?, Sexy Dancer, Bambi, It’s Gonna Be Lonely

CD Odyssey Disc 1832: Patterson Hood

It took a while, but at last we have my first review of an album released in 2025. This was going to happen at some point, as I’ve purchased 23 albums released this year already, and I’ve got a further 25 on my wish list. More will come – this is the nature of my affliction.

Disc 1832 is…Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams

Artist: Patterson Hood

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? Sometimes a cover is a burly handsome man in a ruffled shirt (see previous Tom Jones entry). Sometimes it is a lovely pastoral scene. Sometimes it is…this. Art is not always styled for comfort, readers.

With that bit of philosophy out of the way, let’s explore the wonders of this artfully crafted murder scene. The actual title of this Frances Thrasher painting is “Headache”. That’s pretty self-explanatory but if I were naming it, I’d call it “Gogo Yubari wins the fight” and it’s what would’ve happened to the Bride in Kill Bill if she hadn’t fortuitously found a board with a nail in it.

How I Came To Know It: I’m a long-time fan of the Drive-By Truckers, and one of the principal members of that band is Mr. Patterson Hood. As a result when he released a solo album, I decided to give it a try.

How It Stacks Up: Hood has done a few solo albums over the years, but this is the only one I have, so I can’t stack it up. Maybe I’ll get more in the future.

Ratings: 3 stars

Some voices just lend themselves to storytelling, and Patterson Hood is blessed with just such a voice. Some storyteller vocals are gravelly baritones – think Johnny Cash or John Moreland – but Hood’s talent comes in a high quaver, and poetic phrasing. He reminded me strongly of Hold Steady lead singer Craig Finn’s solo work. Like Finn, Hood has a formula as well and so the songs all sound similar in their construction. Since they all sound good, you don’t mind so much.

“Exploding Trees & Airplane Schemes” is a tight little collection of ten stories, largely based on characters and experiences from Hood’s early life. While this information (gleaned from Hood’s own words in the liner notes) tells you the characters are primarily founded in real experience, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that Hood knows how to ensure there is internal truth to each narrative, and to give these characters their due in a way that brings them to life for the listener.

If you’re already familiar with Hood’s songs in the Drive-By Truckers, then these songs will sound very similar. Melodic and rhythmic structures are the same, with songs that lilt along before they alight at the end of every stanza like a songbird on a slender branch, delicate and beautiful. You don’t have to love paying attention to a song’s lyrics to enjoy a record like this, but it helps. A lot.

The best song on the record is “A Werewolf and a Girl”, a duet with Lydia Loveless. Longtime readers will know I’m a big fan of Lydia Loveless’ solo work (three reviews so far, and more to come) and her work here with Hood reinforced how much I like her. The song is about Hood’s first girlfriend and does a pretty incredible job of describing the awkward vulnerability of young love.

Loveless is at her finest here, with her rich and scratchy tone juxtaposing nicely against the airy uncertainty of Hood’s verses. For two middle aged musicians, they do a bang up job of recalling the ardour of youth.

Also powerful was “Miss Coldiron’s Oldsmobile” the song of an old recluse with mental health issues. You get the impression that Miss Coldiron is both blessed with those willing to help her, and others just as willing to take advantage of her. Under Hood’s exceptional guidance you get a strong sense of just who she is, inside and out, and willing to root for her not despite her complex mix of light and dark, but because of it.

The record ends with “Pinocchio”, an exploration of life and experience through the prism of the story of the same name. It’s a pretty song that’ll have you thinking hard about its ultimate premise, delivered succinctly in the song’s last line: “Deep inside of every man is a real live boy.”

I did not love all the decisions Hood makes with the arrangement and production, although most of my criticism on this front is both light (didn’t bother me that much) and well-worn (my long-standing bias towards a light touch on production – add too many bells and whistles, and you’ll often lose me).

Also, there is a gap in quality between the album’s best songs – the ones I’ve noted above – and a lot of others that have great turns of phrase, but not always delivering the full-frontal emotional assault I expect from Patterson Hood when he’s at his best.

Overall, not a great record, but a good record, and more enjoyable on multiple listens, which is always a good sign.

Best tracks: A Werewolf and a Girl, Miss Coldiron’s Oldsmobile, Pinocchio

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