CD Odyssey Disc 268: Florence and the Machine

I've rolled a fair bit of music lately that I've only recently become aware of. First it was The Dead Weather's "Horehound" at Disc 263 and now this next album.

Disc 268 is...Between Two Lungs
Artist: Florence and the Machine

Year of Release: 2010

What’s Up With The Cover?: I like this cover. An arty portrait of Florence herself. This is the kind of album I'd like to see on folk albums, rather than the stilted personal photos they tend to choose. I think it would be fair to say that Florence Welch is oddly beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of Sheila's purchases, so I claim no knowledge of this band until Sheila bought it. She had heard good things and really liked the single, "Dog Days Are Over".

How It Stacks Up: This is the only Florence and the Machine album we own, and I believe it is their debut, so there aren't any other ones to get at present. Consequently, it doesn't really stack up.

Rating: 3 stars.

In the teaser I mentioned having recently reviewed the "Dead Weather". In that band, Alison Mossheart shows what Jack White might sound like if he were a woman.

Florence Welch sounds like what Jack White would sound like if he were a woman who preferred indie-pop music over blues rock. Admittedly, my rock predilection found me liking the result less than The Dead Weather, but hey - that's just personal taste

That said, "Between Two Lungs" has a lot going for it, and was easy to enjoy over the past few days in my car. Florence has an amazing and very distinct voice - it is sort of a cross between Michelle Shocked, Amber Webber from "Black Mountain" and maybe a dash of Amy Winehouse if she was singing disco at the time. Whatever the exact mixture, it is hard to miss, and mostly enjoyable (although on rare occasions a little shrieky).

The smash hit "Dog Days Are Over" is a catchy song, that has not yet been ruined by overplay (or if it has, I wouldn't know, since I spend most of my life in a music radio blackout). Less pleasant is "You've Got the Love", which I assume is a hit because I keep seeing Florence sing it on music award shows. This song is a syrupy pop-song dressed up in indie production. I think this band is generally better than that. When it is combined into a hip hop song with "You've Got the Dirtee Love" it is even worse (and misspelled - maybe deliberately, but that doesn't make it right).

There are more than a few catchy songs, but the one that really drew me in was "Hurricane Drunk" which is a song about drowning your sorrows in a lot (underscore - a lot) of liquor. It sounds even better acoustically as it appears on Disc 2 (more on the negatives to that in a moment). I also like the catch phrase, "Hurricane Drunk" and I think I'll try to adopt it into regular speech. As in, "do you wanna go on a hurricane drunk?"

I have a number of quibbles about this album; all of them minor, but they do add up and keep this record firmly in the 3/5 camp.

First, once again we have an artist that insists on releasing a double album set where a single album would do. Worse, the second album only has one original song ("Heavy In Your Arms") and then is a bunch of remixes, live tracks and acoustic recordings. As I noted above, "Hurricane Drunk" is better as an acoustic song, but that should have been a decision made in the studio to choose just one.

In fact, between remixes, and live tracks, "Dog Days Are Over" appears three times. Who do these guys think they are - Budgie? Call me old fashioned, but I think you should have a few records under your belt before you think you're ready for the live 'here's a shoebox of our old rarities' release.

Second, the band refers to itself as "Florence + The Machine" something I will not deign to do, as "+" is a mathematical symbol, not a word. The more tasteful, and linguistically correct "and" is preferable or if you must make me shudder, at least keep it to the relatively restrained use of an ampersand. I don't like it either, but at least it has some common usage in titles.

The liner notes also irked me, full of pretentious diary-like entries (presumably by Welch) about what inspired each song. I'm more of a modernist at heart, and prefer to take the song on its own terms, rather than having it artistically framed for me. If you prefer the latter, you might like the liner notes more than me, and fair enough - go say so on your own blog.

Lastly, the production of this record is sometimes good (such as on "Dog Days Are Over") but doesn't consistently impress. Mostly it suffers from being excessively busy - a pretty common malady in music released in the last eight years or so.

OK, now that I've said all those nitpicky things, I'll end by saying that overall "Between Two Lungs" is a strong record, and worth more than just a casual listen. Welch's voice is a gift to the world, and it is a pleasure to hear her hit those high notes with such clarity and power. The musicianship is tight, and the songwriting is, for the most part, thoughtful. This is one of those records I might not pull off the shelf a lot, but I'll be happy every time Sheila does.

Best tracks: Dog Days Are Over, Howl, Drumming Song, My Boy Builds Coffins, Hurricane Drunk (the last two are preferable acoustically for me, but both versions included are good).

CD Odyssey Disc 267: Cowboy Junkies

This next album is one of those ones that is critically excellent, but didn't truly resonate with me emotionally until I had it out of the car and on to headphones as I wrote this review.

Disc 267 is...Pale Sun, Crescent Moon

Artist: Cowboy Junkies

Year of Release: 1993

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is an apple hanging on a piece of twine. I've never really liked this cover - it is hard to read the text behind it with my colour deficient vision. The back of the album has the song titles written in a clear font that makes them almost impossible to read. Just list the tracks next time, Junkies - and as for the cover - just the apple would've been fine, without all the text cluttering up the place. Each to his own, I suppose...

How I Came To Know It: I loved 1990's "The Caution Horses" (reviewed back at Disc 155) and so I bought this record, thinking it was their next release. As it happens, when looking it up, I discovered an album in between - 1992's "Black Eyed Man" which has a song written for the band by Townes Van Zandt and a cover of Van Zandt's masterpiece "To Live Is To Fly". Looks like there is a CD purchase in my future...

How It Stacks Up: I have four Cowboy Junkies albums. This one is pretty good, but can't beat out "The Caution Horses" so I''m going to put it tied for second.

Rating: 4 stars, but I meant to give it 3 (see below).

As alluded to in the introduction, "Pale Sun, Crescent Moon" is an album that I have a strange relationship with.

From a pure songwriting perspective, I think it is the strongest of the Cowboy Junkies albums I own - particularly the powerhouse first four tracks, "Crescent Moon", "First Recollection", "Ring On the Sill" and "The Anniversary Song".

The latter of this foursome was a radio hit in its day, but I don't hold that against it. It is a song about how much more enjoyable the world is when you have someone to share its beauty with. Naturally, it always makes me think of my wife, Sheila, who not only keeps me going when I think my tank is empty, but helps me make sure I take in the rich details of the passing landscape along the way.

The album has a lot of great songs about relationships, and while a bit schmaltzy, I hope you'll forgive me for indulging in "The Anniversary Song." Besides, there are plenty of darker, more complicated love songs including the aforementioned "Ring On The Sill" and "Cold Tea Blues" lest you think the Cowboy Junkies have inexplicably lightened up.

The album also branches out into more varied storytelling, character studies of a rural and frozen north that perfectly suit Margo Timmins Cirrus-thin voice. So high, so insubstantial, and always floating above the musical arrangements without overpowering them in the mix. It is a voice for lonely contemplation, where the songs pose complicated questions, and leave you no answers other than the wind blowing back at you.

My one quibble would be with the production. At this juncture, the Junkies are exploring a more alt-rock sound, and their production has progressively become more complicated. These songs are some of their best stuff, and I can't help but wonder what a song like "The Post" would sound like with a more traditional rock arrangement, or whether "Ring on The Sill" would sound better with a few less layers of sound.

To which the Junkies might retort, "we recorded them the way we wanted them" or, to quote "Cold Tea Blues":

"But if I measure the sugar
to satisfy your expectant tongue
Then that is love,
Sitting untouched and growing cold."

Well played, Margo. And chastened by the power of this imagined musical argument, I will give this record 4 stars, even though I planned up to this very sentence to give it 3. It stole very quietly into my soul, but I must admit it got there - and on its own terms, no less.

Best tracks: Crescent Moon, Ring On the Sill, The Anniversary Song, The Post, Cold Tea Blues

CD Odyssey Disc 266: ELO

This latest album was in my car for three days, which turned out to be three days too many. So it goes...

Disc 266 is...Out of the Blue

Artist: Electric Light Orchestra

Year of Release: 1977

What’s Up With The Cover?: This album brought to you by the makers of "Simon". This is the second use of the game of "Simon" by ELO, as it was also featured on their "Discovery" album (reviewed back at Disc 134).

Seriously, does the spaceship have to repeat the pattern of blinking lights before the docking bay opens? As over the top as this album cover is, it pales in comparison to the inside of what was once likely the double record fold-out. Check out this groovy shot, which looks like a screen shot from "Masters of Orion II". If this were a screen shot from MOO II, I would be colonizing the planet on the left over the one on the right. But I digress...

How I Came To Know It: I believe I bought this album for Sheila, thinking she'd like another ELO album. Sheila loves music like I do, but isn't quite so...er...fervent...in her desire to own all the albums of bands she likes. Consequently, this record receives very little airplay.

How It Stacks Up: We have three ELO albums, so this is will be my final review of them (unless I buy more, which I don't see happening). Of the three we have, this is far and away the worst.

Rating: 2 stars

I've waxed poetic on previous ELO albums about how they may be seventies synth pop, but they surprise me with how good they are. I usually enjoy Jeff Lynne's production, and the songs are both catchy and well written.

Well, there is always room for an exception to the rule, and "Out of the Blue" is it. This album truly annoyed me. All the seventies pop sensibilities are there as before, but what is missing is anything deeper. Apart from finding a hint of cowbell on "Night in the City" very little stood out on this record.

If anything, it sounds like a bad Beatles album, or empty doo-wop from the sixties, with a synth modulating the vocals every now and again. I don't like the Beatles all that much, but at least they're - you know - the Beatles. Jeff Lynne may be a gifted producer, but the Beatles he is not.

Later ELO albums find their own niche. 1979's "Discovery" works in a disco sound, that when combined with the doo-wop and synth gives ELO a very unique and listenable sound. "Discovery" also benefits from superior songwriting.

1981's "Time" is an ambitious concept album that successfully delivers its own unique sound.

By comparison to these, "Out of the Blue" sounds painfully generic. I felt like I might as well have been back in the seventies, listening to AM radio. AM radio was not good in the seventies, nor has it aged well. These songs are sleepy, and indistinct, and even the 'hits' ("Turn to Stone" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman" aren't particularly interesting.

Worst of all, as you'll note the cover of the disc advertises this is a "2 - Record Set on 1 Compact Disc". O, the joy. Just what I needed, twice as much of this forgettable top forty schlock.

The worst sin "Out of the Blue" committed was making me see the other two ELO albums in a different, lesser light. This is too bad, because these guys are capable of making some good stuff, but this one didn't do it for me. I'm only keeping it because Sheila likes a couple of the hits and pleaded for clemency.

Because I've heard worse, and some of the songs are serviceable if you aren't paying close attention, I am going to give this record a bare 2 stars, and then I'm going to get back out in the Maelstrom and hope for something better at the next port of call.

Best tracks: umm...I'll go with "Summer and Lightning"

CD Odyssey Disc 265: Tchaikovsky

It is a constant struggle right now to find time to blog (my book writing time is completely out the window - but I am driven ever onward by my desire for new music in the car.

Here we return to that rarest of islands in the CD Odyssey's archipelago - classical.

Disc 265 is...Tchaikovsky Box Set Disc 3 (of 5)
Artist: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Year of Release: Music from 1840-1893

What’s Up With The Cover?: The last two times I wrote about Tchaikovsky I eschewed the cover for a handsome portrait of the fellow (see my last review of him back at Disc 132 to take a look). This time you get the album cover which also has a small portrait of him featured. This cover is boring and utilitarian but it as a nice clean look to it that says, "I am a man of learning, sir!" Or something like that. I guess I like it well enough.

How I Came To Know It: As I've noted in previous reviews on this box set, I got into Tchaikovsky back in University, and he remains a favourite composer in a genre I explore very little.

How It Stacks Up: I only have this 5 CD Tchaikovsky box set, although it covers a lot of music (about 400 minutes or so). This one I liked less than the first two volumes, but it wasn't bad.

Rating: 4 stars.

I don't have much to add about Tchaikovsky - I love his bombast and how he weaves an intricate melody throughout that bombast, but I won't pretend to be wiser than I am in the workings of classical music.

In fact, I recently watched a PBS show that dissected exactly how Beethoven's 5th symphony worked, including why it is pleasing to the ear. The show was a full hour, and only covered the first of four movements (to get the other three you had to order the DVD of course).

I found the show fascinating, and it has added a whole other depth of understanding to classical music construction. Mostly, though, it has just shown me just how little I know.

This is fine though - the number one rule of music is to know what you like, and approach it with an open heart. OK, that's two rules, but you get the idea.

This album features three smaller pieces of music, "None But the Lonely Heart", "Marche slave Op. 31" and the fantasy overture "Romeo and Juliet", and one complete symphony, "No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74."

Still awake? OK - because there are some gems in that list of uninspiring song titles, chief among them "Marche slave" which is one of those pieces that is so ultra-famous the moment you hear it you'll remember having heard it a thousand times.

It is a song that conjures up danger and majestic action sequences, and I'm sure it has been used as such in many a film. It is what Howard Shore wishes he could write if he weren't busy converting his theme music from "Gangs of New York" for use on "Lord of the Rings" (listen to them both and tell me I'm wrong).

Anyway, much as I enjoy Howard Shore scores, there's a reason we are still listening to Tchaikovsky over a hundred years after his death, and "Marche slave" will remind you exactly why if you give it 9:34 of your undivided attention.

The other gem on this record is the "Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture". This song ranges from tender and sweet, to tragic and dangerous and does so with a pacing so perfect, you don't notice unless you're sitting there looking for it (which would make for a great part of a future PBS special).

My favourite memory of this piece is through a former Shakespeare prof I had. He was passionate for Shakespeare as seen through the lens of a series of psychological character studies. His lectures infuriated some, but I found the passion he brought to the classroom both fascinating and inspiring.

One day he was in full throat about Shakespeare's amazing ability to capture emotion, how it could never be equalled or interpreted when he stopped and interjected to himself - 'except Tchaikovsky's interpretation of Romeo and Juliet of course." He then proceeded to wax poetic about this piece of music for a while with the same zeal he would usually use to detract from any latter day interpretation of said play. It was awesome, and if I've botched the actual memory of the lesson, I certainly remember his passion for this piece of music. I'm also sure it influenced my decision to buy this boxed set.

The disappointment on this particular disc is "Symphony No. 6". It is competent enough, but there are large stretches where it loses me. In previous reviews I am sure you will remember me singing the praises of "Serenade in C Major", "Symphony No. 4 in F Minor" and to a lesser degree, "Symphony No. 5 in E Minor" (who could forget those salient moments in the CD Odyssey!) "Symphony No. 6" just didn't hit me the same way. I can't say why, but it just wasn't the same emotional impact of previous Tchaikovsky symphonies.

Nevertheless, this has been an enjoyable couple of days returning to Tchaikovsky's music, and renewing my acquaintance with his greatness.

Best tracks: Marche slave, Romeo and Juliet

CD Odyssey Disc 264: Alice Cooper

The last two reviews on the CD Odyssey have served as a good reminder to never prejudge an album before giving it a good listen. In the last review I underestimated The Dead Weather. This next record is an album I often cite as one of Alice's worst, but I was again pleasantly proved wrong.

Disc 264 is...Flush the Fashion

Artist: Alice Cooper

Year of Release: 1980

What’s Up With The Cover?: This cover is very informative, but it looks like it was designed by a drunk with a crayon. Given Alice's sobriety level at the time, this makes a lot of sense. For further evidence, here's the photo from the back of the CD case which is a pretty effective advertisement about the dangers of alcohol:

Yikes.

How I Came To Know It: This was a later Alice Cooper purchase for me. At this point in my relationship with Cooper's music I buy whatever he's done.

How It Stacks Up: I have 25 Alice Cooper albums (if only there were more). This one stacks up surprisingly well - I'd say around 17th or 18th. Not bad for an album I had pegged for 24th.

Rating: 3 stars.

As I've alluded to above, when I put this record in my car, I was expecting the worst. Even as an avowed Alice Cooper devotee, "Flush The Fashion" had never appealed to me. I typically cite it as one step above perennial bottom-feeder "Special Forces".

As fate would have it, it would get quite a few listens before I could review it. I'm so busy right now finding blog entry time is a challenge. The album is very short as well, clocking in at only 28:40. This gave me four complete listens without distraction.

The result was that I was able to get past my bias and immerse myself in the music. Truth be told, I was past my bias after the first listen, and at each repitition I expected it to return - that all the exposure would remind me how bad this record was. It never happened.

"Flush the Fashion" has Cooper stretching artistically into different genres. Parts of this record reminded me of the more edgy elements of The Clash, but you couldn't remotely call it punk or ska. Then, fate intervened - when looking up a quick fact on the record I see it is considered a New Wave album.

I don't think this is strictly true - Cooper's rock sound is still present, and his subject matter is as grotesque as ever. More accurately it would be "Alice Cooper interprets New Wave".

I don't know squat about New Wave, but I know Alice Cooper, and given how messed up he was while making the record (take another look at the photo above), it is a minor miracle it turned out as good as it did.

The standout here is a remaked of "Clones (We're All)" which made the rounds in a minor way through the disco clubs of its time. I wish I could get someone to play it at clubs now, but it seems unlikely. While most of the songs have some involvement of Cooper writing, he is collaborating a lot with other artists - likely he needed the help given his alcoholism.

Notably missing is Bob Ezrin's production, which would have made this album so much better. Instead, it is produced by the also famous Roy Thomas Baker, who did a fine job on most of Queen's early records. Talented as he is, RTB's style doesn't suit Cooper as well, and the effect comes off a little bit tinny. Or maybe that's just the New Wave vibe again (I wouldn't know).

The biggest problem with "Flush the Fashion" are the lyrics. They range from passable to atrocious. The subjects are interesting, with Cooper delving into the usual run of nasty psychological studies (the sadistic cop in "Leather Boots", drugged-out parents in "Dance Yourself to Death" and our obsession with being famous in "Headlines").

Unfortunately the lyrics are uneven, and at times even downright jarring, and the music is not good enough to carry the day on its own. "Pain" shows both the good and the bad. The song is a list of things we associate with pain. First the good:

"And I'm the compound fracture

In the twisted car

And I'm the lines on the face

Of the tramp at the bar

And I'm the reds by the bed

Of the suicide star."

And now the bad:

"I'm the holes in your arm

When you're feelin' the shakes

I'm the lump on your head

When you step on the rake."

Seriously - 'when you step on the rake'? This is marginally funny to see, but not worthy of a song lyric.

Taken all together, "Flush the Fashion" flashes Cooper's brilliance, but it is hampered by songwriting that is hurried and incomplete. This one is for die-hard Cooper fans only. Fortunately, I am just that - so I gave this album a barely qualifying 3 stars.

Best tracks: Clones (We're All), Pain, Headlines

CD Odyssey Disc 263: The Dead Weather

Well I've had an exceptionally stressful day, and it isn't even over yet.

What was not stressful was having this next album in the car the last two days It even had something in common with my previously reviewed Loreena McKennitt album - that one featured a harp made out of someone's bones - in this record they build a whole house out of bones.

Disc 263 is...Horehound

Artist: The Dead Weather

Year of Release: 2009

What’s Up With The Cover?: I believe this is a photo of singer Alison Mosshart looking mysterious in some kind of darkened briar patch. It is a very dark and evocative cover, that suits the music well. I approve!

How I Came To Know It: This band was recommended to me by our friends Sherylyn and Joel as another successful Jack White spinoff. Well done, Sherylyn and Joel.

How It Stacks Up: The Dead Weather only have two albums, and I only have this one. I like this one, and will likely pick up their 2010 release, "Sea of Cowards" at some point down the road.

Rating: 4 stars.

The Dead Weather is one of those supergroups composed of various band members from other successful projects. This has been a fairly common phenomenon in the last few years, and it can turn out very well (like "Them Crooked Vultures") or come off overblown and busy (like "Queens of the Stone Age"). Since The Dead Weather actually features a guy from Queens of the Stone Age, I was a little trepidatious.

Turns out, I had no reason to be. This is a rock record made by people who know what they're doing, and if it is a little overblown, that only adds to its charm. The music is principally a combination of Jack White's riff-driven guitar sound that he did so successfully with the White Stripes and Raconteurs, and Alison Mosshart's lascivious bluesy voice. It is a match made in heaven - making me wonder what took so long?

Apparently Mosshart was in some other band called "The Kills" which I may just have to check out. I love digging backward through musical history (I dig forward naturally just by staying alive year after year).

While I wouldn't call this record a 5 star masterpiece, there aren't any duds, and there are more than a few gems. I particularly like "Hang You From the Heavens" and "Treat Me Like Your Mother" both of which capture the tortured relationships so common to blues music, and then turn the volume to 11.

In particular, "Treat Me Like Your Mother" cranks it up another notch for the twenty-first century. The song focuses around a woman scolding her man for coming home late, with bad excuses on his lips. As the protagonists sings:

C'mon look me in the eye

You want to try to tell a lie?

I bet you can't an dyou know why?

I'm just like your mother.

The song takes the Oedipal complex to a whole other level. I imagine this Oedipus as a drunken lout coming home to a veritable harridan in a dirty shift and a foul temper - as ready to slap him happy as talk to him.

There aren't any kings involved, and no one gets their eyes stabbed out (at least not in the part of the narrative covered by the song) but the song is just as tragic. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus treats his mother as his wife. In "Treat Me Like Your Mother" the character marries a woman who acts like his mother. Then she goes one step creepier, and demands he acknowledge it's true.

Of course, none of this would be possible, without the angry vocal delivery of Mosshart, who stands tallest among the musical giants that make up The Dead Weather.

This album is very new to me, and I'm still discovering its various nuances. I recently commented that it was a bit pretentious (to the above-noted Joel and Sherylyn), but I wholeheartedly retract that statement after my most recent two listens (I've probably listened to it straight through about eight times total to date).

Yes, The Dead Weather ranges all over, and isn't afraid to take chances, but at its core, it is a truthful and honest record made by musicians who clearly care about both the craft, and the history of the music that has come before them.

I think the challenge it faced is that I've mostly played it at low to moderate volumes. This is an angry rock record that is best heard loud. In my car, this was entirely possible, and the results were revelatory. It is designed to be loud, and you can see why once you turn it up.

If you are looking for a carbon copy of the White Stripes this isn't for you. But if you're looking for a whole other direction of Jack White's genius, then climb aboard. This record cuts like a buffalo.

Best tracks: Hang You From the Heavens, I Cut Like a Buffalo, Treat Me Like Your Mother, Bone House,

CD Odyssey Disc 262: Loreena McKennitt

From the powerful riffs of Judas Priest, the CD Odyssey takes another sharp turn - this time back into my other love - folk music.

Disc 262 is...The Mask and Mirror

Artist: Loreena McKennitt

Year of Release: 1994

What’s Up With The Cover?: In previous reviews of Loreena McKennitt I've been kind of harsh on the cover art, so I'll ease off this time and just say that this is an improvement. Obviously, as time went on Loreena had a bigger art budget. I'm not a fan of the collage as art, and her hair still needs help, but this is at least passable. For a folk album, it is positively high tech.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan of McKennitt when this album came out in 1994, and so just bought it as a matter of course. There was a music video for "The Bonny Swans" which I believe alerted me to the fact that there was a new album to be had.

How It Stacks Up: I have six Loreena McKennitt albums. Of these, I'd put this one third.

Rating: 4 stars.

This my third review of Loreena McKennitt, so I won't get into too much detail on the basics (haunting voice, amazing harpist etc.) and focus instead on this album.

While I was already firmly a fan of McKennitt in 1994, this was in many respects her breakout album (if such a thing is possible in the folk genre). The usual McKennitt elements are here, with the focus still being on the harp and vocals, but this record adds a number of other layers, including the occasional use of synthesizer. This brings it a more new age feeling than was present on her first two records, and advances themes only lightly covered by the record that immediately preceded it, "The Visit".

A quick review of the album's liner notes to see what other instruments were on here revealed quite an array. Everything from the pedestrian (electric guitar, fiddle, accordion) to the typically arcane folk fare (bouzouki, Uilleann pipes, balalaika) and into things so strange I'd never even heard of them (the hurdy-gurdy, the dumbek and the udu).

A quick search on the 'interwebs' reveals the latter two are types of drums, and the hurdy-gurdy is some bizarre stringed instrument played by means of a crank.

I couldn't pick out where each of these is used, let alone why, but this rogue's gallery of instruments could easily come off sounding like a disjointed mess in less agile hands. Instead, they complement each other very well under McKennitt's detailed and carefully wrought production. It never seems like an instrument is just put on for novelty's sake, but rather in every song, the sounds all just seem to belong with each other.

This is saying something, because as I noted earlier, McKennitt strays far afield from just a traditional Celtic folk album here. She works in Middle Eastern music, Russian folk sounds (hence the balalaika) and various other sounds from throughout central and western asia. It is an album that lovingly traces the roots of the Celtic people themselves, and brings their sounds from across thousands of miles of geography and hundreds of years of musical history.

It is deliberately done, certainly, but it is done with a deft and subtle hand. McKennitt gives us a musical history lesson without seeming preachy.

There are only eight songs on the album, most of which are very long - between six and nine minutes. They take time to develop, but never feel overblown. They are each exactly as long as they need to be. OK - except "The Mystic's Dream" - I could've shaved a minute off that one, but it is a minor quibble.

Favourites include "Full Circle" and "The Bonny Swans". The latter is a very grim (and Grimm-like) fairy tale of a woman drowned by her sister out of jealousy of her lover. The drowned sister's body floats up into a miller's wheel, where a harpist finds it, and makes a harp out of it (hair as strings, finger bones as tuning pegs and rib cage as the frame). The resulting harp is enchanted, and plays itself in front of the murdered girl's family - identifying her sister as the killer.

While I always enjoy the poetic justice in the song, I also wonder what sort of harpist makes a harp out of a dead body - and then what kind of hall lets him bring it into the dining room and play it. I mean - gross. But that's old school folk tales for you - they can be pretty nasty.

As usual, McKennitt also sets a few poems to music (Yeats' "The Two Trees" and a speech by Prospero from Shakespeare's "The Tempest"), but my sentimental favourite is a conversion of a 15th Century Spanish poem into a song called "The Dark Night of the Soul."

This song shows McKennitt in all her glory - from her deep whisper in the verses that sounds like a ghost is singing to you, up to full operatic majesty in the higher register of the chorus. The original poem is about a man's relationship with God, but it always struck me as incredibly romantic:

"Upon a darkened night, the flame of love was burning in my breast

And by a lantern bright I fled my house while all in quiet rest

Shrouded by the night and by the secret stair I quickly fled

The veil concealed my eyes while all within lay quiet as the dead.

"Oh night thou was my guide

Oh night more loving than the rising sun

Oh night that joined the lover to the beloved one

Transforming each of them into the other."

Best of all, on my first date with Sheila, I was in full thrall to this album's beauty, and when I invited her in, I suggested we sit and listen to 'this great song I've recently discovered.' We sat in the dark and I put on "Dark Night of the Soul." Not only did Sheila love it - she already knew it. She had the album, and had even seen this particular tour live. So while it could've been a little heavy handed for a 'we just met' moment - it all worked out after all.

So in summation, this is a fine album, with some great memories, and while I'm not suggesting it is likely to help you score girls, it certainly worked for me.

Best tracks: The Bonny Swans, The Dark Night of the Soul, Full Circle, The Two Trees

CD Odyssey Disc 261: Judas Priest

I am reluctant to even review this next album, because it means taking it out of my car, where it has been very good company.

But the Odyssey must move forward, slouching it's way to the end of my CD rack to be born.

Disc 261 is...Killing Machine

Artist: Judas Priest

Year of Release: 1978

What’s Up With The Cover?: I am not entirely sure. Obviously a close up of some biker type, complete with leather skull cap, but what's that being reflected in his aviator sunglasses? Has he been shot in the eyes, or is that the reflection of someone that he has just taken out (the album is called "Killing Machine" after all).

How I Came To Know It: This is just me drilling through Judas Priest's collection, since my friend Ross rekindled my love for the band a few years back. I've known the song "Hell Bent For Leather" for a while, so this was an early purchase in my Priest collection - probably the fourth album I bought after "Defenders of the Faith", "Screaming for Vengeance" and "British Steel".

How It Stacks Up: I have ten Judas Priest albums, and this one is near the top of the heap. I'm going to say 2nd or 3rd best.

Rating: 4 stars but close to 5.

"Killing Machine" is a fairly early Priest album, coming out in late 1978. Times have changed a lot since then. For example, at the time of release, the North American record execs renamed the album "Hell Bent For Leather" because they were worried about the violent overtones of "Killing Machine". Imagine how "Cannibal Corpse" covers would've gone over in the seventies.

What hasn't changed is this album's impact. It still delivers some of the best riff-driven rock music you'll ever hear.

As often happens when I hear early Priest and Maiden albums, I once again found myself marvelling at just how ahead of its time this music is. "Killing Machine" comes out in 1978, and is as heavy metal as anything you'd hear in 1986 - probably more so.

This album is not well known outside of Judas Priest fans, which is a damned shame, because it is consistently excellent. From the opening track "Delivering the Goods" through anthems like "Hell Bent for Leather" and the soccer-chant evoking "Take on the World", Priest displays a level of self-absorbed bravado that is rarely seen outside of a KISS record.

"Killing Machine" is an album that assumes it is good - it doesn't wait for your approval of this assumption - when this record wants your opinion, it gives it to you. In "Take On The World" we are told:

"Move a little nearer

You know you got to follow your leaders

As we need you

Like you need us for sure

We're gonna drive you.

We're gonna ride you,

We're gonna get right inside you."

None of this is optional, but the song is so infectious - the guitars so insistent and Halford's voice so inspiring, you don't mind being told what to do. Believe me, telling metal fans what to do - successfully - is no easy feat.

Priest even provides a remake of an early Fleetwood Mac song, "The Green Manalishi With the Two Prong Crown", which is incredible. I don't even know the original, but when a remake is this good, I don't feel I need to.

This is a remastered album, and the sound production is excellent. The soulless record execs couldn't resist adding some 'bonus' tracks, but even these are OK. An early studio track, and a live track - neither of which was originally on the album, both of which are passable to the point that I'm willing to overlook them and not demerit the album as a result.

So what to grade this record? I think it is every bit the equal of "Defenders of the Faith" which I graded out at 5, but "Defenders" had the advantage teenage nostalgia. Then again, the sound this album is putting out is easily ten years ahead of its time, which speaks to perfection. I wish I allowed half stars, but since I don't, I'm going to be a hard marker and go 4 stars here, but this album is as close to 5 stars as you can get and not be there.

Best tracks: Delivering the Goods, Hell Bent for Leather, Take On The World, The Green Manalishi With the Two Prong Crown, Killing Machine

CD Odyssey Disc 260: Eddie Vedder

I am super busy these days, and the blog is experiencing some fits and starts - I promise that this is a temporary condition.

As a result I finished this album yesterday, but only got to reviewing it today. I even slipped a little new music purchase in between - I've got a lot of new music to listen to these days and I'm feeling the need to hear it (it was Stan Rogers' "Northwest Passage" by the way. An excellent record - but I'll review it when I roll it).

Disc 260 is...Into the Wild (Soundtrack) Artist: Eddie Vedder

Year of Release: 2007

What’s Up With The Cover?: This is a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, so I think this is a picture from the movie. Three things come to mind with this picture. First, the Fairbanks City Transit System is not well represented. Second, that I see this particular ride provides an in-transit meal (it looks like baked beans). Third, the gentleman on the roof is likely going to be asked to take his seat, since I'm pretty sure "I'll just ride on the roof with my sleeping bag n' stuff" is not an option.

How I Came To Know It: I've done seventeen soundtrack reviews already, but this one is an anomaly; I did not discover this soundtrack through the movie. In fact, unlike every other soundtrack I own - I've never even seen the movie. I got this because it is by one of my favourite artists, and it was well reviewed by others that had it (I think my friend Chris might've put me on to this one, but apologies if it was someone else - desperately lurking on my blog for a shout out).

How It Stacks Up: This is the only Eddie Vedder album I have - although I'm told he's about to release a second solo album - featuring the ukelele. I am oddly excited at this news. As for soundtracks, this is one of my better ones. I'd say somewhere between 6th and 10th out of about 23, depending on my mood.

Rating: 3 stars, but when I first bought it I probably thought it was a 4, but I was temporarily blinded by a couple of incredible tracks.

As you know if you have not been living under a rock, or in a world without power, Eddie Vedder is the front man to the band Pearl Jam - one of my favourite bands. This is both his solo effort, and also the soundtrack to some movie called "Into The Wild", which was a big deal four years ago, but which I remember very little about now.

To my recollection it is a movie based on a journal found of a young man who left his life behind and lived in the wild, freeing himself from society's trappings.

The film never really appealed to me, but since I haven't seen it (or read the book) I am the wrong person to ask. Go ask five people who've seen it and average their answers out, then rent it if it hits three stars. Or just go to one friend you trust.

Since I can't help you with the movie, let's focus on the record, which is very good. Other than Vedder's unmistakeable vibratto it is very unlike Pearl Jam, so don't expect to rock out. It is a quiet record that borders on folk music.

There are a couple of songs on here that are brilliant - "Rise" and "Society." Both are songs that vocalize severe isolation (I expect a common theme in a movie about someone leaving civilization behind).

They handle this theme very differently, however. "Rise" is a song about setting forth into the unknown, and how unburdening this can feel. It is just Vedder's voice and a ukulele (the shape of things to come, it would seem). The ukulele's high range makes you feel lifted and when Vedder sings:

"Gonna rise up

Find my direction magnetically."

He makes you feel like this is possible without a compass - as though if you just set forth unfettered with society's cares, you'll get there. (Disclaimer: When going 'into the wild' bring a compass - the 'wandering unfettered with society's cares' system is exceedingly unreliable).

While "Rise" makes everything about isolation feel freeing, "Society" is much darker. Equally sparse, but with the ukulele replaced with an acoustic guitar, strummed low. It is a song about estrangement with society. It is the view of civilization as something to reject.

It is a song that sees none of the advantages of modern life, but only the excess consumerism. This is a common theme for Vedder's life, and there are many stories of his anti-establishment sentiments. While I think he takes living the simple life a little too far, there is no denying the power of this song. The chorus sums it up for him:

"Society

You're a crazy breed

Hope you're not lonely

Without me."

It is a bitter sweet song that is ultimately a fairly traditional break up song, where the singer is breaking up with modern life itself. Just like you can miss your ex-girl, and wish her well, but there's also all that hurt and old argument that creates a big mess of conflicting emotion. If those tormented feelings about your ex-girl, was instead about 'everything' you'd have this song.

That said, "Into The Wild" is not five star stuff throughout. Mostly, it suffers from being a score as much as a soundtrack, with many short tracks likely used for similarly short scenes in the film. There are ideas here that sound promising, but don't take the time to develop. The album clocks in at only thirty three minutes - usually a positive, but here it left me wanting more.

I find myself hoping that Vedder will explore some of the musical themes from "Into the Wild" on his next solo venture. This record felt a little incomplete. In places, this sparseness makes it better, but in places it feels like it needs to be put back in the oven for 30 more minutes. Over all, a thoughful and enjoyable record, but because of the unevenness, I can't go about 3 - although I wanted to.

Best tracks: Rise Up, Society

CD Odyssey Disc 259: Jethro Tull

The last review was that rare example of an album with eighteen tracks, but that didn't drag.

Now for the other side of that equation.

Disc 259 is...Broadsword and the Beast

Artist: Jethro Tull

Year of Release: 1982

What’s Up With The Cover?: Only one of the most kick ass covers ever. I'd just like to take a moment and give a big shout out to all those prog bands out there that work so hard to make these kind of ridiculous, over-the-top, 'I roll D20s recreationally, kind of cover art. Here we have a faerie feller with a broadsword - no doubt preparing to deliver his master stroke. If you know that last reference congratulations - you know you're prog rock.

How I Came To Know It: I have known Jethro Tull since my old room-mate Greg brought home "Aqualung" and "Thick As a Brick" back in the early nineties. This album I only knew through a T shirt my buddy Kelly owned. He didn't have the record, but found the cover art irresistable, like any sane person would. I bought some Jethro Tull, because the other Jethro Tull albums I'd heard all appealed to me (the above two plus an earlier one called "Stand Up" my friend Tony brought over). I bought this particular album for the cover art - duh.

How It Stacks Up: I only have this one Jethro Tull album, so it can't really stack up. I will say that it isn't as good as any of the other three I've heard that are owned by friends. I guess details matter.

Rating: 2 stars. It could have made it to three, but it was guilty of some cardinal sins, which I could not forgive (see below).

For those of you who don't know, Jethro Tull is the name of this funny looking British guy, who can play the flute while standing on one leg. He is often accompanied by a bunch of other anonymous musicians.

Just kidding! Jethro Tull is the name of a prog band, that features a guy who can play the flute standing on one foot. They are mostly famous for their albums from the late sixties and seventies, but were still going in 1982 when they put out "Broadsword and the Beast".

Prog bands never feel particularly bound by what they are 'supposed' to sound like - a quality that endears them to their fans as much as it alienates them from everyone else. I like this quality, but it has an interesting effect in the early 1980s, when synthesizers became a big deal in musical production.

These bands decided they needed to incorporate this new sound. The Blue Oyster Cult equivalent would be "Revolution By Night", and succeeds admirably well. "Broadsword and the Beast" is no "Revolution By Night" but it is certainly passable.

Where Blue Oyster Cult went for the way synth evokes the extra-terrestrial, Jethro Tull uses it to make the songs majestic, and fantastical. This decision makes the whole album sound in large part like the theme music to an early eighties fantasy movie. Think "Ladyhawke" but where the music doesn't completely suck.

As a result of their production decisions, the best songs on this album are the ones that fully embrace the majesty of places far away, and long ago. "Beastie", "Slow Marching Band" and "Broadsword" all come to mind favourably.

"Broadsword" in particular appeals to me; a song set in the dark ages, in a community girding itself to repel approaching sea raiders (I imagine Vikings). Best line:

"Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding."

The way Jethro Tull lays this line down, with pounding background synthesizer standing in for trumpet, you can feel the heft of the blade yourself, even in the comfort of your living room. No D20s required, although they wouldn't feel out of place.

Ordinarily the strong songs on this album would be enough to score 3 stars on the CD Odyssey, but not this time.

That's because the Soulless Record Exec decided to add nine - yes nine - bonus tracks to the remastered CD, when the original album only had ten songs to begin with.

If you're going to double the length of the album, you better be sure those songs are necessary inclusions - or if not necessary, at least memorable. Sadly, no - they are largely filler. How dare these guys make me choose between non-remastered sound, and an entire extra album worth of chaff?

Bring me my demerit marker, and clear understanding.

Best tracks: Beastie, Slow Marching Band, Broadsword

CD Odyssey Disc 258: The Clash

I had serious thoughts about giving up on the Odyssey this week. Blogspot has done some kind of code changes, and it has made posting something as simple as a paragraph an exercise in html programming. This is not what I signed on for.

Fortunately, the next album helped make up for it. So here I sit, a little electronically frustrated, and a little sore (I'm just back from the tattoo parlour), but ready to carry on in the name of music.

Disc 258 is...London Calling

Artist: The Clash

Year of Release:1979

What’s Up With The Cover?: This is a great cover. It is a take off on Elvis Presley's debut album from 1956. On that cover, Elvis is playing the guitar in a black and white shot with the words "Elvis Presley" in the same location as "London Calling" on this record. Of course, the Clash aren't playing their guitars - they are smashing them. It is a shout out to Elvis - but it is also a challenge being issued to mothers across the land - rock and roll has grown a new level of attitude.

How I Came To Know It: I had heard a few songs off of this record over the years, but it was Sheila that put me on to it - it is one of her favourite records, and it is easy to understand why.

How It Stacks Up: We have five Clash albums - I'd say this is the best, so let's just end the suspense and crown their ass, already! (Thank you, Denis Green).

Rating: 5 stars.

I just finished reviewing the Clash' debut album two albums ago and here we are again. As statistical anomalies go, this has been an enjoyable one.

"London Calling" is quite simply, one of the greatest rock records ever made. A modern day classic that thirty years later, has lost none of its edge.

It is actually two of the greatest rock records ever made. While the miracle of CD technology has all nineteen tracks on one dic, the original release was a double album. Releasing nineteen songs is usually a recipe for mediocrity (or at the very least a verbal lashing at the hands of the Creative Maelstrom), but this album sails a perfect course through the seas of excess, and never gets wet.

I think a big part of the record's strength comes from its variety. There are pop songs like "Lost in the Supermarket" and "Train in Vain", rock songs like "London Calling" and "Clampdown" and reggae flavoured songs like "Rudie Can't Fail". Every one of them is a classic.

Putting all these styles in one room could have seemed crowded, but despite the number of songs, and the number of styles everything fits. It is like the musical equivalent of an overcrowded club, where everyone is having a good time, and no one spills anyone else's drink.

I once spilled a guy's drink at an old club called The Drawing Room and even after I replaced it, he still wanted to cause trouble. Naturally, I replied with even more fervent apologies until he eventually realized there was no fight to be had. I did this was for two reasons. First, I am a naturally happy drunk and second - dude was huge. But I digress...

Back to "London Calling" which is also sometimes belligerent, but never to the listener. There is one section of the album - which I assume would be side 2 of the first album and side 1 of the second, (starting at "Lost in The Supermarket" and ending with "Death of Glory") which represents one of the best five song runs I've heard.

"Lost in the Supermarket" gets you started, a song that takes the early childhood memory we all have of being lost in a large grocery or department store, and transfers that alienation and fear to a commentary on suburbia:

"I wasn't born so much as I fell out/Nobody seemed to notice me/We had a hedge back home in the suburbs/Over which I never could see."

This moves to adulthood, with "Clampdown" a song about selling out, working in a job you hate, but doing it anyway. A song that unpleasantly reminds us the person best suited in this life to sell you out is yourself.

From there, we move to a song about the hard choice of not selling out in the face of a totalitarian regime, with "Guns of Brixton" which begins with the ominous lines:

"When they kick down your front door, how you gonna come?/With your hands on your head, or on the trigger of your gun?"

From there, we go to "Wrong 'Em Boyo" that reminds us that even in dire straits, we must not hurt our own - yet features the story of two thieves that do exactly that.

Finally, we come to "Death or Glory" that reminds us these two things ultimately become 'just another story'. It may be a disheartening song, but it has long been one of my favourites on "London Calling" - with its driving guitar, and pounding drum, it was the right key into this old metalhead's heart.

Every one of these songs is a classic in its own right, and they come at you one after the other, with no respite. The themes are stark - often evoking class or generational warfare, but they are wrapped in melodies and arrangements so beautiful, you might not even notice their themese if you aren't listening closely.

There are a host of other great tracks on "London Calling" but time and space preclude me from gushing over all of them. I'll just say that if you're wondering why it took so long for this last review to post it wasn't just that I've been busy, or that the record is a little long - it is because I've enjoyed having it in my car, and in no hurry to take it out. When this whole Odyssey thing is over, it'll be back in there, early and often.

Best tracks: All tracks, except maybe "The Card Cheat" but only because the beginning of the chorus always reminds me of that Harlequin song, Innocence ("Innocence - that's all you ever plead" etc.). Particular favourites are Jimmy Jazz, Rudie Can't Fail, Lost In The Supermarket, Clampdown, The Guns of Brixton, Wrong 'Em Boyo, Death or Glory, and Train In Vain.