CD Odyssey Disc 787: Lindi Ortega

This next album was rolled randomly before I had a chance to give it a good three listens (I’m a bit behind on grokking the new music in my collection). As a result I took some extra time and made sure I gave it multiple rotations before writing the review.

Disc 787 is….Faded Gloryville

Artist: Lindi Ortega

Year of Release: 2015

What’s up with the Cover? Lindi is looking very Victorian Gothic on this cover and yes I like it. If this is how beautiful she is in Faded Gloryville I’d hate to see her in Full-Bloom Gloryville; my heart couldn’t take it.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve been a fan of Lindi Ortega since her second album, 2012’s “Cigarettes and Truckstops.” I like her so much I buy her new releases before I even hear a song. That was the case earlier this year with “Faded Gloryville”.

How It Stacks Up: I now have four Lindi Ortega albums. If I had to be picky (and that is what this section is about) I’m going to put this one fourth. It is slightly faded compared to her previous records, but still full of glory.

Ratings: 3 stars

I really wanted to go support Lindi Ortega on her tour of this album, but unfortunately she was the opening act for Paul Brandt and I couldn’t stand the thought of watching her get shouldered off the stage after only five songs to be replaced by a lesser talent. Sorry, Paul.

The lack of commercial success for Ortega weighs on all her previous records and this, her fourth full length LP, is no exception. “Faded Gloryville’s” entry in Ortega’s “why aren’t I famous?” cannon is the self-titled track. She sings this subject from the heart, and this is one of her better songs on the topic.

“Faded Gloryville” his is a sad track about the soul-sucking experience that the music industry can be. Ortega sings (and talks) about this topic so much that it can get a bit tiresome, but this is such a perfect dirge on the topic I once again found myself forgiving her the wallow.

Ortega’s latest album is not as obsessed with the topic, and after getting it out of her system she spends most of the rest of the album chasing various facets of damaged or broken relationships.

“Ashes” opens the album with a catchy bass line and a classic theme of love’s collapse from fire to ash. This song approaches being a bit too slick, but Ortega’s delivery pulls it back from the brink, with a breathy voice that speaks of both adolescent loss and seasoned heartbreak.

Speaking of lost love, Ortega also does an inspired remake of the Bee Gee’s “To Love Somebody,” once again grounded with a kick-ass bass line (thank you bassist John Dymond). Ortega reminded me how much I loved this song while transforming it from a lovelorn complaint to a 3 a.m. ill-advised drunken booty call.

An early favourite on the album is “Run-Down Neighbourhood,” a song that has Ortega’s signature grit, and is exactly the kind of grimy subject matter that makes the prudes of Nashville unsure of her (never change for them, Lindi!). The song is about two questionably lovable people who aren’t great role models, but think they’re great for each other

“Well you can have some of my weed

If I can smoke your cigarette

I might be running low but I ain’t out just yet

I will be Tweedledee if you be Tweedledum

You can drink all of my whiskey, baby

And I will drink all of your rum.”

Lindi captures the gusto for aimless alcoholism and drug abuse not heard since Gene Simmons advised his girl that it was cold gin time…again.

Having caught my attention, Lindi plays with my heart by telling me on “I Ain’t the Girl” that she’s not the girl for me. It is all very confusing, since she admits she’s got a thing for long haired guys (check!) that are rugged with tattoos (check again! Well – the tattoo part, anyway). Sadly I wear a suit and tie to work, and don’t drive a rusty truck so I’m back to zero by the end of the first verse. I can’t help but think this song was written about all the men in her audience that stare at her starry-eyed from the floor.

Not all the tracks are as memorable, and I find when she relies on standard blues beats the songs don’t have the same oomph. “Tell it Like It Is” and “When You Ain’t Home” are original songs but they don’t feel new or interesting. It isn’t Lindi’s vocals or lyrics in either case, but rather some unimaginative blues riffs that feel at odds with the more interesting phrasing Lindi wants to draw them toward.

In terms of branching out, I like Ortega’s rockabilly effort with “Run Amuck” which has a great swing and better employs her alternative rock vibe. This section had me thinking of the country version of Imelda May and I liked it. Lindi Ortega and Imelda May would make for one hell of a double bill – forget Paul Brandt!

Best tracks:  Ashes, Faded Gloryville, To Love Somebody, Run-Down Neighbourhood, I Ain’t the Girl

CD Odyssey Disc 786: Django Reinhardt

After a fairly rotten weekend it was back to…Monday. I guess that puts things in perspective.

“Anyway, here’s an album from waaaayyy back!” – I would say if I were an annoying oldies DJ.

Disc 786 is….Jazz Masters 38

Artist: Django Reinhardt

Year of Release: 1994, but featuring music from 1938 to 1947 (and one lonely outlier from 1953).

What’s up with the Cover? Django is looking like quite the smooth dandy, smokin’ a cigarette in his suit while playing one of those chords that always makes my knuckles hurt.

How I Came To Know It: One night I went to visit my friend Casey and we sat around and played music. I remember I was trying to get him hooked on Steve Earle, but was using “Train A-Comin’” to do it. Not because that is Earle’s best album, but because I had just bought it earlier that week and was still excited about it. He tried to get me hooked on Django Reinhardt, and succeeded enough for me to buy this record later that week.

How It Stacks Up: This is a compilation album of Django’s career, not a true album, so it doesn’t stack up. Even if it did, it would be the only Django album in my collection.

Ratings: you don’t rate compilations, folks. It’s not done. Someone tell Rolling Stone this obvious truth, as they have festooned their “greatest albums list” with greatest hits records. How idiotic.

When I rolled this album for review my first thought was, “Ah, Jazz, my old nemesis. Come to torment me again, have you?” Much to my pleasant surprise the torment never exceeded anything more than the musical equivalent of a light tickling.

This is jazz I can understand and – more importantly – enjoy. There’s a discernible melody throughout every song and Django’s chord changes are sometimes surprising, but the surprise is pleasant.

Sometimes he’ll start a song off with a violin traipsing about, as  he does on the sunny and cheerful “Daphne.” Regardless, it isn’t long before Django’s signature guitar sound makes an appearance, trilling and weaving their way in and out of the tune.

Django is known as one of the great guitar players of the twentieth century, and while my ear is generally better tuned to rock and roll, even I can see why. He is a master of spacing and rhythm and the tone he brings out is bright and precise. There is a joy in every note and more than a bit of sass when sass is called for.

True to the times, tracks are rarely much over three minutes in length, and yet Django manages to develop some pretty intricate themes in those three minutes. They get to the point fast, giving them lots of time to get to a second or even a third point before they’re done.

The fact that all the songs are so short means that despite the album being 16 songs long, it is still a tasteful 48 minutes of total playing time. It left me satisfied with the experience, but not overstuffed.

These songs are all instrumental so I have no idea what they’re about beyond the clues in their titles, but this is music to feel good to. It was regrettable that I was feeling so miserable listening to them for most of my walk today, but they managed to break through the grey clouds of my mood near the end despite my best efforts to continue to wallow.

I cheated a little bit when I got home and listened to the final two songs while doing some basic household stuff. I can see the allure of jazz for this sort of thing, at least Django Reinhardt. Django’s guitar made the most ordinary movements – taking off a shirt, putting on a pair of jeans, petting a passing cat (yes, Vizzini, I will feed you) – all feel like I was part of some kind of Broadway musical or a Chaplin silent movie.

This music is seventy-plus years old now, and there are times when it feels its age, particularly on the dreamy “Nuages” which is just not edgy enough to be as sexy as it wants to be. But even on the tracks I didn’t love, I still admired the ground they broke and the influence they had on everything that came after. It is like the frontal lobe equivalent of listening to Robert Johnson hit you in the hippocampus.

This album isn’t one I’ll put on very often, but it also isn’t one I can part with now that it lightened my heart on a day when I desperately needed that.

Best tracks:  Daphne, Honeysuckle Rose, HCQ Strut, Liza (All the Clouds Roll Away), Swing 48

CD Odyssey Disc 785: The Who

When I was five my mom sat me down and told me that life was unfair, and the sooner I understood that the better. A harsh lesson for a five year old for sure, but it has served me well over the years.

This week I encountered an unfairness so profound that all my mother’s wisdom felt suddenly small and useless. I’m not going to talk about it beyond that, because you’ve come here to read a music review not a rant. So here you go.

Disc 785 is….Tommy

Artist: The Who

Year of Release: 1969

What’s up with the Cover? Look deep into my seagulls…Deeper…You are feeling very three dimensional. I always liked this cover, but I’ve never figured out what, if any, significance it has. It just looks kind of cool.

How I Came To Know It: My brother owned this on vinyl but rarely played it. One year for Christmas I wrapped up a satin flag of one of his favourite bands (Venom) inside the album so he thought he was getting “Tommy” again. He looked so sad, but after the joke was realized was happy with the Venom flag. The next year he took vengeance on me by wrapping my present so tightly it took me fifteen minutes to get into it.

As for the Tommy album, I got that on vinyl as a hand-me-down and years later I ended up buying it on CD…and here we are.

How It Stacks Up: I have three of The Who’s studio albums. In any normal trio of albums “Tommy” would easily be first, but not when you’ve got a classic like “Who’s Next” dominating top spot. As a result “Tommy can only manage second place. And since I’ve reviewed all three of them, here’s a recap:

1. Who’s Next: 5 stars (reviewed back at Disc 204)
2. Tommy: 5 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Odds & Sods: 3 stars (reviewed back at Disc 170)

Ratings: 5 stars

Pete Townshend is a musical genius, and “Tommy” is an album that shows what a musical genius is capable of when his band is wise enough to let him do his thing.

Sure, The Who is not The Who without Roger Daltry’s vocals, the drumming of Keith Moon and John Entwistle on bass (one of the reasons I have no interest in seeing them in concert since Moon and Entwistle are both now dead).

But it is Pete Townshend that drives the creative engine of “Tommy.” “Tommy” is a concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid who is abused by trusted family members, grows up to find fame for being an amazing pinball player, eventually gets his sight back and becomes some kind of modern messiah. Townshend delivers the whole story as a ‘rock opera.’ Outside of Alexander Pope creating the mock epic with “Rape of the Lock” you would have a hard time finding a more brilliant reimagining of a traditional art form.

Musically, the record is nuanced but powerful. Townsend’s chord choices are clever and perfectly suited to each section of the story, often making subtle changes to the voicing of his guitar for maximum emotional impact.

Just listening to the overture is enough to know how great the music is. Overtures introduce all of a musical’s themes and in just over five minutes the overture of “Tommy” switches gears about 15 times. Every shift sounds amazing.

Although “Tommy” is best heard all at once, there are still many standout songs that are great even on their own. “1921” has a light and optimistic feel, fueled by Daltry’s standout vocals, with an undercurrent of menace of the dark days to come for the main character. “The Acid Queen” and “Pinball Wizard” are both hard rock classics, and the album’s final song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” has a bit of everything and despite being seven minutes long, leaves you wanting more, not less.

Thematically, “Tommy” is a cycle of abuse that “A Clockwork Orange” would be proud of. Tommy is beaten, drugged and abused by a litany of family members, shysters and quacks but once his pinball skills make him a celebrity, his “holiday camp” feels like a giant cult where starry-eyed fans are taken advantage of in turn.

Pete Townshend’s music is always best when he is exorcising some of his many demons (think “Behind Blue Eyes” from “Who’s Next”) and his tortured artistry forges “Tommy” into a modern day masterpiece.

The only time “Tommy” last my interest was during the meandering 10 minute underture in the middle of the album, but even that meandering had purpose and provided a reflection of the album’s musical themes – kind of like the reflection Tommy himself is obsessed with staring at with his blind eyes.

“Tommy” isn’t the kind of album you put on every day. Like “The Wall” it takes a dedicated listen from start to finish to appreciate it. But just because I don’t play it every day doesn’t mean it isn’t one of rock and roll’s great accomplishments. Five stars.

Best tracks:   1921, Christmas, The Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Sally Simpson, We’re Not Gonna Take It

CD Odyssey Disc 784: Pat Benatar

This review was delayed a day as I caught a bad stomach bug over the weekend and spent most of yesterday evening and today in bed. I feel I’m on the road to recovery though, and that means the Odyssey must also move forward.

It has been almost exactly a year since I reviewed an album by this next artist (Sept. 22, 2014 to be exact) but it was good to be back.

Disc 784 is….Precious Time

Artist: Pat Benatar

Year of Release: 1981

What’s up with the Cover? This is what a manic pixie dream girl looks like when she has an edge. I noted in my last Pat Benatar review back at Disc 667 that at age nine I knew Pat Benatar was stirring something in me even if I wasn’t sure what it was. This cover just reinforced that feeling a bit stronger at age 11. Then I couldn’t tell you what it was but now I’m pretty sure it’s something in the eyes…and the shoes.

How I Came To Know It: I grew up with Pat Benatar (not literally obviously, and a good thing too, given what her mere picture did to me as a kid). My brother owned her first three records and years later I have the same three on CD.

How It Stacks Up: As just noted, I have three Pat Benatar CDs. Of the three, I rate “Precious Time” second best, a good distance behind “In the Heat of the Night” and a notch above “Crimes of Passion.”

Ratings: 3 stars

“Precious Time” starts with a bang, as “Promises in the Dark” blasts out, part power pop, part Meatloaf-inspired opera and all big vocals.

Pat Benatar songs aren’t that fascinating on their own, but they are beautifully produced by Benatar’s main squeeze and guitarist Neil Geraldo who knows exactly how to showcase Benatar’s voice.

Like a lot of the record’s tracks, “Fire and Ice” could be a pop song or smooth contemporary if they stripped out the power chords and slowed them down. However, when you have Pat Benatar, honour demands you let her blow the top of the music. That’s exactly what she does, hitting every note and filling the room with bombast without ever sounding shouty.

Those are the two big hits on the record, as far as I remember (I’ve known this entire album so long I have a hard time separating the hits from the deep cuts). The deep cuts have lots to offer as well.

 “Just Like Me” and “It’s a Tuff Life” have a slight New Wave sound, which works for “Just Like Me” but falls flat on the unfortunately spelled “It’s a Tuff Life.” New wave generally doesn’t suit Benatar’s seventies power vocals, but Geraldo’s guitar was built for it and on these songs he holds things together. You can see on this album he is trying to do something a little different, with mixed results.

When I was a kid one of my favourite deep cuts was “Evil Genius” which is a song about a super smart kid who grows up to become…a murderer! When I was a kid I thought the narrative of this song was the height of cool:

“They were so ecstatic when the letter arrived

A certified genius at the age of five

They planned his future so carefully

He was everything they hoped he'd be”

Now when I hear this stuff I wonder who the hell sends a letter certifying someone’s five year old as a genius? I’ve been through the whole ‘treat the gifted kids differently’ carousel and never once did my Mom receive a formal letter. If she had, I’m sure she would have framed it. Or maybe I didn’t get it because only the really smart kids got the letter. That seems more likely. But then I would’ve turned out a murderer, according to the logic of the song, so it’s just as well no letter arrived. But I digress…

The important thing is that when Benatar hits the high notes in the chorus singing “why’d you have to do it, evil genius?” (hint: because his Mom framed the letter) the vocal is so sublime it doesn’t matter that the song’s entire plot is spotty.

Most of this record is merely OK, but even the weaker tracks are buoyed by Benatar’s vocal, making them a fun listen as well.

Because of this record I thought that Pat Benatar was the first person to ever record “Helter Skelter” (we didn’t go in for the Fab Four in my house growing up). When I finally heard the original I remember thinking how I preferred the Pat Benatar version. Musically heretical, I realize, but true. Later I would learn to love the Beatles version as well. While reviewing this album, I decided to give them both a listen back to back and… I once again have to go with Pat Benatar. Some heresies just never die.

My love for this album never dies either. I don’t have the youthful enthusiasm for it like I did when I was 11, but the good stuff has held up well over time, and the bad stuff is less bad and more just run-of-the-mill.

Best tracks:   Promises in the Dark, Fire and Ice, Just Like Me, Evil Genius, Helter Skelter

CD Odyssey Disc 783: Dio

After what felt like forever, the weekend has arrived. My weekend’s only scheduled events were cancelled but I’m just as happy to have a quiet couple of days with Sheila. My social calendar can get a bit crazy, and on those weekends when I have nothing planned at all, I appreciate the rest.

Disc 783 is….Sacred Heart

Artist: Dio

Year of Release: 1985

What’s up with the Cover? Just another kick ass metal album cover. Here we have some wizened hands holding a crystal ball that is obviously predicting a dragon attack. Or maybe it is the dragon in human form seeing its true self reflected in the crystal ball. Either way, my inner fifteen year old shouted “fuck yeah!” when I saw it.

How I Came To Know It: I was a big Dio fan as a kid – I probably liked Dio more than Black Sabbath in the day. When my brother bought this album I borrowed it off him and taped a bunch of favourites. As a result I know half the album way better than the other half. As for the CD, I had a hard time finding it until it showed up about five years ago at a local record store. Naturally, I snapped it up.

How It Stacks Up: I have Dio’s first three albums. I’m not a big fan of his later work, so this may be it for me. Of the three, and I’ll put “Sacred Heart” second, or smack dab in the middle. Since this is the last Dio review in my collection, here they are ranked:

1. Holy Diver: 4 stars (reviewed back at Disc 68)
2. Sacred Heart: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
3. The Last in Line: 3 stars (reviewed back at Disc 430)

Ratings: 3 stars

“Sacred Heart” is Ronnie James Dio’s last great album. As usual, after I listened to it I was inspired to go on Youtube and check out “Dream Evil” and “Lock Up the Wolves” but they just aren’t at the same level as his first three records.

“Sacred Heart” doesn’t start in inspiring fashion, with a loose and slightly sloppy live version of “King of Rock and Roll” but after that it really picks up steam. The title track is a six and a half minute epic filled with classic Dio mythology of dragon slaying and magic quests. It would make for a shitty fantasy movie, but it makes for a great metal song. Dio’s incredible vocals carry the song, as they do for all the songs on the record.

The album also benefits throughout from drummer Vinnie Appice, who left Black Sabbath with Dio and appears on most of his solo work. Appice’s drumming is precise and hard as hell and grounds these songs with a heaviness that is needed to offset all the soaring melodies. The drums on “Like the Beat of Heart” are particularly monstrous, and make the song grimy and dirty, like an early Judas Priest track.

Most of the songs I loved as a kid were the ones featuring some kind of fantasy theme, and those songs remain favourites, but I can better appreciate the other tracks now than when I was a teenager. “Another Lie” and “Rock n’ Roll Children” are both better than I remember them. Both are songs about love gone wrong in some way, either through internal or external forces. In Dio’s hands they become wild romances. If these songs were books, they’d be bodice-rippers with racy covers. “Rock n’ Roll Children” even starts with some organ chords that would be equally at home on a Meatloaf record.

“Hungry for Heaven” also features flourishes of organ that had me thinking of Dio’s earlier work in bands like Rainbow, and it is definitely a lighter sound than the heavier metal on his previous album, “Last in Line.” Despite a pretty sweet metal solo from guitarist (Mr.) Vivian Campbell this song’s schmaltz might’ve rubbed some metal fans the wrong way back in 1985, but I liked it then, and I like it now.

Things get heavy again before the end with the aforementioned “Like the Beat of a Heart” which is one of the record’s standouts. Pounding drums and grinding guitar and some of Dio’s classic bat-shit crazy lyrics:

"Don't look behind 'cause a tear that never dies can only make you blind

You've got to try 'cause the future's never never gonna die

There's a beast that lives inside you and it's screaming to get out

It's a storm that's never ending it's a truth without a doubt."

A tear that never dies can only make you blind? Sounds like something your grandmother would tell you to get you to stop crying after she watched your best Battlestar Galactica t-shirt by hand and wrecked the decal. Yeah that happened. Rest in peace, grandma – it was just a shirt. But I digress…

What’s important is Dio (who, incidentally, also had an Italian grandma) is able to make the arcane and illogical seem profound. When you hear him sing this stuff you’re absolutely convinced it is a truth without a doubt. It’s only later that you find yourself wondering “what the hell?”

The album ends on a down note, with “Shoot Shoot” a song with a confused and meandering melody. The lyrics seem to suggest that if someone points a gun at you that you should encourage them to go ahead and shoot. I’m pretty sure this is bad advice.

Despite a weak opening and closing song, “Sacred Heart” overall is a tight little metal record, clocking in at a restrained nine tracks and 38 minutes. Long time readers will know that I highly value this kind of compact record; it lets you grok it a lot easier, and lets each individual song shine just a little brighter.

Best tracks:   Sacred Heart, Rock n’ Roll Children, Hungry for Heaven, Like the Beat of a Heart

CD Odyssey Disc 782: Johnny Kidd and the Pirates

I’ve had an exhausting week and I’m bone tired and ready for an early night. Before I go to bed I am determined to get this next review written so I can keep the CD Odyssey moving.

Disc 782 is….The Best of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates

Artist: Johnny Kidd and the Pirates

Year of Release: 2008, but featuring music from 1959-1966

What’s up with the Cover? It’s Johnny himself, wearing his signature eye patch. No, Johnny does not have a disfiguring eye injury – he just likes to rock the patch. Note he is also sitting on a bunch of old pirate stuff to show what a buccaneer he is. This cover is cheesy as hell, and I love it, all the way down to Johnny’s not-so-pirate cowboy boots.

How I Came To Know It: When I was recently listening to Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” album to review it (back at Disc 752) I realized that one of the bonus tracks was a Johnny Kidd cover. I’d never heard of Johnny Kidd but I decided to check out what the original sounded like. I liked what I heard and I liked the other Youtube offerings of Johnny Kidd as well so I went out and bought this album.

How It Stacks Up: This is a “best of” so it doesn’t stack up.

Ratings: No ratings for ‘best of’ albums, monkey!

Johnny Kidd and the Pirates are one of my happier discoveries this year, fifty years after they were hitting the charts in the U.K.

This album is a pretty exhaustive ‘best of’ and they took a fair bit of latitude on just what was a hit and what wasn’t. There are 56 tracks spread over two albums, and so you get a heavy dose of what the band is about throughout the entire run of their career from 1959 to 1966.

With a couple small exceptions, the songs are presented in chronological order, which is how I like to hear an anthology of music, particularly of a band I don’t know well. This let me get a good grasp of what the Pirates were like out of the gate and how their sound evolved.

And their sound really does evolve a lot in just seven years. Up to about 1961 they sound like an interesting cross between early Dick Dale and late Buddy Holly. It is a great mix, with a hint of surfer guitar around the edges of sixties crooners, and a nice hard edge on the biggest hits like “Please Don’t Touch” and “Shakin’ All Over” that obviously got the attention of hard rockers like Motorhead in their formative years.

“Shakin’ All Over” is one of those timeless classics you’ve probably heard a million times and never known who performed it. The guitar riff on the song is sublime and coming out in 1960 the song just feels like it is ten years ahead of its time.

The early stuff also has some fairly dirty stuff including the make-out session song “Longin’ Lips” and “Big Blon’ Baby” which is one step away from both kitsch and creepy but somehow straddles the line.

Sadly in 1961 most of the Pirates “jumped ship” as it were, and the sound changed a fair bit. Johnny Kidd’s voice is strong (back in the day you actually had to be able to sing to sound good on a record) but I really miss Alan Caddy’s lead guitar. Caddy is definitely from the surfer school and the big reverb sound of his guitar gives the Pirates their edge.

In its place, the tracks from 1962 and 1963 have them sounding a bite more Beatles in flavour. There is still plenty of good stuff in here, although less consistently than in the early years. The magic is still there on standouts like the frantic “Some Other Guy” and the groovy instrumental “Popeye.”

Overall though, the band started to lose me around the end of the first disc, as the songs start to slip into 1963/64. There is a bit more organ and proto-psychadelia that doesn’t suit them, as well as a growing propensity for cover songs. Hearing them sing “Oh Boy” or “Shop Around” sounds OK, but I’d rather just hear the originals by Buddy Holly or the Smoky Robinson.

Most of the songs after 1964 are just remakes, and when I heard “Shakin’ All Over (’65 edition)” I could tell the end was near creatively, with the band recycling old songs and just adding odd touches of stoner organ.

There was one cover worth honourable mention, however and that is their 1965 cut of Roy Hamilton’s “You Can Have Her.” Sure it is another remake, but the Johnny Kidd version is different enough to be fresh, and just as good as the original.

The sound of the music started to change at the end as well, with Kidd gravitating to a more Motown-infused sound with a lot more soul. I prefer the proto-punk surfer edge of his earlier stuff, though.

Johnny Kidd’s life ended abruptly in a car accident in 1966, so we’ll never know if he would have recaptured his early glory. However, the crazy antics of dressing (poorly) like pirates on stage inspired later acts like Alice Cooper, and as the Motorhead cover shows, they also served as early role models to later rock gods like Lemmy Kilmeister.

That legacy, plus the sheer brilliance of their early material makes this album well worth having, even if I will rarely put the second of the two discs into rotation.

Best tracks:   Please Don’t Touch, Longin’ Lips, Shakin’ All Over, Restless, Let’s Talk About Us, Big Blon’ Baby, Please Don’t Bring Me Down, Some Other Guy, Popeye, Ecstasy, Casting My Spell, Don’t Make the Same Mistake that I Did, You Can Have Her

CD Odyssey Disc 781: Cake

I’ve had a hectic week, but things started to mercifully slow down over the weekend. Saturday night I was up late listening to tunes  and hanging out with fellow music enthusiasts all night. Today I settled down on the couch to enjoy the opening kickoff of the NFL season (made more enjoyable by a Miami Dolphins victory). Before I hit the sack, I’m going to get in a music review.

Disc 781 is….Fashion Nugget

Artist: Cake

Year of Release: 1996

What’s up with the Cover? A simple drawing of a crown. Would a crown be a fashion nugget for a king?

How I Came To Know It: Sheila introduced me to Cake (and to this album in particular). Around 1999/2000 she used to work at a clothing store that played cassettes of music in the background. One of the cassettes had a couple of Cake songs, including “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.” Sheila’s coworker told her the song was by Cake, and so Sheila bought the album and introduced me to the band in the process.

How It Stacks Up: We have seven Cake albums which I believe is all of them. Of the seven, “Fashion Nugget” is one of my favourites. I’ll put it second overall.

Ratings: 4 stars

As bands grow into themselves they can sometimes over-complicate the very things that made them great to begin with. That’s likely why for a lot of bands they never outdo their first album. “Fashion Nugget” is Cake’s second album, but it still has the simple brilliance of an early career record.

The basic structure of their music in 1996 was essentially the same as it is now; a concoction of R&B and funk rhythms, indie pop and traditional crooning Sinatra type stuff. However, “Fashion Nugget” feels more raw and stripped down. This starkness to the sound gives it an emotional depth. I like the more smooth flow of later albums as well, but as early Cake goes, “Fashion Nugget” is as good as it gets.

The energy of the album is best expressed on “The Distance” which is one of the great driving songs of all time. The song has an insistence that demands the reckless speed of an American muscle car. In addition to being a great driving song, it is also a clever exploration of why we metaphorically keep racing long after the race is over.

Cake seems obsessed with cars, on this album and many others as well. In addition to “The Distance,” “Fashion Nugget” also features “Race Car Ya-Yas,” and “Stickshifts and Safetybelts.” Cake has a conflicted reaction to American car culture. “Race Car Ya-Yas” is a dirge about idiot street-racer types and “Stickshifts and Safety Belts” is a rockabilly number that celebrates the romantic side of that same culture.

The album also has a fun remake of the Gloria Gaynor disco classic “I Will Survive” which is every bit the equal of the original, and may be better if only because Cake better captures the bitterness of the song’s lyrics.

The band has already mastered using trumpet flourishes to accentuate their rock and roll sound. It is a great reminder that it is the trumpet that is the companion horn to rock and roll, not the saxophone.

On this listen I noticed that “Sad Songs and Waltzes” has a little trumpet jazz interlude where they riff off the melody from “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.” It was a great way to tie some of the musical themes on the record together, and also a timely reminder that jazz interludes only work when you know the song that forms the basis of all that noodling.

Cake are masters at writing a memorable lick that sounds like it has been around for decades, and yet keeping that sound new. They are very clever songwriters, but do it in a way that doesn’t rub your face in it

The album is tastefully restricted in the same way, with 14 songs and 48 minutes of music. That does push the edge of responsible pop music making, but it is still significantly on the right side of the line.

We played “Fashion Nugget” a lot when we got it, and I think because of that I don’t pull it off the shelf as often as I should. Getting to spend some time with it over the last couple days reminded me it was time to reacquaint myself with it.

Best tracks:   The Distance, Stickshifts and Safetybelts, I Will Survive, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps, Nugget, Italian Leather Sofa, Sad Songs and Waltzes

CD Odyssey Disc 780: Blue Oyster Cult

I’ve just wrapped up the official start of the NFL season with a fantasy football draft. I think I did OK, by which I mean I got to draft three Miami Dolphins. I also named my fantasy team after this next album.

Disc 780 is….Club Ninja

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 1986

What’s up with the Cover? A whole lot of awesome. This reminds me of the cover to ELO’s “Out of the Blue” (reviewed way back at Disc 266) if that cover totally kicked ass. But the awesomeness of this cover pales in comparison to the awesomeness of Side Two:

 

Behold – a space ninja with a throwing star shaped like the BOC symbol. This guy and the guy from the cover of my Rare Air album should go on space adventures together. First stop – the international space station/party room known as…Club Ninja!

How I Came To Know It: I have been a fan of Blue Oyster Cult since my brother indoctrinated me at the tender age of five. Club Ninja may not be their best record, but it came out when I was 16, which is a pretty important age for enjoying rock n’ roll.

How It Stacks Up: I have 11 of Blue Oyster Cult’s studio albums and “Club Ninja” comes in at…11. Yes – it goes to 11!

Ratings: 3 stars

For many Blue Oyster Cult fans, “Club Ninja” is a reviled album, and not worthy of the band’s talents but damn it, I still enjoyed it.

In 1986 a kid in my high school that I didn’t like very much (for no good reason) came up to me excited about hearing the single “Dancing in the Ruins.” I downplayed my interest in favour of ‘cooler’ Blue Oyster Cult albums. At the time I was just being a dipshit, intent on proving I was the bigger fan. I regret that a lot to this day. I wish I’d used his interest to draw him toward the rest of Blue Oyster Cult’s music. Or maybe I could have just enjoyed this one album along with him, instead of being obsessed with how it wasn’t as good as the rest of their catalogue. So what if is a weaker album? I liked it then and I like it now.

Sure it is the worst of my eleven Blue Oyster Cult albums, and there are plenty of reasons why. First, it is missing two key parts of the band. Drummer Albert Bouchard and keyboardist Allen Lanier are both gone and with them a ton of the band’s writing talent. Sure the heart and soul of the band are still there with Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom, but Blue Oyster Cult has always been a collaborative band, and without A. Bouchard and Lanier the writing and creative vision both suffer.

The production on this record is also atrocious. On CD it sounds like it was recorded in one of those metal crates you stack on cargo ships, tinny and unimaginative. Vinyl is only slightly better. The band descends fully into synth rock, with light drums and a lot of ambience replacing the strange and arcane power they are usually famous for.

The production is particularly unkind to Eric Bloom’s throaty bar-room delivery, which gets swallowed up a bit by the songs. Songs that are supposed to be tough and meaty like “Beat ‘Em Up” and “Make Rock Not War” don’t have the weight they need to be taken seriously. I loved both these songs when I was 16. Now they are a bit silly, with lyrics like:

“Some people got a bad attitude

And I say if they want to get tough

Beat ‘em up!”

OK, I still like them, I just realize they are silly now. There’s nothing wrong with a little silly in our lives. Another favourite “so bad it is good” line is this one from “Madness to the Method”:

“It’s a hormone warzone

Boys are out for a fight

Wenches in the trenches

On a Saturday night.”

If loving this stuff is wrong – and I’m pretty sure it is – I don’t want to be right.

Not even Buck Dharma’s prodigious genius can fully pull the record out of this artificial muck, but holy crap does he come close. For one thing, while this lighter sound drowns out Eric Bloom’s bluesy voice, it actually suits Buck Dharma’s higher crooner voice well. Buck sings five of the nine songs, all of which climb above the messy production to varying degrees.

And nothing can hold back Dharma’s guitar. His solo work on “Perfect Water” and “Spy in the House of the Night” are intense, developing quickly and then gracefully resolving naturally back into the song early enough to leave you wanting more.

The strangeness Blue Oyster Cult’s rock is known for is stripped away a fair bit, but it shines through when it needs to, particularly on the more odd numbers like “Perfect Water” “When the War Comes” and “Shadow Warrior.”

“Perfect Water” will have you wishing you could grow back your gills and return to the sea like some modern day resident of Lovecraft’s Innsmouth. The song even references Jacques Cousteau, who I am pretty sure was a Deep One.

“Shadow Warrior” is about frickin’ ninjas! I needn’t remind you that this album came out in 1986 when ninjas were everywhere. Ninjas may no longer be a fad but damn it, they are still pretty cool.

The album begins with two fairly straightforward rock songs, “White Flags” and “Dancin’ in the Ruins” which are tame in song structure by Blue Oyster Cult fans, but still good tracks. “Dancin’ in the Ruins” even broke the top ten (how my high school colleague would have heard it, no doubt). “White Flags” is kind of sexy, with its half-closed eyes as metaphors for the white flags of surrender.

Should you start your BOC collection with “Club Ninja”? No, don’t do that. However if someone else does it try not to be a dick. Just congratulate them on the album’s good moments and then gently suggest “Fire of Unknown Origin” or “Secret Treaties” might also be to their liking.

Best tracks:   White Flags, Perfect Water, Shadow Warrior 

CD Odyssey Disc 779: Capercaillie

Happy long weekend! I spent my first day off getting my tattoo sleeve completed. After three sessions over four months I am glad to be done, and I’m feeling a little badass, truth be told.

What is not as much fun is getting your elbow ditch tattooed and being unable to fully bend your arm. I had no appreciation for how often I rely on my dominant hand to fetch things and bring them to the vicinity of  my head (shampoo, toothpaste, food) until I had to use my off hand to do it. Is this what life is like for right handed people all the time?

On to the music – it took me a while to write this one. I was enjoying listening to the album so much I delayed the review.

Disc 779 is….Secret People

Artist: Capercaillie

Year of Release: 1993

What’s up with the Cover? I have no idea. Is it a mike stand? A Celtic artifact? A cinnamon bun? This cover is confusing and – even worse – unappealing. Next time just put the band standing there posing awkwardly in outdated fashions. It’s folk tradition!

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan of Capercaillie from their previous three records. I didn’t have much money in 1993, but I found enough to buy this album when it came out.

How It Stacks Up: I have a hard time stacking up Capercaillie albums; I like each of them for different reasons. However they stack up, “Secret People” is one of the better ones. I’ll put it second or third out of the nine albums I have.

Ratings: 4 stars

Capercaillie is the gold standard I hold my Celtic folk music against, and “Secret People” is one of the reasons why.

Not content with the minor forays into a more modern sound they started on 1991’s “Delirium,” “Secret People” takes a few risks with both their sound and their fans, and it pays off at every turn.

The core of the band’s sound remains, anchored melodically by the angelic voice of Karen Matheson and the unmatched brilliance of Charlie McKerron’s fiddle.

Yes, I said unmatched. You can pick whatever fiddle player you like, but for my money there is none better than McKerron. He hits the instrument with a power that makes you think the bow is going to saw right through the neck, yet despite being both fast and furious he delivers emotional energy and precision at every turn.

Sometimes he is just a flourish to the overall experience, like the hook he plays to start off “Four Stone Walls” and other times he just takes the whole song over as he does on “The Whinney Hills Jigs.”

Matheson is vocally his equal – the greatest voice I’ve heard in folk music, and as good as anything you hear elsewhere. Some women folk singers have a sing-song quality that masks a lack of power throughout their vocal range. Not Matheson, who soars through every note low and high, dominating soft and soulful songs like “Oran” and “An Eala Ban” with the same grace that she hits the up-tempo demands of songs like “Hi Rim Bo” and “Black Fields.”

Alone, McKerron or Matheson could carry a whole band on their shoulders, but combined they are a music miracle.

On “Secret People” Capercaillie branches out and adds rock and world elements to their music. “Seice Ruaridh (Roddy’s Drum)” is a masterclass of vocal precision from Matheson starting at a measured pace and shifting gears up into the realm of the ridiculous. Two-thirds of the way through, Capercaillie adds in electric guitar. It has no business working but it is done so perfectly, and within the context of the song’s development that it is a perfect fit. “Roddy’s Drum” consistently gets me thrashing my head around to the sheer energy of it all as much as any metal song ever has.

Lyrically, half of the songs are in Gaelic. I don’t speak a word of it but it doesn’t matter. Matheson’s delivery tells you everything you need to know about the song’s emotional intent.

The songs in English are equally good. Despite a slight taint of nineties production, “Stinging Rain” is a song that is both sad and defiant. It isn’t totally clear what it is about (I suspect spousal abuse) but it doesn’t matter. When Matheson sings:

“If you think you can hold me down I beg to differ

If you think you can twist my words, I’ll sing forever”

All you really need to know is that no one is going to defeat her spirit, however they’re trying to manage it.

I’ve owned “Secret People” for over twenty years and I still put it on every chance I get (which is less than I like, since Sheila doesn’t like Capercaillie). I’ve listened to a lot of folk music, and I haven’t found many albums I like better.

Best tracks:   Four Stone Walls, The Whinney Hills Jigs, An Eala Ban (the White Swan), Seice Ruaridh (Roddy’s Drum), Stinging Rain, Oran, Black Fields

CD Odyssey Disc 778: Guns N Roses

We had been on a nice run of four star albums, but all good things must come to an end.

Disc 778 is….Use Your Illusion I

Artist: Guns ‘n’ Roses

Year of Release: 1991

What’s up with the Cover? This is a tiny detail pulled out of the famous Renaissance painting by Raphael called “School of Athens” which features a bunch of philosophers. I have always loved the full painting - here it is:

I have this picture on my office wall at work. A print, mind you, not the original; that’s at the Vatican and the Pope simply refuses to part with it.

How I Came To Know It: I really liked the earlier two Guns n’ Roses album, so I bought this one when it came out as soon as I could afford to. Then a couple years later I sold it for beer money. Four or five years ago, I bought it again since I now have enough money to buy both beer and CDs. It is truly a golden age.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Guns ‘n’ Roses albums and “Use Your Illusion I” is the worst. I put it fourth.

Ratings: 2 stars

In 1991 Guns N Roses were so big that they were able to pull something as ridiculous as releasing two bloated albums on the same day and have them both go to #1 even though neither one is very good. “Use Your Illusion I” is the crappier of these two overhyped and underwhelming records.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Molly Hatchet lately and for the most part I’ve enjoyed it. There are plenty of songs on “Use Your Illusion I” that remind me of Molly Hatchet, just not as good. Not as good as Molly Hatchet is not good, my friends. This record is bloated, self-absorbed and overblown but more than anything else, it just has too many songs and hardly any of them are memorable.

“Use Your Illusion I” is sixteen tracks and over 75 minutes of music, and remember the band still released a whole second album at the same time. Among the music on the first volume are two monstrosities in the form of “November Rain” (9 minutes) and “Coma” (10 minutes).

I used to enjoy “November Rain,” but hearing it almost 25 years later I think it is mostly tricks of production. It has a pretty string section and Axl Rose’s signature vibrato. Other than that it is a pretty boring song construction that hides this fact by taking forever to get going and then ends with a three minute fade out/guitar solo that ends in the sound of rain falling. As a guitar player Slash has a nice tone, but all of this stuff is just a trick to mask a song that’s best feature was the short-skirt wedding dress of Axl Rose’s girlfriend in the video. As for “Coma,” I never enjoyed that song and still don’t.

In fact, the best song on “Use Your Illusion I” is their cover version of Wings’ “Live and Let Die” and that just shows that Paul McCartney is a genius, not Guns N’ Roses. It is a pretty sweet cover, and I think I like it as much as the original, but the best song on your album shouldn’t be a cover song unless you’re doing an album of folk standards.

Other highlights include “The Garden” which is driven by fine guitar work from Slash and some sweet vocals from Alice Cooper. I wish this song was on an Alice Cooper album featuring Slash, rather than the other way around.

I also really like “Don’t Damn Me” which is Axl Rose at his spitting and angry best, as he dismisses all the haters out there for the umpteenth time. Sure this is an old routine with Axl, but he is a master at getting righteously indignant. “Don’t Damn Me” has a visceral energy that hearkens back to the raw genius of “Appetite for Destruction.”

Beyond these high points, this album is mostly a hodge-podge of forgettable songs played loud in an effort to make them better.

When I first bought this album and its sister record, “Use Your Illusion II” I figured there was enough good music to boil down to a single record, but nowhere near enough for two.  I’d call that album “Use Your Illusion 1.5” but for it to be more than an EP, “II” will have to be a whole lot better than “I” turned out.

Best tracks:  Live and Let Die, The Garden, Don’t Damn Me