CD Odyssey Disc 1493: The Dead Kennedys

After a busy work week, I am happy to now be cruising through a long weekend. The latter half of my week was buoyed considerably by this next record.

Disc 1493 is…. Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death

Artist: The Dead Kennedys

Year of Release: 1987, featuring music from 1980-1987

What’s up with the Cover? A disembodied head floats above what appears to be a checkerboard of emaciated bodies or maybe garbage. A floor made bodies and garbage is sure to attract a bunch of hungry vultures, which is exactly what’s happened here. If this cover disturbs you that’s the intent. It could also be a sign you might not want to listen to the record, or maybe even read this review.

Still with me? OK – here we go…

How I Came To Know It: My friend and former roommate Greg put me onto this record, and the Dead Kennedys more generally. We didn’t agree on music all the time back then, but this was one of his records I liked a lot.

How It Stacks Up: “Give Me Convenience…” is a compilation record, so it doesn’t qualify for stacking or rating.

Ratings: I do not rate “best of” records but if I did this one would do well.

I took a wicked delight in blasting the Dead Kennedys out of my convertible Jaguar this week. It’s not the kind of music the typical Jag owner is going to be sharing at a traffic light. The Dead Kennedys are punk rock masters at the art of shocking people though, and would have either appreciated the juxtaposition, or failing that, that I don’t really care if they would have appreciated it.

That “go fuck yourself” attitude of the Dead Kennedys came at a time in my life exactly when I needed it. The Dead Kennedys gave a voice to my frustration when I was young, broke, and so uncertain of my future that it didn’t bear contemplating. Years later, life has worked out pretty well, but record remains as great as ever, and felt like a rush of tempestuous youth being injected into my veins.

A big part of this is the visceral energy the Kennedys bring to their music. Every song is the musical equivalent of a street fight, with the band swinging haymakers at you from the first note. In punk tradition they play with a sloppy abandon, but this is a surface illusion – underneath they are playing tight tunes with melodic structures that would work played in any number of other styles.

As you might expect from a band named after the untimely deaths of members of the Kennedy family, the songs are not silly little love songs. They are a mix of biting social and political commentary, with a side of substance abuse thrown in for good measure. Lead singer Jello Biafra tackles each of them like a snarling dog, clearly revelling in lyrics designed for maximum shock value. If you don’t like your art up in your face, then this band is not for you. Maybe stick to “The Water Lilies”.

“Police Truck” is about a crew of bad cops cruising the city looking for drunks to pummel and women to harass. “Too Drunk to Fuck” is about exactly what you imagine it is about, with plenty of very specific imagery to paint the scene in clear and present detail. Monet, it is not.

When the Kennedys go full political, no one escapes their wrath, and no topic or metaphor is taboo. On “Holiday in Cambodia” Biafra imagines wealthy western elites getting a wake-up call in the killing fields of Pol Pot. On “California Uber Alles” he compares then California governor Jerry Brown to Hitler, and west coast hippies as his stormtroopers. The song is a smorgasbord of hippy and fascist imagery being intertwined, such as:

“Zen fascists will control you
Hundred percent natural
You will jog for the master race
And always wear the happy face”

And:

“Now it is 1984
Knock-knock at your front door
It's the suede denim secret police
They have come for your uncool niece”

Highly inappropriate? Without question, and that’s the Dead Kennedys for you.

The album peters out a bit near the end, with a collection spoken word bits, live performances and experimental song snippets that make things drag on a bit. I suspect this is a deliberately decision. The clue is in the album title, “Give Me Convenience, or Give Me Death” being a nod to the annoying consumer aspect of a ‘greatest hits’ album in the first place. The Kennedys respond with most of what you want, and then a healthy dose of “go fuck yourself” to round out the collection. They give you convenience right enough, but they don’t want you to feel complacent about it.

This record reinvigorated my love of the Dead Kennedys and I investigated their full discography as a result. There was a lot of good stuff in there, which I’m now eager to add to my collection.

Best tracks: Police Truck, Too Drunk to Fuck, California Uber Alles, The Man With the Dogs, Life Sentence, Holiday in Cambodia, I Fought the Law, Pull My Strings, Kinky Sex (Makes the World Go Around)

CD Odyssey Disc 1492: The Acorn

My apologies for the delay in this review, gentle readers. I was off last week and I had fewer opportunities to get in the requisite listens to this album.

Disc 1492 is…. Heron Act

Artist: The Acorn

Year of Release: 2008

What’s up with the Cover? With the circular stitching, this looks a bit like a throw pillow you might find on a grandma’s couch. I got this record second hand, and much like that pillow at Grandma’s, it might have a stain or two. Not the couch, though. Grandma’s got that covered in plastic.

How I Came To Know It: I read about the Acorn on a list of obscure indie folk records I should check out. I think it was a Paste Magazine article. The album they were referencing was 2007’s “Glory Hope Mountain” which I liked and also led me to their other work. Like this one.

How It Stacks Up: “Heron Act” is a collection of live songs and as such, it can’t really stack up as a studio record.

Ratings: 2 stars

I thought I liked “Heron Act” and having searched for it for so long I must’ve forgotten how or why I wanted it in the first place. It turned out to be a bunch of live versions and demos. Which led me back to wondering why I wanted it in the first place.

Many listens in, this question remains unanswered. Seven of the ten tracks are songs I already have on and for the most part I prefer the studio versions. The entire experience left me feeling a bit foolish, with the taunts of Cake singing “how much do you pay for your rock and roll lifestyle?” echoing in my ears.

“Heron Act” is pretty enough, although generally I found the Acorn willing to take a pretty melody and fill in all the edges with a bit too much of this, that or the other. Drums roll, guitars trill, and various other sounds bounce about in your ears (or car) depending on the mode of listening. These songs could use a bit more stillness.

Singer Rolf Klausener has a light and pretty voice that naturally draws you in, but he doesn’t do anything spectacular enough for me to want to trade the repeated tracks from “Glory Hope Mountain” in for their live/demo cousins.

In fact, I’d rather talk about those seven songs when I review that record sometime down the line. Instead of ruining the joy of that discovery, let’s just focus on the three tunes I didn’t already have, shall we?

The first of these is “Brokered Heart,” which has all the busyness of the album in general but is even a bit more clamorous than usual. It also features some annoying wood clacker that made me think a kid was riding his bike by the recording session with a playing card in the spokes, or maybe that the tape had broken and was spinning in the player. Except I was listening on CD.

“Dents” immediately follows, and this song is a damned pretty one, filled with lush lyrics like:

“I can see your years in my reflection,
Dents and cracks embedded in my skin
Maywood bloom in fireworks and fury
For all the times I didn't let you win.”

That are a bit overwrought, but beautiful nonetheless. I’m not 100% what the song is about, but it gave me a serious case of sad acceptance, and I enjoyed the wallow.

The final of the three “new” (to me) songs was a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Good Enough” which she recorded for the Goonies Soundtrack. Here’s a fun fact about me: I fucking hate that movie. Always have. I do not remember the original song at all. I expect this is because I dug Cyndi Lauper and would have had a hard time reconciling this with how I felt about the movie.

Anyway, once I read that it was a Cyndi Lauper song I went and listened to the original. Still didn’t ring a bell. It was OK, but it’s no “Time After Time.” If you judge the success of a cover with how different the new version is from the original, then Acorn’s rendition is a runaway winner. It is very different, as they take it from a boppy eighties movie hit to a slow and meandering indie folk tune.

As for me, I did not like the Acorn version. It starts out promising enough, but the drone of the string section (cello, I think?) is so high in the mix that it becomes oppressive. It made my car doors rattle and was only slightly less kind to my eardrums during a listen on headphones.

If you are a huge Acorn fan, then I can see “Heron Act” being a must-have record for you. It has a lot of your favourite tunes, and these versions are sufficiently different that you will revel in those differences. Kind of like how unabashed Blue Oyster Cult fans like me revel in the “no cowbell” demo of “(Don’t) Fear the Reaper.” It is awesome, but it helps if you were there from the beginning.

I was not there from the beginning for the Acorn, and I am a decidedly late bloomer. This could be why “Heron Act” failed to grab my attention, although it did remind me that I want to listen more to “Glory Hope Mountain” which is cool. Beyond that I think I’ll pass it along in the hopes it will find its way into the home of a superfan where it belongs.

Best tracks: Dents

CD Odyssey Disc 1491: Kvelertak

I am just back from a whirlwind family visit and while it was fun to get some highway driving in my new car, I admit the experience has me a bit knackered. This next album got its listens on a BC ferry to and from my destination.

Disc 1491 is…. Splid

Artist: Kvelertak

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? This is what would have happened if John James Audubon had an interest in gene splicing in addition to bird watching.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review of this record when it came out and decided to give it a listen. I liked what I heard.

How It Stacks Up: Kvelertak has released four albums, but “Splid” is the only one I have so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 3 stars

According to Wikipedia Kvelertak means “stranglehold” or “chokehold” in Norwegian. This is disturbing until you realize that English has two words for the same thing. You know, in case you need to express some nuance in that choking. Or strangling. Frankly, while ‘choking’ is obviously violent, “strangling” implies even greater malice and a degree of finality to the experience. So maybe it is more troubling that Norwegian doesn’t differentiate. Anyway, I digress.

As for Kvelertak’s music, it is evocative of neither choking nor strangling, but it is heavy metal, so it’s not full of whimsy either. Instead, these Norwegian rockers engage in traditional heavy metal, crossed with groove metal and a few other odds and ends thrown in as the mood moves them. The one constant is their heavy (and brilliant) reliance on guitar.

Three of the five band members play guitar, with Maciek Ofstad taking lead duties. At times it feels like a chorus of guitars, all harmonizing with one another in service to the tune. The riffs are exceptional throughout. I didn’t listen to this album during my highway driving time (I was checking out some new music on the road) and I regret not having time for at least one spin of the record in the car. The riffs seem simple, but they have a natural circular quality, akin to a good fiddle tune, cycling ever in on themselves, with each iteration amping up the energy. These tunes are built as driving anthems, although you would do well to keep an eye on your speedometer while indulging.

As for what the songs are about, most are in Norwegian so I have no idea. I’m going to guess that “Stevenemote Med Satan” has something to do with…Satan? And “Delirium Tremens” is probably about sobering up, since that’s a Latin phrase used by both languages.

The one song in English is “Crack of Doom” which is a pretty dope tune that features Mastodon singer Jason Sanders, making it that much doper. This tune is balls to the wall energy, although with lyrics as gratuitously confusing as:

“Revved up and ready to roll
Trading nights for days
Trading in my soul
Get a fix, guzzle and yowl
Watch me fly
Like a goddamn owl”

I’m just as happy to listen to Norwegian. Then again, there is nothing wrong with flying like a goddamn owl!

My favourite tune on the record is “Bratebrann” which opens with some killer drum rolls (although the band tends to put the drums a bit too low in the mix – see “three guitars” above). It then switches to a guitar riff that is reminiscent of early Motley Crue with a side of Judas Priest. There is also a creepy evil chorus that would make Ghost proud. The combined effect is gratuitous in all the right ways.

The album has a lot of tunes that evoke earlier metal gods, and you can tell the boys of Kvelertak are enthusiastic students of metal’s history. “Fanden ta dette hull!” is particularly glorious and had me thinking of Canadian metal god Thor.

They draw on multiple sub-genres, often mixing these on a single song. The echoing guitar at the start of “Tevling” evokes eighties New Wave (which is paired with some Hard-Core screaming. On “Necrosoft” they add in Black Metal screaming, while eschewing the double bass drum.

And although not specific to the music, the liner notes for “Splid” are brilliant. Instead of printing the lyrics or a bunch of band photos they provide 2-4 lines that describe (?) the song, or just evoke a crazy image for no apparent reason (since I can’t understand Norwegian, I don’t know which). Some of my favourite tracks for these “liner notes” are:

Necrosoft: “There comes a day when you have to choose between the free-flowing river, and electric guitar.”

Uglas Hegemoni: “In your newly knitted sweater from Baphomet’s ball of yarn, surrender yourself to the Owl’s hegemony and suck Mammon’s cock.”

Stevnemote Med Satan: “Death’s hokum is waiting for you again. You’ve been cooked and damned. You’re on a date with Satan.” (ed. note: I knew it!).

Kvelertak can sound corny in places, but it is always the best possible corny, and their musicianship is solid. They also knock out more powerful, energized guitar action than you can shake a stick at. As for Satan, do they love him or is it more of a Ghost-like act for entertainment purposes? I have no idea. They do seem to be genuinely fond of owls.

Best tracks: Crack of Doom, Bratebrann, Fanden ta dette hull!, Tevling, Stevenewmote med Satan

CD Odyssey Disc 1490: Fleetwood Mac

For the second time in three reviews (and the third since Disc 1423) I’ve rolled the same band. This is what happens when I get over excited about a band’s back catalogue. As you will read, this excess of enthusiasm is not always rewarded.

Disc 1490 is…. Tango in the Night

Artist: Fleetwood Mac

Year of Release: 1987

What’s up with the Cover? A painting by Brett-Livingston Strong called “Homage A Henri Rousseau”. Rousseau was famous for painting jungle scenes just like this one. I like lush greenery as much as the next guy, so I say “sure” to this cover.

How I Came To Know It: More of me digging through the back catalogue of Fleetwood Mac.

How It Stacks Up: Of the four Fleetwood Mac albums I own, I put “Tango in the Dark” in at #4.

Ratings: 2 stars

“Tango in the Night” is everything normally good about Fleetwood Mac, blanched and overcooked into a pale imitation of their previous work. It is broccoli left too long in the steamer, and steak left too long on the grill – soggy, limp, bloodless and tough to digest.

I’m not sure where to start being angry at this record, so let’s just go with the first song. “Big Love” was a radio hit that I did not like in 1987 and like less now. It features a vaguely tribal beat, which is so artificial I imagined it was a tribe of accountants on a corporate retreat, shirts off to expose pasty chests smeared with DEET. Like a lot of songs on the record, “Big Love” sets up a rhythm and then recycles it endlessly. As for the production, the passable guitar is barely audible over the swamp of noise, but the non-sexy panting sounds are very much right up in your earhole.

“Big Love” was one of four radio hits off the record, and thankfully the other three are better. “Seven Wonders” is classic Stevie Nicks, with is vaguely witchy wonderment. It is too bad that the weird triangle sounds and soup of background synth work throughout the song work to strip it of its magic. They doesn’t entirely succeed, but try very hard.

1987 was the worst year in music history for production decisions, and early on that infamy is on full display. The two hits penned by Christine McVie (“Everywhere” and “Little Lies”) are best suited to weather this storm of boredom. In fact, “Everywhere” is a delightful love song. The bass line is gorgeous, the tune makes you want to twirl through a blossoming apple orchard and McVie’s vocals are full of purity and light. It is easily the best song on the record.

Fun fact – the video for "Everywhere" is a recreation of Alfred Noyes’ 1906 poem “The Highwayman” about a brigand and his love for the innkeeper’s daughter. The song has fuck all to do with that, but I like the poem. If you ever want to hear the full poem set to music, Loreena McKennitt does an awesome job of it on her album “Book of Secrets” (reviewed way back at Disc 552). Listen to that here.

OK, after a brief respite listening to Loreena McKennitt, honour compels me to return to “Tango in the Night.” The final hit, “Little Lies” is also a passable tune, although way too smooth and jazzy. Does it help to have vocals of “close your eyes” bouncing from one speaker to the other in a way that suggests the band just discovered the wonders of stereo? Um…kind of? Anyway, it is innocuous sugary pop, and like “Seven Wonders” not totally crushed by the production.

Step outside the hits, and the record has a whole lot of forgettable going on. “Caroline” returns to the metallic non-organic tribal beat experience. The title track has a guitar bit that I believe is attempting to approximate rock and roll, but falling well short. There is one long solo where Lindsey Buckingham gives it all he’s got and manages to land somewhere on the right side of the line (he reminded me a smidge of early eighties Buck Dharma here) but then, unsure of what to do next, the band retreats to the ultimate cop out in music composition – the fadeout.

“Family Man” is notably risible. It has all the stuff that makes the other songs bad (accountant style drumming, saturated production, recycled themes) but adds in awkward Spanish rhythms that are only one step away from sounding like the band 101 Strings.

I could go on to talk about all the other forgettable songs, but I’ll skip doing so because I’m 800 words in and you get the point. I’ll close by saying I’m under no illusions. I expect a certain dose of a.m. radio schmaltz in my Fleetwood Mac, but “Tango In the Night” goes way over that line. This record is a lukewarm and only intermittently pleasant bath that annoyed me more and more with each successive listen.

Best tracks: Seven Wonders, Everywhere, Little Lies

CD Odyssey Disc 1489: The Chicks

I was hoping to get my second shot along with Sheila today but alas, no extras available so I’ll wait my turn a few more days. I’m champing at the bit for the jab, though…

Disc 1489 is…. Taking the Long Way

Artist: Dixie Chicks/The Chicks

Year of Release: 2006

What’s up with the Cover? Glamour! Sheila tells me this “smoky eye” look was all the rage back in 2006. I like the Goth girl look more than most, but this particular smoky eye begs the question “are they zombies or are the vampires?” I’ll be hoping for vampire. It just feels like a better way to die, am I right? Either way, I would happily get in the car with these ladies.

How I Came To Know It: I was a fan when this record came out, but I didn’t buy it right away, even though I loved the big single. I think I hesitated out of fear that the record might feature a lot of pop production. Eventually I remembered that great music is not confined by genre and went and grabbed a copy.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Chicks albums which is all of them with this particular lineup of Emily Robison, Martie Maguire and Natalie Maines. I like all five records, but one has to come in last, and “Taking the Long Way” is that one. Since this is the final review of the albums in my collection, here is a recap:

1. Home: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 140)
2. Wide Open Spaces: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 407)
3. Gaslighter: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1411)
4. Fly: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 548)
5. Taking the Long Way: 3 stars (reviewed right here)

Ratings: 4 stars

My fears that “Taking the Long Way” would be wrecked by a lush pop production turned out to be unfounded. Not because it doesn’t feature that sound – it totally does – but because they make that sound work.

Part of this is the brilliance of producer Rick Rubin. I love that no matter what artist Rubin takes under his wing he always manages to locate the essence of what makes that artist special and bring it to full flower. He’s produced such disparate acts as LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash and Tom Petty and lands each of them just right.

“Taking the Long Way” presented an additional challenge. The Chicks’ previous album, “Home” was a return to their roots, heavy on the country and bluegrass influences. Following its release in 2002 they were rejected by many in the mainstream country world over a now-famous exclamation at one of their live shows. It was a deeply unfair and unwarranted response, but the Chicks were not cowed by it. Quite the contrary.

Instead they freed themselves from the trappings of genre, coming back with a record that fully embraced the pop influences that had flared intermittently in their previous records. Rubin, true to the artist as always, came in alongside them and helped make this evolution a sonic success. The result is mostly a pop record, but with a crossover into rock and country that would no doubt make the ghost of Gram Parsons proud.

In terms of tunes these songs are bold, brash with anthemic melodic structures that will have your heart soaring. The Chicks are all talented songwriters, and while many of the songs have shared credit, I can hear their bluegrass roots echo delightfully through the bones of these tunes.

Thematically, the record explores both the complex themes of fame (and when fame goes wrong in a fickle crowd) as well as the juxtaposition of the safe harbour represented in home and family.

On the fame front, the standout is “Not Ready to Make Nice” an anthem for the Chicks in response to their critics, but also handy for anyone who has decided they are going to stand their ground and speak their truth. The Chicks have been told to pipe down and their response is clear; a firmly raised and fully erect middle finger.

The song benefits from some great and unequivocal language, but the slow build in the arrangement also does a great job of underscoring a rising anger, and a greater still determination to be heard.

“The Long Way Around” is another winner, picking up on a theme first explored years earlier on the song “Wide Open Spaces”. That song is full of hope and promise of a young woman hitting the road for the first time. “Long Way Around” is that same road from the other side of experience, still thankful they took the long way.

On the family side, we have “Easy Silence” which captures the importance of a supportive home front. It is a gentle love song about those who provide a shield just by virtue of the peace and stillness they bring to a relationship. I think “Lullaby” is about having a kid. That’s not usually my jam but is such a pretty expression of motherly love I liked it anyway. Hey, I’ve got a heart too, friends.

As with the Chicks’ most recent record, “Gaslighter” all that lush production doesn’t let the individual talents of Emily and Martie shine as much as I like. They are both brilliant, but pop doesn’t afford those constant solo moments to show off like bluegrass does. Pop does love a singer, however, and Natalie Maines does a masterful job of being big and bold on the anthems, and sweet and vulnerable on the back home tunes.

The record features a ton of stars. There are a total of 18 guest musicians, and in addition to the oft -employed pedal steel of Lloyd Maines, we get treated to Mike Campbell on guitar, Benmont Tench on various keyboards and the legendary Bonnie Raitt singing backup. I’m not sure where they all appear, though. Rubin has decided to blend it all into a symphony of sound.  

While this is a good record, it is too damned long, with 14 songs, and well past 66 minutes of running time. None of the tunes are terrible, but the Chicks should have shaved 2-3 songs and 10 minutes off to allow those songs remaining to stand out better.

The album ends with the soulful sounds of “I Hope” which is essentially a church revival calling upon us all to cleave to our better selves. I’m a sucker for songs that appeal for us all to come together and smile on our brothers, and this one ticked all the boxes. It also has some of Maines best vocal work and some sweet Chicks’ harmony, standing out stark against the suddenly very light touch on the production. Rubin’s magic is still here, but apart from some sweet soloing for the organ and the electric guitar, he is content to shut up and let these three amazing women sing.

Best tracks: The Long Way Around, Easy Silence, Not Ready to Make Nice, Lullaby, I Hope

CD Odyssey Disc 1488: Fleetwood Mac

Last night I went to the drive-in! It was the first time since around 1978 (when I saw Superman from the back seat of a 1961 Rambler). In keeping with the seventies theme, here is the third album in a row from that decade!

Disc 1488 is…. Self-Titled

Artist: Fleetwood Mac

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover? Just like the Rumours cover, but instead of an artful dance pose, we get a hippy fun house. Look at how the tall guy is short! Isn’t it hilarious? And the other tall guy is super tall and drinking a beer. Isn’t it just delightfully whimsical?

No, it is not.

How I Came To Know It: Late last year I finally bit the bullet and bought Fleetwood Mac’s classic album “Rumours” (long a hole in my collection). This led me on a bit of a deep dive into the band’s back catalogue and this was one of a number of albums I bought in the process.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Fleetwood Mac albums, all from the mid-seventies through the late eighties. (Or to put it another way, when recently asked at a party “do you have any of the Peter Green albums?” I replied, “Who is Peter Green?” I may go investigate now that I know he exists (and apparently founded the band), but it’s all new to me. Admission of ignorance is the first step on the road to knowledge.

I’m still grokking the four albums I do have, making it hard to stack up, but I feel reasonably confident their self-titled album comes in at #2, just behind “Rumours.”

Ratings: 4 stars

The inordinate amount of radio play (FM and AM) that Fleetwood Mac has received over the years causes their hits to always stand out more when you finally put on a studio album. On this record that proved true, but there were also a few deep cuts that pleasantly surprised.

I didn’t have to look long to find one of those deep cuts, as the album’s opening track, “Monday Morning” jump starts the record with an upbeat sing-along groove. It is grounded in some sweet drumming from Mick Fleetwood, but you can still tell this is Buckingham’s song all the way. His high tenor vocals and airy head voice - all the rage with many a modern pop band - leads the way. Sure it is helped with a bit of well-placed backing vocals from Stevie Nicks, but this is Buckingham’s moment on a record where most of the best stuff to come will be fronted by the ladies.

This ability for three gifted vocalists (Buckingham, Nicks and Christine McVie) to each shine at different times, and then selflessly round out a song’s sound when it is someone else’s turn, is a key to the Fleetwood Mac sound, and the record features plenty of it.

Stevie Nicks has some of the album’s iconic and most enduring moments, including “Landslide” and “Rhiannon”. “Landslide” has since gone on to become an iconic Fleetwood Mac song, but it wasn’t one of the hits when originally released. I guess in that way it qualifies as one of those pleasantly surprising deep cuts, even if the surprise took a while.

“Landslide” features a powerful vocal performance from Nicks that manages a quiet confidence that belies the uncertainty and doubt expressed in the lyrics. I slightly prefer the Dixie Chicks’ cover version on their album “Home,” but there is no doubt that Nicks has the edge over Natalie Maines on the song’s more haunting elements.

“Rhiannon” is another Nicks tune, and one of the band’s most enduring hits. It evokes mysterious forest groves and eldritch romance. I’m not sure who Rhiannon is, but I am sure I’m willing to get lost in the woods to find out. “Rhiannon” is not just the great composition and lyrics of Nicks, however. In true Fleetwood Mac style, the rest of the band fills in the blank space to make the magic happen.

That magic is grounded in the insistent pull of Mcvie’s keyboard playing, and some great guitar work from Buckingham. Buckingham’s guitar sound on “Rhiannon” reminded me favourably of Blue Oyster Cult’s Buck Dharma. Long time readers will know this is high praise indeed.

Back to Christine McVie, who for me is the most consistently awesome member of the band. While I do not recommend her solo album she recorded as “Christine Perfect” (which I could not get through) she is the heart and soul of Fleetwood Mac. Her standouts here include “Over My Head” and “Say You Love Me” (both also hits).

“Over My Head” showcases the purity of McVie’s vocals and on “Say You Love Me” she gets her boogie woogie, singing in her lower register with equal grace. “Say You Love Me” also has some of those great Fleetwood Mac harmonies on the chorus. My only quibble is one verse that includes:

“…I’m getting weaker, weaker, weaker every day
I guess I’m not as strong as I used to be…”

This always irks me. Yes, if you are getting weaker, it follows that you’re not as strong. I don’t expect Christine to be “perfect” (get it? Get it?) but she can do better.

The only songs that fall a little short for me are “Crystal” and “I’m So Afraid” both of which seem a bit too packed in the arrangements, with melodies that can’t quite carry the burden. I think they are intended as immersive mood pieces, but I didn’t feel fully immersed in either one.

However, the rest of the record ranges from very good to nigh on perfect. It is another example of an iconic band at the top of their game.

Best tracks: Monday Morning, Rhiannon, Over My Head, Say You Love Me, Landslide, Sugar Daddy

CD Odyssey Disc 1486 and 1487: Gram Parsons

This next review is a two-in-one, which is what I do when I have two standalone studio albums on a single reissued CD. Makes for a longer review but hey – it’s two records!

Disc 1486 is…. GP
Disc 1487 is…Grievous Angel

Artist: Gram Parsons

Year of Release: 1973 (GP), 1974 (Grievous Angel)

What’s up with the Cover? The re-release wizards have gone with cutting the two original album covers down, meaning we get some of the original experience, but not all of it.

GP: What you keep: Gram Parson sitting like some kind of hippy royalty in a high-backed chair. What you miss out on: a table with a flower on it, and a full bottle of liquor.

Grievous Angel: What you keep: Gram Parson’s Giant Head. What you miss out on: Not much. Three big coloured stripes behind what is otherwise Gram Parson’s Giant Head.

How I Came To Know It: I don’t remember specifically. Gram Parsons is so interwoven with the artists that followed in his footsteps it is hard to recall a single thread that led me back to him. The most likely path was through Emmylou Harris, and all the cover versions she does of his songs.

How It Stacks Up: While I have Gram Parsons as part of the many other bands (more on that later) I only have these two Gram Parsons albums as a solo artist. That’s because those were all he released as a solo artist. Of these two albums I put “Grievous Angel” slightly ahead of “GP”.

Ratings: GP: 5 stars; Grievous Angel: 5 stars

In just a seven-year span (1968-1974) Gram Parsons walked a restless musical journey, releasing six albums with four different bands. He started with the International Submarine Band, then joined the Byrds, before co-founding the Flying Burrito Brothers and finishing up his with two solo records, “G.P.” and “Grievous Angel.”

None of these records would chart in their day, and Parsons would not even live to see the release of his final record. Despite this lack of commercial success, Parsons is today a legend, and his influence on music has blazed new paths in rock, folk and country music that are still revered and revisited to this day.

By the time Parsons had settled on his solo career, he had solidified the sound he’d crafted through those early records. It was a mix of fifties rock and roll, folk crooning and what nowadays would be considered modern country, but at the time may well have elicited expressions of “just what exactly is that?” Forget labels when it comes to Gram Parsons; the man just made beautiful music.

Before I get into specifics for each record, it is worth noting some things they have in common. The first is Parsons’ incredible stylistic range. Crooning FM radio folk tunes nestle comfortably beside old school country and a Bakersfield swing.

Parsons heartfelt vocals somehow manages to simultaneously channel schmaltzy lounge singer, teen heartthrob and travelling troubadour. And just when you think a song couldn’t be sung any sweeter, a young Emmylou Harris enters to drop sublime backing vocals that elevate things to a whole other level with her signature angelic quaver.

Both these records will break your heart, in part because you know they are Gram Parson’s last, and in part through the sheer brilliance of the work. Gram Parsons balled up heartache, regret and a weary but intense passion into two of the best records you will hear. It is a tragedy that we lost his talents so young, but a blessing he went out on such a high note.

GP:

GP’s only sin as a record is it is a half-step behind “Grievous Angel,” but it still stands on its own as one of country music’s great records. It may jerk a few fewer tears out of me, but it still has plenty of songs that hit where it hurts.

“We’ll Sweep the Ashes in the Morning” is one of music’s finest metaphors for a clandestine and guilt-ridden affair. Parson’s juxtaposes the burning fire of desire with the guilty feeling in the morning, where the couple must face their moral failings in the light of day. The light and trilling tune belies the seriousness of the issue, and captures both the devil-may-care attitude of lovers, and the regret of adults. Emmylou’s work on the tune – which is sung as a duet – captures the obvious chemistry between the two.

“Streets of Baltimore” showcases the misery of a man that agrees to move to the city with his wife, where he can never fit in. Trying to stay with her, his choices only tragically drive her farther away.

“She” is a classic tune, with one of the finest melodies in music, with the song climbing in triumph, only to slip back down like a drink of cool water as Gram sings, “but she sure could sing”.

But the best line on the record is from one of its more obscure songs. “Kiss the Children” features a jealous and angry man, the song ending ominously with:

“Son don’t play this crazy game with me no longer
‘Cause I won’t be able to resist my rage
And the gun that’s hanging on the wall, dear
Is like a road sign pointing straight to Satan’s cage.”

Yeesh. Pure menace.

Grievous Angel:

As good as “GP” is, “Grievous Angel” is one half-step better.

“Return of the Grievous Angel” introduces piano to the mix, grounding some loose high harmonies from Gram and Emmylou. The tune is a crazy mix of country twang and hitchhiking travel tune. The melody climbs all over like a twisting mountain road. Just when you think it can’t get any better, you’re treated to some sublime guitar and violin soloing, proving these tunes are not just about vocals and lyrics, but complete works of art.

“$1000 Wedding” is one of those songs that says more with what it doesn’t tell you than what it does. A joyous day turns tragic, ending in hard drinking and words of cold comfort from a priest. The way the tune drops down as Parsons sings “Supposed to be a funeral/It’s been a bad bad day” will break your goddamn heart.

Parson’s cover of “Love Hurts” is better than the Everly Brothers original, and easily the equal of Nazareth’s classic version (albeit very different). Not an easy feat.

But the greatest moment on the record is “In My Hour of Darkness,” a song cowritten by Parsons and Emmylou Harris. This song is both plea and answer, anguish and solace. If you’ve ever lost anyone, this song will bring that moment back with stark immediacy, but also give you a great big hug. Parsons and Harris sing the chorus like a church choir in a way that will make even an atheist feel a little religion.

Just like the lyrics suggest, I’ve turned to this song many times in my hour of darkness. I even read the following verse at my stepfather’s funeral:

“Then there was an old man
Kind and wise with age
And he read me just like a book and he
Never missed a page
And I loved him like a father
And I loved him like my friend
And I knew his time would shortly come
But I did not know just when.”

Hearing it tears me up and when you listen you’ll tear up too. Not for my memory, but because you’ve got your own, and great art is universal.

Both these records are great art that were underappreciated in their time. Nevertheless, they have sent ripples across the decades that followed, and we are all the richer for it.

Best tracks:

GP: All tracks but particularly We’ll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning, A Song For You, Streets of Baltimore, She, Kiss the Children, How Much I’ve Lied

Grievous Angel: All tracks, but particularly Return of the Grievous Angel, Hearts on Fire, $1000 Wedding, Love Hurts, Ooh Las Vegas, In My Hour of Darkness

CD Odyssey Disc 1485: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

Happy Canada Day! Sorry for the delay between reviews – I wanted to grok this record in its fulness and it took a little longer than I expected.

Disc 1485 is…. Carnage

Artist: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

Year of Release: 2021

What’s up with the Cover? LETTERS. If there is a hidden meaning in how these LETTERS are arranged, it is eluding me. Elsewhere in the CD booklet they are arranged differently. This did not help me crack the code, if there is one.

How I Came To Know It: I am a Nick Cave fan, so just buying his latest album. This one came out a few months ago but the CD release was delayed. I waited. I am patient if it means I can continue to collect my dead technology.

How It Stacks Up: I have 13 Nick Cave albums. “Carnage” comes in at #7. Note that these 13 albums do not include his two records with “Grinderman.”  I will discuss Grinderman when I roll either of their records which inexplicably has still not happened. Embrace the randomness!

Ratings: 4 stars

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are two edgy, weird dudes but it is kind of like Nick Cave sings on “Shattered Ground”:

"And there is a madness in her and a madness in me
And together it forms a kind of sanity.”

Not what that song is about, but on their latest collaboration, “Carnage,” it speaks to how the respective weirdness of these two makes for a great musical partnership. Cave’s vocals are like a priest in prayer, and the dread in his delivery leaves you wondering just what dark god he is praying to. A sexy one, for sure.

Paired with this is Warren Ellis, who also plays in Cave’s backing band the Bad Seeds. If you’ve seen Ellis in concert, banging away on any of the dozen or so instruments he attacks (‘plays’ being too mild a word to describe what happens) you know he is every bit the equal of Cave’s brooding intensity.

Compared against the sparse terrors of Skeleton Tree (2016) and the lush embrace of Ghosteen (2019), “Carnage” is more in line with the former, but the songs are less filled with sorrow, and more in line with the watery mood pieces featured on “Push the Sky Away” (2012). The melodies are generally brighter and hopeful, with songs like “Lavender Fields” showcasing a man who has come to terms with experience and loss, concluding only “People ask me how I’ve changed/I say it is a singular road.”

As on “Skeleton Tree” the songs feel like they have limitless space, but that space is filled with a sort of dark matter of ambient sound. Ellis did the arrangements and walks this “empty but full” paradox skillfully. There is plenty of synth but splashes of piano and the swell of strings (often in minor keys) rise up from the ether to set you on edge. On “White Elephant” they even make you a little horny, although the effect is intensified with lyrics like:

“I am a Botticelli Venus with a penis
Riding an enormous scalloped fan
I’m a sea foam woman rising from the spray
I’m coming to do you harm
With the gun in my pants full of elephant tears.”

Getting shot with that gun won’t require a doctor so much as a shower.

Cave’s poetry is the equal of music’s greats, up there with Leonard Cohen and similarly gifted at letting you into the labyrinthine secrets of his soul, without ever sounding false or forced.

Because of the layered and intricate aspects of both the lyrics and music, “Carnage” is an album that requires your full attention. It is one of the reasons it took me longer to get to the point where I could review it. Multiple listens in the car didn’t do it, and it was only when I fully surrendered to it, taking 40 minutes to just sit on a park bench and listen, that it finally revealed its secrets to me.

Once I did so I realized this was Cave’s (and Ellis’) best work in over a decade and well worth your time, should you have the courage and patience to explore its mysteries.

Best tracks: Hand of God, Carnage, White Elephant, Albuquerque, Lavender Fields, Shattered Ground