PHIL OCHS
THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE
1989-ELEKTRA
Produced By MICHAEL OCHS
1. What's That I Hear
2. One More Parade
3. Too Many Martyrs
4. Power And The Glory
5. I Ain't Marching Anymore
6. Draft Dodger Rag
7. The Highwayman
8. Here's To The State Of Mississippi
9. There But For Fortune
10. I'm Going To Say It Now
11. Is There Anybody Here
12. Cops Of The World
13. Ringing Of Revolution
14. Santo Domingo
15. Bracero
16. Love Me, I'm A Liberal
17. Changes
18. When I'm Gone
Had there been no Bob Dylan, there would have been no Phil Ochs. And yet, were it not for Dylan, Ochs would have become a much bigger name. He was not without his strengths, which also turned out to be his weaknesses. He was a very good singer, but he always sounded more like he was doing a jingle for chewing gum than protesting racism and Vietnam (he sings "The Marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo" the same way one might sing ""Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".). He was a very good writer, but sounded more like a journalist (which he actually was) than a passionate songwriter.
Nevertheless, There But For Fortune is a compilation from 3 long out of print Ochs albums from 1964-66. And if you can get past the good timey singing, it's actually very fine. Many of his better songs are featured here, including the classic "Love Me, I'm A Liberal" and maybe his best song, "Changes". This is an interesting look back at folk music in the 60's that wasn't Bob Dylan. A nice, almost forgotten piece of history. Ochs committed suicide in 1976, and his music seemed to go down with him. So this is a good way to remember one of folk's leading lights.
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THE KNACK
SERIOUS FUN
1991-CHARISMA
Produced By DON WAS
1. Rocket O' Love
2. I Want Love
3. Serious Fun
4. One Day At A Time
5. River Of Sighs
6. Let's Get Lost
7. Can Tickle
8. Shine
9. Won't Let Go/Aces & Eights
10. Body Talk
11. (I'll Be) Your Mau Mau
12. Doin' The Dog
After the explosion of their debut album and the critical backlash that followed, The Knack broke up for a while...then came back with this. Serious Fun finds the band produced by Don Was, and the result is a slick, Starship/Journey sounding arena rock effort that sadly misses the mark. "I Want Love" can sound pretty good turned way up, and there are moments where they sound ready to bust loose like they did in 1979, but for the most part, this is not so good. And the further in you go, the worse it gets. By the end of the album, you've pretty much tuned it all out. And the opening track, "Rocket O' Love", is a great sounding embarrassment.
The drums are great, and the sound is great...the whole lecherous I want sex experience that is the Knack just sounds...creepy at this point. Worth a listen, but not much more than that.
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JOAN BAEZ
DIAMONDS & RUST
1975-A&M
Produced By DAVID KERSHENBAUM & JOAN BAEZ
1. Diamonds & Rust
2. Fountain Of Sorrow
3. Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer
4. Children And All That Jazz
5. Simple Twist Of Fate
6. Blue Sky
7. Hello In There
8. Jesse
9. Winds Of The Old Days
10. Dida
11. I Dream Of Jeannie/Danny Boy
Joan Baez is blessed with a stunning voice, and she was one of the leading lights in the 60's folk scene. Here she comes back from a period of obscurity with what may be her best songwriting moment. The title track is a beautiful tune, and was even covered successfully by none other than Judas Priest. Her choice of covers is smart...Jackson Browne ("Fountain Of Sorrow"), John Prine ("Hello In There"), Janis Ian ("Jesse"), as well as songs from Stevie Wonder and The Allman Brothers Band. And when she slips into Dylan voice on "Simple Twist Of Fate"...priceless.
The lows are her own songs outside of the title track. "Dida" and "Children And All That Jazz" are unlistenable, even as good as her voice is. Otherwise, this would rate much higher...but it's hard to get past those terrible pieces of filler. Still, skip past them and you have a very interesting album with several high points.
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LOU REED
MAGIC AND LOSS
1992-SIRE
Produced By LOU REED & MIKE RATHKE
1. Dorita
2. What's Good
3. Power And Glory
4. Magician
5. Sword Of Damocles
6. Goodby Mass
7. Cremation
8. Dreamin'
9. No Chance
10. Warrior King
11. Harry's Circumcision
12. Gassed And Stoked
13. Power And Glory Part II
14. Magic And Loss
Recorded during the period of the Velvet Underground reunions, Magic And Loss is an album about dealing with death. Two of Reed's close friends, Doc Pomus and Rotten Rita, had died of cancer recently. What better way to deal with it than through your music? The results are mostly powerful. "What's Good" was actually Reed's second #1 hit on the Modern Rock charts (a great song). And although the rest will sound foreign to those looking for hits, there are a lot of great moments. The somber depth of "Magician", the fury of "Warrior King", and best of all, the stunning and cringe inducing spoken word piece "Harry's Circumcision", an ode to self mutilation.
Reed is on his game here. This is not his best album, but it's a very fine effort, showing why he has endured for so long. When Lou Reed puts out an album, you should at least listen once. You'll usually be back for more.
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HEART
DREAMBOAT ANNIE
1976-CAPITOL
Produced By MIKE FLICKER
1. Magic Man
2. Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)
3. Crazy On You
4. Soul Of The Sea
5. Dreamboat Annie
6. White Lightning & Wine
7. (Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song
8. Sing Child
9. How Deep It Goes
10. Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)
Tell me if you've heard this story before. A pair of siblings lead a band through its debut album in a style that's thought to be dead to great success. They string together a couple more hits over the years, but too many personnel changes and some ill advised changes in style to try and keep up with the changing music scene lead to some unfortunate recordings and a "remember when they were kick ass" feeling among fans....
Anyway, Ann & Nancy Wislon roared out of Seattle with the debut of Heart, bringing the female voice back to rock & roll with a bang. "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You" were monster hits, and there were other great songs as well. The trippy "Soul Of The Sea" and the rocking "Sing Child" made this a hugely successful debut. The main weapon is the voice of Ann Wilson, and the label of Female Led Zeppelin soon followed. Dreamboat Annie is mostly excellent, an important part of the evolution of rock in the 70's, and part of the birth of arena rock. Part of why 1976 was such a great time to be 15.
Heart went on to a still continuing career, but they never matched their debut. Aside from Ann & Nancy, the lineup has been continuously changing, and the writing more diluted with each album. So if you're going to have one Heart album, this is the one you should have.
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1. Lie To Me
2. Darker Side
3. Good Morning Little School Girl
4. Still Wonder
5. Matchbox
6. Back For A Taste Of Your Love
7. A Quitter Never Wins
8. Hit The Ground Running
9. Rack 'Em Up
10. When I Come To You
11. There's Gotta Be A Change
12. Missing Your Love
I guess when you grow up in Fargo, ND, you get the blues pretty quickly. Jonny Lang was 15 years old when he recorded Lie To Me, and he already had an independantly released album to his credit and plenty of time touring with his band. His guitar playing shows signs of being on the way to brilliance, but his voice is already all growed up. Lang sounds at 15 like a man who has been around the block a few time already. Even if Lang wasn't 15 years old, this would have been an impressive debut. The fact that he WAS 15 at the time makes it kind of awe inspiring. Way to go, kid!
Turns out Lang was living pretty hard for a kid, and in 1998, he disappeared for 5 years to straighten up, kick drugs and find religion. He's still a great performer, but Lie To Me remains his high mark. Get this...you'll be amazed.
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ROXY MUSIC
SIREN
1975-REPRISE
Produced By CHRIS THOMAS
1. Love Is The Drug
2. End Of The Line
3. Sentimental Fool
4. Whirlwind
5. She Sells
6. Could It Happen To Me?
7. Both Ends Burning
8. Nightingale
9. Just Another High
Siren is the 5th album by Roxy Music, and it's about as good as it gets. This band is mostly forgotten these days, but they are well worth remembering. And Siren is an incredible work. Bryan Ferry was at his peak, and the songs are all great. "Love Is The Drug" is the only track that gets any airplay these days, and that's pretty rare. But it's still a great song. The rest still sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. "End Of The Line", "Both Ends Burning", "Sentimental Fool" and "Just Another High" all illustrate just how good this band was.
Siren predates New Wave music by a good 5 years, and still stands as equal or better than anything recorded in that genre. This is a truly great album, one that deserves to be rediscovered. Absolutely fine stuff, an almost perfect album.
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TORI AMOS
FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL
1998-ATLANTIC
Produced By TORI AMOS
1. Spark
2. Cruel
3. Black-Dove (January)
4. Raspberry Swirl
5. Jackie's Strength
6. i i e e e
7. Liquid Diamonds
8. She's Your Cocaine
9. Northern Lad
10. Hotel
11. Playboy Mommy
12. Pandora's Aquarium
After becoming famous for her solo piano and vocal work, Tori Amos goes full band on Choirgirl Hotel. The result is an industrial sound that actually kind of works. There is some noise, but there are also some good songs, and the added instrumentation forces Amos to show more of her vocal ability...which she does quite well. Nothing is a real standout, but nothing is bad, either. It's a very consistent effort, and very well done. This may have turned off a lot of her fans, but it was a good step forward for her.
Also, there are no pig suckling photos, which is a good thing. Amos has since moved away from the spotlight, but this is a great way to hear her outside of the work that made her famous.
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CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN
OUR BELOVED REVOLUTIONARY SWEETHEART
1988-VIRGIN
Produced By DENNIS HERRING
1. Eye Of Fatima (Pt. 1)
2. Eye Of Fatima (Pt. 2)
3. O Death
4. She Divines Water
5. Devil Song
6. One Of These Days
7. Turquoise Jewelry
8. Waka
9. Change Your Mind
10. My Path Belated
11. Never Go Back
12. The Fool
13. Tania
14. Life Is Grand
With the indie hits "Take The Skinheads Bowling" and "Where The Hell Is Bill", Camper Van Beethoven became the equivalent of R.E.M. with a sense of humor. Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart is their major label debut, and it may be their best album. The band uses odd instrumentation and clever songwriting, and it mostly works. Most of Sweetheart is catchy and very different sounding, with lots of violin, trumpet, mandolin, and dark humor. While this is more serious than their previous work, it's still pretty funny in spots, and musically well done. "One Of These Days", "Tania", and "Eye Of Fatima" are highlights.
The band broke up in 1989, and singer David Lowery went on to form Cracker. CVB reformed for an album in the late 90's, and also released Tusk, a cover of the Fleetwood Mac album that was recorded around the time of Sweetheart.
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SMASHING PUMPKINS
SIAMESE DREAM
1993-VIRGIN
Produced By BUTCH VIG & BILLY CORGAN
1. Cherub Rock
2. Quiet
3. Today
4. Hummer
5. Rocket
6. Disarm
7. Soma
8. Geek USA
9. Mayonaise
10. Spaceboy
11. Silverfuck
12. Sweet Sweet
13. Luna
Heavily influenced by 70's rock and, for a moment, the holder of the torch of rock in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death, Smashing Pumpkins were actually a very big deal for a very short time. They were incorrectly labeled a grunge band, unfairly compared to Janes Addiction, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and ultimately, misunderstood. Siamese Dream is their second album, and thanks to the hits "Cherub Rock", "Today", "Disarm" and "Rocket", they were huge stars. And while Siamese Dream has some great moments and is a powerful album, it's also not as great as advertised. Siamese Dream was a great moment for this band and gave them their short lived success, but it doesn't come without its weaknesses.
The Pumpkins fell apart by the end of the 90's and were gone. They are kind of back together now, and are releasing an album one song at a time online. The story of their career continues...they just don't know when to say enough.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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And crashing through the walls
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