DAVID BYRNE
REI MOMO
1989-LUAKA BOP
Produced By STEVE LILLYWHITE & DAVID BYRNE
1. Independance Day (Cumbia)
2. Make Believe Mambo (Orisa)
3. The Call of The Wild (Merengue)
4. Dirty Old Town (Mapeye)
5. The Rose Tattoo (Bomba/Mozambique)
6. Loco De Amor (Salsa/Regga)
7. The Dream Police (Cha Cha Cha)
8. Don't Want To Be Part Of Your World (Samba)
9. Marching Through The Wilderness (Charanga)
10. Good And Evil (Rumba/Llesa)
11. Lie To Me (Merengue)
12. Office Cowboy (Pagode)
13. Women Vs. Men (Bolero)
14. Carnival Eyes (Mapeye)
15. I Know Sometimes A Man Is Wrong
David Byrne's solo work after leaving Talking Heads has much of the time been introductions to foreign rhythms. Rei Momo is that album, showcasing a wide variety of musical styles (see the listing above). It's very well played (although maybe a bit too clean), and for years, albums like this were the only real chance we had to hear what is now commonly called World music. Now, however, all of these styles are readily available, and by artists who are not copying it, but who play it as their natural style.
Not to say this isn't without merit. Byrne is always interesting, and this does have some great rythms and songs on it. But if you're looking to discover some great Latin musical styles, this is no longer the place to go for it.
The yellow portions of the CD cover, by the way, are decals. So don't break your case if you have this...it will be very hard to replace.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE CARS
1978-ELEKTRA
Produced By ROY THOMAS BAKER
1. Good Times Roll
2. My Best Friend's Girl
3. Just What I Needed
4. I'm In Touch With Your World
5. Don't Cha Stop
6. You're All I've Got Tonight
7. Bye Bye Love
8. Moving In Stereo
9. All Mixed Up
Ah, The Cars. You'd be hard pressed to find 5 people who list them as their favorite band...and you'd also have a hard time finding 5 people who hate them. Their debut came from nowhere in 1978, and gave us all a glimpse of what New Wave should have been like, before it actually happened. The album plays like a greatest hits disc, with everything from start to finish being familiar. They didn't overdo the keyboards, they put on a hefty helping of guitar, and they got the robotic vocal thing just right. Songs like "Good Times Roll" are stiff and overly clean...and they groove at the same time. How did they do it? We may never know.
This is still The Cars disc to have. They had some ups and downs in their career, but they never matched this album. It's a good time from start to finish.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
A NEW WORLD RECORD
1976-JET
Produced By JEFF LYNNE
1. Tightrope
2. Telephone Line
3. Rockaria!
4. Mission (A World Record)
5. So Fine
6. Livin' Thing
7. Above The Clouds
8. Do Ya
9. Shangri-la
Electric Light Orchestra is one of the more interesting bands to watch throughought their history. You can see, album by album, the band and their songs come together (before they fell apart in the 1980's). You can also trace the production skills of Jeff Lynne, who only got better on each album. By the time of A New World Record, Lynne was in a great place as a producer. And he had the hit song thing down as well. This album was a ridiculous success, boasting hits with "Telephone Line", "Livin' Thing", and "Do Ya", an old song Lynne carried over from The Move. The lineup here was their best, and this was their most successful album. It's very good, but maybe not their best.
After this record, the cracks began to show with Out of The Blue. This represents the peak of ELO, a pretty fine album. I do have a bias here: the tour for this album was my very first concert, with Elvin Bishop at McNichols Arena in Denver.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
BEN HARPER
WELCOME TO THE CRUEL WORLD
1994-VIRGIN
Produced By BEN HARPER & JP PLUNIER
1. The Three Of Us
2. Whipping Boy
3. Breakin' Down
4. Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave
5. Waiting On An Angel
6. Mama's Got A Girlfriend Now
7. Forever
8. Like A King
9. Pleasure And Pain
10. Walk Away
11. How Many Miles Must We March
12. Welcome To The Cruel World
13. I'll Rise
Welcome To The Cruel World is the debut album from Ben Harper. Unlike his later, more electric work, this is a folk solo album. What Harper has in his favor here is some great playing, alot of passion, a strong political sense, and more great playing. On the down side, you have to figure out how to stay awake through it all. This album, as good as it sounds, plays like molasses. Everything is really slow (with the exception of "Mama's Got A Girlfriend Now"), and everything seems to cry out for a nap as much as it does for his political causes.
Harper is a great slide guitar player, and a more than capable vocalist. His later albums utilize a full band setting more than this does. It's a good album. Just be sure you've had plenty of rest beforehand, or you'll be asleep by track 4.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
X
MORE FUN IN THE NEW WORLD
1983-ELEKTRA
Produced By RAY MANZAREK
1. The New World
2. We're Having Much More Fun
3. True Love
4. Poor Girl
5. Make The Music Go Bang
6. Breathless
7. I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
8. Devil Doll
9. Painting The Town Blue
10. Hot House
11. Drunk in My Past
12. I See Red
13. True Love Pt. #2
Bonus Tracks
14. Poor Girl
15. True Love Pt. #2
16. Devil Doll
17. I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
America's greatest punk band was great on its first 4 albums...this is the fourth. More Fun In The New World contains all of the things that made X great: smart, clever songs, the singing of John Doe and Exene Cervenka (best described as Johnny Cash & June Carter singing "Jackson" on a load of trucker's speed), the great playing of Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake. Songs like "The New World" and "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" hold up with any of their earlier material. X was always a lot of fun...this is no exception.
A few cracks do start to show here. The latter part of the album seems to run out of steam, which continued throughout later releases. More Fun, though, is the last great gasp of X. You should have the first 4 albums. If you don't, you're missing out on the best of American punk.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
STEVE VAI
ALIEN LOVE SECRETS
1995-RELATIVITY
Produced By STEVE VAI
1. Bad Horsie
2. Juice
3. Die To Live
4. The Boy From Seattle
5. Ya-Yo Gakk
6. Kill The Guy With The Ball/The God Eaters
7. Tender Surrender
Yeah, I know. Steve Vai played with Frank Zappa (although it was during Zappa's more unmelodic period). Vai learned to play from Joe Satriani (and apparently Satriani never got to the lesson titled RESTRAINT). Vai turned Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption" solo into a career (there's a reason why the song is less than 2 minutes long), and he ended up "replacing" Eddie when David Lee Roth went solo. Yes, he's a great player.
But that does not excuse the sins Vai has placed upon us. For instance, Alien Love Secrets. He had the nerve to paint himself silver and build a tuneless "song" around the utterances of his infant son on "Ya-Yo Gakk": he turns a hysterical horse noise into a hysterical guitar squeal on "Bad Horsie", and God only knows what he's trying to accomplish with "Kill The Guy With The Ball". Bottom line is this: Steve, it's bad enough that you're a pompous ass who doesn't know when to let your music breathe (or when a melody is appropriate). But trying to add your non-creative comparisons between non musical noises and your non musical guitar playing is quite another. Y'all disagree with this all you want. I just don't care. This album should have been sold with a bottle of Excedrin.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE BYRDS
SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO
1968-COLUMBIA/LEGACY
Produced By GARY USHER
1. You Ain't Going Nowhere
2. I Am The Pilgrim
3. The Christian Life
4. You Don't Miss Your Water
5. You're Still On My Mind
6. Pretty Boy Floyd
7. Hickory Wind
8. One Hundred Years From Now
9. Blue Canadian Rockies
10. Life In Prison
11. Nothing Was Delivered
Bonus Tracks
12. You Got A Reputation
13. Lazy Days
14. Pretty Polly
15. The Christian Life (Rehearsal Take #11)
16. Life In Prison (Rehearsal Take #11)
17. You're Still On My Mind (Rehearsal Take #43)
18. One Hundred Years From Now (Rehearsal Take #2)
19. All I Have Are Memories
In 1968, David Crosby was replaced in The Byrds by Gram Parsons. And although Parsons would be in the band for only 4 months, the effect was staggering. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo is the last great Byrds album, a move head first into country music. Parsons changed everything about the band, and while he was there, it was a great change. In typical Byrds fashion, the album opens and closes with Dylan covers...but what happens in between is music that changed the interraction between country and rock. A masterpiece on its own, Sweetheart is a must have.
If you have an 11 song version, however, toss it out and go get the 1997 reissue. This version contains not only the original album, but 8 must have bonus tracks. The first 3 are outtakes...the next 4 are versions of sons on the album with Parsons on lead vocals, versions not released anywhere else. This package also includes perfect song by song liner notes, and the history of Parson's short but important stay in the band (most of his vocal work was redone by Roger McGuinn after Parson's old record company threatened to sue Columbia because they claimed he was still under contract). Parsons left soon after, and not long after that, Chris Hillman was gone as well, effectively ending The Byrds as a great band.
Anyway...this is an album you must have.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
A NEW WORLD RECORD
1976-JET
Produced By JEFF LYNNE
1. Tightrope
2. Telephone Line
3. Rockaria!
4. Mission (A World Record)
5. So Fine
6. Livin' Thing
7. Above The Clouds
8. Do Ya
9. Shangri-la
Electric Light Orchestra is one of the more interesting bands to watch throughought their history. You can see, album by album, the band and their songs come together (before they fell apart in the 1980's). You can also trace the production skills of Jeff Lynne, who only got better on each album. By the time of A New World Record, Lynne was in a great place as a producer. And he had the hit song thing down as well. This album was a ridiculous success, boasting hits with "Telephone Line", "Livin' Thing", and "Do Ya", an old song Lynne carried over from The Move. The lineup here was their best, and this was their most successful album. It's very good, but maybe not their best.
After this record, the cracks began to show with Out of The Blue. This represents the peak of ELO, a pretty fine album. I do have a bias here: the tour for this album was my very first concert, with Elvin Bishop at McNichols Arena in Denver.
Great discussion of ELO in general and New World Record in particular. That was one of my favorites when I first heard it, and it hasn't faded to this day. Definitely their peak.
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
STEVE VAI
ALIEN LOVE SECRETS
1995-RELATIVITY
Produced By STEVE VAI
1. Bad Horsie
2. Juice
3. Die To Live
4. The Boy From Seattle
5. Ya-Yo Gakk
6. Kill The Guy With The Ball/The God Eaters
7. Tender Surrender
Yeah, I know. Steve Vai played with Frank Zappa (although it was during Zappa's more unmelodic period). Vai learned to play from Joe Satriani (and apparently Satriani never got to the lesson titled RESTRAINT). Vai turned Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption" solo into a career (there's a reason why the song is less than 2 minutes long), and he ended up "replacing" Eddie when David Lee Roth went solo. Yes, he's a great player.
But that does not excuse the sins Vai has placed upon us. For instance, Alien Love Secrets. He had the nerve to paint himself silver and build a tuneless "song" around the utterances of his infant son on "Ya-Yo Gakk": he turns a hysterical horse noise into a hysterical guitar squeal on "Bad Horsie", and God only knows what he's trying to accomplish with "Kill The Guy With The Ball". Bottom line is this: Steve, it's bad enough that you're a pompous ass who doesn't know when to let your music breathe (or when a melody is appropriate). But trying to add your non-creative comparisons between non musical noises and your non musical guitar playing is quite another. Y'all disagree with this all you want. I just don't care. This album should have been sold with a bottle of Excedrin.
Not gonna' disagree. At his best, Vai can be a brilliant musician, but he is seldom at his best. There are wonderful cuts from time to time, especially on Passion and Warfare. The rest is largely auditory wanking.
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
A NEW WORLD RECORD
1976-JET
Produced By JEFF LYNNE
1. Tightrope
2. Telephone Line
3. Rockaria!
4. Mission (A World Record)
5. So Fine
6. Livin' Thing
7. Above The Clouds
8. Do Ya
9. Shangri-la
Electric Light Orchestra is one of the more interesting bands to watch throughought their history. You can see, album by album, the band and their songs come together (before they fell apart in the 1980's). You can also trace the production skills of Jeff Lynne, who only got better on each album. By the time of A New World Record, Lynne was in a great place as a producer. And he had the hit song thing down as well. This album was a ridiculous success, boasting hits with "Telephone Line", "Livin' Thing", and "Do Ya", an old song Lynne carried over from The Move. The lineup here was their best, and this was their most successful album. It's very good, but maybe not their best.
After this record, the cracks began to show with Out of The Blue. This represents the peak of ELO, a pretty fine album. I do have a bias here: the tour for this album was my very first concert, with Elvin Bishop at McNichols Arena in Denver.
Great discussion of ELO in general and New World Record in particular. That was one of my favorites when I first heard it, and it hasn't faded to this day. Definitely their peak.
I was very much into them when I was younger. This album still holds its own for me, for sure. A fine set of songs, well played, well written, well produced. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
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Fischman
