BRYAN ADAMS
RECKLESS
1984-A&M
Produced By BRYAN ADAMS & BOB CLEARMOUNTAIN
1. One Night Love Affair
2. She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin’
3. Run To You
4. Heaven
5. Somebody
6. Summer Of ‘69
7. Kids Wanna Rock
8. It’s Only Love
9. Long Gone
10. Ain’t Gonna Cry
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that the cheesy crooner who brought us dreck like “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”, “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman”, and the wretched collaboration with Rod Stewart and Sting called “All For One” was once a rocker. Canadian Bryan Adams found rock success with his third album, Cuts Like A Knife, and continued in that vein with his most successful (and most rocking) album, 1984’s Reckless. In 1984, while New Wave and hair metal were busy shoving what is now classic rock towards the door, Adams sounded fresh and hungry with his crunchy guitar style and his Stewart-like gravelly voice. And a bunch of fairly catchy songs.
How big was Reckless? Seven of the ten tracks were released as singles, including the monster “Summer Of ‘69”, “Somebody”, and a duet with the comeback queen Tina Turner on “It’s Only Love”. There were signs of things to come: “Heaven” was a big hit and a massive mellow egg. But overall, this was Adams trying his hardest, and he was never better than he was here: which was as a passable C-list leather-clad rocker. In the almost 30 years since, Adams has released only six albums, and has become an adult contemporary crooner. But, for a moment in the 80’s, he almost got it right.
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Of dying history
MIDGE URE
ANSWERS TO NOTHING
1988-CHRYSALIS
Produced By MIDGE URE & RIK WALTON
1. Answers To Nothing
2. Take Me Home
3. Sister And Brother
4. Dear God
5. The Leaving (So Long)
6. Just For You
7. Hell To Heaven
8. Lied
9. Homeland
10. Remembrance Day
Throughout the 1970’s, Midge Ure bounced around Great Britain from band to band before finally ending up with Thin Lizzy in 1979. HereplacedGary More and recorded a little with the band before leaving to join Utravox. Ure stayed with Ultravox for five albums, during which time he co wrote the Band Aid hit “Do They Know It’s Christmas” with Bob Geldof. Ultravox broke up in 1987, and Ure went to work on Answers To Nothing. The album, Ure’s second solo effort, was released in 1988, and was the only one of his seven discs to crack the charts in America.
Ure’s solo career has been mostly forgotten. Answers To Nothing contains some good moments, but nothing that would make it memorable. The most notable track is “Sister And Brother”, which is a duet with Kate Bush. Otherwise, the album is filled with good songs sung by the sometimes tiresome Ure, and played with a lot more keyboards and less of his guitar playing, which is very good. In all, Answers To Nothing is pleasant, very good, and something you’ll have to listen to again to really remember.
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KRISTEN HALL
FACT & FICTION
1991-HIGH STREET
Produced By DON MCCOLLISTER
1. Empty Promises
2. Too Long Running
3. I Gave Everything
4. I Should Know
5. Colder
6. Fading Away
7. Out In The Country
8. I Have My Reasons
9. Safe And Warm
10. Bed We Made
11. Peaches
12. Trouble Times
13. Wish I May
Kristen Hall is best known as being a founding member of the massively huge country group Sugarland. She started the group with Kristian Bush, brought in Jennifer Nettles, then left the band after one album. The reasons why have been debated, and she sued Sugarland in 2008 for money owed to her. But before Sugarland was formed in 2004, Hall had a career of her own. She came from the same Atlanta scene that spawned Indigo Girls, and began releasing albums in 1990. Fact & Fiction is her third album, and is her best solo work out of her nine albums released so far.
Fact & Fiction relies heavily on an acoustic sound, and is very reminiscent of the Indigo Girls sound (in fact, Emily Saliers appears on two tracks). Hall has a fine voice, and spins personal and beautiful stories lyrically. The songs don’t jump out at you immediately, and it takes a few listens to really get where she’s coming from, but once you do, you’ll be grateful for the journey. This is a good album for the once in a while, occasional listen…too much and you get tired of it quickly. But it is a fine album, and a hint of the bigger (albeit short) success she was to build in the future.
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GRIZZLY BEAR
VECKATIMEST
2009-WARP
Produced By CHRIS TAYLOR
1. Southern Point
2. Two Weeks
3. All We Ask
4. Fine For Now
5. Cheerleader
6. Dory
7. Ready, Able
8. About Face
9. Hold Still
10. While You Wait For The Others
11. I Live With You
12. Foreground
Grizzly Bear may come from Brooklyn, but their music sounds like nothing from the city at all. Originally a solo project for Ed Droste, band members were gradually added until they ended up with the current lineup for their second album, Yellow House in 2006. Veckatimest is their third album (named after an island in Massachusetts), and shows good growth for the band’s sound. Mixing folk, psychedelic and rock, the band uses not only traditional rock instruments, but also strings, different keyboards, and woodwinds. Using a more experimental approach to songwriting, the band has a very modern and new sound that fans of older music might find a bit bewildering.
But even though Veckatimest is not their most accessible work, patience with this band does pay off greatly. The hit here was “Two Weeks”, with its bouncy piano intro and soaring vocals making it an almost irresistible song. The rest of Veckatimest, particularly “While You Wait For The Others” and “Ready, Able”, is very good as well, difficult in spots, but overall a fine disc. The future of music is apparently in pretty good hands after all. Grizzly Bear is most definitely a band to keep an eye on.
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BJORK
HOMOGENIC
1997-ONE LITTLE INDIAN
Produced By BJORK, MARK BELL, GUY SIGSWORTH, HOWIE B & MARKUS DRAVS
1. Hunter
2. Joga
3. Unravel
4. Bachelorette
5. All Neon Like
6. 5 years
7. Immature
8. Alarm Call
9. Pluto
10. All Is Full Of Love
How come nobody ever told me about this before? I’ve never been a huge fan of electronic music, but half a minute into “Hunter” and I was sold on Homogenic. Bjork’s fourth solo album, a tribute to her native Iceland, is a surprisingly incredible piece of work. Unlike anything else from its time, the album literally explodes with “Hunter”, a completely electronic marvel that has proven to be her best song. And there’s much more after that.
Bjork’s use of synths and strings…and not much else…alongside her soaring voice, can be offputting for those who don’t like the electronic genres. And it may be a bit strange if you’re only familiar with her earlier work. But, in this case, open minds are well rewarded. “Joga” and “All Is Full Of Love” are excellent tracks, and the beats are all perfection. But it’s ultimately the voice of Bjork that carries Homogenic to new heights. After having spent years dismissing her work after hearing not much other than Debut, I’ve been proven wrong. This is an innovative and expansive work that deserves to be heard. Well done.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
BJORK
HOMOGENIC
1997-ONE LITTLE INDIAN
Produced By BJORK, MARK BELL, GUY SIGSWORTH, HOWIE B & MARKUS DRAVS
1. Hunter
2. Joga
3. Unravel
4. Bachelorette
5. All Neon Like
6. 5 years
7. Immature
8. Alarm Call
9. Pluto
10. All Is Full Of Love
How come nobody ever told me about this before? I’ve never been a huge fan of electronic music, but half a minute into “Hunter” and I was sold on Homogenic. Bjork’s fourth solo album, a tribute to her native Iceland, is a surprisingly incredible piece of work. Unlike anything else from its time, the album literally explodes with “Hunter”, a completely electronic marvel that has proven to be her best song. And there’s much more after that.
Bjork’s use of synths and strings…and not much else…alongside her soaring voice, can be offputting for those who don’t like the electronic genres. And it may be a bit strange if you’re only familiar with her earlier work. But, in this case, open minds are well rewarded. “Joga” and “All Is Full Of Love” are excellent tracks, and the beats are all perfection. But it’s ultimately the voice of Bjork that carries Homogenic to new heights. After having spent years dismissing her work after hearing not much other than Debut, I’ve been proven wrong. This is an innovative and expansive work that deserves to be heard. Well done.
DAVID BOWIE
STATION TO STATION
1976-RCA
Produced By DAVID BOWIE & HARRY MASLIN
1. Station To Station
2. Golden Years
3. Word On A Wing
4. TVC15
5 Stay
6. Wild Is The Wind
After the stunning 1-2 punch of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, David Bowie went into what can best be described as a three year slump. Searching for where to go next, he released Pin Ups, an unexceptional cover album, Images, a re-release of his bad 197 album with B sides, David Live, which was not good at all, and his two weakest studio albums of the decade in Diamond Dogs and Young Americans (despite the title track being one of the best songs ever). Station To Station changed all of that, as Bowie began his transformation into an experimental artist of the best kind. With still enough pop smarts to get the masses listening, Bowie does everything right on this album, setting the stage for his most musically adventurous period.
The title track is a ten minute monster of a song, followed by the big hit “Golden Years”. Everything else runs over five minutes, with lots of instrumental power and great songwriting. “Word On A Wing” is one of his most beautiful and underrated songs. “TVC15” has endured as one of his catchiest. “Stay” and “Wild Is The Wind” close the album with power, as Bowie makes a record that is flawless and perfect. Station To Station is sometimes forgotten, after Bowie’s Ziggy period and before his great trilogy of Low, Heroes and Lodger. But it really is the middle period masterpiece from Bowie. A fine album. (The 1991 re-issue contains two fine bonus tracks…live renditions of “Word On A Wing” and “Stay”.)
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
DAVID BOWIE
STATION TO STATION
1976-RCA
Produced By DAVID BOWIE & HARRY MASLIN
1. Station To Station
2. Golden Years
3. Word On A Wing
4. TVC15
5 Stay
6. Wild Is The Wind
After the stunning 1-2 punch of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, David Bowie went into what can best be described as a three year slump. Searching for where to go next, he released Pin Ups, an unexceptional cover album, Images, a re-release of his bad 197 album with B sides, David Live, which was not good at all, and his two weakest studio albums of the decade in Diamond Dogs and Young Americans (despite the title track being one of the best songs ever). Station To Station changed all of that, as Bowie began his transformation into an experimental artist of the best kind. With still enough pop smarts to get the masses listening, Bowie does everything right on this album, setting the stage for his most musically adventurous period.
The title track is a ten minute monster of a song, followed by the big hit “Golden Years”. Everything else runs over five minutes, with lots of instrumental power and great songwriting. “Word On A Wing” is one of his most beautiful and underrated songs. “TVC15” has endured as one of his catchiest. “Stay” and “Wild Is The Wind” close the album with power, as Bowie makes a record that is flawless and perfect. Station To Station is sometimes forgotten, after Bowie’s Ziggy period and before his great trilogy of Low, Heroes and Lodger. But it really is the middle period masterpiece from Bowie. A fine album. (The 1991 re-issue contains two fine bonus tracks…live renditions of “Word On A Wing” and “Stay”.)
This used to be my favorite too for the longest time. But you know how sometimes after a long time, like maybe 10 or 20 years, some other album starts being your favorite. It's still in my top five Bowie albums, but like Aladdin sane and hunky dory I'm just not as enthusiastic about it as I used to be. No particular reason. I can tell because when I play these albums I want to skip over certain tracks that I didn't used to want to skip over. Especially Aladdin Sane. I prefer Pinups to Aladdin Sane now. It has the same kind of sound to it and I count about five great ones on it, about the same number I count on Aladdin sane. I just find it more exciting now. And actually Diamond Dogs is my favorite Bowie album now. It's just lasted longer over time for me. Actually I'd say Station to Station is about my third favorite now. Or something like that.
THE DANDY WARHOLS
…THE DANDY WARHOLS COME DOWN
1997-CAPITOL
Produced By TONY LASH & COURTNEY TAYLOR
1. Be-In
2. Boys Better
3. Minnesoter
4. Orange
5. I Love You
6. Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth
7. Every Day Should Be A Holiday
8. Good Morning
9. Whipping Tree
10. Green
11. Cool As Kim Deal
12. Hard On For Jesus
13. Pete International Airport
14. The Creep Out
Portland’s Dandy Warhols had a garage sound on their first album, Dandy’s Rule OK. That all changed with …The Dandy Warhols Come Down. After having had a second album rejected by their label for having “no songs” on it, the band shifted to a psychedelic sound mixed with power pop. The problem is, they didn’t quite know how to mix the two together, resulting in an album that is at time amazing, and at others frustratingly hazy and bad. Their next effort would be better, but this album has moments that are simply bad.
But the highs are truly great. “Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth” is one of the best songs of the 90’s, and “Cool As Kim Deal”, a tribute to the Pixies and Breeders singer, is what power pop is all about. When they get it right, it’s great. The front end is very good, with “Be-In”, “Boys Better”, and the strange rhyming of “Minnesoter”. The best of the hazy stuff is “I Love You”, which is as close to what the band probably meant to achieve as they get. The album is heavily weighed by the last three tracks, which are mainly unlistenable droning instrumentals. The good songs make it worthwhile…skip over the crap.
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HELMET
AFTERTASTE
1997-INTERSCOPE
Produced By DAVE SARDY & HELMET
1. Pure
2. Renovation
3. Exactly What You Wanted
4. Like I Care
5. Driving Nowhere
6. Birth Defect
7. Broadcast Emotion
8. It’s Easy To Get Bored
9. Diet Aftertaste
10. Harmless
11. (High) Visibility
12. Insatiable
13. Crisis King
It’s always interesting to hear a band’s last album before a breakup to see if you can hear the wheels coming off. Helmet was an exciting, up and coming band in 1992 when they released their second album Meantime: shortly after their fourth album Aftertaste five years later, they were done. What happened to Helmet? Personnel changes left the once five piece band a three piece by the time they hit the studio. And after their powerful debut, they just never had the material to build on their success. Aftertaste was a disappointment enough for the band that they split after the tour, and the album has been out of print since 2006.
Helmet’s one constant member, guitarist Page Hamilton, said the he wanted to write a smarter album, something to make people think. Apparently, Helmet’s fans wanted nothing of the sort. The result is a project that’s just short of bland, but with occasional bursts of brilliance…but not enough to carry the album. “Exactly What You Wanted” is the definite high point, but while the album is not terrible by any means, it’s far below the bar the band set early on when they were considered trailblazers in 90’s metal. Seek out Meantime or Betty, both better albums from Helmet.
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