THIRD EYE BLIND
1997-ELEKTRA
Produced By STEPHEN JENKINS
1. Losing A Whole Year
2. Narcolepsy
3. Semi-Charmed Life
4. Jumper
5. Graduate
6. How’s It Going To Be
7. Thanks A Lot
8. Burning Man
9. Good For You
10. London
11. I Want You
12. The Background
13. Motorcycle Drive By
14. God Of Wine
Talk about a semi-charmed life…Third Eye Blind was opening in the Bay area for bands like Oasis before they were even signed. When they were signed in 1996, it included the largest first time publishing deal…ever. Although they are from San Francisco, this band has no hippie in them: this is straight mid-nineties Brit pop. Never a band with great lyrics, they found an instant audience with “Semi-Charmed Life”, with it’s blistering loud guitars and “do-do-do” hook. This opened the door for 4 more hit singles: “Graduate”, “How’s It Going To Be”, “Losing A Whole Year”, and “Jumper”. The kids ate it up, and the future looked bright indeed for Third Eye Blind.
Success was fleeting. On their second album, Blue, they had only a minor hit, and they’ve been nowhere near relevant since. This, their debut album, is still by far their best work, and represents what should have been a band on the rise instead of a one album wonder. Maybe part of the problem is that since this debut, they have released 3 albums over 14 years. The best way to experience Third Eye Blind is with this album. It can seem a bit long (filler will do that), but the hits do still sound pretty terrific. They were everywhere in 1997-98: not so much now, but this is a nice little time capsule.
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I'd always marked them off as one hit wonders, but this album is actually pretty good. More people should give it a chance. Competent and catchy songwriting throughout.
OLD 97’S
BLAME IT ON GRAVITY
2008-NEW WEST
Produced By SALIM NOURALLAH
1. The Fool
2. Dance With Me
3. No Baby I
4. My Two Feet
5. Ride
6. She Loves The Sunset
7. This Beautiful Thing
8. I Will Remain
9. Early Morning
10. The Easy Way
11. Here’s To The Halcyon
12. Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue
13. The One
There were six bands who spearheaded the alt-country movement in the mid to late 1990’s: The Bottle Rockets, Jayhawks, Whiskeytown, Drive By Truckers, Uncle Tupelo and Old 97’s. They got their big label break in 1995 when Elektra snatched them up, hoping that alt-country was going to be the next big thing after grunge. That didn’t work out, and they were dropped after three albums. Expectations have always been high for this band, but they have yet to deliver that big breakthrough: after nine studio albums it looks like they never will. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t released some fine music over the years.
Blame It On Gravity is their seventh studio album. Coming on the heels of their two most successful albums (Satellite Rides and Drag It Up), a best of and a live album, it’s a return to their earlier form after having their sound ironed out over the years. “Dance With Me” is the clear highlight, carried by the band’s fine tuned sound and Rhett Miller’s versatile vocal ability. “She Loves The Sunset” and “Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue” are great down tempo tunes, while “Ride”, “The One” and “Early Morning” show that the band can still rock it. While not as fine as Satellite Rides, Blame It On Gravity has enough moments to make having this very worthwhile. Not as powerful as their earlier work, but still another fine effort from a fine band.
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THE TREWS
HOUSE OF ILL FAME
2003-EPIC
Produced By GORDIE JOHNSON
1. Every Inambition
2. Not Ready To Go
3. Confessions
4. When You Leave
5. Tired Of Waiting
6. Hopeless
7. Fleeting Trust
8. Why Bother
9. Black Halo
10. You’re So Sober
11. Hollis And Morris
12. Stray
How does someone living in Los Angeles discover a band like The Trews, who hail from Nova Scotia? We went to see Rose Hill Drive at The Troubador, and The Trews were the opening band. And they blew Rose Hill away. Originally known as Trouser, the band is huge in Canada, known in other places, and mostly ignored in the U.S. House Of Ill Fame is their debut album, and it’s a winner. The album contains great hard rocking tracks like “Every Inambition”, “Not Ready To Go”, “Tired Of Waiting”, “Fleeting Trust” and “Confessions”, showing that this was going to be a force to be reckoned with. “Hollis And Morris” is about a street corner in Halifax known for prostitution. Singer Colin MacDonald has great chops, and lead guitarist John-Angus MacDonald is as solid as they come.
The Trews have gone on to continued success outside the US, and in 2012 released an EP recorded with Black Crowes members Rich Robinson and Eddie Harsch, and former Small Faces member Ian McLagan. They have had 13 top ten hits in Canada, and have toured with The Rolling Stones, Robert Plant and even got a rare opening spot for Bruce Springsteen in New Brunswick, joining him onstage for a 10 minute encore of “Twist And Shout”. This is a great sounding band, and House Of Ill Fame is a fine debut, and a great intro to their even better second album Den Of Thieves. You should really discover this underrated and exciting band.
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DWIGHT MARK
SOUL’S ENGINES
2004-SELF RELEASED
Produced By SCOTT “SCOOTER” SMITH
1. Sometimes
2. For Granted
3. Edge Of The Sea
4. Politician
5. Never Question
6. Soul Merynade
7. Soulshine
8. Wide Open Spaces
9. Island Song
10. Ninety-Five Through Nebraska
11. Black In The Blues
12. Take Another Turn
13. Substance Of Fire
14. Cades Cove
Soul’s Engines is an album by our friend Dwight Mark, a very talented multi-instrumentalist and an all-around very cool guy. The album also features my friend Micah Lundy, a former member of my old band Roadside Attraction. If interested in this album, let me know and I can point you in the right direction.
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MADONNA
TRUE BLUE
1986-SIRE
Produced By MADONNA, PATRICK LEONARD & STEPHEN BRAY
1. Papa Don’t Preach
2. Open Your Heart
3. White Heat
4. Live To Tell
5. Where’s The Party
6. True Blue
7. La Isla Bonita
8. Jimmy Jimmy
9. Love Makes The World Go Round
Say what you will about Madonna, but the fact is that she did make two very good albums during her 1980’s heyday. One was Like A Prayer, her best, most consistent and most controversial album. The other was her third album, True Blue. Often overlooked today, this is the album that really solidified Madonna as a star, and as a more serious artist than the dance pop queen she had been known as previously. Dedicated to and recorded during her rocky marriage to Sean Penn, True Blue has Madonna co-writing and co-producing every track. She tackles social issues for really the first time, and her voice is way above the quality shown on her first two albums. Here, she shows that she was capable of growth as an artist, and that she really was more than just that girl on the floor of the “Like A Virgin” video.
The real power in this album is found in its five hit singles. “Papa Don’t Preach” tackles teen pregnancy like no one else has ever done. “Live To Tell” is one of her few good ballads, and showcases a maturity that wasn’t there before. The title track is close to reggae, and along with “Open Your Heart” captures the essence of real, hard love. And "La Isla Bonita" is one of her finest songs ever. Turned down by Michael Jackson for his Bad album, Madonna re-wrote the lyrics and makes it her own with a solid Cuban backing track and just the right feel. The rest of the tracks here are lesser…and the synth sounds on them are atrocious. But, overall, this is one of Madonna’s finest hours.
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DAVID BOWIE
HUNKY DORY
1971-RCA
Produced By KEN SCOTT
1. Changes
2. Oh! You Pretty Things
3. Eight line Poem
4. Life On Mars?
5. Kooks
6. Quicksand
7. Fill Your Heart
8. Andy Warhol
9. Song For Bob Dylan
10. Queen Bitch
11. The Bewlay Brothers
The thing that made David Bowie great throughout the 1970’s was that he was open to changing his sound and persona whenever it was right to do so. He released his first album in 1967, and struggled for his first three releases, trying to be a mod, a folkie, and a blues guy on David Bowie, Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold The World. And then he paid a visit to New York, discovered the Velvet Underground, and it was on. Hunky Dory, Bowie’s fourth album, is his first exceptional work, and prepares all for what was about to happen. Bowie is suddenly no longer searching for his identity: he is now searching for where his current identity is going to go next. And that’s a huge difference. Hunky Dory established Bowie as a star, a true force, and a great influence, and paved the way for some of the greatest music of the 70’s.
If you’re looking for Hunky Dory to rock, you’ll be disappointed (except for the glam power of “Queen Bitch”). Hunky Dory is lavish, laden with strings, and personality. This is Bowie’s coming out party. The best song here (“Life On Mars?”) was covered by none other than Barbra Streisand, while the excellent “Quicksand” ended up in the hands of Dinosaur Jr.. That’s how wide the scope is. The big hit was “Changes”…that’s what the album is mostly like. Strings, melodies, and a man discovering the wonders of his life. Of course, Bowie continued to evolve throughout the 70’s, so he never recorded anything like this again…the follow up to this was The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars, which is light years away from the sound of Hunky Dory. This album is a keeper, Bowie’s first grasp at greatness.
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FOO FIGHTERS
THE COLOUR AND THE SHAPE
1997-ROSWELL
Produced By GIL NORTON
1. Doll
2. Monkey Wrench
3. Hey, Johnny Park!
4. My Poor Brain
5. Wind Up
6. Up In Arms
7. My Hero
8. See You
9. Enough Space
10. February Stars
11. Everlong
12. Walking After You
13. New Way Home
Bonus
14. Requiem
15. Drive Me Wild
16. Down In The Park
17. Baker Street
18. Dear Lover
19. The Colour And The Shape
The first Foo Fighters album was really a Dave Grohl solo album on which he wrote and played almost everything. The Colour And The Shape is the beginning of Foo Fighters as a band. Even the songwriting becomes a shared effort, as Grohl wrote only three of the songs by himself: the rest are band efforts. Guitarist Pat Smear left at the end of the tour for the album, replaced by Franz Stahl, and Taylor Hawkins, who played on Jagged Little Pill, became the drummer as the album was being finished (Grohl plays most of the drums here).The sound of The Colour And The Shape is much more developed than on the debut: the expectation for the album was that it would be grunge, but that is put to rest early on. The album is inspired mainly by Grohl’s divorce a couple of years earlier.
“My Hero” is the most memorable song here, but “Monkey Wrench”, “Everlong” and “Walking After You” are excellent as well. The real highlight, though, is Grohl himself. This is the hardest rocking Foo Fighters album, thanks in large part to Grohl’s insistent drumming, and maybe the most consistent songwriting of any of their albums. Although the band was still in transition, this is the Foo album, alongside the debut, to have. You’ll wish Grohl could go back to doing it all…the truth is, the more he’s all over it, the better they are. The bonus tracks featured here are mostly covers (Killing Joke, Vanity 6, Gary Numan) and a couple of non-album tracks, and none are remarkable, except for the Gerry Rafferty cover, “Baker Street”, which replaces the classic sax solo with screeching guitar. Nonsense. Skip the bonus tracks. Enjoy the rest.
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THE JAYHAWKS
BLUE EARTH
1989-TWIN/TONE
Produced By JIM RONDINELLI, TOM HERBERS & THE JAYHAWKS
1. Two Angels
2. She’s Not Alone Anymore
3. Will I Be Married
4. Dead Endf Angel
5. Commonplace Streets
6. Ain’t No End
7. Five Cups Of Coffee
8. The Baltimore Sun
9. Red Firecracker
10. Sioux City
11. I’m Still Dreaming, Now I’m Yours
12. Martin’s Song
The Jayhawks released their self titled debut in 1986, which ended up out of print for 20 years until it was finally resurrected in 2010. The band then recorded a batch of demos to try and get a major label deal. The bands manager was able to get Twin/Tone to agree to release those demos, which became the Blue Earth album. The results were positive: after Blue Earth, The Jayhawks landed with American Records and found themselves with Black Crowes producer George Drakoulias. But getting back to Blue Earth…the demos were unfinished when Gary Louris left the band because of a car accident. When Twin/Tone picked them up, they brought Louris in to overdub his parts, after which he rejoined the band. The album did garner lots of notice for the band, and is a major step in the development of their distinctive sound.
What we end up with on Blue Earth is the second coming of The Flying Burrito Brothers. With Gram. And just as sloppy, due to the nature of the recordings. It’s impossible to not make the comparison. Mark Olson plays Parsons, with Louris as Chris Hillman. But The Jayhawks aren’t aping the Burritos: they’re expanding on them. Songs like “Two Angels” , “Dead End Angel” and ”The Baltimore Sun” show that this band had the goods, but an album like this wasn’t going to make them shine. The parts are there, the development is strong, and the sound is developing: but don’t forget that Blue Earth is a set of demos released basically as a favor to the band to try to get a big label to pay notice. It worked out fine, and Blue Earth, for all of its flaws, is still fascinating. Listen to the difference between this and, 3 years later, the masterful Hollywood Town Hall album. These are the seeds, nothing more.
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1. Your Song
2. I Need You To Turn To
3. Take Me To The Pilot
4. No Shoe Strings On Louise
5. First Episode At Hienton
6. Sixty Years On
7. Border Song
8. The Greatest Discovery
9. The Cage
10. The King Must Die
Bonus
11. Bad Side Of The Moon
12. Grey Seal
13. Rock N Roll Madonna
People didn’t realize that this was actually Elton John’s second album…his debut was European released only, and didn’t come to America until the height of John’s success in 1975. A complete unknown upon its release, John became a star with the single “Your Song”, an over orchestrated piece of fluff with a nice piano line buried somewhere that helped establish the world of singer songwriter. It’s still Elton’s most popular song, although it’s nowhere near his best. But it did make him a bonafide star. The rest of the album finds John trying to break out and find his true musical calling, and trying to break through as a piano man with true rock flair. He would accomplish these things quickly, as in later in 1970 on the album Tumbleweed Connection. But here, he was just not quite there yet.
Elton John has always had a lot of filler on his albums, and this one has more than usual. However, there are two other very worthwhile track. ”Take Me To The Pilot” is a soulful, aggressive rocker with a powerful shout and answer chorus, and is one of his more underrated songs. The other is the forgotten hit “Border Song”. This gospel ballad is one of Elton’s finest songs, and was his first chart success in the US, although it’s been mostly lost in the shuffle of his other hits. Too bad, because “Border Song” is actually the saving grace of this album. Other tracks show promise, but there’s nothing noteworthy about them. On this album, Elton was still developing: a couple of great songs, an accidental monster hit that maybe shouldn’t have been, and a lot of filler. Go for later stuff…this artist was on the upturn, and would only get better.
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