Despite our occasional differences in the past, I do think you do an excellent job on this log and I am glad to see it rolling again.
Also, great to see yet another person coming around to Laughing Stock. You're far from the first person it has been a 'grower' to and you certainly won't be the last. RoundTheBend is due one of these days!
Any thoughts on reviewing Spirit of Eden? (Or maybe you already did?)
Thanks. Much appreciated. As for Spirit Of Eden...I do have the album, so yes...one of these days it will happen. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
1. Make It
2. Somebody
3. Dream On
4. One Way Street
5. Mama Kin
6. Write Me
7. Movin’ Out
8. Walkin’ The Dog
Aerosmith was formed in 1970 in Boston, and began building a loyal local following by playing clubs. They were signed by Columbia Records in 1972, and their first album was rushed through and released in early 1973. The album is raw, and is a blueprint for the huge success they would achieve just a couple of years later with the albums Toys In The Attic and Rocks, when Aerosmith would begin to be considered as the greatest American rock band. On their debut, short at only 35 minutes, you can hear the heavy influence of bands like The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds. Joe Perry wrote licks like Jimmy Page, while Steven Tyler sang like Mick Jagger. Sounds like they didn’t have a single original idea, but they actually were to become, for a short time, a creative force, and a big influence on an entire generation of hard rock bands like Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses. This is Aerosmith before they had success, before the drugs took over, and before they got clean and became pop stars. The roots of the band are the most visible here, and there’s a youthful energy that suggests that they would become a big deal down the road.
But it didn’t happen here, at least not right away. “Dream On”, a “Stairway To Heaven” like almost orchestral piece, was released as a single and flopped. It wasn’t until after Toys In The Attic was a hit that a re-release of the song became huge. The rest of the album is different from “Dream On”. It’s what you’d expect…blues driven boogie that, when it works, sounds great. “Make It” and “Mama Kin” both work just fine, but it’s on “Movin’ Out” that Aerosmith really shows a glimpse of what their best moments would be like. “Movin’ Out” is a killer riff by Perry, with nasty, powerful vocals by Tyler on a song that would have been right at home on Rocks. The album as a whole is interesting, as it shows a band on the verge of being great developing their style, while dressed as just another boogie band (even a cover of “Walkin’ The Dog”). Interesting to see how they got their start. A decent album, but there was much better to come soon afterwards.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Despite our occasional differences in the past, I do think you do an excellent job on this log and I am glad to see it rolling again.
Also, great to see yet another person coming around to Laughing Stock. You're far from the first person it has been a 'grower' to and you certainly won't be the last. RoundTheBend is due one of these days!
Any thoughts on reviewing Spirit of Eden? (Or maybe you already did?)
Thanks. Much appreciated. As for Spirit Of Eden...I do have the album, so yes...one of these days it will happen.
Right on - looking forward to it
Ive long wrestled with myself about which is the best among the Post Rock trio of Hex, Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden. Currently I side with Eden but these have inter-changed many times over the years and it remains close.
Also, I do think a really good succession for anyone wanting to get more acclimated to Talk Talk would be Colour of Spring to Spirit of Eden to Laughing Stock (hint hint RoundTheBend). Colour of Spring alludes to their coming masterpieces quite a bit even if it doesnt dedicate itself wholly enough to their latter Post Rock art to be as deeply personal/profound. But it is superb in its own right and preps someone pretty well for Spirit of Eden, which preps someone really well for Laughing Stock (fundamentally, each is basically more abstract, less melody-based, more 'elemental', spiritual, or even 'supernatural', than the last). _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Last edited by AfterHours on 03/18/2021 22:47; edited 1 time in total
GLOSSARY
THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE
2007-LAST CHANCE
Produced By GLOSSARY
1. Only Time Will Tell
2. Little Caney
3. Almsgiver
4. Valessa
5. Shout It From The Rooftops
6. Bitter Branch
7. Gasoline Soaked Heart
8. Nothing Can Hurt You Now
9. Chase Me Out Of The Dark
10. Blood On The Knobs
How can you not love a band that called its first album Southern By The Grace Of Location? Glossary is a little known alt-country band from Murfreesboro, TN that has been quietly turning out albums since 1998, with little to show for it in the way of sales or fame, but with a steadily growing reputation as one of the genre’s finest bands. The Better Angels Of Our Nature is their fifth album, and was apparently released in a very limited form…only 500 copies were supposedly made of the first run, according to Discogs. I found it on a homemade disc buried in one of my wife’s CD books, and immediately knew I had found a nice little gem of an album. Glossary pulls its influences from bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement and Neil Young, and from the country music they grew up around. Glossary is reminiscent of another Tennessee band, Lucero…in fact, former Lucero member Todd Beene is now a member of Glossary. The Southern world is a small one.
The Better Angels Of Our Nature is a fine album, with solid musicianship and good Southern rock storytelling. It’s an album that will grow on you, and songs like “Little Caney”, “Shout It From The Rooftops”, “Blood On The Knobs” and “Valessa” will win you over and make you want to hear more from them. The band’s influences run together well, and the songwriting has a subtle way of slowly winning you over. After five albums and almost ten years, Glossary had matured into a fine band that, despite a lack of large scale success, had become as solid as any more well known and bigger selling act. Joey Kneiser fronts the band with lots of heart, and the guitar work is very strong. The band was working on a new album, but that was in mid 2013, and there’s been little news from the band since, other than a Christmas EP in 2020. Hoping that they’re still around, and that I can catch a show sometime…this album has won me over.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE WHITE STRIPES
WHITE BLOOD CELLS
2001-V2
Produced By JACK WHITE
1. Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground
2. Hotel Yorba
3. I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman
4. Fell In Love With A Girl
5. Expecting
6. Little Room
7. The Union Forever
8. The Same Boy You’ve Always Known
9. We’re Going To Be Friends
10. Offend In Every Way
11. I Think I Smell A Rat
12. Aluminum
13. I Can’t Wait
14. Now Mary
15. I Can Learn
16. This Protector
The White Stripes, a duo consisting of frontman Jack White and drummer Meg White, formed in 1997 as a duo. They were married at the time, with him taking her last name instead of the other way around. The pair divorced in 2000, before White Blood Cells, their third album, was recorded and released, and before the band achieved stardom. The first two albums relied heavily on a blues sound, but they decided to depart from that for this one, going instead for a more straight ahead rock approach. The album was recorded in less than a week, and once it was picked up by a major label, it shot the pair to celebrity status, making way for the even more successful album Elephant. On White Blood Cells, Jack White puts aside the slide and the blues in favor of a straightforward and earnest rock style that makes the pair much more endearing. “Fell In Love With A Girl” was the breakthrough track, but there are plenty of tracks to love here. The album is actually just as likeable as Elephant, and has may strong points that other albums by the Stripes do not have.
“We’re Going To Be Friends” is a sweet tune about simple love that sounds almost like a childrens song, and it’s impossible not to be taken in by it. Other highlights include “Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground”, “I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman”, and “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known”, all of which show that Jack White is so much more than just another blues enthusiast. “The Union Forever” and “Hotel Yorba” are also fine, with the pair working effortlessly together. They would release three more albums, ending with Icky Thump in 2007. They officially split up in 2011, and Meg White has not been seen since. White Blood Cells is the start of the string of four White Stripes albums that you most definitely should own. They shared something very special together musically, and it’s a gift that we are fortunate enough to have shared with us. The start of the peak of a very exceptional band, and of a very exceptional sound.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
AEROSMITH
PUMP
1989-GEFFEN
Produced By BRUCE FAIRBAIRN
1. Young Lust
2. F.I.N.E.
3. Going Down/Love In An Elevator
4. Monkey On My Back
5. Water Song/Janie’s Got A Gun
6. Dulcimer Stomp/The Other Side
7. My Girl
8. Don’t Get Mad, Get Even
9. Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man
10. What It Takes
In 1976, with the release of Rocks, Aerosmith was on top of the world, and appeared to be able to do no wrong. But, with drug problems, the bottom was a lot closer than they thought, and their slide from being the best American hard rock band to disaster was swift. From 1977’s Draw The Line forward, the band held together by a thin thread and made a long series of, what was without question, terrible and empty albums that barely even parodied what they had once been. Their career was given new life by Run-D.M.C.’s take on “Walk This Way”, and there was a slight glimmer of hope on 1987’s Permanent Vacation album with “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”. But in 1989, a full 13 years after the triumph of Rocks, Aerosmith was suddenly back with Pump, a surprisingly strong album that was on a par with the work they had done in the mid 70’s. All of a sudden, Joe Perry’s riffs were back, Steven Tyler sounded like he was having fun again, and the Aerosmith rhythm section had its badass swagger back. It didn’t last long…by the next album, Get A Grip, the band was slipping into power balladry and outside written bad pop songs. But with Pump, for one album, Aerosmith was finally back…something that very rarely happens when good bands go off the deep end.
Rock is not big on comebacks…if you fall off, you can’t easily get back up. But getting back up is what Pump is all about. “Young Lust” and “F.I.N.E.” show right off the bat that the band is not finished yet. “Love In An Elevator”, “Janie’s Got A Gun”, and “What It Takes” were hits, but they were done on terms that 1976 Aerosmith would have approved of. While not a perfect album by any means (“Monkey On My Back” blatantly recycles the riff from AC/DC’s “Given The Dog A Bone”), Pump is a celebration of a band returning from the dead for one last hurrah. They show here that they really were capable of doing it again, even after what ended up being a 13 year layoff. Pump stands with Toys In The Attic and Rocks as a fine Aerosmith album, loaded with energetic songs and the sounds of a band that had just taken a decade plus to figure out that all they needed to do was to just have fun making music together again. You’d be best to stay away from everything from Rocks up to Pump, and everything after. But this one is definitely worth having.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
MUSE
BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS
2006-WARNER BROS.
Produced By RICH COSTEY & MUSE
1. Take A Bow
2. Starlight
3. Supermassive Black Hole
4. Map Of The Problematique
5. Soldier’s Poem
6. Invincible
7. Assassin
8. Exo-Politics
9. City Of Delusion
10. Hoodoo
11. Knights Of Cydonia
For those who love progressive rock, and albums by bands like Yes and King Crimson, fear not…you have Muse to love and obsess over. Even if you haven’t discovered them yet. But Muse is so much more than just an extension of the prog heyday of the 1970’s. This is a three piece band that sounds like a 13 piece juggernaut. This is a band that has “legendary live performances” on its resume. And this is a band that has, since 2001, unleashed eight huge albums upon the world, with Black Holes And Revelations from 2006 being the peak of their career so far. They were already massive stars in the rest of the world, and had been for years, but this was the album that finally gained Muse a foothold in the United States. And for good reason. As big and on the edge of overblown as the sound of Black Holes may be, it never crosses that line, and it’s loaded with great songs. Lead everything player Matthew Bellamy is a man whose talents cannot be denied, and they are in full bloom on this album. Oh yeah…there are two other guys in the band. The rhythm section of Muse is a powerful driving force and should not be overlooked. In short, this is a great band.
Black Holes has a different sound than their previous albums, but stays true to the themes of science fiction and political corruption. “Knights Of Cydonia” was the song that gained them a foothold in America, and it’s a huge and powerful anthem. “Starlight” is not far behind, with other standouts being “Map Of The Problematique”, “Supermassive Black Hole”, and “Invincible”. There’s really not a weak track to be found here, as Bellamy and the band are in high gear throughout. As a trio of albums, you really can’t go wrong with Origin Of Symmetry, Absolution, and Black Holes And Revelations. This is big sounding, adventurous music that will sound great at high volume, and that will take you places. Enjoy them live (they have excellent DVD’s that can be easily obtained), and enjoy their studio work. Muse has since released four albums, including The Resistance from 2009 and The 2nd Law from 2012. If they continue on their path, the next release would be in 2021. Something to look forward to from a band that rarely, if ever, disappoints.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
PHIL COLLINS
NO JACKET REQUIRED
1985-ATLANTIC
Produced By PHIL COLLINS & HUGH PADGHAM
1. Sussusio
2. Only You Know And I Know
3. Long Long Way To Go
4. I Don’t Wanna Know
5. One More Night
6. Don’t Lose My Number
7. Who Said I Would
8. Doesn’t Anybody Stay Together Anymore
9. Inside Out
10. Take Me Home
11. We Said Hello Goodbye
It’s always been strange how Phil Collins stepped from behind the drum kit of Genesis to the microphone and turned them into an even bigger band than they were with Peter Gabriel at the helm. But what’s even more of a mystery is how Phil Collins made the transition from being the frontman of Genesis to a big time successful solo career. That he did it during the MTV heyday of the mid 1980’s, when it was almost a prerequisite that you be pretty to be a star, is even more mind blowing. Collins was short, doughy, and balding. He looked like your mom’s accountant. And yet, during the first half of the 80’s, Phil Collins was everywhere. His first two albums, Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going, (each with an extreme close up of his face), featured one of each of his best songs, “In The Air Tonight” from the former, and “I Don’t Care Anymore” from the latter. No Jacket Required, his third album, doesn’t have any songs on that level, but it’s overall his best album. Even with all of it’s flaws, No Jacket Required is a sturdy work, and marks the peak (and pretty much the end) of Collins as a force in the solo artist market.
The album starts with a dud. “Sussudio” is the beginning of a strange obsession with Motown that would eventually sink him. But the album gains momentum, and includes some of the higher points in Collins’ career. “Take Me Home”, irritating at first, will grow on you and become a favorite. “One More Night” is probably his most beautiful song, a sweet and earnest ballad that shows he could successfully write from the heart. “Don’t Lose My Number” is Collins rocking the best he can, and it works just fine. Phil shows a lot of variety here, straying far from the sound of Genesis to show that he really can stand on his own. There’s a bit of filler, but he mostly succeeds. After No Jacket Required, Collins made some missteps and retreated back into his role with Genesis, mostly ending both phases of his career by 1991. This would be the album to get by Collins, as it’s his most consistent, but you’d be better off ultimately with a good compilation album that will give you the highlights from here along with “In The Air Tonight” and “I Don’t Care Anymore”.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
BLUE MOUNTAIN
DOG DAYS
1995-ROADRUNNER
Produced By ERIC “ROSCOE” AMBEL
1. Mountain Girl
2. Let’s Ride
3. Blue Canoe
4. Soul Sister
5. Wink
6. Slow Suicide
7. A Band Called Bud
8. Epitaph
9. ZZQ
10. Eyes Of A Child
11. Jimmy Carter
12. Let’s Go Runnin’
13. Hippy Hotel
14. Special Rider Blues
15. Broke Down & Busted
16. Song Without A Name
17. Westbound
18. Hermit Of The Hidden Beach
19. My Wicked, Wicked Ways
20. To A Toad
Sometimes, the best bands are the ones you never hear. Blue Mountain was formed in Mississippi in 1993 by former members of a band called The Hilltops. Guitarist Cary Hudson and bassist Laurie Stirratt (who is the twin sister of Wilco bassist John Stirratt), along with drummer Frank Croutch, put together Blue Mountain. After a debut album that sounded like it was recorded in a shed, the band released Dog Days in 1995. This is their best album, and their best known work, and a classic alt-country release. Anchored by their best known song, “Blue Canoe”, the album is a beautifully made, and criminally underappreciated landmark of the genre. But this is not just an album of standard empty countrified rock songs…there’s a world of feeling here, with songs that actually have something to say. The trio sounds like a much bigger band, and if there was ever an alt-country album that might have turned on the masses, this may have been it. Of course, it never happened…Blue Mountain, and Dog Days, remains a cult favorite. Inspired heavily by Uncle Tupelo and Blue Rodeo (and an ability to channel Creedence Clearwater Revival when they turned it loose), Blue Mountain was really something special. Dog Days shows that perfectly.
Hudson’s vocals are less than perfect, which only adds to the charm of the record. Songs like “Jimmy Carter”, a hard two-stepping ode to the former President, “ZZQ”, which is about a former Mississippi radio station that had the nerve to play punk, and the beautiful mandolin vehicle “Mountain Girl” are part of what makes this great. This edition, re-released in 2008, includes six bonus tracks that actually add to the quality of the album. Blue Mountain didn’t just disappear. They made four more albums between Dog Days and 2002, but they were unable to build on the momentum started here. They split, then got back together in 2007 and made two more albums before calling it quits in 2013. Dog Days remains their crowning achievement, a great sounding, beautiful moment in the world of alternative country that deserves a lot more recognition than it has ever received. Definitely worth seeking out, especially (and I don’t say this often) the version with the added bonus tracks. A fine little known band, and a marvel of an album.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
UNCLE TUPELO
NO DEPRESSION
1990-ROCKVILLE
Produced By SEAN SLADE & PAUL Q. KOLDERIE
1. Graveyard Shift
2. That Year
3. Before I Break
4. No Depression
5. Factory Belt
6. Whiskey Bottle
7. Outdone
8. Train
9. Life Worth Livin’
10. Flatness
11. So Called Friend
12. Screen Door
13. John Hardy
14. Left In The Dark
15. Won’t Forget
16. Sin City
17. Whiskey Bottle (Live Acoustic)
18. No Depression (1988 Demo)
19. Blues Die Hard
Uncle Tupelo became famous after their breakup in 1994, when their final album (Anodyne) became a sudden classic. The groups two songwriters, Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, were already moving on to greater success with their new bands, Son Volt and Wilco. But in the beginning, there was Uncle Tupelo. In reality a punk band, they were not afraid to play acoustic instruments. Nor were they against playing music they didn’t fully understand, which is why their brand of alt-country was so different. Farrar and Tweedy were from a town near St. Louis, hardly the hotbed of twang. But they loved what they heard, and even though they didn’t have the chops to reproduce it correctly, they did create something exciting. No Depression is their first album, and as strange and flawed as it is, there’s also a spirit of doing what they love that makes the album endearing. They would go on to make three more albums, each better than the last. But this is where the band’s roots are most obvious, in a raw and sometimes grating way.
But pure and uncompromised, which makes up for a lot of what they lacked in ability and understanding.
The title track is a rework of a song by The Carter Family, and became the name for the alt-country movement. The better songs include “Graveyard Shift”, “Whiskey Bottle”, and Tweedy’s “Screen Door”. On these tracks, you can hear the songwriting magic that would come up more and more frequently on future albums. They were still trying to figure things out here, which is obvious, with bursts of punk ripping through the country in ways that are, at times, clunky and uncomfortable. And, at times, beautiful and genius. It’s ultimately the writing that saves No Depression from being a drag, and what makes Uncle Tupelo a special and exciting band. The continued upward growth and evolution of both Farrar and Tweedy speaks volumes about the drive and talent of both men, and it’s more interesting than anything else to hear their humble beginnings as a couple of young punks trying to navigate their way through country. A great story, and at times, an album that has almost great moments. Flawed, but worth having.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
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AfterHours
