THE STOOGES
FUN HOUSE
1970 – ELEKTRA
Produced By DON GALLUCCI
1. Down On The Street
2. Loose
3. T.V. Eye
4. Dirt
5. 1970
6. Fun House
7. L.A. Blues
In his wild, up and down career, Iggy Pop has been part of four important albums. His two 1977 solo albums, Lust For Life and The Idiot established himself as an artist in his own right, and served notice that the British weren’t the only punks around. And then there is his early work with The Stooges. 1972’s Raw Power is tough and powerful music, but the ultimate, for both Iggy and The Stooges, was the 1970 release Fun House. If this isn’t the beginning of punk, then I don’t know what is. It’s only 36 minutes and 7 songs long, but every minute is amazing. Fun House went almost completely unnoticed when it was released (was it ahead of its time?), but has since come to be a classic album, and a huge influence on many bands. The Stooges somehow managed to be several things at once, and they captured a rare musical spirit with this album.
The most important thing to remember about Fun House is that this was 1970. Bands were still playing to flower power, peace and love. Bands like The Allman Brothers Band and Grateful Dead were at the top of their games. And the explosion of punk was still seven years away. Fun House rocks harder than anyone this side of Black Sabbath…and harder than the Beatles and Stones ever did. It’s not just about the fierce vocals of Iggy. The rest of the band is tight and ferocious, The songs are heavy, fast, brooding, expanded, and the last track, “L.A. Blues”, is as avant-garde as anything of its time, without moving into the unlistenable. The Stooges, and Fun House, are badass, heavy, loud and exceptional. Years ahead of its time, Fun House is one of the best albums of the early part of the 70’s. You may not know any of the songs…but you should own this album.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
JOHN MELLENCAMP
THE BEST THAT I COULD DO 1978-1988
1997 – MERCURY
Produced By JOHN PUNTER, STEVE CROPPER, JOHN MELLENCAMP, DON GEHMAN & MIKE WANCHIC
1. I Need A Lover
2. Ain’t Even Done With The Night
3. Hurts So Good
4. Jack And Diane
5. Crumblin’ Down
6. Pink Houses
7. Authority Song
8. Lonely Ol’ Night
9. Small Town
10. R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.
11. Paper In Fire
12. Cherry Bomb
13. Check It Out
14. Without Expression
The early career of John Mellencamp was so messed up that his very first best of album completely ignores his first two albums, and the first two years of his recorded legacy. But that’s okay…you wouldn’t want to hear that stuff anyway. This nifty and somewhat predictable package came about when Mellencamp signed with Columbia Records, but still owed albums to his old label, Mercury. And so, twenty years after he began his career as Johnny Cougar, his first greatest hits package was born. It’s pretty nicely done, with a great article by Timothy White (Billboard), and good individual track info. It’s short on photos, and even though Mellencamp picked the songs, it’s short on insight from the artist. But it’s still pretty good as a listen, and if you dig Mellencamp’s brand of Springsteen light heartland rock, then this is for you.
The first two tracks are from his pre-big star days. “I Need A Lover” shows what he was capable of (and this version burns Pat Benatar’s cover to the ground). “Ain’t Even Done With The Night” shows nice growth, and is a forgotten gem. But then, things get predictable as the album moves into his famous period. From “Hurts So Good”, these are all songs you’ve heard too many gazillions of times…and they still sound great. Particularly the later hits like “Paper In Fire” and “Check It Out”. The collection would have been more interesting with some cuts like “Rain On The Scarecrow” or “Play Guitar” or “Rumbleseat”, but that just wasn’t in the cards. The last track, “Without Expression”, is a gem from Terry Reid (the guy Jimmy Page originally wanted to front Led Zeppelin), and is excellent. This is a mostly predictable and less than perfect set, but there’s enough to enjoy here to make it worthwhile.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE BRAVERY
THE SUN AND THE MOON
2007 – ISLAND
Produced By BRENDAN O’BRIEN
1. Intro
2. Believe
3. This Is Not The End
4. Every Word Is A Knife In My Ear
5. Bad Sun
6. Time Won’t Let Me Go
7. Tragedy Bound
8. Fistful Of Sand
9. Angelina
10. Split Me Wide Open
11. Above And Below
12. The Ocean
The Bravery was one of those millions of American bands from the 2000’s that sounded way too British. They didn’t last long…after only three albums, they called it a day. The Sun And The Moon, their second album, is also their best work. The singles “Believe” and “Time Won’t Let Me Go” were catchy and danceable enough to gain the band a decent following, and there was the thought that they would improve with time. That never really happened, and they were done after three albums. They got really angry on the last one (had a song called “Hatefuck”), and they kind of lost the audience they had gained. But back to The Sun And The Moon. “Believe” is, by far, the best track, and shows the most promise. There’s enough decent sounding pop rock here to keep you busy for a few minutes, but outside of the singles, there’s nothing much left.
It’s not that the music is bad…the band plays and sings very well. It’s the songs that come up short, and the obvious 80’s influence becomes stale after a few tracks. When you hear “Believe”, you’re excited to hear more, but by the end, you’ve pretty much forgotten what album you were listening to in the first place. The Sun And The Moon should have been a powerful follow up to their debut album, but instead, while it made them famous for a minute, it fails to really build on anything. The band didn’t really build on this, either, breaking up in 2011 with little to no chance of getting back together (but you never know these days). Since then, members of the band have been writing for the likes of Shakira and Christina Aguilera. This is promising pop rock, but it never really goes very far beyond just that…promising.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
EMF
SCHUBERT DIP
1991 – PARLOPHONE
Produced By PASCAL GABRIEL & RALPH JEZZARD
1. Children
2. Long Summer Days
3. When You’re Mine
4. Travelling Not Running
5. I Believe
6. Unbelievable
7. Girl Of An Age
8. Admit It
9. Lies
10. Longtime
11. EMF
Here’s the EMF formula for instant success. Take a high energy British rock band, throw in some scratching, add a heavy, heavy dose of Andrew Dice Clay samples, and a lead singer who sounds twelve-ish. And there you have one of the strangest and catchiest singles of 1991, EMF’s “Unbelievable”. This song, and Clay’s trademark “OH!”, were everywhere, and it seemed that EMF was destined for a long and fruitful career. Oh, but the gods of the one-hit wonder world work in mysterious ways, and as soon as the song slipped from the charts, EMF faded quickly into history. Actually, four singles from Schubert Dip charted in America, but they are remembered only for the one song. They’ve broken up and regrouped many times, but only made 3 albums, the last in 1995. Such is the strangeness of the 90’s band that utilizes the Clay man to gain a hit record.
“Unbelievable” is a great song, and while nothing else on the album comes close to its catchiness, it’s really not a bad record. What they lack in consistent songwriting, they make up for in pure energy and exuberance. “I Believe”, “Children”, and “Lies” are the better tracks, and “Girl Of An Age” is cool, and even has a spoken intro by Bert and Ernie. “Lies” originally included Mark David Chapman reciting the lyrics to John Lennon’s “Watching The Wheels”, which was quickly removed at Yoko Ono’s request. The album is actually easy to listen to, and keeps the energy going all the way through. Too bad they didn’t have the magic of “Unbelievable” more than once. EMF could have been a fun band to follow through the 90’s, rather than just a curiosity remembered for just one song. But Schubert Dip is really not bad at all. Worth a spin or two.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE STOOGES
RAW POWER
1973 – COLUMBIA
Produced By IGGY POP & DAVID BOWIE
1. Search And Destroy
2. Gimme Danger
3. Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell
4. Penetration
5. Raw Power
6. I Need Somebody
7. Shake Appeal
8. Death Trip
Let’s just start with the one fact you need to know about Raw Power. In his journals, Kurt Cobain listed this album as his favorite of all time. And it’s true that you can hear the influence of the third (and, in effect, final) Stooges album not only in the music of Nirvana, but also in every good punk band that has ever existed. Predating the introduction of The Sex Pistols by two years, Raw Power is the stuff of legend. There are two ballads on the album, but only because the band wasn’t selling records and their label insisted so that it would be more commercial. It didn’t work, the album sold nothing, and they were dropped by Columbia. The band had already broken up over substance abuse problems, brought back together when Iggy Pop couldn’t find the right musicians in England. David Bowie was brought in to save the project after Pop’s production yielded only three tracks, with his vocals on one side and the rest of the band on the other.
The one track here that gets to me is “Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell”. This track is more punk than almost all of the punk you’ve ever heard. Pop’s vocals are clipping alarmingly, almost turning to straight feedback. The absolute fury of this song has to be experienced: it’s what punk was really always supposed to sound like. No studio tricks, not over produced…just raw power. And even though the title track is clumsy (the lyrical flow is just bad), and the two ballads, “Gimme Danger” and “I Need Somebody”, aren’t a perfect fit, this album is a furious and exciting work that has to be experienced. The Stooges broke up afterward, and Iggy got clean and went solo. Pop is, in fact, the only living original member of the Stooges now. His career has been fruitful, but the power, the fury, and the pure energy of this album were career defining for him, and it remains one of the most important documents in the history of punk rock. And Kurt Cobain agrees.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
THE HOLD STEADY
BOYS AND GIRLS IN AMERICA
2006 – FRENCH KISS
Produced By JOHN AGNELLO
1. Stuck Between Stations
2. Chips Ahoy!
3. Hot Soft Light
4. Same Kooks
5. First Night
6. Party Pit
7. You Can Make Him Like You
8. Massive Nights
9. Citrus
10. Chiillout Tent
11. Southtown Girls
A full decade after Counting Crows made their debut, Adam Duritz sound alikes were still crawling out of the woodwork and getting record deals. Craig Finn, who looks like he may be your dad’s accountant, is one of those singers. By their third album, The Hold Steady was gaining a reputation for being a solid band with strong, literary lyrics. They were also about a decade too late, and while they come across as better than, say, Sister Hazel, they are also a fairly dull band. Even so, this album was rated by many as one of the best albums of 2006…it must have been a thin year for new releases. “Stuck Between Stations” is the high point, with “Chillout Tent” not far behind. And, while the band plays their hearts out, and the sound is full and instrumentally strong, it just never seems to live up to the hype it was given when it came out.
The Hold Steady is still around, although their more recent albums seem to be not as highly regarded as their earlier work. Their appeal at the time of Boys And Girls Inf America is understandable. They were a throwback to the rock of the 90’s and before, appealing to what may have been an older crowd. But even that segment seems to have outgrown them. Boys And Girls In America is not a bad album by any means. It’s just an unremarkable and very average piece of work by a band with a singer who sounds more like Duritz with marbles in his mouth than anything else. There’s just not anything here that reaches out and pulls you in, and there’s nothing to suggest that you really should have this album. It’s well played and musically solid, but light on songs and missing one crucial element: an interesting singer.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
Fun House went almost completely unnoticed when it was released (was it ahead of its time?), but has since come to be a classic album, and a huge influence on many bands. The Stooges somehow managed to be several things at once, and they captured a rare musical spirit with this album.
To further emphasise your point regarding how influential The Stooges have been, Johnny Marr has cited them as a source of inspiration for The Queen Is Dead.
Here are a couple of characteristic quotes (taken from https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the...-band-6822)
"I had an idea to do a song that had the aggression of the Detroit garage bands, ‘cos I’m such a Stooges fan"
"I was trying to do something that had the atmosphere of being in the bedroom of my parents’ house when I was 16, listening to ‘Raw Power’ by the Stooges. The thing I liked about ‘Raw Power’ was it was beautiful and dark at the same time, which is what we were trying to get on ‘The Queen Is Dead’.” _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
To further emphasise your point regarding how influential The Stooges have been, Johnny Marr has cited them as a source of inspiration for The Queen Is Dead.
Here are a couple of characteristic quotes (taken from https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the...-band-6822)
"I had an idea to do a song that had the aggression of the Detroit garage bands, ‘cos I’m such a Stooges fan"
"I was trying to do something that had the atmosphere of being in the bedroom of my parents’ house when I was 16, listening to ‘Raw Power’ by the Stooges. The thing I liked about ‘Raw Power’ was it was beautiful and dark at the same time, which is what we were trying to get on ‘The Queen Is Dead’.”
Nice! You do know your Smiths! So much important music from that period came from Michigan. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
TOOL
ÆNIMA
1996 – ZOO ENTERTAINMENT
Produced By DAVID BOTTRILL
1. Stinkfist
2. Eulogy
3. H.
4. Useful Idiot
5. Forty-Six & 2
6. Message To Harry Manback
7. Hooker With A Penis
8. Intermission
9. Jimmy
10. Die Eier Von Satan
11. Pushit
12. Cesaro Summability
13. Ænima
14. (-) Ions
15. Third Eye
Tool is a metal band, but they might be best described as the metal band for smart people. Where a lot of bands try to make their audiences feel smart by using a lot of big words in their song titles, Tool already knows that you are intelligent, which may be their biggest source of appeal. On their second album, the band was stretching out into experimental sounds and depressing lyrics…maybe a bit too soon for their own good. When the band rocks, it’s pretty good, but there’s also a lot of interluding with noise, sound affects and there are a lot of times where you have to wonder just what the point of the album is. The record is dedicated to the late comedian Bill Hicks, known mostly for having died of cancer at a very young age and for being shamelessly ripped off by Denis Leary. That, along with a somewhat fuzzy Egyptian mythology theme and mutterings like “I’ve been wallowing in my own chaotic insecure delusions”, and you have one whale of an overrated mess.
Tool would get better, particularly on their fourth album, Lateralus, but here, they are still meandering, trying to figure out how to be important and convey to their audience that they have something to say. Bottom line is, the music here just doesn’t get it done. It’s often cited as hugely influencial and groundbreaking, which is all well and good…but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily listenable. Overrated? This album made several best of all time lists, which is baffling, given its uneven nature and its puzzling themes and depressing lyrics. Maynard James Keenan is a fine singer, and tears it up on occasion. Adam Jones has the guitar chops, and the rhythm section is aces. But Tool had simply not found their way yet, leaving this album as a career low point that is somehow revered by fans, critics, and peers. Skip this unless you must have it and go straight to Lateralus for the real magic that is Tool.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
TOM PETTY
HIGHWAY COMPANION
2006 – WARNER BROS.
Produced By JEFF LYNNE, TOM PETTY & MIKE CAMPBELL
1. Saving Grace
2. Square One
3. Flirting With Time
4. Down South
5. Jack
6. Turn This Car Around
7. Big Weekend
8. Night Driver
9. Damaged By Love
10. This Old Town
11. Ankle Deep
12. The Golden Rose
Tom Petty’s fourth solo album was supposed to be his farewell to the music business…that most certainly didn’t happen. The album features only Petty, longtime Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, Jeff Lynne and an unknown drummer named Tony Wells. The production by Lynne is simpler and more subdued than his previous work, and Petty’s songwriting is exactly where you would expect it to be: listenable, pleasant, catchy, and completely safe…four things that Petty has made a career out of. In other words, Highway Companion is another in a long line of mostly interchangeable albums by Petty, who never strays far from his formula for success. Highway Companion has a hit, a bunch of catchy and safe tunes, and mostly sounds just like all of the rest of Tom Petty’s albums. How can you go wrong?
The hit here is “Saving Grace”, a bluesy guitar driven track. Petty is credited as the sole writer on all of the tracks, despite having his Heartbreakers partner Campbell present. Maybe the best thing about Highway Companion is that Lynne toned down his production enough to keep it from sounding like an ELO album. There are keyboards on the album, but they are kept to a minimum, giving it a rootsier sound. What it really comes down to is this…Petty has made a career of making safe and reliable albums, with a hit or two and a bunch of decent yet unspectacular tracks filling out the rest. Highway Companion is like most of the rest of Petty’s discography. Not great, not bad, and interchangeable with just about everything else he ever did. He changed his mind about walking away after this album, and continued on until his death in 2017.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Romanelli
