SARAH BRIGHTMAN
LA LUNA
2000 – ANGEL RECORDS
Produced By FRANK PETERSON
1. La Lune
2. Winter In July
3. Scarborough Fair
4. Figlio Perduto
5. A Whiter Shade Of Pale
6. He Doesn’t See Me
7. Serenade
8. How Fair This Place
9. Hijo De La Luna
10. Here With Me
11. La Califfa
12. This Love
13. Solo Con Te
14. Gloomy Sunday
15. La Luna
To simply say that Sarah Brightman has had a successful career would be an understatement of epic proportions. After having success as a dancer and disco artist in the late 70’s, she started in theater in the 80’s, and gained a high level of success while married to Andrew Lloyd Webber. She then began a solo career which included classical works, twice opening the Olympic games with a live performance, and has gone on to more success as a classical, pop, Middle Eastern and club artist. She has been on over 180 albums that have been certified at least gold. So, yeah…Sarah Brightman knows what she’s doing. And on La Luna, a concept album about, you guessed it, the moon, she cements the fact that she almost singlehandedly invented the genre of classical crossover. The album shifts genres like a professional chameleon, and her versatility and talent is overwhelmingly obvious from the very start.
On this, her seventh album, she tackles classical works by Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Handel. The title track is a modern rework from the Dvorak opera Rusalka. But she also takes on the traditional “Scarborough Fair”, Ennio Morricone (“La Califfa”), and the Procol Harum psychedelic hit “A Whiter Shade Of Pale”. All of this with instrumental tracks that fit perfectly with the musical landscape of the early 2000’s…although you sometimes do have to remind yourself that this is not an Enya album. Brightman has a stunning soprano voice, and proves here that nothing is outside of her sphere. La Luna is certainly not for everyone…you will not hear a second of rock on this album, nor do you need to. But over the years, her natural talent and experience have made albums of this scope possible, plausible, and successful. There’s something for almost everyone here…a well crafted album by a stunning and beautiful voice.
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JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT
LIVE FROM ALABAMA
2012 – LIGHTNING ROD
No Production Credit
1. Tour Of Duty
2. Decoration Day
3. Goddamn Lonely Love
4. Heart On A String
5. Danko / Manuel
6. In A Razor Town
7. Alabama Pines
8. Outfit
9. Cigarettes And Wine
10. TVA
11. The Blue
12. Dress Blues
13. Like A Hurricane
How could this possibly go wrong? The answer is, it couldn’t. Recorded live in Jason Isbell’s home state of Alabama, and with enough great material to choose from to make a great double album, this does not disappoint at all. Recorded over two nights in Birmingham and Huntsville, this is everything you’d want from an Isbell show. With a nice handful of tracks from his tenure with Drive-By Truckers augmenting his always improving solo work, Isbell turns in a soulful and powerful performance. And at times, he even eclipses the original recordings. “Decoration Day” is a perfect example of that…this is a stronger and all around better version than the studio version, and you’ll find that many of these tracks compare favorably with their original brethren. And when you can do that, you’ve got yourself the main ingredient for a fine live album. And, as usual, Isbell delivers in fine, fine fashion. All across the board.
A couple of covers stand out here. “Heart On A String” was originally recorded by Candy Staton in the early 70’s, and Isbell gives it a fine and soulful reading. “Like A Hurricane” is the Neil Young song, and it works as a rousing closer. The Truckers tracks, “Decoration Day”. “Goddamn Lonely Love”, “Outfit”, and “Danko / Manuel”, even with it’s odd start without guitars, all work well, and “TVA” is a gem as well…recorded by the Truckers but only released on the later compilation The Fine Print…it’s a nice surprise. The rest are tracks from his first three solo albums, Sirens Of The Ditch, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, and Here We Rest. All are excellent, and if you know anything about Isbell as a writer, you’ll know that none of the material is second rate. In short, Live From Alabama is everything you could want from a Jason Isbell show. One of the finest live albums in recent years, and a must have companion for fans of one of our greatest current songwriters.
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STIFF LITTLE FINGERS
LIVE & LOUD
1988 – LINK
No Production Credit
1. Alternative Ulster
2. Roots Radicals Rock And Reggae
3. Silver Lining
4. Wait And See
5. Gotta Getaway
6. Just Fade Away
7. Wasted Life
8. Nobody’s Heroes
9. At The Edge
10. Listen
11. Barbed Wire Love
12. Fly The Flag
13. Tin Soldiers
14. No Sleep Til Belfast
15. Suspect Device
16. Johnny Was
Ireland’s Stiff Little Fingers is one of the original punk bands, and with the exception of a brief breakup in the 80’s, they have outlived them all. But they have never been a highly popular band, and they have never had a large amount of commercial success. In the early days, they were overshadowed by The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Damned: in later years, when punk wasn’t out of favor, it was the Green Days and the younger acts who kept them in the shadows. Not to say that the band didn’t have their moments…but they’ve never been a real top shelf punk band. There’s a lot of talent here, and even though there’s only one original member left, they still muster enough energy. But Stiff Little Fingers never quite had the arsenal of songs that their more well known brethren had. Which is why this live set, recorded at a single show in 1987, never quite takes off. And why this band has never quite left the shadows it was born under.
This album was part of their reunion tour in ’87, and features their longest and most stable lineup. It also features many of their early singles, and their best tracks. “Alternative Ulster”, “Gotta Getaway”, and “Suspect Device” are fine songs, as are “Tin Soldiers” and “No Sleep Til Belfast”. The playing is great, the energy is okay, but there’s just not enough of everything good here to be more than slightly interesting. The audience is barely heard, and there’s very little banter with them to get them fired up. For a punk show, this comes across, despite the music, as way too laid back and tired. I was expecting a firewall of power and anger and drive…it’s just not there. And that’s hugely disappointing. This should be a punk band making its loud and reckless return. Instead, it’s an average live show from a band that you have to remind yourself that they’re playing punk music. Go for the studio albums instead. The early ones.
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BOB DYLAN
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
1975 – COLUMBIA
Produced By BOB DYLAN
1. Tangled Up In Blue
2. Simple Twist Of Fate
3. You’re A Big Girl
4. Idiot Wind
5. You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
6. Meet Me In The Morning
7. Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts
8. If You See Her, Say Hello
9. Shelter From The Storm
10. Buckets Of Rain
Sooner or later, almost every artist runs out of ideas and sees their run of great albums come to an end. It happened to The Rolling Stones. It happened to every individual member of The Beatles. Paul Simon. Elvis. So when Bob Dylan appeared to be winding down in the late sixties and early seventies, it seemed to be just another one biting the dust. Pretty much everything had been going downhill since Blonde On Blonde…oh, hell, it had sure been a great run, though. And then, in 1975, Dylan blew everyone away with Blood On The Tracks. Not just a decent comeback album, Blood On The Tracks is a masterpiece that’s comparable to Dylan’s best work from the 60’s. This following a period that included by far his worst album (Self Portrait), and a decreasing grasp on the pulse of the youth of the world. Blood On The Tracks is more than just a return to form…it’s a full fledged stroke of musical mastery.
Opening with the stunning “Tangled Up In Blue” gives notice that Dylan is back, and with a vengeance. And there’s not a weak moment afterward. The songs here are simply gorgeous and perfect…not even the almost nine minutes of “Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts” disappoints, although some give weak arguments for its failure. “Simple Twist Of Fate”, “If You See Her, Say Hello” and “”Shelter From The Storm” can stand with the best of his 60’s output. “Idiot Wind” is powerful and against the gentle grain of most of the rest of the album…and it works perfectly. And as a whole, this set of songs is a perfect listening experience. Dylan not only proves he wasn’t dead yet…he proves that he’s still a major force to be reckoned with. Blood On The Tracks is maybe the best comeback album ever made, and it stands as one of Dylan’s best works. How many artists can boast of that fourteen albums into their careers? This one can.
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JOHN COUGAR
AMERICAN FOOL
1982 – RIVA
Produced By JOHN MELLENCAMP & DON GEHMAN
1. Hurts So Good
2. Jack & Diane
3. Hand To Hold On To
4. Danger List
5. Can You Take It
6. Thundering Hearts
7. China Girl
8. Close Enough
9. Weakest Moments
10. American Fool
Say what you will about John Mellencamp. Let’s see you handle the career disaster he faced, overcame, and outlasted to become a major star, and one that is taken seriously. People who dismiss him tend to be those who cling to his Johnny Cougar persona, a stupid attempt by bad management to create a teen idol. American Fool is his fifth album, and the last one he recorded as John Cougar (The Kid Inside, released afterward, was an attempt at cashing in on his success…it had been recorded years before). It’s also his commercial breakthrough, containing two monster hits in “Jack And Diane” and “Hurts So Good”. It took Mellencamp all that time from his awful debut album in 1976 until American Fool in 1982 to be finally taken seriously. That he had the talent to overcome says it all. Sure, there had been glimpses…”I Need A Lover” from a few years back had been impressive…but it’s American Fool that allows him to start putting the Cougar to rest and to be who is really is.
Sure. American Fool is top heavy. But what a coming out party it is. “Hurts So Good” and “Jack And Diane” put Mellencamp on the map for good, and catapulted the album to number one…John Mellencamp was able to now write his own ticket. But there’s more than just those two tracks. “Hand To Hold On To” was also a hit, and stands with any of his best early material. “Thundering Hearts” is also a fine track. The rest begins to border on filler, but it’s much better filler than we had ever heard from Mellencamp. After this album, he was finally able to add his last name to his work (the much better Uh-Huh), and by his 1991 release, Whenever We Wanted, he was able to completely jettison the Cougar tag altogether and forever. This is album that began that process, a musical healing for him, and the shedding of a dreaded persona that he neither wanted nor deserved. Plus, you’ve got to have those two hits…a big part of what made 1982 so much damn fun.
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OL’ DIRTY BASTARD
RETURN TO THE 36 CHAMBERS: THE DIRTY VERSION
1995 – ELEKTRA
Produced By RZA, TRUE MASTER, 4TH DISCIPLE, OL’ DIRTY BASTARD, ETHAN RYMAN & BIG DORE
1. Intro
2. Shimmy Shimmy Ya
3. Baby C’Mon
4. Brooklyn Zoo
5. Hippa To Da Hoppa
6. Raw Ride
7. Damage
8. Don’t U Know
9. The Stomp
10. Goin’ Down
11. Drunk Game (Sweet Sugar Pie)
12. Snakes
13. Brooklyn Zoo II (Tiger Cane)
14. Proteck Ya Neck II The Zoo
15. Cuttin’ Headz
16. Dirty Dancin’
17. Harlem World
If you think that hip hop doesn’t have a large part of itself rooted deeply in what you might call “showbiz”, then you’ve never heard Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Becoming a sudden star as part of the Wu-Tang Clan and their huge album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993, he launched one of the strangest solo careers in music history. This is his solo debut album, and it’s as strange as you would expect. ODB has a very unconventional style…it can be best described as singing and rapping at the same time…sort of. His rhythm sounds almost off kilter, and his voice sounds strangely tortured. Add this to what was as bizarre a celebrity life as anyone has ever lived, and you have a career that most definitely isn’t for everyone, but one that is infinitely entertaining. And don’t forget the fact that ODB had a load of talent inside him. It’s filthy…it’s shocking, it’s off putting for sure. It can also be entertaining as hell, and a lot of it’s pretty great stuff.
“Brooklyn Zoo” and “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” were hits, and launched a ton of sales for the album. The production here is dark, with pretty sparse instrumentation (beats, some simple piano, and eerie sounds). Add that to ODB’s dark lyrics and creepy delivery, and you have a pretty scary album that you can dance to, and that has a message, all while being some of the strangest stuff you’ll ever hear. This is the one to have from him, his best solo outing (there was only one other album). Unfortunately for him, he spent the rest of his life building a frighteningly long rap sheet and list of strange incidents, and he was dead of an overdose seven years later. Who knows what he could have done had he been able to hold himself together. We’ll never know. Return To The 36 Chambers is not for the sensitive…there’s a lot of language and subject matter that some may find offensive here, it’s long to the point of being almost tedious, and not everything works…but it’s otherwise different and intriguing.
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DIRE STRAITS
BROTHERS IN ARMS
1985 – WARNER BROTHERS
Produced By NEIL DORFSMAN & MARK KNOPFLER
1. So Far Away
2. Money For Nothing
3. Walk Of Life
4. Your Latest Trick
5. Why Worry
6. Ride Across The River
7. The Man’s Too Strong
8. One World
9. Brothers In Arms
The greatest commercial achievement for Dire Straits also turned out to be the beginning of the end of the band. The last five years had been a struggle for Mark Knopfler and company following the excellent Making Movies. Love Over Gold had the exceptional 14 minute track “Telegraph Road”, but not much else. This had been followed by a somewhat lame extended play and a disappointing live album (Alchemy). So, when Brothers In Arms exploded in 1985, it was actually something of a surprise. That they became the poster band for MTV was even more surprising. “Money For Nothing”, with its cheesy slick animated video and backup vocals by Sting, became ridiculously enormous. The better tracks fared not as well, but don’t disappoint. “So Far Away” is a fine song, but points the way to more mellowness to come. “The Man’s Too Strong” and “Your Latest Trick” are better representative of what Dire Straits was now about…this was fast turning into one of the mellowest bands in the world…had they continued on, they may have gotten even softer.
The two tracks that people identify most with the album are actually the two that don’t fit in. “Money For Nothing” is that huge guitar riff over some badly recorded snare shots and “I want my MTV”. The other is “Walk Of Life”, which (thankfully) sounds nothing like anything the band ever recorded. The rest is Knopfler maturing, and even though the sound is sometimes so quiet you can barely hear it, it’s pretty strong work. The tracks are long…five of the nine are over six minutes long. It’s the stuff that didn’t get hammered into the radio over and over that will stick with you. The hits are disposable and dated, and the album would be better without them. But songs like the title track, “Why Worry”, and “Ride Across The River”, while sounding like whispers compared to earlier Dire Straits tracks, have a definite beauty about them. The band made only one more album, six years after this, and then they were gone. But there’s enough to make you smile here. You just won’t spend much time rocking out to it.
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JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT
2009 – LIGHTNING ROD
Produced By MATT PENCE & JASON ISBELL
1. Seven Mile Island
2. Sunstroke
3. Good
4. Cigarettes And Wine
5. However Long
6. Coda
7. The Blue
8. No Choice In The Matter
9. Soldiers Get Strange
10. Streetlights
11. The Last Song I Will Write
The second solo album from former Drive By Truckers member Jason Isbell is a natural progression from his first. It’s better, but it’s not quite at the level of excellence we’ve grown accustomed to hearing from him. His growth as a songwriter from his debut, Sirens Of The Ditch, is pretty large, but he still had a ways to go…pretty scary, given how good this record is. On this, he introduces his band, the 400 unit, for the first time, and becomes a better story teller with each passing song. Everything here is very good, but there are two tracks where he shows how much better he would be. “The Blue” is a lovely piece of writing, but it’s the stunning “Cigarettes And Wine” where he really breaks through. It’s a slow and sprawling love story with the requisite country unhappy ending, and Isbell delivers it like only he can. These two songs carry the album, but the rest is also well worth the time.
He’s still rocking more here than he does these days…”Good” would have made a great Truckers tune, and “However Long” rocks just fine as well. But even here, Isbell is proving that his better songs are the ones that favor lyrics and melody over rocking out, a lesson that thankfully isn’t lost on the artist. His next three albums, Here We Rest, Southeastern, and Something More Than Free, follow the course of the best songs on this album, while leaving his more rocking past in the wind…and it’s made for what is so far an exceptional career. This album is not Isbell’s best work by a long shot, but it’s still a fine album, and an important step in his career trajectory. Worthwhile for its two best songs alone, but also worthwhile because it is Jason Isbell, who has turned into one of the most talented and important voices in Southern music today. Not perfect by any means, but this album most definitely is not bad at all.
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UNCLE TUPELO
MARCH 16-20, 1992
1992 – ROCKVILLE
Produced By PETER BUCK
1. Grindstone
2. Coalminers
3. Wait Up
4. Criminals
5. Shaky Ground
6. Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down
7. Black Eye
8. Moonshiner
9. I Wish My Baby Was Born
10. Atomic Power
11. Lilli Schull
12. Warfare
13. Fatal Wound
14. Sandusky
15. Wipe The Clock
16. Take My Word
17. Grindstone (1991 Longview Farm Acoustic Demo)
18. Atomic Power (1991 Longview Farm Acoustic Demo)
19. I Wanna Be Your Dog (1991 Longview Farm Acoustic Demo)
20. Moonshiner (Live 1/24/93)
This, Uncle Tupelo’s third studio album, is a thing of absolute beauty. And for the band, and alt country music, it’s a perfect storm. Peter Buck of R.E.M. had attended an Uncle Tupelo show two years before, and told them he’d love to work with them. The band was under pressure from their label to make an album that was like Nirvana, who had recently had their big breakthrough with Nevermind. So, they brought in Buck and recorded a folk album. And it’s amazing. It’s as far from the mainstream as they could possibly make it…and as far from Nirvana as you can imagine. Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy trade back and forth with strong originals and perfectly chosen traditional covers that no other band would have thought to cover…songs about religious fervor and working class folk being beaten to death by their jobs and old hill songs that somehow found their way to this Illinois band of punk rockers. Perfect.
Recorded in the span of just five days (the album title), this album captures what Farrar, Tweedy and drummer Mike Heidorn were really about. There’s nothing flashy or glitzy about this, and the production is as bare boned as you can get. This is about songs. This is about music that these guys discovered and fell in love with. It’s also about sticking it to their label by giving them something strictly non-commercial. Tracks like “Atomic Power” and “Coalminers” and “Moonshiner” open the doors for what is now alt-country. The instrumental “Sandusky” is Tweedy’s favorite song by the band, and after the live final bonus track, you even get a short hidden gem…the theme from The Waltons. Uncle Tupelo went from here to make their stunning major label debut (Anodyne), then broke up very acrimoniously, with Farrar forming Son Volt and Tweedy starting Wilco. There will likely never be a reunion of this band, so hold on tight to what they did give us. If you have even the slightest interest in alt-country and folk music, you need to have this one.
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TERENCE TRENT D’ARBY
INTRODUCING THE HARDLINE ACCORDING TO TERENCE TRENT D’ARBY
1987 – COLUMBIA
Produced By MARTYN WARE, TERENCE TRENT D’ARBY & HOWARD GREY
1. If You All Get To Heaven
2. If You Let Me Stay
3. Wishing Well
4. I’ll Never Turn My Back On You (Father’s Words)
5. Dance, Little Sister
6. Seven More Days
7. Let’s Go Forward
8. Rain
9. Sign Your Name
10. As Yet Untitled
11. Who’s Loving You
Prince may have been the undisputed super eclectic multi-talented master torch carrier of pure soul music in the 1980’s, but for one, brief moment, Terence Trent D’Arby was part of the conversation. D’Arby (now known as Sananda Maitreya) had been a Golden Gloves champion, and was later court martialed by the US Army for desertion. He emerged in 1987 with Introducing The Hardline, which was a huge hit and a stunningly mature work for a new artist. The album made him a star, and had him poised for even bigger things to come. Unfortunately, D’Arby turned out to be his own worst enemy, painting himself as a self-proclaimed genius and announcing that this album was the most important musical release since Sgt Pepper. As a result, his next two albums, while very good (and a bit over the top), went nowhere and D’Arby was unknown as quickly as his star had risen. Too bad, because this is a guy with a lot to offer.
The big hit here was “Wishing Well”, an irresistible slice of what made Prince so good. It’s a perfect single. “If You Let Me Stay”, “Dance Little Sister”, and the powerful “Sign Your Name” all helped make this album a huge success. He possesses a powerful voice and a keen musical sense…he also is the owner of a mighty ego that sometimes takes his music beyond where it needs to go. Sometimes it works…here, it almost always does. Sometimes, as on his follow up album Neither Fish Nor Flesh, it can be, while as great as it might sound, off putting. Which is why his career took such a sudden downturn. D’Arby is certainly misunderstood, and you might say a little too big for his britches. He is most certainly at his very best here, a fun and powerful album that you can dance to as a bonus. Introducing The Hardline is almost perfect, and it’s almost the launching pad for a great career. Almost. D’Arby was just not able to keep himself in check, and was unable to follow up. But you will love this one.
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