RANCID
…AND OUT COME THE WOLVES
1995 – EPITAPH
Produced By JERRY FINN & RANCID
1. Maxwell Murder
2. The 11th Hour
3. Roots Radicals
4. Time Bomb
5. Olympia, WA
6. Lock, Step & Gone
7. Junkie Man
8. Listed M.I.A.
9. Ruby Soho
10. Daly City Train
11. Journey To The End Of The East Bay
12. She’s Automatic
13. Old Friend
14. Disorder And Disarray
15. The Wars End
16. You Don’t Care Nothin’
17. As Wicked
18. Avenues And Alleyways
19. The Way I Feel
20. Blast ‘Em
21. That’s Entertainment
Rancid deserves credit where credit is due. They were a big part of the punk resurgence in America in the early ‘90’s. They were always more punk than pop, which can’t be said about a lot of their contemporaries. And they have stuck with the same indie label throughout their career, not falling into the trappings of a major label deal. Rancid is a high energy band that plays hard and fast, and they pay honorable homage to the original punk bands from the late seventies, with an obvious emphasis on The Clash. …And Out Come The Wolves is their third album, and it’s a high point for the band. It marked their commercial peak, and included three singles that did quite well for them. The 19 songs on the original album move quickly and feel like a real throwback to where punk came from.
But much of what’s here, after a bit, becomes thin. Singer Tim Armstrong’s fake British sneer (he’s from California) gets old pretty fast, and their love of The Clash becomes tiresome…especially since they are nowhere near as good as their heroes. Still…this is an important album in what was a short lived return to punk’s roots before all of those bands bit the big apple of big money over what punk was really about. At least Rancid got that part of it…trouble is, they’ve never been a truly great band, so their albums have never reached above the level of pretty good, and not too memorable. If you’ve got to have a Rancid album, this one is about as good as they get. If you don’t believe me, take a listen…then play the debut album from The Clash. You’ll get it right away.
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MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
Fucking LOVE Rancid and especially that album! Happy to see it delved into.
I do love the homage that this album pays to The Clash. I wish the 90's had more bands in this vein. It would have been fascinating to see where it could have led! _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
I do love the homage that this album pays to The Clash. I wish the 90's had more bands in this vein. It would have been fascinating to see where it could have led!
Absolutely, love the Clash aspects here. And holy cannoli, THAT BASS WORK! Love it. Matt Freeman is incredible. Also, as a lad I worshipped the song Journey To The End/ and after recently listening again, it holds up. _________________ -Ryan
Absolutely, love the Clash aspects here. And holy cannoli, THAT BASS WORK! Love it. Matt Freeman is incredible. Also, as a lad I worshipped the song Journey To The End/ and after recently listening again, it holds up.
You are so right...the bass on this IS amazing! I just gave "Journey To The End..." another listen...that bass line is as good as it gets. He IS an underrated talent, for sure. And that is a fantastic track! _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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DAVID BOWIE
ALADDIN SANE
1973 – RCA
Produced By KEN SCOTT & DAVID BOWIE
1. Watch That Man
2. Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)
3. Drive In Saturday
4. Panic In Detroit
5. Cracked Actor
6. Time
7. Prettiest Star
8. Let’s Spend The Night Together
9. The Jean Genie
10. Lady Grinning Soul
How do you follow up a masterpiece like The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars? David Bowie followed it with another perfect record, Aladdin Sane, cementing his legacy forever as one of the greatest artists in the history of rock and roll. And while this album doesn’t have the immediate melodies and in your face songs that Ziggy did, in some ways, it’s even better. This is the beginning of Bowie as an experimental artist. Before Aladdin Sane, he pushed the boundaries of what a pop artist should be…here he begins to stretch outside of those boundaries and push the imagination toward what rock and roll COULD be. Ziggy was gone, and Aladdin Sane was, in reality, a much more interesting character.
Bowie’s prowess as a songwriter was, at this point, becoming almost frightening. “The Jean Genie” is the hit, and it remains fantastic to this day. His avant-garde side is presented in “Aladdin Sane” and “Time”, and he makes room for a perfect cover of the Stones’ classic “Let’s Spend The Night Together”. He rocks hard on “Panic In Detroit”, and he shines as a damned crazed rock genius on everything else. There are several Bowie albums that are must haves…this is one of those. Bowie’s career from the seventies is one of the greatest runs ever, and this album, which does get lost in the shuffle sometimes, is one of the shining lights of his prime. Bowie was one of the very best, and this album is one of HIS very best. An absolute necessity.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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Of dying history
BLUE CANYON BOYS
NEXT GO ‘ROUND
2012 – SELF RELEASED
Produced By DREW GARRETT & THE BLUE CANYON BOYS
1. Up On The Hill
2. Next Go ‘Round
3. Harbor Of Love
4. Down Along The Cove
5. Heartaches Welcome
6. Like A Heart That’s Grown Weary Of The Blues
7. Before You Go
8. Darling Allalee
9. Roustabout
10. Lonesome Road
11. Sitting Along In The Moonlight
12. Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine
13. Down In The Misery
14. Going Up
15. I Bid You Goodnight
Next Go ‘Round by Blue Canyon Boys includes my friend Chris Elliott on banjo and vocals. Chris is an exceptional musician who plays frequently with my friend Marlo Mortensen, and who I have had the honor of sharing a stage with in the past. He has played on several albums, and seems to be always playing live somewhere…living the dream! See if you can find this fine release featuring one of Colorado’s finest musicians.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
CAMEL
MIRAGE
1974 – DERAM
Produced By DAVID HITCHCOCK
1. Freefall
2. Supertwister
3. The White Rider
4. Earthrise
5. Lady Fantasy
6. Supertwister (Live)
7. Mystic Queen (Live)
8. Arubaluba (Live)
9. Lady Fantasy (Original Basing Street Studios Mix)
Camel has been called the unsung heroes of seventies progressive rock, and for good reason. This English band has been together, except for a brief hiatus in the 80’s, since 1971, although now with only one original member. They have always had a very loyal following, and have been able to survive as a worldwide touring act despite having never become a big commercial success. Unlike Yes or King Crimson or the other prog acts of the seventies, this band never had a hit like “Roundabout” or “21st Century Schizoid Man”, and they never had an album that burned up the charts. But as they show on their second album, Mirage, these guys can play. There’s a lot of jazzier influences at play here, with sparse vocals and even some flute played by guitarist Andrew Latimer.
Progressive rock from this era tended to be overblown and in your face artsy, but Camel manages to keep that to a minimum here. Sure, there are a pair of longer tracks (“The White Rider” and “Lady Fantasy”, each with three separate “movements”), and there is a lot what makes prog so tedious (or great, depending on your tastes). And yes, one of the longer tracks is based on The Lord Of The Rings. But ultimately, Mirage is a well played and very well constructed album, and despite its lack of commercial success, it’s one of the finest 70’s prog records…which is saying a lot. The four bonus tracks add about a half an hour to the original album, which makes sitting through the 2002 remaster a bit more laborious than it should be. But check out Mirage…it’s a forgotten gem from the 70’s.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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Of dying history
THE TAPES
THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE EP
2005 – SELF RELEASED
Produced By MICHAEL EDWARDS & THE TAPES
1. Enter Regret
2. Shadows
3. Friction
4. Two Birds
5. Bicycle
6. Silence And Stone
7. Castle
There’s not much to tell about The Tapes. They came from Bowling Green, Ohio in 2005 and were gone three years later, after this debut EP and a full length album called Out Of The Great Black Swamp in 2007. They were led by keyboardist Greg Jenkins, and despite being designated as electronic music on iTunes, their music is pretty much mainstream indie rock. They may have fared better a decade earlier, but we’ll never know. This seven track disc was probably made to sell at shows and to try to shop a label deal. They were able to make a full album (I can’t speak to the quality of music on it), but they apparently didn’t have what it takes. As for The Wave Of The Future, The Tapes were definitely not that at all. While the songs are well played, and the disc is well recorded, the songs lack any kind of flash that might have put them over the top.
I’m not even quite sure how I came about this one. I don’t think I knew anyone in the band, or anyone associated with it…and I don’t recall ever having seen them live. But for a homemade product, the quality of the sound and the packaging is pretty great. And while this won’t make you want to rush out and find that full studio album, you won’t mind listening to this. These guys may have had something…but I guess we’ll never know. If you do happen to run across this in a used bin somewhere, it’s worth a listen…but remember to not pay any full album price, because it is technically an EP. EP’s are mini albums that are longer than singles but shorter than albums…usually between three and six tracks (this one has seven). _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
THE BOATMAN’S CALL
1997 – MUTE / REPRISE
Produced By FLOOD & NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
1. Into My Arms
2. Lime Tree Arbour
3. People Ain’t No Good
4. Brompton Oratory
5. There Is A Kingdom
6. (Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?
7. Where Do Now But Nowhere?
8. West Country Girl
9. Black Hair
10. Idiot Prayer
11. Far From Me
12. Green Eyes
If it’s something that rocks that you’re looking for, you may want to move along. This post-punk band took a sharp left turn for The Boatman’s Call, their tenth album. Not a rock record at all, the album is filled with slow tempos, piano based songs, sparse arrangements, and themes that range from melancholy to sadness to love and despair. It can be a downer if you’re not ready for it, but one thing is for sure…this is easily their most beautiful album, and one of the best surprises in music from the later half of the nineties. Even with the gentle feel of the music, the band is ever present…in a perfectly understated way. This is their best work, and it’s Nick Cave’s masterpiece. A word that, in this case, is very well deserved. This is great stuff.
“Into My Arms” and ”(Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?” are the singles, and they are fantastic. But there is so much more here. “People Just Ain’t No Good” is just what the title suggests. Several songs are about personal relationships, examining them closely and with care instead of pounding them out like rockers tend to do. This is Nick Cave at his most personal, which is absolutely a good thing. I know that some may be put off by the slow tempo of the music and the sparse arrangements, but that’s a huge part of what makes this album so special. For me, an absolutely must have. For you? Check it out and see if it’s for you. If you can dig it, the rewards are multiple. (My copy says it’s the 2011 remaster, but it doesn’t have the five bonus tracks it’s supposed to have.)
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
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Mercury
