JASON FALKNER
PRESENTS AUTHOR UNKNOWN
1996 – ELEKTRA
Produced By JASON FALKNER
1. I Live
2. Miracle Medicine
3. Hectified
4. Don’t Show me Heaven
5. She Goes To Bed
6. Nobody Knows
7. Follow Me
8. Before My Heart Attacks
9. Afraid Himself To Be
10. Miss Understanding
11. I Go Astray
12. Untitled
Who in the world is Jason Falkner? That’s a great question. Jason Falkner was a minor player in a couple of bands that did bigger and better things without him, The Three O’Clock and Jellyfish. Finding himself without a band in the mid nineties, Falkner recorded and released his solo debut, Presents Author Unknown. This is one of the most surprising albums of its time. Falkner shows that he can not only write a bunch of really great hooks, but that he’s also a formidable player as well (he does everything here except for strings and one guitar part). So, why did this album filled with great songs go absolutely nowhere in 1996? Falkner blames his label, Elektra, who he says gave the album zero promotion despite getting plenty of love from critics.
The fact is, this is a should have been big hit wonder of a record. Falkner shows his songwriting chops on excellent tracks like “I Live” and “Follow Me”, both of which sound like sure fire hits. “Don’t Show Me Heaven” and “I Go Astray” will leave you wondering where this guy has been all your life. The unfortunate answer is, right under our noses, but no one could hear him. He’s made six solo albums, but none in the last decade (except for a duo with R. Stevie Moore), and he’s never made it over that hump that would show his skills to a bigger audience. Well, if you see this one laying around somewhere, pick it up and give it a spin. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. He did get the title of this one right…he really is the author unknown. Worthwhile, and deserving of a better fate than it has had.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
The fact is, this is a should have been big hit wonder of a record. Falkner shows his songwriting chops on excellent tracks like “I Live” and “Follow Me”, both of which sound like sure fire hits. “Don’t Show Me Heaven” and “I Go Astray” will leave you wondering where this guy has been all your life. The unfortunate answer is, right under our noses, but no one could hear him. He’s made six solo albums, but none in the last decade (except for a duo with R. Stevie Moore), and he’s never made it over that hump that would show his skills to a bigger audience. Well, if you see this one laying around somewhere, pick it up and give it a spin. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. He did get the title of this one right…he really is the author unknown. Worthwhile, and deserving of a better fate than it has had.
Thanks for this write-up! I can at least say that XTC fans were very much into Falkner from the get-go, as well as Jellyfish and The Grays (his band with Jon Brion, who made an album called Ro Sham Bo in 1994). And if anything, his second album Can You Still Feel is even better than this one. (I've got it as my all-time #66 at the moment...)
The fact is though, some guys just aren't so good as band members, and Falkner was just one of those guys. I don't know if that fully explains his inability to score big hit records as a solo artist, especially since the records themselves were fantastic. But either way, his "career arc" was far from optimal — though he did play in Paul McCartney's touring band for several years, which was probably a pretty good gig.
Thanks for this write-up! I can at least say that XTC fans were very much into Falkner from the get-go, as well as Jellyfish and The Grays (his band with Jon Brion, who made an album called Ro Sham Bo in 1994). And if anything, his second album Can You Still Feel is even better than this one. (I've got it as my all-time #66 at the moment...)
The fact is though, some guys just aren't so good as band members, and Falkner was just one of those guys. I don't know if that fully explains his inability to score big hit records as a solo artist, especially since the records themselves were fantastic. But either way, his "career arc" was far from optimal — though he did play in Paul McCartney's touring band for several years, which was probably a pretty good gig.
Thanks for your input on this! I was not aware that he had played with McCartney. Good to know that Falkner has more than just my ear here! _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
XTC
MUMMER
1983 – VIRGIN
Produced By STEVE NYE, XTC & BOB SARGEANT
1. Beating Of Hearts
2. Wonderland
3. Love On A Farmboy’s Wages
4. Great Fire
5. Deliver Us From The Elements
6. Human Alchemy
7. Ladybird
8. In Loving Memory Of A Name
9. Me And The Wind
10. Funk Pop A Roll
11. Frost Circus
12. Jump
13. Toys
14. Gold
15. Procession Towards Learning Land
16. Desert Island
XTC is a fine band that has made some pretty average albums. 1983’s Mummer is one of those. It marks a continuation of the band’s move away from a more punk sound towards an acoustic based sound. The fact that they were no longer a touring band for the first time in their existence had a lot to do with their changing sound, just as it had with The Beatles. Mummer marked the middle period between their best known albums, 1979’s Drums And Wires and Skylarking from 1986. Usually, the songwriting with XTC was a 50/50 split between Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, but here, Moulding contributes only three tracks. This album also marked the beginning of the band’s long running difficulties with their label, Virgin, who refused to release Mummer in the US because they thought it “too acoustic”.
Mummer is a transitional album, and not their greatest work. “Wonderland” (one of the three songs written by Moulding) was the only singe released. “Love On A Farmboy’s Wages” and “Great Fire” are also highlights, but much of Mummer, while exceptionally well played, comes off as not much more than background music. It’s an average album from a band that was capable of so much more. But they were just learning what they could do with songs without having to worry about how they would go over live…which would be tough for pretty much any band that did not have John Lennon as a member. If you’re a fan you’ll love this. Otherwise, stick with the aforementioned better albums, as well as lesser known but really fine efforts like Black Sea and Nonsuch.
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PRETENDERS
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
1994 – SIRE / WARNER BROTHERS
Produced By STEPHEN STREET, IAN STANLEY & CHRIS THOMAS
1. Hollywood Perfume
2. Night In My Veins
3. Money Talk
4. 977
5. Revolution
6. All My Dreams
7. I’ll Stand By You
8. I’m A Mother
9. Tequila
10. Every Mother’s Son
11. Rebel Rock Me
12. Love Colours
13. Forever Young
Don’t be fooled. 1994’s Last Of The Independents was proclaimed to be the return of the Pretenders as a steady band, and lists a four piece lineup as Pretenders. Actually, this is more of a continuation of it being more of a Chrissie Hynde solo project than anything else. The four members listed as the band on the album actually played together on only one track. Truth is, Hynde and guitarist Adam Seymour recorded this with a revolving rhythm section…eleven different musicians are credited. What this album does contain in truth is that Hynde rocks like she hadn’t done in quite a long time. This album isn’t going to grab you like Pretenders or Pretenders II or Learning To Crawl, mainly because it doesn’t have the sharp hits that those did. But this does have plenty of great sounding guitar. And, of course, it has Chrissie.
This album does hit a lull after the first three tracks, hitting rock bottom on the Dianne Warren-esque “I’ll Stand By You”. But that’s followed by the album’s best track, the powerful “I’m A Mother”. This album lacks the songwriting to rank high among the best work of the Pretenders, but it is a fun and worthwhile listen. This also marks the return of original drummer Martin Chambers and former guitarist Robbie McIntosh, and also features, at the end, a nifty cover of Dylan’s “Forever Young”, which Hynde’s wonderful voice handles nicely. The hits were long gone by this album, and the kids weren’t buying Pretenders discs in 1994, but if you love this band, and if you love Chrissie Hynde, you’ll most likely enjoy this. A nice, mostly solid effort.
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THOM YORKE
THE ERASER
2006 – XL
Produced By NIGEL GODRICH
1. The Eraser
2. Analyse
3. The Clock
4. Black Swan
5. Skip Divided
6. Atoms For Peace
7. And It Rained All Night
8. Harrowdown Hill
9. Cymbal Rush
Back in 2003, Thom Yorke’s band, Radiohead, went on hiatus following a long tour. It was at this time that Yorke, who had never recorded with anyone but Radiohead, decided it would be a good time to stretch his wings and give making a solo album a try. In that respect, the results are predictable. The Eraser sounds, in places, a lot like a Radiohead album. But it also proves that a great band like that is greater than the individuals in it. Yorke sings and writes the songs here, but it does lack that final quality that the band brings to his songs. This is not to say that The Eraser is not a good album. On the contrary…it is quite good, but it also seems to be balancing on the ledge of becoming tedious and boring. It never quite falls off of that ledge, but at times, it seems close.
Yorke uses a lot of loops here, and a lot of effects that should be familiar to any Radiohead fan. Most of the songs here are very good, particularly “The Eraser”, “Black Swan” and “Harrowdown Hill”. The best thing about The Eraser is that Yorke didn’t pick up scraps of rejected Radiohead material. He worked hard, and he wrote these songs specifically for this album. It is, in the end, a strange electronic mix of cool songs that show Yorke to be more than just the singer of that band. The Eraser doesn’t rock, and it sounds cold and eerie in spots, but it’s also very personal, political and a fine musical adventure. This is not up there with Radiohead’s best, but it is a very good work from that band’s frontman. And it’s different enough to have merit of its own.
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Thanks for the XTC writeup too! Though as an inveterate 45-years-long XTC-head, I'm compelled to differ on a few points:
Romanelli wrote:
Mummer marked the middle period between their best known albums, 1979’s Drums And Wires and Skylarking from 1986. Usually, the songwriting with XTC was a 50/50 split between Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, but here, Moulding contributes only three tracks. This album also marked the beginning of the band’s long running difficulties with their label, Virgin, who refused to release Mummer in the US because they thought it “too acoustic”.
It was always a 70-30 split, if not 80-20, in favor of Partridge — on every album since their debut. The closest they got to an "even" split was with Go 2, my own all-time favorite album, and that was only because there were three tracks written by Barry Andrews (who then went on to play in the League of Gentlemen and later was one of the three guys who formed Shriekback). And those three tracks are, to this day, generally considered the worst in their catalogue, so most people think Go 2 is worse than Mummer, though of course they're wrong. Anyway, the difficulties with the label were much more financial than artistic — they'd borrowed heavily from Virgin to put on two tours, one in Europe and one in the US, that were both cancelled early on because of Partridge stage-fright breakdowns, and that put them heavily in debt. (Their manager was also a total crook, so they'd hardly seen any money from Virgin in the first place.)
Also, according to the band at least, Virgin didn't really refuse to release Mummer for being too acoustic — rather, they told them there was "no single" on it (a very common thing for labels to do in those days, if not these days). The story is that the Virgin A&R guy, Jeremy Lascelles, told Partridge to write something "a bit more like the Police," probably because the Police were the biggest band in the world at that time. Partridge wasn't happy about this, but nevertheless went off and wrote the song "Great Fire," which the label guys liked well enough even though it sounds nothing like the Police. (They later suggested that XTC "try to sound more like ZZ Top," for the same reason.) And there were actually three singles ("Love on a Farmboy's Wages" was the third) in the UK, none of which went anywhere commercially. I might even take issue with the notion that they were "just learning what they could do" in the studio — IMO it would be more accurate to say they were learning how to work the studio without a real drummer, since their drummer (Terry Chambers) quit the band during the first 2-3 days of recording this LP, apparently because he didn't like some of the things Partridge was asking him to play.
Anyway, I hope you don't mind me kibbitzing like this. Mummer is my least-favorite XTC album, but that's not so much because of the music that's on it, it's because at the very end of the last track, "Funk Pop a Roll," Partridge yells "BYE BYE!" — this to close out a song that's a total indictment of the music industry. And since they'd already lost their drummer, I thought for months that this meant they were about to break up. Frankly I don't think I could have handled it, if that had been true — and the shoegaze scene was eight years away at that point. Who knows what I might have ended up listening to for the rest of my life! 😲
Thanks for the XTC writeup too! Though as an inveterate 45-years-long XTC-head, I'm compelled to differ on a few points:
It was always a 70-30 split, if not 80-20, in favor of Partridge — on every album since their debut. The closest they got to an "even" split was with Go 2, my own all-time favorite album, and that was only because there were three tracks written by Barry Andrews (who then went on to play in the League of Gentlemen and later was one of the three guys who formed Shriekback). And those three tracks are, to this day, generally considered the worst in their catalogue, so most people think Go 2 is worse than Mummer, though of course they're wrong. Anyway, the difficulties with the label were much more financial than artistic — they'd borrowed heavily from Virgin to put on two tours, one in Europe and one in the US, that were both cancelled early on because of Partridge stage-fright breakdowns, and that put them heavily in debt. (Their manager was also a total crook, so they'd hardly seen any money from Virgin in the first place.)
Also, according to the band at least, Virgin didn't really refuse to release Mummer for being too acoustic — rather, they told them there was "no single" on it (a very common thing for labels to do in those days, if not these days). The story is that the Virgin A&R guy, Jeremy Lascelles, told Partridge to write something "a bit more like the Police," probably because the Police were the biggest band in the world at that time. Partridge wasn't happy about this, but nevertheless went off and wrote the song "Great Fire," which the label guys liked well enough even though it sounds nothing like the Police. (They later suggested that XTC "try to sound more like ZZ Top," for the same reason.) And there were actually three singles ("Love on a Farmboy's Wages" was the third) in the UK, none of which went anywhere commercially. I might even take issue with the notion that they were "just learning what they could do" in the studio — IMO it would be more accurate to say they were learning how to work the studio without a real drummer, since their drummer (Terry Chambers) quit the band during the first 2-3 days of recording this LP, apparently because he didn't like some of the things Partridge was asking him to play.
Anyway, I hope you don't mind me kibbitzing like this. Mummer is my least-favorite XTC album, but that's not so much because of the music that's on it, it's because at the very end of the last track, "Funk Pop a Roll," Partridge yells "BYE BYE!" — this to close out a song that's a total indictment of the music industry. And since they'd already lost their drummer, I thought for months that this meant they were about to break up. Frankly I don't think I could have handled it, if that had been true — and the shoegaze scene was eight years away at that point. Who knows what I might have ended up listening to for the rest of my life! :shock:
Your input is always welcome...and you obviously know more about XTC than I do. I've always loved them, and I'm always open to learning about artists that I find interesting. I do wish that their label had been more kind to them...I think that without those difficulties, they probably would have done quite a bit more.
Thanks for adding some great context about them! _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
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And crashing through the walls
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BOB DYLAN
TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE
2009 – COLUMBIA
Produced By JACK FROST
1. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
2. Life Is Hard
3. My Wife’s Home Town
4. If You Ever Go To Houston
5. Forgetful Heart
6. Jolene
7. This Dream Of You
8. Shake Shake Mama
9. I Feel A Change Comin’ On
10. It’s All Good
Who says 68 is too old for a number one album? Together Through Life is Bob Dylan’s 33rd studio album, and it’s filled with nice surprises. For the first time since his 1976 album Desire, Dylan works with a co-lyricist in Robert Hunter, who is best known for his work with the Grateful Dead. He utilizes Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on guitar, along with David Hidalgo from Los Lobos, who adds some really beautiful accordion playing. Dylan’s voice is deep and rusty and he sounds like he knows things you will never imagine…which he probably does. Also included is a reworked Willie Dixon song (“My Wife’s Home Town”), and some terrific sounding blues numbers. The band itself makes this worth hearing.
Of course, Dylan has long ago run out of hit songs, and you won’t find one here. It’s okay…I doubt he was really looking for that. Dylan as a producer (Jack Frost is one of his pseudonyms) works very nicely. “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” is a fine opener and sets the pace, while tracks like “I Feel A Change Comin’ On” showcases Campbell and Hidalgo intertwining guitar and accordion. This album did debut at number one on the charts not just in America, but also in Britain. For good reason. This may not be the Dylan of the sixties and seventies, but it’s proof that you don’t sleep on this guy. Together Through Life is not perfect, but that’s also part of its charm. It’s a fine record by maybe the greatest songwriter of his generation, and we could all stand to take a listen and maybe learn something from one of the true masters.
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THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
ENLIGHTENED ROGUES
1979 – CAPRICORN
Produced By TOM DOWD
1. Crazy Love
2. Can’t Take It With You
3. Pegasus
4. Need Your Love So Bad
5. Blind Love
6. Try It One More Time
7. Just Ain’t Easy
8. Sail Away
After their massive ascendance as the greatest band in Southern Rock in 1969, through four amazing studio discs and maybe the best live album of all time, The Allman Brothers slide was just as swift. After the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley within a year of each other, escalating substance abuse and a fifth album (Win, Lose Or Draw) that was way below expectations, the band split up in 1976. Two years later, guitarist Dickey Betts was able to convince the remaining surviving members (plus a pair from his own band, Great Southern) to reunite. Enlightened Rogues is that comeback album, and it’s about what you’d expect from a band that had pretty much been to hell and back on foot. That they were able to make it back to this point is pretty remarkable, but the fact is, they were never going to be THAT band ever again.
Enlightened Rogues is an album that sounds dead tired, which I’m sure they were. There are, however, three tracks here that save this (and the band) from slipping into the abyss. Betts is the leader here, and his “Can’t Take It With You” is a jaunty bluesy winner, on a par with their older stuff. “Crazy Love”, also by Betts, was a surprise hit for the band. And the only song here written by Gregg Allman, “Just Ain’t Easy”, which was written about the despair of his relationship with Cher, is marvelous. Otherwise, this is pretty below average stuff for a once great band. Their label, Capricorn, filed bankruptcy not long after this was released, so it didn’t get a lot of promotion. It could have maybe been better, but it could have definitely been a whole lot worse.
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Romanelli
MadhattanJack
