Great post. I was unaware of this album and it was a fine listen!
Incidentally, I live near a mountain range called the Manzanita Mountains, so I had to check this out when I saw the post title.
Awesome! I'm glad you like it. Tony Rice was such a great player, and this is one of my favrites of his. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
PEARL JAM
BACKSPACER
2009 – MONKEYWRENCH
Produced By BRENDAN O’BRIEN
1. Gonna See My Friend
2. Got Some
3. The Fixer
4. Johnny Guitar
5. Just Breathe
6. Amongst The Waves
7. Unthought Known
8. Supersonic
9. Speed Of Sound
10. Force Of Nature
11. The End
Pearl Jam was the biggest band of the nineties. Hard to dispute that, and the reasons are clear. Since the turn of the century, Pearl Jam has remained very popular, but for more unconventional reasons. Despite not being as visible as they were during the heyday of grunge, every single one of their twelve studio albums has reached at least number five on the American album charts. They release live albums like they are possessed by the Grateful Dead. And they have a perfect relationship with their never say die fanbase. In 2009, the band reconnected with longtime producer Brendan O’Brien to make their ninth studio album, Backspacer, their strongest effort in over a decade. This doesn’t mean it’s on a par with records like Ten, Vs or Vitalogy…but it shows that in their forties, these guys could still make a good record.
What makes this a step up for Pearl Jam is that it was recorded at a quicker pace than what whey were used to. The songs are looser and lyrically on a happier level…Eddie Vedder didn’t have George W. Bush to worry about anymore. The songs are shorter and to the point, with the whole thing coming in at just over 35 minutes. And while “The Fixer”, “Just Breathe” and “Got Some” didn’t take over the airwaves, they are pretty great Pearl Jam tracks. If you go into their later albums like Backspacer expecting to hear more of what the early tracks were like, you’ll be disappointed. But outside of the Ten Club, Pearl Jam’s latter day studio work has ended up being quite underrated, so you might just be in for a pleasant surprise with a disc like this one. Good stuff from a good band that has never forgotten how to rock.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
RODNEY CROWELL
DIAMONDS & DIRT
1988 – COLUMBIA
Produced By RODNEY CROWELL & TONY BROWN
1. Crazy Baby
2. I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried
3. She’s Crazy For Leavin’
4. After All This Time
5. I Know You’re Married
6. Above And Beyond
7. It’s Such A Small World
8. I Didn’t Know I Could Lose You
9. Brand New Rag
10. The Last Waltz
11. I’ve Got My Pride But I Got To Feed The Kids
12. It’s Lonely Out
13. Lies Don’t Lie
Rodney Crowell was known in the eighties mostly as a songwriter, having already penned a number of country hits. His own solo career had taken a back seat to that of his wife’s, Rosanne Cash, for whom he produced a number of albums. His first four records were a mix of country and rock, with very little success. That all changed with his fifth album, the straight ahead country Diamonds & Dirt. This is where Crowell became an instant star, and it remains his biggest achievement and his best album. This disc set a record for the most number one hits from a single album with an astonishing five…exactly half of the tracks. Those five remain the only number one hits of Crowell’s fine and long career. The band is excellent, and includes members of his great band The Cherry Bombs Tony Brown and Vince Gill, as well as help from Cash.
The fact is, this is simply one of the greatest country albums of the eighties. The five number ones cannot be denied, with four of them written by Crowell (the fifth, “Above And Beyond”, is a Buck Owens cover). “It’s Such A Small World” is a duet with Cash. The other three, “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried”, “After All This Time”, and “She’s Crazy For Leavin’”, are all just as good, and set the stage for the rest of Crowell’s career. Making a straight up country record for the first time seems to have allowed Crowell to really find his place in music, and he does not waste the opportunity. His place as a country star is most deserved, and Diamonds & Dirt is the centerpiece that shows he truly belongs. This is a must have country record, by one of the very best. You’ll want to check out his other albums, plus his excellent work with Emmylou Harris. Rodney Crowell at the top of his game here.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
RODNEY CROWELL
DIAMONDS & DIRT
1988 – COLUMBIA
Produced By RODNEY CROWELL & TONY BROWN
1. Crazy Baby
2. I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried
3. She’s Crazy For Leavin’
4. After All This Time
5. I Know You’re Married
6. Above And Beyond
7. It’s Such A Small World
8. I Didn’t Know I Could Lose You
9. Brand New Rag
10. The Last Waltz
11. I’ve Got My Pride But I Got To Feed The Kids
12. It’s Lonely Out
13. Lies Don’t Lie
Rodney Crowell was known in the eighties mostly as a songwriter, having already penned a number of country hits. His own solo career had taken a back seat to that of his wife’s, Rosanne Cash, for whom he produced a number of albums. His first four records were a mix of country and rock, with very little success. That all changed with his fifth album, the straight ahead country Diamonds & Dirt. This is where Crowell became an instant star, and it remains his biggest achievement and his best album. This disc set a record for the most number one hits from a single album with an astonishing five…exactly half of the tracks. Those five remain the only number one hits of Crowell’s fine and long career. The band is excellent, and includes members of his great band The Cherry Bombs Tony Brown and Vince Gill, as well as help from Cash.
The fact is, this is simply one of the greatest country albums of the eighties. The five number ones cannot be denied, with four of them written by Crowell (the fifth, “Above And Beyond”, is a Buck Owens cover). “It’s Such A Small World” is a duet with Cash. The other three, “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried”, “After All This Time”, and “She’s Crazy For Leavin’”, are all just as good, and set the stage for the rest of Crowell’s career. Making a straight up country record for the first time seems to have allowed Crowell to really find his place in music, and he does not waste the opportunity. His place as a country star is most deserved, and Diamonds & Dirt is the centerpiece that shows he truly belongs. This is a must have country record, by one of the very best. You’ll want to check out his other albums, plus his excellent work with Emmylou Harris. Rodney Crowell at the top of his game here.
THE KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS
PICKIN’ ON NASHVILLE
1989 – MERCURY
Produced By THE KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS
1. Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine
2. Dumas Walker
3. Rag Top
4. Rock ‘N’ Roll Angel
5. Smooth
6. High Steppin’ Daddy
7. Skip A Rope
8. Some Folks Like To Steal
9. Oh Lonesome Me
10. My Daddy Was A Milkman
The Kentucky Headhunters have existed since 1968, when they started out as Itchy Brother. They have been compared to Georgia Satellites, which fits in more ways than one. Their name, and the title of their debut album, Pickin’ On Nashville, suggests that they are a country band. But like the Satellites, they are a one album wonder, and a Southern rock band that boogies. Pickin’ On Nashville is actually a collection of demos, and it was quite a success. In country circles…rock radio ignored The Headhunters. Their confusing identity has endured to this day…they’ve released nine more albums, all of which have been commercial failures. Are they country? Are they rock? Are they both? No one seems to really know. But today, they are simply a good band that had a moment in the sun, and not much more than that.
All of the band’s best moments are on this record. They posted four top 40 country singles during their long career, and all of them are right here. “Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine” is a Bill Monroe tune, while “Oh Lonesome Me” is the old Don Gibson classic. “Dumas Walker” is about people and places in rural Kentucky that no one else will know about, but the song still works. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Angel” rounds out the band’s hits. Also, “Skip A Rope” is a cover of the 1968 number one hit by Henson Cargill. Pickin’ On Nashville won a Grammy for the group, but their follow up release, Electric Barnyard, was a disappointment from which the band never recovered. That first one is really the only one you’ll need from The Kentucky Headhunters. It’s good, but it’s definitely not an essential piece of Southern rock history.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
KANYE WEST
GRADUATION
2007 – ROC-A-FELLA / DEF JAM
Produced By KANYE WEST, BRIAN “ALLDAY” MILLER, DJ TOOMP, ERIC HUDSON, NOTTZ & WARRYN “BABY DUBB” CAMPBELL
1. Good Morning
2. Champion
3. Stronger
4. I Wonder
5. Good Life (Feat. T-Pain)
6. Can’t Tell Me Nothing
7. Barry Bonds (Feat. Lil Wayne)
8. Drunk And Hot Girls (Feat. Mos Def)
9. Flashing Lights (Feat. Dwele)
10. Everything I Am (Feat. DJ Premier)
11. The Glory
12. Homecoming (Feat. Chris Martin)
13. Big Brother
Say what you will about Kanye West as a human. It’s all deserved. That doesn’t take away his musical abilities. Rather than make another same album for his third effort, Graduation, Kanye made several left turns that resulted in a game changing disc. He found himself inspired not only by hip hop, but also by the music of rock bands like U2 (with whom he had toured) and Coldplay. He was moved by the world of arena rock anthems, but also was adding more elements of electronica and more varied sampling. The result was a genre bending genius of an album that changed hip hop (it ended the reign of gangster rap), and revealed that Kanye really was an open minded artist who could easily embrace all styles of music. Graduation is different from what he had done before. It’s sometimes misunderstood, and it’s mostly excellent.
Gone are hip hop album staples like skits and the over use of guest features. There are some missteps here (“Barry Bonds” and “Big Brother” are not highlights), but the great songs far outweigh those. Tracks like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”, “Homecoming”, Flashing Lights” and “Stronger” make Graduation a powerful document. “Good Life” is also excellent. His choice of samples is varied and inspiring, and his changing influences (bands like Can and Daft Punk) shine through with power. Graduation is an album that features an artist in a state of growth and change, doing both without fear of failure. This album is sometimes d underrated, and is often maligned simply because of who Kanye has shown himself to be in real life. But the reality is, this is a mostly genius work of an artist at a time when he was truly coming into his own.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
SEBASTIEN TELLIER
SEXUALITY
2008 – RECORD MAKERS / LUCKY NUMBER
Produced By GUY-MANUEL DE HOMEM-CHRISTO
1. Roche
2. Kilometer
3. Look
4. Divine
5. Pomme
6. Une Heure
7. Sexual Sportswear
8. Elle
9. Fingers Of Steel
10. Manty
11. L’amour Et La Violence
Sexuality is an album about…you guessed it. Sexuality. Sebastien Tellier is a French synthpop singer who had the song “Divine” represent his native country in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. He sings in French, Italian, and English. For this, his third album, he teamed up with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk to make a cool sounding, synth driven, and yes, very sexually oriented album. It sounds nothing like Daft Punk, and it’s a departure from what Tellier had done before this. As hard as it tries, music this synth driven is not easy to convey a desire to make sweet love down by the fire. There are slower tracks, and there are all out dance songs, which together with Tellier’s vocals, creates a very eighties sounding album. But without the in your face hit single that those albums that were memorable all seemed to have in common.
But Tellier gives it his all, even if he’s sometimes misguided. “Sexual Sportswear” is the centerpiece, a longer instrumental track who’s title Tellier describes in a kinda creepy way as how he likes to fantasize about women. “Divine” is very much a stab at making a pop hit (it wasn’t), and the far too many female moans that pop up in various places sound out of place and a bit uncomfortable. But on the plus side, there are lots of grooves here, and Tellier is a good enough singer. Sexuality isn’t going to blow your doors off, but if you can get around its weaknesses, there are plenty of good enough sounding synth tracks here to bring back fond memories of your favorite new wave bands. Tellier’s made four albums since this one, the best of which is 2012’s My God Is Blue, an album about…you guessed it. God.
Link _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
MILES DAVIS
AURA
1989 – COLUMBIA
Produced By PALLE MIKKELBORG
1. Intro
2. White
3. Yellow
4. Orange
5. Red
6. Green
7. Blue
8. Electric Red
9. Indigo
10. Violet
Any conversation about who might be the greatest American musician of all time is invalid if Miles Davis isn’t at the very center of it. He released at least sixty solo albums, and was a featured player on at least twice that many. Aura is the last solo album Davis released in his lifetime, which makes it important on its own. It was recorded in 1985, but not released until 1989 because of contract issues he was having with Columbia Records. There weren’t a lot of sales here…jazz albums in the 80’s didn’t move a lot of units. But it did win the Grammy Award for best jazz performance in 1990. By the end of 1991, Davis was gone, passing away at age 65. He never got to follow up this album, which was viewed as a stylistically fresh approach for Davis at the end of what was considered to be a dry decade for the great trumpeter.
The album was conceived, written and arranged by the Danish composer Palle Mikkelborg, who wrote the songs based on the colors he saw in Davis’ aura. The big band is not traditional: the album plays as a fusion not only of jazz and rock styles, but Mikkelborg also incorporates modern classical elements. The tracks are beautifully done, with the soloing of Miles as the cherry on top. As with much of fusion, this isn’t going to be for everyone…this kind of music takes some getting used to, and more than an ounce of patience. But Miles, at his best, always had his ear turned towards the future. And on Aura, that future sounds pretty bright, even though no one has followed up on what Davis and Mikkelborg tried to do here. This is the last in the lifetime of Miles, maybe the best player to ever make music. That alone makes this worth hearing.
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
Fischman
Romanelli
Repo
