STEELY DAN
GREATEST HITS
1978 – ABC
Produced By GARY KATZ
1. Do It Again
2. Reelin’ In The Years
3. My Old School
4. Bodhisattva
5. Show Biz kids
6. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
7. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
8. Pretzel Logic
9. Any Major Dude
10. Here At The Western World
11. Black Friday
12. Bad Sneakers
13. Doctor Wu
14. Haitian Divorce
15. Kid Charlemagne
16. The Fez
17. Peg
18. Josie
By now, many who know me have heard my somewhat negative recount of how Steely Dan was responsible for the genre of adult contemporary music. I still hold that to be true, but I have also, over the years, allowed this duo a place in my heart. Between 1972 and 1980, they released seven albums before splitting up. The last of those seven (Gaucho) sold well, but was a lesser album than those that came before it. Greatest Hits covers the first six, and was a well-timed set. It was a double album, which can be a bit of a tedious listen for a band like this, but it does have its rewards. It also contains a few misfires…the inclusion of the instrumental “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” (from Pretzel Logic) is puzzling, and the one previously unreleased track, “Here At The Western World”, did not become a hit, and is just average.
“Dirty Work” (from Can’t Buy A Thrill) and “Deacon Blue” (from Aja) would have been stronger inclusions, but oh well. On the plus side, the album does run chronologically (THANK YOU!!!!!), and it does include gems like “Show Biz Kids” (from Countdown To Ecstasy) and “Haitian Divorce” (from The Royal Scam). Most of these tracks are legitimate hits, and paint a good picture of why Steely Dan was so big in the seventies. And I am, admittedly, in the minority when it comes to how critical I have been of this band. They have a strong and loyal fanbase, and this album shows how justified that is. But, again, at eighty minutes, this IS a whole lot of Steely Dan to swallow at once. They got back together in 1993, but it was never the same (it never is). Walter Becker died in 2017, and Donald Fagan finally put Steely Dan to bed in 2026.
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KRISTI STICE
UNDER THE WILLOW
2013 – ORGANIC NOTE
No Production Credit
1. Forgiving The Road
2. Down By The Bucket
3. Kamaishi
4. Courage
5. Red
6. Coo
7. River Mountain
8. Green Grass
9. Bliss
10. Where Did My Love Go
11. Catch A Firefly
Kristi Stice is a local (Denver) artist. She works mostly as a music teacher, but has also been an active performer and recording artist. She sang with Gypsy Swing Revue, a Parisian gypsy jazz band, between 2010 and 2020. She has also sang with various Colorado bands. In 2013, she released her first and so far only solo album, Under The Willow. She has also released a handful of singles, most recently in 2025.
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TV ON THE RADIO
DESPERATE YOUTH, BLOOD THIRSTY BABES
2004 – TOUCH AND GO / 4AD
Produced By DAVID ANDREW SITEK
1. The Wrong Way
2. Staring At The Sun
3. Dreams
4. King Eternal
5. Ambulance
6. Poppy
7. Don’t Love You
8. Bomb Yourself
9. Wear You Out
TV On The Radio hails from Brooklyn, and have had a somewhat successful career, albeit a sporadic one. After releasing a pair of EP’s (OK Calculator and Young Liars), their first full album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, came out in 2004. It wasn’t a hit, but it did hint at the better albums that were to follow. There are drums present on only two songs…most of the percussion is done with electronics. At this point, the band was an ethnically mixed trio of Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone and David Sitek. It’s since been reissued with as many as six bonus tracks: the original version is still the best. Their sound is deep: in addition to the loops, there is plenty of guitar, along with saxes and flutes. The album was viewed as being above average, a bit puzzling, but with lots of promise for the future, and the band did not disappoint on that front.
The best track here is clearly “Staring At The Sun”, which was also featured on their EP Young Liars. It features only Adebimpe and Sitek, and has strong bass and guitar playing. It was not a hit. The rest of the album is good enough, but there was so much in the way of better material to come. Their next two albums, the unfortunately titles Return To Cookie Mountain and Dear Science, added a full time drummer and a much fuller sound…and better songs. After their fourth album, 2011’s Nine Types Of Light, bassist Gerard Smith died of lung cancer. TV On The Radio has since released just one album, 2014’s Seeds. They continue to tour, but so far, there’s no new material on the horizon. Too bad, because this band is always interesting, Maybe someday, we’ll have some new TV On The Radio material to get down to.
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GEORGE STRAIT
BLUE CLEAR SKY
1996 – MCA
Produced By TONY BROWN & GEORGE STRAIT
1. Blue Clear Sky
2. Carried Away
3. Rockin’ In The Arms Of Your Memory
4. She Knows When You’re On My Mind
5. I Ain’t Never Seen No One Like You
6. I Can Still Make Cheyenne
7. King Of The Mountain
8. Do The Right Thing
9. I’d Just As Soon Go
10. Need I Say More
For being one of the most consistently greatest recording artists of all time, George Strait sure is underrated. Country music fans have always known his greatness, but outside of that, Strait remains mostly unknown. Never mind the fact that between 1981 and 2008, all but one of his 24 albums went platinum. Never mind that he has had 19 albums reach number one on the US country charts, and that he had a string of more than 100 singles reach at least the top forty, with 44 number ones. These are just the facts. In 1996, Strait released his sixteenth album, Blue Clear Sky, in the midst of his almost complete domination of the decade. It was, along with the follow up (1997’s Carrying Your Love With Me), his biggest seller. And for good reason. This album boasted a pair of number one hits, and is, like everything else he did during that time, very well crafted country music.
George Strait is not country pop. His roots lie squarely in the middle of traditional country, and he made his living in that exact spot. The title track and “Carried Away” were both massive hits, followed closely by “I Can Still Make Cheyenne”. “King Of The Mountain” is also not far behind. An interpreter of other people’s material. Strait has always made fine choices, and he handles songs by others with much care. He doesn’t pad the liner notes on this with massively popular guests, and he isn’t flashy here at all. Just good, solid, straight ahead country music. His albums may be somewhat interchangeable, but that doesn’t mean that they are less than good by any means. Blue Clear Sky is as good as anything else George Strait did in the eighties and nineties…or the 2000’s…or the 2010’s, for that matter. Consistency can be a very good thing, as long as it’s consistently good.
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DWIGHT YOAKAM
DWIGHT’S USED RECORDS
2004 – AUDIUM
Produced By PETE ANDERSON
1. Stop The World (And Let Me Off)
2. Down Where The River Bends
3. Mercury Blues
4. Waiting
5. Some Dark Holler
6. If You Were Me (And I Were You)
7. Little Chapel
8. The Loco-Motion
9. Miner’s Prayer
10. Understand Your Man
11. Wheels
12. I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
13. Paradise
14. I Said (Paradise Reprise)
In 2003 and 2004, Dwight Yoakam did a kind of housecleaning. He put out a trio of compilation albums, two of which were contractual obligation releases. The first was In Other’s Words, and the third was The Very Best Of Dwight Yoakam. In between those two came Dwight’s Used Records, which completed his contract with Audium Records. It was also his third album of cover songs. These were songs that had appeared on tribute compilations, duets from albums by other artists, and previously unreleased tracks. It did not sell very well…but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good collection. Dwight’s career has always been steady and strong, and this continues in that tradition. Several things make this interesting: the song selection, the duet partners, and, of course, the quality of Dwight’s recordings.
Yoakam tears through well chosen covers of artists from ZZ Top (“I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”) to John Prine (“Paradise”), and a whole lot in between, like “Mercury Blues”, “The Loco-Motion” and Johnny Cash’s “Understand Your Man”. Duets include Heather Myles (“Little Chapel”) and Deana Carter (“Waiting”), along with a pair sung with Ralph Stanley. The best, though, is his take on the traditional “Some Dark Holler”, recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for the compilation Will The Circle Be Unbroken Vol. 3. (Also included from that album is his cover of “Wheels” by Gram Parsons.) There are a small group of lesser tracks here, but for the most part, it’s yet another fine and entertaining collection from Yoakam. This album shows that while he’s an established fine songwriter, that he can also handle material written by others with ease.
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RACHEL’S
MUSIC FOR EGON SCHIELE
1996 – QUARTERSTICK
Produced By JASON NOBLE
1. Family Portrait
2. Egon & Gertie
3. First Self-Portrait Series
4. Mime Van Osen
5. Second Self-Portrait Series
6. Wally, Egon & Models In The Studio
7. Promenade
8. Third Self-Portrait Series
9. Egon, Edith & Wally Meet
10. Egon & Wally Embrace And Say Farewell
11. Egon & Edith
12. Second Family Portrait
Rachel’s was an interesting band that combined chamber music and post-rock. Music For Egon Schiele is their second album, a score to the theatrical play called Egon Schiele. Schiele was an Austrian painter born in 1890 who lived a short and troubled life. His art was controversial during his lifetime, notable for being grotesque and sometimes pornographic. He died in 1918 of Spanish flu at just 28 years old, three days after his wife and unborn child. The album’s unique packaging contains a short biography of Schiele, along with several of his works.
Rachel’s was led by guitarist Jason Noble, who produced the album…but does not play on it. Featured on this album is pianist Rachel Grimes, along with Christian Frederickson (viola) and Wendy Doyle (cello). Like its subject, the music here is dark and sad. Fitting, given the subject matter.
So, what we really have here is a classical trio. The songs are all written by Grimes, and it sounds like what it is…an instrumental soundtrack to a story of a tragic life. This music may be great to fall asleep to (it is), but it’s also beautifully played. All three instruments intertwine almost perfectly, and it makes for an entertaining and lovely listen. This is the only Rachel’s album that includes no rock instrumentation…for their next effort, the guitars and drums are back, and back to stay. But the classical elements remained alongside their post-rock sound throughout the band’s decade together, which included eight albums. Rachel’s ended in 2012 when Noble died of cancer. As for the works of Schiele, his paintings are collected in a few galleries in Vienna, as well as the Leopold Museum.
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CECIL TAYLOR
CONQUISTADOR!
1968 – BLUE NOTE
Produced By ALFRED LION
1. Conquistador
2. With (Exit)
3. With (Exit) (Alternate Take)
Cecil Taylor was one of the great musical geniuses of the twentieth century. His unique and sometimes maddening approach to jazz changed the world of jazz, and his sometimes difficult body of work is endlessly challenging. He’s not easy to listen to, which is why he’s not often mentioned in the same breath as greats like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, or Thelonious Monk. But his music is just as important. Taylor was a pianist who recorded well over a hundred albums between 1956 and his death in 2018. Conquistador! was recorded in 1966, and was released two years later. The follow up to Unit Structures, which is one of the most demanding jazz albums of all time, Conquistador! is not the easiest pill to swallow. Which is what Tylor’s recorded legacy was: music to think to, not to dance to.
The two long tracks on Conquistador! are brilliant, if you have the patience for this music. This has been dismissed as avant-garde foolishness and simply noise, but there is always a method to Taylor’s madness. This is not for everyone, but if it’s for you, the rewards are massive. The soloing of saxophonist Jimmy Lyons is breathtaking, and Taylor’s piano sets the stage for all of the weirdness and beauty of the album. Conquistador! also contains the trumpet of Bill Dixon, along with a terrific rhythm section. The title track is amazing, but “With (Exit)” is even better. And on this later reissue (from 2004), there’s a more than worthwhile seventeen minute alternate take of the second track. Conquistador! isn’t talked about much, but it is still one of the most important free jazz albums of all time. It’s tough, harsh, and beautiful all at once. An underrated classic.
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SNOW PATROL
EYES OPEN
2006 – A&M / POLYDOR / FICTION
Produced By JACKNIFE LEE
1. You’re All I Have
2. Hands Open
3. Chasing Cars
4. Shut Your Eyes
5. It’s Beginning To Get To Me
6. You Could Be Happy
7. Make This Go On Forever
8. Set The Fire To The Third Bar (Feat. Martha Wainwright)
9. Headlights On Dark Roads
10. Open Your Eyes
11. The Finish Line
The Irish band Snow Patrol will be forever known as the band that sang the suicidal person’s dream lyric “If I lay here / If I just lay here”. That line is from the song “Chasing Cars”, which is from their fourth album, Eyes Open. It became a hit after being featured on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy, and in 2019, it was named as the most played song on UK radio of the 21st century. The song and its video were inescapable in 2006. Its cringy whiny chorus and plodding slowness was, of course, hugely popular. It was their only US hit, and was by far their biggest selling song worldwide. It made them momentary stars, put many of their other songs on TV and in films, and has carried them ever since. They’ve released four albums since, all with fair levels of success, particularly in the UK. But nothing on the same sphere as this one.
Eyes Open is not a bad album. Especially if you are a fan of “Chasing Cars”. “You’re All I Have”, “Hands Open” and “Set The Fire To The Third Bar” (a duet between singer Gary Lightbody and Martha Wainwright) are strong, as is the pair of “eyes” songs (“Shut Your Eyes” and “Open Your Eyes”). A bit of a sag in the center, and the last track could have been easily left off the album, but a mostly solid record. Eyes Open will always be around because of its big hit song: thankfully, the rest is not as sleep inducing. These days, Lightbody is the only remaining original member, joined by guitarist Nathan Connolly from the period of this album. This one falls into the realm of just above average overall. Although personally, I could be a happy man without ever hearing “Chasing Cars” again in my lifetime.
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THREE DOG NIGHT
JOY TO THE WORLD: THEIR GREATEST HITS
1974 – DUNHILL
Produced By JIMMY IENNER, GABRIEL MEKLER & RICHARD PODOLOR
1. Joy To The World
2. One
3. Sure As I’m Sittin’ Here
4. An Old Fashioned Love Song
5. Let Me Serenade You
6. Shambala
7. Black And White
8. Never Been To Spain
9. One Man Band
10. Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)
11. I’d Be So Happy
12. Liar
13. The Family Of Man
14. The Show Must Go On
Between 1968 and 1974, Three Dog Night were bona fide hitmakers who filled up the radio waves with songs written by everyone from Laura Nyro to Hoyt Axton. Sporting three lead singers, they rocked more than most AM radio bands, and turned a lot of people on to songs by artists that a lot of kids would have never heard otherwise. They were dubbed the Kings Of Oversing by critic Robert Christgau…a moniker that was not inaccurate. Joy To The World is their second compilation album, released at the time when the band was running out of gas (and hits). There are some fine moments here, but because of the first compilation (1971’s Golden Biscuits), it’s woefully incomplete. It would be many years later before an accurate collection would be released. Even with that, though, the end result is the proof that their short existence was spotty at best.
When they got it right, they were great…but that didn’t happen often enough. And unfortunately, there are too many of those great moments missing on this disc. It’s great to have “An Old Fashioned Love Song”, “Never Been To Spain”, “Liar” and “Shambala” in one place. But it’s what’s missing that’s important. On Joy To The World, you won’t find “Easy To Be Hard”, Nyro’s “Eli’s Coming”, or Randy Newman’s “Mama Told Me Not To Come”, which are easily the bands best songs. Instead, you get misses like “I’d Be So Happy”, “Let Me Serenade You”, and John Hiatt’s “Sure As I’m Sittin’ Here”. To their credit, Three Dog Night had a justified successful run. It’s unfortunate that this hits collection missed out on getting their legacy rightfully collected on one amazing disc. There are great songs here…but too much is missing to recommend it as essential.
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DIANA KRALL
WHEN I LOOK IN YOUR EYES
1999 – VERVE
Produced By TOMMY LIPUMA, JOHNNY MANDEL & DAVID FOSTER
1. Let’s Face The Music And Dance
2. Devil May Care
3. Let’s Fall In Love
4. When I Look In Your Eyes
5. Popsicle Toes
6. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
7. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
8. I’ll String Along With You
9. East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon)
10. Pick Yourself Up
11. The Best Thing For You
12. Do It Again
13. Why Should I Care
At the turn of the century, you would not have likely guessed that one of music’s rising stars would be a female jazz and easy listening singer. Diana Krall did just that. After a trio of albums in the mid nineties went almost unnoticed, she started to turn heads with her 1997 album, Love Scenes. It was her fifth album, When I Look In Your Eyes, that showed she wasn’t going away any time soon. The album features orchestral arrangements by Johnny Mandel, and production by Tommy LiPuma. Krall is also an accomplished pianist, and her playing shines here, as it usually does. Albums like this mostly depend on the song choices, and how well those choices fit with the vibe of the artist. Her choices here are strong, making this the best of her earlier work. Nearly everything here suits Krall perfectly, making this a kind of an underrated gem.
Her next album, The Look Of Love, sold a gazillion copies. But the songs, while more well known, are not as fine as they are here. Krall picks up works by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Jerome Kern and knocks them all out of the park. There’s also a curious hidden track in “Why Should I Care”, which was written by Carole Bayer Sager, Linda Thompson and Clint Eastwood. Krall has continued to grow as a performer, and after her marriage to Elvis Costello, she began to write songs as well. This album is the best of her early releases, and it was actually the first jazz record to be nominated for the Grammy’s Album Of The Year in a quarter century. This album isn’t perfect, but like almost everything else she has done, it’s well worth hearing at least one time. A strong and beautiful voice, without question.
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