ANTHRAX
STATE OF EUPHORIA
1988-MEGAFORCE
VARIOUS PRODUCERS
1. Be All, End All
2. Out of Sight, Out Of Mind
3. Make Me Laugh
4. Antisocial
5. Who Cares Wins
6. Now It’s Dark
7. Schism
8. Misery Loves Company
9. 13
10. Finale
Anthrax were pioneers of thrash metal, and gained prominence in the mid 80’s by embracing rap, something commonplace for rock bands today but pretty much unheard of at the time. They almost matched the Beastie Boys with their snotty hit “I’m The Man”, and even toured with Public Enemy after scoring a collaboration hit with “Bring Tha Noise”. As a thrash band, they had a sense of humor, but a limited pool of ideas. Following what might have been their finest album in Among The Living and the I’m The Man EP, they released State Of Euphoria, which, despite containing several of the band’s better known songs, is also the weakest effort in their catalog that has now spanned almost 30 years. The album has, to its discredit, a terrible album cover and attempts to try too many new things that simply didn’t work with metal…and poor songwriting.
The best song here is “Antisocial”, which is actually a pretty good punk song. “Who Cares Wins”, about homelessness, is also very good. But the inconsistencies begin after that. Songs like “Be All, End All” and “Schism” sound like they are trying way too hard, and others, like “13” and “Now It’s Dark”, are simply forgettable filler. The band is as tight as always, and lead singer Joey Belladonna sounds great, but there just aren’t enough songs to carry this album beyond the level of mediocrity. Anthrax never made a truly great album, but if one were to recommend one, State Of Euphoria would have to be the last one on the list. Released at the height of their popularity, it’s a true disappointment.
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PEARL JAM
LIVE ON TWO LEGS
1998-EPIC
NO PRODUCTION CREDIT
1. Corduroy
2. Given To Fly
3. Hail, Hail
4. Daughter
5. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
6. Untitled
7. MFC
8. Go
9. Red Mosquito
10. Even Flow
11. Off He Goes
12. Nothingman
13. Do The Evolution
14. Better Man
15. Black
16. Fuckin’ Up
Pearl Jam has released a total of eight official live albums and over seventy official bootleg live albums. It all started with Live On Two Legs. Released in 1998, the album is pulled from dates on the Yield tour. The band decided to do a live album because they felt their energy was so big on the tour that they should share it with fans. Unfortunately, the main reason this isn’t a great live album is, above all else, a lack of energy from the band. For a group known for great live shows, one has to wonder what happened here. Part of the problem is that a lot of the material is from Yield, a much weaker album than Ten, Vs. or even Vitalogy. And while the selections are all played exceptionally well, they simply lack the “oomph” you would expect from the…especially from a tour in the 90’s. Continuity is also a player here…the dates are spread out over a three month period rather than just within a few nights.
On the plus side, this is still Pearl Jam, and even without a lot of energy, they still sound great live. “Corduroy”, “Better Man” and “Go” are the real high points, and nothing is terrible on the album. The band is as professional as ever, and everything is well played and well sung. More songs from earlier albums would have been nice, but what can you do? Overall, if you like Pearl Jam, this will fit nicely in your collection, but even though it’s their first ever live album, it won’t stand out as anything special. There is plenty of other live Pearl Jam out there (they even released all 72 nights of their 2000 world tour to choose from: this will likely not be your first choice. Good. By no means exceptional.
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ERIC CLAPTON
BLUES
1999-POLYGRAM
VARIOUS PRODUCERS
1. Before You Accuse Me (Take A Look At Yourself) (Acoustic Outtake)
2. Mean Old World
3. Ain’t That Lovin’ You
4. The Sky Is Crying
5. Cryin’
6. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
7. Alberta
8. Early In The Morning
9. Give Me Strength
10. Meet Me (Down At The Bottom)
11. County Jail Blues
12. Floating Bridge
13. Blow Wind Blow
14. To Make Somebody Happy
15. Before You Accuse Me (Take A Look At Yourself) (Electric Outtake)
1. Stormy Monday
2. Worried Life Blues
3. Early In The Morning
4. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
5. Wonderful Tonight
6. Kind Hearted Woman
7. Double Trouble
8. Driftin’ Blues
9. Crossroads
10. Further On Up The Road
Since the mid 1960’s, Eric Clapton has been there. He was a Bluesbreaker and a Yardbird, he was God with Cream. He was part of Blind Faith, and he was Derek of The Dominos. He then went solo and became, too much of the time, the second coming of the snoozy side (is there another?) of JJ Cale. But through it all, Clapton has carried the mantle for the great bluesmen of the past, and he has carried it with dignity. Blues is a two disc compilation that covers Clapton’s blues highlights during the decade of the 70’s, with the first disc being studio recordings and the second disc consisting of live recordings. The idea is sound, the liner notes exceptional, and the playing is, of course, as professional as it gets. There are some real gems here…”Mean Old World” is a Dominos outtake previously only available on the Duane Allman anthology, and it’s great. The studio side houses outtakes from Slowhand, Backless, and 461 Ocean Boulevard that are well worth while, as well as album tracks from the 70’s that are well chosen.
The live side begins with a smoking version of Stormy Monday featuring Marcy Levy. The rest of the live tracks are all from albums, except for the fine closer “Further On Up The Road”, a previously unreleased track. The only downside to Blues is that there are some duplicated tracks (“Early In The Morning” and “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” are on both discs…surely there were other tracks that could have fit nicely?), and the fact that “Wonderful Tonight”, while a Clapton highlight, doesn’t really fit here at all. Plus, after two discs, you’ve pretty much gotten his whole bag of tricks more than once. Blues is not one of the better known compilations for Clapton, but it is one of the more interesting ones out there. Definitely a good addition if you’re a fan of his 70’s work, which may have been his strongest decade anyway.
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PRINCE
SIGN O’ THE TIMES
1987-PAISLEY PARK
Produced By PRINCE
1. Sign O’ The Times
2. Play In The Sunshine
3. Housequake
4. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
5. It
6. Starfish And Coffee
7. Slow Love
8. Hot Thing
9. Forever In My Life
1. U Got The Look
2. If I Was Your Girlfriend
3. Strange Relationship
4. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
5. The Cross
6. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
7. Adore
Prince sauntered into the 1980’s like he owned the place…which he pretty much did. But, after the massive success of 1999 and Purple Rain, there began to be cracks in the whole Prince And The Revolution world that had once seemed invincible. The follow up to Purple Rain, Around The World In A Day, was a hit despite poor promotion, and then the soundtrack album Parade and the film Under The Cherry Moon fell flat. They then recorded Dream Factory, which was aborted when Prince broke up the band, and then the album Crystal Ball was blocked by Warner Brothers because they didn’t think Prince could sell a triple album. Prince ended up working many of the songs from both aborted projects into what became the double album Sign O’ The Times. What was a curious collection of re-recorded outtakes became what ultimately is his all around best album.
Sign O’ The Times is truly loaded. There’s enough hits to satisfy the curious: “You Got The Look” is a powerful duet with Sheena Easton: “If I Was Your Girlfriend” is Prince’s most intriguing look at sexuality:, and the title track is a look at the sad state of the world in 1987. “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night” is a Revolution recording, while “Strange Relationship“ and “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man” date back to the early 80’s. This album shows Prince rising from the ashes of the end of The Revolution and two failed albums to produce his strongest work. He plays almost everything here, and the album shines with more consistency and great songwriting than ever before or since. Other albums by Prince may be more popular, but none shine like his real masterpiece, Sign O’ The Times.
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TOM WAITS
RAIN DOGS
1985-ISLAND
Produced By TOM WAITS
1. Singapore
2. Clap Hands
3. Cemetery Polka
4. Jockey Full Of Bourbon
5. Tango Till They’re Sore
6. Big Black Mariah
7. Diamonds & Gold
8. Hang Down Your Head
9. Time
10. Rain Dogs
11. Midtown
12. 9th & Hennepin
13. Gun Street Girl
14. Union Square
15. Blind Love
16. Walking Spanish
17. Downtown Train
18. Bride Of Rain Dog
19. Anywhere I Lay My Head
Tom Waits spent an entire decade trying to win people over as a singer songwriter. He had success, but his increasingly croaking voice and uneven albums made him not much more than a minor player in the game. That all changed in 1983 when Waits switched labels and stopped trying to make music that appealed to other people. Swordfishtrombones marked the beginning of the REAL Tom Waits: experimental, deep and more than a little frightening. The follow up, Rain Dogs, is Waits at his absolute best, writing scary songs and singing them in that creaky yet terrifying croak. Rain Dogs is an album about strange underground seedy shadows of urban humanity, wrapped up in a nice package of strange recorded street sounds, odd instrumentation, and an almost circus atmosphere that makes it all the more strange and believeable.
From somewhere in all of this, Waits still managed to gain a hit out of Rain Dogs in Downtown Train, a success for Rod Stewart. The other songs on Rain Dogs are all consistently brilliant. Instrumentally challenging and deep, the album also features guest guitarists Marc Ribot and Keith Richards, and is ultimately more like a painting than an album of songs. Rain Dogs is the second part of a trilogy (between Swordfishtrombones and Frank’s Wild Years) that finds him at the height of his career in every aspect. Rain Dogs is different, to be sure; it’s also powerful, wildly entertaining, and a true masterpiece from a writer who gained his biggest success by trying to please only himself. Kudos!
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THE DOOBIE BROTHERS
TOULOUSE STREET
1972-WARNER BROS.
Produced By TED TEMPLEMAN
1. Listen To The Music
2. Rockin’ Down The Highway
3. Mamaloi
4. Toulouse Street
5. Cotton Mouth
6. Don’t Start Me To Talkin’
7. Jesus Is Just Alright
8. White Sun
9. Disciple
10. Snake Man
The Doobie Brothers always had a kind of Southern New Orleans tinge to their music, but they were, in fact, a very California band. In the early years, they were favorites of the Hells Angels, and were led by Tom Johnston, a true rocker, who kept an edge to their sound. Later, after Johnston had his role diminished due to exhaustion and health issues, the band brought in Jeff “Skunk:” Baxter and Michael MacDonald from Steely Dan, changing the band’s sound entirely. But this is the Doobies at their early best. It showcases the band’s early ability to crank out hit singles, and gives at look at them at their best…and their most unspectacular. With two songwriters in Johnston and Patrick Simmons, they nonetheless included three covers on this album, surprising given the abilities they had.
The album contains three hits: Johnston’s “Listen To The Music” and “Rockin’ Down The Highway” are excellent. “Jesus Is Just Alright” follows the earlier version by The Byrds almost to the letter. From there, the quality of material drops. The two Simmons contributions, “Mamaloi” and “Toulouse Street” are average at best. “Cotton Mouth” is from, of all people, Seals & Crofts. Nothing else stands out, and although the playing is exceptional, there’s nothing outside of the three hits that will really grab you. Particularly in the early days, this is a band whose singles are great but surrounded by filler. A better way to experience the early days of this band is on Best Of The Doobies, which leaves the filler behind.
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PUBLIC ENEMY
IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK
1988-DEF JAM
Produced By CHUCK D, RICK RUBIN & HANK SHOCKLEE
1. Countdown To Armageddon
2. Bring The Noise
3. Don’t Believe The Hype
4. Cold Lampin’ With Flavor
5. Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic
6. Mind Terrorist
7. Louder Than A Bomb
8. Caught, Can We Get A Witness?
9. Show ‘Em Whatcha Got
10. She Watch Channel Zero?!
11. Night Of The Living Baseheads
12. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
13. Security Of The First World
14. Rebel Without A Pause
15. Prophets Of Rage
16. Party For Your Right To Fight
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back is the second album from Public Enemy. The group intended it to be the What’s Going On of hip hop, loaded with social commentary and encouragement of black youth to stand for their rights. Their first album (Yo! Bum Rush The Show) had not done well commercially, and they made this one faster to hopefully match the intensity and success of their live shows. It worked tremendously: the album sold extremely well, produced five singles, and made Public Enemy a household name. Chuck D. and Flavor Flav deliver powerful performances, and music featuring heavy samples of rock and soul music create a perfect canvas for the album. Rolling Stone rates it as the top hip hop album of all time for good reason: this is great stuff.
“Bring The Noise” created a strong collaboration with the metal band Anthrax: “Rebel Without A Pause”, the lead single, may be their best song ever. “Don’t Believe The Hype”, “Night Of The Living Baseheads”, and “Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos” are all excellent. Maybe the best political album of all time, this led to the equally successful Fear Of A Black Planet and Apocalypse ‘91…after which, Public Enemy became ordinary, and Flavor Flav became a cartoon of his already cartoon self. But from 1988 through 1991, Public Enemy was the best, most controversial, most outspoken, and frightening act in hip hop…maybe in all of music. This album is the best of them all…a must have.
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SHERYL CROW
TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB
1993-A&M
Produced By BILL BOTTRELL
1. Run, Baby, Run
2. Leaving Las Vegas
3. Strong Enough
4. Can’t Cry Anymore
5. Solidify
6. The Na-Na Song
7. No One Said It Would Be Easy
8. What Can I Do For You
9. All I Wanna Do
10. We Do What We Can
11. I Shall Believe
Sheryl Crow didn’t exactly come from nowhere: she had a pretty successful career as a backup singer for the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Don Henley and many more. She recorded an album in 1992 that was rejected by her label, then began dating Kevin Gilbert. Gilbert brought her into the circle of the Tuesday Music Club, a group of musicians that included David And David. The sessions with this group eventually became her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. The first two albums of Crows career are her best and most consistent work: afterward, she developed a tendency to be lazy with her recordings, which ended up sounding like they were done without much effort. Late to the game, her debut was released when she was in her 30’s, and a lot of her time later on was taken up by high profile relationships with Owen Wilson and Lance Armstrong.
Tuesday Night Music Club is good, but flawed. The collective atmosphere makes it more of a group effort and hard to distinguish how much of it is actually Crow. “Leaving Las Vegas” is the real highlight here, but the album also contains the empty but endlessly catchy “All I Wanna Do”, the song that made her career which was based on a Wyn Cooper poem she found in a book. “Strong Enough” and “What Can I Do For You” are also very good. Her next album was better, but this has enough good stuff to be enjoyable. Later lame efforts to duplicate “All I Wanna Do” like the awful “Soak Up The Sun” show that she never really built on what was started here. If you have to have Sheryl Crow in your collection, have this one and the self-titled follow up.
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SIMON & GARFUNKEL
BOOKENDS
1968-COLUMBIA
Produced By SIMON & GARFUNKEL & ROY HALEE
1. Bookends Theme
2. Save The Life Of My Child
3. America
4. Overs
5. Voices Of Old People
6. Old Friends
7. Bookends Theme
8. Fakin’ It
9. Punky’s Dilemna
10. Mrs. Robinson
11. A Hazy Shade Of Winter
12. At The Zoo
13. You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies
14. Old Friends
Simon And Garfunkel were already stars by the time The Graduate was released in early 1968. They had recorded the soundtrack album, but there were significant songs that were rejected, including the full version of “Mrs. Robinson”. So, when they went into the studio to record Bookends, they already had material to start with. Side one of the album is a conceptual flow of songs about the journey from birth to death. The strongest of these songs, “America” and “Old Friends”, along with the short but sweet title theme, make the suite a great listen. There are some strange, jarring moments of psychedelic noise, but otherwise the music is solid…and of course, their voices are impeccable. “Voices Of Old People” is unnecessary, not a song but a collage of old people talking.
Side two consists of the songs rejected by the producers of The Graduate, and is excellent. “Mrs. Robinson” is unbelievable as a reject. “At The Zoo” is a sweet song. “A Hazy Shade Of Winter” (later a hit for The Bangles) shows that Simon really could rock. It is rumored that “Punky’s Dilemna” took over 50 hours to record. In all, the album is strong…but it’s also very short, coming in at under 30 minutes. The sound effects can be off putting, making parts of the album sound very dated. But there is plenty of redemption in the second half with the rejected Graduate songs. And, of course, “America”. The best folk duo of all time recorded together for what was a far too short a time. “Time it was, and what a time it was, it was…”
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OASIS
DEFINITELY MAYBE
1994-CREATION
Produced By OASIS & MARK COYLE
1. Rock ‘N’ Roll Star
2. Shakermaker
3. Live Forever
4. Up In The Sky
5. Columbia
6. Supersonic
7. Bring It On Down
8. Cigarettes & Alcohol
9. Digsy’s Diner
10. Slide Away
11. Married With Children
Hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since Oasis became the biggest band in Britain, and one of the biggest bands in the world. On the strength of three advance singles, “Supersonic”, “Shakermaker” and “Live Forever”, their debut album Definitely Maybe was released to the largest hoopla in England since the Beatles, coming straight out of the gates at number one. It’s not thet Oasis was really THAT great, but that they came along at a time when the British music scene needed a shot in the arm…and Oasis (along with bands like Blur) delivered. The ride for Oasis was incredible, short, and very rocky, but over their first two albums, they were at the top of their craft. Guitarist Noel Gallagher wrote the songs, which were sung and sneered by his brother Liam, and the formula created a storm of hits.
The three advance singles are excellent, particularly “Live Forever”. “Cigarettes & Alcohol” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” are also great singles, but the album as a whole is very good. The only drawback is that the band didn’t really have much in the way of original ideas…you can hear bits of many popular songs on the album. But they knew how to make the recycled riffs work, and work very well. Definitely Maybe could be seen as a near perfect storm (the follow up, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory is somehow even better), a band on the verge of total greatness before the excesses of rock & roll took over and ruined them. But in the mid 90’s, there was no one like Oasis, and their first two albums are among the most exciting works of the decade. Definitely a moment to not be missed from the 90’s.
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