DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
THE BIG TO-DO
2010 – ATO
Produced By DAVID BARBE
1. Daddy Learned To Fly
2. The Fourth Night Of My Drinking
3. Birthday Boy
4. Drag The Lake Charlie
5. The Wig He Made Her Wear
6. You Got Another
7. This Fucking Job
8. Get Downtown
9. After The Scene Dies
10. (It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So
11. Santa Fe
12. The Flying Wallendas
13. Eyes Like Glue
Eight studio albums into their career, you would think that Drive-By Truckers would be starting to run out of gas. Maybe not running out yet, but the needle may be starting to dip just a bit. Not to say that The Big To-Do is bad by any means…there just may be a bit more filler than what we’re used to from the Truckers. But there are also plenty of great moments here as well. The album has recurring circus references, and is acknowledged as having been recorded in the spirit of their respect for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, even employing a full time keyboard player. The bulk of the songwriting is handled here by Patterson Hood, as guitarist Mike Cooley contributes only three tracks (a surprising drop off for a guy who has been steadily growing over the years as a writer). Bassist Shonna Tucker contributes a pair of tracks as well. The rest is all Hood, and he does his very best to carry the load.
Hood’s best tracks here are “The Wig He Made Her Wear”, “The Fourth Night Of My Drinking”, and “Drag The Lake Charlie”. And “This Fucking Job” could be the anthem of the working man everywhere. Both of Tucker’s contributions are very good ("You Got Another” and “(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So”). And Cooley steps in with one of his finest tunes, the rollicking “Get Downtown”, which ends up being the real highlight of the album. On The Big To-Do, the Truckers aren’t afraid of trying new things. They rock more here, and the songs are more present tense than ever before. The sessions resulted in 25 tracks being recorded, which they split between this album and its follow up, Go Go Boots. Maybe they could have taken the best from both albums and made one killer disc…but that’s their decision, not mine. Still…The Big To Do is a good time, which all Truckers albums should be. It’s not perfect, but still very, very good.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
BLOC PARTY
SILENT ALARM
2005 – WICHITA
Produced By PAUL EPWORTH
1. Like Eating Glass
2. Helicopter
3. Positive Tension
4. Banquet
5. Blue Light
6. She’s Hearing Voices
7. This Modern Love
8. Pioneers
9. Price Of Gas
10. Little Thoughts
11. So Here We Are
12. Luno
13. Plans
14. Compliments
Bloc Party is the domain of singer Kele Okereke and guitarist Russell Lissack. This British band exploded in 2005 with the release of their debut album, Silent Alarm, a collection of fast, quirky, and immediately catchy guitar driven tracks. The album was an immediate, out of nowhere hit, thanks to the band’s desire to attract fans of multiple genres and a handful of radio ready hit singles. Elements of electronic and dance music are present, with songs that were written around adding guitars to a simple drum beat. Bloc Party was able to please a lot of the people at the same time, not an easy task. The result is simple…Silent Alarm is a fine, consistent and highly listenable album. They have remained successful over the course of their on and off career, but they’ve never quite matched the energy and overall excellence of their debut. Can’t fault them for that…they did set the bar pretty high for themselves right off the bat.
The tracks that got everyone’s attention were “Positive Tension”, “So Here We Are”, and “Banquet”. These songs are catchy, upbeat, and cool as hell. “Two More Years” and “Pioneers” are also excellent. The best track here may be “Helicopter”, a powerful buzz saw of a single that brought the band an American audience. The pulsing “This Modern Love” builds to a fine danceable track. The drumming of Matt Tong is excellent throughout, but it’s the guitar work of Lissack and Okereke that really carries the album to it’s impressive heights. The interplay between the two is perfect, and although you can dance to pretty much all of Silent Alarm, it is, by all means, a guitar album. Later in 2005, Silent Alarm Remixed was released, giving the tracks more of a dance atmosphere while still keeping things rocking. The original album is the way to go, though. Silent Alarm truly does have something for everyone, and it does all of those things well.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
JAMES GANG
RIDES AGAIN
1970 – ABC
Produced By BILL SZYMCZYK
1. Funk #49
2. Asshtonpark
3. Woman
4. The Bomber: Closet Queen / Bolero / Cast Your Fate To The Wind
5. Tend My Garden
6. Garden Gate
7. There I Go Again
8. Thanks
9. Ashes The Rain And I
The James Gang came from Cleveland in the late 1960’s, and are most notable for being the band that launched the career of Joe Walsh. But the band was plagued by a never ending stream of personnel changes, and by the time they hung it up in 1977, 18 different players had been members of the band. Rides Again is their second album, and the one that put them on the map (and the one that marked Walsh as a top notch guitarist), thanks in large part to the hit “Funk #49”. (In case you wonder…there had been a track called “Funk #48” on the previous album.) The song was a hit, and made the James Gang household names for a time, and along with “Walk Away” from the next album (Thirds), paved the way for Walsh. Many see this album as the high point of the band…and as far as the Walsh years go, it is. It’s an improvement over their debut, with Walsh just beginning to blossom as a player and as a songwriter. But this lineup didn’t last long, as Walsh was gone by the end of 1971.
Rides Again is a nice slice of early 70’s rock, but it’s not great. After “Funk #49”, the songs are mostly forgettable. It’s the playing of Walsh that makes it worthwhile…there’s no doubt that the man could play. His guitar carries the entire album, and it’s worth hearing just for that. It’s notable that the center section of “The Bomber” contains “Bolero”, which was removed because of a lawsuit threatened by the estate of Maurice Revel…it’s restored on the most recent CD versions. Also, this album is almost painfully short at just 35 minutes. It is the best of the Walsh era James Gang albums (the best overall is the underrated Tommy Bolin led Bang from 1973). Walsh has, of course, gone on to fame as a solo artist and as a member of the Eagles. Bolin died in 1976, and the James Gang ceased to be in 1977. But there is always “Funk #49”. This is good…not great, but definitely worth hearing at least once.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
TRAMPLED BY TURTLES
STARS AND SATELLITES
2012 – BANJODAD RECORDS
No Production Credit
1. Midnight On The Interstate
2. Alone
3. Walt Whitman
4. High Water
5. Risk
6. Widower’s Heart
7. Sorry
8. Beautiful
9. Don’t Look Down
10. Keys To Paradise
11. The Calm And The Crying Wind
The worst thing about this Minnesota bluegrass/folk band is their name. After that, these guys are quite a find. This band came highly recommended by a friend of a former friend, and the two albums I bought by them in Albuquerque a few years back sat unheard for way too long. Dusting these off was like finding buried treasure, without a doubt. This is a band that made their way by fusing bluegrass and punk together for some legendary live shows, but on this, their sixth album, they bring down the tempo and play some flat out beautiful music. These guys can play…there are enough flurries of flying banjos and mandolins and fiddles to keep even the most down home happy, but there are also some great folk moments that are on the verge of breathtaking. These guys can do it all, and the results here are nothing short of amazing. This may be one of the coolest acoustic albums you’ve heard in a long, long time.
The upbeat and rowdier tracks here are most impressive. “Walt Whitman”, “Don’t Look Down” and “Sorry” are showcases for the bluegrass prowess of the band. But it’s the slow, almost sleepy songs where the real beauty of what these guys are capable of really shines through. “Alone” is stunning, as are “Beautiful” and “Keys To Paradise”. “The Calm And The Crying Wind” is everything a country song should be. The singing of Dave Simmonett has a lonesome, peaceful quality that doesn’t fall off into boring territory, and he’s lyrically excellent. The album alternates between upbeat and somber, giving it an interesting balance, and allowing the beauty of each track to really shine. Trampled By Turtles sticks mainly to the American market, and have released nine studio albums to date since 2004. This is a pleasant surprise of an album…under the radar for the most part. Musically exceptional, lyrically heartwarming, a perfect listen.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
THOMPSON TWINS
INTO THE GAP
1984 – ARISTA
Produced By ALEX SADKIN & TOM BAILEY
1. Doctor! Doctor!
2. You Take Me Up
3. Day After Day
4. Sister Of Mercy
5. No Peace For The Wicked
6. The Gap
7. Hold Me Now
8. Storm On The Sea
9. Who Can Stop The Rain
10. Leopard Ray
11. Doctor! Doctor!
12. Panic Station
13. Down Tools
14. Hold Me Now
15. Funeral Dance
1. Compass Points
2. Still Water
3. You Take Me Up (Machines Take Me Over)
4. Sister Of Mercy
5. Let Loving Start
6. You Take Me Up (High Plains Mixer)
7. Nurse Shark
8. Passion Planet
9. You Take Me Up (Instrumental)
10. Out Of The Gap (Megamix Extended Version)
Into The Gap is the fourth album by the British band Thompson Twins, who were an ever changing group with an ear for world music. It’s also their commercial peak, and probably their best overall album. The songs that put the Thompsons on the map are here…”You Take Me Up”, “Hold Me Now”, “Doctor! Doctor!” and “Sister Of Mercy” are all classically 1984 synthesizer heavy, immediately catchy, and a perfect representation of what was popular that year. The synths do sound quite dated now, but the songs themselves are fine, and show why the band was so big, even for the short period of time they were on top. The original nine song album is quite good on its own, even with the dated sound and the fact that the lesser tracks aren’t quite as memorable. You do get to gaze fondly on the cheesiness of the album cover, the clothes and hairstyles that made Thompson Twins fit right in with what 1984 was all about.
As for the rest of this…I hadn’t counted on a full 2 disc monstrosity, but what I ended up with was the 2008 reissue that has more bonus tracks (16 of them) than the original album. Some are needless instrumental versions, some are single versions, alternate takes and remixes. None of them are what I would consider to be necessary, and none of them add to the overall experience of the original Into The Gap album. My rating is based on the entire package, both discs. On it’s own, I’d rate the album a full star higher…this is just too much. Thompson Twins continued on with diminishing success for four more albums before changing their name to Babble in 1994 and moving into a more world music and less pop oriented sound. That lasted for two albums. The group disbanded in 1996. A good best of will suffice, but if you can find a copy of Into The Gap without all the extra stuff, that would be the best way to go.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
CROSBY, STILLS & NASH
1969 – ATLANTIC
Produced By David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash
1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
2. Marrakesh Express
3. Guinnevere
4. You Don’t Have To Cry
5. Pre-Road Downs
6. Wooden Ships
7. Lady Of The Island
8. Helplessly Hoping
9. Long Time Gone
10. 49 Bye-Byes
Maybe the supergroup to top all supergroups, Crosby, Stills & Nash were perfect for the times…and perfect for each other. Consisting of members of The Byrds (Crosby), Buffalo Springfield (Stills), and The Hollies (Nash), the musical mix of these three was something to behold. The harmonies were perfect and oh so cool, but it was the extra added bonus of the personality differences of the three that made it all the better. This, their debut album, was a monster hit in its day. Today, it’s almost forgotten, which is nothing short of a damn shame. There are tracks here that are some of the most beautiful recordings in the history of rock, and this is one of the most perfect albums for its time ever made. These three together in 1969, just getting together, showing the world what they could do and getting ready to take the stage at Woodstock is something special indeed. It’s instrumentally almost all Stills, but vocally, and the writing…nothing short of an amazing group effort.
Stills’ “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, written about his love for Judy Collins, is the greatest Stills song of all time, and it’s a masterpiece that Lennon & McCartney would have been proud to have written. His “You Don’t Have To Cry” and the gorgeous “Helplessly Hoping” are not far behind. Crosby’s “Guinnevere” is stunning, and his “Long Time Gone”, a response to the killing of Robert Kennedy, is perfect. The three Nash tracks maybe sound the most dated, but you can’t help but love “Marrakesh Express” and “Pre-Road Downs”, which features Cass Elliot singing backups. And there’s “Wooden Ships”, a beautiful track by Crosby, Stills and Paul Kantner of the Airplane. Plenty of great moments awaited this trio (with help from future member Neil Young), but man…what an amazing debut. How amazing must it have been to have heard this for the first time in 1969? This is one hell of a great and absolutely beautiful album. Must have.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
BUDDY GUY
THIS IS BUDDY GUY
1968 – VANGUARD
Produced By SAM CHARTERS
1. I Got My Eyes On You
2. The Things I Used To Do
3. (You Give Me) Fever
4. Knock On Wood
5. I Had A Dream Last Night
6. 24 Hours Of The Day
7. You Were Wrong
8. I’m Not The Best
Eric Clapton once said that Buddy Guy was the greatest living guitar player. Stevie Ray Vaughan said that without Buddy Guy, “there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan”. Jimi Hendrix said that “heaven is lying at Buddy Guy’s feet while listening to him play guitar”. He has been called the bridge between the blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and rock and roll, and has influenced pretty much everyone who ever picked up a guitar since the 1960’s. So, why isn’t Buddy Guy the biggest star on the planet? His career began in the late 50’s, and because his solo music was heard as “noise” by his label (Chess), he was reduced mostly to the role of session player. The solo recordings he was allowed to make were mostly attempts at conventional soul. By the end of the 60’s, his time had passed, and he was pretty much ignored until the blues revival of the 80’s. But man…this boy could (and still can) flat out play.
This Is Buddy Guy was really the end of his early career. Recorded in New Orleans, this 1968 live album does a decent job of capturing the energy of his performances…although the quality is pretty poor (it was 1968). The best moments are when Guy burns on the guitar, but there just aren’t enough of those to make this a great album. The horn section is nice…but man, hearing Guy in a power trio setting on these songs would have been the real treat. What could have been one of the greatest live recordings ever ends up being a pretty average affair, and maybe one of the reasons why Guy faded away not long after this was released. It’s great that he was eventually rediscovered, but we lost a lot of great years where he went unheard. The more soul oriented content doesn’t exactly showcase Guy’s main strength, and there’s too much time spent waiting for that next great flash of guitar, and not enough blues. Still a nice document from the time, but don’t expect a whole lot here. _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
TRACY CHAPMAN
NEW BEGINNING
1995 – ELEKTRA
Produced By TRACY CHAPMAN & DON GEHMAN
1. Heaven’s Here On Earth
2. New Beginning
3. Smoke And Ashes
4. Cold Feet
5. At This Point In My Life
6. The Promise
7. The Rape Of The World
8. Tell It Like It Is
9. Give Me One Reason
10. Remember The Tinman
11. I’m Ready
When Tracy Chapman’s debut album exploded in 1988, she seemed somehow destined to be a one hit wonder. As beautiful as the album was, and as fine as her hit “Fast Car” was, there just didn’t seem to be much of a place in the world for a serious, politically charged folk singer in the midst of New Wave, hair metal and everything that was weird about the 80’s. And, sure enough, Chapman’s next two albums sold less and less, and by 1995, she was almost residing in the “whatever happened to” bin. Then came New Beginning, and a new kind of hit…the bluesy and catchy “Give Me One Reason”. Chapman was back on the charts again, if only for one song and one album. “Give Me One Reason” is a departure for Chapman, for sure. While New Beginning is much more instrumentally full than her previous work, the song is like nothing else on the album. It’s a straight blues song, which Chapman shows she can handle with ease. But none of the rest of the album is like it at all.
The rest of New Beginning is more of what you’d expect from Tracy Chapman. It’s mostly acoustic, and it’s a very pretty album. Not much here rises above average as far as songs go, but it’s the performance that makes it worth your time. The band is used sparingly, keeping Chapman’s acoustic guitar and vocal at the forefront…a good thing. The album also utilizes background singers, something that Chapman had never done before. The best tracks, the gorgeous “At This Point In My Life”, “Smoke And Ashes”, and “The Rape Of The World”, showcase what is best about Chapman. It’s her ability take sit you down and make you feel at home with her voice and a song. And as different as it is, “Give Me One Reason” works well here, simply because of the gentle personal nature of the album. It’s simply another side, another mood, that Chapman chooses to share with us. This is not as fine as her debut, but a solid and very listenable effort from a beautiful voice.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
BUDDY GUY
THIS IS BUDDY GUY
1968 – VANGUARD
Produced By SAM CHARTERS
1. I Got My Eyes On You
2. The Things I Used To Do
3. (You Give Me) Fever
4. Knock On Wood
5. I Had A Dream Last Night
6. 24 Hours Of The Day
7. You Were Wrong
8. I’m Not The Best
Eric Clapton once said that Buddy Guy was the greatest living guitar player. Stevie Ray Vaughan said that without Buddy Guy, “there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan”. Jimi Hendrix said that “heaven is lying at Buddy Guy’s feet while listening to him play guitar”. He has been called the bridge between the blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and rock and roll, and has influenced pretty much everyone who ever picked up a guitar since the 1960’s. So, why isn’t Buddy Guy the biggest star on the planet? His career began in the late 50’s, and because his solo music was heard as “noise” by his label (Chess), he was reduced mostly to the role of session player. The solo recordings he was allowed to make were mostly attempts at conventional soul. By the end of the 60’s, his time had passed, and he was pretty much ignored until the blues revival of the 80’s. But man…this boy could (and still can) flat out play.
This Is Buddy Guy was really the end of his early career. Recorded in New Orleans, this 1968 live album does a decent job of capturing the energy of his performances…although the quality is pretty poor (it was 1968). The best moments are when Guy burns on the guitar, but there just aren’t enough of those to make this a great album. The horn section is nice…but man, hearing Guy in a power trio setting on these songs would have been the real treat. What could have been one of the greatest live recordings ever ends up being a pretty average affair, and maybe one of the reasons why Guy faded away not long after this was released. It’s great that he was eventually rediscovered, but we lost a lot of great years where he went unheard. The more soul oriented content doesn’t exactly showcase Guy’s main strength, and there’s too much time spent waiting for that next great flash of guitar, and not enough blues. Still a nice document from the time, but don’t expect a whole lot here.
A Buddy Guy album I'm not familiar with!
It doest quite sound essential though. Thanks for the writeup.
JASON ISBELL
SOMETHING MORE THAN FREE
2015 – SOUTHEATERN
Produced By DAVE COBB
1. If It Takes A Lifetime
2. 24 Frames
3. Flagship
4. How To Forget
5. Children Of Children
6. The Life You Choose
7. Something More Than Free
8. Speed Trap Town
9. Hudson Commodore
10. Palmetto Rose
11. To A Band That I Loved
A decade ago, when Jason Isbell was one of three guitarist / songwriters for Drive-By Truckers, you wouldn’t have thought he’d have the number one album in Country music someday. With Something More Than Free, his fifth studio album, he did just that. Following up his highly successful 2013 album Southeastern, Isbell takes that formula and proves once and for all that he’s no kind of fluke whatsoever. And while he moves further away from the sound he crafted while with the Truckers, he proves that the mellowing nature of his music doesn’t mean that he’s softening, or that he’s settling for a lesser blast of thunder. The fact is, and Something More Than Free is the living proof, that Isbell is a rare and powerful songwriting force whose brand of Americana will hopefully become the Nashville standard someday, instead of being great music on the outside looking in at a genre that’s been crippled by a less than exciting pop standard. This was a number one Country album, and it won the Grammy for Best Americana Album. And it’s all deserved.
Continuing the sound he turned to on Southeastern, this is a very acoustic based set of songs. The best works here stand right there with Isbell’s best: “If It Takes A Lifetime” is a joyous romp. “24 Frames” is a should-have been bigger hit than it already was. The centerpiece “Children Of Children” ranks as one of his most beautiful songs…it’s a haunting and lovely song, and the performance is perfect. The second half is even stronger, starting with “The Life You Chose”. The excellent and personal ode to getting on with life title track, the well told story of “Speed Trap Town”, the perfectly catchy “Hudson Commodore”, and the fine celebration that is “Palmetto Rose” make this album another huge victory for Isbell. In some ways, it may be his best work, but more importantly, it compliments everything he’s done to date, and it also sets the table for more great albums that are still coming from the excellent writer. To put it simple. Jason Isbell did it again. Just wow.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
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
