THE MOTHER HIPS
GREEN HILLS OF EARTH
2001 – FUTURE FARMER
Produced By GIDEON ZARETSKY & THE MOTHER HIPS
1. Given For You
2. Life In The City
3. Take Us Out
4. Pull Us All Together
5. Singing Seems To Ease Me
6. Protein Sky
7. Channel Island Girl
8. Sarah Bellum
9. Such A Thing
10. Emotional Gold
11. Del Mar Station
12. Rich Little Girl
13. Smoke
14. Seaward Son
I am amazed that this still happens. Back in the olden days, when I was still married, my wife had stacks and books of cd’s, most of which were unmarked. I went through all of them and uploaded them into my itunes if there was readable song info in the files on the discs. The idea was to have all of this music available in one place for her. She had no interest in this, however, and so all of that music sat in my itunes. This was a decade ago. Today, this 2001 album from The Mother Hips popped up. I had never documented anywhere that I had it…the only explanation is that it’s one of those discs that somehow went unheard for 10 years. So, here we are, listening, finally, to Green Hills Of Earth for the very first time. Better late than never…it’s a pretty good record.
This is their fifth album, and the last before they went on hiatus in the early 2000’s. They are blessed with great harmonies and some cool songs. They can rock, and they can keep it light as well. “Life In The City” is a highlight, despite what sounds like a kazoo being played on the track. This was an effort to try and gain more of a wide audience, but the album sold poorly (maybe that awful album cover had something to do with that). These songs are mostly well written, although the instrumentation in a lot of places is questionable, sometimes covering up the acoustic beauty of the tracks. The Mother Hips have always been a live favorite, but their talents have not always translated well to the studio. This is good, but not great. Some of it is lovely, but a lot will leave you scratching your head.
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BILLY JOEL
STORM FRONT
1989 – COLUMBIA
Produced By BILLY JOEL & MICK JONES
1. That’s Not Her Style
2. We Didn’t Start The Fire
3. The Downeaster Alexa
4. I Go To Extremes
5. Shameless
6. Storm Front
7. Leningrad
8. State Of Grace
9. When In Rome
10. And So It Goes
I’ve always wanted to really like Billy Joel. And more often than not, I do. But sometimes, he just…comes on a bit too strong. And for me, never more than on Storm Front. This is Billy’s eleventh album, and it’s loaded with hits. Seven of the ten songs here were released as singles, and like so many of his records, it sold a gazillion copies. And like all of his releases, there are some really good tracks. “Leningrad” is the story of a real life Russian clown. “The Downeaster Alexa” deals with the life of a poor ocean fisherman. And “State Of Grace” and “Shameless” are fine as well. Billy tells a pretty good story, and his songwriting abilities are never in question. But sometimes, he tries a bit…a LOT too hard to be a rocker. And that does not always suit him well.
Storm Front also contains the lyrical low point of Joel’s long career. “We Didn’t Start The Fire” is a spastic recitation of world events from Joel’s birth to what was then the present. The point in time, after all of these events, where Joel finally screams “I can’t take it any more!” is … cola wars. “That’s Not Her Style” and “I Go To Extremes” were big hits, and have not aged well at all. Billy is always better when he’s not trying to rock the house. Play that piano, and wow us with your ability to write smart and thought provoking material. People call you the Piano Man for a reason…that’s what you have always done best. Joel retired from making pop albums after his next record, 1993’s River Of Dreams. This is one of his more popular albums, but not really one of his best.
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COUNT BASIE & HIS ORCHESTRA
APRIL IN PARIS
1957 – VERVE
Produced By NORMAN GRANZ
1. April In Paris
2. Corner Pocket
3. Didn’t You?
4. Sweetie Cakes
5. Magic
6. Shiny Stockings
7. What Am I Here For
8. Midgets
9. Mambo Inn
10. Dinner With Friends
11. April In Paris (2nd Take)
12. Corner Pocket (2nd Take)
13. Didn’t You? (3rd Take)
14. Magic (1st Take)
15. Magic (2nd Take)
16. What Am I Here For (1st Take)
17. Midgets (4th Take)
Just because rock and roll was emerging quickly in 1957 doesn’t mean that the music that had been there before had simply gone away. Count Basie was 53 years old, and was having a pretty good year. His great live album, Count Basie At Newport was released, as was the very popular album April In Paris. Recorded between 1955 and 1956, Basie was still a current enough jazz master to keep up with what was happening elsewhere within the genre, and he still had an audience willing to buy his records. And April In Paris is truly a winner. This was his first release for Verve Records, who made sure it was properly promoted. Basie shows he still had the ability to keep this traditional music going, despite all of the changes that were happening at the time.
None of the songs here are Basie originals. That’s okay. He and his full orchestra gleefully master their way through this excellent set. The best songs are the title track and the catchy “Corner Pocket”. But don’t sleep on the rest. Basie utilizes a variety of soloists here, and the rhythm section of Eddie Jones and Sonny Payne are as solid as can be. “Mambo Inn” is a great Latin flavored tune, and Duke Ellington’s “What Am I Here For” and Joe Newman’s “Midgets” also shine brightly. This is a true gem of an album, for sure. The CD edition adds seven bonus tracks, all of which are alternate takes of songs on the original disc…nothing new here, but it is all very well played. It’s hard to go wrong with Count Basie. You won’t go wrong with April In Paris.
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N*E*R*D
SEEING SOUNDS
2008 – STAR TRAK / INTERSCOPE
Produced By THE NEPTUNES
1. Time For Some Action (Intro)
2. Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In Line For The Bathroom)
3. Windows
4. Anti Matter
5. Spaz
6. Yeah You
7. Sooner Or Later
8. Happy
9. Kill Joy
10. Love Bomb
11. You Know What
12. Laugh About It
N*E*R*D (which is short for No-one Ever Really Dies) is a hip hop and rock band from Virginia. The main members are Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are also the production and songwriting duo The Neptunes. Seeing Sounds is their third album, and their first after having taken an extended hiatus from 2005 to 2008. The band’s mix of live instrumentation and samples gives their work a fuller sound than is present on a lot of hip hop albums, and most of the material here is upbeat. They mix heavy rock guitars with fast R&B beats to create an album you can definitely dance to. Which is what they were aiming for. This is a refreshing band that doesn’t stick to doing just one thing, which makes them exciting and unpredictable.
“Everyone Nose” was the lead single, but it’s not by any means the beat song here. “Spaz” and “Sooner Or Later” are better tracks, but it’s “Windows” that steals the show with its pounding guitars and decent vocals. But the singing is not great here, and lyrically, well, just don’t pay too much attention. And while it’s great to hear someone really trying to put these different genres together in one place, it doesn’t always come out on top. Part of that is because their vision is greater than their material. N*E*R*D has released only a pair of albums since this one, neither one setting the world on fire. Williams has made some solo albums, while Hugo has stayed busy as a producer. N*E*R*D is a great idea that carries a lot of energy when it works…it just doesn’t work often enough to make it a big thing.
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COLDPLAY
VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS
2008 – CAPITOL
Produced By BRIAN ENO, MARKUS DRAVS, JON HOPKINS & RIK SAMPSON
1. Life In Technicolor
2. Cemeteries Of London
3. Lost!
4. 42
5. Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love
6. Yes
7. Viva La Vida
8. Violet Hill
9. Strawberry Swing
10. Death And All His Friends
There was a point in time when people began to turn on Coldplay. That point is their fourth album, Viva La Vida (live life). What happened? Coldplay dared to make an album that didn’t sound like what they had done before is what happened. The results are a stunning and beautiful album that a lot of people have unfortunately shut out because it wasn’t what they wanted. If you are one of those people, you are missing out. Produced in part by Brian Eno, Viva La Vida is a musical trip. Coldplay make the most beautiful music of their careers here, stepping bravely outside of the roles that their first three albums defined for them. You’re not getting “Yellow” or “Clocks” or “The Scientist” here. And that is actually a very good thing. Coldplay proves here that they can grow and be different. Kudos for that alone.
So I file this one under Misunderstood. It still sounds like Coldplay. Chris Martin is still singing. And yes, there are still hits here. “Viva La Vida” is as recognizable as any Coldplay single. But there are also treasures worth digging for. The centerpiece here is “Yes” (which also includes the unlisted “Chinese Sleep Chant”), a stunning and lovely track. “Lost!”, “Cemeteries Of London” and “Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love” are all excellent. They loaded the back end of Viva La Vida with singles instead of the front end, something pretty unheard of, because why make people listen to everything else to get to the hits? I like it. It’s bold and flies against the norm. Viva La Vida, which sold a gazillion copies and won a ton of awards, is still underrated. And that, itself, is quite a feat.
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QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
RATED R
2000 – INTERSCOPE
Produced By CHRIS GOSS & JOSHUA HOMME
1. Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
2. The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret
3. Leg Of Lamb
4. Auto Pilot
5. Better Living Through Chemistry
6. Monsters In The Parasol
7. Quick And To The Pointless
8. In The Fade
9. Tension Head
10. Lightning Song
11. I Think I Lost My Headache
In which our heroes, Queens Of The Stone Age, finally get their due. After a full decade of recording as Kyuss plus the Queens self titled debut, Josh Homme and his heavy rocking friends finally found well earned respect with the release of Rated R. This album features vocalist Mark Lanegan (of Screaming Trees) and former Kyuss bassist Nik Oliveri. Rob Halford also makes an appearance on the opening track…if that’s not metal cred, I don’t know what is. And even though QOTSA is Homme’s baby, he’s generous with allowing others to share his spotlight. It’s the songs that make the difference here…Homme is really hitting his stride with great tracks like “Monster In The Parasol”, “Auto Pilot” (sung by Oliveri), and “Better Living Through Chemistry”. This album isn’t just heavy…it’s GLEEFULLY heavy. How fun is that!
But the best songs are the first two. “Feel Good Hit Of The Summer” and “The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret” are the ones that finally put this band, deservedly so, over the top. The follow up to this one, Songs For The Deaf, may be better known…but this is the one to really have. Even the packaging, with its 70’s film rating warning, is awesome…and the songs are labeled with individual warnings to parents as well. All of this is fine and good…but the most important part of this band, and this album, is just how hard it rocks. “Tension Head” is as heavy as anything you’ll hear from anyone. Queens Of The Stone Age has been a great band for many years. This isn’t the beginning for them, but it is the point where everyone started taking notice of just how awesome they are, and always have been.
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OKKERVIL RIVER
BLACK SHEEP BOY
2005 – JAGIAGUWAR
Produced By OKKERVIL RIVER
1. Black Sheep Boy
2. For Real
3. In A Radio Song
4. Black
5. Get Big
6. A King And A Queen
7. A Stone
8. The Lastest Toughs
9. Song Of Our So-Called Friend
10. So Come Back, I Am Waiting
11. A Glow
Okkervil River has been with us since their 2002 debut album, Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See. They’ve had some success, but never to the point of being a household name. Black Sheep Boy (along with its companion, Black Sheep Boy Appendix) is the third album. In 2005, frontman and main writer Will Sheff was struggling to keep things afloat, to the point where he found himself homeless for a period of time. This album went mostly unnoticed in 2005, but it deserved a better fate than that. Scheff leads the band through a set of pretty great sounding tracks, with the strange Black Sheep Boy as a recurring character. The Black Sheep Boy is actually from a song by Tim Hardin, which opens the album. A lot of the record deals with Hardin’s struggles with drugs.
The main highlight here is “For Real”, a could have been, maybe should have been hit for the band. On the other end of that, though, is the slow and lumbering (and quite long) “So Come Back, I Am Waiting”. Everything else lies squarely in between. Black Sheep Boy is, for the most part, a warm and very interesting set of songs. Scheff is a fine singer, whose voice fits both the upbeat and slower songs well. Scheff has been the band’s only constant member, and they have released another six albums since this one. With some success, but not a lot to speak of. That’s okay. Will Scheff keeps the Okkervill ball rolling, with albums that are, at the very least, interesting and well crafted. A hard working band that should be better known than they are.
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B.B. KING & FRIENDS
80
2005 – GEFFEN
Produced By GARY ASHLEY, ANDY MCKAIE & FLOYD LIEBERMAN
1. Early In The Morning (With Van Morrison)
2. Tired Of Your Jive (with Billy F. Gibbons)
3. The Thrill Is Gone (With Eric Clapton)
4. Need Your Love So Bad (With Sheryl Crow)
5. Ain’t Nobody Home (With Daryl Hall)
6. Hummingbird (With John Mayer)
7. All Over Again (With Mark Knopfler)
8. Drivin’ Wheel (With Glenn Frey)
9. There Must Be A Better World Somewhere (With Gloria Estafan)
10. Never Make Your Move Too Soo (With Roger Daltrey)
11. Funny How Times Slips Away (With Bobby Bland)
12. Rock This House (With Elton John)
What would be better than playing on a tribute album to one of your absolute favorite artists? Easy…it would be if that artist played along with you. That’s what happened on this 2005 album. B.B. King was turning 80 years old, and for his birthday, he made an album with twelve of his biggest (and most famous) fans. As you might expect, the results are mixed. First of all…King sounds really good for 80. Not in his prime by any means, but not surprising that he would go on to live another ten years. On “The Thrill Is Gone”, Clapton knows to let King have the stage. Van Morrison gets it. As does Mark Knopfler. And Gloria Estefan fits in surprisingly well. And, of course, Bobby Bland is his own kind of blues legend and blends great with King. Those are the highlights. Along with Elton’s piano and vocal on the rocking closer.
The rest doesn’t fare as well. King’s guitar sounds out of tune in spots. To be truthful, Glenn Frey and Sheryl Crow are dreadful and have no business being here at all. The rest of the vocal duets just don’t work. King outsings the likes of Gibbons, Hall and Daltrey. The John Mayer song is okay until Mayer turns it into something decidedly not B.B. King. The best bits are when there is guitar interplay. Unfortunately, there are far too few guitar slingers on this disc, and far too many stars who wanted a vocal duet with a legend. The bands are fine, the arrangements are good, but it’s the guest performances that are sporadic. This would have been better with more guitarists and fewer singers who don’t really get the blues. Truly a mixed bag that’s average at best.
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VINCE GILL
SOUVENIRS
1995 – MCA NASHVILLE
Produced By TONY BROWN, STEVE BUCKINGHAM, REBA MCENTIRE & DOLLY PARTON
1. Never Alone
2. Never Knew Lonely (Single Version)
3. When I Call Your Name
4. Liza Jane
5. Look At Us
6. Take Your Memory With You
7. Pocket Full Of Gold
8. The Heart Won’t Lie
9. Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away
10. I Still Believe In You
11. No Future In The Past
12. Tryin’ To Get Over You
13. One More Last Chance
14. I Can’t Tell You Why
15. I Will Always Love You
Vince Gill first showed up in 1979 as the lead singer (post “Amie”) of the country rock band Pure Prairie League. He was the vocalist on the band’s other sizable hit. “Let Me Love You Tonight”. A sought after session player and singer (he was once invited to join Dire Straits), Gill began his solo career in 1985. By 1989, he was making platinum albums, which he did throughout the nineties. Souvenirs was, strangely, the third of three compilations released by Gill in 1995. This was the more successful of the three, thanks in part to a duet with Dolly Parton on her song “I Will Always Love You”, which Dolly also released on her album Something Special. Souvenirs covers the years 1989 and the album When I Call Your Name through 1994’s When Love Finds You.
All but three tracks are written by Gill. The Dolly song. “The Heart Won’t Lie” (a duet with Reba), and his version of “I Can’t Tell You Why” from the Eagles tribute album, Common Threads. This is the most fruitful portion of Gill’s career, and these songs are uniformly great. He’s a top notch singer…hell. He’s got a true golden throat. And his material is so good, with everything here perfectly chosen. Ballads like “Look At Us” are just flat beautiful. His update of the old “Little Liza Jane” is impeccable, and the upbeat songs are perfect and never silly. Plus, his guitar work is all over these songs as well. Sales slipped in the 2000’s, but the quality of his work did not. Souvenirs is a perfect place to start with Vince Gill. It’s a best of from his true peak as an artist. A perfect compilation.
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'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT
I ROBOT
1977 – ARISTA
Produced By ALAN PARSONS
1. I Robot
2. I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You
3. Some Other Time
4. Breakdown
5. Don’t Let It Show
6. The Voice
7. Nucleus
8. Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)
9. Total Eclipse
10. Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32
Alan Parsons was a very well known and respected sound engineer who had worked on the last two Beatles albums (Abbey Road and Let It Be), as well as Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon. He turned down working on Floyd’s next album, Wish You Were Here, to form The Alan Parsons Project with Eric Woolfson. Their first album was a strange thing called Tales Of Mystery & Imagination, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The second album was I Robot, which explores the science fiction concepts of Isaac Asimov. The Project was a strange band…Parsons & Woolfson were the only consistent members. They almost never played live, and neither sang lead (Woolfson would sing on later albums)…they used different vocalists on almost every song.
I Robot was a huge out of nowhere success. “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You” was a massive hit, and “Don’t Let It Show” was also popular. “Breakdown” is a highlight which still sneaks its way on the radio from time to time. “Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)” is another positive, and the instrumental title track works very well. In all, this little album about robots was quite a hit. Parsons and Woolfson kept it up until 1990, releasing nine more albums with varying success. This one may be their finest, and it’s a good example of how the doors to different kinds of popular music were opening up in the late seventies. This one and Eye In The Sky from 1982 are the ones to have from the Project. Long live robot rock, that’s what I say!
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'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
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