Wednesday, December 26, 2012

"Heart" by Heart (1985)



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Filed Between: Isaac Hayes and the soundtrack from "Heavy Metal"

"I can't sell you what you don't want to buy."

Key Tracks Mega Hits:
If Looks Could Kill, What about Love, Never, These Dreams, Nothin' at All

Obvious Filler & Swings-and-Misses:
None, really.  Nobody Home is too long and kind of average, but that's about it.

My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately:
HIGHLY Recommended (3.5/4 stars)

Heart has always had a very unique talent (aside from Ann's monster of a voice and Nancy's monster guitar playing) - they are experts at blending a hard rock mentality with top forty sensibilities.  On "Heart," they update their classic rock sound for the hair metal generation.  The results are outstanding.

Just look at the list of hits this LP produced.  Odds are, if you have ever been a fan of pop music, you like more than one of those songs.  What about Love can hold its own against pretty much any other power ballad.  If Looks Could Kill rocks, plain and simple.  Oh yeah, and there's also These Dreams.  And Never.  And... you get the idea.

And you can hear it in the sound.  That attitude is stitched throughout all of "Heart."  They were swinging for the fences with this one and it paid off.

So, is it an album?  Yes.  There is a clear agenda here.

Up next, we stay in the mid-eighties pop rock zone with "Centerfield" by John Fogerty.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

"Talking Book" by Stevie Wonder (1972)



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Filed between: Edgar Winter and Frankie Yankovic

"Keep me in a daydream.  Keep me going strong."

Key Track:
Superstition

Obvious Filler & Swings-and-Misses:
You and I (We Can Conquer the World), You've Got It Bad Girl, Lookin' for Another Pure Love

My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately:
Above Average (2.5/4 stars)

There are two very distinct Stevie Wonders present on "Talking Book."  In fact, they seem to be the two Stevie Wonders who appear on every LP he's done since "Signed Sealed & Delivered."  But it's really obvious here.

One is the make-your-hips-swing-low funkmaster organist who puts your booty in a stranglehold and won't let go.  Whenever somebody asks me what funk sounds like, I play Superstition for them.  Even now, when it comes on during those lame beer commercials, I know I'll be bobbing my head for the next thirty seconds.  That Stevie Wonder rules.

The other Stevie Wonder?  Not so much.  It's the schmaltzy, schlocky pop balladeer who cuts songs that are instantaneously dated the moment they're made; It's the Stevie Wonder who writes lyrics like "where is my spirit?  I'm nowhere near it;" it's the Stevie Wonder who uses the bossa nova beat on the drum machine.

That's right, I'm talking about You Are the Sunshine of My Life.  Okay, we better slow down a bit.  Before you get all hot and bothered about me dissing that song, remind yourself of the nostalgia filter.  And then, go back and relisten to it - try to do so without thinking of a velvet airport lounge circa 1975.  Pay attention to the lyrics - note how they sound like a high school freshman's love poetry.  I'm not saying the song is without merit, I'm just saying it gets kind of... ugh.

And I will concede that there is sometimes a third Stevie Wonder - the jazz homage guy whose song quality varies wildly.

In "High Fidelity," Jack Black's character asks the following question specifically about Stevie Wonder: "Is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins?"  Personally, I don't think that's a fair question. 
I think Stevie Wonder was consistent throughout his career when it came to... ugh.  We just kept the nostalgia filter turned on and he stopped doing the funky stuff.

So, is it an album?  No.  Let's just leave it at that.

Up next, Heart's self-titled juggernaut of a comeback.

Monday, December 17, 2012

"Freeze-Frame" by J. Geils Band (1981)



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Filed between: Crystal Gayle and Genesis

Obtained via: an impulsive drive out of town on a sunny day

"She never had dreams so they never came true."

Key Tracks:Centerfold and Angel in Blue

Obvious Filler & Swings-and-Misses:I really want to like River Blindness, but it's just too uneven and too long to let me.

My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately:Recommended Listening (3/4 stars)

"Freeze-Frame" is a good LP; it has a lot of merit.  However, I'm only going to talk about one song on the record, and I'll bet you already know which song it is.

Centerfold may be the most perfect pop song ever written.  It has about three different hooks that individually could have made the song a hit.  But it doesn't stop there.  There are certain, specific things that appear over and over in those songs that endure in EVERYBODY'S consciousness.  They have to do with an element of easy audience participation.  Any one of these elements can work, but Centerfold piles in as many as it can.  Please see the list below for reference (note that all of these things can be found in Centerfold):

  • Somebody yelling something like "let's go!" or "come on!" or something ending with an exclamation point!
  • Hand claps (or a percussive approximation of hand claps)
  • A yell
  • Whistling
  • Some variation of repeated nonsense syllables, usually "la la" or "na na"
  • Counting
  • A catchy chorus that's easy to remember

That last one is important.  Natalie Merchant said that her goal when writing Kind and Generous was to have a chorus that people could sing along with the first time they heard the song - a chorus which ended up being a variation of "la la."  See?  I told you.

So, is it an album?  Yes.  It's decidedly new wave in its sound and it's all written, produced and musically directed by the same individual (NOT J. Geils).

Up next, we listen to some other massive pop hits, but in a totally different genre.  It's "Talking Book" by Stevie Wonder.

Monday, December 10, 2012

"Seven Year Ache" by Rosanne Cash (1981)



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Filed Between: Johnny Cash and David Cassidy (Previously Reviewed)

"Heartaches are heroes when their pockets are full."

Key Tracks:
Rainin' (Keith Sykes), Seven Year Ache (Rosanne Cash), Only Human (Keith Sykes)

Obvious Filler & Swings-and-Misses:
Blue Moon with Heartache (Rosanne Cash)

My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately:
Recommended Listening (3/4 stars)

When Johnny Cash's daughter goes to cut a record, she starts with a big advantage and has a lot of favors she can call in.  And she does just that on "Seven Year Ache."

First of all, it's produced by Rodney Crowell. It absolutely drips with that Crowell sound which many people (myself included) really like and that worked so well for Emmylou Harris and Crowell himself.

And when she needs a harmonica on one track, she can just call up Willie Nelson's harp player to sit in.  And when she needs backup singers, she can enlist the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill and Emmylou Harris.  Oh yeah, and she gets the legendary Booker T. Jones for her organist.

So the deck was pretty well stacked to begin with.  But what makes this record work is not the support crew; Rosanne Cash is what makes this record work.  She wrote the best (and best known) track on the LP.  That is no small task, considering that "Seven Year Ache" has songs by the likes of Keith Sykes, Merle Haggard, Tom Petty and Rodney Crowell. 

Also, her delivery is spot-on, so much so that it rises above her stellar backing singers - except for Emmylou Harris; that's a battle I have never heard anybody win.  (Seriously, if I could get Emmylou Harris to sing backup for me, I would just shut the hell up and let her do the song.) 

"Seven Year Ache" is proof that it doesn't matter how good the production is, true success always comes down to the person (or persons) doing the heavy lifting.

So, is it an album?  Yes.  It hits on all the great top-40 country tropes of the time without ever sounding derivative.  "Seven Year Ache" always feels like it is on the leading rather than the trailing edge.

Up next, we stay in 1981 with "Freeze Frame" by The J. Geils Band.  Na na n-na na na!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

"Parallel Lines" by Blondie (1978)



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Filed Between: Norman Blake and Blood, Sweat & Tears (Previously Reviewed)

Fun Fact: This is the best band ever fronted by a Playboy centerfold model.

Fun Fact #2: I didn't realize just how many songs I knew from this record.  I had forgotten that Sunday Girl and I'm Gonna Love You Too.  After hearing them for the first time in over thirty years, I remember just how much I like them.

"All I want is 20/20 vision, a total portrait with no omissions."

Key Tracks:
Hanging on the Telephone, Fade Away and Radiate, and Will Anything Happen? are really good.  Oh yeah, and I will declare unashamedly that I jumped up and started doing the hustle in my basement when Heart of Glass came on.  (Okay, it was actually closer to the electric slide.)

Obvious Filler & Swings-and-Misses:
I Know but I Don't Know misses its goal of being an Iggy Pop song by miles.  It is also yet another instance of paying the price for replacing the lead singer with "some other dude in the band."  It happens to be the last track on the first side.  Just Go Away is the last track on the second side and it happens to be just as bad.

My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately:
Recommended Listening (3/4 stars)

Blondie has always been a band that loves to genre-hop.  By the eighties, they would experiment with ska, rap and much more.  But in 1978, it was clear that they wanted to rock.  And rock they do.  While the building blocks of new wave are most definitely present on "Parallel Lines," there are also strong elements of theatrical arena rock.  This is a rather weird LP to say the least.

And along those lines... If I had no context for it, I would have sworn this was made in the mid-nineties.  It absolutely SOUNDS like the music that came out in the mid-nineties.  I guess I should say that the music that came out in the mid-nineties absolutely sounds like Blondie.  I have this vision of Gwen Stefani and that chick from Belly (and whoever wrote the songs for The Spice Girls) spinning "Parallel Lines" and furiously scribbling down notes.

So, is it an album?  No.  "Parallel Lines" rocks, but it still jumps all the hell over the place.  If you go listen to the key tracks, they sound like they were made by completely different bands.

Up next, we get back to the eighties' country chanteuse thing with "Seven Year Ache" by Rosanne Cash.

Monday, December 3, 2012

"Cimarron" by Emmylou Harris (1981)



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Filed Between: Bo Hansson and George Harrison

"In the making of records, I think over the years we've all gotten a little too technical - a little too hung up on getting things perfect - and we've lost the living room."-- Emmylou Harris

Key Tracks:
If I Needed You, Born to Run (NOT the Bruce Springsteen song), The Price You Pay (the Bruce Springsteen song)

Obvious Filler & Swings-and-Misses:
There's really not a bad song on this LP, but Rose of Cimarron is definitely the least enjoyable.

My Overall Rating of the Tracks Separately:
Recommended Listening (3/4 stars)

"Cimarron" is not one of Emmylou Harris' best outings.  For me, what's missing here is Rodney Crowell's songwriting.  However, even a less than stellar, Crowell-less EH release is way better than most everything else out there.  Her voice is the sound of that specific moment when a heart breaks.  To borrow and old saying, she could literally sing the phone book and I would listen.  HOW she says it is just as important as WHAT she says.

So, when you get her zeroing in on a great song by a legendary songwriter - like a Springsteen tune from "The River" - it is absolutely transcendent.  There's really not much on this Earth that's better.  (And, of course, it's the one song I couldn't find on youtube.  Stupid youtube.)

And "Cimarron" reminds us that, while lonesome is what Emmylou does best, she also does a LOT of other things better than pretty much everybody else.  Like duets.  She broke into the business by showing up Gram Parsons on his records.  Here, we get a Townes Van Zant cover done with Don Williams of all people.  But it works really well.  Oh yeah, and she knows how to throw down some honkytonk swagger too.  "Cimarron" is especially light in that department, but Born to Run (NOT the Springsteen song) lets you know that it's always an option.

Basically, how can you not love Emmylou Harris?  The only way I can figure is if you've never heard her. If that's the case, you're really missing out.

So, is it an album?  Yes.  It's a country angel delivering an endless stream of sad songs that somehow make you smile.

Up next, we veer somewhere between punk and disco with "Parallel Lines" by Blondie.