Looking back at a classic album...

Now we're looking back at a classic - some would say essential - album that I rate at 89.9 on a 100 point scale. I would like to rate it higher except for a flaw that I'll discuss when I get around to posting my own retro review. In the interim, here's what some high-placed critics had to say when it was released (and subsequently with the benefit of hindsight)...

I'm adding my own comment here, in italics, at the end.

The New York Times

Each of Mitchell's songs... is a gem glistening with her elegant way with language, her pointed splashes of irony and her perfect shaping of images. Never does Mitchell voice a thought or feeling commonly. She's a songwriter of genius who can't help but make us feel we are not alone.

The chord changes are mind-boggling.

Rolling Stone (Stephen Davis)

Love's tension is Joni Mitchell's medium - she molds and casts it like a sculptress, lubricating this tense clay with powerful emotive imagery and swaying hypnotic music that sets her listener up for another of her great strengths, a bitter facility with irony and incongruity.

Gorgeous piano lines.

The Village Voice (Robert Christgau)

Sometimes her complaints about the men who have failed her sound petulant, but the appearance of petulance is one of the prices of liberation.

allmusic

On For the Roses, Joni Mitchell began to explore jazz and other influences in earnest. As one might expect from a transitional album, there is a lot of stylistic ground explored, including straight folk selections using guitar, overtly jazzy numbers, and hybrids that cross the two.

Arrangements here build solidly upon the tentative expansion of scoring first seen in Ladies of the Canyon. "Judgment of the Moon and Stars" and "Let the Wind Carry Me" present lengthy instrumental interludes. The lyrics here are among Mitchell's best, continuing in the vein of gripping honesty and heartfelt depth exhibited in Blue. As always, there are selections about relationship problems, such as "Lesson in Survival," "See You Sometime," and perhaps the best of all her songs in this genre, "Woman of Heart and Mind."

This excellent disc is a top-notch listen in its own right.

Amazon essential recording

Sandwiched between the solitary, heart-on-her-sleeve confessions of Blue, and the ravishing pop of Court and Spark, 1972's For the Roses captures Joni Mitchell in a deceptively subdued period of transition. Still hewing to a spare sound, Mitchell ventures beyond the elegant folk sources of earlier records to explore her love of blues and jazz-based harmony, writing as much on piano as guitar ...the earnest reveries and heartbroken dirges of before give way to a more detached even journalistic perspective...

Exactly, Joni here was the musical equivalent of writer Joan Didion, looking at life with a bitterly cool laser focus; seeing all, forgetting nothing and forgiving some people for some things but not everything.

If you like Bright Eyes...

If you like - or love - the band Bright Eyes, you may well be interested in this review of the new CD Outer South by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. Written by Chris Holehouse of The Epic Times.

Conor Oberst knows how to tell a story. The Midwest native and front man for the band Bright Eyes, also has quite the knack for casting his poetic hymns across a great melody. Enlisting the help of the Mystic Valley Band, Oberst and friends venture into some interesting musical territory on "Outer South," a soothing ride through an acoustic countryside, brimmed with ample twang and polish.

"Potential, you're a loaded line," opens the 29-year-old indie songwriter in "Slowly (Oh So Slowly)," a rock-enthused number that mixes rowdy with playful and features Oberst's patented metaphor-doused reflection.

Potential may seem like a dismissible idea to Oberst, who's 10-plus years ascent to stardom has been seemless, granting him showers of praise and Bob Dylan comparisons, and winning him Rolling Stone's Top Songwriter award in 2008. But on "Outer South," we see Oberst sidestepping the reigns and letting band mates Nik Freitas, Taylor Hollingsworth, and Jason Boesel sew their vocal seed.

"Big Black Nothing" features a haunted Freitas sporting his Tom Petty camouflage in a tension-mounting groove that seeps into Hollingsworth's tongue in cheek, "Air Mattress," an innocent plea with spunky synths that Elvis Costello could call his own.

Still, the tracks where Oberst does take the vocal lead tend to dwarf his collaborators throughout the disc. While it's not totally apparent who wrote which songs, Oberst's magical ability to transcend intimacy and sing as if he was in the flesh and not echoing through a speaker ("White Shoes," "Ten Women") is what truly brings weight to all the Dylan comparisons and makes "Outer South" memorable.

"To All the Lights in the Windows" takes props from R.E.M.'s "Bang and Blame," but it's not a bad thing.

Outside of just a few different cuts, "Outer South" actually keeps Oberst's usual plaintive melodies on the down low and marches toward a more optimistic appeal. With a blend of different vocalists and six contributing members, The Mystic Valley Band sit well next to Oberst and help him chisel another accomplished notch on his songwriting belt.

We just can't enough of Green Day...

OK, we posted four separate reviews of Bob Dylan's new release, Together Through Life, on this site and just three reviews of Green Day's new CD 21st Century Breakdown... So let's make up for it by looking at some of the best sourced comments on the new album...

Here we go, you should know the tune.

Jim Harrington, San Jose Mercury News

It could take months, maybe years, to know if the band's latest rock-opera can match, or surpass, the success of its Grammy-winning, multi-platinum predecessor, American Idiot (2004), regarded as one of the decade's most important albums.

One hearing of 21st Century Breakdown, however, is all it takes to discover that Green Day has an excellent chance of equaling its earlier work. And more listens, to absorb the 18-track story line, make clear the disc is arguably more impressive than American Idiot.

Uppermost is the quality of the musicianship... Green Day has never sounded better... Armstrong could be the voice of his generation, creating just the right balance between tuneful anguish and comic relief. The Oakland native's biting guitar work is matched blow-for-blow by Dirnt and especially Cook, who is nothing short of explosive.

The story line is just as compelling as American Idiot but more finely crafted.

Dan DeLuca, The Philadelphia Inquirer

What American Idiot first suggested, 21st Century Breakdown confirms: Billie Joe Armstrong is the Pete Townshend of the first decade of the new millennium.

21st Century broadens the musical palette of the band - Like Who? Exactly.

For its ambition, 21st Century Breakdown is a tightly disciplined work that stretches itself while keeping each song sharp and punchy. Plus, the album rocks out with relentless momentum, and is chock-full of grabby, radio-ready pop songs universal enough to stand on their own...

I've been trying to think of American rock bands who command a massive audience, have something to say, and continue to top themselves a decade and a half after making themselves known to the mainstream, and can only come up with one: Green Day.

Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times Pop & Hiss blog

Green Day arguably sounds more potent than ever.

all music

21st Century Breakdown leaves behind the 60s Who fascination for Queen and 70s Who, giving this more than its share of pomp and circumstance.

The band manages to have 21st Century Breakdown work on a grand scale without losing either their punk or pop roots, which makes the album not only a sequel to American Idiot, but its equal.

The Washington Post

21st Century Breakdown is an American Idiot sorta-sequel that's every bit as potent as the original.

Entertainment Weekly

Green Day remains remarkably good at high-blast anthems that burrow directly into the pogo-ing lizard brain id.

Note: To read the complete album review by Jim Harrington of the San Jose Mercury News, go to http://twitter.com/troybear07 and see the link posted on May 18, 2009 at 6:21 p.m.

One More Green Day Review, for the road...

We look back a lot on this site to music from earlier times. Lately we've been spending some time looking at one of today's bands, Green Day, which hails from northern California. So let's look at just one more review of 21st Century Breakdown. This review, by Eric Snider, comes from Creative Loafing.com.

Review: Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown

It may be a quaint notion in the download era, but I still think of the Album as a distinct artistic statement. Green Day obviously agrees, because 2004's American Idiot was a rock opera and their new one, 21st Century Breakdown, is a 70-minute, three-part cycle.

And therein lies the problem. 21st Century Breakdown, as an artistic statement, is ultimately too much of a good thing. Listening to all 18 songs becomes, at some point, burdensome - an exercise in pop-punk overload.

That the disc is essentially a big slab of agitprop set to catchy hooks and big guitars only compounds the problem. As if the title "Know Your Enemy" wasn't evidence enough, here's a sample lyric: "Bringing on the fury/ The choir infantry / Revolt against the honor to obey."

Angry, alienated sick-and-tired Green Day rail against religion, conformism, complacency, consumerism, media overload, all the usual tropes. Americans are little more than zombies. Did you know, for instance, that according to Green Day, "You're the victim of the system/ You are your own worst enemy"?

Maybe I'm cranky, maybe I've heard it all, but I'm not of a mind to be preached to and berated by Billie Joe Armstrong and his wing men.

If Green Day had filtered their message through some interesting characters or narratives, I might be more receptive, but, as far as Breakdown is concerned, I'll take my bludgeoning from power chords instead of The Message.

And so I turn my attention to the music. When Green Day's Dookie album blew up in 1994, a new genre was coined: pop-punk. Fifteen years on, no one does it better - not even close. The Northern Cali trio can really work wonders with a limited bag of simple chords, crafting them into ever-catchy progressions. They are also superior hook-smiths; Breakdown contains nary a clunker melody.

And to further add to the album's success, Green Day includes several songs that break from the pop-punk mold, or at least stretch it: the piano-driven "Last Night on Earth," a love song (even angry geezer punks take time out for love); "Restless Heart Syndrome," a wistful mid-tempo piece that dials back the guitar and finds Armstrong sliding into a vulnerable falsetto; a few songs - notably "21 Guns" and the closer "See the Lights" - that emphasize the pop over the punk, and take their own cues from '60's titans like The Who and The Beatles.

The title track, which follows a short intro song, is the grandest of all the statements, the theme- and tempo-setter. It forcefully flows through three sections: straight rock, followed by a jiggish, Celtic-inspired romp, capped by an epic, slowed-down coda. Triumphant.

So you might be thinking now: Does this dude like the album or not? Short answer is yes, I do. But here's the qualifier: Listening to any one, two, even three or four songs from 21st Century Breakdown is an absolute treat. But trying to swallow the whole thing tends to trigger my gag reflex.

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Bob Dylan Warms Our Lives...

We earlier posted three separate reviews of Bob Dylan's latest album, Together Through Life, and expected that this would be the end of our highlighted reviews... Until we came across this review by Bob Lines - abridged here - published in the UCLA Daily Bruin on Tuesday, May 12, 2009.

From the Daily Bruin to Troy Bear:

Bob Dylan achieved his fifth Billboard No. 1 last week. His 33rd studio album, "Together Through Life," beat the soundtrack from "Hannah Montana" to claim the top spot.

Excuse me while I briefly celebrate. It's not that I have anything against Hannah Montana per se (I'm sure the soundtrack's great), but it's a moment for small jubilation when, in the age of Miley Cyrus, the music of Bob Dylan reaches a large audience.

That said, "Together" is probably the weakest of Dylan's albums since his stellar comeback in 1997 with "Time Out of Mind" - but this is hardly a criticism. It's just that the sound of the latter-day Dylan is fairly familiar to his fans, and here Dylan doesn't do much new. He sings with the same grit and wheeze and employs the same mix of jazz, spiritual and blues, just without as many good songs.

At its worst, "Together Through Life" feels humdrum and turgid. The finger-picked electric guitar and staccato organ work well on the good tracks but feel bland on the weak ones. The album's opener, "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," a low-key blues turn almost slides into pastiche, heavily influenced by the songs of Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

"If You Ever Go to Houston" could have been cut from the final track list: the song feels like a cut-and-paste of the blues ballads of the '50s that Dylan plays so regularly on "Theme Time Radio Hour." The lyrics, co-written by former Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, are similarly lackluster.

Nevertheless, the album is a welcome addition to the Dylan catalogue. "Life is Hard" is a sweet melancholy ballad, originally written for Olivier Dahan's upcoming film "My Own Love Song." The gentle slide guitar accompanies Dylan's straining voice. As Dylan stretches his vocals to (the) breaking point, he sounds more vulnerable than ever.

The penultimate track, "I Feel a Change Coming On," is both a nod to the presidency of Barack Obama and a mischievous and wistful ode to an old lover. Add into the mix a cheeky reference to James Joyce, and you're left with Dylan at his best on "Together..." Here, David Hidalgo's organ-playing alongside Dylan's affectionate vocals is a welcome addition.

While the album doesn't reach the heights of "Love and Theft" or "Modern Times," it's still a pretty good effort from the nonstop touring 67-year-old. Dylan could have easily not released anything for the last 20 years. If he had died sometime after "Blood on the Tracks," his reputation would have been firmly cemented with Lennon, Hendrix and the other members of rock royalty who have sadly passed on.

Dylan was never one to spend retirement pottering around the garden. Now the challenge for both Dylan and his fellow rock elder statesmen is how to mellow into old age without declining into parody or Starbucks-promoted cheese.

Dylan has done neither, but then we wouldn't have expected him to. His late career return to form has been more than we could ever have hoped for. As such, every record he gives us should be savored like the final days of a wonderful summer - it will be cold when he's gone.

The View From Boston On Green Day's New Rock Opera...

Click on the orange link below to read this review from the Boston Herald.

Green Day’s nervous ‘Breakdown’ - BostonHerald.com

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The Day of the Cat...

You don't make the music; just interpret something that's passing through you. Cat Stevens

Roadsinger, the new album from Yusef (Islam)/Cat Stevens, is being released today. Here's a preview of the release - in words - with comments from The Cat himself and other sources...

It's an inclusive album which doesn't make much separation between the concept of Cat Stevens and the reality of Yusef Islam.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens

The songs on his new album... are as spiritually attuned as old Cat Stevens songs such as I Think I See the Light, On the Road to Find Out, Miles From Nowhere ... and But I Might Die Tonight.
Los Angeles Times

With this comeback release, the music that was so amazing and catchy throughout the 70's has returned. Musically and lyrically, this is some of his finest work. Its hard to recapture greatness but in songs like Everytime I Dream and The Rain, Yusuf brings back the magic... A must-own for Cat fans as well as any lover of folk/pop music.
Zoomboy, Philadelphia, Pa.

While it definitely points forward, Roadsinger looks back to excellent recordings such as Catch Bull at Four and Teaser and the Firecat; on the intro to Be What You Must Be he even quotes Sitting!

The two paths he kept separate for so long... a pilgrim and an artist and traveling musician, have merged on one all-embracing road. Roadsinger is an utterly solid entry under either his adopted spiritual name or his former one. Longtime fans will not be disappointed, and the rest of us should take note... because this kind of song craft is seldom come by anymore.
allmusic

Shelter From the Storm: Another Review of Bob Dylan's Together Through Life...

This review by Scott Mervis - abridged here - was originally published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on April 30, 2009. (Third in a series of three reviews.)

BOB DYLAN 'Together Through Life' (Columbia)
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 4 (Very good)

David Fricke, writing one of the first reviews of Together Through Life, described Dylan's voice as "a deep, exhausted rasp that sounds like the singer has been beaten to a pulp, then left for dead at the side of the road."

Dylan's voice has never been considered a pretty thing, but it's taken a lot of mileage, whiskey and cigarettes for it to reach the "left for dead..." stage. Some folks like American Idols with clear, pitch-perfect voices. Some like more grit. And then some like their singers sounding just slightly beyond half-dead. (Dylan's is) certainly the voice you want to sing a line like, "The sun is sinking low/I guess it's time to go/I feel a chilly breeze/in place of memories" from Life is Hard.

Dylan's third (studio album of) this decade... is another roll and tumble through old time Willie Dixon-style blues, this time with co-writing credits for Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Dylan's minstrels - including Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos on accordion - give the record an otherworldly barroom swagger. They open it up sounding like Satan's cabaret band on Beyond Here Lies Nothin', the singer at his most menacing as he bellows, "just as long as you stay with me/the whole world is my throne/beyond here lies nothing/nothing we can call our own."

Together Through Life has the touches of gloom and doom we've come to expect from the old troubadour - Life is Hard is a ponderously slow after-hours shuffle and Forgetful Heart is a lover's dirge - but as he growls on Shake Shake Mama, "come back here, we can have some real fun." And Dylan does. More than (on) the last record, you can picture (a) young Dylan taking on these songs.

You have to go back to Desire to find a Dylan ballad with the smoky Latin flavor of This Dream of You. I Feel A Change Comin' On bounces like Dylan and the Band on Planet Waves, and Jolene and Shake Shake Mama are playful, lusty blues romps that rollick down Highway 61.

The crowning gem is the finale of It's All Good, where, as Hidalgo wraps his accordion around the guitar, Dylan takes a piece of slang and twists it around in a piece of apocalyptic blues: "Coldblooded killer stalkin' the town/Cop cars blinkin', something bad going down/Buildings are crumbling in the neighborhood/but there's nothing to worry about, cause it's all good."

Moral of the story: Even a Dylan left for dead at the side of the road has plenty of life in him.

Image: Amazon.

Love Minus Zero/No Limit: the Daily Cal Bear Examines Dylan's New Album...

According to Billboard and Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan's new CD Together Through Life is currently number one in U.S. sales. Because of this, we're taking not just one or two but three looks at the album this week (and do not assume that the three reviews are in agreement). Click on the orange link below to read the review from the Daily Californian, which is the second in our series of three posted reviews.

The Daily Californian :: Bob Dylan Plays It Safe With New 'Together Through Life'

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Bob Dylan keeps his hands in his pocket on Together Through Life...

Click on the orange link below to read this record review from the Boston Globe.

Dylan finds the rhythms of love - The Boston Globe

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Photo: Amazon

Finishing The First Step by The (Small) Faces

Flying - On vinyl, this was the track that started Side B. I would have selected it to be the opening track on the album because of its dramatic nature... After about 20 seconds, it dawns on you that this is basically Traffic's Dear Mr. Fantasy with new lyrics. When the chorus comes in, it becomes the second song on Step that sounds like Handbags and Gladrags. Kenny keeps it interesting - in a Jim Capaldi-like way - and the ending actually sounds like a plane flying over the ocean; flying you home.

Pineapple and the Monkey - A fun instrumental track that used to serve as the opening for "Rock Album Review" on KUOP-FM in Stockton, California.

When, exactly, did bands stop recording instrumentals? (The Beatles recorded a couple that were never released.)

Nobody Knows - Clever lyrics: "I'm waiting here in Patience/ And I'm waiting all in vain/ Will I see you? Will I touch you? Will I hear you call my name?" A nice double-tracked vocal ballad from Rod and Ronnie Lane that actually worked. This served as a reminder of the fact that on occasion the Faces Small sounded like no one else.

Kenny added the "falling down the stairs" drumming.

Looking Out the Window - The second fun instrumental, with heavy bass and Winwood-like organ. Like an out-take from The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, although we doubt that Steve Winwood would ever loosen up this much. The lead guitar work from Ron Wood shows that he - like Steve Marriott - listened to more than a few Pink Floyd albums.

The many changes in tempo before the end arrives at 5:02 illustrates what a tight band the Faces were once upon a time.

Three Button Hand Me Down - This was one of their best songs performed live, both because of Ronnie Lane's Jack Bruce/Cream-like bass line and because Rod still sounded like he was genuinely enjoying himself.

Ian McLagan on organ, please.

"Others may come and others may go/ But that suit will be around wherever you go/ Three button hand me down..."

Summary: Although we liked the later-released Long Player, this first effort captured the Faces at their professional best. Similarly, to experience the best of Rod Stewart you need to hear the Truth - Beck-Ola - The Rod Stewart Album - Gasoline Alley four-pack.

I saw the Faces live four times and, sad to say, they got sloppier with each performance. They eventually became the Rolling Stones on an off night.

Note: If you find this CD today, you'll see a cover that reads "faces." But the original cover read "small faces." Revisionist history on the part of Warner Brothers.

Next: See the rare sleeve cover for the Flying/Three Button Hand Me Down 45 RPM single.

The First Step by The (Small) Faces - A Retro Record Review...

The drums! This album is all about the drums. Kenny Jones was let loose on this 10 song, 48-minute, collection in a way that he never would be again. If you only heard the drum work, you might think you were listening to The Who, Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Bob Henrit of Argent - who played the part of Keith Moon on the (Roger) Daltrey solo album.

Note: I won't be quoting many lyrics here as my review copy CD is a Japanese import with lyrics printed in Japanese characters.

OK, so let's review the ten tracks...

Wicked Messenger - A Bob Dylan-penned fable with heavy organ (think Emerson, Lake and Palmer) starts the album off with a literal bang. Quite fine and quite audible bass work from Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood on the lead guitar, and Kenny pounds the drums until the very last of the 4:08. Good to the last beat!

Rod the Mod does such a great job as "the voice" that he could have made a career out of covering BD songs. Oh, and, yes, the arrangement does sound like Hendrix' cover-arrangement of BD's All Along the Watchtower.

Once the last drum beat hits, its obvious that Martin Birch did an A to A+ job of engineering.

Devotion - This ballad about family ("It's so good to be with the people that know you/ It's good to hear the things they say/ At times when you are with them...") would have fit perfectly on the Elizabethtown soundtrack. This is the first of two songs on First Step that sounds like Handbags and Gladrags on The Rod Stewart Album - meant and intended as a compliment. Wood picks in circles like Dave Mason on this one. Kenny kicks the drums right before the end.

Shake, Shudder and Shiver - It starts off like Foghat with a heavy lead guitar opening riff isolated on the right channel before the rest of the band drops in on the left. Kenny pushes the band like a locomotive barreling down the tracks. There's more than a trace of Cream's Sunshine of Your Love in the lead and bass rhythm. This is one of those hard rock tracks that, heard live, would cause fans to light their Bics in tribute.

Stone - Sorry, but talky tracks with banjo and mandolin were never a favorite of mine, and this Ronnie Lane vocal goes on for all of 5:43 - about twice the length needed. As a short throwaway, it might have seemed cute. The one positive is hearing Rod as a not so bad (and barking) back-up singer.

Plynth - This was the band's live show stopper and with good reason. Early Fleetwood Mac (pre Buckingham-Nicks) meets Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Robin Trower. Absolutely brilliant stereo production - it's moving in stereo - and Wood has never played a crisper lead. The drums are so clean and clear you feel like you're sitting under the kit.

(Part I of II... Continued tomorrow, from Flying to Three Button Hand Me Down .)

Is This Any Way to Run A Company?

The Warner Music Group lost $56 million in the most recent fiscal year, and its stock lost 25% of its value. So the CEO of WMG, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., was paid a $3 million dollar bonus for "strong operational performance in a historically challenging industry environment"!

How's that for standing logic and common sense on its head?

(Poor Year Doesn't Stop CEO Bonuses, The Wall Street Journal, 03/18/09.)

Disclosure: This Friday and Saturday, we're publishing a two-part retro review of The Small Faces' The First Step album, which was released on Warner Brothers Records. I was not paid a million dollars for the review.

"The Small Faces was the best English band never to hit it big in America." allmusic

A Retro-Review of Brian Wilson's Smile...

Note: I originally wrote this record review in early 2004, when the long-delayed Smile was released. However, at that time I had no place to post it; now I do.

"God is not subtle." Albert Einstein. But could God have a sense of humor?

A REVIEW OF SMILE

OK, so first of all, forget everything you've read or heard about this being Brian Wilson's Sgt. Pepper's album. This is not Sgt. Pepper's - Pet Sounds was that and more - but another Abbey Road, side two.

Side two of the Beatles' Abbey Road was basically a collection of unfinished songs, ideas for songs that Paul McCartney called "bites." Brian Wilson called his song ideas "bits" and today, in the age of digital recording, they might appropriately be called "bytes," but that's another story. (The idea of playing song pieces derives from the English music hall and American burlesque halls, where musicians who ran out of sheet music to play filled in with their ideas for future songs.)

Smile is a collection of bites and bits and more; and like Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's the work is more than the sum of its parts. It is a collection of musical ideas intended - like the Who's Tommy or Chicago II - to be experienced by the listener as one piece, from start to finish, for better or worse.

Let me get the worst out of the way right now. The biggest flaw with Smile is Brian's need, then and now, to show us what a comprehensive student of music he is. The pivotal and repeating "Heroes and Villains" theme borrows from Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." Further, as we listen we hear the influences of Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland, Gershwin, Erik Satie, Mozart, Dvorak, movie soundtracks such as How the West Was Won, casino crooners, Spike Jones and his City Slickers, and the colored vinyl children's records that Brian first digested. Some also hear Bach and/or Schubert.

It is all, at first, a bit too much, a kitchen sink approach to music. Just like the 23 tracks on the symphony-like Chicago II was at first too much, especially with the producer's note: "This endeavor should be experienced sequentially." But the more you listened, the more the whole effort made sense and eventually you couldn't consider re-arranging the track order.

This is what happens with Smile. Initially, it seems too cute, too bloated and busy. But then you remember the very appropriate title of this collection, and the original album art that looked very much like the cover of a children's book.

Oh... This isn't meant to be SERIOUS, this is for fun, deliberately childlike and childish in a deliberately non-grown up way.

Come to think of it, too much of our music is far too serious. From Springsteen's post-9/11 The Rising, to Sinatra's aging album September of Our Years ("Tonight is not for fun, tonight is for serious..." said the liner notes), to personal and brilliant but troubling confessionals like Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks and Joni Mitchell's Blue, it is all too serious. It is all so tiredly adult.

So, Smile isn't Paul Simon's Graceland nor Peter Gabriel's Us, but it is equally life-affirming when heard with a different ear; a child's ear, before the end of the innocence. (Interestingly, like those two albums, Smile is acceptingly multicultural and not Anglo-Saxon ethno-centric.)

Smile is not one of those hard to absorb albums about the weariness of life or life's losses or heavy lessons. It's not a divorce album or an album about eventual survival or death. It is a simple collection of songs about enjoying life simply ("eat your vegetables") and having fun. Let's play that funny horn and make silly noises! Let's pretend to fly! I'll be Davy Crockett!

Smile is an album dedicated to the enjoyment of music, the enjoyment of life no matter how short - even if your siblings (like two of Brian's) pre-decease you. Enjoy life even if the worst is going to happen, when you grow up someday.

Smile tells us that music is enough. Smile reminds us that life is a miracle and so this music is Brian's prayer, his tribute, a child's contribution to God. A simple prayer, a fun prayer, a prayer meant to make even God smile.

Smile is not a masterpiece, but for human beings it is close enough.

Thank you, Brian.

No Longer Waitin' On Dave Mason

We were afraid that our retro review of Dave Mason's Alone Together album would not post on St. Patrick's Day due to some technical difficulties... but due to some technological miracles - and the luck of the Irish - it did appear, and you can read the full review, below.

It has dawned on us that the AT title may have derived from the lyrics of Waitin' on You, the third track on the 1970 album:

While there's no one that I can believe
It's all because I couldn't see (that)
The best friend that I'll have is me...

Domino: A Retro-Review of One of Van's Best Albums...

A lot of attention has been focused lately on Van Morrison's Astral Weeks album from 1968, which was followed by Moondance. Many of Van's fans would list one of these two releases as their favorite of his but my personal favorite is His Band and the Street Choir from 1970.

Here are some track by track notes on this album whose songs were arranged in perfect order...

Domino - A great rocker and album opener; Van with an 11-piece brass band. John Klinberg's fine bass work is clearer here than on later re-masters.

Crazy Face - A pre-Eagles Desperado-type song. "He stood outside the church yard gate/ And polished up on his .38 and said/ I got it from Jessie James."

Give Me A Kiss - A bouncy number that sounds like Elvis circa 1956. More sweet brass backing from the band.

I've Been Working - Van as a macho soul man. This has always been his best on-stage performance song, and there's just a touch of Tower of Power, War and the Doors in the break.

Call Me Up in Dreamland - Ragtime meets dixieland meets southern Belfast rock. The Band might have sounded like this if they'd been less heavy.

I'll Be Your Lover, Too - His then-wife Janet Planet explained this best: "I have seen Van open these parts of his secret self - his essential core of aloneness I had always feared could never be broken into - and say... yes, come in here... know me." A haunting love poem.

Blue Money - As much as I love Domino, Wild Night and Brown Eyed Girl, this has always been my all-time favorite Morrison single. (I still wonder if this is the song that inspired Steely Dan's Peg?) Every time a "Best of..." Van Morrison collection has been released, many complain because this song was not included. Janet Planet contributes the Linda McCartney-ish background vocal.

Virgo Clowns - A positive take on Jackson Browne's irony. "Now you know exactly who you want to be now. Let your laughter fill the room."

Gypsy Queen - Smooth as a slide across the ice... Van captures the spirit of Motown. Say it's alright. (Van himself said in 2007, "It's always been about soul.")

Sweet Janine - Back to the cradle, with a blues rocker featuring a B.B. King-style guitar lead. Elmore James has nothing on this.

If I Ever Needed Somone - Van's My Sweet Lord. "To keep me from my sorrow/ To lead me on to givingness/ So I can see a new tomorrow."

Street Choir - A great tribute to a long-lost love; one who will not be taken back. "Why did you leave... Why did you let me down/ And now that things seem better... Why do you come around/ You know that I can't see you now."

Like all of rock's best albums, from What's Going On to Graceland to The Rising, this one is life affirming. 89.5 out of 100 points.

A.C. Newman's "Guilty" Pays Tribute to Younger Days...

First, let me be clear that I'm not going to attempt to be impartial about this CD. I think that A.C. Newman's latest solo album, Get Guilty, is amazing and I'm giving it a score of 89 on a 100 point scale.

I became interested in Newman after reading an interview he gave to a Canadian newspaper in which he cited his musical influences. This is a young man who talked about boomer bands/musicians like the Dave Clark Five, Harry Nilsson, Pete Townshend, Brian Wilson and others whose sounds are readily identified in this album. Oh, Newman is either the Paul or John - depending on your perspective - in one of the biggest bands to ever come out of Canada... Fans of the band will know, the others who have never heard their work (like me) can put that aside for now.

Unlike the new CDs that take 70 or 80 minutes to listen to, this one flies by - like an old cassette - in just 42 minutes and 14 seconds. Here are my song by song impressions, in bits and pieces rather than full sentences.

There are Maybe Ten or Twelve - The D.C. 5 influence is readily apparent and it slides by in a D.C. 5-like 2:40.

The Heartbreak Rides - If Nilsson had sung with 10,000 Maniacs... hints of Thunderclap Newman ("Something in the Air")... Wilson lyrics ("all I really wanted was to go downtown, and so we ride... we want the good life, 'L.A.!' she cried.")... a theremin (actually a melodian) from Pet Sounds. I love this life-affirming track.

Like A Hit Man, Like A Dancer - Roy Orbison meets R.E.M. but with added youthful energy (R.E.M. got very tired sounding very quickly). Bowie attitude... "I owe my soul, like a changed man, but not a changed man."

Prophets - Here's the Townshend anthem, like a track from Who's Next or Tommy. See me, feel me... "I found myself with the rabble who stood on the mount... There are too many prophets here. I stood divided."

Submarines of Stockholm - McCartney, Beatles, Donovan, Ray Davies and the Kinks. This would have been a beautiful late '60s - early '70s single. "Our submarine pulls into Stockholm..." Yellow submarines, mellow yellow.

Thunderbolts - Like a lost out-take from the Police's Synchronicity.

The Palace at 4 A.M. - British invasion music... the Hollies, the Searchers, Dave Clark drums and baritone saxophones. Glorious.

The Changeling (Get Guilty) - A Bowie ballad meets Elton John... "There were front row tickets to the public burning"... Handing tickets out to God... White Album guitars... This song would also have fit perfectly on Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend album.

Elemental - "It's elemental, come sunset's gun." If a slightly bitter John Lennon had recorded with Badfinger... "I fought my way through... not because I wanted to."

Young Atlantis - Yes, like the latter-stage (mature) Donovan. It sounds like one of those classic Mickey Most productions but with - get this - Ventures guitars and Pet Sounds rhythms. Pretty close to genius.

The Collected Works - Like a great rockin' Pink Floyd track that just jumps out and grabs you (the gold it's in the...). Fans of XTC will also love it.

All of My Days & All of My Days Off - Ray Davies meets the Heartbreakers... "Reminded why I love this one... And now I give you all my days, and all my days off." This also reminds me of Bowie's cover of Friday On My Mind. Which makes this a good place to close this review.

On Pin-Ups, a youthful Bowie looked back at the music that preceeded his and injected it with love and energy. A.C. Newman does the same thing here. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

Flash News: A.C. Newman plays at Harlow's in Sacramento, at 2700 J Street, on the evening of Tuesday, February 24, 2009.

The Faces Have a Really Good Time on Long Player

One of the popular features on this site is the retro record reviews. So how do we know when the time is right to post an album review written so many years ago? The truth is we have absolutely no idea... We simply let the old reviews sit until the time seems right to bring them back again.

In this case, we recently purchased a CD copy of the old album and found that it was not bad. So let's enter the time machine and go back to March 26, 1971, when this review was originally published in The Pacifican, the student newspaper of the University of the Pacific (UOP):

"The Faces philosophy of music is that it is to be enjoyed... The group appears to throw its sounds at the audience and feed from the rebound." Melody Maker

The strong feature of Long Player is 15 minutes of live give-and-take between the Faces and their audience. The live recordings are covers of Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed and Willie Bronzy's I Feel So Good. The recordings here are not lush but honest. Oddly enough, everyone in the band is audible (Rod Stewart, lead vocals extraordinaire; Ron Wood, guitars; Ronnie Lane, bass: Ian McLagan, keyboard; and Kenny Jones, drums). Other attractions:

Bad 'N Ruin - Opens the album with a guitar riff so strong that Wood is isolated from the rest of the band on the left channel. Jones goes through some fine rhythm changes, and Stewart certainly has some fun with his lyrics - "Going home/'Cause I failed you mother/Back home to Baton Rouge/With my tail between my legs/Should you not recognize me/I've heavily made up my eyes..."

Tell Everyone - The Faces playing as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Rodney with a slow soulful vocal; Wood playing complementary runs; Jones on a constant pattern; Motown bass.

Sweet Lady Mary - In case you didn't read the Rolling Stone review: "... an immediately attractive tune, lovely Garth Hudson-ish organ, a beautiful steel guitar solo, and magnificent Stewart lyrics about becoming resigned to irreconcilability with a former love."

Richmond - Features Ronnie lane on bass and vocal. If you like the band Free you'll like this one. (Like a Free rhythm/melody it will grow on you if you give it a chance.)

Had Me A Real Good Time - As soon as the drums kick in, it's obvious where this one came from. The Faces getting their Ya-Ya's out with their answer to the Stones' Honky Tonk Women and Free's All Right Now. It's no coincidence that Warner Brothers wanted this released as a single. (Note also: Nicky Hopkins-like piano; saxophones at the end a la the early Small Faces; patented SF fake ending.)

On The Beach - A delightful tale. A great drinking song.

Jerusalem - Charming bottleneck guitar solo by Ron Wood. Only 1:53 long, but it closes this L.P. that runs 45:19 in length.

PS: Fortunately or unfortunately - depending on your musical tastes - this Faces collection lacks a Led Zeppelinish-Fleetwood Macish-style steel slide guitar monster number like Around the Plynth from their earlier album The First Step.