Alt.Culture.Guide

Georgia Satellites - Keep The Faith (1985)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:06:00 +0000

C'mon now, be truthful…has your Uncle Keith ever turned ya the wrong way? Ever given ya a bum steer? Naw…so listen up boys and girls: run, don't walk, down to your local import bin and lay down yer hard earned coin on a copy of the Georgia Satellites' Keep The Faith EP. Why? 'Cause the Georgia Satellites are the hottest, hungriest, honest-to-god blooze singing, rock 'n' roll playing dedicated fools to come down the road in many a mile…and Keep The Faith is their one-and-only recording, containing half a hot dozen barn-burnin', leg-wettin' toons that would even knock yer dear ol' sainted Granny outta her rockin' chair and onto the dance floor!

It's a shame that some of America's finest bands such as the Satellites have to go to England to make a record, but it's lucky for us they did! Keep The Faith moves from zero to sixty miles per hour in the time it takes to drop the needle in these nasty little grooves. From the opening bars of "Tell My Fortune," a tasty AOR rocker, through the two-fisted, six-string madness of "Red Light," to the battle of the sexes on "Keep Your Hands To Yourself," to the mini-album's lone cover, George Jones' classic "The Race Is On," and all the songs in between, Keep The Faith is a swamp-licking, roots-inspired hellbroth of a rock 'n' roll album, a nuclear-tipped aural missile fired at your sensory circuits like sharks on a feeding frenzy. Closer akin to the early Stones, the Faces, and the art of Chuck Berry, the Georgia Satellites have drunk from the well from which rock 'n' roll sprang some 30 years ago…. (Making Waves Records)

Review originally published in The Metro magazine, August 1985

Georgia Satellites MP3s:

"Red Light"

"Tell My Fortune"

"The Race Is On"

The Beat Farmers - Viking Lullabies (1994)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:41:00 +0000

Forget about all of these Stetson-clad poseurs roaming the streets of the Music City, claiming that they grew up listening to both George Jones and the Rolling Stones. For reckless country soul, few bands can top the frenzy whipped up by these boys, the Beat Farmers. Sure, it's been a few years, but the Farmers have returned with a new disc – Viking Lullabies – on Austin's Sector 2 label and let me tell ya, hoss, this sucker ROCKS!

The opening cut, "Southern Cross," offers up a guitar line reminiscent of D.L. Byron's long lost album, setting the stage for a baker's dozen that run the gamut from the sublime ("Garden") to the absurd ("Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus?" and the hilarious closing cut, "Lakeside Trailer Park"). Vocals on the former two songs – honest-to-god, beer swilling, tears-in-the-eyes numbers that even Ernest Tubb would be proud of – are courtesy of the legendary Country Dick Montana, who has bounced back from throat cancer to deliver these near classic performances. Long ago, The Beat Farmers built a reputation for excellent showmanship and solid performances, blending hard-edged roots rock with country traditionalism. Along with Nashville's own Jason & The Scorchers, they transcended the unfortunate early '80s "cowpunk" label to create a true musical bridge between the two genres. With Viking Lullabies, possibly the band's best effort yet, you can say that the Beat Farmers have come roaring back. (Sector 2 Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Viking Lullabies from Amazon.com)

Shane MacGowan & the Popes - The Snake (1995)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:35:00 +0000

When friends and fellow critics argue U2's dubious status as the greatest band to come out of Ireland, I not so politely disagree. The Pogues and the Undertones both are genuine Irish working class artists, and at their worst either band could nonetheless easily teach Bono and crew a thing or two about the true spirit of rock & roll. If my money was on the line, I'd lay it all down on the Pogues above U2 every time (with the 'tones being my second choice over the self-obsessed, pretentious wankers that U2 sadly became).

Shane MacGowan was the undeniable heart and soul of the Pogues, a hard-drinking rock anti-hero who consistently flirted with self-destruction even while the band tottered on the edge of stardom. MacGowan's departure leveled the band, and even if the Pogues' swan song, Waiting For Herb, was a vastly underrated jewel of an album, MacGowan's presence – or lack thereof – was sorely missed. MacGowan brought to the band a sort of reckless abandon and joyful lustiness far too often missing from rock these days.

Gladly, MacGowan has gotten his shit together enough to toss a band into the studio and crank out The Snake, the best album that the Pogues never made. Although there are some slight stylistic differences between the fifteen songs found on The Snake and those of MacGowan's former mates, his charismatic musical presence creates an uncanny similarity. Lyrically, The Snake shows MacGowan at his very best, with autobiographical songs like "The Church Of The Holy Spook" and "Nancy Whiskey" taking a good, hard look at the lifestyle that almost killed him. Others, like "A Mexican Funeral In Paris" or "I'll Be Your Handbag" are well-written vignettes, story-songs with a personal edge that are almost poetic in their retelling, reminiscent of artists like William Burroughs or Jack Kerouac.

Musically, The Snake is pretty much what one might expect, a brawling, muscular blend of punk rock, classic blue-eyed soul and traditional Celtic roots, with MacGowan's guttural, coarse, heavily-accented vocals a primal force that many find to be an acquired taste. The Snake is a marvelous comeback album from MacGowan, a lively and uncompromising effort from one of rock's unheralded geniuses. (ZZT Records/Warner Brothers)

(Click on the CD cover to buy The Snake from Amazon.com)

Sam Cooke - The Rhythm And The Blues (1995)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:56:00 +0000

Sam Cooke is often forgotten during any discussion of the great R & B masters. Whether this is due to his late '50s break from the gospel tradition that nurtured him, and the resulting string of chart-topping pop hits that was to follow his entry into the secular music world, or due to the fact that Cooke worked outside of the soul factories of the era – R & B labels like Stax, Hi-Lo and Atlantic that have their own passionate defenders – who can say. Either way, Cooke's presence during the late '50s and early '60s was immense, his recorded output magnificent...and well deserving of another look.

The Rhythm And The Blues is that long-awaited second look at Cooke's vocal abilities. As pointed out in Cliff White's extensive and appreciated liner notes, Cooke was a prolific singles songwriter, creating some of the most enduring moments that pop music has to offer. On album, however, which the conventional wisdom of the time declared must be aimed towards an adult audience, Cooke often forsook his own songwriting skills in favor of jazz and blues classics. It is from this background that The Rhythm And The Blues has been created.

The Rhythm And The Blues is primarily drawn from three early '60s Cooke albums: My Kind Of Blues, the classic Mr. Soul and Night Beat. Many of the cuts culled from these three discs showcase the kind of big band arrangement given R & B material in that day and time, with lush strings and sensual horns backing Cooke's already formidable vocals. There's little of anything really new and surprising to be found here for the long-time Cooke fan, although The Rhythm And The Blues stands well on its own as an introduction to the singer's non-pop charting material. Cooke's wonderful vocal interpretation of classic gems like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" or "Cry Me A River" – his voice swollen with passion, silky with soul – easily stand with the masters of the genre, serving to firmly place Sam Cooke's name alongside the great performers of R & B, where it belongs. (RCA Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy The Rhythm And The Blues from Amazon.com)

Klaus Schulze - Mirage (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:16:00 +0000

Twenty-eight years ago, they didn’t really even have a name for this stuff. “Space Music” wouldn’t enter into the shared consciousness of the music world until the mid-to-late-80s and although it has since branched out into various sub-genres of the electronic music tree, it remains a decidedly cult phenomenon. Although musician/producer Brian Eno is often mistakenly considered the father of space music due to his tonal experimentation in “ambient” music, the truth is that electronic music pioneers like Kraftwerk, Cluster, Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream and Faust cleared the path for Eno years before.

Of the many musicians whose work would further the evolution of electronic music, perhaps none were as adventuresome or tireless as Germany’s Klaus Schulze. Schulze recorded with both the seminal Tangerine Dream and the psych-rock collective Ash Ra Tempel before abandoning the band format in favor of a solo career in 1971. To say that his subsequent output was prolific would be understating the truth – Schulze released an amazing fourteen albums in the first ten years of his solo career. Even more incredible is that Schulze has released over 80 albums in the thirty years since he broke from his previous bands, each one a significant work of composition and style.

Released in 1977, Mirage was Schulze’s eighth album and what many critics and fans consider to be his best. Schulze had mastered the possibilities provided by synthesizers and studio technology with a trio of early-70s albums – Cyborg, Picture Music and Blackdance – and would go on to experiment more with tone and emotion on future releases. With Mirage, Schulze attempted to create a “winter landscape,” recreating the bleak white and gray tones of the season with the instruments at hand. The resulting album is sparse, eerie, meditative and a masterpiece of form and performance in every aspect.

The original 1977 release of Mirage, restricted by the vinyl LP format, featured two extended cuts, one on either side of the album. Each composition consists of several passages, which often change the direction of the piece. The first, “Velvet Voyage,” is a hypnotic twenty-eight minute essay, subdued in nature and playing to the listener’s sub-conscious. It is minimalist and quite beautiful, if challenging. The second track, “Crystal Lake,” clocks in at slightly more than twenty-nine minutes. Embellishing the basic underlying track with chimes, synth washes and other electronic wizardry, Schulze creates a breathtaking musical soundscape that is both ambitious and thought provoking.

The Inside Out Music reissue of Mirage includes deluxe packaging, liner notes, photos and an additional bonus track, “In Cosa Crede Chi Non Crede?” The nineteen-minute coda extends the sonic soundtrack of the first two tracks, its subdued electronic instrumentation causing one to strain to take it all in. With a myriad of colors and sounds, however, it is well worth the effort. A journey, of sorts, inspired by Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco, the song’s title translates, roughly, as “in what it believes who does not believe?” The composition is every bit as daunting as its title; Schulze composing music much the same way as Eco composes literature.

For music fans inquisitive enough to want to discover more about electronic music, the work of Klaus Schulze is essential. Although I personally would not recommend Mirage as a starting point – Picture Music may be less challenging an introduction – I would heartily recommend it as your second or third dalliance with Schulze, if only to experience what can be done by a master painting with notes instead of colors. (Inside Out Music)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Mirage from Amazon.com)

Klaus Schulze - Picture Music (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:54:00 +0000

One of the godfathers of contemporary “space music,” composer, musician and visionary Klaus Schulze was experimenting with electronic tones, synthesized music and ambient sounds while Eno was still playing the role of rock star. One of the leading lights of the late-60s/early-70s “krautrock” movement, Schulze was a member of the seminal German outfit Tangerine Dream, playing drums on the band’s influential debut album, Electronic Meditations. Schulze went on to form the psych-rock collective Ash Ra Tempel with Manuel Göttsching, recording a single album with that band before striking out on a successful solo career that is now in its fourth decade.

Recorded in 1973, but not released until 1975, Picture Music was actually the third album recorded by Schulze, although it would be the fourth solo album to be released. Some have said that this is Schulze’s first true “synthesizer” album and I would have to concur. While Schulze’s contemporary Walter/Wendy Carlos used Robert Moog’s pioneering technology to dabble in pop music and film scores, Schulze’s muse took him down an entirely different path. Schulze envisioned sounds as an expression of emotion and thought, using a battery of synthesizers – along with whatever studio wizardry was available in 1973 – to rewrite the rules of musical composition with Picture Music.

While others were content to remain earthbound and chase after traditional musical forms, Schulze had his eyes on the stars with Picture Music. Predicting Brian Eno’s ambitious experimentation in ambient music by a half-decade, and furthering the trailblazing work of his sophomore effort Cyborg, Schulze would tinker with tone, rhythm and the concept of spaciousness on Picture Music.

The album opens with the almost twenty-four minute piece “Totem,” a subdued meditative piece that shows Schulze tentatively incorporating the abilities of the synthesizer into his work. Fragments of rhythm and melody swirl in and out of the piece, lost beneath bubbling electronics and a fragile painting of distance. “Totem” acts as ‘ying’ to its companion song’s ‘yang,’ the twenty-three minute “Mental Door” a more aggressive, percussive piece. The composition starts out dark and quiet, before building to a crescendo of Baroque keyboard riffing, clashing cymbals and jazzy, often tribal drumming. It is a breathtaking piece, as invigorating and energetic as “Totem” is contemplative and introspective.

Due to Schulze’s importance in the field of electronic music, Picture Music has been reissued countless times, mostly by various European labels and often with different cover art and song indexing. This American reissue, by the exemplary prog-rock label Inside Out Music, offers deluxe packaging, rare photos, informative liner notes and best of all, a thirty-three minute, previously unreleased bonus track. “C’est Pas La Meme Chose,” according to Schulze, is actually an extended, more involved reading of “Totem,” taking the original song’s meditative theme and extending it towards a new horizon. It is a fitting bookend to Picture Music, punctuating Schulze’s influence in the genre and providing a fitting coda to this important and often overlooked entry in the canon of electronic music. (Inside Out Music)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Picture Music from Amazon.com)

Falconer - Grime Vs. Grandeur (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Mention the word ‘Sweden’ to most people (well, mostly guys) and beautiful blond women of generous proportions will be the first thing that comes to mind. Well, never having visited this lovely Scandinavian country, I am unable to intelligently comment on the nature of its distaff population. After spending the last six months sorting through a pile of heavy metal CDs, however, the Reverend can authoritatively state that those Swedes sure know how to kick out the jams. Death metal, black metal, power metal…you name the sub-genre and Sweden is importing it to an enthusiastic and appreciative worldwide audience. Sadly, the Nordic nations seem to have beaten us at our own game, ‘cause most of these bands, hands down, are cranking out tunes far superior to our homegrown artists (who all seem too intent on getting on the radio, MTV and/or a television reality program).

Case in point: Falconer. Rising from the ashes of popular Swedish black metal band Mithotyn, Falconer set aside the Viking preoccupations of that band in favor of a wider, more extensive worldview. Over the course of four albums (and a number of roster changes) over the past five years, the band has shown continued growth and maturity, resulting in Grime Vs. Grandeur, Falconer’s most consistent and consistently rocking effort to date. With the extraordinary guitarist Stefan Weinerhall increasing his songwriting collaborations with vocalist Kristoffer Göbel, the material on Grime vs. Grandeur showcases an increased boldness, the confidence and chemistry of a band hitting its full stride.

The production on Grime vs. Grandeur is precise, the songs offering a good, clean sound, sharp like a surgeon’s scalpel. Weinerhall and Jimmy Hedland’s guitars roar like the ass end of a jet fighter while Karsten Larsson’s thundering drumbeats and Magnus Linhardt’s muscular bass lines gallop like a herd of wild mustangs escaping the rope. Göbel’s vocals soar to great heights, like Icarus searching for the sun. Although not the operatic equal of, say, Timo Kotipelto, his expressive voice is a magnificent instrument nevertheless, the band’s secret weapon and a valuable addition to the overall sound of Falconer.

Unabashedly power metal, the band embraces all the assets and liabilities that inhabit the genre, and if they come across a bit cliched at times (note “Power,” which has great instrumental work behind hackneyed lyrics) they make up for it with talent and enthusiasm. Rather than a concept album, Grime vs. Grandeur is instead composed of a number of conceptual vignettes, spirited song/stories and philosophical queries that encompass an entire tale/concept within the pace of several breathtaking minutes. It’s an ambitious effort, and when it pays off – such as with the eerie “Jack The Knife” or the glorious “No Tears For Strangers” – the band hits the jackpot. By incorporating elements of Celtic and Swedish folk into their sound, Falconer softens the traditional metallic overkill with carefully crafted instrumental passages, thereby strengthening the overall impact of the material.

Falconer soars above the musical landscape like a fierce bird of prey, its eye on the prize. When the band hits its mark, which it does more often than not on Grime vs. Grandeur, the guitars strike like razor-sharp talons and the rhythms hit with the impact of a hurricane. Delivering “thinking man’s metal” with no compromise in brain or brawn, Falconer is one of the more engaging of the young bands assaulting the staid ranks of the power metal elite. Highly recommended…. (Metal Blade Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Grime vs. Grandeur from Amazon.com)

Redemption - The Fullness Of Time (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:58:00 +0000

On paper, Redemption’s pedigree couldn’t look any stronger – vocalist Ray Alder and guitarist Bernie Versailles hail from the legendary band Fate’s Warning while bassist James Sherwood and drummer Chris Quirarte are on loan from up-and-coming prog-metal band Prymary. Multi-instrumentalist Nick van Dyk is the glue that holds it all together, molding the contributions of these various talents into a cohesive sound and sonic texture imbued with his unique musical vision.

Any questions of a “sophomore slump” are quickly laid to rest with the opening notes of The Fullness Of Time, Redemption’s second album. “Threads” kicks off with blazing guitar riffs, waves of sound leveling everything within sight until the quieting piano begins to seep in around the edges of the song. From this point, it’s full-scale madness, galloping rhythms supporting Alder’s soaring vocals as the song takes more instrumental twists and turns than a dark country road. “Parker’s Eyes” is a chilling take on the loss of innocence, using the tragedy of September 11^th as a backdrop to illustrate the effects of hate and violence. Alder’s vocals impart a certain weary worldliness to van Dyk’s intelligent lyrics, while cacophonic instrumentation swirls behind him in the mix. “Scarred” is a battle of self-doubt and reflection, the song matching industrial-strength arena-rock riffs with classic prog keyboard wizardry behind Alder’s impressive vocal gymnastics. “Sapphire,” a tale of love lost, or perhaps the path not taken, begins as a subdued ballad before van Dyk’s keyboards take flight and the drums begin to pound and the entire band kicks in and the song leaves the stratosphere on wings of divine noise.

The second half of The Fullness Of Time is a conceptual song suite, lyrically divided into four themes. As you might guess from the titles of each section, the song describes a spiritual journey, of sorts, from the betrayal and loss of “Rage” and the subsequent abject loneliness and hopelessness of “Despair” to forgiveness of “Release” and the freedom of “Transcendence.” It’s an ambitious lyrical suite that stumbles now and then but succeeds in the end, describing both a personal sojourn as well as that of the country in a post-911 world, all wounds healed by only “the fullness of time.” The four songs, clocking in at a healthy 20 minutes altogether, are also an excellent showcase for the instrumental prowess of the band that van Dyk has assembled. Over the course of the four sections, everybody has a chance to shine, and the various inspired combinations of vocals, guitar, bass, drums and keyboards stun the listener with both the creative mastery and the technical proficiency of the players.

Progressive rock and metal may be about the least “hip” genres on the entire musical planet, kissing cousins holding hands, snubbed by alt-rock indifference and ridicule. As fans of the two faces of prog realize, though, there’s some great music being made in the trenches, bands like Redemption leading the charge out of the underground. Incorporating elements of everybody that has come before, from Kansas and Rush to Dream Theater, Fate’s Warning and Spock’s Beard, Nicolas van Dyk has brought his considerable vision and talent to bear on The Fullness Of Time and it shows. If you’re bored by the cookie-cutter kiddie-metal and rote hard rock being crammed down your throat by the major labels, take a walk on the prog-rock wild side with Redemption. (Sensory Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy The Fullness Of Time from Amazon.com)

Def Leppard - Rock Of Ages (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:14:00 +0000

With fleeting trends ruling the destiny of popular music, sometimes history becomes obscured by time. It may be forgotten by many, but back during the rough-n-tumble decade of the ‘80s, no band was bigger than England’s favorite sons, Def Leppard. Cruising into the era on the heels of the “New Wave Of British Metal,” Def Leppard masterfully blended ‘70s glam-rock with metallic overtones and pop sensibilities to create a sound that would be heard around the world. No other band, it could be argued, utilized the music video format and the fledgling MTV network with more savvy than Def Leppard. However history is written, however, the truth is that the band’s immense fortunes are tied with those of producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange

The band was formed in 1977 by a group of untried musicians barely out of high school. From the beginning, Def Leppard eschewed the punk aesthetic prevalent in the UK at the time in favor of a throwback sound that updated the influence of mid-70s acts like Mott The Hoople, Queen and Led Zeppelin. The band’s 1980 debut album, On Through The Night, climbed as high as number 51 on the Billboard Top 100 album chart on the strength of hard-rocking cuts like “Wasted” and “Rock Brigade.” High ‘N’ Dry, Def Leppard’s sophomore effort and its first with producer Lange, would place the band on the brink of superstardom. The video for “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak,” which introduced the American mainstream to the photogenic band, received ultra-heavy airplay on MTV and launched the album into the Top Forty.

It was the band’s subsequent collaborations in the studio with “Mutt” Lange that would write Def Leppard’s legacy. Lange had produced AC/DC’s monster breakthrough album Back In Black, and he brought the same artistic vision and console skills to the unassuming band from Sheffield. Smoothing out Def Leppard’s rough edges in favor of a glossier, pop-metal sound, Lange might have alienated some of the band’s purist headbanger fan base but he opened the door to the entire world. Pyromania, the band’s Lange-produced 1983 release, would sell over 10 million copies in the US alone. Hit songs fell from the grooves like shooting stars in the sky: “Photograph,” “Rock Of Ages,” “Too Late For Love,” “Foolin’” and “Billy’s Got A Gun.” Pyromania spawned four top ten singles, with two hitting the number one spot on the charts.

Def Leppard was on top of the world in rock & roll. Entering the studio to record the anticipated follow-up to Pyromania, the band fell prey to various missteps and tragedies. Sessions with bombastic producer Jim Steinman (Meatloaf, Bonnie Tyler) went nowhere, resulting in little usable material. Halfway through the sessions, drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in an automobile accident; it would be over a year before Def Leppard would recover. Allen learned to play a custom drum kit with one arm and producer Lange was brought back in to clean up Steinman’s mess. After the blockbuster success of Pyromania and the band’s various trials and tribulations, nobody expected what would come with the release of Def Leppard’s fourth album, Hysteria.

Released in the spring of 1987, Hysteria was slow out of the gate, but picked up steam as the year wore on, eventually dominating the charts, radio and MTV and the world of popular music for the next two years. Hysteria eventually sold over 12 million copies in the US, charting an amazing seven singles and becoming the band’s first number one album. Fueled by MTV and constant touring, the biggest hits – “Animal,” “Rocket,” “Armageddon It,” “Love Bites” and the ubiquitous “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – were omnipresent from ’87 until 1989, when Guns ‘N’ Roses broke through commercially and toppled Def Leppard from the top of the hard rock heap.

Expectations were high when Def Leppard released Adrenalize in 1992 and the band’s fortunes flagged only slightly with its fifth album. Adrenalize topped the charts upon its release and yielded hit singles in the songs “Let’s Get Rocked” and “Have You Ever Wanted Someone So Bad.” Lange’s role in the studio was greatly diminished with Adrenalize, the band working mostly with its longtime engineer Mike Shipley. The band had been shocked by the death of guitarist Steve Clark, and perhaps a decade of heavy touring and ever-increased stardom had taken its toll. Although the hits still showed glimpses of the old energy, Def Leppard’s time in the spotlight was clearly coming to a close.

Although the musical tides had turned, Def Leppard soldiered on well into the ‘90s. Although “grunge” bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden – the latter obviously influenced by Def Leppard – now rode atop the charts, the band would release fine albums in Slang (1996) and Euphoria (1999). With a dwindling but loyal fan base, the band enjoyed minor hits with “Work It Out,” “Promises” and “Paper Sun,” and both albums charted in the top twenty. Def Leppard entered its fourth decade together as a band with its tenth album (including two compilation discs), 2002’s X, which showcased a more adult-oriented, pop-rock sound with its lone hit, “Now.”

All of the above-mentioned songs, and many more, are represented on Rock Of Ages, the two-CD “definitive” collection of Def Leppard material. Pulling songs from the band’s entire twenty-five year recording history, Rock Of Ages is the best place to start for the uninitiated listener curious about the biggest of ‘80s-era bands. The collection pulls heavily from Pyromania and Hysteria, and rightfully so, but also includes integral songs from the band’s first and last two albums, as well as a newly recorded version of Badfinger’s “No Matter What,” from an upcoming “covers” album.

Although Rock Of Ages offers little for the hardcore faithful that already own all the studio discs, it is a solid collection for the fair-weather fan that may have forgotten the charms of Def Leppard. At one time, vocalist Joe Elliott, bassist Rick Savage, guitarists Steve Clark and Phil Collen and drummer Rick Allen were rock & roll royalty, each album better than the previous one, every hit single bigger and badder than the last. Rock Of Ages documents this magic, the two discs accompanied by a great booklet that includes song-by-song notes from the band, rare photos and liner notes by writer Dave Ling. Now, perhaps, since Universal has revisited the band’s past glory, perhaps they can dig into the vaults and find that live Def Leppard album that fans have been thirsting after for twenty-five years now? (Island Records/Universal)

(Click on CD cover to buy Rock Of Ages from Amazon.com)

Ministry - Rantology (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:03:00 +0000

For a quarter-century now, Ministry frontman and guiding light Al Jourgensen has channeled his rage and frustration with American society through the lens of his band. With a musical formula that is equal parts metallic din and industrial electroclash – with just enough rhythmic signature to make it somewhat danceable – the sound of Ministry is that of a nuclear blast of white sound bursting forth from your speakers like some sort of saber-rattling golem. While it took Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor’s alienation politics to make industrial music palatable for the unwashed masses, Ministry has remained on alt-rock’s lunatic fringe, making only coy advances towards mainstream popularity through the years, and then abruptly pulling back like a nervous schoolboy.

Over the past decade, however, Jourgensen – and, by association, Ministry – has become increasingly politicized. Although Ministry has long addressed controversial and political issues in its lyrics, since the reign of King George I and Ministry’s blistering attack “N.W.O.” the rules seemed to have changed. With the arrival of George the Younger, Jourgensen seems to have gone full-tilt into madness, raging against the machine with a ferocity and decibel level surpassing even the most radical of punk bands. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. The striking, black leather-clad singer is nevertheless a middle-aged musician and an unlikely spokesman for a generation of youth that is being lied to, manipulated and sent to war by the current (conservative) administration. Like an old lion whose claws remain razor-sharp, Jourgensen’s uncompromising stance and powerful language speaks to the dissatisfaction many of us feel with the direction of the ship of state.

Rantology seems to be the logical conclusion of Jourgensen’s anger at the way things are going these days, the artist both revisiting his storied past and burning many of his bridges to the future. A collection of remixes/remakes with a handful of live tracks thrown in to spice up the blend, Jourgensen is reinventing Ministry’s music for the new millennium even while celebrating the 25 years that have passed by. Many of the usual suspects are taken out of mothballs and prettied up for Rantology, from a mondo-scary remake of “N.W.O.” and the eerily discomforting “Stigmata” to the surreal collaboration with Gibby of the Butthole Surfers, “Jesus Built My Hot Rod.” All of the songs are provided a sharp, shiny new edge, remaking even old gems like “Unsung” into lethal weapons. Live tracks like “Psalm 69” and “The Fall” illustrate the eardrum-shredding power and majesty of Ministry as live performance terrorists.

The one new track on Rantology is “The Great Satan,” a muscular, abrasive dismissal of President Bush and conservative politics that cuts like a scalpel and bludgeons like a lead pipe. Woven throughout the album’s frankentracks are spoken word pieces nabbed from the TV news, Bush’s public pronouncements fodder for studio-manipulated samples that help reveal that the emperor truly has no clothes. Although Jourgensen’s overwhelming anger and tacit alienation often leave the artist intellectually inarticulate – even “The Great Satan” presents few new lyrical or musical ideas – there’s no denying the sheer sonic power of Ministry’s take-no-prisoners musical approach. Given the current media landscape, it’s unlikely that Rantology will jumpstart the sort of mutiny that Jourgensen may be imagining…in which case, Ministry’s final legacy may be in the band’s creation of the soundtrack for the coming apocalypse. (Sanctuary Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Rantology from Amazon.com)

Bob Seger - Smokin' O.P.'s (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:43:00 +0000

As a kid, I was lucky enough to live within the limited midwestern sphere of Bob Seger’s musical shadow. Growing up in the industrial wasteland of Erie, Pennsylvania – a mere few hours away from Seger’s Detroit home – I heard the artist’s earliest ventures into rock & roll, songs like “Persecution Smith,” “East Side Story” and the classic “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” played on my local rock radio station.

A subsequent move southward to the Nashville area coincided with Seger’s major label recording contract and album releases like Noah and Mongrel, which I eagerly dug out of the bins of local record stores. Half a decade later, after Live Bullet and Night Moves propelled Seger into the upper reaches of ‘70s arena rock stardom, I was living in Detroit and had the chance to witness in person a string of sold-out 1979/1980 hometown concerts by the rust belt phenomenon.

I mention all of this merely to establish my long-held Seger bona fides. Your humble scribe was no mere “johnny come lately” on the Seger front, no sirree! The Reverend was down with Bob back in ’69 and ’70. Of all those pre-stardom album releases – nearly every one, sadly, long out-of-print and unavailable on CD – none was nearer and dearer to my heart than Seger’s 1972 “covers” album, Smokin’ O.P.’s. Released by Motor City indie label Palladium, the album was a bitch to find outside of the Midwest. Thanks to the wonders of the postal service and an editor in Illinois, a young rock critic in Tennessee got his grubby little hands on a copy of this often-overlooked entry in the classic Seger canon. Recently reissued on CD by Seger’s long-time label Capital, I’m glad to say that Smokin’ O.P.’s sounds every bit as great as it did over thirty years ago. Hopefully the label will see fit to reissue some of the other early Seger material on CD in the near future.

At the time the album’s release, Bob Seger was in a state of transition. He had delivered an understated, underrated singer/songwriter styled disc, Brand New Morning, as the final album of his contract with Capitol. Returning to Detroit, he put together a touring band that included drummer Dave Teegarden and keyboardist Skip “Van Winkle” Knape, a pair of musicians from the Tulsa, Oklahoma scene that had relocated to Detroit on the heels of a fluke hit, “God, Love And Rock & Roll.” Recruiting guitarist Michael “Monk” Bruce, the four of them recorded Smokin’ O.P.’s as an unabashed hard rock album. Taking its title from a slang term – “smoking” other people’s songs – Seger and his short-lived pick-up band would run through a selection of songs that included classic rock & soul gems like “Bo Diddley” and “Let It Rock” as well as newer material from artists like Stephen Stills and Leon Russell. The album’s primal D.I.Y. dynamic was provided by recording the songs in a studio beneath a bowling alley, the balls rolling down the lanes accidentally providing bass rhythms.

Seger’s choices in material and his vocal performances both hold up well, even after almost three-and-a-half decades. The singer manages to rework much of the material in his own image, infusing the performances with his charismatic energy and personality. Kicked off by Van Winkle’s churchy-organ riffs, “Bo Diddley” rocks as hard as any of today’s young punks, while a scorched-earth cover of “Love The One You’re With,” featuring some raw fretwork from Bruce and vocal assistance from Pam Todd and Crystal Jenkins. Turning the tune into an energized, R&B styled rave-up, Seger and crew manage to out-distance Stephen Still’s classic original.

Tim Hardin’s “If I Were A Carpenter” benefits especially from Seger’s soulful vocals. Fueled by Van Winkle’s dynamic keyboard work, Seger’s voice soars, reinterpreting the folk-ballad as a spiritual passion play. The blues romp “Turn On Your Love Light” rocks like a church revival, with Van Winkle’s organ and Teegarden’s jazzy percussion driving the tune towards the stars. Seger even covers his own work here, delivering, perhaps, the strongest version of his “Heavy Music” yet. Stripped down to a mere two-and-a-half minute explosion, the song builds slowly towards a powerful crescendo, delivering sort of classic Motor City rock & roll thrills that made cult favorites of bands like the Rationals, SRC, the Up and Seger’s Last Heard.

In the end, Smokin’ O.P.’s would serve to reinvigorate Seger’s career, which had been treading water for at least a couple of years by 1972, serving as a crucial point in Seger’s transition from cult rocker to musical superstar. By embracing the music of other artists, Seger laid the path for his future commercial breakout, figuring out the formula of flat-out rockers and mid-tempo ballads that would later become his musical trademark. It would take a couple more albums before 1975’s Beautiful Loser album would cement Seger’s lyrical and performance voice and lead him towards his eventual destiny.

Smokin’ O.P.’s would prove to be the only album Seger recorded with this particular trio of musicians – Michael “Monk” Bruce would disappear into obscurity while Teegarden would rejoin Seger later in the decade as a member of his Silver Bullet Band. Regardless, the chemistry and focus of the musicians on these songs is undeniable, the album a triumph of the spirit of pure, unvarnished rock & roll. Although Seger would go on to write some great songs and to make (much) more successful albums, never again would he capture the raw immediacy and reckless spirit of Smokin’ O.P.’s. (Capitol Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Smokin' O.P.'s from Amazon.com)

Riddle Of Steel - Got This Feelin' (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:21:00 +0000

Riddle Of Steel is a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. While many of today’s indie-rock bands are trying to sound like everybody else they hear on (corporate) radio, Riddle Of Steel instead has forged its own distinctive identity. They’ve done this by creating a sound that includes everything THEY heard on the radio while growing up, and their record collections, too – scraps of ‘80s-styled power-pop, vintage ‘70s metal and prog-rock and ‘90s-era punk infect Riddle Of Steel’s music like a high-grade fever.

As shown by Riddle Of Steel’s third album, Got This Feelin’, the band knows what to do with these disparate influences, and they don’t wear them on their sleeves like some folk. This St. Louis-based trio has seemingly created its own indie-rock nirvana, leading to a maddening game of “chase the sounds” as in “this song sounds like.” It’s a game you’ll never win, ‘cause Riddle Of Steel is too damn good at hiding the ghosts of its musical predecessors beneath sheets of chiming guitars and floating melodies.

“The Lovers Of Never” sounds like early Police, before Sting got all uppity and self-righteous, the song’s soundtrack incorporating elements of jazz and rock with syncopated rhythms and vocal harmonies. “Deeper Still” begins with a persistent guitar line suitable for Echo & the Bunnymen, or maybe Joy Division, or maybe one of a half-dozen other early-80s new wave bands. ROS tricks the song out with a space-rock coda featuring otherworldly guitarwork and cacophonic drumming.

The album’s title track starts off like something out of the Alex Lifeson songbook before evolving into a college rock ode that is all angles and straight lines, a low-fi sonic masterpiece worthy of Sebadoh or Pavement. “Detroit Flu” kicks out the jams, led by Rob Smith’s muscular drumming, Andrew Elstner’s guitar and Jimmy Vavak’s bass intertwining in an instrumental battle that starts/stops, starts/stops with insane precision, the band swinging into monster arena-rock riffing before lapsing back into a stoned groove.

Got This Feelin’ is a solid collection of inspired performances, Riddle Of Steel displaying incredible energy, impressive instrumental skills and more than a little late-night creativity in their welding together of various styles and eras of music. In an age where most bands are chasing a major label contract, dumbing down their sound to the LCD of radio playlists and TV soundtracks, it’s refreshing to hear a band like Riddle Of Steel that has ideas to spare and the skill and desire to bring them to life. (Ascetic Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Got This Feelin' from Amazon.com)

Amy Rigby - Little Fugitive (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:11:00 +0000

Thanks to Little Steven’s addition of “Dancing With Joey Ramone” to the playlist of his weekly Underground Garage syndicated radio program, Amy Rigby has probably received more airplay for her fifth album than she has for her first four combined. Van Zandt has always had a good ear for ‘the song,’ and his inclusion of Rigby’s catchy pop-rocker is as much for the song’s killer hook and clever wordplay as for its subject matter.

Weaving song titles like “Be My Baby,” “Gloria” and “Needles & Pins” into her fantasy of dancing with the rock & roll hall of famer, Rigby delivers her vocals with vintage girl-group glee, the song’s infectious melody standing up to repeated listens. I know, ‘cause I’ve spun the song several dozen times and haven’t gotten tired of the damn thing yet. In “Dancing With Joey Ramone,” Amy Rigby has written the perfect tribute to rabid record collector Ramone and I have no doubt that somewhere in rock & roll heaven, my pal Joey is dancing along with Amy.

One would think that a song as inherently cool as “Dancing With Joey Ramone” would dominate an album, overshadowing the other material, but that just ain’t so here. Little Fugitive is a solid effort from a veteran performer, brimming over with great songs. Rigby writes songs like a Renaissance master, her musical palette swimming with shades of pop, rock, folk and even a touch of psychedelia. Rigby’s highly-personalized lyrics offer a mirror to her soul, and it seems that sometimes she even surprises herself with the resulting reflection. In the defiant “Rasputin,” Rigby takes stock of her life and compares her resilience to that of the infamous Russian mystic.

On “The Trouble With Jeanie,” she obviously wants to dismiss her husband’s ex-wife except for the fact that the woman is “so nice” that it’s hard to dislike her. “So You Know Now” is a direct throwback to ‘60s psyche-pop, Rigby’s sultry vocals simply hypnotic above the swirling, chaotic instrumentation. “Needy Men” sounds like a movie moment, one of those Brill Building tunes with a bright sunny melody and deceptively cynical lyrics. Lenny Kaye’s excellent “The Things You Leave Behind” is provided a magical reading, Rigby’s charming vocals matched with a middle-aged weariness that jaded young artists, for all their alleged “worldliness,” have yet to discover.

Woven throughout Little Fugitive are the little insights that often escape lesser wordsmiths. Rigby’s talent is in taking the mundane realities of daily life and recognizing the humor, the sadness, the irony and the joy in each little moment. Paired with an unerring artistic sense that makes the best use of 50+ years of popular music as a foundation, Rigby delivers songs that are emotional, invigorating and intelligent in a way that is far too often missing from the radio these days. In a perfect world, “Dancing With Joey Ramone” would be blaring from the airwaves of every pop/rock station in America. As it is we’ll merely have to thank Steve Van Zandt for his recognition of excellence and be satisfied that, in this day and age, a talent the caliber of Amy Rigby can still find an appreciative and supportive ear now and then. (Signature Sounds)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Little Fugitive from Amazon.com)

Black Sunday - Tronic Blanc (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Down around Memphis way, on a bluff high above the mighty Mississippi River, Alicja Trout is a one-woman rock & roll wrecking crew. An artistic triple-threat, Trout is an accomplished musician, an insightful producer and a successful independent businesswoman running her own Contaminated Records label and Tronic Graveyard recording studio. Trout earned her indie street cred as the guiding light of the Lost Sounds, a critically acclaimed art-rock outfit with garage-rock sensibilities; she’s since gone on to experiment in different musical avenues with bands as diverse as MouseRocket and the River City Tanlines. Don’t be fooled, however – as disparate as these bands may seem, they are nothing but different faces of the same brilliant artist.

Black Sunday has been billed as Trout’s first post-Lost Sounds project but in reality, like most of her work, it’s been a work in progress. Collecting tunes written and recorded from 2002 until 2004, Tronic Blanc is a perfect representation of Trout’s many different talents. She performs most of the instrumentation on the album, with friends adding drums or guitar to a handful of songs. More impressive, however, is that Tronic Blanc tends to incorporate a wider range of Trout’s songwriting interests than any of her other bands that I’ve heard.

From the new wavy, Gary Numan-influenced electronic paranoia of “This Heart Is Now Aluminum” to the hook-laden ‘80s pop stylings of “Next Girl Detour,” Trout experiments across the board with different sounds on Tronic Blanc. Although the results vary from song to song, Trout’s talents tie them all together and provide a continuity that is tough to achieve over a multi-year timespan. Most of Tronic Blanc skews towards electronic-tinged synthpop, although a few cuts – like the hard-rocking, guitar-driven “Torture Torture” – would be perfectly at home alongside many Victory Records “screamo” bands, albeit less abrasive and with more visible intelligence. “Good Dreams” is an interesting art-rock instrumental, classical piano layered above an electronic drone that would make Klaus Schulze green with envy.

Simply put, Alicja Trout is one of the most interesting and intelligent musicians working on the indie circuit today. Perhaps because Trout’s home base is Memphis she doesn’t get the ink that coastal-based indie artists garner. Her relative isolation from the industry has also insulated her from the battering winds of changing musical trends, allowing Trout to follow her own muse. Black Sunday’s Tronic Blanc delivers thought-provoking music, challenging without being heartbreaking, entertaining, intelligent and ambitious. Between Alicja Trout and her friend Greg Cartwright’s band the Reigning Sound, these two artists are making some great music in the Bluff City. (Dirtnap Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Tonic Blanc from Amazon.com)

The 101ers - Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Before Joe Strummer became a punk icon with the Clash or the patron saint of rock & roll that he has become since his death, he was just another British musician trying to knock out a hardscrabble living with a local band. In Strummer’s case, this band was the 101ers, a better-than-average group of rockers that have found a degree of infamy mostly through being eclipsed by the Clash’s considerable legacy and Strummer’s significant solo work. A loose-knit collection of 101ers’ material was originally issued on vinyl back in ’81 and by various fly-by-night operations in varying forms and formats since. The expanded Astralwerks collection, Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited, provides the final word on this important, if historically slighted band’s legacy.

Formed by Strummer in 1974 near the end of the British pub-rock era, the 101ers were much closer in spirit to bands like Ducks Deluxe and Dr. Feelgood than anything that would follow during the punk-rock explosion of ’77. Inspired by the music of Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and early Rolling Stones, the 101ers practiced a street-smart brand of R&B drenched, guitar-driven rock & roll that would later inform some of the Clash’s London Calling and later musical output. The 101ers never put out a proper album, however, and released only one 7” single, making Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited a ragtag collection of rough-hewn studio demos and rare live tracks.

Fans of the Clash expecting the spit-and-bile proto-punk of the band’s first two albums will be sorely disappointed. Fans of Strummer, though, who appreciate the artist’s wide range of talent and musical tastes, will certainly enjoy the raw charm offered by these rare 101ers songs. Especially significant are Strummer’s first attempts at songwriting, tentative steps like “Keys To Your Heart” or “Sweet Revenge” that sound surprisingly mature. Blending a classic Chess Records R&B sound with strains of rockabilly and roots rock, the 101ers weren’t a half bad band by any standards, and Strummer’s early songs easily stand with similar efforts from notable songwriters like John Fogerty or Bruce Springsteen.

Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited also includes a number of previously unreleased live tracks, including originals like “Keep Taking The Tablets” and “Lonely Woman’s Son,” one of Strummer’s first socially-conscious songs that would later be recreated by the Clash. A number of live cover songs are also included, from the obvious (Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline” and Bo Diddley’s “Don’t Let It Go”) to the obscure (Slim Harpo’s “Shake Your Hips”) and the unusual (the Stones’ “Out Of Time”). A glorious performance of Van Morrison’s garage-rock standard “Gloria” closes the disc.

Befitting its pedigree, the sound quality of Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited varies wildly, from rough studio recordings to hollow-sounding, thirty-year-old live tracks (digitally massaged to be slightly better than bootleg quality). The material here all displays a certain undeniable rock & roll spirit, however, the performances filled with raw energy and passion. The 101ers were as much a part of Joe Strummer’s considerable legacy as the Clash or the Mescaleros, Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited an essential document providing an intriguing snapshot of the artist’s early days. (Astralwerks Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited from Amazon.com)

Pitch Black - This Is The Modern Sound (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:41:00 +0000

It’s a damn shame that Pitch Black’s excellent sophomore effort, This Is The Modern Sound, has also become the band’s swan song. Word has reached this scribe that Pitch Black has recently broken up and, although it may be a fitting end – seldom has a band delivered a second album as fully realized and mature as Pitch Black’s – so too does it rob fans of what might have come in the future. It’s also unfortunate that Pitch Black has been unfairly lumped in with the great unwashed mass of aimless punk bands currently wandering the musical horizon. Anybody with half a brain would come away from listening to This Is The Modern Sound with the sense that Pitch Black is a great rock band, period.

Sure, the band member’s roots are in hardcore punk, and the street cred given Kevin Cross and crew is unassailable. But from the stark, Shepherd Fairey-inspired cover art to the Frank Zappa quote on the back of the CD booklet – “Brown shoes don’t make it” – this is a different sort of listening experience. A modest guitar riff opens “Tonopah” before the full band kicks in with crashing results. Jeremy Goody’s jarring keyboard riff adds to the song’s urgency, underscoring the eerie, macabre subject matter of the lyrics, the tale of a desert ghost town and former gold mine. A dynamic instrumental passage displays the entire band’s musical prowess before jumping headfirst into the song’s final chorus.

From this point, the energy and passion of the band is unflagging, the rest of This Is The Modern Sound an object lesson in balls-to-the-wall, uncompromising rock & roll. “The Veracity Of Baggage” is supported by the fiery six-string fretwork of Cross and the dynamite rhythms of bassist Martin Munroe and drummer Jamie Morrison, keyboardist Goody riffing like a mad scientist beneath the explosive instrumentation. The song draws upon a sort of horror-film, Misfits/Rob Zombie vibe but at its heart is a solid hard rock romp. “Sutured Heart” is an atypical love song, a fresh perspective on the cliched broken heart with anguished vocals, Goth-flavored classical keyboard chiming and a powerful melodic hook. “Maze Of One Ways” features hypnotic fretwork, mesmerizing vocals, chanting keyboards and some of the most invigorating, percussive drum playing these ears have enjoyed in years. “Executives And Art Directors” provides a savage lyrical beating to the tin-eared label execs and corporate drones that too often dismiss talents like Pitch Black in favor of the trendy musical “flavor-of-the-week.”

Pitch Black features a top-notch collection of instrumental players, guys raised in the punk/hardcore underground who have flown under the radar of the music world’s arbiters of talent, the various instrument magazines. The guitarwork of frontman Kevin Cross is imaginative, his range and tonality impressive. Jeremy Good’s keyboard playing provides the band with an edgy diversity and the rhythm guys, Munroe and Morrison, bring a complexity and dense structure to the band’s sound that is missing from many rock outfits. The production is bigger than life and tightly woven, drawing upon Spector’s “wall of sound” for inspiration, with every instrument working in chorus to create a multi-textured and satisfying listening experience.

Altogether, these four guys have created a minor masterpiece in This Is The Modern Sound, an album that bridges the gap between classic three-chord punk and the timeless rock aesthetic. Lyrically and musically, Pitch Black evoke memories of the Doors, Alice Cooper, Frank Zappa, Black Flag, the Misfits, Sisters Of Mercy, the Clash and probably a dozen other great bands and artists. Too good for today’s modern (corporate) music world and not hip enough to garner the sort of press afforded, say, Bright Eyes, This Is The Modern Sound will nevertheless fall as one of the year’s best discs. With the band’s unfortunate demise, the album seems destined to become a lost classic that listeners will only discover in a decade or two. Why wait? Enjoy Pitch Black now with This Is The Modern Sound. (Revelation Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy This Is The Modern Sound from Amazon.com)

Robert Plant & Strange Sensation - Mighty Rearranger (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Simply put, Mighty Rearranger offers Robert Plant’s best work since, perhaps, Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti. Invigorated by his skilled backing band, the Strange Sensation, Plant takes musical risks and climbs out on a limb more than once with the finest batch of songs he’s delivered during a lengthy solo career that has lasted nearly a quarter-century. Picking up where he left off with 2002’s acclaimed Dreamland LP, this is the Robert Plant of yore – dropping the hammer of the gods and belting out songs with a cocksure confidence that many lesser vocalists have tried to capture and failed, often times miserably.

Working in tandem with his excellent band, especially guitarists Justin Adams and Skin Tyson, with no little assistance from keyboardist John Baggot, Plant has crafted a solid collection of material. The songs on Mighty Rearranger revel in their hard rock roots, but also incorporate Plant’s fascination with Eastern modality and polyrhythms, elements of complex, Zep-styled British folk and the singer’s love for classic American blues and soul music. If it sounds like a heady mix, well, it is, Plant and the Strange Sensation masterfully weaving in and out of genres, challenging one another and coming up with truly breathtaking performances.

Suffice it to say that the second coming of Robert Plant is no dull affair. Mighty Rearranger is filled with memorable moments that blister and peel. The Middle Eastern rhythms of “Another Tribe” are paired with weeping lead guitar and Plant’s mournful vocals offer precise social commentary, asking hard questions. The singer attempts a bit of vocal gymnastics on “Freedom Fries,” the syncopated rhythm track approximately a sort of rockabilly shuffle but matched swerve-for-swerve by Plant’s assured phrasings. “Tin Pan Valley” takes a look at days gone by, Plant’s subdued vocals supported by a sparse soundscape as he takes a few lyrical jabs at contemporaries trying to hold onto past glories. By the time the guitars roar into the mix and Plant’s voice soars to Wagnerian heights, it’s clear that the rock legend is moving forward, not back. “Dancing In Heaven” offers the sort of crystalline acoustic guitarwork that Zeppelin fans cut their eye teeth on, Plant’s brilliant lyrical imagery matched by the band’s instrumental virtuosity. The title cut is a bluesy, gospel-tinged rocker with raw fretwork and otherworldly keyboards.

Mighty Rearranger is not a reinvention of Robert Plant as such, but rather a showcase for the artist’s creative evolution. Without ignoring his past triumphs, Plant has built a bridge to the future, finding a revival in fortunes by working with the second great band of his career. With Mighty Rearranger, Plant and the Strange Sensation have discovered the legendary fountain of youth, and its name is rock & roll….

(Click on the CD cover to buy Mighty Rearranger from Amazon.com)

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - "Sweet Nothing" (1999)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:54:00 +0000

When I lived in the Detroit area back in the late seventies I used to hang out at a place not far from the house called Dearborn Music. A third generation record store that had been passed down in a straight line from grandfather to grandson, the store had never sent back any records that it ever bought during its thirty-year history. This practice would make today's retailers, with their sorry philosophy of limited selection and “just-in-time” inventory, wince and cry. But the result was a wonderfully dusty, crowded store that offered everything from still-sealed Big Band albums to sixties psychedelica to punk rock imports.

Knowing my penchant for loud, high-octane Detroit rock & roll, the grandson called me over one day and laid a 7" 45 rpm copy of “City Slang” on me. It was the first release from Sonic's Rendezvous Band, a local “supergroup” made up of members from the MC5, the Stooges and SRC and named after guitarist extraordinaire Fred “Sonic” Smith. It was a wicked little slab o' vinyl that was destined to make a big impression on my young rock & roll mind....

Little did I know at the time that this single would also be the last official release from the band. Although a couple of live bootleg tapes have circulated among the faithful during the past couple of decades, those of us thirsting for more had to be satisfied with our rare copies of “City Slang.” Imagine my surprise then when I opened up a copy of Mohair Sweets zine and saw an article on Sonic's Rendezvous Band and a listing of a web site. Although Smith died a few years back, his wife – the talented Patti Smith – asked longtime associate Freddie Brooks to look through the band's collection of tapes with an eye towards releasing some of the material. The first result of this jump into the vaults is the “Sweet Nothing” CD, which captures the band alive and scorching during a 1978 performance. Needless to say, I sent in my hard-earned coin as soon as possible and grabbed a copy of this gem before it disappeared on me.

Even though it had been twenty years since I saw the band play live one night in Ann Arbor, “Sweet Nothing” immediately brought up fond memories of that night. A solid hour-long set of raging “Motor City” rock & roll, “Sweet Nothing” does not disappoint, even given my high expectations. Sonic's Rendezvous Band were a monster of a live band, with Smith and fellow guitarist Scott Morgan dueling like swordfighters in a death match, trading deadly, razor-sharp riffs with abandon. Ex-Stooges' drummer Scott “Rock Action” Asheton kept up a steady, often-times manic beat while bass maestro Gary Rasmussen laid down a rhythmic groove that propelled the music along like nitro in your gas tank.

With a sound that's loud, meaty and muscular, booming out of your speakers like a metal stamping machine in a Detroit auto plant, the songs on “Sweet Nothing” are almost immaterial, given the heaviness of the performances. These are good, not great songs, mostly originals by Smith or Morgan. Some are standard, guitar-driven love songs, like the mesmerizing “Hearts,” the engaging title track or the band's drunkenly passionate cover of the Stones' “Heart Of Stone.” Other songs – like “Asteroid B-612,” for instance – are more esoteric, blazing a musical trail across territory that's more akin to Sun Ra than to anything rock & roll was spitting out in the late seventies.

That legendary single, “City Slang,” is presented here as an eight-minute, album-closing rave-up that's guaranteed to stand you on your head, leaving you with the certain knowledge that Sonic's Rendezvous Band were a great band. It's a damn shame that they never became huge stars, but then again, their cult status befits them. After all, like Neil Young once said, “it's better to burn out than to fade away.” For a too-few brief years, Sonic Rendezvous were the underground rock scene's brightest burning stars, blazing their way through hundreds of live shows. Lucky for us that somebody captured one of these special nights on “Sweet Nothing”. (Mack Aborn Rhythmic Arts)

Blackfire Revelation - Gold And Guns On 51 (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:49:00 +0000

The Reverend hasn’t heard a righteous din like the grooves you’ll find on Gold And Guns On 51 since Blue Cheer earned its first hearing aids playing biker bars back in ’68 or so. Gawd damn, them BC boys could shake, rattle and roll – with obscene stacks o’ Marshall cabinets channeling turbocharged amps set on “stun,” the band fused mutant blooze and caveman rock into a poisonous brew unlike any band before or since…until now.

The Blackfire Revelation pick up the long-forgotten gauntlet thrown down by Leigh Stephens with Vincebus Eruptum and run down an amphetamine-fueled highway towards oblivion. Whereas Blue Cheer needed four monster musicians to scare the heebie-jeebies out of its audience, the Blackfire Revelation manages to do it with just two – slash-n-burn guitarist J.R. Fields and demolition expert Hank Haney on the drum kit. Together, the duo from New Orleans kick out the jams with Gold And Guns On 51, a five-song debut EP that musically approximates a nuclear meltdown.

The line is drawn in the sand with the very first song, the machine-gun drumbeats and towering riffs of “Battle Hymn” possibly heavier, more destructive and more testosterone-drenched than any stoner/thrash/death-metal band you could possibly name. Fields’ electronically-altered vocals bounce off the song’s massive power chords like a hawk swooping down on a field mouse while Haney’s drums hit yer ears like a surprise kidney punch from a drunken preacher. The rest of Gold And Guns On 51 is of similar sound and vintage, late-60s/early-70s styled primordial heavy metal with interwoven threads of blooze-rock and boozy psychedelica.

Audiences haven’t heard tunes like this since the first Neanderthals crawled out of the wreckage of the gene pool, shook off the blood and tar and strapped on Stratocasters to form bands like Blue Cheer, Dust, Sir Lord Baltimore and the sludge-kings themselves, Vanilla Fudge. At a mere twenty-two minutes, Gold And Guns On 51 burns with more energy and intensity than modern audiences are ready to handle. Tough shit, get used to it, ‘cause this is the future, kiddies! With muscle, balls and sweat, the Blackfire Revelation has created a mini-album that is both timeless and out-of-time. (Southern Reconstruction Records)

(Click on CD cover to buy Gold And Guns On 51 from Amazon.com)

Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:49:00 +0000

If any band leads the charge, bringing progressive-rock back to the great unwashed masses, it may well be Porcupine Tree. For almost a decade and a half, the English band, led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Steven Wilson, has forged a career by tempering prog-rock tendencies with hard rock sensibilities. Unlike other leading lights in the modern prog movement such as Spock’s Beard or the Flower Kings, bands that take their cue from ‘70s-era progmasters like Yes or King Crimson, Porcupine Tree instead follows a path more similar to Pink Floyd. Throw in a strong measure of NWOBM reliance on startling guitar riffs; add elements of lush, ‘90s-vintage 4AD label atmospherics and stir well with Wilson’s self-taught musical genius and you’ll have the sound of Porcupine Tree.

The eighth studio effort from Porcupine Tree, and only the band’s second album to receive any sort of significant stateside distribution, Deadwing is a magnificent collection of songs with easy appeal to both the mainstream music fan and the diehard prog-rocker. The album opens with the nine-minute-plus title cut, a stunning musical tour de force that never loses steam no matter how many twists and turns the song takes. Infected with an overall moody ambience, Wilson’s somber lyrics are supported by taut leads and blazing riffs, tribal drumbeats and Richard Barbieri’s magnificent keyboard wizardry. The wiry guitar solo in the middle of the song is provided courtesy of Adrian Belew, a well respected fretmaster with credentials from both the prog-rock and art-rock worlds.

Deadwing gets a little heavier with “Shallow,” a riff-happy rocker that edges into industrial territory, swinging back towards sanity before Trent Reznor comes knocking at the door. Alternately both brutally electric and gently melodic, the song’s theme of technological alienation stands in stark contrast to “Lazarus,” a pastoral composition with fine vocal harmonies and beautifully constructed instrumental passages. “Halo” ventures into horror-rock territory, echoed vocals and monster rhythms counterbalanced by a harmonic chorus with its roots in hard-rocking ‘90s-era grunge.

The band is at its most progressive with the twelve-minute “Arriving Somewhere But Not Here,” the song’s breathtaking instrumentation incorporating elements of swirling psychedelica, Eno-styled ambient electronics and classic, ‘70s-vintage prog-rock song structure. The punchy “Open Car” may be as close to a single release as Deadwing ventures; with its monstrous riffing and larger-than-life vibe the song sojourns into prog-metal territory and would fit perfectly into a modern rock radio format.

Handling vocals, guitars and some secondary keyboards, Wilson’s talents are abundant. Every wunderkind needs players to push them towards greatness, however, and Porcupine Tree offers an impressive collection of instrumental virtuosos. Richard Barbieri, who cut his teeth with groundbreaking ‘80s-era new wave art-rock band Japan, brings a classical element to the band, his keyboard and synth creations providing the underlying structure for Wilson’s complex, extravagant compositions. Bassist Colin Edward is more than mere background scenery, his fills and occasional leads providing the band’s sound with a heavy bottom end while drummer Gavin Harrison brings an explosive hard rock mentality to the material. Altogether, the band’s musical chemistry is quite impressive, the foursome creating a tapestry of sound and emotion that is ambitious in scope and invigorating in its results. Poised on the brink of U.S. stardom, Porcupine Tree is ready for you…but are you ready for Porcupine Tree? (Atlantic Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Deadwing from Amazon.com)

Spock's Beard - Gluttons For Punishment (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:24:00 +0000

The remaining members of Spock’s Beard had a lot to live up to when founding member and songwriter Neal Morse left the band a couple of years back. The major architect of the trademark Spock’s sound, Morse’s departure forced the other band members to step up and take the reins of the popular prog-rock trailblazers. With drummer Nick D’Virgilio assuming lead vocal duties and underrated guitarist Al Morse stepping into the spotlight more often, the band took on a harder, rock-oriented edge with its two post-Neal albums, Feeling Euphoria and Octane. The band developed a collective approach to songwriting that took advantage of their individual strength’s, bringing in friend John Boeghold for lyrical assistance where needed.

All that was missing was for the “new” band to establish its identity as a top-notch performance outfit, a questionable goal they seem to have rapidly achieved. After all, this is basically the same batch of guys that recorded such classic modern prog albums as The Light and Beware Of Darkness. Morse’s abdication changed the band’s sound and, perhaps, its focus but the talent and instrumental creativity remained in place. As documented by Gluttons For Punishment, the first live set from Spock’s Beard, version II, any questions about the band’s performance skills were absurd from the beginning.

Recorded during Spock’s Beard’s Spring 2005 European tour, Gluttons For Punishment, Live In ‘05 effectively recreates the recent Octane album almost in its entirety and in virtually the same running order as the studio original. Although it’s unusual for a band to release a live disc in such close proximity to a studio album, the clamoring of fans evidently tipped the band’s hand. There is some embroidery provided the studio versions of the Octane songs, albeit very little, and although the performances are dynamic and multi-layered, one can’t help but wonder what a little more time might have added to these songs in the way of instrumental interpretation.

The band all but ignores its recent Feeling Euphoria album, covering only two of that disc’s songs in “The Bottom Line” and “Ghosts Of Autumn,” alongside a sparse selection of songs from earlier Spock’s releases. “Harm’s Way,” from 1998’s The Kindness Of Strangers, provides an ample dose of keyboard wizard Ryo Okumoto’s mad riffing while also offering an excellent showcase for Al Morse’s understated and elegant fretwork. V’s “At The End Of The Day” kicks off the second disc, D’Virgilio’s vocals taking the song in different directions than Morse’s original reading, the tune benefiting from some improvisational jazz-rock fusion styled passages. Since taking over as the band’s frontman, D’Virgilio vocals have steadily improved, the talented drummer also forging a distinctive vocal identity around the band’s evolving sound.

Nowhere is D’Virgilio’s confidence more evident than on the album-closing, nearly twenty-minute revisiting of “The Light” from the very first Spock’s Beard album. The vocalist stretches his talents to their limits in recreating the roller-coaster highs and lows and dangerous curves of the song’s lengthy and varied performance. Given new muscle by the various players’ more aggressive direction, “The Light” is both a reminder of the past and a bridge to the band’s musical future. Spock’s Beard remains one of the most intriguing and innovative bands on the modern progressive rock landscape, a wonderful match of talents and musical chemistry that has continuously moved forward for over 20 years. Gluttons For Punishment, Live In ’05 is a fair snapshot of this moment in time for Spock’s Beard, an entertaining and exhilarating performance from one of the guiding lights of the current prog-rock movement. (Inside Out Music)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Gluttons For Punishment from Amazon.com)

Frank Black - Honeycomb (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:11:00 +0000

When Nashville indie record store owner Mike “Grimey” Grimes told me about sitting in on a Frank Black recording session a year or so ago, the time and setting seemed unlikely. After all, Black was about to launch a full-fledged Pixies reunion tour, giving fans that missed the band the first time around a taste of what all the brouhaha was about in the first place. However, Grimey waxed ecstatic about Black playing off of a veritable “who’s who” of legendary Southern musicians in the Music City studio, promising an eye-opening CD as the result of the four-day working weekend.

Black’s Honeycomb is the result of those recording sessions, an uncharacteristic collection of traditional songs that incorporate elements of Southern soul, alt-country and roots rock. Fifteen, sixteen years ago, when the Pixies ruled the indie-rock roost with a barrage of amplifier squall, fractured vocals and discordant six-string work, Honeycomb would have been a radical departure for the American idol known as Black Francis. After nearly a decade and a half of a scattershot solo career that has seen the one-time poster child for alt-rock defiance careen off varying musical styles and styles of vocal delivery, Honeycomb instead serves as another indicator of Black’s seemingly bottomless well of talent.

As stated above, for his Nashville side trip, Black recruited some of the true giants of Southern music to back him in the studio. Among the players on Honeycomb are Steve Cropper, better known for his role in the two Blues Brothers movies than for his groundbreaking guitarwork and songwriting at Stax studios in Memphis; pianist Spooner Oldham, a Muscle Shoals veteran and accomplished Memphis songwriter; and bassist David Hood, an integral piece of the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Throw in well-traveled drummer Anton Fig and guests like Reggie Young, Buddy Miller and Ellis Hooks and you have better than two centuries of combined musical talent. The whole affair was brought together by noted producer/musician/songwriter Jon Tiven and captured on tape by legendary songwriter/producer Dan Penn.

The results of Black’s dream project are evident in the songs on Honeycomb. Perhaps Black’s most personal and reflective collection to date, the singer sounds downright wistful at times, many songs alternately both joyful and melancholy. With these topnotch studio professionals behind him, Black delves deep into the realities of romance and relationships, life and death with material that, at times, veers dangerously close to foppish singer/songwriter territory. Black’s collaborators prevent their morose frontman from plunging headfirst into the abyss of self-pity, though, with a loose funky groove, the subdued soundtrack propping up Black’s often somber vocals.

Black also pays homage to both the players he’s sharing the moment with and to his deep-rooted musical inspirations, covering songs by both Dan Penn and Doug Sahm. On the Penn/Chips Moman classic “Dark End Of The Street,” Black plays it straight with soulful vocals and a dark, subtle arrangement that redefine the song in a way that makes it sound like you’re hearing it for the first time. Black has a little more fun with Sahm’s “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day,” capturing a laid-back feel with a bit of a Tex-Mex vibe. Combining a strong set of songs with spectacular musical performances, Honeycomb is an unlikely but welcome direction for Frank Black’s solo work and, like Grimey proclaimed those many months ago, a hell of a lot of fun. (Back Porch Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Honeycomb from Amazon.com)

The Fleshtones - Beachhead (2005)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:03:00 +0000

It’s hard to believe that the Fleshtones have been banging away at it for damn near thirty years. With more than a dozen albums and several thousand raucous live performances under their collective belts, one would think that these garage-rock greybeards would be running out of steam by now…and you’d be dead wrong, chuckles! While the band’s 2003 album Can You Swing? effectively resurrected the Fleshtones and placed them back at the forefront of the rock & roll pecking order where they belong, Beachhead stands as the band’s magnum opus. A culmination of three decades of blood, sweat and beers, this is the one Fleshtones disc where it all comes together.

Working with two quite different producers in two distinctly varied environments, the band has managed to perfectly capture its eclectic musical mix of Sky Saxon, Chuck Berry, Dick Dale and Stax soul. While Jim Diamond brings a certain contemporary street cred to the Fleshtones sound – the in-demand producer working with the band in his Ghetto Recorders studio in Detroit – Rick Miller of Southern Culture On The Skids adds a classic rock vibe to the tracks recorded at his Kudzu Ranch. Mix the results up in the final track listing and these two sides of the same coin meld together to present the indomitable rock & roll spirit of the Fleshtones in the best light possible.

The larger-than-life “Pretty Pretty Pretty,” driven by Keith Streng’s guitar and Pete Zaremba’s keyboard riffing, has received weekly airplay on Little Steven’s Underground Garage syndicated radio program, and for good reasons. The sound is all deliciously greasy meat and fried potatoes. Zaremba’s yelping vocals provide a sucker punch to your eardrums while the band rifles through your belongings for loose change. “You Never Know” nicks the guitar intro from “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” fattening it up with flange and reverb and reclaiming it for the ages, Zaremba’s snottier-than-thou vox channeled directly from the ghost of some long-dead teen vocalist from 1965. “I Want The Answers” is a case study in rock & roll primitivism, the song’s swelling six-string crescendos and nonsensical lyrics adding to, rather than subtracting from the tune’s party-time vibe.

The Fleshtones have long eschewed the “garage rock” label, preferring their own term “super rock.” It’s an apt description, given the Fleshtones sound and unflagging dedication to the truth and beauty of rock & roll. Regardless of what you want to call it, the Fleshtones have consistently cranked out entertaining music for the better part of thirty years, and Beachhead is no exception. (Yep Roc Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Beachhead from Amazon.com)

R.E.M. - Monster (1994)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:43:00 +0000

Predictably, R.E.M. have made a career out of being unpredictable. They've outlived their mid-80s status as critical darlings to become the most popular "alternative" band on the planet during the '90s. They've enjoyed their greatest commercial success by not touring, staying at home in Athens in the face of conventional wisdom while their last two albums – 1991's Out Of Time and 1992's internationally-successful Automatic For The People – combined to achieve sales of nearly 20 million copies worldwide.

A look at the literally hundreds of adjective-laden pieces that have been written about R.E.M. during their fourteen year career will show that no two critics have ever come to an agreement on just who or what R.E.M. really are as a band. Since the 1981 release of their self-produced independent single "Radio Free Europe," R.E.M. has somehow always managed to confound the pundits. They've constantly plagiarized themselves, worn their influences on their collective sleeves, and although every song they have ever created sounds similar, they manage to come out of the box every time with a new sound that captures new fans.

Predictably, the release of the band's tenth recording, Monster, won't be helping anyone pin an artistic identity on to R.E.M. anytime soon. Coming out of the studio after two years with an album that is heavier and more – shall we say – "metallic" than anything they've previously done, Monster at once both returns the band to its roots as well as takes them into an entirely unfamiliar direction. Casting aside the bright-edged pop songs that have frequented their last few albums, Monster showcases a stripped-down R.E.M. delivering a larger, fatter sound with a fervor uncharacteristic of their recent work.

With the exception of Monster's opening track, the single "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" with its cultural reference point, radio-ready sound and oblique lyrics, Monster is an aggressively somber album. Lyrics are largely hidden beneath a clash of sound, with the lead guitar and rhythm section dueling for position like on R.E.M.'s early work. Guest artists are used sparingly this time out, the most striking instance being Thurston Moore's contribution to the feedback-ridden voodoo rock of "Crush With Eyeliner." The dark sarcasm of "King Of Comedy," the chaotic confusion of "Star 69" and the mesmerizing, repetitive guitar riff that underlines the haunting vocals of "Let Me In" represent a departure from what many R.E.M. fans have come to expect during the past few years.

Not that there aren't a few familiar touchstones to be found hereabouts. "Strange Currencies" opens with Peter Buck's gentle guitar line, the sound flowing like a stream into Michael Stipe's winsome vocals, appealing to a lost love and bemoaning the complexities of romance. The low-key falsetto on "Tongue" is matched by a soulful, yet minimal soundtrack while "Bang And Blame," with Stipe's trademark vocal phrasing, could be mistaken for a typical R.E.M. song if it wasn't for the subtle lyrical nuances that have been woven into the mix. "You" closes Monster with a philosophical cry in the dark, lyrics buried beneath ringing guitars and a steady, dirge-like drumbeat.

With Monster, the band has carefully used their enormous success to flex their musical muscles, taking a few artistic risks and thus delivering an album that is their most mature and interesting work to date. The ability to recreate themselves from album to album without really ever straying far from their roots is the core of R.E.M.'s identity and a large part of their appeal. The individual band member's talents and limitations are melded together into a familiar group personality. Their may be other artists who do it better, or who do it louder, but nobody delivers with more consistency. Other bands, predictably, will come and go, but R.E.M. will always remain, unpredictable. (Warner Brothers)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Monster from Amazon.com)

Frank Zappa - The Yellow Shark (1994)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Keith A. Gordon) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:10:00 +0000

Although guitarist/composer Frank Zappa's tragic death robbed the world of an artistic giant, we have thankfully been left an enormous and varied catalog of Zappa recordings by which to remember him. Rumours abound of a number of forthcoming post-humous Zappa releases, the product of a prolific creator who seems to have recorded most everything he recently wrote and performed. It is, curiously enough, a Frank Zappa album on which the talented musician never plays a note which serves as his swan-song.

The Yellow Shark, named after a gift from a creative fan (sorry – you'll just have to see the CD booklet for the complete story) is actually a collection of Zappa compositions commissioned by Germany's Ensemble Modern. The material presented here was culled from a series of performances in the fall of 1992 in Berlin, Frankfurt and Vienna by Ensemble Modern of The Yellow Shark and includes snatches of 25 years of Zappa's work.

A mutant hybrid of rock, jazz and random cacophony rendered as classical compositions, The Yellow Shark not only serves as an excellent showcase for the talents of the Ensemble Modern (easily the equals of better-known outfits such as the Kronos Quartet), but also champions Zappa's compositional skills in creating it. Mostly instrumental, the few lyrical pieces presented here – especially "Welcome To The United States" and "Food Gathering In Post-Industrial America, 1992" – remind us of Zappa's vicious sense of satire and his disrespect for any sort of authority. Not surprisingly, even mesmerizing instrumental passages such as those found in "Outrage At Valdez" or "Times Beach II" manage, through tone and texture, to make a significant social commentary without a single word. Such was Zappa's genius, and The Yellow Shark, the final project he worked on before his death, is a fitting monument to the artist's passing. (Barking Pumpkin Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy The Yellow Shark from Amazon.com)