Friday, May 31, 2019
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies: 3.5 stars [plus batch review]
Only first generation CD transfers on this, so I'm going to pass and stick w/Greatest Hits for this band. I have also listened extensively to, and owned at one point, both Killer and Love it to Death. Decent albums, but with Greatest Hits out there, there's almost no reason to have anything else, unless you're a superfan. Also gave three listens each to School's Out and Welcome to My Nightmare, which are both honorable mentions.
Monday, May 27, 2019
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Art Pepper - Winter Moon: X stars
Not qualified to grade this. In fact, I had never even heard of it until I noticed Tom Hull gave it the same grade as these:
Shape of Jazz to Come, A+
Love Supreme, A+
'Round About Midnight, A+
Mingus Ah Um, A+
Saxophone Colossus, A+
Tribute to Jack Johnson, A+
I do not understand, but he definitely has better jazz ears than I do. Maybe I'm having trouble getting past the strings. This sounds like elevator or dentist office music to me. [5 listens]
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Friday, May 24, 2019
Dr. Alimantado - Best Dressed Chicken in Town: 7.5 (high B+)
Would buy this if they reissued it. Not paying a fortune for it used though. Might be 8 (A-), I'm not 100% sure, but it doesn't matter much since it's unavailable, and I would buy it if it were in print at either grade. [Four listens]
The Velvet Underground - Live at the Matrix: 4.5 stars
Not a "real" album. This entry is a placeholder for the selection of remastered Matrix tracks that are on Discs 5 and 6 of the superdeluxe edition of The Velvet Underground. This is the ultimate way to listen to these classic performances. I burned them as a separate two disc set and put it on the shelves.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
The Velvet Underground - 1969 Velvet Underground Live: 4 stars
Have this on vinyl and will keep it, but after listening to the Quine bootlegs, this, The Complete Matrix Tapes, and discs 5 and 6 of the "super deluxe" version of the eponymous album, it's clear that there is no ideal way to collect these classic live performances. This and the Quine tapes sound bad. The Complete collection is too much, and is way OOP, and the "super deluxe" discs can't be bought separately. So I will burn the latter and stick them on my shelves as a two-CD bootleg set.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Get Your Rocks Off: 3.5 stars
Definitely wouldn't go seek this out now, having heard it several times, but I bought it in the non-streaming era because Christgau gave it an A minus and I'm not getting rid of it.
Friday, May 17, 2019
New Order - 1981-1982: 3.5 stars
These songs are all on Substance, other than Mesh, so no need for physical. I did listen to this once as a compilation, just to get the gestalt, despite being thoroughly familiar with Substance and these songs. I also listened to Mesh three times.
The Velvet Underground - Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes
:-( [Listened three times to the Family Dog disc and the final Wash U "Sister Ray/Foggy Notion." Heard the remainder of the tracks, which are from the Matrix performances, on Complete Matrix, but played it in this dim version (minus the nearly forty minute "Sister Ray," which I only played once) twice.]
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Fela Kuti - Confusion/Gentleman: 4 stars
This isn't the version I got, but I wanted to show both covers. Far and away his best work in my opinion.
Tom Verlaine - Words from the Front: 3.5 stars
Takes several listens, and must be played relatively loud.
Kirsty MacColl - Electric Landlady [honorable mention]
;-) [Sounds like a B+ during the first half, and then really drops off. Sticking with Galore for her.]
Craig Finn - I Need a New War: 3.5 stars
Originally graded this an honorable mention, but noted that the first song was one of the best he's ever done. Upgraded it after Christgau gave it an A minus, Pitchfork graded it as by far his best album, and Finn himself noted it was part of a trilogy with the last two.
Various Artists - The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album
:-| [Whitney Houston] [Might be among the top-selling albums of all time, but no one seems to actually rate it that highly. No one likes it but many people own it syndrome? While I’ve been known to buy albums that I’m not crazy about just because they are extreme top-sellers, not for soundtracks, or live albums, or really questionable ones, like this. See, The Eagles.]
Bikini Kill - Revolution Girl Style Now: 7 (B+)
Not a regular release, as I understand it. It's their demo cassette, and presumably they re-recorded many of these songs for later official releases.
Dr. Yen Lo - Days with Dr. Yen Lo
:-( [Decent sound, but the affected, sleepy drawl makes you want to scream after awhile.]
Bruce Springsteen - Springsteen on Broadway: 2 stars
I've got a few things to say about this, so I'm breaking protocol and putting a cover image and a rating below 3.5 stars. On the spoken word parts, a little of it is good, one track - "My Father's House" - is great. The rest is insufferable. Springsteen talking in his phony "old black man drawl" going on with his sentimental lectures, knowing that his adoring audience will applaud at every sentiment, laugh at every falsely self-deprecating joke, and sigh with every trite, mawkish observation by the fake everyman who actually has everything because, as he admits, he is an exceptionally good phony. I will update this review for the acoustic performance of his songs, which I want to listen to separately. But the spoken word parts, which I only listened to once, because that's all that's called-for with spoken words, are terrible. The best thing about this performance is it taught me why I've never been 100% behind Springsteen -- he's inauthentic.
Update: The acoustic versions of his prior songs are almost as bad as the spoken word parts. He generally needs a band behind him, especially for his songs that were written for that kind of treatment.
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Frank Zappa - Weasels Ripped My Flesh [honorable mention]
:-) [Giving it an HM at least partially because it annoyed my wife. Otherwise, the only album of his that everyone likes is We're Only in it for the Money, so I'll stick with that.]
Friday, May 3, 2019
Everything but the Girl - Walking Wounded: 3.5 stars
# [dance/electronica] Plus, it seems strangely unavailable, or OOP. There are sellers, but not reputable ones, and, for instance, it's not on importCDs, where it definitely should be. Christgau/Hull have nothing to say about it.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Madonna - Like a Virgin [honorable mention]
Barbara Manning - One Perfect Green Blanket: 7 (B+)
Never available domestically on its own, only combined with Lately I Keep Scissors, which is not how I would want to collect it. At ~25 minutes, I consider this an EP, especially if you dock the time for the repeat of "Sympathy Wreath," which brings it down to ~22 minutes and 7 songs.
Barbara Manning - Lately I Keep Scissors [honorable mention]
:-) [Catchy, but ultimately very samey. Listened 4 times.]
Jackson 5 - Greatest Hits: 3.5 stars
Won't be collecting, because I'm not really an R&B guy, especially for a greatest hits at B plus. A few clunkers. Really, the songs that are must-haves in my opinion are I Want You Back, ABC, and Never Can Say Goodbye. Really just a fantastic single, or maybe an EP.
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis Again: X stars
I am not qualified to rate this. I have the first, but this seems like more of the same and twice as long.
Alexander "Skip" Spence - Oar: 7 (B+)
This needs to be reissued without all the crappy extra tracks, etc. In any event, used copies are way overpriced.
Rochereau, Nico, Mujos & L'African Fiesta - Ndaya Paradis (1962, 1963, 1964) [honorable mention]
:-) [Gary Stewart pick in Rumba on the River.]
Fela Kuti - Zombie [honorable mention]
:-) [I think the reputation for this one rests mainly on the title track. The other three tracks don’t come close. In any event, that represents about 25% of the music on here, and it’s on Best Best. I am very ambivalent about this artist, so I think I will just stay with that for now, although I am currently evaluating several of his individual releases (reviews to follow shortly).]
Howlin' Wolf - The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions: 3.5 stars
With Clapton, Winwood, Wyman and Watts, how can this go wrong? I would collect this, but I'm not a blues fanatic, and would have to buy original vinyl for ridiculous prices, a first generation CD transfer, or a 2 CD “deluxe edition” with a bunch of stuff I don’t want. So I’ll pass. [At least 6 listens - reviewed twice by accident.]
Rosanne Cash - Rules of Travel [honorable mention]
:-) [“September When It Comes” (duet with her father) is an outstanding track.]
Duke Ellington - Ellington at Newport: X stars
Another one of these jazz classics that I am unqualified to rate but had to get familiar with.
Parliament - Chocolate City: 7 (B+)
Upped a notch from honorable mention because I've lived here longer than anywhere else, and it grew on me after 4 or 5 listens.
Faith No More - The Real Thing
:-( [Totally with Christgau on this and Angel Dust, with the latter being significantly better than this. Even among those who like this alot, the better part of them think Angel Dust is better. That one goes on the shelf for me.]
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