Various - Reggae Dance Party: 7 (B+)

# [multi-artist comp]

Sylvester - Stars: 7 (B+)

# [r&b]

War - Greatest Hits: 9.5 (high A)

War - Deliver the Word: 7 (B+)

 

#r&b

War - All Day Music: 7 (B+)

#r&b

The Fall - Hip Priest and Kamerads: 7 (B+)

I have all studio tracks except "Look, Know." #miscarticles

Bruce Cockburn - Anything Anytime Anywhere: Singles 1979-2002: 7.5 (high B+)

#bestof

Blossom Dearie - Blossom Dearie Sings: 7 (B+)

#popvocals

The Cult - Electric

:-|

Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed: 7 (B+)

Upped from "liked" after fifth play three years later. I guess it was slightly ahead of me. Still #experimental, but I've got it in my cart due to general regard.

Apollo Brown and Philmore Greene - Cost of Living: neutral

:-|

T. Rex - T. Rex [honorable mention]

:-)

Gregg Allman - Laid Back [honorable mention]

:-)

Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens - Music Inferno: 7 (B+)

#mbaqanga/live

Freedy Johnston - Back on the Road to You: 7.5 (high B+)

Coulson, Dean, McGuiness, Flint - Lo & Behold: 8 (A-)

I originally had this at 7.5 (high B+) and #covers but ended up with a vinyl copy for some reason. Presumably that means I begrudgingly consider it an 8 (A-). Maybe I was swayed by Christgau's continued support for it at full A. Update (September 2026): I just found a CD version of this on my final listen shelf, so I guess I have it in two formats. I'll put the vinyl in the sell pile.

Tom Robinson - North by Northwest: 8 (A-)

Pretty sure I once owned this on vinyl and sold it back, which was probably a mistake. It was reissued on unremastered first generation CD transfer, which I normally don't buy, but in this case, it's such an early CD transfer (1987), and I found it for $10 shipped, so went for it. Kind of like an antique. The remastered version has some bonus tracks I don't want, and was 50% more, so I skipped that.

Joy Division - Still: 7.5 (high B+)

Originally released as a vinyl double album in 1981, this was problematic from the start. The first album was necessary outtakes and other studio material, but the second album was a completely unnecessary live set. This original version was later reissued on CD as a first generation CD transfer, which I normally avoid. Then it was re-rereleased as a 2CD set, with the original double album on the first CD, and a second CD with a further unnecessary live set. I'm not buying a padded outtake album in used vinyl, when it was reissued on CD, not buying the reissued CD because it's not remastered, and not buying the bloated 2-CD version. In this case, the outtakes disc is good enough that I was tempted to just buy the original CD version, but it's selling used for more than the bloated 2-CD set sells new. Ridiculous. I did find a like-new original CD selling for a reasonable price, but of course it's a cut-out, so the price is actually not that reasonable. Bottom line: I'll stick with the two studio albums and Substance.

p.s., I was tempted to manufacture a single CD of the first album of the original release, with the studio material. That would be, leaving off the live "Sister Ray" and the tracks that are on Substance ("Glass" and "Dead Souls"). But what's the point of that anymore, especially for seven outtakes? Note also that Christgau and Hull didn't even review the release. Update (November 2025): I was buying something for a great price online, but there was a minimum order requirement, and I decided to finally get the reissued CD after all because I saw if for a fantastic price, which I probably would have paid on its own anyway, and so now I have a copy (as well as a copy of the 2CD re-release, somehow!).

Anti-Choc - Anti-Choc: 7.5 (high B+)

The Bongos - Drums Along the Hudson: 7.5 (high B+)

Kabaka International Guitar Band - Kabaka International Guitar Band: 7.5 (high B+)

This is a digital-only re-release of the below. Both are marked as "Led by G. Kabaka Opara." The first two of the four tracks of this were on the other Opara release on Original Music I have already reviewed.

Tom Robinson Band - batch review

Evaluated and shelved Power in the Darkness and TRB Two on vinyl decades before starting this blog. Not sure whether I would put them at 7.5 (high B+) or 8 (A-). I also own Robinson's solo comp The Collection 1977-87 on CD.

Jon Langford - batch review

I shelved all the following albums long before starting this blog, which means that I considered them 7 (B+) or higher. I feel fairly certain that I didn't consider any of them higher than 8 (A-), especially since I think Here Be Monsters (credited to Jon Langford & Skull Orchard) is his best "solo" work, and I put that at 8.5 (high A-). So, these are all either 7 (B+) or 7.5 (high B+) or 8 (A-). I'm not going to take the time to grade them individually now, but if I ever give any of these another listen in the future, I will specify the grade in a separate entry and pull them off this list.

     Jon Langford - Skull Orchard

     Jon Langford - All the Fame of Lofty Deeds

     Jon Langford and His Sadies - Mayors of the Moon
     The Pine Valley Cosmonauts - The Executioner's Last Songs
     Waco Brothers - Cowboy in Flames
     Waco Brothers - Wacoworld
     Waco Brothers - Electric Waco Chair

Also, I will give the following Waco Brothers albums three listens at some point, as they each received an A- from Hull, even though Christgau, whose ears I trust more with Langford, didn't like them at the B+ or above level.

To the Last Dead Cowboy [Hull changed to B+ in Rolling Stone album guide]

Freedom and Weep

Hull also graded at A- the The Pine Valley Cosmonauts' Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills. I put this lower on the listen list, because I don't consider PVC so much of a Langford project. In that vein, and, as a final note, Hull also graded A- the album PVC did with Roger Knox (on which Langford presumably plays and sings). It was called Stranger in My Land. At present, this is on a single listen list.

Waco Brothers - Going Down in History: 7.5 (high B+)

Jon Langford, of course

Joy Division - An Ideal for Living [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

I have this on Substance but wanted to rate it separately given its high profile.