Greg Smith gsmith@westnet.com
V1.0 4/27/96 Original version
V1.1 5/16/97 Now includes links to the best sites I've found for each artist.
V1.2 Coming one day...albums you'll find here eventually include Marillion: Misplaced Childhood, Planet P Project: Planet P Project, Mr. Mr.: Welcome to the Real World
If you look at what happened during that decade, that really shouldn't be a surprise. As far as I'm concerned, it was somewhere around 1987 that popular music took a nasty turn and became music I didn't listen to anymore. Groups like the Police and Journey, staples of the 80's music scene, were broken up. Whenever I turned on the radio, it was crap like Madonna playing. Surprisingly enough, the post-breakup Pink Floyd released a great album that was very big on the charts for a bit, but it was only so long before that faded into obscurity. I retreated from listening the radio and started collecting CDs instead so that I could have the music I wanted to listen to available when I wanted to hear it.
So nowadays you get music that often doesn't go anywhere unless you've got a good video to go with your songs. Hardly a good state of affairs as far as I'm concerned. Looking back at the decade where all this started, you'll find that there really was a lot of good stuff released in the 80's, masked behind the brunt of the "new wave" music and such that has been lately been hitting the nostalgia scene (you know, with the airheaded teenagers calling each other up asking "have you seen the new way cool 80's collection?"). Just like the 70's had it's dual facets of great rock music and disco, the 80's had a similar schism of good and bad music when you dig into it enough. Not that all that stuff in that other style was totally bad--I'm rather fond of the entire Buggles album, beyond just their Video Killed the Radio Star, for example, but then again they had guys like Trevor Horn working behind their shallow facade.
What I'm trying to give a taste of here is some of the great albums that either you never heard of or you might have forgotten about, but shouldn't have. This isn't a "Greg's favorite 80's albums"; that's too easy, and doesn't do anyone much good. I could tell you, say, how good Rush Moving Pictures is, but everyone knows that already. I could describe the intricacies of Peter Gabriel's So album, but everyone I know already has a copy of that (right next to their copies of Van Halen's 5150 and the Police's Synchronicity). Albums like those may very well be some of my favorites, but if you're the sort of person I'm aiming this at, you already know about all of them.
The wasteland here is the morass of music that made up pop music throughout the decade. Most of it isn't worth remembering above the cheap thrill of hearing some song you haven't heard a million times before but haven't heard in ten years. What I'm digging into here is the obscure, the faded from memory, the albums you might have heard a song or two from that really deserved better then the brief moment of recognition they got. There are a number of my all-time favorites here, some from bands making their career in the 70's but who were still pushing out albums a decade later, some from performers that had one big release and faded into musical oblivion. Let me lead you on this tour of what I like from the decade, you may be surprised at some of the things you'll find. I don't expect to try and keep this list updated or anything in the future--this just captures my state of mind and what I'm in to at the moment.
Whenever possible, I try to list any songs that I recall hearing on the radio or seeing videos for; these references may help blow the cobwebs off the part of your brain that remembers such things. None of that information is verified, it's off the top of my head, just like the rest of this. One of things you'll notice if you work your way through is how many of these albums are linked together by common musicians; I make no apologies for the fact that I have a number of favorite song writers and performers who keep showing up on things I like whether I was expecting them there or not.
Minor hit: Astronomy (the radio version had a cool intro by Stephen King)
Fan home page from boc-l
Everybody knows Blue Oyster Cult; hey, dude, aren't they the Fear the Reaper guys? cool. For most, BOC is a three hit wonder band (besides that one they had Godzilla and Burnin' for you, all part of the obligatory hit trio to keep the casual fans happy when you catch them in concert). Real fans of the band (I've got a complete collection of their regular albums myself) will tell you about all the great songs they did that weren't hits. Some think that it was all downhill for the Oyster boys after their first three albums, that the release of The Reaper on their fourth album would start a decline into producing pop music instead of the harder material they did earlier in the 70's. I happen to like the stuff they did in the 80's as well, it has its moments. Despite all these other arguments about the relative merit of the band's releases, almost all of the fans agree that their last album with the original members intact, Imaginos, is a masterpiece. The way the album was recorded is a bit rough on the ears (compared with anything else the band did, it sounds like somebody had the treble turned up too much) but that's about the only negative things I can say about it.
Imaginos tells the story of Desdinova, also known as Imaginos, born as a puppet of unnatural influences and drawn to rediscover a magic mirror of evil origin hidden in a pyramid in Mexico. Such is the power of the mirror and the forces behind it that dragging it England results in the stirring of forces that cause the outbreak of World War I. The nine songs on the album each tell parts of the story of Desdinova's life, snapshots in time. The liner notes describing the background for the whole thing are a complicated mess (on purpose, I imagine, as part of the "feel" they wanted for the album); the whole Imaginos myth is presented as a horrible rush of events that you can perceive in any and every order. The story is interesting, and pieces of it go back to BOC's second (and, according to the biggest fans, greatest) album Secret Treaties, with two of the songs from that album recreated here. If you listen to it and get a bit confused trying to follow it all (everyone does), makes sure to check out the interpretation of Imaginos found at the boc-l site.
The planning and writing of the whole thing are orchestrated by Albert Bouchard, based on the inspirational storytelling of long-time BOC producer Sandy Pearlman. Bouchard (and his brother Joe) are the part of the band that is missing from BOC in it's current, touring condition, as he currently headlines a band titled the Brain Surgeons. It's a pity, because having listened to the post-Bouchard BOC and to Bouchard's new work, I'm not nearly as fond of either as I am of the albums they created when united.
While the entire story is a nice framework, what really makes this album go is the music. This should be every heavy metal band's dream release, with a huge sound that draws you in. How many albums do you know of that list a "guitar orchestra" on them, with such famous names as Aldo Nova and Joe Satriani as players (and the person you hear most of the time, BOC guitarist Buck Dharma, is certainly no slouch himself). There's only a few relaxed moments on the entire thing, for the most part the album is just continuously building intensity. You'll wear yourself out if you try and keep up playing air guitar along with Imaginos, and what higher recommendation can you give an album then that.
No hit songs anywhere to be found here
Fan home page from Andy Burnett, Ofir Zwebner, Lasse Ødegård.
I'm really mad about this one. Stationary Traveller is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the all time best albums, easily in my top twenty favorites. The reason I'm ticked is that I never got to hear it until 1995! It had been out for over a decade before anyone told me about it. Oh well, if I didn't find a new great album at least once a year I'd stop buying them and move into the old collectors retirement home. Camel is one of those totally obscure "progressive" bands unless you're into that scene; as far as I can tell, you're a progressive band if you occasionally insert long instrumentals into your albums (this litmus test makes groups like Camel, Yes, and the Parsons Project the only progressive bands I listen to, which seems about right). If you are into that scene, Camel's Andrew Latimer is one of the most respected icons of the form, and for good reason. I myself went from never having heard of them to almost every one of their dozen or so albums in a matter of two weeks; every time I picked one up, I liked it so much that I felt compelled to buy more.
Anyway, I found out about Camel from Parsons Project fans, and it's not totally coincidence. Stationary Traveller features the work of Project veterans Dave Paton on bass and Chris Rainbow on vocals; Rainbow in particular adds a range of vocals (a faster, higher style) that Latimer, for all his other talents, was never all that successful at as far as I'm concerned. I love Latimer's voice when he's doing a deep, dark, foreboding sound. Since story on this album, the most successful construction of band lyricist Susan Hoover, revolves around the construction and results of the Berlin Wall, that style of singing is particularly appropriate and powerful; kind of ironic that by the time I heard this one, the wall was gone already.
Camel is rock music done right, from the haunting bass keyboard line that opens the album to the incredible guitar playing that works it way indelibly into your mind. Those interesting in hearing them are in for a bit of a rough time, as there is very little by the band available in regular US releases (their main line of CDs are printed in Germany, have excellent liner notes and good but not great sound quality). If you're looking for a cheap intro, lots of places carry Camel's live album Pressure Points, from the tour in support of Stationary Traveller and therefore having about half the album on it (in great extended versions for some parts, even); I've seen it for under $10 on occasion. Most of the rest of the good stuff is import only, and I'd be glad to offer suggestions and help if you have trouble tracking anything down (I picked all of mine up at the Best Buy chain, which for some reason happens to have most of their imports for a mere $16 or so). Whether you pay $10 or have to pay over $20 for one of the imports, any of the Camel material from this time period won't disappoint.
Minor radio hit: Hot razors in my heart
Fan home pages from David Arnold, Bill Woodward, Randy Bower.
Ask anyone from Baltimore who's into rock music what the best band in the world that never hit it big is and Crack the Sky is the most likely answer. From 1975 to 1980, these guys pumped out four perfect albums: Crack the Sky, Animal Notes, Safety in Numbers, and White Music. Hot razors apparently got a bit of airplay outside Baltimore, but for the most part this remains an unknown band. White Music is their most polarized album from this time period; half the songs are great, straightforward pop-style songs while the other half are, well, a bit strange. You get everything from paranoid love songs to explorations of the decadent Hollywood lifestyle. I've seen reviews comparing them to Steely Dan, and that's a fairly apt description; both feature songs filled with hooks, superb musicians, and just a taste of the esoteric.
White Music is available on a double CD from Lifesong records, with the band's first, self-titled, and arguably best album as well. It will set you back over $20 for them, but I can't think of many better ways you could spend that money.
Monster huge radio hits: (I just) died in your arms tonight, I've been in love before
Fan home page from Tom Gilmore.
These guys are certainly not in the obscure category. I don't think it was possible to live through the 80's without hearing at least one of their songs. Most would be tempted to dismiss them as a one (or two) hit wonder group who deserved to disappear afterward. But when I bought Broadcast just to see how good the rest of the album was, I was amazed; this is really a superb piece of work. The whole thing is a bit of a concept album talking about a radio broadcast, but there's not a real plot or anything to it that I can discern; there's just a number of recurring musical themes woven throughout. The whole album is filled with catchy tunes with solid playing backing them; another thing you'd never know from the radio hits is that there is excellent guitar playing throughout. If you remember liking the songs that were big on the radio, you should pick this up; the rest of Broadcast is just as good. I don't know what happened to songwriter/lead vocalist Nick Von Eede after this album, but I'd certainly like to know about anything else he did that was this good.
Radio hit: Boomtown
I'm working on a fan home page...
"ms cristina drives a 944, satisfaction oozes from her pores"
So begins the title track opening of Boomtown, the sole album released from this combination of David Baerwald and David Ricketts. You can't buy a new 944 nowadays (that particular symbol of mid-80's decadence is no longer manufactured by Porsche), but you can still get the satisfaction of owning this fantastic album.
Boomtown walks a fine line, coaxing songs of angry social commentary into a entertaining mold without degenerating into mere bitter musings. The music itself is replete with catchy hooks that dig their way into your consciousness as you listen. And when you pay attention to the lyrics themselves you find a series of miniature stories, where the characters give snapshots of their lives and the events that led up their current sorry state of affairs. I can't put a finger on exactly why I like this release quite as much as I do, but there's just something about it that rivets my attention from the infectious guitar wailing at the beginning to the fading instruments that close the final song.
These guys apparently split after this release; David Baerwald has gone on to release two solo albums (1990's Bedtime Stories is merely good while 1992's Triage is also a masterpiece) while Ricketts has faded out of my sight.
Radio hit: Hold on Tight (to your dreams)
Fan home pages from Stephen Greenwood, Christopher Landt.
This is the ELO album that gets no respect. Big fans of the band like to talk about how great albums like Eldorado are. Casual fans like playing albums like Face the Music with it's big hit, Evil Woman. Forgotten in their later material is Time, which is usually my favorite of their albums. Sure, there are moment that Jeff Lynne and company sound like they've listened to a bit too much disco before programming their synthesizers in parts, but, hey, how you could avoid it during that time period. Time revolves around a person from 1981 being transported to the year 2095 and their subsequent problems coping with everything in that future life from the daily news to computers falling in love. The story is interesting, and that's what pushes this album over the other ELO albums I have--not only are the songs engaging, they contribute to pushing forward a plot. As is the norm from them, you get to hear a broader range of instruments then just about anyone else you'll find--from unadorned piano to regular old guitars to that trademark ELO violin sound; you even get experiments with early speech synthesis at the beginning as a dated bonus. This is one of those albums that it's easy to get lost in; I often find myself putting it one when I'm having trouble falling asleep because it helps me slip away from the problems I normally deal with and just relax. If that doesn't sound like your sort of thing, then don't bother with this one; I happen to think that most people could use an occasional visit to the future as an escape from today.
Minor radio hit: Touch and Go
Fan home page from John Arnold (sort of; some info on this album is included in his ELP page). and another from Kate & Terry
This is the first entry from the subset of bands I like to refer to as "2/3 ELP and some chump". In this case the chump, Cozy Powell, certainly doesn't deserve that moniker (besides, he's got the right initial to fit the band anyway). I never have understood why these spinoff groups get ignored so much; to my mind, the distillation of ELP usually results in albums that are more song oriented instead of some of the spacey stuff the full complement of famous members ends up going for. For the pop song style of music you'll find here the percussive complications Palmer usually goes through are hardly necessary. In any case, I'm quite fond of this album. There's a whole bevy of catchy keyboard lines in the typical Emerson style that all the songs revolve around, and cool Lake lyrics throughout (who else would choose to complete a rhyme starting with sleep by mentioning watch maker Patek Phillipe). A cover of Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War rounds out the collection. If you like heavily synthesizer based rock music this is about as good as that form gets.
Radio hit: I.G.Y.
An Official Steely Dan is out there, along with ones from fans jgranati, Saint Alphonzo, and probably more if I went looking for them.
There's one particular thrill I get only from collecting music. It comes when you buy something new that you don't think has anything you've ever heard before on it, starting playing it, and suddenly find a song that you haven't heard in so long that you'd forgotten it's existence until hearing it again. There's something unique about the rush you get from the combination of nostalgia along with the joy of rediscovering something that had been lost all compressed into the few opening notes of a song that I can't duplicate any other way.The Nightfly was like that; I bought it on the trailing edge of picking up every Steely Dan album, not really knowing anything that was on it but figuring I'd probably like it. The first track, International Geophysical Year, opens with a series of synthesizer notes that had ingrained themselves deep into my memory over ten years before that moment when I heard them again. I used to love this song when it was on the radio (not knowing at the time who was responsible for it or that the complicated sound required no less then 19 musicians to produce). There's something attractive about the particular vision of the future it gives (and I've known more then one internet resident who has the line from it A just machine to make big decisions, programmed by fellows with compassion and vision line as part of their signature). Most of the album is like that; as the liner notes say, the whole thing is based on the fantasies of the future that occupied Fagen while growing up. Wandering around you'll find a number of women, the Nightfly of the title track hosting a radio station featuring jazz and conversation, even a nuclear shelter community searching for members. And all set on the kind of complicated melody that made Fagen's work in Steely Dan famous (with the usual absolute top-notch session musicians playing all the parts). I wouldn't quite say I like this one as much as, say, Aja, but it certainly deserves more recognition then it gets.
The radio was not kind to Keats
Check out the pages listed for the Alan Parsons Project listed below for the ocasional nugget of info on Keats.
Take one part Alan Parsons Project (Parsons producing, with Ian Bairnson, David Paton, and Stuart Elliot playing). Add a dash of Camel (Pete Bardens) a touch of Zombies (Colin Blunstone). Mix together for 40 minutes, let everyone do some songwriting, and occasionally let Richard Cottle play keyboard or do some cool sax work. That's the recipe for Keats, one of the successful results of the musical cross-pollination between the Project and Camel during the 80's. Let me give you an idea how good this album is: I have had people call me up from as far away as Tennessee after finding out that I had a copy on CD, in hopes that I could help them find one for themselves. It's unknown and difficult to track down, but it's worth it. Keats (named after a restaurant, not the author) is a straightforward pop album written and performed by people usually associated with albums that don't fit that mold (both the Project and Camel have never released an album without at least one instrumental, for example). The songs aren't really about much in particular; there's not much to think about when you're listening, just infectious melodies and memorable choruses (which, now that I think about, describes concisely what most pop musicians are looking for). It would be overstating things to say this was shallow, but it's certainly not deep; what it is, is entertaining.
The best place to pick up Keats is Thoughtscape Sounds (1-800-?). Don't blame me if people you play it for want their own copies. Don't hold me responsible for what you do when you hear the police siren in the middle of the album while playing this in the car, either.
Big radio hits (with video): Silent Running, All I need is a Miracle
Fan home page from Bo Törnberg.
Sometimes I'll buy music because I heard a couple of songs I like from the album on the radio. There's a couple of standard reactions that happen after I do this. The worst is when you find that everything else on it stinks, that the things you liked were just gems in an unpleasant rough (this is usually a sure sign that the band is destined for one-hit wonder status). Occasionally you'll get lucky and find that everything else is just as good. Mike & the Mechanics got the rarest reaction from me, finding that the previously unheard portion was even better then what I had heard on the radio, that those hits were the worst songs on it!
Not that Silent Running and All I need is a Miracle are bad songs, mind you, because they aren't. They're quite good. That gives you an idea how great the rest of this is. Written mostly by famed Genesis musician Mike Rutherford (he's be the Mike of the band's title) and producer Christopher Neil, the songs all sound like instant pop classics without suffering from some of the problems frequently found in that form. And the Mechanics are no slouches themselves. You'll find two of my favorite lead vocalists--Paul Carrack (Ace, Squeeze) and Paul Young (Sad Cafe)--along with an array of eminently competent players. About the only thing some might find as a fault here is that everything is very keyboard heavy, it's usually synthesized music that forms the base the rest of the music is attached to. Something about the songs keep me reeled in, constantly looking forward to every song as seemingly even better then the last. And the recording is very clean as well--I've been known to take this one along as part of my equipment evaluation collection when I go shopping, particularly the subwoofer-busting Par Avion.
If you remembered liking songs off this album when you last heard them, I highly recommend you pick it up so that you too can be pleasantly surprised at how much more you'll find. And if you don't recall ever having heard anything from here, you get even more to look forward to. Only one thing to look out for--just because you like this one, don't bother getting other Mike & the Mechanics albums. Their later releases don't even come close to this one as far as I'm concerned.
Huge radio hit (to this day on those easy listening stations): Eye in the Sky
Fan home pages from Andy Burnett, Wesley Chun, Alistair Young.
Just to be fair, I'll mention my own bias here--the Project is far and away my favorite band, the lead they have from ahead of whoever's in second place is never even close. Eye in the Sky is one of the more approachable albums they have; after all, the title track is extremely well known, and you've probably heard more things off the album and just not known it. For example, the Chicago Bulls use the album's intro, the instrumental Sirius, as the music when they're doing their player introductions. I've frequently heard Mammagamma, another instrumental, as background music on TV shows (Entertainment Tonight in particular is fond of Project instrumentals, I've been told Mr. Tesh is a fan).
The songs you've heard before are a small part of the this terrific album. All of the band members are in top form here, with my favorite lineup of musicians (regulars Ian Bairnson, Dave Paton, and Stuart Elliot joined by Mel Collins for some excellent sax parts). What separates the Project from most groups (besides the terrific songwriting) is the ensemble cast of vocalists singing songs that are perfect for their voice. You've got songwriter Eric Woolfson singing the lighter songs (that's him on the title track) along with David Paton, Chris Rainbow, and Colin Blunstone. And for the faster, harder songs making up most of the second half, you get the guy who's probably my favorite rock vocalist, Lenny Zakatek, along with the mysterious person who goes by the stage name of Elmer Gantry. Count 'em--six great vocalists, ten tracks, 42 minutes of rock music done to perfection. And if you like this one, there's a whole bunch of other Project albums just as good waiting for you (I'd probably pick the other album with hit songs from this era as the next thing to recommend, the 1980 Turn of a Friendly Card, with the popular Games People Play and Time on it).
This gets my highest recommendation. If you pop through this entire listing and are interested but overwhelmed by things you've never heard of, this is where I'd recommend you start.
Big radio hit: Harden my Heart
Fan home page from Robert Weaver.
Any woman who both sings and plays saxophone during a song is all right by me, and I can't think of anyone who fits that bill better then Rindy Ross does on this reasonably obscure album; the opening to Harden my Heart is up there with opening to Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street as most recognizable sax parts to the average person. Quarterflash had their one big radio hit and (as far as I know) faded out of sight. It's a shame, because there's a whole lot more then that one sound on this eponymous release--there's even a guy nobody ever heard on the radio singing vocals on two tracks. For the most part you'll find a typical collection of correct and misguided love songs here, with an occasional twist making them just a bit different (the amusing Valerie features a woman receiving misunderstood advances from another woman at an art school). It's all quite good at getting into your head long after you stop playing it, and I mean that in the best way.
Radio hit: Raised on the Radio (also featured on the soundtrack to Fast Times at Ridgemont High)
Available at http://www.itsaboutmusic.com/ravyns.html. Official site from Kyf Brewer
This used to be at the top of my list of things I was waiting for release on CD of; since I'm usually devoid of LP or tape mechanisms, not having a CD of music I like drives me crazy. I had even worked out an entire scheme whereby I would digitize the LP and cut a CD myself. Before I had finished that plan Ryf records finally saved me by releasing it (with LP hiss and surface noise added, oddly enough, just like I would have gotten via my plan). If that all sounds a bit extreme, that should give you an idea just how much I love this album. The Ravyns were a staple of my listening when I was younger, even though they're little known outside of Baltimore. I've been told that Raised on the Radio (the song) got national play via it's inclusion on the Ridgemont High soundtrack. Apparently it wasn't enough to push the Ravyns into the national fame that they deserve, but such is the fickle buying public.
The Ravyns write rock music in the classic form, with multiple (and excellent) guitar players, intertwined bass guitar and drums, and a keyboard player all overlaid with haunting vocals (all five band members sing along in the background). Most of the songs are fairly typical odes to women, but they are just so well done it's tough to notice that they might be a bit shallow. The title track is a different breed altogether, talking about someone turning into a music fan in a way that resonates strongly with myself (and, from watching the crowd reaction when it's played live, lots of other people too) even if it's simpler and not quite as compelling as some of the other material on the album.
Ravyn Rob Fahey is still quite active around Baltimore, playing around town and writing new stuff (his recent release with new backup band The Pieces, Breaking & Entering, is another fantastic album). He's fantastic to hear live, wandering all around rock history (last time I heard him he did a version of Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs that put poor Robin to shame), showing off the depth of absorbed experience that supports his own work. And don't believe Rob when he's talking about learning to play guitar while everyone else was learning math--he was a math major in college.
Kyf Brewer is also still very active, with a number of solo albums released on the 90's and beyond. I like his 1998 Salvador Deli best of his post-Ravyns work.
Minor radio hit: Showdown at Big Sky
Fan home page from Jan Høiberg
It's good to be Robbie Robertson. See, when you're him, famous from being in The Band for so long, you get all kinds of people stopping by to help out with your solo album. It's not even a couple of minutes into the first song when he's got Peter Gabriel singing along with him. He's got all of U2 as his backup band for two songs (you know you're good when Bono lets you sing lead and he follows along). And on the back end he's got the potent combination of Bob Clearmountain mixing and Bob Ludwig doing the mastering. Now that's all good company to be in when you're trying to put an album together; why, you'd have to be Warren Zevon to get more people then that helping you out. Not that Robbie really needs all that much help, anyway. No matter who else is along what really catches your attention are the incredible vocals he has throughout. As far as I'm concerned, he's never done anything better then this (Band fans will no doubt argue that point, but I remain unconvinced). None of his other solo albums match the incredible intensity that flows through every song on here.
And the recording is impeccable (with the exception of some of the stuff recorded at the U2 mobile unit which leaves a bit to be desired). All the instruments, from the monster drum that rattles everything I own at the beginning to the great guitar sound that has always been his trademark throughout are captured and woven together incredibly well. This is one of those things that is not only enjoyable to listen to, but serves as an excellent test of the equipment you're playing it back on as well. Mobile Fidelity makes a special, top notch mastered version of this available on gold CD for about twice what the regular release costs; their version succeeds in sucking that last little bit of quality out of the master tapes, but the regular release is certainly in no great need of improvement (in fact, until I heard it myself I was somewhat doubtful that it could get any better).
Minor hit (partly because it was the second video ever played on MTV): Time Heals
Todd has got a home page up via his new TR-i identity. Fan pages available from Stratton Constantine Moraites, Roger Linder, Kenny Stevenson.
Healing isn't just another album--it's another world to visit. This concept album about a healer being appointed to ease our burden has a dream-like quality to it when you listen, drawing you inside the story (like Todd says in the second track, "just like stepping in another world"). Out of the dozen plus Rundgren albums I own, this is my favorite, partly because of the cohesive plot that unfolds and partly because the music has such an ethereal quality to it. This is also the best one-man album ever as far as I'm concerned; there's nobody but him to be found anywhere on this release.
The centerpiece to the album is the 19 minute long, 3-part Healing. From the whispered opening inviting you to listen, I find it hard to do anything but that until that part's over and the music segues to the fast-moving Time Heals. There's a mix of songs; besides the lengthier entries, there are a number that could qualify as snappy singles. The humorous Golden Goose describes the media circus that surrounds the arrival of the healer, all set to a hint of a polka beat (nobody every said everything here was orthodox). Everything here is meticulously crafted under the spell of Todd's recording magic--there's a level of layering to the sound that few others can approach. Earlier Rundgren albums like Something/Anything may have more popular singles on them, but Healing has a consistent level of quality throughout that sets it apart--every song is good, and there's no fat to trim away. You get 54 minutes of top-notch music and sound, and you can't ask for much more then that.
Way huge radio hits (with video): Money$ too tight (to mention), Holding back the years
There's an official band site.
One of my favorite things that happen to me when buying music is when you go buy and album because there's a couple of songs you hear that you like, and when you listen to the entire thing you find they aren't even the best songs on it. Picture Book was like that for me; it's not quite as surprising when you find out that Money$ too tight wasn't written by the regular band members like most of the rest was. I was always fond of the hits off the album, fond enough to pick up a copy when I found it cheap one day. Some of the songs you don't normally hear easily eclipse any of them. The album opens with the fast moving Come to My Aid and just keeps going; it slows down in parts, but it never stops being involving. I'm particularly fond of Jericho, with it's huge, incredibly relaxing bass line, captured in excellent form with the terrific recording. I was never fond of much else these guys did after this first album, but that's OK--there's tons of bands that would love to make even one album as good as Picture Book, and I'm just glad to have this one.
Radio hits: In the Dark, The Stroke, My Kinda Lover, Lonely is the Night
Billy Squier is on-line with an official page.
Most times, when you listen to an album, there is a song or two that don't seem to fit in with the rest. Maybe they aren't quite as good as the rest, maybe they just seem too different. Don't Say No is not that kind of album; the whole thing just flows perfectly from song to song. This second solo album from the songwriter/singer/guitar playing Billy Squier opens with the driving melody of In the Dark and just keeps moving along. Yeah, it's ten tracks add up to less then 40 minutes of music, but it's all quality stuff. I find it difficult to listen to the entire things without feeling obligated to sing along in parts--it's that kind of album. Now, to some, things might be just a bit too consistent--all the songs do sound very similar (you know, in the same way all of Boston's songs are obviously of similar origin). But I'm not complaining; I happen to really like the proto-song everything here is derived from. My opinion is that the only thing here worth getting upset about is the recording (somebody was riding the treble a bit hard on the console), although you do get a rare fade-in to a song for the title track. Later albums from Squier and company were a bit disappointing in comparison, but you really can't expect the poor guy to have many more great songs left in him after putting so many on Don't Say No.
Almost nobody heard of this album, either
You can look for ELP info, but also check out Robert Berry's official page.
Those guys in ELP will never learn--when releasing albums with portions of the band, make sure the include the names of the usual members so fans know who you are (otherwise, you end up in the cutout bin like I found this one). This album would be more appropriately Emerson, Berry, and Palmer. Filling Greg Lake's shoes in the vocal and songwriting categories is a pretty tall order, but Robert Berry is up to it. OK, so almost everything sounds like a pop single, and the cover of Eight Miles High is a little hokey; so what? To the power of Three is a compact 38 minutes of hook after hook, some in typical 2/3 ELP style while others are all Berry. The interplay between Emerson's keyboards and Palmer's percussion is at a level of fast intensity throughout that regular ELP albums never seem to get to (although Berry's guitar tends to get lost in the shuffle a bit). Both of the first two tracks, Talkin' Bout and Lover to Lover, deserved to be big radio hits, but by 1988 the top-40 climate was adverse to anything this good. Don't make the same mistake the radio listening public did--get a copy of this album, and if you like it pick up Berry's solo album Pilgrimidge to a Point as well afterward (check his home page for info).
There are a billion Pink Floyd pages out there, but fan Bill Jost has the best stuff on Waters' solo work
I distinctly remember the first time I heard a song off this album. I was distraught with the breakup of Pink Floyd, and feared that the respective albums from each part of the original band would not live up to what I had come to expect from the original. So I was watching one of those late night video shows (Friday Night Videos? I watched those 'cause I didn't have MTV) and the video for Radio Waves came on. I listened, the strange video spun by, and I was very disappointed with the whole thing. Looking back, I guess it was just because it was different from what I was expecting. In any case, I've certainly gotten over it; as far as I'm concerned, Radio K.A.O.S. may not quite be a Dark Side of the Moon or a Wish You Were Here, but it's still a terrific album. There are neat bits by some of my other favorite musicians here; Mel Collins (Camel, Alan Parsons Project) does some cool saxophone work throughout, while vocalist Paul Carrack (Ace, Squeeze, Mike and the Mechanics) helps make the song he sings on, The Powers that Be, my favorite on the album. Every time I hear Carrack come in for his part on that song I wander into that most special of musically induced states, goosebump territory.
The songs off here don't make quite the same impression as singles, anyway. Part of what's cool about this album is the way the story line progresses. I listened to the whole thing several times trying to figure out exactly what was going on before someone showed me the liner notes that give the background to make everything coherent. There's a bunch more here then just a series of songs; there's a story on the dangers of technological progress whose implications go beyond the music itself. And it does it without crossing that fine line where instead of being entertaining the music just becomes a vehicle for the musician to give their lessons on the world to listeners; I find Waters' later Amused to Death to be a bit too far across that line, and far less enjoyable because of it. Radio K.A.O.S. never forgets that it's supposed to be an exciting rock album first and a not source for object lessons .
I put this one in the same category as the post-Waters Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason. Neither one grabs you with the same immediate hold that the better of Floyd's albums do, but if you pay a bit of attention there's plenty to like.
Radio? Maybe some college radio stations, but nothing the general public hears.
Fan home pages available from John Relph, Kirk and Shari Duke.
Most people at one point have a roommate with different tastes in music then themselves. The worst I ever had was this one weird guy I lived with for a summer while taking some classes whose favorite band was the Severed Heads (you know the type, he didn't own anything that wasn't black and you never knew what he was going to get pierced next). Another person I lived with for over a year was the most maddening; while we had a number of common musical interests (Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Elvis Costello, and some others) the bulk of each of our collections were quite disturbing to the other. Being generally stubborn, neither of us gave much on any of these. XTC's Skylarking was his only successful effort to get me interested in something he loved that I didn't like at first listen. This one grew on me quite a bit; there's some catchy bits that hooked their way into my brain without really holding for years. All of the sudden one day it went from being a album that I merely tolerated to something that I liked quite a bit. I still don't like most of the rest of the stuff from the group very much (Skylarking was done under the intrusive production of Todd Rundgren and benefits from his influence by my view), but this release has a number of moments that I find quite compelling. In particular, I'm very fond of the combination of Ballet for a rainy day/1000 Umbrellas; usually fond enough that I find myself echoing the singer's cry of Misery by the end--not many albums that can get me caught up enough to be singing along about being miserable. The production and recording work throughout is excellent, there are some of the smoothest transitions between songs you'll ever hear (there are a number of tracks that I never realized were separate until I looked at the liner notes and figured out where the break was).
You may not ever live with someone who tries to get you listening to XTC, but for those who like myself who could never find something to buy for their collection to file under the letter X, you won't find anything better then this.
Sifting through the wasteland is copyright 1996 Gregory Smith; in the slim chance you should want to reprint something I said here, please contact me for approval first and make me feel important. Back to Greg's home page