"National Lampoon's Animal House" (OST) (1978)

National Lampoon's Animal House (OST) (soundtrack) (compilation)
release date: Jul. 28, 1978
format: vinyl (reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Kenny Vance
label: MCA Records - nationality: USA

Soundtrack album to the comedy film "National Lampoon's Animal House", or just: "Animal House" (1978) directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi.

Elvis Costello "This Year's Model" (1978)

org. cover

This Year's Model
release date: Mar. 17, 1978
format: vinyl / cd (1993 remaster Extended Play)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,38]
producer: Nick Lowe
label: Smash / Demon Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "No Action" - 2. "This Year's Girl" - 4. "Pump It Up" - 5. "Little Triggers" - 8. "(I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea" (live on later 2002) - 9. "Lip Service" (live) - 11. "Lipstick Vogue" - 12. "Night Rally"

2nd studio album by Elvis Costello released only eight months after his debut is like that produced by Nick Lowe and it was originally released by the newly-founded Radar Records. It follows closely the recipe of his first attempt, but it also adds more than just another layer to his repertoire. This is the first time Costello is backed by The Attractions consisting of bassist Bruce Thomas, Steve Nieve on piano and organ, and Pete Thomas on drums. The trio was founded by Costello in the fall of '77 as backing group for his live performances. The '93 Extended Play remaster series on Demon (issued by Rykodisc in the US) contains six bonus tracks including "Radio Radio", which had only been released as a standalone single, though included on the US version of the album.
The album was my first acquisition with Costello, and I think of it as one of his absolute best. He has written all songs on the album and compared to the highly original debut this is simply more of the same, and more on top of that. It has that certain Costello sneer-at-conformity, which made it perfect in a music world of punk rock rebelling against 'the old world', but it wasn't really - and Costello never was punk. His music shared the energy and simplicity with punk, but it was something else, which would soon be known as new wave - and that style was a broad term. Something that later would also come to describe Costello's early albums is power pop. A term I never quite understood as it's mostly used to categorise a particular form of energetic rock that is anything else than what people usually think of when speaking of pop music. Calling it power new wave or just something else would be better than using the term pop, which I guess all artists of new wave was rebelling against. Anyway, with This Year's Model Costello was on everyone's lips. Lyrically, the songs are witty and intelligent songwriting and at the same time, the music itself is so powerful and uniquely composed.
The album was met by critical acclaim and time has only stressed its importance as one the best British albums ever produced. It's naturally enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and in 2000, Q magazine placed the album at number 82 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 11 in 1987 on its list of the best albums of the period 1967-1987, and in 2003, the album was ranked number 98 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Rolling Stone, Uncut 5 / 5 stars ]

Alternate '78
vinyl cover on
Smash Records

 

US vinyl cover
on Columbia
Records

. . .

"I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver
when the switch broke as it's old
They're saying things that I can hardly believe
they really thinking we're getting outta control

Radio - is the sound salvation
Radio - is cleaning up the nation
They say you better listen to the voice of reason
But they don't give you any choice
'cause they think that it's treason
So you had better do as you're told
You better listen to the radio."

. . .

The Clash "Black Market Clash" (1980)

Black Market Clash (compilation)
release date: Nov. 1980
format: vinyl (12EXP-304) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,07]
producer: Mickey Foote; The Clash; Mickey Dread
label: Epic Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Capital Radio One" (4 / 5) - 2. "The Prisoner" (4 / 5) - 3. "Pressure Drop" (5 / 5) (alt. version) - 4. "Cheat" (4 / 5) - 5. "City of the Dead" (5 / 5) - 6. "Time Is Tight" (3 / 5) - - B) 1. "Bankrobber / Robber Dub" (4 / 5) - 2. "Armagideon Time" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Justice Tonight / Kick It Over" (4 / 5)

Compilation album by The Clash only for the North American market issued by Epic Records (sub-label of CBS Records). Most of the tracks had been issued as B-sides to single releases for the UK and European market only. The decision to release it only one month before the band's third studio album, the triple lp Sandinista!, may seem a bit strange, but that release was postponed until Jan. 1981 on the American continent, and Black Market Clash wasn't released in Europe until 1991. I found the 12'' vinyl at my local record store (the first US issues were 10'' vinyl), as an import item back in 1983 or '84. At first, I thought of it as a non-official release, as no-one really new of it. Back then, The Clash was huge, although Sandinista! was a bit of a peculiar experience / development in sound. I remember that I was quite fond of this one, and primarily saw it as an album that linked the epic London Calling (1979) and Sandinista! rather nicely.
Over the years, I have come to appreciate it even more. In the early '80s, I had some difficulty in getting along with reggae and many punk rock and ska revival artists' honouring and trying out the genre. A lot of punk and new wave artists had to do some reggae track sooner or later, and often with little success. But The Clash didn't just try it, they combined, mixed, and altered the original Jamaican style into a new blend. Actually, many of the new ska revival bands played a British version that was close to rocksteady and Jamaican ska, but The Clash was more reggae-minded in a more experimental way using dub in nearly all their reggae inspired tracks. "Pressure Drop" is originally by Toots & The Maytals but The Clash completely changed the track into a more energetic punk rock AND reggae song, which is amazing. The original song IS really great, and it's only a mystery how Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert never was hailed as much as Bob Marley. Joe Strummer's vocal is characteristically crisp as ever, and the harmonic Strummer / Jones backing vocals are just top-notch together with tight but also reggae styled guitar, bass and drums. Half of the tracks are in the reggae dub category, and the other half is punk rock as in 'Best The Clash way possible'. The album was reissued as "Super Black Market Clash" (1993) with 21 tracks but that issue seems way to uneven, and some of the best tracks from the original release are strangely omitted.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item ]

Etta James "Losers Weepers" (1971)

2011 cover
Kent Soul

Losers Weepers
release date: 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" - 5. "Losers Weepers" - 6. "Weepers" - 9. "For All We Know"

10th studio album by Etta James released on Cadet Records (formerly Argo Records), produced by Ralph Bass. The original album is an 11-track release, but it comes as a 2011 cd version with 11 bonus tracks, released on the Kent Records sublabel Kent Soul. Despite Etta was a serious heroin addict by the early 1970s, she really performs very well here.

org. '71 cover
Cadet Records