U2 "Boy" (1980)

Boy [debut]
release date: Oct. 20, 1980
format: vinyl (ILPS 9646) / cd (reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,15]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Island Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: A) 1. "I Will Follow" (5 / 5) - 2. "An Cat Dubh" - 5. "Out of Control" (4 / 5) - - B) 3. "A Day Without Me" - 5. "The Electric Co." (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by Irish quartet U2 consisting of Bono (aka Paul Hewson) on lead vocals, The Edge (aka David Evans) on guitar & backing vocals, Adam Clayton on bass guitar, and with Larry Mullen Jr. (aka Lawrence Joseph Mullen Jr.) on drums.
It's a mighty fine and promising release that immediately caught everyone's attention and really signalled something other than many new acts playing new wave, gothic rock post-punk, or art rock. The album was the first of three consecutive albums to be produced by Steve Lillywhite. Although, I heard and listened to the album it wasn't my first acquisition by the band but I bought the album around '83 just after acquiring first War (1983), and then October (1981).
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Blur "The Great Escape" (1995)

The Great Escape
release date: Sep. 11, 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Stephen Street
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stereotypes" - 2. "Country House" - 4. "Charmless Man" - 7. "The Universal" (4 / 5) - 10. "It Could Be You" - 12. "Globe Alone" - 15. "Yuko and Hiro"

4th studio album by Blur originally released on Food Records and produced by Stephen Street is much of the continued journey from Parklife (1995) with a lighter version of britpop, although, they keep to their stylistic output from Modern Life.. with elements of punk rock bits here and there, and in this it's found on "Globe Alone". I don't find the album as consistently good as Parklife, but it's more than just Okay with a few great tracks and some fillers.
Like its predecessor it entered the UK albums chart list as number #1, and it launched the band's first number #1 single hit with the song "Country House".
[ allmusic.com, NME 4,5 / 5, The Guardian 4 / 5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

The Cure "A Forest" (1980) (single)

FICS 10

A Forest, 7'' single
release date: Apr. 5, 1980
format: vinyl (FICS 10)
[single rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]
producer: Mike Hedges, Robert Smith
label: Fiction Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "A Forest" (5 / 5) - - B) "Another Journey by Train"

7'' single by The Cure from the forthcoming album Seventeen Seconds. The A-side is one of the band's most famous tracks. The B-side is an instrumental that was not included on the original studio album but may be found on the 2005 Deluxe Edition (Bonus Disc).
Unfortunately, my purchased item is without cover and was sold with a white paper sleeve.

The Cure "Boys Don't Cry" (1980)

PVC 7916

Boys Don't Cry
release date: Feb. 1980
format: vinyl (PVC7916) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Chris Parry
label: PVC Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Boys Don't Cry" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Plastic Passion" - 3. "10:15 Saturday Night" (4 / 5) - 4. "Accuracy" - 5. "So What?" - 6. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" (4 / 5) - 7. "Subway Song" - 8. "Killing an Arab" (4 / 5) - 9. "Fire in Cairo" - 10. "Another Day" - 11. "Grinding Halt" (4 / 5) - 12. "Three Imaginary Boys"

Alternate studio debut album by The Cure, which is a bit hard to determine as some simply regard it a compilation album. When one has the original debut album, it's hard to see this as just a different version despite the fact that they share eight tracks in common but this one has an additional four tracks included whilst five are omitted from the original debut, and the added tracks have all been released as singles. It also seems awkward to release a 'new' studio album only three months before the release of the band's sophomore studio album, but fact is, the original studio debut had not been released on the American or Australian market, so they decided to put together an alternate version with the inclusion of some single releases with fine reviews that had not been included on the debut. AND because of this considerable change in the tracklist, they also provided the album with a new title and cover. Anyway, the vinyl version that I bought is an American import released on the American label PVC Records under license of Polydor Records (owner of Fiction), but the album was entirely released by Fiction Records for the European market on a later occasion. I always liked this release more than the band's debut because of the immediate fast hit singles on this. The track "Killing an Arab" led to some controversy as critics had the band associated with the far right, and for racial discrimination, however, Robert Smith silenced the media and critics by revealing the song's reference to the Albert Camus novel "The Stranger".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item - from ~ €50,- ]

U2

~ ~ ~

U2: was formed Sep. 1976, in Dublin, Ireland.
Band members: Bono (aka Paul David Hewson [birth name], aka Bono Vox) (vocals, guitar, harmonica, synthesizer, piano), The Edge (aka David Howell Evans [birth name]) (guitar, vocals, piano, keyboards, bass, synthesizer), Adam Clayton (aka Adam Charles Clayton [birth name]) (bass, guitar, keyboards), Larry Mullen, Jr. (aka Lawrence Joseph Mullen [birthname]) (drums, percussion, backing vocals).
U2 was perhaps my favorite band of the mid 80s. It's not a band I listen to very often but I recognize their importance, although they have declined considerably after the early 1990s.

~ ~ ~

St. Vincent "Actor" (2009)

Actor
release date: May 5, 2009
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: John Congleton, Annie Clark
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "The Strangers" - 2. "Save Me From What I Want" - 4. "Actor Out Of Work" - 6. "Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood" - 7. "Marrow"

2nd studio album by St. Vincent released on the mother-label of Beggars Banquet, 4AD Records. As on her debut Clark plays many instruments herself with the contribution of brass and string players as well as various drummers.
The style is not all that different from her debut. It's still very chamber pop-styled, although, I think that the biggest difference here is that this was recorded using classic instrumentation instead of synths and drum programming, despite the resulting effect is hard to determine.
This may likely be more of a whole, looking at the overall style and sound with tracks reflecting much of the same starting point, but I do like the debut and some of her later works better simply by being less confined in their expressions. It's not that it's entirely bad but when confronted with St. Vincent I just expect that extra spice that doesn't just read laid-back attitude and with the exception of "Actor Out of Work" and "Marrow" is exactly what I find all over this one.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine, NME 3 / 5 stars ]

BEST OF 1963:The Beatles "Please Please Me" (1963)

Please Please Me [debut]
release date: Mar. 22, 1963
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5]

Track highlights: A) 1. "I Saw Her Standing There" - 5. "Boys" - 6. "Ask Me Why" - 7. "Please Please Me" - - B) 1. "Love Me Do" - 2. "P.S. I Love You" - 4. "Do You Want to Know a Secret" - 6. "There's a Place" - 7. "Twist and Shout"

Studio album debut by The Beatles released on Parlophone Records and produced by George Martin. This was where the legend took off, and in my mind, the Beatles were best in the early years. The orginal album contains 14 tracks of which Lennon / McCartney wrote 8. Some point to the fact that The Fab Four was nothing but a copy or covers band as many of their hits were written by others. Well, that was much more common back then, as most major pop standards and rock & roll artists did the exact same thing. The only cover song on the album, which most people connect with The Beatles is "Twist and Shout". Besides that it is their own songs that really positions the album at the top of that years list.

1963 Favourite releases: 1. The Beatles Please Please Me - 2. Charles Mingus The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - 3. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Heat Wave

BEST OF 1973:Pink Floyd "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973)

The Dark Side of the Moon
release date: Mar. 24, 1973
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5]
producer: Pink Floyd
label: Harvest (org. release); EMI (2011 remaster) - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Speak to Me" - 2. "Breathe" - 3. "On the Run" - 4. "Time" - 5. "The Great Gig in the Sky" - 6. "Money" - 7. "Us and Them" - 8. "Any Colour You Like" - 9. "Brain Damage" - 10. "Eclipse"

8th studio album by Pink Floyd. The album was already under way in the early 70s after recording Meddle (1971) and the soundtrack album Obscured by Clouds (1972) and apparently began with the ideas for and an initial version of the track "Eclipse", which closes the album, a song the band had been playing at live concerts. The album is different. Actually, it's just that, 'cause it sounds like nothing else, and that's also its biggest strength. It's a concept album in the way that it has a founding idea behind it, which is to deal with things in life that bothered the band members at the time when things became difficult while working with Syd Barrett. These things were identified as 'time, money, madness, death'. The album contains great tracks like "Breathe", "On the Run", "Time" and "Money", but the greatest thing about the album is the album itself. I remember listening to pieces of it as a kid in the mid and late 70s, and I also recall how out-of-this-world the album felt like. It fascinated and interested like no other album. It has been reissued, remastered, reproduced, and repackaged a zillion times or more, and it's one of the best selling albums ever made (in the US it's the second best selling album, and #8 in the UK). Naturally, it's in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Today I find that the album still has an appeal, which is quite outstanding. The cover art was made by (George Hardie) at Hipgnosis.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone Album Guide, Sputnikmusic, The Daily Telegraph 5 / 5 stars ]

1973 Favourite releases: 1. Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon - 2. Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - 3. John Cale Paris 1919

Ryuichi Sakamoto "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" (OST) (1983)

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (OST) (soundtrack)
release date: May 1, 1983
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
label: London Records - nationality: Japan

Track highlights: 1. "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" - 19. "Forbidden Colours" (feat. David Sylvian)

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto for the movie directed by Nagisa Ôshima, starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Takeshi Kitano, AND Ryuichi Sakamoto from '83. The international fame of the movie also brought much attention to its soundtrack composer, and the title track has become a modern classical composition. Most of the tracks are a mixture of traditional Japanese music, modern classical, and experimental art pop and synthpop.
"Forbidden Colours" features Sakamoto's friend and former Japan (the band) vocalist, David Sylvian in one of only a few compositions with lyrics written by Sakamoto, who won the BAFTA Award for best film music in 1983 for the soundtrack.
I enjoy the above two tracks but the album as such is a difficult one, as its primary strength is to underline the action of the film, and therefore becomes no less than a piece of avant-garde or modern classical missing the dimension of images.

The album has been released with various front covers.

   

   

   

   

   

Tom Waits

~ ~ ~

Tom Waits (birth name: Thomas Alan Waits; Dec. 7, 1949, Pomona, CA, USA; married to musician Kathleen Brennan).
My first experience with the music of Tom Waits was perhaps when I realised the song "Jersey Girl" wasn't a song by Bruce Springsteen, although he made a fine version of it on his Live/1975-85 5 lp box from 1986. Around 1987 or '88, I heard Frank's Wild Years (1987), which I kinda liked, although I found it... 'strange'. I then bought the album Swordfishtrombones (1983) upon hearing "In the Neighborhood" and "16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought-Six", and it literally opened up a new world of music for me, and made me dig into his older stuff, which I didn't like as much, at the time, but I enjoyed Heartattack and Vine (1980) on which you may find "Jersey Girl" - and I must say, Bruce: you do it well... but the original with Tom is simply better. In 1991, Jim Jarmusch made the wonderful movie Night on Earth featuring the amazing Roberto Benigni, and Jarmusch had Tom Waits making a likewise astonishing soundtrack, which I immediately bought after watching the film. That album is... essential. It's not only a wonderful soundtrack, it's also one of those rare soundtracks you can actually listen to without watching the movie. Waits then went on and did the appraised Bone Machine (1992) and The Black Rider (1993), and I didn't like any of the two, so once again, I turned to his older stuff, and this time I found it a wonderful discovery. I think, I went backwards, album by album, until finding his debut album, which is just another jewel in music history. Although, I rate it really high, I think his 5 best albums ever are Small Change (1976), Heartattack and Vine, Swordfishtrombones, Night on Earth, and Bad as Me (2011). Having said that, he has made a dozen or so albums that I rate 4 or above.

~ ~ ~

"Life in the European Theatre" (1981) (live)

Life in the European Theatre (live) (compilation)
release date: 1981
format: vinyl (58412)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: WEA - nationality: England, UK

Compilation of various British 'punk rock' artists from live recording collected against nuclear arms and power. From the album notes: "Half of the recording artists royalties from this album go into a fund for projects opposing nuclear arms and power, allocated by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Anti Nuclear Campaign, Friends of the Earth and the European Nuclear Disarmament who are working with contributing artists. The other half of the recording artists royalties go direct to those four campaigns".

Jocelyn Pook "Flood" (1999)

Jocelyn Pook
Flood (1999)

[track is featured in "Eyes Wide Shut" by Stanley Kubrick]

"Masked Ball (1999 Extended Mix)"

.  .  .

.  .

. 

Sort Sol "Dagger & Guitar" (1983)

Dagger & Guitar
release date: Nov. 1983
format: vinyl ('first pressing' - MdLP 6163) / cd (1997 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]
producer: Chris Butler
label: Medley Records - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "Abyss" (live) - 2. "White Shirt" - 3. "Excalibur" - 4. "Boy-Girl" (feat. Lydia Lunch) - 5. "Boy in the Fire" - 6. "Off Morning" - 7. "Written Story" - 8. "Stuck to My Gun" (3 / 5) - 9. "Framelding" - 10. "As She Weeps" (feat. Lydia Lunch)

3rd studio album by Sort Sol is released nearly 3½ years after the band's sophomore album, Under en sort sol (1980) - during that time, the band changed its name from Sods to Sort Sol without replacing any band members, so to speak of a debut is not easily defended, although, this is the first studio release by the band Sort Sol.
At the time, it was hard to understand the change of name but it makes a lot of sense. The name Sods is narrowly associated with the punk rock scene. However musically, Dagger & Guitar is just a mere progression from their second album. In fact, stylistically, this has so much more in common with its predecessor made more than three years earlier than the first two albums as Sods share with one another, although being only separated by a single year.
Dagger & Guitar is a strange album, though. It has both sweet, nice, harmonic acoustically-driven music as well as experimental art punk tracks, lingering like music of the past, and mildly suggesting very different intentions. After listening to this, you had absolutely no idea of what to expect from the band next. Back then, I would probably have rated this higher - it hasn't aged well though, and mostly quite clearly showcases the band's indecisiveness about musical direction.
The '97 re-issue is extended with four bonus tracks, which is equal to the 12'' single version of "Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town" from 1985. It consist of cover versions including "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by Bob Crowe and Bob Gaudio, and the title song by Mel Tillis, which became a small radio hit by Sort Sol.

[ collectors' item - 'vg+' 1st pressing - from ~ €40,- ]

      

1997
bonus reissue

1985
12'' single

XTC "Drums and Wires" (1979)

Drums and Wires
release date: Aug. 17, 1979
format: cd (2014 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Virgin Records / Ape House - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Making Plans for Nigel" - 2. "Helicopter" - 3. "Day in Day Out" - 4. "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty" (4 / 5) - 5. "Ten Feet Tall" - 6. "Roads Girdle the Globe" - 7. "Real by Reel" (4 / 5) - 8. "Millions" - 9. "That Is the Way" - 10. "Outside World" (4,5 / 5) - 11. "Scissor Man" - 12. "Complicated Game" (4,5 / 5) - *15. "Life Begins at the Hop" (4 / 5)
[ full album playlist ]
*Bonus track on various releases from 1979, as well as on 2014 remaster

3rd studio album by XTC released on Virgin and produced by Steve Lillywhite. The original vinyl release contains 12 tracks - whereas the 2014 cd remaster disc 1 contains 18 tracks. After having released the band's second album Go 2, keyboardist Barry Andrews left the band (to join Robert Fripp in The League of Gentlemen and a year was part of the new-founded Shriekback) and he was subsequently replaced by guitarist Dave Gregory, which naturally makes this album a rather different release. Together with the debut, this is one of XTC's finest collections of songs showing that the band already belongs to other styles and genres than only punk rock or mere post-punk. Where Go 2 was highly experimental post-punk and 'zolo', this is a slight move into melody-based songwriting with new wave written all over the place, but also with a twist of something else... maybe art rock? Anyway, it's clearly new wave with inspiration from ska and reggae, but also from jazz rock and progressive rock. XTC is a very rare band in the sense that they can release a collection of songs like these that are perfectly in family with both classic pop melodies of a Lennon / McCartney British songwriter school, and at the same time also in family with new wave art-rockers like Talking Heads and Devo, in family with more pure punk rock bands like The Damned and Sex Pistols, AND still capable in keeping the tracks closely related! That may sound quite impossible or irrational. Nevertheless, XTC makes it happen right here.
This album is one of my absolute favourites of the late '70s, and it's still an album that has something to offer and quite frankly hasn't dated much.
The album has been reissued a number of times. "Life Begins at the Hop" was not included on the very first issue, but quickly found its way to early pressings of the album, as its also a single release from just before the original album release. Together with other single releases from around '79 this is one of the album's true highlights, imho.
Drums and Wires was re-released in 2014 as part of 'The Surround Sound Series' in a highly expanded two-disc version consisting of a cd with a new mix of the original album (crafted by Steven Wilson] with an additional 6 bonus tracks, and a blue-ray disc consisting of 99 [!] tracks, a handful of live recordings and 2 videos. Anyway, Drums and Wires is a must-have in any decent collection of new wave albums.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

**The 6 bonus tracks on 2014 remaster include: 13. "Chain Of Command", A-side single org. rel. Aug. 17, 1979, 14. "Limelight", B-side single org. rel. Aug. 17, 1979, 15. "Life Begins At The Hop", A-side single org. rel. May 4, 1979, 16. "Homo Safari", B-side single org. rel. May 4, 1979, 17. "Ten Feet Tall (Electric Version)", B-side single org. rel. Mar 14, 1980, 18. "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down", A-side single org. rel. Mar, 14, 1980.

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~
"Outside World"

"She has six swans singing in her sauna
So she can't hear what's going on
No she can't hear what's going on
In the outside world
In the outside world
In the outside
Bad black and white men
Standing in their pigpen
Selling guns to simpletons
To shoot 'em in the abdomen
And she's not interested in that
And she's not interested in that
She has six swans singing in her sauna
Outside - world - outside

She has eleven lions laughing at her lakeside
So she can't hear what's going on
No she can't hear what's going on
In the outside world
In the outside world
In the outside
Bad brown and yellow men
Splitting on their fellow men
Drape her in a newspaper
And stab her with a poison pen
She's not interested in that
She's not interested in that
She has eleven lions laughing at her lakeside
Outside - world - outside

You can keep your animals
All the noise and the din
Just make a little space for me
I'm coming in"

~ ~ ~
"Life Begins At The Hop"

"I have learnt there's a magical spot at the hop
Come with me to the church on the corner the hop
There's nuts and there's crisps and there's c-c-c-cola on tap
A good time had by those boys and those girls at the hop

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, boys and girls

Prepare yourself for the boys in the band at the hop
The cheap guitars, they're too young for the bars at the hop
We'll jive around, make fools of ourselves 'til they stop
We're back next week with another ridiculous tie knot

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, boys and girls

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, boys and girls

I have learnt there's a magical spot at the hop
Come with me to the church on the corner the hop
There's nuts and crisps and there's c-c-c-cola on tap
A good time had by those boys and those girls at the hop

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, la la la la la la la
Life begins at the hop, la la la la la la la
Life begins at the hop, la la la la la la la la la la la
boys and girls
~ ~ ~

Lou Reed "Rock n Roll Animal" (1974) (live)

Rock n Roll Animal (live)
release date: Feb. 1974
format: digital (2000 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,33]
producer: Steve Katz, Lou Reed
label: RCA Records (org.) / BMG (reissue) - nationality: USA

1st solo live album by Lou Reed featuring four original Lou Reed compositions written for The Velvet Underground.

R.E.M. "Reckoning" (1984)

vinyl cover

Reckoning
release date: Apr. 16, 1984
format: vinyl (1987 - ILP 465379 1) / cd (1992 - The I.R.S. Years Vintage 1984)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,74]
producer: Don Dixon and Mitch Easter
label: I.R.S. Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Harborcoat" (4,5 / 5) (live 1984) - 2. "7 Chinese Brothers" (4 / 5) - 3. "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" (4 / 5) (live on Letterman) - 4. "Pretty Persuasion" - 5. "Time After Time (Annelise)" (4 / 5) - 6. "Second Guessing" - 7. "Letter Never Sent" - 8. "Camera" - 9. "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Little America"
Bonus tracks on 1992 extended edition: 11. "Wind Out (with friends)" (live recording) - 12. "Pretty Persuasion (live in studio)" - 13. "White Tornado (live in studio)" - 14. "Tighten Up" (live recording) - 15. "Moon River" (live recording, 1983)

2nd studio album by R.E.M. released on I.R.S. is like the debut produced by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter.
This was the first album, I ever listened to with the band. I stumbled upon it at the local library, which used to be my main source to a lot of new music. I remember enjoying the first track very much but generally found the rest a bit strange, yet interesting. I was simply too young. I had the album on cassette for 10 years or so, before buying the album - a 1987 reissue of the original vinyl album. However, at this point not many were familiar with the band, and 10 years after its release I came to understand why critics praised the album. Compared to the debut album, and despite the fact that both albums were produced by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter, the production is way better on this one, but it's more a matter of stylistic progression than just bettering the production side. The debut bore much of 1960s art rock whereas this takes the band further into their personal style. At the time of its release I would have given it max. 3 / 5, today I'm close to handing it 4 stars.
The 1992 'The I.R.S. Years Vintage 1984' cd reissue contains an additional 5 bonus tracks. Several reissue editions exist, and in 2009 I.R.S. released its 25 Anniversary Edition - as the label has done with all former R.E.M. albums on the label - a 2-disc remastered version containing the original album as disc 1 and a full live recording as disc 2.
[ allmusic.com, Pitchford Media, Drowned in Music 5 /5 ]

1992 bonus
tracks reissue

Pixies "Come on Pilgrim" (1987) (ep)

Come on Pilgrim, ep
release date: Sep. 1987
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Gary Smith
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: A) 1. "Caribou" - 2. "Vamos" - 3. "Isla de Encanta" - 4. "Ed Is Dead" - - B) 1. "The Holiday Song" - 2. "Nimrod's Son" - 3. "I've Been Tired" - 4. "Levitate Me"

8 track album debut of Pixies. The ep was released on 4AD Records in 1987 but already a year later when the debut album Surfer Rosa came out, a new bonus edition was released, which includes both the ep and the debut on one cd (as a reissue of Surfer Rosa). The band consists of Black Francis [aka Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, his actual birth name! aka Black Francis, and later when he went solo: Frank Black] on guitar and lead vocals, Joey Santiago on lead guitar, Kim Deal on bass and vocals, and David Lovering playing drums. They signed with British independent record label 4AD and released this as remixes from a demo tape. Although the 8 tracks had been hand-picked from their demo recordings it's really a variety of their trademarks. It features songs in Spanish, songs with nice harmonies and electrifying noise rock outbursts, and in that respect also demonstrates a powerful but varied potential.
I bought the extended cd version of Surfer Rosa but never really saw it as a huge benefit as the tracks from the ep follow right after the debut, which makes it a bland experience. I prefer keeping things apart. The ep is like a drawing sketch or a rough stone, whereas the debut has a certain and much more distinct direction, and they're also produced in different ways, but still it's nice to hear this raw and not so well-produced short album as an initial state with less direction.

Van Morrison "T.B. Sheets" (1973)

T.B. Sheets (compilation)
release date: Dec. 1973
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]
producer: Bert Berns
label: Bellaphon Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 4. "Madame George" - 8. "Brown Eyed Girl"

Compilation album by Van Morrison is like the debut Blowing Your Mind originally released by Bert Berns on Bang Records without Morrison's knowledge or consent. The album contains eight tracks of which one half are taken from the debut album - the remaining tracks from Van's time with Them and early recordings of two tracks appearing on Astral Weeks. The production is credited Berns himself but it really is far from good.
The album has been labelled as unauthorised but is all the same enlisted on Morrison's own official website.
This is really not recommended for any other than completionists.

Madder Rose "Panic On" (1994)

Panic On
release date: Mar. 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Madder Rose and Mark Freegard
label: Atlantic Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sleep Forver" - 3. "Panic On" (4 / 5) - 5. "Almost Lost My Mind" - 6. "Drop a Bomb" - 7. "Ultra Anxiety (Teenage Style)" (live) - 9. "Day in, Day Out" - 12. "Black Eye Town" - 13. "When You Smile"

2nd studio album by Madder Rose. Like so many other artists, Madder Rose play alt. rock with a grunge rock feel in the early 1990s. Their style is not on the rough side of alt. rock but it has a more melody-based touch and a power pop element, which at times perhaps comes close to dream pop.
This was the band's best album bettering the debut Bring It Down (1993), and it's likewise clearly better than their third album Tragic Magic (1997), which made me lose my interest for the band; however, this is surely worth more than a listen.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

The Jam "The Gift" (1982)

The Gift
release date: Mar. 12, 1982
format: vinyl (2383 636) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Peter Wilson
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 1. "Happy Together" (4 / 5) - 2. "Ghosts" (4 / 5) - 3. "Precious" (4 / 5) - 4. "Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?" (4 / 5) - 5. "Trans-Global Express" - - B) 1. "Running on the Spot" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Circus" - 3. "The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong" (4 / 5) - 5. "Town Called Malice" (4 / 5)

6th and final studio album by The Jam released on Polydor and produced by Peter Wilson. The album shows a new style of more soul-oriented music with horn sections, jazz pop, and acoustic guitar. It's still mod revival and new wave but with tons of soul.
The album was a mere disappointment when it was released. The Jam was associated with fast, punk rock-driven 3-chords music and an easy but strong chorus, and then this!? An album with neo-soul r&b funk and blue-eyed pop soul!?
"Town Called Malice" was the hit single of the album topping the singles chart list in the UK, and also "Running on the Spot" was a major success. Despite being the first and only album by the band to reach number #1 on the UK albums chart list, The Gift wasn't reviewed as their strongest. In retrospect, I think, the album is much stronger, and I rate it almost on par with the predecessor Sound Affects (1981).

B.B. King "B.B. King in London" (1971)

B.B. King in London
release date: 1971
format: vinyl (1982 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,82]
producer: Ed Michel and Joe Zagarino
label: MCA Records - nationality: USA

19th studio album by B.B. King is an album with King and his backing band playing with a team of British all-stars originally released by ABC Records in America and its sublabel, Probe Records in the UK.
From allmusic.com - review by Bill Dahl: "The plodding rhythms laid down by a coterie of British rock stars for this set make one long for B.B. King's road-tested regular band. But it was the fashion in 1971 to dispatch American blues legends to London to record mediocre LPs with alleged rock royalty (the lineup here includes Ringo Starr, Peter Green, Alexis Korner, and Klaus Voorman)".
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" (1975)

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [debut]
release date: Aug. 5, 1975
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]
producer: Ritchie Blackmore, Martin Birch, Ronnie James Dio
label: Oyster / Polydor - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Man on the Silver Mountain" - 3. "Black Sheep of the Family" - 5. "Snake Charmer" - 7. "If You Don't Like Rock 'n' Roll" - 8. "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"

Studio album debut by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - later shortened to Rainbow. Blackmore had only just left Deep Purple to record a single, "Black Sheep of the Family" (a cover of a Quatermass song) and "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" with various musicians including Ronnie James Dio whom Blackmore had heard in the band Elf. The solo single then evolved to a project-band and this full-length album where Blackmore and Dio composed seven tracks together.
Stylistically, it's hard rock and heavy metal based on blues rock and much in a combo of how Deep Purple sounded on In Rock from 1970 and primary styles of Elf, who had played a gentler kind of hard rock, boogie rock, and glam rock. On the album, Rainbow is credited in the following order: Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals, Gary Driscoll on drums, Craig Gruber on bass and Micky Lee Soule on piano, mellotron, clavinet and organ.
It's nice and solid blues rock where the obvious strengths are Blackmore's skills as instrumentalist and Ronnie James Dio as vocalist.
I have always felt that the album lacked great songs; however, it's better than what Blackmore's former band, Deep Purple produced after his leave.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, SputnikMusic 5 / 5 stars ]

Pixies Live at SWU 2010 (Complete Show)

Great live performance after the band's re-union.
It's quite impressive to hear them play so tight and with such energy many years after the first disbandment.

Warm Guns "Instant Schlager" (1980)

Instant Schlager [debut]
release date: May 1980
format: vinyl (9198 686) / cd (1996 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,46]
producer: Robert Hauschildt, Warm Guns
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Back in the 80's" - 2. "The Young Go First" - 4. "Welcome in the CIA" - 5. "Under My Skin" - 6. "She's a Go-Go-Getter" - 8. "Rip Off" - 12. "So What?" (4 / 5)

Full studio album debut by Warm Guns originally released on Vertigo. Here the band credited consists of Lars Muhl on vocals & keyboards, Lars Hybel on guitar & bass, Jacob Perbøll on guitar & bass, and with Jens G. Nielsen on drums, which means that Per Møller has left the band (to play with Anne Linnet Band), and instead Perbøll and Hybel both play either guitar or bass. Lars Henriksen produced track #2, "The Young Goes First", which was the bands first real Scandinavian hit, although, I don't find it among their best songs. Apparently, the band had recorded some tracks in Denmark and sent these to the record label in England where they then went to finish the album, however, Vertigo didn't find it straight enough, so to speak [perhaps meaning: stylistically unclear], to make an international release of it. I think, the band had the potential, but were too close to Costello, Joe Jackson and not enough... something else. The band plays very fine, the songs are original compositions, but they were somehow put in a limbo in between genres and styles. I found it rather great back then and listening to it today, I find it difficult to understand why they never were big, or at least an international commonly known name. Yes, Muhl has a strange English intonation, and the band builds on Costello, Jackson, Springsteen and others - perhaps bits of Blondie and The Police, but who didn't back then? However, what they do really fine is to play energetic well-composed new wave songs with great enthusiasm.

Pixies

~ ~ ~

Pixies was formed in 1986 (Boston, MA, USA) and split in 1993. The band was better credited after releasing four albums and after its disbandment. Although, the critics always loved them, the audience and records buyers were small in number. However, many artists have mentioned the band as a big source of inspiration and their aftermath has put them on a pedestal, also, their albums have had fine sales in the late '90s and in the new millennium, and (maybe) as a consequence of that the band reunited in 2004. I think the first song I heard with the band was "Monkey Gone to Heaven". I simply loved the song and still find it refreshing and truly beautiful.
The band split after their last real studio release. Black Francis went solo as Frank Black, continuing his 'detour' into experimental noise rock and alt. country - I never got that, whereas Kim Deal had more success in forming The Breeders with her sister Kelley among others, making very interesting alternative, indie, garage rock. Actually, they formed in 1990 and had a huge success with their second album and highly recommendable Last Splash (1993). Somehow Pixies actually peaked after their split. My guess is that their music simply was too strange and unpredictable for many at the time when they released it. Several compilation albums received good sales, and their renowned status may have had some importance in Pixies re-union for live performances in the new millennium, and with great success. Maybe they're still playing the good old stuff somewhere.

~ ~ ~

My own Pixies collection of vinyl and cd albums (1987-1991)

~ ~ ~

Frank Zappa / The Mothers of Invention "We're Only in It for the Money" (1968)

We're Only in It for the Money
release date: Mar. 1968
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Are You Hung Up?" - 2. "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" - 3. "Concentration Moon" - 9. "Absolutely Free" - 10. "Flower Punk" - 12. "Nasal Rententive Calliope Music" - 19. "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny"

The Mothers of Invention release. Back to musique concrete, or almost industrial, despite the style wasn't called that, and you can also tell from where Pink Floyd got their inspiration. This is hilarious and intelligent music, and also known as a satire on The Beatles and their Sgt. Pepper... album (just watch the German cover here). "Eh, are you hung-up?... Strung-up!... Outta sight, yeah!". Preceding The Orb and their "Fluffy Little Clouds", you know.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

German cover
with reference
to The Beatles

Lou Reed "Berlin" (1973)

Berlin
release date: Oct. 1973
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,78]
producer: Bob Ezrin
label: RCA Records - nationality: USA

3rd studio album by Lou Reed is a huge turn to... something else. The album wasn't met with positive reviews at the time of its release, but time has put it way up on most critics' best of lists of albums representing the all time best rock albums in history. As more of a rock opera, the album is a difficult first listen, and I didn't appreciate it until my fifth or seventh listen. The album is like one long story about two lovers hard times with drugs, crime and violence, and it doesn't contain ordinary pop songs or hit singles, and it's the story itself more than the music which makes the album interesting. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Stiff Little Fingers "Nobody's Heroes" (1980)

Nobody's Heroes
release date: Mar. 7, 1980
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,94]
producer: Doug Bennett
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Gotta Gettaway" (4,5 / 5) (live at Rockpalast) - 2. "Wait and See" (5 / 5) - 3. "Fly the Flag" (4 / 5) - 4. "At the Edge" - 5. "Nobody's Hero" (5 / 5) - 7. "Doesn't Make It All Right" - 10. "Tin Soldiers" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album by Stiff Little Fingers is like the debut produced by Bennett but now the band has moved on to a major label, Chrysalis. The line-up has changed since the debut, which had been noticed in London, and the band decided to move to the capital - only drummer Brian Faloon wouldn't take part of that and he was therefore replaced with Jim Reilly. Stylistically, the band continues in more or less the same style as they showcased on the tight debut - only major difference here is that the songs are composed with stronger variety. On the debut album they included a cover of a Bob Marley song, and here they continue this tradition by including a track by ska revival band The Specials, "Doesn't Make It All Right" - and as they would go on and do on the following two studio albums, they really make an effort in making these covers songs of their own by making completely new arrangements.
The band was one of my absolute favourites as a teenager. SLF had a huge crowd of fans but basically failed to satisfy the critics. The biggest reason is of course that they started playing punk rock as it already had been declared dead. It's not that SLF copied the most well-known punk rock bands - they had their own characteristic style somewhere between hardcore punk and melodic hard rock, maybe as a clone somewhere between Ramones, The Jam and The Undertones (also from Northern Ireland) - as all bands in their initial punk rock tone were rich on melody as well as fierce energy. As SLF already played hard rock when the punk rock movement kicked in - and as contrary to most of other punk bands - they were able to add hints of old school hard rock like Thin Lizzy, and Deep Purple and then they simply weren't interested in playing post-punk like everyone else at the time. Nevertheless, SLF was my favourite British punk rock band all thanks to their first four albums (including one great live album) from 1979-82. Critics may point to their out-of-time style but they weren't just hitting off with 3-chords and simple compositions. Comparing their music to that of the initial punk rock wave (Ramones, The Damned, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Saints, Television) it's striking how good instrumentalists SLF were. In this regard they're more like The Stranglers, who had also changed from old-school rock styles to punk rock. I remember watching the German Rockpalast live concert transmitted on TV, in Nov. 1980 playing the same night as The Jam. I was 15 and that transmission was literally the highlight of the year.
Nobody's Heroes is the defining album for SLF. Back then it was also my preferred album, when forced to pick one - in retrospect however, Go for It (1981) is their best, I think.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]