The Gun Club "Fire of Love" (1981)

org. cover

Fire of Love [debut]
release date: Aug. 31, 1981
format: cd (2000 remaster)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Chris Desjardins, Tito Larriva
label: Last Call Records (re-issue) - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sex Beat" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Preaching the Blues" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Promise Me" - 4. "She's Like Heroin to Me" - 5. "For The Love of Ivy" - 7. "Ghost on the Highway" - 11. "Goodbye Johnny"

Studio debut album by L.A. post-punk band The Gun Club consisting of songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Rob Ritter on bass, Ward Dotson on guitars and slide, and with Terry Graham on drums. The band changed members throughout its 16 year lifespan. Lee Pierce is almost synonymous with The Gun Club, as he was the only lasting member through various formations of the band, however, these were the four members at the time of the recordings for this album. The Gun Club plays an energetic form of post-punk with a clear garage rock influence, which comes out as rockabilly, psychobilly, and what some would call punk blues. I guess, at the time of the release another label would have been art punk. The mix of styles puts the band in family with another legendary band, New York-based The Cramps. The album has aged, but it really was something else in 1981, when most bands of the punk scene, either played post-punk as art punk, no wave, gothic rock, or psychobilly, but this is quite original with its inclusion of blues rock and garage rock in an up-tempo and melodic way, although Pierce was influenced by the relatively new style of no wave. The band and Jeffrey Lee Pierce has been source of inspiration for many artists including Danish Sods / Sort Sol, Thin White Rope, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and in modern days: The White Stripes. From the early 1980s, I recall, a rather well-known record store in mid-town Copenhagen, who had taken its name from this album's first track: Sex Beat Records.
It's not all great but I really like the singing voice of Jeffrey Lee Pierce, which consists of both an uncertain craziness and a disturbing fragility, and then I'm quite pleased with the garage rock sound on most of the tracks - an element they [or: he] maintained on all albums by the band. Sometimes, however, the band tend to play with too much psychobilly, at least on this album, which make me think of The Cramps. The album is somehow the only by The Gun Club to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Personally, I don't find it among the band's 3 best.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Uncut Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

2000 remaster

U2 "Pop" (1997)

Pop
release date: Mar. 4, 1997
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,38]
producer: Flood (Mark Ellis), Howie B, Steve Osborne
label: Island Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlight(s): 1. "Discotheque"

9th studio album by U2, this time produced by Flood, Howie B, and Steve Osborne. How amazing it is that they were able to do worse than Zooropa (Jul. 1993) [!]. And they spent almost four full years finding new material after the highly acclaimed Achtung Baby. The track "Discotheque" is good, not great, and cannot save the overall impression of a band who seems to have no ideas left. Money comes tumbling their way no matter what they do or say. People who paid money for this should be offered an excuse and a refund.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, 👎Rolling Stone 4 / 5 - 👍Robert Christgau calls it "poor" and he's so right ]

U2 "Zooropa" (1993)

Zooropa
release date: Jul. 5, 1993
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,55]
producer: Flood (Mark Ellis), Brian Eno, The Edge
label: Island Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 4. "Lemon" - 5. "Stay (Faraway, So Close)" (4,5 / 5)

8th studio album by U2, who holds on to Eno but still has made changes in the production team for the follow-up to their acclaimed '91 album. Where Achtung Baby introduced a new sound, they seem eager to take the next step from that by utilising programming as a main tool as contrary to the classic rock instrumentation of Rattle and Hum (1988). Stylistically, it may not be far from the '91 release but musically it shows a band trapped in its own success, and what seems defining for this album is that they apparently have lost control of musical direction.
At the time of the release, I rated this their worst album ever. Little did I know that the band could do even worse later on. They really try to make the right follow-up but also succeed far from it. The distance from great to really poor is noticeable on the album. The only really great track is "Stay (Faraway, So Close)" (from Wim Wenders homonymous movie) but together with the fine "Lemon" these two compositions drown in a collection of strange and / or poorly written and arranged tracks. From here on, the band initiate a rather negative tradition, which means that every new album comes with only one or two (at maximum: 3) great tracks. The rest of the songs are somehow fillers and / or detachments, or maybe they think they found that 'golden recipe': 'we make one fine single and release it with a bunch of unfinished outtakes and we have a new album'.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

U2 "Achtung Baby" (1991)

Achtung Baby
release date: Nov. 19, 1991
format: vinyl (212 110) / 2 cd (2011 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,25]
producer: Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois
label: Island Records - nationality: Ireland

7th studio album by U2 is a return to the collaboration work with the producer-duo Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Three years' work pays off with this conceptual album. U2 always was a near conceptual band but this is form and content matter in artistic synergy.
The resulting sound of this modern classic simply changes the sound of everything that follows in the early '90s. However, it's also the final really great U2 album, imho. It's really difficult to pin out the best tracks, as it only contains one mediocre song ("Love Is Blindness") - the rest is solid gold. The album was really a huge improvement from Rattle and Hum (1988), and again they did what they had done in 1984 with The Unforgettable Fire (1984) as they altered the music scene with something highly original. The album also signals the end of an era, and after this they have never again been close to this artistic level, and to me this is their swan song. The album is naturally enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine 5 / 5, 👍Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Peter Murphy "Holy Smoke" (1992)

Holy Smoke

release date: Apr. 14, 1992

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: Mike Thorne, Peter Murphy

label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Keep Me From Harm" - 3. "You're so Close" (4 / 5) - 4. "The Sweetest Drop" - 5. "Low Room" - 8. "Dream Gone By"

4th studio album by Peter Murphy follows a little more than two years after Deep (Dec. 1989) and sees Murphy and 'old' post-punk producer Mike Hedges co-produce this collection of ten new songs with one half written and composed by Murphy and keyboardist and composer Paul Statham. Murphy is exclusively credited tracks #2, #6, and #7. The album feature former UK Decay bassist Eddie Branch (aka Twiggy) and guitarist Peter Bonas (of Locust and Zen Attack), Mike Thorn on keyboards, and with drummer Terl Bryant.

Holy Smoke is generally mostly a bit of a revisit to a stronger gothic rock influence with bits of glam and equal parts of pop scattered here and there. Some songs are with distinct guitar riffs filling the foundation as more obvious electric rockers ("You're so Close", "Low Room", "Dream Gone By"), and then others take on a more polished tone with a certain influence from funk rock. Again, an influence from Iggy Pop is evident on a few tracks, I especially hear this on "Low Room". Two songs exclusively credited Murphy, mostly sound like outtakes from other albums - "Let Me Love You" could have been included on the final album by Bauhaus and "Secret Garden" share some of the more experimental traits as the songs on his debut. I'm not quite sure what to think of Murphy's "Kill the Hate" (track #2), as he's not a skilled instrumentalist, then how do you compose music with distinct guitar riffs, bass, keyboard, and drums, which all sound unmistakably as an Iggy Pop-paraphrase?

Holy Smoke is not a poor fourth, although critics didn't welcome it as a great new outing. The album was promoted with the following text: “You can’t pin down HOLY SMOKE, it curls and eddies in white and blue swirls, drawing a series of patterns on the brain, but just when an image begins to come into focus, the music mutates into something hypnotically new” [taken from the original press release, source: Peter Murphy's bandcamp site], and that's probably not far from the truth, as it sometimes takes you this way, and when you think you know where it goes, it has jumped in another direction! Some would claim it's incoherent, and it's not his best, but also, not his worst. A few songs definitely lift the album but it's also an uneven journey with several fillers. So, all in all, I'd say 'a decent one, Mr. Murphy. Perhaps, try just a little harder'. Front cover is credited Anton Corbijn.

[ 👎allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Mark Knopfler "Local Hero" (OST) (1983)

Local Hero (OST) (soundtrack) [debut]
release date: Mar. 1983
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Mark Knopfler
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Wild Theme" -3. "Freeway Flyer" - 5. "The Way It Always Starts" (feat. Gerry Rafferty) - 14. "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero"
[ full album ]

Solo debut album by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for a movie written and directed by Bill Forsyth.
The album is a difficult one to review being a soundtrack with many instrumental compositions and tracks of short playing time. It naturally displays Knopfler's 'signature' finger-picking guitar, music very similar too long progressive elements on Love Over Gold (1982) - the most recent Dire Straits album.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Pearl Jam "No Code" (1996)

No Code
release date: Aug. 27, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,66]
producer: Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam
label: Epic Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 4. "In My Tree" (3 / 5) - 5. "Smile" (3 / 5)

4th studio album by Pearl Jam and the third consecutive album produced with O'Brien. Although, it contains up-tempo tracks it turns out much more subdued than the angry and aggressive predecessor Vitalogy (1994), and the result is perhaps the least grunge rock-styled album by Pearl Jam with a distinct singer / songwriter profile.
The album sold quite well and also ended up on top of the national albums chart list but wasn't received as one of the band's better releases.
I don't find it interesting, and honestly think of it as a bit on the dull side as it hardly contains any memorable tracks.
I find it mediocre and cannot recommend it.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Lars H.U.G. "Blidt over dig" (1992)

Blidt over dig
release date: May 25, 1992
format: vinyl (MdLP 6430) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Kim G. Rasmussen, Lars H.U.G.
label: Medley Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Natsværmer" - 2. "? Er lykken så lunefuld" (4 / 5) - 3. "Zombie" - 6. "Blidt over dig" - 10. "Tæller dig ned / Itzi bitsi" (hidden track)

4th studio album by Lars H.U.G. is both the more natural follow-up to his '87 album Kysser himlen farvel but also a continued fascination for classic Danish popular ballads / standards with a cover of "Hvorfor er lykken så lunefuld", which would become one of his biggest national hits. The album is co-produced by Kåre Bjerkø, Hilmer Hassig, Rene Cambony, and Finn Verwohlt, and it feature the backing band The Zombies consisting of Kåre Bjerkø, Stephan Grabowski, Hilmer Hassig, Flemming Muus, and Finn Verwohlt - the backbone who also participated on his two previous studio albums. The cd issue also includes the non-listed 'hidden track' cover of "Itzi bitsi" (originally by Steppeulvene).
Alongside his musical career, Lars H.U.G. has been working as a painter, and after his third solo album, and more dedicated following this release, he concentrated more on his visual art and would not release another studio album for another four years. On Medley Records, however, he released his first best of album G.R.E.A.T.E.S.T. in 1993.

Lars H.U.G. "Kopy" (1989)

Kopy
release date: 1989
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Finn Verwohlt, Himer Hassig, Lars H.U.G.
label: Medley Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Dansevise" - 2. "Så længe jeg lever" - 3. "Skibet skal sejle i nat" - 4. "Sæsonen er slut" - 5. "Kvinde min" - 6. "Rose" - 8. "Når lygterne tændes"

3rd studio album by Lars Hug - from here on known as Lars H.U.G. (his own abbreviation from Hugh Uno Grammy). The album consists of H.U.G.'s cover versions of various Danish standards / classic ballads and reflects a rather different style of interest, but is nevertheless a fine example of his strong vocal and harmonic capacities. The album feature many guest artists and a core of preferred musicians consisting of Hilmer Hassig on guitar, Kåre Bjerkø on keyboards, Flemming Muus on bass, and Stephan Grabowski on drums appear on most of the tracks. It's his best selling album to date. After his success with Kysser himlen farvel (1987), Hug was nominated and won several national prizes, which he didn't really officially appreciate much. He had taken a critical position towards the whole music industry, and he often ridiculed award shows and the general appreciation process in many ways. For a period of time he performed under various aliases (e.g. Lars Who? & The Copies) to obscure his identity, performing playing cover versions instead of his own material, and it may be from these experiences that he decided to release an album of covers, which isn't meant as a joke but more as his sincere admiration for other national songwriters.

The Radio Dept. "Lesser Matters" (2003)

Lesser Matters [debut]
release date: Feb. 24, 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Johan Duncanson, Martin Larsson
label: Labrador - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Where Damage Isn't Already Done" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "Keen on Boys" - 4. "Why Won't You Talk About It?" (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "It's Been Eight Years" - 6. "Bus" - 7. "Slottet #2" - 9. "Against the Tide" - 13. "Lost and Found"
[ full album ]

Studio album debut by Swedish band The Radio Dept. released on Labrador Records and produced by Johan Duncanson and Martin Larsson of the band. At this early point of their career the band consists of the band's main songwriter Johan Duncansson on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards, Martin Larsson also on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Lisa Carlberg on bass and piano, and with Per Blomgren on drums. The majority of the tracks are written solely by Johansson, excluding three tracks co-written with Larsson, and the two also produced the album.
The style is indie pop / dream pop with traces of noise pop and with inspiration from bands like Felt and My Bloody Valentine. The album's release was almost unnoticed but has gained much recognition in the aftermath. On this their first attempt, the sound is somewhat unpolished, intentionally demo-like lo-fi with heavy reverb and distortion on both guitar and vocal. Several tracks stand out but it's also their most incoherent album as tracks point in various directions making it more of a sketching of greatness.
Recommended as the band's second best album, imho.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, NME, Drowned in Sound 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Paul Weller "Heavy Soul" (1997)

Heavy Soul
release date: Jun. 23, 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,33]
producer: Paul Weller, Brendan Lynch
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Heavy Soul (Part 1)" - 2. "Peacock Suit" - 6. "I Should Have Been There to Inspire You" (live on Later) - 8. "Friday Street" (live) - 12. "Mermaids" (live)

4th studio album by Paul Weller is not as tight as his two previous albums. It's more relaxed in funky, bluesy and / or soulful ways. There's some fine songwriting, lyrically, I just don't like the sound and resulting tone. There's too much 'jam-session' in it for my taste. In its most mediocre places it's like Weller jamming with Keith Richards and James Brown at the same time, and that would most likely be a dream come true for a lot of fans. I just do not like that. To me it's a bit like The Style Council rendezvous when they were most unorganised, and to me it's also a bit like the natural follow-up to his solo debut only less poignant.
[ allmusic.com hands it 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Lou Reed & John Cale "Songs for Drella" (1990)

Songs for Drella
release date: Apr. 24, 1990
format: vinyl (7599-26140-1) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Lou Reed and John Cale
label: Sire Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 3. "Style It Takes" (live) - 4. "Work" - 6. "Starlight" - 7. "Faces and Names" (live) - 10. "It Wasn't Me" (live) - 11. "I Believe" (live) - 15. "Hello It's Me" (live)

Collaboration album by Lou Reed and John Cale released in memory of Andy Warhol (who passed away Feb. 1987), and who also went by the moniker 'Drella'. The collaboration work of the two is their first since 1968.
The album is a fine collection of narratives - some strange and experimental, others more straight-forward pop / rock-styled but all with focus on lyrical content. Warhol's funeral had brought the two back together and for a period of time, 4-5 years, in which they (actually) managed to work together. The Velvet Underground were even brought back to life with Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker, but eventually, around 1993, they once again decided - never ever - to work with one another again. Anyway, this is a fine and very interesting album.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

[ collectors' item ]

Greene "Lovers' Lingo" (1994)

Lovers' Lingo

release date: Apr. 18, 1994

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,33]

producer: Troels Bech

label: Cloudland - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Being With Someone" (live) - 2. "Introducing Love to a Cynic" (live) - 3. "Lovers' Lingo" - 7. "Venus in Furs" - 9. "Can't Find Myself"

2nd studio album by Greene and the follow-up to Teenage Museum (May 1992) is Greene in a slightly changed line-up making it a quintet with lead vocalist Peter H. Olesen, acoustic guitarist Henrik Olesen, lead guitarist Marco de Andreis, and with Flemming Borby on drums and organ. New member here is Henrik Duus on electric & acoustic guitar, who only features on this album. Aside from that also John Krog Hansen (from The Poets, here replacing Kim Borreby) is credited on bass - he would be official member after the release. All songs are credited Olesen / Olesen except track #1 with additional music by Jens Unmack and track #7, a cover of Lou Reed's "Venus in Furs".

Musically, the band has turned down on its post-punk roots and embraced more melodic and harmony-based indie pop with room for ballads, holding on to a more subdued jangle pop sound.

I recall being quite happy for this album when it was released but also found it with apparent inspiration from The Sound / Adrian Borland and not so much the Go-Betweens / Aztec Camera sound they demonstrated on the debut, but over the years, I don't see it as the strong follow-up, I initially embraced back then. It still has its moments - mostly in terms of reflecting better arrangements and for being better produced - but as original music it stands a bit with the one foot in following The Sound and the other wanting to follow Lou Reed and ends up being a bit indecisive. Also, when looking back at the band's discography - counting three full-length studio albums, Lovers' Lingo appears their weakest moment.

Adrian Borland "Harmony & Destruction (The Unfinished Journey)" (2002)

Harmony & Destruction (The Unfinished Journey)
release date: Apr. 26, 2002
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,80]
producer: Marcus Bell
label: Red Sun Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Solar" - 2. "Angel Sulk" - 3. "Forever From Here" (4 / 5) - 4. "Scrapyard" (5 / 5) - 6. "Summer Wheels" (5 / 5) - 8. "Get Me a Witness" - 10. "Heart Goes Down Like the Sun" - 11. "Land Meets Ocean" - 12. "Song Damn Song" - 14. "Living on the Edge of God" (4 / 5)

6th studio album by Adrian Borland released posthumously. Adrian was in the finishing phase of the album when he committed suicide. He had left detailed notes on how each song should be produced, so the music could live on. It is a fine last chapter, as it contains his strengths: the energetic compositions and the slow beautiful ballads. I simply love a track like "Scrapyard" - it has a typical Borland melancholy, builds up slowly, and then explodes with his great distorted guitar. A wonderful singer and a gifted musician who didn't experience the appraisal his music rightfully deserves.

[ Documentary trailer ]

Ebba Grön "Live" (1998) (live)

Live (live)
release date: Apr. 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Ebba Grön, Tony Thorén, Stefan Glaumann
label: MNW - nationality: Sweden

Live album by Ebba Grön released posthumously. It's a 19 tracks collection recorded live between Oct. 24, 1980 to Jul. 25, 1982.

24/10-1980, Folkets Park, Huskvarna - tracks 9-14
25/10-1980, Bellevueparken, Karlshamn - tracks 7-8
25/01-1981, EFMD, Västerhaninge - tracks 2-4
31/01-1981, Ultrahuset, Handen  - tracks 1, 5; 19 (last unlisted track)
17/11-1981, Kulturama, Stockholm - track 6
25/07-1982, Rockslagsfestivalen, Karlshamn - tracks 15-18

How do you really rate this? It's completely impossible to enlist any highlights as all 19 tracks seem essential. The band sound like you wish you'd been there. This is music history and there's luckily no traces of over-dubs. It's recorded as is, and it's pumped with energy.
This is fan-material - and better late than never, 'cause this really should have been released at some point back in 1982 when the music was much more relevant, but thanks a bunch to whoever belived in it.

Thin Lizzy "Johnny the Fox" (1976)

Johnny the Fox
release date: Oct. 16, 1976
format: cd (1990 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,26]
producer: John Alcock
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 3. "Borderline" - 4. "Don't Believe a Word" - 5. "Fools Gold" -7. "Old Flame" - 9. "Sweet Marie"

7th studio album by Thin Lizzy released only seven months after Jailbreak. Despite having the same producer as the band's most recent success the album doesn't have the same strict and simple sound. Instead, the album has a much more symphonic sound. It's also known as the first album where tensions between Lynott and Robertson didn't help in the recording process.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Sugarcubes "Stick Around for Joy" (1992)

Stick Around for Joy
release date: Feb. 18, 1992
format: cd / vinyl (2017 remaster, 180 g)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Paul Fox
One Little Indian - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 1. "Gold" (4 / 5) - 2. "Hit" - 3. "Leash Called Love" (4 / 5) - 4. "Lucky Night" - 5. "Happy Nurse" - 6. "I'm Hungry" - 7. "Walkabout" (4 / 5) - 8. "Hetero Scum"

3rd and final studio album by The Sugarcubes. I don't think that I heard this album at the time of its release. I was too tired of the band, and too tired of their inability to provide something close to their most interesting compositions, so I only knew of "Hit" and "Leash Called Love" from radio transmissions, and they simply weren't even enough to catch my interest, at least not until 10 years after or so. Today, I consider the album nearly as good as their debut, and I really only ask myself as to why I didn't find it enjoyable at the time. I think Björk's voice and her physical appearances while performing were what "disgusted" me. "Gold" is almost the best track on the album, but what makes it better than Here Today... (1989) is the overall feel of solid compositions, and it's also the band's most homogeneous album. The song "Hit" reached no. 1 on the American charts of "Modern Rock" as their only no.1. in the US. It's a fine album to end their career. After all, they only released 3 studio albums, and one year after this, Björk released her great solo Debut, which initiated a fine solo career.

Adrian Borland "5:00 AM" (1997)

5:00 AM
release date: 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Adrian Borland and Tim Smith
label: Earth Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Stray Bullets" - 2. "Dangerous Stars" (4 / 5) - 3. "Vampiric" (4 / 5) - 4. "Baby Moon" - 5. "City Speed" (4 / 5) - 6. "Kissing in the Dark" (5 / 5) - 7. "I'm Your Freedom" - 8. "The Spinning Room" (4 / 5) - 9. "Redemption's Knees" (4,5 / 5) - 10. "Between Buildings" (3,5 / 5) - 11. "Over the Under" - 12. "Before the Day Begins"

5th studio album by Adrian Borland, which could be the reason to the album title. On this it's really nice to hear him play with more energy again. Adrian has always had his very own trademark as a guitarist. He's a wonderful singer / songwriter, has a good characteristic singing voice but I always fancied his guitar play the most. It's like his voice, melancholic but also extremely electrifying and wonderfully simplistic."Over the Under" was actually his last single release. The general reception of this release was positive but again sales failed, and the album remains his final studio album before his untimely death.

Miles Davis "The Collection" (1990)

The Collection (compilation)
release date: 1990
format: vinyl 2 lp (gatefold - CCSLP 243)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Castle Communications - nationality: USA

Compilation album by Miles Davis released on Castle Communications in "The Collector Series".

Adrian Borland "Cinematic" (1995)

Cinematic
release date: 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Adrian Borland and Mark Kelser
label: Resolve Records / Setanta Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Dreamfuel" - 2. "Bright White Light" (4 / 5) - 3. "When Can I Be Me" - 7. "Long Dark Train" - 12. "I Can't Stop the World"

4th studio album by Adrian Borland. It's an album that dwells on the grey and troubled mind, and it's very much like the previous album both in style and narration, and as usual, it contains some truly fine songs.

Morrissey "Maladjusted" (1997)

Maladjusted
release date: Aug. 11, 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Maladjusted" - 2. "Alma Matters" (4 / 5) - 6. "Ammunition" - 11. "Satan Rejected My Soul"

6th studio album by Morrissey who is now enrolled with Island Records after only one album with RCA, but he still makes use of producer Steve Lillywhite. The album would be his last in 7 years, and it was recorded during and shortly in the aftermath of a long law suit with his former band mates from The Smiths. Mike Joyce, former drummer of the band, had sued Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr for not paying him and bassist Andy Rourke an equal share of royalties earned on their back catalog. Morrissey had lost the initial case but he the appealed - twice, and lost all cases.
Stylistically, the album appears like a clone of his albums Vauxhall and I (1994) with its grand ballads and Your Arsenal (1992) and its electrified indie rock tunes, or at least so it appears. The combination only succeeds to some degree. Now, "Maladjusted" does contain both the fine ballads and the alt. rock guitar-driven tracks but where Lillywhite on Morrissey's '94 album made sure that the compositions were nicely balanced, that part of the project doesn't really succeed here. My guess is that a stronger chamber pop element on some of the tracks with bold use of strings and horns mix only little with the soaring electric guitars of Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte. So, the result is that the single tracks in essence are better than the whole. For some reason, Island Records reissued the album in 2009 in a remastered and much altered release with 5 bonus tracks, including one track replacement and a completely new track order.
I have never liked this album much and consider it alongside the predecessor Southpaw Grammar (1995) Morrissey's least attractive studio albums.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Q Magazine 2 / 5, and Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

2009 Remaster

Jacob Dinesen "Count the Ways" (2015) (ep)

Count the Ways, ep
release date: Jun. 18, 2015
format: digital
album rate: 3 / 5 [3,18]

Tracklist: 1. "Ocean Bed" - 2. "Tell You" - 3. "Count the Ways" - 4. "Get It Off My Back" - 5. "Dancing Devil" (4 / 5) (live) - 6. "Will You stay" - 7. "Forever Changed" - 8. "Say Your Name" (live)
[ SoundCloud playlist ]

Studio ep debut album by Danish singer / songwriter Jacob Dinesen who has a quite unique voice and sound that mostly reminds me of Springsteen aged 48 / 53, although, Jacob is only about 20 yo and has only just left high school.
All in all a fine and promising Danish act that needs attention.

Alabama Shakes "Sound & Color" (2015)

Sound & Color
release date: Apr. 21, 2015
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Blake Mills, Alabama Shakes
label: Rough Trade - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Sound & Color" - 2. "Don't Wanna Fight" (4 / 5) (live in studio) - 4. "Future People" (live in studio) - 5. "Gimme All Your Love" (4 / 5) (live on SNL) - 7. "Guess Who" - 8. "The Greatest" - 9. "Shoegaze"

2nd studio album by Alabama Shakes released on ATO Records in the US and by Rough Trade Records in the EU is the closely continued journey from the fine debut Boys & Girls from 2012. Almost all tracks are entirely written by the band's undisputed leader, Brittany Howard.
Compared to the brilliant debut, the style and sound is almost identical on this one - the songs are there and it's basically a more than fine follow-up that nearly turns out just as brilliant. Only slight difference, as I hear it, is a more soulful blues rock building on r&b and a little less garage rock.
The musicians in this band are just sublime, and it says more than anything that the band's official videos are live studio recordings. And Brittany... well, that woman is on top of it all. She rules!
This album is simply one of the best releases in 2015.
[ allmusic.com, The Independent, NME 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Spin 7,5 / 10 stars ]

2015 Favourite releases: 1. Mellemblond Fra et sted - 2. Paul Weller Saturns Pattern - 3. The Alabama Shakes Sound & Color

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds "No More Shall We Part" (2001)

No More Shall We Part
release date: Apr. 10, 2001
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Tony Cohen
label: Mute Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "As I Sat Sadly by Her Side" - 2. "And No More Shall We Part" - 3. "Hallelujah" - 8. "Sweetheart Come" - 10. "We Came Along This Road"

11th studio album by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds following 4 years after the acclaimed The Boatman's Call from 1997 is almost as usual an album of ballads. It continues a strong series of albums by Cave and The Bad Seeds initiated with Murder Ballads in 1995, and who by now could seem stuck to this style.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, NME 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Adrian Borland "Beautiful Ammunition" (1994)

Beautiful Ammunition
release date: 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Mark Hunziger, Mark Kelser, Adrian Borland
label: Resolve Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Re-United States of Love" (5 / 5) - 2. "Open Door" - 3. "Rocket" - 4. "Stranger in the Soul" - 5. "Break My Fall" - 6. "Station of the Cross" - 7. "Simple Little Love" - 8. "White Room" - 9. "Past Full of Shadows" - 10. "Ordinary Angel" (4 / 5) (alt. version) - 11. "Lonely Late-Nighter" - 12. "Someone Will Love You Today" - 13. "Forgiveness" - 14. "Rootless" (3,5 / 5) - 15. "In Passing" - 16. "Shoreline"

3rd studio album release by Adrian Borland, and the first to be released under his name only. It shows a more introvert and darker side to Adrian, which could be seen as a bit of a return into gloomy despair, as on Thunder Up (1987) the final album by The Sound. In hindsight, it points to and draws attention to his troubled life. Nevertheless, it really contains some fine tracks and "Re-United States of Love" is a wonderful composition.

The Beautiful South "Blue Is the Colour" (1996)

Blue Is the Colour
release date: Oct. 21, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Jon Kelly
label: Go! Discs - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Don't Marry Her" (4 / 5) (censored version) - 2. "Little Blue" - 3. "Mirror" - 4. "Blackbird on the Wire" - 8. "Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)" - 10. "Artificial Flowers"

5th studio album by The Beautiful South and the second to feature Jacqui Abbott on vocals basically continues the band's style, only this finds the band back with stronger songs, and following the success of band's first best of album Carry on Up the Charts, released in Nov. '94. This was the band's first studio album to reach #1 on the national albums chart list. As usual, almost all compositions are written by vocalist Paul Heaton and guitarist David Rotheray, and also with the usual tongue-in-cheek Britishness soaked in irony and sarcasm. The style is slightly altered, and the hints of chamber pop on previous albums has been reduced making it less sophisti-pop-sounding and more mainstream pop / rock founded.
The album quickly raised trouble for the band - this time not as before for the cover art but the track "Don't Marry Her" had its lyrics changed to get any radio airplay, as the original chorus "Don't Marry Her - Fuck Me" had the latter part changed to "Have Me".
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Chemical Brothers "Don't Think" (2012) (live)

Don't Think (live)
release date: Mar. 27, 2012
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]

Great live album by The Chemical Brothers. It's always a bit hard to review live albums. The tracks come from various albums over time but the great thing about electronic artists performing live is their ability to create new music based on their own material, and this is absolutely in the high end of live performances as they understand to build the compositions together and make it a whole. Compared to e.g. Sigur Ròs and their fine Inni live album, this is simply a better live performance in the sense that The Chemical Brothers' old repertoire played live becomes brand new material - instead of just playing popular songs like they sound on the original studio albums (like SR), The Chemical Brothers produce live versions of well-known tracks that are stuffed with changes and interpretations of their own material to make everything fit to the moment. Now, that's art!

Bobby McFerrin "Simple Pleasures" (1988)

Simple Pleasures
release date: Aug. 5, 1988
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]
producer: Linda Goldstein
label: EMI Manhattan Records - nationality: USA

4th studio album by 'vocal artist' Bobby McFerrin and his commercial breakthrough thanks to the hit single "Don't Worry, Be Happy", and the American comedy film "Cocktail" by Roger Donaldson featuring Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown.
The album was my first experience with a studio release by McFerrin, and as I admit to have bought it after listening to the aforementioned hit, I didn't find it as good as I hoped for, but upon hearing his second album The Voice, I quickly became a fan.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

The Durutti Column "Another Setting" (1983)

Another Setting
release date: Aug. 1983
format: digital (fact 74)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Chris Nagle and Vini Reilly
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Prayer" - 2. "Response" - 3. "Bordeaux" - 4. "For a Western" - 5. "The Beggar" - 6. "Francesca" - 7. "Smile in the Crowd" - 8. "You've Heard It Before" - 9. "Dream of a Child" - 10. "Second Family" - 11. "Spent Time"

3rd studio album by The Durutti Column. The style on the two first album was dark and mellow, reflecting the close connection to the post-punk environment, but this release shows another side to Reilly's many talents. Here, one hears an apparent ambient style, a noticeable jazz-element, and also a clear bond to modern classical compositions.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Alanis Morissette "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" (1998)

Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
release date: Nov. 3, 1998
format: digital (17 x File, FLAC - 2015 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]

producer: Glen Ballard, Alanis Morissette
label: Rhino Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Front Row" - 3. "Thank U" (4,5 / 5) - 9. UR

4th studio album release by Alanis Morissette originally released on Maverick, is the difficult follow-up to her international best-selling album Jagged Little Pill (1995). With the immense popularity of the predecessor, this was basically doomed to fail expectations. The single "Thank U" and the first track "Front Row" are the only great tracks on a rather disappointing and lengthy album - the original release contains 17 tracks.
It's not that I necessarily expect her to be the angry grunge rock female - and "Thank U" actually shows a new softer side of her skills - but the whole album reveals a huge mix of styles and genres, which really is its biggest flaw.

10,000 Maniacs "The Earth Pressed Flat" (1999)

The Earth Pressed Flat
release date: May 18, 1999
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,28]
producer: Armand John Petri
label: Bar/None Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Ellen" - 3. "Once a City" - 7. "Cabaret" - 12. "Hidden in My Heart"

7th studio album by 10,000 Maniacs actually contains nine outtakes from the album Love Among the Ruins (1997), which only makes room for five new compositions.
Stylistically, it's the same ballgame as the predecessor, which means folk pop and quiet pop / rock that doesn't come close to the band's most successful releases. It's the last album to feature Robert Buck on guitar, as he died Dec. 2000, and it's also the last 10,000 Maniacs studio album for 14 years.
Although, the majority of the tracks weren't good enough for the previous album, I find it a better album without being really good. Too many tracks sound like attempts to reproduce some of their hit material from the '80s resulting in little originality. All in all, it's still below mediocre and a tepid experience far from the heydays of the Merchant era, imho.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone Album Guide 1,5 / 5 stars ]

Adrian Borland and The Citizens "Brittle Heaven" (1992)

Brittle Heaven
release date: 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Adrian Borland, Don Victor
label: Play It Again Sam - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Brittle Heaven" (4 / 5) - 2. "Flight 23" - 3. "Universe of You" (5 / 5) - 4. "Faithful" (4 / 5) - 5. "Prisoners of the Sun" (4 / 5) - 6. "European Streets in the Rain" (4 / 5) - 7. "Nowhere to Fall" - 8. "All the Words" (5 / 5) ( demo version ) - 9. "Lowlands" - 10. "Truth That Lights the Way" (4 / 5) - 11. "Healing Kiss" - 12. "Box of Happy Memories" - 13. "Ashes" - 14. "Tidal Wave Goodbye"

2nd album by Adrian Borland, and like the debut released as Adrian Borland and The Citizens. This was another great album that wasn't received well. The press ignored it and so did the record buyers - the world's attention was on the new stylistic invention of grunge rock, and/or whatever the old heroes of popular music would bring about. To me, this is a gem, a brilliant example of great songwriting and a move away from the sticking label of post-punk. By this point Adrian had left the English playmates, moved to Amsterdam, and produced the album with new musical associates. The Sound and Adrian always had a big crowd of fans in the Dutch capital.

1992 Favourite releases: 1. Morrissey Your Arsenal - 2. 10.000 Maniacs Our Time in Eden - 3. Adrian Borland Brittle Heaven

Grand Avenue "The Outside" (2007)

The Outside
release date: Apr. 23, 2007
format: cd (EMI 3926582)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Richard Rainy
label: EMI Music Denmark - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 3. "Bullet" - 4. "Monday Morning" - 5. "The Outside" - 7. "Anything That's You" - 8. "Closer" (live)

3rd studio album by Grand Avenue and the band's last with EMI. The style remains the same as on the predecessor, She from 2005, and the album is a bit like: "Was this not a song from the 2005 album?". I really can't spot any progression, and what's worse: the album (again) lacks substantial material. The title song is a fine composition, though, it also displays the band's weakness as it sounds too close to something else. Something you've heard before, either by U2 or R.E.M., and the vocal of Rasmus Walter just has that combo sound of a laidback Stipe and a high-pitched Bono in a combination that you basically never asked for. Many people tend to compare the band to Coldplay, and I hear notes and a vocal that could be linked with that - listen for instance to "Bullet" and "Anything That's You", but I really think that U2 and R.E.M. are easily the biggest influences throughout the lifespan of Grand Avenue, and on this album that inspiration is simply too strong. More than anything, the album basically lacks originality. Like was the case on the two previous albums, the cover art is credited Rasmus Walter's twin-brother Anders.
[ Gaffa.dk 3 / 6 stars ]