Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee & Cypress Grove with Willie Love "Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee & Cypress Grove with Willie Love" (1992)

2006 remaster

Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee & Cypress Grove with Willie Love
release date: Mar. 1992
format: cd (2006 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Jeffrey Lee Pierce
label: Flow Records - nationality: USA

Studio album by The Gun Club frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce recorded in between albums with his primary band and released as Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee & Cypress Grove with Willie Love. Jeffrey Lee plays guitar and sings together with guitarist Cypress Love and drummer Willie Love. Carl La Fong isn't credited on the album but he appears to playing the bass. The majority of the tracks are cover versions of classic blues songs written by various artists, which include Don Nix, Willie Brown, and Chester Burnett. The songs are all well-played and cleverly arranged, and despite the fact that the original blues isn't really my kinda style, this is quite originally sounding with a lot of genuine heartfelt craftsmanship to it, so to ignore it would be a shame. I like it, It's gooood.
The 2006 remaster comes with the additional title: "9 Lives No. 5" indicating nine releases made by Flow Records to pay tribute to Pierce - the '9 lives' of course referring to how Pierce managed to stay alive, when others would've surcumbed earlier being exposed to what he went through.

org. cover

Happy Mondays "...Yes Please!" (1992)

...Yes Please!

release date: Oct. 1992

format: cd

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,64]

producer: Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth

label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stinkin Thinkin' " - 3. "Sunshine and Love" - 6. "Cut 'Em Loose Bruce"

4th and originally final album by Happy Mondays and also the final album on Factory Records. The album follows two years after the acclaimed Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches (Apr. 1990) and is produced by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads. Initially, the album was planned to have Oakenfold and Osborne as producers but as they were unable to find the time, new producers had to be considered. The album is notorious for several reasons. Before the recordings, both Shaun Ryder and Bez were deep into drug addiction, Whelan and Paul Ryder took to alcohol abuse and Paul Davis was both on drugs and alcohol. The manager and managers at Factory brought up the idea to have the band re-located to Barbados in an attempt to prevent substance abuse and secure ideal circumstances. However, in Barbados drugs and substance abuse was out of control, which of course afflicted the recording sessions. Furthermore, Factory were in financial difficulties and with new skyrocketing costs of the album Republic (1993) by New Order together with near-endless growing costs for this very album, the legendary record label declared bankruptcy Nov. 1992.

When reading about the recording sessions, it's probably not without sheer luck that they managed to come up with a new album. But two dynamic producers couldn't prevent the material from suffering. Drugs and alcohol in combination with strained internal relations hasn't exactly helped produce a bunch of great songs. The style has changed and perhaps even inadvertently to something more stringent. It's no longer the huge melting pot of styles but a style heavily built on funk and indie rock, and mostly without the strong traits from acid house and rave beats. Yes, it still maintains some alt. dance but in a subdued manner where guitars and drums dominate. Apparently, Shaun Ryder had been unable to produce the lyrics at the original sessions, which had to be added later back in England and that also reflects the end result. It's music without nerve, without strong hooks and ideas. Only positive thing here is the strong vocal performance by backing vocalist Rowetta, which says a great deal about the album. You can still tell it's Happy Mondays, but Shaun Ryder, who's lost all vitality only represents the rest of a band sounding as if they don't even bother trying. According to Shaun [see below link], the choice of producers was crucial to the failure of the album. He acknowledges Frantz and Weymouth as great artists but believes they directed the music into something more rock-oriented, which didn't fit with the new-found sound of the band, and that also prevented him from coming up with proper lyrics 'cause he needed to be inspired by their new music, which simply wasn't there. An argument, I completely buy because the alt. dance and pop-sound of the '90-album is seriously lacking on this.

The album was met by luke-warm to mostly negative reviews but still charted as high as number #14 on the UK charts. Tracks #1 and #3 were the only songs selected for single releases and didn't reach top-10 in the UK but went number #1 and #5 on the Hot Dance Club Songs list in the US. After the release, Happy Mondays toured with the album in the UK and Europe, and then finished off in Japan early '93. After the collapse of Factory Records the band and manager were in contact with various labels but after internal conflicts about the failure of the new album and the-who-did-what-thing, the band finally disbanded in early '93. Later that year, Shaun Ryder and Bez continued in the quintet Black Grape.

This album is not more than plain mediocre, and at times sounds (disastrously) more like Frantz and Weymouth have taken over (more than) the arrangements - it's clearly the least favourable album by Happy Mondays and not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 1,5 / 5, Select 2 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

[ Shaun's version of ...Yes Please! ]

Sinéad O'Connor "Am I Not Your Girl?" (1992)

Am I Not Your Girl?

release date: Sep. 22, 1992

format: cd

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]

producer: Phil Ramone, Sinéad O'Connor

label: Ensign / Chrysalis - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Why Don't You Do Right?" - 2. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" - 4. "Black Coffee" - 5. "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" - 9. "Love Letters"

3rd studio album by Sinéad O'Connor following 2½ years after I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (Mar. 1990) is yet another species of sorts. The debut was strong and promising sparkle filled filled to the brim with resistance and much anger. The sophomore '90 album was a majestic revelation that hit mainstream pop / rock like an earthquake. These two albums showcase O'Connor's inner thoughts, her personal stories, and both invite us all the way in without much protection. Her apparent open-heartedness combined with a will to make a difference and to use her public exposure to fight for human rights against inequality and exploitation wherever it perseveres also made her a target of personal criticism. Her confronting attitude was ridiculed and her role as a young mother was openly debated. In that regard, Am I Not Your Girl? is a sidestep, or an attempt to show another side of her artistry. Apparently, her own ambition was to show fans the type of music she had found inspiration in and what she had grown up listening to, which is why the music here differs greatly to her first two albums. Aside from that, it's also an album reserved to covers, and primarily of vocal jazz and American pop standards, and it's also quite apparent with the originals in mind that the album has been arranged and promoted. In that regard, O'Connor's version don't differ much from the popular versions of these classic songs.

I wasn't exactly a fan of any of these recordings, and I still find it - if not really redundant, at least more of a curiosity. There's much sincerity and heartfelt ambition in here, somewhere, although, I think it mostly drowns in pomposity. Had she only been persuaded to make her own adaptations, it may have served her better. Perhaps her private life was in too much need of some sort of foundation that this is what she could engage in - she had had a miscarriage and was later separted from her son's father after only one year's of marriage [this wouldn't be her only time with this kind of experience, though], and she alledgedly lived an on/off affair with Peter Gabriel. So, instead she comes out showcasing herself as a persona - a Sinatress, and all for the show of it, and to what end? Her Cole Porter contribution with "You Do Something to Me" was ever so much better. Bu it probably paved way for the idea of this album, which in comparison lacks foundation and soul. Actually, she made a contribution on two songs for the aforementioned Gabriel's Us, released the same month, which both overshines her own album by a clear margin. Her emotional engagement with Gabriel later led her to write the end-song on her '94 album Universal Mother.

Prior to this, she had come out on a bad stand with the American public when touring with her 1990 album. She had rejected to perform live as the arrangers insisted on played the national anthem before her live concert. This led to some turmoil which had radio stations banning O'Connor as a response to her banning the American anthem. In this regard, O'Connor stood by her own convictions, regardless what cultural implications she was up against. Now, with this new album, I guess she saw that as an opportunity to turn things to the better, but effectively they went from bad to much worse shortly after O'Connor had embarked on her American promotion tour with the album in Oct. '92. Her own story short being brought up with a mentally sick mother, at a strict Roman-Catholic nuns' center in Dublin, which had included punishment and exploitation, she ultimately found herself in a conflicting stand concerning religion and Catholicism in particular, and when it - once again - became publically known that priests of the Catholic Church had been sexually abusing children, she took advantage of her live TV-performance on Saturday Night Live to send a message by tearing up a picture of the current Pope while proclaiming: "Fight the real enemy!". The scene was sat, so to speak. America united against O'Connor it seemed. In the US, she was ridiculed by TV-hosts and celebrities, she was rejected nation-wide, and the story expanded on a world-wide scale. In england and in Ireland newspapers were dealing with gossip about her role as a mother, a wife, and her mental issues. Completely out of proportions with apparently noone interested in the background of her message, nor any of her intentions regarding her stand. Instead of promoting her music, O'Connor ended up adding to the image of her as troublesome and mentally unstable.

Nevertheless, Am I Not Your Girl? is not one of her great albums. At best, it serves as background muzak, and as a sidestepping parenthesis.

Not recommended.

[ 👎allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 2 / 5, 🤯NME 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Grant W. McLennan "Fireboy" (1992)

Fireboy
release date: Nov. 9, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Dave Dobbyn
label: White Label - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Lighting Fires" - 2. "Surround Me" - 3. "One Million Miles From Here" - 4. "The Dark Side of Town" - 8. "Fingers" - 11. "Bathe (In the Water)" - 13. "Riddle in the Rain"

2nd solo album by Grant W. McLennan released one year after his debut Watershed is once again produced by Dave Dobbyn. The album was released in Australia in late '92 and internationally in early '93. Once again, the album feature Dave Dobbyn with a handful of session musicians - only this time without Amanda Brown.

It's not a long period between the two McLennan solo albums but in between them he has co-founded the collaboration project-band, Jack Frost, together with Steve Kilbey of The Church. At least the songs here are more up-tempo styled, and knowing the works by Kilbey only adds to the fact that the related work has rubbed off.

Fireboy presents 13 new songs, which showcases McLennan narrating about the usual love stories - and especially his lost relationship with former bandmate Amanda Brown - and the subject matter makes it appear as Chapter 2 to his debut focusing on his shattered love life; however, the arrangements here are what really makes this a better album. It's simply more multi-facetted, and where the debut felt like too strongly bonded to former singer / songwriter artists as a one-dimensional ride, this is a more contemporary contribution, which immediately makes me think of Lloyd Cole and yes, Steve Kilbey.

Once again, McLennan demonstrates his ability to write and compose beautiful pop songs in a style founded on a singer / songwriter tradition. He has a gift for melody, which puts him on level with the finest songwriters, but he's also a person who seems in need of support or aid to maintain the course.

[ allmusic.com review (no stars indicated) ]

The Church "Priest = Aura" (1992)

Priest = Aura
release date: Mar. 10, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: The Church & Gavin MacKillop
label: Arista Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Aura" - 2. "Ripple" - 3. "Paradox" - 4. "Lustre" - 5. "Swan Lake" - 6. "Feel" - 8. "Kings" - 11. "The Disillusionist" - 13. "Chaos" - 14. "Film"

7th studio album by The Church following two years after Gold Afternoon Fix (Feb. 1990) and after some time spent rethinking the band's musical direction is a reasonably long affair with fourteen tracks and a total running length of 65 minutes. Drummer Richard Ploog had left the band after the 1990 album and Jay Dee Daugherty, of the Patti Smith Group, had been a substitute on the subsequent tour, and he has now officially become a member of a band who faced another problem as the band's guitarist, Peter Koppes decided to leave The Church just as the album had been finished. However, Koppes agreed to stick around long enough for the end of the band's subsequent tour. Apparently, Koppes had long felt redundant in the creative process, with Steve Kilbey and Marty Wilson-Piper mostly taking control of all relevant decisions.

With the album, we are talking about a decidedly stylistic U-turn, a significant denial of the mainstream appeal the group previously felt pushed into and that's something which clearly separates this one from all of the band's most recent three albums. In relation to the longer-lasting musical quartet called The Church, this album actually marks the end to just that.

With clear neo-psychedelic and experimental tendencies with ambient elements, the release was met with lukewarm reviews and a commercial success that was the appropriate echo. Over time, however, the album has gained a completely different status as something of a game-changer and nothing less than a significant cornerstone in the band's entire discography.

Admittedly, I also dismissed the album myself at the time, just as the majority of critics did in the immediate aftermath of its release, but over the past decades I've bowed in the dust and finally realized the qualities it truly contains. Despite being formed in a time when the band's primary songwriter, Steve Kilbey, found solace in heroin, at a time when he and Marty Wilson-Piper's compositions were heavily inspired by free association and studio improvs - something that must also be seen in contrast to the label's earlier interference in the musical process - in that light, the album actually sounds much of a unified whole, containing many fine compositions. The song "Chaos" (with a length of more than 9 mins.) - reportedly with reference to Kilbey's life situation at the time - may be seen as an example of the new initiatives in relation to songwriting.

Imho, this album is no less than the band's best since the compilation Remote Luxury (1984) - and since Seance (Jun. 1983) when speaking pure studio albums.

Fine recommendation.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone Album Guide 4 / 5, Entertainment Weekly 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]

The Blues Brothers "The Definitive Collection" (1992)

The Definitive Collection (compilation)
release date: 1992
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Bob Tischler, Paul Shaffer
label: Atlantic - nationality: USA

Compilation album by The Blues Brothers mainly produced by Tischler and compiled by Michael A. Mazzareila.
The album comprises many of the duo's better tracks and despite containing 20 tracks, I simply find that too many essential tracks are missing out, and it's also a bit strange to include two tracks from the original motion picture soundtrack The Blues Brothers - one (great track) by Ray Charles and another (fine song) by Aretha Franklin, when Aykroyd and Belushi do not feature on those tracks. The album simply doesn't match its title.

Julian Cope "Jehovahkill" (1992)

Jehovahkill

release date: Oct. 19, 1992

format: digital

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]

producer: Julian Cope & Donald Ross Skinner

label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Soul Desert" - 2. "No Hard Shoulder to Cry On" - 4. "The Mystery Trend" - 5. "Up-Wards at 45º" - 6. "Know (Cut My Friend Down)" - 10. "Poet Is Priest..." - 11. "Julian H. Cope" - 12. "The Subtle Energies Commission" - 13. "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fine" - 14. "Fear Loves This Place"

8th studio album by Julian Cope follows only two months after Cope's first best of album Floored Genius - The Best of Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes 1979-91 and 1½ years after Peggy Suicide (Apr. 1991) is also Cope's final on Island Records.

The album follows closely the style of the '91 album, although with a stronger influence from krautrock. Thematically, you'll also notice several similarities, as this has also been divided in phases - here three of a kind and with a total of 16 tracks and playing length of just over 70 minutes, this is yet another relatively extensive album, where Cope dwells on themes of global environment, modern lifestyle, and religion, which undoubtedly are his major subjects at this point. The album is sometimes referred to as the second in Cope's trilogy about Mother Earth - with Autogeddon (1994) as his final - and with all three releases delivering their specific perspective on the conditions of the planet. Jehovakill mainly touches the theme of religion with focus on the paradoxically huge importance that Christianity has acquired [the title: Jehovah = Christ with the addition of 'overkill', literally meaning 'too great importance' on the subject] in relation to 'our' older origins in the form of early pagan faith - which is reflected in the front cover depicting the outline of the rock formation "Callanish Stones", which seen from above takes shape of a [Christian] cross but is dated to approx. 3.000 years BCE. Originally, Cope intended to name the album "Julian H. Cope" with reference to "Jesus H. Christ", but the record company objected, just as they weren't exactly happy on the recorded material, so Cope had to add several (more) acceptable tracks to an album that still ends up evoking memories of Skellington (1989) and Droolian (1990), and probably more than Island Records cared for, which ultimately caused the company to break with Cope.

Much like Peggy Suicide the new album was met by positive reviews and also peaked at number #20 on the UK albums chart, Cope's second highest ranking (only bettered by Saint Julian and its position as number #11). Still, the sales figures weren't enough for Island, who perhaps focused more on the international reaction, and the album didn't perform that well outside Britain. The only single released from the album was "Fear Loves This Place" peaking at number #42. Incidentally, Cope never landed a top-10 single, and his highest-ranking single of all time remains "World Shut Your Mouth" with its number #19 - a song taken from Saint Julian.

Jehovakill is an exciting acquaintance, which both contains an incredible variation of styles and genres, but which nevertheless appears as a whole. You'll find energetic short songs with focus on rock, quiet ballads cut across folk rock and a singer / songwriter scene, neo-psychedelia mixed with krautrock and funk, and then there's also rave, ambient, experimental bits and improvs at large. Needless say, it's a pretty complex album, where Cope has a lot on his mind. At a first listen, you're invited in one direction, and on later visits you may feel taken to a completely different place. In that way, you'll find music for many hours, yet Cope ties it all nicely together. Overall, it comes across as his second best, and it probably deserves more than the praise it has received anyway.

Jehovakill is highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Select 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Floored Genius - The Best Of..." (1992)

Floored Genius - The Best Of... (compilation)

release date: Aug. 1992

format: digital

[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: diverse

label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

1st best of album by Julian Cope and the Teardrop Explodes with the full title: Floored Genius - The Best of Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes 1979-91 released on Island Records and issued two months before Cope's eigth studio album Jehovakill on the same label.

The album is finely structured in temporal phases starting with 'Phase 1' consisting of six tracks from the early period together with The Teardrop Explodes - a band who only managed to release the two full studio albums Kilimanjaro (1980) and Wilder (1981) before Cope initiated a solo career. The album is pushed to the limit in terms of running length for the CD format with a total of twenty compositions and a total running time exceeding 77 minutes. 'Phase 2' through to 'Phase 4' (tracks #7-20) are all Cope as soloist and listed chronologically up to and including three tracks from Peggy Suicide (1991).

This album could be a mighty fine place to start if you don't know much about Julian Cope, and it was also a release that garnered quite fine reviews, and which probably contributed to Cope gaining greater recognition - and which generally helped drawing a different and more positive image than that of an LSD-stricken megalomaniac, which some described him as. The album paved the way for a whole series of "Floored Genius" releases, including Floored Genius 2 - Best of the BBC Sessions 1983-91 (1993), Floored Genius 3 - Julian Cope's Oddicon of Lost Rarities & Versions 1978–98 (2000) , and Floored Genius 4 - The Best of Foreign Radio, Rare TV Appearances, Festival Songs & Miscellaneous Lost Classics 1983-2009 (sic) (2009), all followed with covers in the same style, although only the first best of album is released on Island Records.

Highly recommended.

Zucchero "Miserere" (Int.) (1992)

Miserere (International version)
release date: Oct. 1, 1992
format: digital (12 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,26]
producer: Corrado Rustici
label: London Records - nationality: Italy

Track highlights: 2. "L'urlo (Medley with 'La solitudine')" - 3. "It's Alright (The Promise)" - 7. "Un'orgia di anime perse" - 9. "Come Back the Sun" - 12. "Miserere (feat. Luciano Pavarotti)"

6th studio album by Zucchero in the international English issue with four songs that apparently have been exchanged from the "ordinary" Italian edition but which are all simply translated versions. This version is released on London Records, whereas the Italian issue is released by Polydor. On the Italian issue the artist is credited with his full moniker as 'Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari' while he is simply credited as 'Zucchero' on the International / English version - as seen on the front cover. The album is Zucchero's first to be released simultaneously in an Italian version for the domestic market and an English-versioned issue.
Overall, this is a bit of a step down from his most recent album(s). Although, I feel that the Italian version is the better choice with what I sense reveals a stronger coherency with songs mostly in the same mother tongue, it's still an album with an almost all-American sound to it. It's made with americana slide-guitars and dobro, country-rock banjos and harmonica and with dominating Wurlitzer or Hammond organs and acoustic guitars - all put together making it sound like Eric Clapton jamming with Ry Cooder while they try to sound like The Band.
Zucchero is an artist with his own distinct qualities and he has made several strong releases with inspiration from American music styles but on this it's as if he tries too hard to make an American album instead of continuing making Italian music with various influences.
With two previous number #1 albums in Italy and growing international esteem he has sought out an embracement of both markets, so that, yes, there's still an Italian foundation but the tone has become unmistakably English-American regardless what version of the album you purchase.
If your thing is John Mellencamp, The Doobie Brothers, J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton, then this might just be your kinda thing. It's not for me, though, and in the discography of Zucchero Fornaciari this sits pretty much at the low end.
Not recommended.

Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari "Miserere" (1992)

Miserere (Italian version)

release date: Oct. 1, 1992

format: cd (2004 remaster)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]

producer: Corrado Rustici

label: Polydor - nationality: Italy

Track highlights: 2. "L'urlo (Medley with 'La solitudine')" - 3. "It's All Right (La promessa)" - 7. "Un'orgia di anime perse" - 10. "Ridammi il sole" - 11. "I frati (Ovvero l'osteria della felicità)" - 12. "Miserere (feat. Luciano Pavarotti)"

6th studio album by Zucchero following Oro incenso e birra (1989) is his third consecutive and fourth album overall to be produced by Corrado Rustici and it introduces a new "release formula" by Zucchero - or his manager, which is to produce two different issues simultaneously: one for the national market and a slightly different issue for the international markets. Both releases contain 12 compositions, and with this the Italian issue the album comes with four (tracks #3, #4, #10 & #11) that have been exchanged on the International version with English translated or altered titles and with English lyrics - also the track listing has been altered slightly (so that the aforementioned tracks correspond with tracks #3, #4, #9 & #11 on the international issue). Although, this is the Italian market version, the English language is not absent. Two songs are co-composed with Paul Buchanan (of The Blue Nile): The song "It's All Right (La promessa)" is partially in English (it has been translated to "The Promise" for the international issue) and "Ridammi il sole" (mostly in Italian except for a repetitious chorus-line but for the international issue it's entirely in English with the title "Give Me Back the Sun"). Both versions of the album comes with the song "Miss Mary" written by Elvis Costello and composed by Zucchero. This means that the music on both albums remains the same - only titles and lyrics have been changed.

In essense, the style has become less pop soul and more americana and blues-oriented, which in my opinion, is a wrong turn. It's as if he's trying to copy Joe Cocker with a hint of Bruce Springsteen and Ry Cooder, and I don't really like that direction. With two previous number #1 albums in Italy and a growing success internationally he has tried to embrace both markets, so that yes, there's still an Italian foundation but the tone has become unmistakably English-American regardless what issue you purchase.

If your thing is John Mellencamp, The Doobie Brothers, J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton, then this might just be your kinda thing and you should probably aim for the international version of the album. But it's not to my liking, and in the discography of Zucchero Fornaciari this sits pretty much at the bottom.

Not recommended.

Tom Waits "Bone Machine" (1992)

Bone Machine
release date: Sep. 8, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan
label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Earth Died Screaming" - 2. "Dirt in the Ground" - 3. "Such a Scream" - 4. "All Stripped Down" - 5. "Who Are You" - 7. "Jesus Gonna Be Here" - 8. "A Little Rain" - 10. "Goin' Out West" (4 / 5) - 12. "Black Wings" - 13. "Whistle Down the Wind" - 14. "I Don't Wanna Grow Up"

11th studio album from Tom Waits follows the release of the soundtrack Night on Earth (Apr. '92) is his first studio album featuring his wife Kathleen Brennan as 'associate producer' - she is credited as co-producer on Big Time (Sep. 88).

After what could be described, with some goodwill, as a trilogy of albums with an approximately uniform style starting with Swordfishtrombones (1983) and ending with Frank's Wild Years (1987), with this Waits takes another big step into a musical territory of experimental rock, and now with the use of stronger distorted vocals and more pronounced use of a variety of percussion. However, the album still features signature ballads such as "Who Are You", "A Little Rain", and "Whistle Down the Wind".

This album in particular took me some time to understand as something unique - which it really is, once you are ready for it, but my first impression was really not positive.

Bone Machine peaked at number #26 on the UK albums chart and it generally fared better in Europe, although, the album earned Waits the award "Best Alternative Music Album" at the 1992 Grammy Awards.

The album is Waits' so far final to be featured in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" along with a total of five other Waits releases.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

The Breeders "Safari" (1992) (ep)

Safari, ep
release date: Mar. 9, 1992
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,40]
producer: Paul Berry, Dante DeSole, Guy Fixsen
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Do You Love Me Now?" - 2. "Don't Call Home" - 3. "Safari" - 4. "So Sad About Us" (live)

Ep release by The Breeders following the debut album Pod (May 1990). The debut appears as a 'one-off' album, which basically was a made-up band to the occasion of realising Kim Deal's own songs, and after that the band members returned to their original bands, and Tanya Donelly was in the making of forming the Belly, while Kim would bring in her twin sister Kelley as a substitute to Tanya. Safari is the only album with both Tania and Kelley performing.
Stylistically, this appears both as the continued style from Pod; but moreover, looking at the composer and instrument credits it seems apparent that The Breeders is still more of a Kim Deal-project than the Deal / Donelly-project critics would like it to be, which also explains Donelly's wish to form a band of her own. Three tracks here are by Kim (either alone or with someone else than Tania), and the end-track is a cover by Pete Townshend. The first track also appears on Last Splash (1993) in a new recording and this is credited the two Deal sisters.
Safari appears as a step up in terms of solid material, and it showcases Kim Deal's capabilities as a songwriter.

XTC "Nonsuch" (1992)

Nonsuch
release date: Apr. 27, 1992
format: cd (2013 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Gus Dudgeon
label: Ape House - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" - 2. "My Bird Performs" - 3. "Dear Madum Barnum" - 6. "The Disappointed" - 9. "Rook" - 10. "Omnibus" - 14. "Wrapped in Grey" - 16. "Bungalow" - 17. "Books Are Burning" - *18. "Didn't Hurt a Bit"
*Extra track on 2013 remaster

10th studio album by XTC is like the predecessor, Oranges & Lemon (1989), originally released as a double vinyl album. Stylistically, the album follows closely on the same path laid out with the '89-album - both of which incorporate the psychedelic influences of primarily The Beatles and Beach Boys. The biggest difference on this is a delicate addition of chamber pop.
I never played the album much as I found that it only served to document that the band hasn't been able to find their feet, or a style to explore and make theirs. In retrospect, I must confess that I just wasn't ready for this retro-styled conglomerate and obliviously didn't share the same warm feelings for the band anymore. And much undeservedly, 'cause Nonsuch doesn't contain any poor or bad compositions. I still don't find it one of their best, but I hear some of the same influences like eg. Neil Hannon a decade later should investigate when making strong contemporary classics for The Divine Comedy. Just listen to "Bungalow".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Select, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Palle Mikkelborg "Anything But Grey" (1992)

Anything But Grey

release date: Apr. 9, 1992

format: vinyl (COL 471614 1) / cd (COL 471614 2)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]

producer: Òli Poulsen

label: Columbia - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Prince of Peace" (4 / 5) - 2. "Glass Painting" - 3. "Queen of the Night" - 4. "A Time to Keep" - 5. "The Naked Facts" - 7. "Concrete Muse" - 8. "Capricorn" - 9. "Smile"

Studio solo album by Palle Mikkelborg following the collaboration album Hommage - Once Upon a Time (1990) made with N.H.Ø.P. All compositions are by Mikkelborg except "Smile" by Charles Chaplin. The album consists of nine tracks with a total running time just exceeding 51 minutes.

Stylewise, the album follows Mikkelborg's late 80s and 90s style of airy fusion / avant-garde jazz with focus on melody.

The album doesn't appear to have been met by great enthusiasm, but for me, it's a most wonderful and warm contemporary jazz album - perhaps much treasured because I actually purchased the album on its release. I have played the cd so many times that it ended up being impossible to play without tracks skipping or forcing my cd player to call it quits. Luckily, I managed to copy the content to FLAC format and thereby saving this splendid album.

Mikkelborg both dwells on near-ambient compositions and more fusion-like songs, e.g. "Glass Painting" with an ever-present influence from Miles Davis and his 80s albums: You're Under Arrest (Apr. 1985), Tutu (Sep. 1986), and Amandla (May 1989), but the overall sensation is still one of strong original coherency thanks to Mikkelborg's characteristic flugelhorn.

Highly recommended.

The Cure "Wish" (1992)

Wish
release date: Apr. 21, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: David M. Allen, Robert Smith
label: Fiction Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "High" (3 / 5) - 7. "Friday I'm in Love" (4 / 5) - 9. "A Letter to Elise" (3 / 5) - 10. "Cut" (3 / 5)

9th studio album by The Cure. After the exclusion of co-founder Lol Tolhurst and after Roger O'Donnell had decided to leave the band after only two years, they were in need of a new member, and Perry Bamonte who plays 6-string bass, guitar, and keyboards became official member of the band. Apart from that, The band plays in their usual synth pop dream pop and alt. rock combination with focus on keyboards and a heavy spacial sound. I didn't pay the album much attention back then, and have only purchased the album for digital download after 2010, mostly because I like the hit single "Friday, I'm in Love", which isn't enough to raise much over a mediocre album despite that I find it a bit more interesting as a whole compared to Disintegration (1989).
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Daniel Ash "Foolish Thing Desire" (1992)

Foolish Thing Desire
release date: 1992
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]
producer: Daniel Ash and John A. Rivers
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Here She Comes" - 2. "Foolish Thing Desire" - 3. "Bluebird" - 5. "Get Out of Control" - 6. "The Void" - 8. "Here She Comes Again"

2nd solo album by Daniel Ash continues the style from his fine debut from 1991. It's alt. rock with the same mix of styles including glam rock, psychedelic rock, surf rock and gothic rock. The whole thing is nicely put together in what bonds with glamorish Phil Spector production with a touch of Bolan / Bowie. Most tracks are co-written with producer John A. Rivers, with whom Ash has worked many times since Rivers produced the debut album for Love and Rockets in '85. Instead of collaborating with Kevin Haskins, Rivers has been put in charge of drum programming ion this album, which isn't all bad, it just doesn't have any noticeable complexity in the rhythm section, and that makes it somewhat less successful. Generally, it's fine - it just lacks that little extra novelty dimension that his first solo leaked, and it's a bit like the expected sequel - the missing bonus disc of the debut, which doesn't add much new to the old sensation.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Lou Reed "Magic and Loss" (1992)

Magic and Loss
release date: Jan. 14, 1992
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Lou Reed, Mike Rathke
label: Sire / Warner Bros. - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Dorita (The Spirit)" - 2. "What's Good (The Thesis)" (4 / 5) (live on Letterman) - 3. "Power & Glory (The Situation)" (live) - 5. "Sword of Damocles (Externally)" (4 / 5) (live) - 7. "Cremation (Ashes to Ashes)" - 8. "Dreamin' (Escape)" - 9. "No Chance (Regret)" - 11. "Harry's Circumcision (Reverie Gone Astray)" - 14. "Magic and Loss (The Summation)"

16th studio album by Lou Reed is in many ways like a fine conglomerate of his best album in almost 20 years, New York (1989) and his collaboration album with John Cale: Songs for Drella (1990). This is almost as great as the '89 album, and in some ways I like it better, although, it may not be as consistently great throughout. Guitarist Mike Rathke, who also participated on New York is again Lou's right hand, now as co-producer, and also co-writer of five of the album's 14 compositions. Legendary vocalist Jimmy Scott sings backing vocals on "Power & Glory", and around this time he often perfomed live with Reed.
Thematically, the album is also a blend of the two previous albums, but without being just a copy.

Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, NME 5 / 5 stars ]

The Sugarcubes "It's-It" (1992)

It's-It, remix album
release date: Oct. 27, 1992
format: cd (MRCD 3205)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: various
label: Mega Records - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 2. "Leash Called Love (Tony Humphries mix)" - 3. "Blue Eyed Pop (S1000 mix)" - 4. "Motorcrash (Justin Robertson mix)" - 6. "Gold (Todd Terry mix)" - 7. "Water (Bryan 'Chuck' New Mix)" - 11. "Hit (Tony Humphries Sweet & Low mix)"

A remix album by The Sugarcubes originally released on One Little Indian. No, it's not an original studio album of new compositions but it's neither a mere compilation of best of, left overs or rarities but an interesting remix album. The songs are taken from the band's three studio albums and most of them have been heavily remixed by various artists. Only "Regina" comes in a Sugarcubes remix, and that's also the compositions sounding most alike the original version. Some tracks have little in common with the familiar song and others still carry recognisable traits from the blue print, and then some are very fine remixes with new stylistic qualities, and yet others are too strange.
The album was the second album that I bought with the band, and perhaps the reason why I didn't bother buying the other two until later. 'Cause many of the best songs from both Here Today... (1989) and Stick Around for Joy (1992) appear on this in heavily "remixed" versions, and frankly, I found these better than the original album versions, although "Birthday" comes in two versions, none of which are better than the original. "Leash Called Love (Tony Humphries mix)" is an even better song here, and all remixes are composed as dance-pop or alt. dance with house as a common denominator, which only add that extra energy to some of the more ('artsy-farty') art pop original compositions.
All in all, a very fine collection.

Bruce Springsteen "Lucky Town" (1992)

Lucky Town
release date: Mar. 31, 1992
format: cd (2005 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin
label: Sony Music Direct, Japan - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Better Days" - 2. "Lucky Town" - 4. "If I Should Fall Behind" - 5. "Leap of Faith" - 8. "Book of Dreams"

10th studio album by Bruce Springsteen originally issued by Columbia Records and released simultaneously with the album Human Touch.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, and Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Bruce Springsteen "Human Touch" (1992)

Human Touch
release date: Mar. 31, 1992
format: cd (2005 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Roy Bittan
label: Sony Music Direct, Japan - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Human Touch" - 4. "Cross My Heart" - 7. "Roll of the Dice" - 9. "All or Nothin' at All" - 10. "Man's Job"

9th studio album by Bruce Springsteen originally released by Columbia Records. Instead of releasing a double album Springsteen released the album simultaneously with the album Lucky Town. Human Touch was recorded between Sep. 1989 and Mar. 1991, and was initially intended to be released in 1990. Apparently, Springsteen delayed the deadline on more than one occasion, as he wanted one more track on the album. "Living Proof" was to be be recorded for the album, but he ended up writing enough songs for another album. He then postponed the release and ended up with two albums instead of just the one.
The album received mixed reviews. Generally, this is considered the more mainstream uptempo 'pop / rock' album of the two, whereas Lucky Town is more singer / songwriter and folk rock-oriented. The title track was the only song that had a considerable airplay on the radio stations, which may explain some people's idea that this album is the better of the two. On the other hand, other critics suggest this is the shallow one and Lucky Town the more artistically driven, and better...
I think, the two albums are very much on the same level, and just think of them as one and the same, and for once Springsteen hasn't written a bunch of great and memorable tracks, and furthermore, it seems he has no real idea of direction: should he go for another Tunnel of Love production or a more stripped down sound?? He ends up releasing what he has written and recorded. I think he could have done better by releasing a double album and re-ordering the set-list to fit an uptempo disc and a more folk-based one, or he could have done without two albums and perhaps recorded one good album instead of the two near mediocre ones we are left with.
Not really recommended.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]