The Ramones -- S/T

    The best damn rock 'n' roll album ever put out -- that's my opinion.  And if you try to simply label it as punk rock because it's loud and fast, forget that.  This record changed the whole ball game of the music business once the needle hit the wax.  These guys gave music a total face lift, no more pretty boys, no more showing off, justpure rock 'n' roll music from the most basic skeletal perspective.  But it wasn't that simple either, maybe the riffs were, but you had some bubble gum pop, 60's girl groups, Spector's wall of sound, Chuck Berry's Maybelline simplicity and the Raw Power of the MC5/ Stooges all mashed together into one sound, rattling the world, and forcing some major changes. 

  I would have loved to be there in 1976 when this album hit the streets.  Jaws must have been dropping on epidemic scale, thinking what the hell is this and are these guys for real, but there's no mistake, those songs would have engrained themselves your mind until you started your own Ramones rip-off band.  People constantly argue, which is the real first punk band is it, The Sex Pistols, The New York Dolls, The MC5, The Stooges or maybe the 60's punks, The Sonics, The Music Machine, The Seeds, The Velvet Underground, yadda yadda, admittedly those groups are all just pieces, but The Ramones mastered it first, putting their stamp on the sound!

  The Ramones never made it as big as their influence on music, but every year their legacy grows ... I think I saw one of the Backstreet Boys wearing a Ramones t-shirt on TV, now does that douchebag really like the band or is it just trendy nowadays to wear their t-shirts, who really knows?  As far as I'm concerned Dee Dee is one of the coolest cats in Rock history, like a Lou Reed or a Bob Dylan, his lyrics have beat poet quality and essence of life, freedom meets struggle, the ideal punk rocker.  The Ramones proved to us all that less is more and more is just a waste of time!! Hey Ho Let's Go!

Percy Sledge -- The Best Of ...

  For those of you who don't know, Percy sang mega hit When A Man Loves A Woman, and I must say this Best Of collection doesn't stray much further than that.  This is a great record if you're having dinner, who wants pumpin' tunes when you're sitting down to eat, it's all pure soul ballads, but at the same time all the songs sound alike.  Percy wasn't a diverse artist, but he knew what he was good at, and gave it his all ... which was the same track over and over again!

The Zombies -- The Best Of ...

 Part of the British Invasion, The Zombies didn't have the typical Invader sound, yes their first album has tons of R & B covers, like all the other British groups, but their originals have more in common with the Californian sunshine pop music.  We all know the typical Zombie Hits like Time Of The Season, She's Not There and Tell Her No, for the lush cool organ driven style.  They were definitely major pioneers, songs like Indication and Care Of Cell 44 were almost like premonitions of Indie Nerd Rock that came 30 years later. 

The Heartbreakers -- What Goes Around ...

  1975: Johnny Thunders quits the New York Dolls, Richard Hell gets tossed out of Television, both form a group with Jerry Nolan, ex Dolls drummer, and Walter Lure, called the Heartbreakers.  By 1976 Hell leaves the group to form the Voidoids and Thunders carries on with the Heartbeakers.  What Goes Around is recorded live in '75, mostly at CBGB's, with what sounds to be a crowd of ten people.  I have to admit that the record sounds like sh*t, would I have bought it knowing this, fu*k no, am I going to keep it as a document in punk rock history, fu*k yes!  What you have here is two rockstar ego's battling it out for center stage and artistic direction of the band, it's obvisous in the track listings; you've got Voidoids classics like Love Comes In Spurts and Blank Generation, as well as Heartbreakers classics like Pirate Love and Can't Keep My Eyes On You, a couple of years before they get released separately and officially.  One track that sticks in my mind, if any, from this album is So Alone a kinda sad slow ballad sung by Thunders, I think (?).  Thunders on this number sounds, and probably is, like a junkie who's ripped off all his friends and finally faces the sickness and loneliness he has much deserved, but nonetheless cries for sympathy after everything is all said and done, it's too late, all that there is left is What Goes Around ...

the Vaselines -- Dum Dum

  Heavily influential, garagy grunge shoegaze band The Vaselines.  They seem to pick up on anything and everything that's cool and toss it into their timeless sound.  They're one of those bands you wish were more popular, but are secretly glad they aren't because you are so hip that no one knows them except you, some of your friends, and a couple of rock stars.  I doubt they knew what kinda impact they have on the face of music at the time, but some of the best music was made that way.  I hope all the hipsters won't thrist for my blood, I just let the cat outta the bag, but don't worry the jock nerds never caught wind of them then (you know what year), I doubt they will now!  "MEEEOW!"

The Descendents -- I Don't Want To Grow Up

  If you grew up punk like I did there's no way you missed this group, they're definitely one of the best punk bands the 80's ever produced.  For those who don't know, this is the Descendents second release, and marks the return of Milo from college.  Personally do I think this record is better than Milo Goes To College, no I don't, but I Don't Want To Grow Up has in my opinion the best Descendents songs ever written, so it evens them out in awesomeness.  Side one tries to go where Milo Goes To College left off, silly, serious, angry, funny hardcore-ish punk rock, I can't say I'm too too crazy about it, it has its moments, but I feel blah about it.  Side two is where the real gems are, plus I find the sound production superior to the first half.  The song writing on the second side reached a new maturity for the band and had an influential writing style that spruced up again in the 90's Indie Rock. The numbers I hope to hear on classic rock stations when I'm an old man, if there's enough of us old punkers still alive to make it happen, would be Silly Girl and Good Good Things.  Not only are the riffs great, the sound is good and the cute girly lyrics are insanely relatable.  You know what, I Don’t Want to Grow Up either and if I keep listening to this record I probably never will!  YAY!

Johnny Nash -- Hold Me Tight

  Everybody knows him as the "I can see clearly now" guy Johnny Nash.  I bought this record solely because I thought his hit was interesting, totally over played, but I wanted to hear what the rest of his music sounded like.  Hold Me Tight is a full blown Desmond Dekker sounding Rocksteady album, keep in mind Nash is American and the first to export the sound, I couldn't believe it, it was great!  This album was recorded, apparently, in Jamaica, and has two numbers written by Peter Tosh, Love and You Gotta Change Your Ways, which are the best tracks on the record, especially Love, a cool Rockseady ballad.  Further footnotes, this album was released on his own record label JAD Records, and his label signed some of The Wailers luminaries, Bob included.  Also the cover and back cover have various pictures of Nash in a waterfall scene, not taken in Jamaica, but taken in the gardens of Hotel Bonaventure, Montreal.  What's strange about that is if the album was recorded in Jamaica, why have the pictures taken in the gardens of a hotel?  Musta been a Canada only release, with that specific cover?  Anyway I can see clearly that Johnny Nash is awesome now!

The Who -- Tommy

  Heavily ambitious, out conceptualizing the concept album, rock opera, Tommy.  Now first things first, do I think that Tommy out does The Who's previous efforts ... hardly!  As far as my overall opinion of this record, I can't say I loved it, I found the lyrics were over the top pretentiously juvenile ramblings of a young man with delusions grandeur and mental illness, I know it's suppose to be about enlightenment, but I'm not buying it.  Musically I feel the same way as I do about the lyrics.

  Album one is the most stable, well rounded, and Who sounding record of the set.  I don't really want to get into too many Tommy story details, I can safely assume if you are reading this you are aware of the tale. Otherwise it starts off from the beginning, birth, and then embarks into what is going to be Tommy's very strange existence.  I did like how they cleverly found a way to slip in a Sonny Boy Williamson cover, Eyesight To The Blind, to play into their theme.

  Album two, unlike the first record's clear song structure, they use snippet tunes to move the story along, which I found dumbed down the details of what was going on, for example, when Tommy was being molested by Uncle Ernie the descriptor was the band chanting, "fiddle about," which I guess would have been a young man's interpretation, but seemed to condescend a very serious moment in a boy's life, but at the same time what else could you say?  Then the, "deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball," c'mon give me a break, after all he's been through he becomes a Pinball Wizard, great tune musically with killer riffs, but cheesy as hell lyrically.  As Tommy's life goes on they determine that the problem is psychosomatic, there's some realization, a quote unquote Miracle Cure, and Tommy becomes a Sensation.  Sally Simpson, a story about a random follower/ fan, proves to be the most interesting element, I like the outsider perspective, it's about her struggles and tribulations in relation to Tommy's life, she gets a terrible gash on her face and marries a Californian rock star.  At the end of the album Tommy becomes a cult/ guru type figure, with his own cover your eyes and block your ears enlightenment pinball camp.

  My final thoughts on the album are that I find the records to be entities of their own, almost like they were recorded different years and could have been sold seperatly.  The first record has a Overture and an Underture with concise songs in the middle.  While the second record is a total mish-mash.  To me Tommy's camp sounds like Jonestown, through all his experiences and trials he becomes a narcissistic jerk.  And c'mon seriously a pinball enlightenment camp, with Uncle Ernie helping and exploiting Tommy ... bullsh*t!  But this mega classic is still great, it's a huge project to undertake, and is open to all kinds of analysis, just look how much I wrote and that was just scratching the surface, so even if my critique isn't all for it, not many albums are worthy of a four paragraph essay.  So Tommy I think I heard you!

The Blues Project -- Live At The Café Au Go Go

  Yikes!  What can I say, are they The Blues Project or just the sh#$ty Yardbirds!  I had bought this record when I was in my full blown everything from the 60's is cool phase, plus it had all the right blues covers for a good album, and in the end I hardly listened to it, as of last night I very much hear why.  Man, I don't know what these guys were doin', nothing was quite right about this record.  The guitar player sounded like he was just twiddling his fingers as fast as he could go, hitting the right notes I'm sure, but no rhythm, no blues, just sh#t!  If that wasn't bad enough, the lead vocals were a total sham, a kind of bad 60's I'm hip, but really a nerd campy crap, I don't think even the Monkees would have him ... thank god they ditched him for their next effort.  Now to get to the worst stinker on this stinkers album, a cover of Donovan's Catch The Wind, this pathetic excuse for a ballad is ear wretchedly awful, if the high pitch organ was any louder I would have had all the neighbourhood dogs at the door step barking, "TURN IT OFF."  As you can tell this Blues Project failed with, as Ricky would say from Trailer Park Boys, "flying carpets"!!  Better luck next time ... f*ckos!

Wilson Pickett -- The Sound Of ...

  The unmistakable Sound Of Wilson Pickett is hard to miss and even harder not to dig, and if you're not diggin' it, then forget you man!  First of all the only chart topper is a cover of Dyke and the Blazers's Funky Broadway, which reached #1, but c'mon man, what does Dyke get?  Unlike Motown Soul music, Pickett's Southern Soul sound is drenched in blues, especially the b-side of this album, which I was diggin' pretty hard last night, chillin' with the dog, having a bluesy relax, and those tunes were mostly all penned by Bobby Womack, who has done his rounds on the scene.  Point is, no one should miss The Sound Of Wilson Pickett, because there's nothing quite like it.

Desmond Dekker -- Black and Dekker

  Ok I put this album on, it opens with Israelites it starts like the original but then the band kicks in, and I, out of shock, had to toss the needle right off the record.  Before you get you're panties all in a bunch here's the deal, this record is a 1980 comeback album on Stiff records, so instead of rocksteady it's ska, but that was the popular genre in his field at the time.  At first I thought it was a best of album because it featured a slew of his hits tunes, but nooooo, they're terribly updated versions of the old songs.  After hearing the new Israelites I was ready to give up on the record entirely, it was that bad, but I gave it a second chance, and two numbers were pretty good, It Mek and Why Fight.  From what I hear Dekker was backed by The Rumour, a sh*tty new wave rock band, and Akrylykz  (what the hell does that mean??) a ska band, I can only assume that the two good tracks were recorded with the ska band.  Other than that I can't recommend to get this one, just get the old stuff with the original songs, because most of these versions, well, suck, the big one!

Dr. John -- In The Right Place

  New Orleans's (unofficial) ambassador Dr. John has had a long standing career in the scene before he started releasing his own material.  In The Right Place is his sixth studio release, this record is a perfect fusion of Funk and Americana.  Produced by Allen Toussaint and accompanied by his classic funksters the Meters, which makes this record an all local effort!  The hit chart topper Right Place Wrong Time kick starts the record with a unignorable charismatic burst of right place right time, which follows through until the lp's denouement Cold Cold Cold that will knocks your socks off.  This is the kinda prescription I like to hear from the good hoodoo doctor!

Willie Dixon -- Walkin' The Blues (V/A)

  Willie Dixon is the quintessential Chicago Blues writer, he worked with everyone, and was a key figure to the bridge between Rock 'n' Roll and the Blues.  Walkin' The Blues works like a compilation,  all the numbers solely written by Dixon, but is nowhere close to his entire catalogue, it's merely like a starter kit to use as example to his greatness.  So who's on this album, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Dixon (of course) ... etc ... you get where it's going.  This record has eighteen beyond classic, I'd say legendary tracks, naming the best songs is impossible, but I can tell you my personal favorites, which is, My Babe and Pretty Thing.  Both songs are woman themed, but unlike most blues numbers these do not portray women negatively, they're more from the loving man stand point -- which I find very cool.  Walter's, My Babe, is a smooth Blues number with some killer harp, while Diddley's, Pretty Thing, is a Bo beat jungle hopin' Rock 'n' Roll track.  Don't get me wrong the rest of the record is just as good as these two songs, but what the hell am I going to do, write little snippets about eighteen tracks, I don't think so, and if I did, I'd be typin' the Blues!

Talking Heads -- 77

  Classic debut release 77 seems to be linked to punk rock, but only murderous track Psycho Killer can sorta fit into that mold, even with that it's closer to a Joy Division tune than the Sex Pistols.  The rest is a kinda funky new wave sound.  Lyrically the album reads like observations of the modern world, it makes you think the future is now, but even at it's 1977 release, Byrne knew what timeless modern elements to mention so its relevance would last, who couldn't relate to the nonsensical The Book I Read, which is about just what the title says, he depicts the steps you would take if you were to tell another about the book you read, or Don't Worry About The Government, about the building he lives in, picking it, the highway that takes him there, then the highway that takes his friends there .... so on and so forth!  Those are just examples but I'm sure you get my drift and just outta nowhere does anyone else find that David Byrne looks like he should be a bizarre dentist?

Tom Waits -- Blue Valentine

  Drenched in smoke, whiskey and drugs, Blue Valentine has a feel of a dark blues/ jazz lizard lounge, with Waits at the helm like the go-between Howlin' Wolf and Dr. John.  Blue Valentine is great, with the exception of Somewhere (from West Side Story) and Kentucky Alley, which are so bad I had to skip 'em, I have no idea how they didn't make it on the cutting room floor, they sounded like ridiculous exaggerations of a drunken Howlin' Wolf,  with just plain bullsh*t orchestrations.  The record lyrically speaks to the beat down pseudo-intellectual crowd who just can't make it in this world, and probably wouldn't want to anyway.  Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis is a good example, it reads like a letter, reminiscent of Cohen's Famous Blue Rain Coat, a themed narrative from the disenfranchised.  This is one Blue Valentine you'll definitely wanna get!

John Lennon -- Rock 'n' Roll

  This album was recorded during Lennon's extended boys lost weekend period that lasted years!  Rock 'n' Roll is exactly what the title says, all classic covers from the early days, basically the people who influenced Lennon into the music business.  There aren't too many surprises here, huge amount of of famous session musicians, Phil Spector's wall of sound, and pure Rock 'n' Roll music.  Stand By Me the only chart topper on this record proved to be the best song on the album, you can hear the Bowie-esque plastic soul sound in the tune, which shows that Lennon can influence and be influenced.  Oh the three blurry figures on the front cover are, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Stu Sutcliffe.

The Exploited -- Horror Epics

  Mega angry hardcore punk one trick pony The Exploited's fourth studio release.  These guys are known to be anti ... well, everything ... hippies, cops, rumoured to potentially be racist, the list goes on and on ... But I'm not buying it!  Take away the screaming anger, the album, lyrically, focuses on starvation of the third world, hence the term Horror Epics.  Who knew that a group with one of the worst raps had such global concerns??   Musically this record is terrible, constant shouting, cookie cutter guitar riffs and horrible robotic drumming!  My Life and title track Horror Epics make up for some of the rubbish, both are the same and are very unique.  The pair have, tribal style drums, psychedelic guitar noise, Pink Floydian Let There Be More Light style bass riffs, and even the horrendous screaming helps the dark, desolate, desperate atmosphere ... come to think of it, global concerns and Psyched-out music kinda sounds like a bunch of hippies to me -- just don't tell them that!

Footnote: why is there only one guy in the horror get up?

Sweet -- Desolation Boulevard

 Poseur Glam rock Ballroom Blitzer's classic album Desolation Boulevard is the only Sweet album worth getting, but still it's not any good.  Some of the hits like Fox On The Run and Ballroom are fun party tunes, but I can't take this music seriously, it feels like a bubblegum pop joke, which I heard they started out as.  The only song with a hint of originality is AC DC, it reminds me of the heavier side of Mott the Hoople and Slade.  I wonder if it inspired a certain group's band name??  Other than that, I don't care much for Sweet, it just sounds like a cash grab, but if there's one to get, this album is the boulevard to rock on -- no wonder it's so desolate ... maybe just watch Wayne's World instead!