Hank Williams -- Lives Again

  Hank Williams provides half of the archetype that is Rock 'n' Roll music, Robert Johnson providing the other.  Lives Again is a basic greatest hits, everyone knows each and every one of these songs on this record.  Williams's haunting voice of a man suffering with chronic pain (spina bifida), addiction and heart break is incomparable but often mimicked, even with the uptempo numbers you hear the drowned out alcoholic gasping for air just to have himself a good ol' time.  There will be nothing else like Hank Williams, his influence spans generations and his legend will live forever.

David Bowie -- Lodger

  Bowie's/ Eno's Lodger is the denouement of the Berlin Trilogy, Low being the start, and "Heroes" the height.  This album sounds like awkward coked out European New Wave.  To some it's a under-rated classic, to me it's an interesting mess.

ENO -- Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

  Master sound manipulator, Eno's second solo release, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), is a precursor to so much music it's hard to name drop just who without leaving an endless list.  The best way to label this, according to me, is futurist experimental dada geek rock.  The album itself is a monolith of theories and ideas, from using oblique strategies (which he was co-inventor during this album, they are a set of cards presenting 100 dilemmas to help with creativity) in the recording process to being inspired by a Chinese Opera (Taking Tiger Mountain) in the writing process.  The good things about this record are endless and maybe hard to find to an amateur listener, but if you have a vast interest in music, I'd strategize to get this album right away!!

Motown Grammy Rhythm and Blues Performances Of The 1960's

  Motown Grammy Rhythm and Blues Performances Of The 1960's is a collection of Motown's MEGA classics!  This slew of tunes are totally over-played radio hits from Motown's best era, and who cares if they are over-saturated, there's good reason ... they'rrrrrrrre great ... who wants to live in a world where songs like, Baby Love, Heat Wave, Uptight, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, I Second That Emotion, My Girl, etc, don't exist???  When you hear this stuff you realize that they don't make em' like they used to, Hitsville USA just knew how to get it done, put the right sounds in the right places ... and dats all grandpa has gotta say! RIGHT ON BROTHA!!!!

Blue Cheer -- Vincebus Eruptum

  Super sludgefest pre-heavy metal pure noise makers Blue Cheer's debut album.  Vincebus Eruptum seems to be a favorite amongst the rock 'n' roll archaeologists for being one of the first of it's kind.  Blue Cheer sound like a mix of the MC5 and Hendrix, not Jimi's playing, more like his noisy guitar power.  These guys are straight out of the San Fran, coming down from the summer of love and into the year of anarchy -- '68 ... Frisco LSD guru Owsley is cited on the back cover of the record, so you could imagine what they were doing while recording, maybe a stiff dose Owsley's special blend of blue cheer acid?  I think so!! 

  As far as the album's music in concerned their influence spans further than their actual talent, the six minutes solos are wretched, is it noise like the Velvet's Sister Ray or Hendrix's Wild Thing, no, it's noise because they can't play one goddamn lick ... it's not that I hate the record, but if I, you, anyone, want to listen to this kinda music it's better just to, "kick out the JAMS, MOTHERF*CKER!!!!!!!"  bah denh bah deh bah beh bah denh!

Michael Jackson -- Off The Wall

  Funky Soul Disco, like a squarebait watered down version of Prince, but still a pretty good album, Off The Wall.  Jackson has an array of superstars to help him on this record, producer Quincy Jones, writers, Sevie Wonder, Paul McCarney ... the list goes on.  I was never a huge fan, well maybe when I was 7 or something.  But in all honesty f*ck Michael Jackson, you have to play this album at the right place and at the right time, and then even I can dig it, so "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" ...

Kraftwerk -- The Man-Machine

  Das record iz more German dan German.  Heavily influenced by zeh Bauhaus (you better not think I mean the band!) und Karlheinz Stockhausen (electro composer, Beatles dug it too) ziss all laid zeh groundverk for Kraftwerk's innovative electronic pop music.  Zeh MTV vid heads and das 80's owe a huge debt to ziss band who revolutionized music in das style zat iz still mimicked today.  The Man-Machine focuses on typical Kraftwerk themes zat iz clear in zeh six track titles from zee album; The Robots, Spacelab, Metropolis, The Model, Neon Lights and The Man-Machine.  Und if you look closely at der video's you'd swear zat zey are das robots! doo doo dah doo!

Slade -- Play It Loud

  1970 second release, Play It Loud, by Slade.  As you can see by the cover this doesn't look like the same Slade that play Cum On Feel The Noize, but I assure you it is.  As suggested by Chas Chandler (you know the one, Animals bass player, Hendrix manager), their producer, they adopted the skinhead look, not the racist kind we all know and hate, that genre of skinhead comes later, no no, this is the working class version of the mods, well sorta, but still very chic.  I read that this album is suppose to be a Punk Rock record seven years before the UK explosion, f*ck that sh*t, this garbage sounded more like a cross between early Queen and Pub Rock.  It might be fine when you're totally sh*tfaced, and these guys are the bar band that you don't have to hear again, but a timeless influential classic, bah ha ha ha!  Play It Loud, no thanks, I'll stick to Sladest, in stilettos!

Quicksilver Messenger Service -- Happy Trails

  This is what I'd call a super psychedelic album.  Happy Trails is pure wild, Owsley (classic San Fran acid guru)  musta cooked up a bitchin' blend of LSD for the band on these live performances, recorded at the Filmore East and West.  The first side works like a 20 minute long ode to Bo Diddley a total San Franciscan freak-out version of Who Do You Love, as the tune goes on they expand it into a spaced-out jam session broken up into  parts called, When You Love, Where You Love, How You Love, Which Do You Love, then it all comes back 'round full circle with Who Do You Love -- Part 2 .... the flipside isn't any different, it starts off with Diddley's Mona ... then the acid fueled jam-out starts up again and goes on with, Maiden Of The Cancer Moon, Cavalry, and finally we land back on earth with a little spoof of ..... Happy Trails ... to yoouuuuu!

  I must say even though I admire this record, the musicianship in parts isn't the best, they're probably way too high, letting loose, so I don't blame em' for not being perfect, how could you, it's random freedom ... like being totally annihilated by noise, but noise with a beat, and the beat starts the next experiment ... it keeps going  ... until the trip is over ... you hear this sort of cosmic sound experimentation with bands like Sonic Youth and Television years later ...

Simon & Garfunkel -- Bookends

  Totally weird Bookends has some typical Simon & Garfunkel themes and sounds, but they tweaked it in such a way that it enters the dark and bizarre.  From what I read the first side of this record is  a conceptual piece, from childhood to old age.  After reviewing the lyrics, sure, I guess they touch on the quote unquote theme.  But from what I saw on the lyric sheet is that they mention several New York periodicals, and expand on what you'd read in the paper, from childhood trauma to being old and hanging out in the park -- histoire humaine.  It felt like a mini-personal tour of what it would have been like to grow up in such a big city, what you'd hear about and what you'd see.

  Side two's numbers were written for the Graduate soundtrack, and mostly rejected, except Mrs. Robinson.  Compared to the first side's synth-folk, folk sound, side two is more what you'd expect from the duo, insightful folk rock.  Bookends is a tough record to follow, but worth every minute wasted trying to figure out what it all means, but such is the Bookends of life!  Right?

Black Flag -- Slip It In

  Black Flag's musical assault, Slip It In, is another move away from hardcore and another step forward towards sludgy guitar grunge.  This record is a mix between the MC5 and Black Sabbath, it has the 5's free jazz punk aesthetic, and Sabbath's power blues guitar, but Black Flag turns it up to 11!  Rollins sounds more pissed than ever, he's all Wound Up lookin' into Rats Eyes setting foot in My Ghetto.  Title classic hit track, Slip It In and similar sounding The Bars are the hit tracks on this album, both are driven by freight train bass riffs, but only one, Slip It In, features a pre-L7 Suzi Gardner doing backup vocals.  Slip It In might not be the best Black Flag record ever put out (he...he), but it changed the whole definition of punk rock and influenced the 90's scene .... I think you can guess which one .... so slip it on in ... in .... innnn!!

The Smiths -- Meat Is Murder

  Meat Is Murder is a bit of a departure from their first release ... Morrissey is still crooning his typical depressing sarcasmatron lyrics, but the tone is more personal and serious, with relatable insight about teen angst, corporal punishment, politics, vegetarianism ... etc.  The Warholian cover kinda gives that away.  The music is a jumble of jangly New Wave with hints of Rockabillied Funk, kinda weird to say, but sounds good to hear!  All you need to remember next time you have a nice steak dinner, "the meat in your mouth, as you savour the flavour of MURDER."  Yum!

Neutral Milk Hotel -- On Avery Island

  Kinda grungy folk, new weird American, first full length album.  Neutral Milk Hotel took what Sebadoh started to new heights.  This band is so good that popular indie groups are afraid to name drop them in interviews, as an influence, because their fans would discover how terribly unoriginal they really are.  There isn't anything I don't love about this record, it's loud but smooth with a barrage of interesting instruments embedded in the wax that call for your full attention until it's over ... plus these guys were part of the original Elephant 6 collective so you not only have Mangum's magnetism, but Apples In Stereo's front man Robert Schneider playing along, doing the horn arrangements, which fill the gaps of their wicked sound.  This is a great band to get into, well if you're not already, but watch out, you'll start your own group, steal their thing, call it your own and never mention them again ......

CCR -- Green River

  A group synonymous, in my mind, with roundin' up some good ol' boys, getting your drink on and starting some shenanigans!  And who doesn't want to get in at least a little bit of trouble when you've got some Creedence blaring on your stereo speakers!

  Because of their major popularity these guys got roped in the whole classic rock scene, but I think they've got more in common with garage rock bands than their classic contemporaries.  I love the fact that these blues drenched California boys fake a believable Louisiana shtick and make it work for years, album after album.  CCR is the epitome of American music, and if you ever get lost you can just go on home to Green River ...

Little Anthony and The Imperials -- The Hits Of ...

  Classic Doo-Wop group Little Anthony and The Imperials are a way to cherry pie happy for me to handle, I search for the dark desperate Doo-Wop that longs for love.  Needless to say this record isn't bad, for two reasons Travelling Stranger and Cha Cha Henry.  Travelling Stranger is a typical swingin' Doo Wop tune, lots of vocals and a great beat, while Cha Cha Henry sounds more like a soulful Rock 'n' Roll number, like Little Eva's Locomotion, you get my drift!  Bargain basement label Pickwick (see Isley Bros Soul Shout! for more label info) bought what they could to make this hits collection, I guess they couldn't afford Shimmy Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop.

Sufjan Stevens -- Michigan

  The first of the 50 States project starting at the beginning with his home state of Michigan.  I'm guessing he has given up on this feat since he only released two albums with this theme, but I do love the idea.  The sound of the record is a pastiche of Donovan, the softer side of Bowie, some Neutral Milk Hotel horn stylings, a Christian choir and Charlie Brown's piano player -- I think that just about does it!  The album reads like a tour of his home State and personal life, part promotion, part mystical journey.  This isn't the kind of record you slap on during your killer house party, but if your chillin' out, feeling peaceful, Sufjan is the way to go.  The album will definitely be a New Weird America (a pseudo-genre still in the works) classic.  Stevens is clearly a firm believer in the DIY aesthetic, by playing most instruments himself,  even going as far as producing his own record and co-founding his own label Asthmatic Kitty, with his step-father.  This dude is a real artist he better get the credit he deserves, what the hell, let's all go to Michigan and relax to some Sufjan Stevens!!!!

Tyrannosaurus Rex -- Beard of Stars

  The last Tyrannosaurus Rex record before Bolan became the better known T. Rex.  Beard Of Stars, to me, sounds like a Lord Of The Rings obsessed, minstrel wanna-be, electric busker.  I don't get it, the music, the lyrics, which Bolan was never the best at, but the whimsical fantasy flake fest took the cake ... why the hell does this record get somewhat good reviews?  Thank god Electric Warrior was just around the corner because this record should have been called beard of sh*t!

Arcade Fire -- The Suburbs

  Immensely popular Arcade Fire hasn't missed the mark with any of their releases, and to me their third full length effort is their best.  It was a great moment in indie rock history that these guys won the Grammy for album of the year, and countless other awards, but the Grammy, however cheesy the award is, is still a big deal, like winning an Oscar.  Now is it the best indie rock record ever released, hardly, but it solidifies the scene, like London Calling should have done for punk (why didn't that win), and Sgt. Pepper did for the hippies.

  I love this record, the damn thing opens like a shotgun blast, the first side is mostly a slew of mega hits and ends with the heavily intense Rococo.  I don't know what it is but their dark mix of electro folk shogaze just reminds of the city of Montreal, especially in the winter, I know that the city itself influenced them since they live there, but word is the record is about their suburb experiences in Houston, I suspect that the lyrics have are Huston, but the sound is Montreal.

  I can't say that the words move me too too much, some tunes seem to have good insight, especially when he sings about wanting a daughter, showing her beauty ... yadda yadda ... that statement is against the grain for the generation he is speaking to, from what I know of the hipster 30 somethings, they mostly don't want kids, they just want to live for themselves, and see the world as a bad place for children, not a place of beauty for children!  But otherwise the whiny spoilt art school dropout "businessman drink my blood" kinda thing is a big turn off for me!  Otherwise who cares, the album is great!  And marks a scene that's been around for over 20 years into the history books!  So thanks guys from this pretentious prick!

My Bloody Valentine -- Loveless

  Noise noise noise, such beautiful noise!  Loveless kick started the 90's and put the stamp on the shoegazer sound.  This album took years to make, producer problems, band problems, money problems, etc ... but they finally got it done, dubbing, over dubbing, layer after layer of noise making a mammoth wall of sound, with who knows how many elements buried in the music.  Many of the new indie rock bands today only wish they could mimic the smooth lush power of this record, but they only remain Loveless ....

Guns And Roses -- Appetite for Destruction

  Uh oh I'm probably gonna get in some trouble here, but I f*ckin' hate Guns and Roses, their glorification of white trash culture drives me batty!!!  Not that this record doesn't have a nostalgically endearing quality to it,  in a sorta  there's a time and  a place kinda way, but the array of skinning the dead cat continuous album releases just irritates my nerves.  For what it is I do find that Sweet Child O' Mine is a pretty good song, the hooks are unforgettable, and the main riff, they must have known, is worth a million bux.  I could just imagine the band rehearsing, and teasing their hair, hearing it for the first time, they all look at each other thinking cha-ching ... all of a sudden they're sent into the stratosphere of popularity.  If Appetite for Destruction was released without Sweet Child O' Mine, I am certain, as they are sh*tty, they'd have a fraction of their fan base.  The only reason this bad boy survives in my record collection is because the inlay sleeve features the original album artwork by Robert Williams, which was way too risqué for mass release, but the painting's cool, thumbs up to GNR for having good taste in art, otherwise I'd give this album to my dog so he could sooth his Appetite for Destruction!!!