The Police -- Synchronicity

  Man, so many people love the sh*t out of this band, I get it, they are technical masters, but really, the music is so lame and cheesy it totally forfeits whatever talent they have.  

Ennio Morricone -- Les Meilleures Bandes Sonares De Ses Films

  This best of LP from the legendary film composer Ennio Morricone is hardly a good showcase of his most brilliant work.  Side one features some of his western scores with director Sergio Leone, personally I was hoping to hear some of my favorite memorable numbers, unfortunately most of them were not present.  Side two was a total f*cking debacle of garbage, probably taken from his lesser known works.  All in all it was fun to hear some of these songs on my turntable, but I think the bargain basement label who put together this compilation couldn't afford the good stuff.  

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

  Classic Synth-Pop group OMD.  These guys are primarily known for their dance club mega hit Electricity, but the sax driven Mystereality is the real piece of brilliant work. 

The Yardbirds -- Shapes Of Things

  This compilation spans most of the Yardbirds career, featuring their slew of luminary guitarists, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.  These guys have more in commune with, and influenced, the American Garage Rock and 60's Punk scene, rather than their British Invader contemporaries.  This band served as a stepping stone to the future of the music scene by showing us the Shapes Of Things to come!  

Eric Clapton -- 461 Ocean Boulevard

  While spending his time at home, 461 Ocean Boulevard, trying to cope with a vice-less life and probably experiencing some pretty heavy heroin withdraw, old Clappy pulls out what I'd consider his greatest solo effort, which is not very good.  The album starts off strong, just good old music for music's sake, no over the top solos, but some great guitar noodling.  The flipside gets even better, but halfway through Clapton drops the ball terribly hard with some countrified numbers that are so bad it ruins the integrity of the entire record.  I'll have to agree with the dog on the famous "Clapton is God" picture -- taking a piss! 

Ariel Pink -- Before Today

  There's a cool airy 60's style Dream Pop feel to this album, but some of the numbers are a little too 80's drenched for my taste, but I'd still file it under pretty good!

Derek And The Dominos -- Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

  Don't get me wrong they are very talented musicians and somehow for some odd reason I always wanted to like Eric Clapton, he's got an interesting story and kicked ass in The Yardbirds.  But unfortunately I found these song hollow, boring and cheesy as f*ck.  Honestly I was never too fond of Layla but i was hell bent on finding the hidden gems on this album, cause' c'mon, you've got Duane Allman and Eric Clapton on the same damn record, you'd think you'd be experiencing music on an epic scale, but all I found was run of the mill white boy bar Blues!