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!

Otis Redding -- Live In Europe

  Backed by Booker T. & the MG's on this Redding classic live album.  For starters the sound isn't the best and the song tempos are off, but who the hell cares this live album is great!!  All the hits are represented here.  The wild raw energy of the concert comes out beautifully, loud horns, fast pace and the tremendous voice.  What a show it must have been!!  Otis's energy was at a all time high, coming off the buzz of showing the psychedelic generation who's still the boss at the Monterey Pop Festival.  Unfortunately this record was the last release before Redding's death in a plane crash, but it's a great end to a great soul man's superb career, so show him some RESPECT!  Deh-Nah-Neh-Nah-Neh!

The Troggs -- Wild Thing

  Hidden deep within the caverns of garage rock, the Troggs crawl their way out to show the world what Punk Rock is all about!  First let's get the crap out of the way, we all know these guys for the mega hit Wild Thing, yeah yeah who cares, it's pretty much Louie Louie with different words!   The rest of the album is a mix of 60's camp and baroque-ish numbers.  But the juicy meat of this record lays on two tracks I Want You and From Home.  I Want You is definitely highly regarded in Detroit, cause, the MC5 covered it, and the Stooges swipe the screaming blues guitar solo sound ... The Troggs didn't last long, they had a couple big time hits, but their obscure stuff went on to influence groups who changed the face of music, so in fact, these dudes are in that weird 1966 punk club, developing a sound that wouldn't surface entirely for another decade.

Aretha Franklin -- Aretha Arrives

  Aretha Arrives is mostly a collection of cover songs from, the Stones, to Willie Nelson, even ? and the Mysterians, with a couple of traditional blues numbers and a tune written by her baby sister Carolyn.  What's most interesting is how she can take any song and totally Aretharize it.  The only chart topper and closing track on this record is the cool smooth Baby I Love you, as the record ends you kinda wish there were more songs like this one up ahead, but Aretha Arrives too late!