The Amboy Dukes -- Journey To The Center Of The Mind

  Total Psyched-out madness sophmore release by The Amboy Dukes is a mix of flaky hippy bullsh*t and good Psychedelic Pop songs.  Side one was a total write off, filled with sh*tty Ted "Cat Scratch Fever" Nugent bonehead composed guitar show-boat nightmares.  With the only exception, opening track, Mississippi Murderer which at first just sounds like typical 60's Heavy Blues, but after a few listens I found it has a pre-Richard Hell quality to it.

  The conceptual flipside is lyrically hard to decipher exactly what it is suppose to be about.  Word is it's about drugs, or maybe death, some say it's about the levels of a conscious experience, but honestly to me, especially with song titles like Why Is A Carrot More Orange Than an Orange, I don't think it's really about much of anything ... other than being really really stoned!  The B side is written by the other guitarist and visionary in the band, Steve Farmer, who does more of a Pop oriented Psychedelic treatment to the music.

  All in all the title track and the opening number are the best of the bunch, written by both Nugent and Farmer, it would have made a killer 45, but as a whole album I'm not too enthusiastic, nonetheless it's an interesting effort.  What makes me laugh the most is Nugent's total denial of any drug use or knowledge of use during this period ... are you kidding me, the cover has hash pipes all over it, goddamn gun-toting Republican lying sh*thead, what's he trying to get us think, he really loves Tobacco??  Bull!!!

Gino Washington & The Ram Jam Band -- Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin' Funky-Butt ... Live!

  Gino was stationed in England when he met The Ram Jam Band in various nightclubs, eventually they needed a new front man ... and guess what ... once Gino was discharged ... he was it!  This is one far out mish-mashed Soul record.  All the songs are covers and are so intertwined together, like a medley, you can't tell them apart.  It reminded me of James Brown's Pure Dynamite live album, a wild constant Soul explosion.  Although I doubt Gino was as polished of an entertainer as James, but there is no way you could tell by hearing the crowd in the background, they were loving it, he was in total control of their madness, encouraging them to explore their primal urges and scream to the music!

The First Authentic 1950's Rock 'n' Roll Collection

  This bizzaro comp is all about the Doo Wop, there are a couple staple Rock 'n' Roll tunes, but otherwise it's the best Doo Wop comprehensive I've ever seen!  I bought this sucker on E-bay, for what I thought was a nice price ... then as we were listening to it, my girlfriend decides to do some research, because I failed to find anything and her google skills are way better than mine ... anyway we found out that my three record set is suppose to be a four record set, now I did try to rationalize, because each side has ten songs and the missing fourth record has only six songs each side, maybe it was a first press?  But noooooo, that wasn't the case at all, the tracks are all displayed right there on the cover, you can clearly see there are twelve songs missing.  Those limey bastards charged me full pop for an incomplete box set.  I have just e-mailed the seller informing them of what they sold me, with my proof that there is one entire record missing, and now as I write this blog I pathetically stare at my inbox tab waiting for a one to appear hoping they rectify this annoying situation ... otherwise this box set kills!  I love it!

UPDATE!!!!:  I take back the limey bastards comment, other than the fact that it sounds cool!  They gave me 15 bux off my next purchase, and I get to keep it!  Everybody wins!  Anyone got record 4??  I'll give you 15 dollars!!

Ray Charles -- Take 10 with ...

  A collection of Ray Charles numbers before his Rock 'n' Roll days.  These tunes are drenched in the swingy Jazz/ Blues sound of the late 40's, Nat King Cole style.  The last couple tracks are interesting Sax led instrumentals that has a sound of what is to come, otherwise nothing too too interesting here, but good tunes nonetheless!

Marvin Gaye -- Anthology

  The crowned Prince of Soul, Marvin Gaye.  This Anthology spans a decade of his music.  Gaye's Motown career started after the dissolution of the New Moonglows.  He started out as the janitor and session drummer for the label.  Eventually he worked up the ranks to become a recording artist.  As part of the Motown Hit machine Marvin recorded many big numbers that would go on to be covered by some of music's biggest acts.  By 1970 his singing partner, Tammi Terrell, died of a brain tumor, resulting in Marvin's spiralled descent into depression, he vowed to stay away from the music business, even going as far as trying out for the Detroit Lions.  Just when it looked like it was over, Motown label-mates, the Four Tops, approached Gaye with a new song they needed his help on, called What's Going On.  Inspired by letters from his brother, about being in the Vietnam war, the Four Tops project was starting to look more like a new Marvin Gaye album, about war, poverty and social change, which was to become his greatest artistic achievement.

  Now the Anthology itself, this is a back to back Motown masterpiece, there isn't a hint, or even a flutter of bad music on this three record set.  My only real complaint is the last side, side six, it features four What's Going On numbers and two Trouble Man tunes, which is a soundtrack for a blaxsploitation movie.  What makes the side so uneven is that the songs from What's Going On, which is a concept album using song cycles that weaves all the numbers together making it a whole instead of separate entities, they break the cycle apart and play songs that are taken out of their context.

  Marvin Gaye went on to record for another decade making some hits and some duds.  His personal strife against his father never left him, giving the artist anxiety and bouts of stage fright, no matter how much he tried to escape, his father was always there to break him down.  In Marvin's last moments he was shot, point blank, by his father and deemed dead on arrival once the ambulance reached the hospital.  It was later discovered that Gaye's father was suffering from a brain tumor, that was clouding his perception of reality and judgement.  Marvin was one of the greatest artists of all-time, he grew up hard, crawling his way to the top with brilliance, charisma and charm!

Mudhoney -- Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

  Without a doubt the best release from the greatest 90's Seattle band.  This record is a mix of Avant-Garde Guitar Grunge and Garage Blues Punk.  They did it so well that it made their mainstream contemporaries look like a bunch of Jock-Rock wanna-be's!

REM -- Green

  I can't say I'm a huge REM fan, their early work is pretty good, but this period for the band marks the beginning of the end, in my eyes.  Yes yes they did get way more success, recognition and became the mainstream, but they started to lose that The Cure meets Husker Du quality to their music.  I found the riffs cheesy and the vocals annoying.  I wouldn't call it straight up bad, just mediocre.