John Cougar Mellencamp-Uh-huh

Okay, I'll admit it. I like John Cougar-WhateverHeGoesBy. Not the entire catalog, mind you, but a lot of it. I never intended to, but you know how it works. One song catches your ear, you begrudgingly admit that it's pretty good, then the same thing happens again and suddenly you're a fan.

Now, I was just barely a fan until I saw him perform at Live Aid a few years back. It was a great set and I liked every song he did, the live setting making some songs I previously thought were only okay live and breathe and turn into bona-fide classics. So that's where I'm coming from listening to this record.

Incredibly lame artwork aside, this is a pretty good offering. The first three songs are radio hits ( "Crumblin' Down", "Pink Houses", and "Authority Song"),and arguably some of his best.  The rest is not without its charm. I am particularly fond of the attitude filled "Play Guitar" and "Lovin' Mother Fo Ya" makes me happy, slight hokeyness aside. And to back track just a tad to "Authority Song",has a more honest song about the necessity and futility of a young man's rebellion been written?

Mellencamp claims to have been a major influence on the alt-country movement but never got his due. Most alt-country acts would dispute that and accuse him of being part of the problem with pop/rock country music in the first place. While those artists may have a point, Mellencamp opened up the ears of the MTV generation to a slightly more rural rock/pop sound. That made it possible for bands like The Georgia Satellites, Timbuck 3 and the early REM stuff to find a way onto our radios which was cool. But it also paved the way for what Country music is now, so that's kind of a wash.

Still, combine this record with "Scarecrow" and add in some of his more recent work and you've got more than enough reason to not begrudge the man's success but be happy for it. "Uh-huh" is not a perfect  record by any means. But it is a fun listen, and a key piece of a solid career. The linear notes claim the record was written, arranged and recorded in sixteen days. Perhaps a little more time would have strengthened some songs, but there is an energy and immediacy here that is undeniable.

4 out of 5 Daves.

The Cars-Heartbeat`City

Okay, so I can't get the photo to work but you should know what this one looks like anyway. If not, google it. There's a girl and a car and a whole retro 50's meets the 80's vibe.  But that's not important anyway.  What's important is the music.

And good music it is, too.  The Cars have always been a little misunderstood.  They had lots of hit records, of this there is no doubt.  But they also were boundary pushers in that they were one of the first and arguably the most successful bands to combine 70's guitar rock with New Wave synth pop.
 Because of their massive success as a pop act The Cars have been sold a little short as far as their musicianship goes, and have been slightly overlooked as  the innovators they were to the 80's music landscape.  Their first album came out in 1977, and by 1983 the formula had been copied by many lesser talents, too many to list here.

1984's "Heartbeat City" was the last great Cars album.  Another followed a few years later, and a surprisingly good reunion album came out a few years back, but this one represents The Cars at their commercial and cultural peak.  The video for "You Might Think" was in constant rotation on MTV back when they still played videos, and was almost entirely computer animated- a new exciting thing back in those days.  Sure, that would have been enough to get the song noticed on its own, but the fact that it's a pop gem made the whole thing work.

But that was only the first single.  Summertime classic "Magic" also appears here as does the synth driven ballad "Drive" which was a slow dance staple for a good many years after.  There are more goodies worth listening to here as well.  The opener "Hello Again" sets the mood off right, while songs like "It's Not The Night" and the ambitious title track make this an essential piece of 80's pop.

Up until this point, I had only heard The Cars on cassette back in the day, and recently on CD.  The first thing I noticed about the sound of this record is how expansive it is. The sound just really opens up to the lows and mids in a way that CDs just can't. Instead of the tinny mix that I've been used to hearing, my ears got a much wider sonic landscape that was not only a pleasant surprise but gave a lot of weight to what has been written off as just pop music for too long. Quite enjoyable.

4 out of 5 Daves.

 

Oh, there's that  picture! Why is it all crooked?

 

Johnny Cash At San Quentin

Apologies for the lack of entries but I'm back up and running. Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been listening. So let's get back into it!

Okay, so pretty much everybody knows and loves "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" but for my money this is the one. The band sounds better, there is a better intensity from the crowd and I think it's a more honest and direct recording than its more famous predecessor. If nothing else, including two versions of the song "San Quentin" right in a row earns this record extra points for sheer audacity. There are some standard hits, the required hymns, and probably the definitive version of "A Boy Named Sue" all here in their ragged, perfectly imperfect glory.

5 out of 5 Daves

Van Halen-Diver Down

The best thing about listening to Van Halen on vinyl (as opposed to CD) is that you can actually hear Michael Anthony's bass.

"Diver Down" is possibly my favorite  original era Van Halen record. It's not necessarily their best, but I have always enjoyed it. Sure, roughly half of the tracks are cover songs, but they are all done the right way in that the band has kept the integrity of the originals and yet they sound like Van Halen songs.  The band are extraordinarily talented when it comes to covering Kinks songs, with the album opener "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" kicking things off in high gear. Their modernized "(Oh) Pretty Woman" is pure fun and "Dancing In The Streets" puts a great rock spin on a classic tune. Hey, I even like "Big Bad Bill" and the outro of "Happy Trails" is a funny, surprisingly good closing charmer.

But the originals hold up as well. "Little Guitars" is a bona-fide classic in its own right (even if I do still think it sounds like Dave Roth is singing about an etch-a-sketch). "Hang 'Em High" finds the band firing on all cylinders and the slightly bluesy groove of "Secrets" adds another jewel to the crown of this record.

Some VH fans rate this as a low point for the band, but for me this is the one from the Roth era I can listen to and enjoy at any time no matter what my mood. I'm not a fan of the musical interludes, and yes, it would be nice to have a few more originals on the record but I'm not complaining. "Diver Down" is just a fun listen and sounds so good on vinyl. On CD Van Halen sound a little thin but hearing them on vinyl again reminds me not only of how awesome they sounded back in the day but also how superior this medium really is.

4 1/2 out of 5 Daves.

Stevie Nicks-Bella Donna

Best nap I've had in years. Honestly, isn't this the one that every Stevie Nicks fan points to as a high water mark? Isn't it considered a classic, must have record? I don't see it.

To be fair I am no more than a casual fan of Nicks or the band that birthed her, the Peter Green-less Fleetwood Mac. but some of their stuff is really good. I just couldn't get into this particular record. It's mostly slow, boring left over hippie hallucinations mixed with a few new songs by people who were having hit records at the time which makes for an uneven, uninspiring and desperately dull record.

Okay, "Edge Of Seventeen" is a classic song, as is "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around". And the version of "Leather And Lace" here rivals the original. But the rest of the stuff? ZZZZZ....ZZZZZ....

2 out of 5 Daves.

Queen-Hot Space

Ah, Hot Space, Queen's much maligned 1982 effort. An album that saw the band boldly experimenting with funk after the huge success of "Another One Bites The Dust" a few years prior. At the time Queen were still mostly thought of as a rock band who liked to experiment with style, but still keeping rock and roll  (or glam rock anyway) as its heart. The rest of the band's releases would see much more experimentation and artistic shifts to the point that now, in 2013, Queen is remembered as a pop rock/art rock band bordering on progressive.

But that's now-not 1982. In '82, this record confused many and angered most. So the question is, when listened to in the light of the band's full career, does it hold up better? Can it be viewed as an important step in the band's evolution or is it just the product of a really bad idea and/or shot at a money grab?

Unfortunately, it still mostly sucks.

"But, but, it has "Under Pressure" on it...with David freakin' Bowie!!!"

Yes it does, and that is a classic song, no doubt. However, it was released as a single the previous year and is slapped on the end of the record as an afterthought, so it's doubtful that it was intended for release on this project. Also Vanilla Ice stole and wrecked it so that's a wash.

Look, almost all of side one is a disaster. "Dancer" has some decent guitar work but that's about it. When the best song of the five is the Roger Taylor song, you know you're in trouble. No, no, I love Roger, I'm just sayin'.

Side two fares a little better, beginning with "Put Out The Fire", a much needed rocker courtesy of Brian May. The rest of the songs do sound more like the Queen we know and love, but there's nothing else that stands out. Every song sounds like what it is...filler. There are a few bright spots, but by the time this disasterpiece is all over even "Under Pressure" feels like too little too late.

Hot Space? More like Hot Mess. I have been a Queen fan for over 30 years, but even I can't get on board with this one.

1 1/2 out of 5 Daves.

Frank Sinatra-September Of My Years

Ol' Blue Eyes. The Chairman Of The Board. Frank. One of the 20th century's most iconic performers turning in one of his most popular records of the era (number 5 on the Billboard chart). "September Of My Years" is just that, it's Sinatra about to turn fifty looking back on his youth and life lived through these chosen songs. Every song on this record in one way or another deals with aging and reflection. There is little humor here and much regret. The listener can almost get the visual of the man himself with a drink in his hand, beside the fire late at night. There is a small, weary, weathered and knowing smile creeping around the edges of his mouth as he remembers the sensations of youth and a sadness in the eyes knowing that it can only live now in his memories and the future is (perhaps for the first time) in question.

This album was recorded in 1965. Think about that for a moment. The world was just around the corner from becoming very turbulent indeed. In this country a cultural and political power shift was happening and it favored the young. The old guard was put on alert-and Frank knew it. Oh, he'd be all right, he'd been the Chairman longer than the boy from Tupelo became the King after all. He'd tough it out and come out the other end. But it wasn't going to be easy.

So is it any wonder, given the circumstances, that "September Of My Years" turned out the way it did? How could it have been otherwise? He did sing more upbeat songs and release more varied collections during this period, but this may well be the most important one. This isn't the confident, swaggering, ring-a-ding-ding swinging Frank we all think of today. This is a mature Frank, a wistful Frank, an older, wiser, melancholy Frank. But still very much alive.

What's on display here is what makes Sinatra great. See, his secret is not his voice (good as it is) or the songs (good as they are). It's the unique phrasing and delivery-the ability to inhabit a song, and as a non-writer performer, choose songs that you can relate to, perhaps even songs you have lived. And that is the genius of this record. It includes the all time classic "It Was A Very Good Year" and some other great songs such as "September Song", "Hello Young Lovers", "It Gets Lonely Early" and "Last Night When We Were Young". Class stuff.

If there is a flaw to this record it's that it feels overly long, even clocking in under 45 minutes. That's 13 songs of somber. But that complaint is minor when there is so much to appreciate here. If, that is, you are in the proper mood, have done a little living yourself, and are willing to listen with an open mind.

41/2 out of 5 Daves.