Album Review- Marc Almond and Chris Braide

 I have spent a great deal of time recently talking about Marc Almond so I probably don’t need to recap.

Still, one of the more interesting developments has been his recent partnership with Chris Braide. As esoteric as some of his work is, Marc has always kept an ear to pop radio.

So Braide doesn’t seem like an obvious match. He’s most famous for another collaboration- his work with Sia. Besides Almond, most of his other work is a who’s who of radio stars- Halsey, Lana del Rey, Britney, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, David Guetta, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj and a multitude of movie and advertising work.

Braide is also an accomplished pianist and so Chaos and The Hits- credited to both- a January 2020 Royal Albert Hall concert stays pretty close to what you expect.

At 37 songs,it’s a wealth of Marc. Fans who haven’t heard the recent material get their chance to hear the Almond/Braide collaborations (which feature heavy, obviously- Last year’s Chaos and a Dancing Star but also 15’s The Velvet Trail) alongside with the greatest hits and a few surprise detours (Sia’s “Unstoppable” and some deeper Almond cuts).

As big of a fan I am, I reckon that this really is for the fans. While I love his music and have the CD of a previous Royal Albert Hall concert, he released in 92 as 12 Years of Tears, I would surely advise potential new listeners to the studio records first, or at least that earlier disc which plays almost as a Greatest Hits.

But if you’re looking for a hook, this album offers two. First, Marc pays tribute to the other Marc with a quick (about four minutes total) sojourn covering T Rex’s Children of the Revolution and Dandy in the Underworld.

The second is someone who has also started to work with Almond and is as unlikely as Braide- Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson.

Anderson adds flute to Almond’s most well
known songs as well as recent single Lords of Misrule and a cover of Tull’s Witches Promise.

This is a good document of where Almond has been in recent years. It does all the things live Records traditionally did- hypes the recent records and brings old fans up to speed, while providing an overview to more casual fans. So hardly essential but nothing wrong with that.

Album Review- Tindersticks

 Tindersticks were a band I didn’t immediately like. I heard their first album out of the gate. I did come around, and would say they are a favorite band. To the point, I consider their third album Curtains one of my all time favorites.

Nick Cave was always a touch point for the band - baritone voice and dramatic lyrics. Of course, any deeper listening revealed there was more to it. There was always a bit of Leonard Cohen, and for that matter, a bit of Lee Hazelwood to the band.

For a band that seemed to take root with the British indie movement of the 90s, they have had an incredible run. I don’t think there really are much in the way of ‘down moments’ for the band or even Stuart Staples solo career.

That said, 2019’s No Treasure But Hope was a surprise- their best album in over 20 years. An all time tearjerker in “The Amputees”, going full Scott Walker in “Pinky in the Daylight” and “See My Girls” a paranoid build up that achieves a new level in terror in the band’s discography. The band are hitting on all cylinders again.

2021’s Distractions feels like a logical next step. I would say it’s a less accessible record with only seven songs but a 47 minute running time. Add to it that three of the songs are covers.

It likely doesn’t get better than the opening track - the original 11 minute Man Alone -a pulsating workout that will probably the closest we get the Tindersticks to doing No Wave. A continuation of the bands previous move from early career romance to cinematic menace. (Almost every reviewer has made some mention of this being a “Covid” record and though the band had to be nimble, I don’t think their artistic vision here would have been changed in any way).

The selection of Television Personalities’ You’ll Have To Scream Louder is inspired. Already a great late 70s post punk Mute Records song, Staples captures all of that to make it his own.

Neil Young’s A Man Needs A Maid and Dory Previn’s Lady With The Braid are well picked covers too. Still, I think they add to this album to be ‘for the fans’. Distractions stands as the next step in the path for the band. Newcomers should start elsewhere but longtime fans should still be excited where this band may still go.

Album Review- David Olney and Anana Kaye

 I wasn’t familiar with David Olney when he passed in January of last year.

Streaming services and internet certainly help fill out those blanks. I don’t think it’s an insult to say Olney was an under appreciated singer songwriter in a genre full of same.

Olney was a successful songwriter though and his style resembles his friends and peers who sang his songs like Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell- the next generation of Townes Van Zandt influenced writers (Olney and Townes were mutually appreciative), and a ton of their unheralded brethren like Tom Russell and Buddy Miller.

Like so many talented Americana tinged singers, comparisons are hard and don’t do justice, but it is also what we do to get people to listen to unfamiliar music.

John Hiatt is probably a good comparison. Olney released most of his records for Rounder (and its folk imprint Philo) and he’s definitely in line with the roster of Iris DeMint, Bill Morrissey and Ray Wylie Hubbard. I detect a bit of Joe Ely in him too.

A solid back catalog might not have prepared me for Whispers and Sighs as good, even as his recent work was.

Olney sings as if he knows the end is coming on the posthumous 2021 release paired with east European folk singer Anana Kaye. Not that he needed the extra gravitas, but at 71, his voice resembles a latter Leonard Cohen; and he knows it. At time, he leans in for his best Tom Waits. The effect can be other worldly.

Olney seems the focus but even when Kaye takes vocals on her own like the title track or the Franks Wild Yearseque Thank You Note, there is no effect or change in the mood or tune of the album. A mood that is most unlikely a strand of country goth. Even at its most conventional- the mostly Kaye sung songs Why Cant We Get This Right and My Last Dream of You fit into Americana territory with no detour in quality.

Given enough time spent listening, it’s hard not to appreciate it all, but it is certainly Olney’s turns that are the most instantly compelling. My Favorite Goodbye is perfect in near every way- a song that fits comfortably with the likes of Townes, Hiatt and Zevon. Then later comes The World We Used to Know evoking wars past and dialing up the dramatics, Lie to Me Angel which rock and rolls, and the Great Manzini which matches Richard Thompson style lyrics to an ethereal melody.

With credit as well to Richard Dodd (engineer of Tom Petty's Wildflowers and Jimmy Duck Holmes's Cypress Grove, cellist for the Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop and Smashing Pumpkins to name a few. He literally has worked in some capacity with a who’s who of the top country, rock, rap, blues and Christian artists), this is destined to be a cult album with raves from anyone lucky enough to hear it.

Album Review- Too Much Joy

 One of the more unexpected reunions of the Covid era was Too Much Joy.

TMJ were one of my favorite bands of the Nineties. The band had a reputation in my college town (no surprise that they made an impact where they went. MTV would later extensively cover the band performing As Nasty As They Wanna Be in Broward County and the band’s Wikipedia reads as a series of pranks and stunts).

I actually first heard them on MTV as they crossed over with a cover of LL Cool J’s “That’s A Lie”. Son of Sam I Am was a fun romp hitting every note correct in the otherwise difficult world of joke rock.

1991’s Cereal Killers, the follow up, was much more traditional musically. It was peak 91- college rock defined in the vein of REM and the dbs and all that jangle pop afterwards- Connells, Judybats, Let’s Active, Game Theory and the like. (Like REM, TMJ also had their own KRS1 cameo) Whereas they were always going to be labeled joke rock and constantly compared to the Dead Milkmen (and other contemporary peers like Mojo Nixon and Dread Zeppelin), it’s actually a strangely accessible and very clever record.

I was not impressed with 92’s Mutiny- which was poised to follow up on their success and take them to the next level. Allmusic confers 4.5 stars on that record but it did not connect with me or a bigger audience.

I did eventually pick up 96s Finally- the return to the studio following being dropped from Giant Records. I consider it one of the worst records that I own.

Revisiting TMJ feels like reuniting with a high school friend. I undoubtedly listened to Cereal Killers as much or more than Out of Time.

It’s hard not to compare the band’s career to the Barenaked Ladies- a band with similar goofy ideas who ended up in arenas. I can think of a dozen reasons that one made it and the other didn’t, but it does speak to the unpredictability of things.

I have also recently pulled out Fluting On The Hump- another record I haven’t listened to and hardly given any thought to for 20+ years. With time in the mirror, there’s a lot of similarity in TMJ to King Missile, especially lyrically.

2021’s Mistakes Were Made is probably best explained as being exactly what it is. It’s audience should begin and end with diehard fans from the band’s heyday. That said, it’s a decent enough record- a fun record that is at least worth the time to listen, and then invoke a nostalgic dive into the bands other records.

Album Review: Passenger- Songs for the Drunk and Broken Hearted

One of my favorite artists of the new century is Michael Rosenberg doing business as Passenger.

Rosenberg will always be overshadowed by his 2012 smash hit “Let it Go” as much as his friendship with Ed Sheehan.

Making the radio a slightly better place in the 201xs with artists like Vance Joy and George Ezra that made soft rock that played into the Mumford/Lumineers/Ray LeMontagne folk tinged pop trend of the day and drew off a tradition of everyone from Jack Johnson to Jamie Cullum to David Gray

Which is to say, Passenger isn’t very “hip”. But he is talented and for me the truest heir to the 70s songwriting of Cat Stevens and Paul Simon. All the Little Lights besides containing his hit is a complete album- sometimes funny as the closer “I Hate” and as poignant as “Let Her Go”.

I fell in love with that single early, when it looked to be an Adult Alternative hit and watched it bloom to a best seller. I’ve followed him closely since.

I thought 2014’s follow up Whispers was a strong statement -pretty much in the same vein- surely would have made him a hero in the coffee house genre.

Passenger has been prolific since and his quality has suffered with that output (in my eyes, there’s nothing on par with the two previously mentioned albums). With proper albums, streaming and fan-directed output, he’s put out at least one album’s worth of songs each year.

Perhaps the album title Songs for the Drunk and Broken Hearted gives it away. It is also probably cliche but it’s a post break up record, not to mention a ‘Covid’ record. In any case, it’s holds together quite well.

With an ear for melody, the songs are perfect for (some probably nonexistent) alternate Top 40 radio station. For fans, it is probably the best song by song statement he’s ever made.

Album Review- Alice Cooper- Detroit Stories

It might not be obvious, but I’m a big Alice Cooper fan. In fact, I am always interested when he releases a new album.

Cooper isn’t Bowie, but like peers like Iggy Pop, he has navigated a path that veers between his passions and possible chart success. I’m serious when I say I do look forward to all he does. I’m probably more disappointed than not, but especially the early oughts were fruitful for Cooper. Whether inspired by the garage rock revival or something else, he was returning to creative highs, particularly on ‘05s Dirty Diamonds. Which is to be expected for anyone in the business as long as he has been (say Prince, Lou Reed), in place of solid albums, you could find patches of good songs. 2011’s Welcome 2 My Nightmare was one of the better albums with some good songs done in by the expected size of albums that arrived with Compact Discs.

Which brings me to Detroit Stories- an album that has probably generated the most buzz of a Cooper album in 25 years.

It’s hard not to like just on principle. It’s a love letter to Alice Cooper’s hometown and he does it right. The main band here is a Detroit supergroup - Wayne Kramer of the MC5, Johnny Bedjanek who played on the classic Mitch Ryder hits and bass hero Paul Randolph.

Detroit is everywhere. The choice of covers by Outrageous Cherry, Bob Seger & the Last Herd and MC5 (as well as a cover Velvet Underground’s “Rock N Roll” - a big hit for Mitch Ryder in 1972) The lyrics of “Detroit City” which is a history of the city (from Iggy, Nugent and Suzi Quatro to Kid Rock and Insane Clown Posse).

Of course, Cooper is as much of that city’s history as well- so it’s noted that Bob Ezrin is producing and the living members of the classic Alice Cooper Band (Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) appear for two songs. Other guests include Steve Hunter (who played on so many classic Cooper singles, not to mention Ryder’s “Rock N Roll”, which Lou Reed liked so much, he took him for his band) Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner (and not as far as I know Detroit related) Joe Bonnamassa Sister Sledge, and U2’s Larry Mullen Jr.

Buoyed by generally glowing reviews, I have to say I’m extremely happy to see Alice back in the news.

But the album? I don’t really love it. Ezrin does what he has always done for Alice which is make catchy songs. I will undoubtedly play it constantly for the next month and sing the songs in the shower. But I don’t love it.

Go Man Go is a big dumb rock song that Iggy could have recorded. Independence Dave is more formulaic Cooper. Neither quite hits the mark it should.

Cooper is the showman on $1000 HighHeel Shoes and the Faustian strut of Wonderful World. They’re fine but they really don’t have enough menace. Lead single Our Love Will Change the World does a bit better. As unlikely as it is, the psychedelic pop is a pretty good fit for Cooper. As is album closer, East Side Story. One of Seger’s early hits, this garage rock stomper pretty much needs to be delivered as written. The narrator a bit of a Cooper antihero to begin with. It’s as if Seger predicted the Cooper script in 1966.

For me, my other favorite song is the most unlikely- the Anti-suicide PSA “Hanging on a Thread.” Coincidentally, this is Steve Hunter’s biggest moment on the album. It is totally 80s Glam (it would probably fit easily on 91s Vai and Satriani augmented Hey Stoopid). Those are really the only songs on the album that really gel completely for me. Not a bad album then but like his last couple, falling just a bit short.

Overall, no disappointment from me that Alice is getting attention. Still, I’m already waiting for the next one.

Album Review- The Alarm- WAR

The Alarm came up in discussion on a vinyl group and I felt I was being clever when I said they occupied the space metaphorically and literally between London Calling and The Joshua Tree. This will sound like feint praise, but every band (particularly those with a political bent) falls under the shadows of those titans. To the Alarm’s credit, they had a strong run of singles, and it’s quite possible that songs like “The Stand” sound even better today. The heyday of The Alarm ended with one of their most accessible singles “Sold Me Down The River”. In the days where college rock was dominated by a certain Joshua Tree-era U2/REM influenced anthemic Americana rock, this new Alarm sound likely should have taken over the airwaves, but only lent bands like the Alarm, the Call, and the Smithereens a dedicated cult following. The Alarm never really went away as Mike Peters seemingly took a break in the mid -90s but hasn’t rested much since. As someone who writes criticism of music, WAR is hard to hate. It is quite obvious intended as an album for the fans. For those who preordered, the Alarm mailed out blank CDRs so people could download the songs as soon as they were completed The album was started in January 7 and released on February 25. So it’s a very quick, very topical record. Personally, I think that is quite risky. Even with a talented artist such as Neil Young dropping his “Living With War”- you have those risks. So, it’s really hard to criticize this album, which is dedicated for the diehards. Pitchfork isn’t going to spend much time on a 40 year old band and it’s not like I’m not going to drop “Rain in the Summertime” on the occasional playlist. I will just stick with saying this one isn’t going to be an album I am likely to revisit. The lyrics already sound a bit dated (“2020 problems”) and the bands shout out loud anthems seem closer to Bon Jovi than anything that was played on 120 Minutes. Still, albums like this are always nice to see musical talent still kicking and another classic Alarm single could still show up around the corner.

Album Review- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!- New Fragility

I’m nostalgic for the music of 2003-2004.

It’s not supposed to be like that. Music is youthful nostalgia, maybe even rediscovering history. It would be a stretch to call me a youth in 2003.

But it was an exciting time for music and the two bands at the top of the list for me were The Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

It wasn’t just those two. A quick glimpse back reveals many interesting debuts- some monumental, others sleds celebrated but equally noteworthy.

The Killers. Franz Ferdinand. Bloc Party. The Editors. The Thermals. Danger Mouse. British Sea Power. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The Go Team. The Rapture. The Darkness and undoubtedly some I have forgotten.

Then too, many artists who seemed to be at the height of their powers (White Stripes, Green Day, Radiohead, Wilco, The Strokes, OutKast, Interpol, Peaches, The Libertines, etc)

But those two bands I first mentioned really symbolize that time for me. Both seemed to be fairly universally loved and both seemed very ambitious and different from most anything else.

While Arcade Fire has remained acclaimed, CYHSY! quietly has disappeared. Follow up Some Loud Thunder got mixed reviews (and an unappealing cover) but I did enjoy it, and most everything else has been off most people’s radar until 2021’s New Fragility.

Perhaps even then, it may have gone unnoticed had it not been released in music-starved February and was preceded by a ton of the band’s early bonus tracks released to streaming services (including the worthwhile 2009 Flashy Python album).

Initial listens may thrill the listener with nostalgia, but quickly, it becomes apparent that Alec Ounsworth was probably never going to be a pop star. This album feels different because it is different. The band is largely Ounsworth now and critics will point out setbacks in his personal life, but what that means for the listener is an album that is more in the mold of the great intimate indie singer-songwriter album, and less a bid to be the next Talking Heads.

None of which is to imply it isn’t an accessible album (it is quite accessible) or it will have an appeal to everyone. Or it doesn’t get loud (check out Innocent Weight) or go the traditional ballad route (Mirror Song).

Maybe more than most records, mileage will truly vary, and with perspective, this disc is probably closer to the more recent work of Ezra Furman (raw lo-fi and punk inspired folk) than it is to some of those heroes of ‘04, but it is a worthy listen and a nice return of a once again vital artist.

Album Review- Steve Earle - JT

 

I was late to Justin Townes Earle. There’s probably two reasons- neither good. First, I am admittedly resistant to famous children of musicians. A dumb prejudice that I started to break with Harper Simon. Second, I was expecting JT to be similar to his dad. 

He couldn’t be more different. Both are definitely “alt country” but different styles completely. Whereas Steve came through Nashville radio and trailblazers a genre created by Willie Nelson and David Allen Coe, JT inhabited a genre that is closer defined by Whiskeytown and Drive By Truckers, adjacent to musicians like Colter Wall and Hayes Carll and drawing more modern esoteric influences like Tom Waits 

Ironically, JTs music sounds older. He seems to draw from Hank Williams as well as old bluesmen, roots rock and certainly his namesake Townes Van Zandt. 

It is selfish and trivial perhaps to mourn a lost artist and the loss of any potential new art (selfish and trivial compared to the real pain of the family and friends dealing with the loss) but it is also real. 

You can’t really review an album like this. One can and one does, because it’s what we do but critiquing for example, Nick Cave or Mount Eerie’s output seems a bit crass. 

As a Steve Earle fan, having seen him do tributes to Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, the JT tribute seems obvious. Of course, you would want it to be under different circumstances (and it’s hard to imagine what those would be without being patronizing to the sons career while it was still on the ascent). 

But we discuss music here, so I’m going to discuss music. JT is a really enjoyable record.  Yes, without a doubt, Steve is a veteran who knows his way around a song, but I think the real hero is Justin who crafted some classic songs. In just little over a decade of recorded music, he was able to write more than a few gems. 

At first listen, the styles of father and son are different and that seems like a strike against the project. 

That impression clears pretty quickly. Maybe it even becomes a strength. The cover of Harlem River Blues sounds like a celebration. The original a descendant of No One Gets Out of This World. Both are deceptively upbeat, but Justin Townes is a folky jaunt worthy of his namesake. Both versions are incredible and timeless. 

The Saint of Lost Causes works well as a traditional country song. The real shame that it was written too late to be covered by Johnny Cash. It is the kind of song that Steve can lean into. Once again, the original exists in this spot that transcends genre. Is it alt country? It could very well be indie. Or appeal to Adult Album Alternative. 

As recounted in the press for Ghosts of West Virginia, the son wrote a John Henry song before the father did. That’s here of course. 

Musically, the album reminds me of Train A Comin. Whether others will hear that, I’m not sure, but that album is a collection of early Steve Earle songs and a few covers. It hangs together as a beginning to end piece, and I think the JT album does too. 

The album ends with the original Last Words. Regardless what you think of Steve, he had reconciled with his son, and this song which recounts their last conversation is raw. It’s a fitting tribute to a lost talent. 

Album Review: Lee Rocker - Gather Round

 I’m a rockabilly fan and The Stray Cats are the most successful rockabilly artist of my lifetime. I’m a fan, of course, and generally like Brian Setzer’s solo albums (more big band than rockabilly). But if you really want to get me going, talk to me about Lee Rocker’s solo career.

Rocker, of course is best known for playing bass in the Stray Cats. He had a detour with band mate Slim Jim Phantom and Bowie guitarist Earl Slick (the two Phantom Rocker and Slick albums have been re-released. They’re ok. They just couldn’t sound anymore 80s).

Rocker’s career includes a stint on Alligator Records, and like many in the genre, he’s dipped heavy into classic cover songs. That said, I can’t think of many albums better (rockabilly or otherwise) than 2007’s Black Cat Bone.

Gather Round is the first album of Rocker original songs since then. Not that he hasn’t been busy. 2019’s The Low Road was a CD/DVD combo of the Cats greatest hits recorded at Daryl Hall’s famous studio. That same year, the Cats reunited and released ‘40’, their first new album in 26 years. Hardly essential, it was fun, and a reminder that music is better with the Stray Cats around than the alternative.

I should avoid comparisons with the Cats’ recent disc, but Gather Round at least seems like the more interesting album. Lead single “Pickin and Grinnin’” is a dig at a charismatic recent ex-President. Graceland Auction is the Elvis homage. When Nothing Goes Right is off the recent Cats album and Everyone Wants To Be A Cat sounds like it could have been (it’s the Scatman Carothers song from The Aristocats, I believe retrofitted as a cousin to Stray Cat Strut). Ophelia is the Band song with a bit of a 1920s jazz swing vibe. The Last Offline Lovers has novelty lyrics but swaggers like a barroom classic. A Dirty Martini is an instrumental that might be closer to what solo Setzer is doing.

For a genre that is fairly straight and narrow, Rocker has once again put together a record that has a lot of variety and fairly ambitious; if nothing else, truly enjoyable.

Album Review- Destiny Street Complete

It wasn’t that long ago that I was talking about Richard Hell, but they have reissued his second album Destiny Street with a lot of extras, and so that’s where my ears are at.

You know I have to admit that I am a big fan. Hell is probably best known for creating the image of punk rock more than anything, but Blank Generation is a classic of the genre.

I never got my hands on the Destiny Street album, but I knew the title track from a compilation and I had gotten his two ROIR cassettes which featured a lot of the songs off of that album.

I was drawn to Hell. It was the 90s so Blank Generation had been easy to find on CD and Hell joined with members of Sonic Youth and Gumball and made an album with Dim Stars. He wrote a novel, too.

The idea of a punk poet is an appealing one to me. That’s surely what Hell is. His best friend adopted the name Verlaine and Hell saw himself as poet. He was not the first or last punk poet (I’m a big fan of people like Patti Smith and Jim Carroll too). One can spot the influences in Hell’s choice of covers through his career - Kinks, Them, Fats Domino, Exile-era Stones, Dylan, Iggy, Howlin Wolf, T Rex, Hendrix, CCR, even Sinatra.

Blank Generation is a fantastic album with two fantastic guitarists - Ivan Julian and Robert Quine, and as mentioned by Clinton Heylin, a unique bass sound from Hell himself.

Destiny Street is an album, like other punk albums (LAMF, Raw Power) that the artist felt wasn’t delivered to the masses correctly.

Hell was farming out bass duties in his live performances and the band had effectively broken up a couple of years before, so when Hell went into the studio the Destiny Street band swapped Julian for “Naux” Maciel.

But Hell had not been a fan of the blurry production. He spent years to this end, that in 2009, although the original tapes were missing,he had what he needed and went about remaking it.

Destiny Street Repaired was Hell’s attempt at fixing the damaged product. With Quine and Maciel passed, Hell brought in Julian, Bill Frissell and Marc Ribot to add guitar sound and his own vocals over a rough mix of the original.

Now, over a decade later, some of the original session tapes have surfaced and Hell brought in Nick Zinner (best known as guitarist for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and had him remix the songs (and rework where necessary).

Destiny Street Complete is the collection of most all of this - the album as Hell intended, the Repaired songs and even a few of the original demos.

Although it lacks anything as compelling as the track “ Blank Generation”, Destiny Street is a pretty solid follow up. Even with the counts against it- Hell was doing it for money for drugs, Hell never again would revisit the Voidoids- it works in the same ways the predecessor had- Hell as charismatic poet over inventive and soulful guitar.

I don’t really find any filler in the ten original songs. John Lydon disputes that he stole anything from Hell (and that may be true) but Hell can hold a listeners attention. A bit Iggy, a bit Dylan, and a bit Allen Ginsberg.

The album’s lowest moment is the title track- a meandering jazzy track with some cringey tracks a la “The Plan” that doesn’t quite stand up to repeat listenings.

Adding the 2009 tracks brings redundancy, but are nonetheless enjoyable. The talent of all involved shows through and most of the songs turn into guitar workouts (of the “Blank Generation” kind). The songs don’t need that, but it’s not necessary a bad thing either (think of Lou Reed augmented by Wagner and Hunter).

Like the second Television album (Adventure), Destiny Street is overshadowed and a bit forgotten, but this collection corrects that and is a good starting spot for new Hell fans and the diehards. 

Album Review- The Stars We Are

If you have read my reviews for awhile, you know that I am a big Marc Almond fan (and you are probably reading this review I wrote attributed to a Almond influenced Nom-de-Internet). I just think he is very unique and talented. He has a deep love for pre-rock pop music and while that’s not unusual- think Bryan Ferry, Morrissey, et al- it’s usually an affectation or intertwined into rock. It’s not just Almond loved the idea of old time crooners. He loves old time crooners. Of course, if that is all, he would be nothing more than Celine Dion. There is a certain theatrical element. His touch points are well known- Brecht and Weill, Walker Brothers, Jacques Brel. His flair for drama is something you might find in Tom Waits or a list of people Marc worked with over the years (Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch, Matt Johnson, JG Thirlwell, Siouxsie, Current 93, Psychic TV). At times, Marc evokes the image of a matador, perhaps it’s sea shanties. Even, the cabaret clown image has appeared on his album covers. The last element though is the great wild card. Marc has had a run of chart success in the UK. A fairly serious run with twenty singles in the Top 40 either solo or with Soft Cell. Eight of which were Top 5. While there are some similar artists, no one really has that unique mix. Artists like Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga, and Robbie Williams have added a certain mix of those elements to the pop charts while Rufus Wainwright, Stephen Merritt and Anohni have tried to make the masses come to them. Freddie Mercury, for sure had those elements throughout his career. Bowie, of course, though he had the masses. Kate Bush though not as prolific. In any case, there are few discographies like Marc’s. In recent years, his albums bounce between albums still with an eye to one last pop chart run (these albums usually pair Marc up with Sia collaborator Chris Braide) and non commercial vanity projects, with various Soft Cell callback records and standards collections. One suspects in this most difficult of times for musicians, Marc is able to make a living and make the records he wants. His run in the 80s felt like an oscillation of commercial and non commercial records. Marc says he just makes the records he wants. Perhaps he is correct. I became an Almond obsessive in the 90s. Thirsty Ear was reissuing his catalog and in the golden era of compact discs, it actually was quite easy for me to pick up nearly everything. Although I like both the ambitious and the pop sound of Almond, I tend to think his best records are where he can pull from both sides. Last month, Almond released an expanded version of 1988’s The Stars We Are. As an album, it hits that sweet spot. For me, it and 1991’s Tenement Symphony are high watermarks in that era of Almond. The latter album was produced by Trevor Horn and has some stronger songs. It’s a song cycle whose highlight is a cover of The Days of Pearly Spencer. But given time to reflect, The Stars We Are is danged near perfect. It’s also not a particularly commercial album as it could be pegged as. It opens up with the anthemic title song which is as good as anything Almond has done. Bitter Sweet and Tears Run Rings were both released as singles and are pulsing danceable tunes. The latter would be a live powerhouse. Bob Kraushaar (a protege of Horn- known for serving as engineer for Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Bowie and McCartney) is a perfect conduit for Almond’s vision here. Of course, the most compelling track is Almond’s version of the much covered Something’s Gotten Hold of my Heart. Almond’s original version was so good that Gene Pitney joined to duet and the two took it to #1 on the UK chart for four weeks, denying the spot to Mike and the Mechanics’ “The Living Years”. (As with his most famous song, Marc missed the financial opportunity to stick an original B-side with the A-side cover). The rest of the album follows in this manner- theatrical torch songs. Yet, still plenty of unusual sounds for pop music when you dig in - the exotic She Took Amy Soul in Istanbul, the Weimar Republic style CD bonus track Kept Boy (featuring German cabaret singer Agnes Bernelle and the duet with Nico (her final recording) - Your Kisses Burn. The expanded 2021 reissue doubles the size of the record, adding two fantastic B Sides (King of the Fools and Real Evil- both also on 95’s Treasure Box compilation) and a variety of remixes (also most found on Treasure Box). The Stars We Are is not a bad answer to the question ‘Where do I start with the Marc Almond discography’.

Album Review - CYR

My relationship status with the Smashing Pumpkins: complicated. There was a time in the 90s where they were in the conversation as biggest bands in the world and I didn’t share that fervor. That said, I am a fan of the band. For me, like many of the big bands of the era, they have become “of the time”. When I go to define the band, I actually think of the “Adore” album. Adore in 98 seemed to be in every friend's CD collection that I knew. After releasing a towering double album, Adore was considered a disappointment. In retrospect, it seems like a moment in time. The end of an era. Grunge was handing the baton to NuMetal. Bands like Korn and Marilyn Manson would top the album charts in 98 and Limp Bizkit and Creed would top the charts in 99. Those CD changers were also likely as much to contain discs by Jay Z, DMX, Nelly and Eminem. Heck, even CDs themselves were going to be on their way out before we knew it. I always had a soft spot for the otherwise unloved disc. Adore at 16 songs and 73 minutes is preposterously too long. That said, the influence of synth pop, electronic music and goth rock gave some moments that from a personal point of view. It also came out a year after the band had appeared on the Lost Highway soundtrack and there’s a certain Lynch-ian quality inherent in the album as well. It has been re-evaluated and re-examined (Pitchfork gave it an uncharacteristic 8.5 in 2014) but the truth is at the time - everyone bought it and few liked it. In a few years, ambitious rock would be personified by Radiohead, System of A Down and Tool. Other rock fans might look to Dave Matthews or Staind. The Lollapalooza era was dead. The Pumpkins never really ended but although I watched their every move, there doesn’t seem to be much worthwhile to discuss whether it was billed as such, or alternately billed as Zwan or Corgan solo. Although occasionally being billed as ‘return(s) to form’, none of the newer releases ever much interested me. The Corgan story is an unusual mess with Iha and Chamberlin floating in and out, cameos from the likes of Rick Rubin, Paz Lenchantin, pedal steel legend Paul Franklin (probably best known for his work with Randy Travis and Barbara Mandrell) and Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee, a stint playing a few dates with New Order and nothing as particularly notable as Corgan’s new role as pro wrestling executive/on-air talent. Nothing seems to have changed in recent months. Corgan recently announced a reissue of Machina which will contain “at least 80 songs”. A bounty of Pumpkins that no one seems to be asking for. On November 27, the Pumpkins released CYR- another 72 minute-20 song opus. With a core group of Iha, Chamberlain and Schroeder (once Iha's replacement, he is now a member with 13 years in) backing, it does have the authenticity of the bands name, but once again panned by many critics. That is if you were paying attention, when I bring it up to people, I think it went mostly unnoticed. I don’t expect people to get too excited, but if they would choose to take a listen, I think they would be pleased with what they heard. While given in to Corgan’s indulgences, with some paring, there is a quality album in there - and I would think it would be hard to argue that it isn’t their best work in a long time. The band is still stuck in the synthesizer rock sound. Corgan has went in debt with his influences lately, and it’s pretty evident here. For me, I think that’s a good thing. All of the criticisms are valid, it's too long, it suffers from sounding the same throughout, but I'm fine with that- for the first time in a long time, the band is back.