Reviews by abrisskull

I come back from vacation and pausing my activity, and the first album I get is called "Happy Trails". It's funny how such coincidences can happen.

Anyway, I can't say that I've heard of the Quicksilver Messenger Service before. They are a psychedelic rock band that broke big in the San Francisco Bay Area as part of a wave of album-oriented acts that didn't rely on singles to achieve success. This album, in particular, is a compilation of live performances across both Fillmore venues and various studio recordings and overdubs. After giving it a listen, I consider it a decent record, albeit more as a novelty than anything truly innovative.

The focus of this record is on the covers they pulled off, specifically the 25-minute medley of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love", running through multiple movements of sweeping guitar and bass improvisations. It's technically impressive with the degree to which they played their instruments and came up with new renditions for that song and the other Bo Diddley cover, "Mona". But outside of the group's demonstrated skill on those covers and a few original instrumental compositions that were fine, there isn't much to write home about here. Happy Trails is a solid album for sure, but in the grand scheme of psychedelic rock, I wouldn't consider it that much of a standout. Take that as you will.

It might be premature of me to tackle this particular album. Part of it is my rather limited familiarity with Leonard Cohen's music, having only heard two of his early albums thus far. It can be rather difficult for me to fully grasp how Leonard's music has evolved over five decades, especially given the common criticism I've heard, which is that his songwriting has faltered since at least the 1990s. I'm not sure if I can realistically share that criticism without the full context, but I will say for this record, the lyrics are simple yet direct in intent. Leonard made it as plain in the text of what he describes in his musings.

Part of it is that at this point, Leonard was 82 years old with multiple health problems, apparent in his gruff vocal delivery. Thankfully, Leonard's vocal lines were written to account for his aged voice, as multiple background vocalists supported him on these songs. In particular, Leonard's son Adam, who produced You Want It Darker, brought in the Cantor Gideon Zelermeyer and the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir to bolster a fair amount of these songs, as a means of tying back to Leonard's Jewish faith. Given that some of the lyrical subject matter can be interpreted as confrontational with a higher being, it would make sense to tie it back to his religious upbringing.

Which brings me to my last part in why it may be premature of me to confront this record. This was Leonard's last album to be released in his lifetime. His son Adam would go on to finish one posthumous release for his father, Thanks for the Dance. But for all intents and purposes, this was the last release Leonard saw through to the end before his death weeks later. There's a certain weight and emotionality to an artist staring at the face of death, a sentiment I have previously observed with Johnny Cash's American IV. I thankfully had enough familiarity with Johnny Cash to do justice in my assessment of that album. I don't know if I can say the same for Leonard. What I can say is that between the organic instrumental arrangements and the grit and romanticism in his words as he shed his mortal bearings in acceptance of what his Lord had in store for him, there's a certain finality to this record that becomes a heavy yet necessary listen. By the end of the string-led reprise of "Treaty" and Leonard's final verse, the conclusion of it all felt palpable to me; hard to articulate yet gripping all the same.

You Want It Darker is a great record. I may not consider it within the upper echelon of albums I've listened to, but it is an important record in how an artist can confront death with such poetic grace.

I will not include the single "Gangsters" or the second disc live tracks of the 2015 deluxe version in this review.

Well, it's been over a hundred albums since I got the Specials' second album, which was half decent, despite diving into lounge music in the second half. Going back to their self-titled debut, this album is more consistent for the better.

This record is chock-full of fun, uptempo 2-tone ska and reggae that's well played, decently produced, and sounds nicely bolstered by the guest horns. The tone balances between laid-back vibes and youthful rebellion, particularly on tracks like "Nite Klub" and "Concrete Jungle" that delve into dissatisfaction with societal pressure closing in around them.

My only complaint is that the reggae-style portions of the record can run longer than they should, such as with the six-minute "Too Much Too Young" that got repetitive in the lyrics and structure. Still, this was a rather solid debut from the Specials, as a fundamental group for the ska revival.

At first, it felt surreal to receive this album today, following Brian Wilson's passing. But after a quick check of the r/1001AlbumsGenerator subreddit, I realized that this was a special occasion. The generous host of this site, who goes by the Reddit username SidledsGunnar, decided to treat everyone to either a Beach Boys album or Brian Wilson Presents Smile if they haven't gotten all of those already. This will be the last Brian Wilson-related work I need to cover for my journey. Without further ado...

By 1965, the Beach Boys had been moving away from songs about cars or surfing and into more complex arrangements, spurred on by Brian's desire for musical perfection amidst a growing jealousy towards Phil Spector and the Beatles. In the case of The Beach Boys Today!, most of the songs featured more orchestral instrumentation and a greater number of ballads in the second half, while lyrically exploring more vulnerabilities, insecurities, and mature perspectives on relationships. From the anxiety of coming adulthood on "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" to the one-night stand of "Help Me, Rhonda", to the attempt at repairing the relationship on "Kiss Me, Baby", to the unfound suspicions that the narrator's relationship will dissipate someday on "In the Back of My Mind", there's a profound emotional range that this album covers from an admittedly simple scope. Pair that lyricism with well-produced compositions that utilize more unconventional instrumentation for rock music at the same time, such as the harpsichord on "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" or the wide range of percussion on "Dance, Dance, Dance", and the experience feels a lot more elevated.

My only complaint is that the Beach Boys were still confined to their doo-wop beginnings and needed to go that extra step. These notions extend to both covers of "Do You Wanna Dance" and "I'm So Young" that feel indebted to previous renditions, as well as closing the album on the spoof interview "Bull Session with the 'Big Daddy'", which came off as the boys goofing around with each other.

Overall, The Beach Boys Today! is a solid record that helped set the tone for what would come a few records later with Pet Sounds. It was a pleasant listen. Rest in Power, Brian.

The Beta Band is a group I only started hearing about earlier this year, from catching one of their earliest hits, "Dry the Rain", on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. They're a Scottish indie rock group that combines elements of folk, psychedelia, electronica, post-rock, and trip-hop. They were rather big in the early 2000s, with their music featured in a couple of comedy-drama films and even opening for Radiohead after impressing them. After giving their second album, Hot Shots II, a few listens, I have come to respect them.

It took a bit for this album to click with me, given its rather minimalistic approach in composition. I will say that there are moments where the arrangements sound gorgeously produced with Steve Mason's soft-spoken delivery and reverbed guitar lines, John Maclean's light keyboard flair paired with quaint electronic elements, and Robin Jones's lo-fi accented percussion. The record is a tad demanding to listen to, as the quieter playing and surrealist lyricism necessitate more of the listener's attention to pick up on the more subtle flourishes in the mix. But it is rewarding upon relisten. The spare cowbell under the chopped-up guitar strumming of "Alleged", the soft piano melody of "Gone", the backmasking used as the rhythm before crescendoing to the full-on drum blitz of "Human Being"; these are a few of the textures I enjoyed in my second listen.

I ended up appreciating Hot Shots II and will consider paying more attention to the Beta Band, especially now that they reunited this year.

Missy Elliott is someone I probably heard of before when I was a kid, listening to mainstream music with my sisters in the early 2000s and catching songs like "Work It" and "Get Ur Freak On". I hadn't gotten into her until this year with her performance at Coachella, which included the first two singles from her debut, Supa Dupa Fly. After listening, I consider this a respectable first record.

Missy commanded the mic on this album, alternating between smooth R&B singing and laid-back chill rapping over the high-end dancehall-inspired production from Timbaland. The ease with which she expresses her womanhood, in both the demand to be respected and the desire for intimacy with her partners, is astounding over these phat breakbeats with a few notable compositions built off samples. Not to mention, the number of guest appearances that bolster this record with their respective talents to make this feel like a joint effort, including Lil' Kim's opening verse on "Hit Em wit da Hee", Da Brat's closing rap on "Sock It 2 Me", and Aaliyah's sultry delivery opposite Missy on "Best Friends".

My only complaint with this debut is that it's rather long. This included multiple interlude tracks, including intro and outro tracks from Busta Rhymes, who serves as a hype man for this record, but doesn't feel necessary to the overall experience. Also, the self-gratification on Missy's part became a bit egregious to me towards the end, such as the lyrics of "I'm Talkin'" coming off as no more than "I'm great" and "look how well I rap".

Still, I overall enjoyed Supa Dupa Fly as the first big step for Missy Elliott, becoming a major influence for many female rappers to come.

I previously covered Tricky's solo debut, Maxinquaye, as album #20 on my journey. Now I get to check out the group he was in prior, the trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack. The group originated from multiple DJs and rappers who emerged together as part of a sound system collective in the Bristol club scene of the mid-1980s. Spinning off together as a quartet, and with the assistance of Swedish singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry and producer/manager Cameron McVey, they were able to put out their debut album, Blue Lines.

Since this record is genre-defining, a lot of the descriptors that come to mind would end up describing trip-hop as a whole. It's an eclectic mix of electronica, hip-hop, dub, soul, and reggae, where the vibe of each track is distinct, dependent on the rappers and guest features present. From the sultry delivery of Shara Nelson opposite Robert "3D" Del Naja's laid-back chopped-up verses over the sampled bassline on "Safe From Harm", to the posse cut rapping over a chill breakbeat on the title track, to the funky record-scratching rendition of William DeVaughan's "Be Thankful for What You Got", to the uptempo clash of sample percussion and string orchestration on "Unfinished Sympathy", no two tracks come off the same.

Sure, the scope of this record can seem rather simplistic, and the production can come off as minimal. But Massive Attack, this early in their career, were effective in their pocket, delivering vibing music that kept engaging through the runtime and didn't overstay its welcome. There's a reason Blue Lines gets called a classic, and I see no reason to disagree.

I only listened to disc one of the Super Deluxe edition for this review, which is the original track listing.

After getting three later Who albums of varying degrees of quality, I got their debut album. I consider My Generation to be a solid record. Some genuinely strong original compositions showcase Pete Townsend's penchant for ferocious songs with strong guitar hooks, as the rest of the band followed suit on their respective instruments. Included in that notion are the likes of the raucous intro "Out in the Street", the band-defining title track, the equally classic "The Kids Are Alright", the jaunty "A Legal Matter", and the bombastic instrumental outro "The Ox". Sure, not every song hits as hard as some of their later material, and a couple of inclusions are covers that come off as if they are imitating the original artist, such as with James Brown's "I Don't Mind" and Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man". But overall, this is a respectable debut from what would become one of the biggest acts to come out of England.

I will not include the appended CD bonus tracks or 2002 re-release bonus tracks for this review.

Ahh, yes, one of the "worst albums" according to the global stats for this generator, and had me genuinely curious. For those who are unfamiliar, Einstürzende Neubauten is a German experimental music group led by Blixa Bargeld, who would later become a founding member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. One of the trademarks of the group is that they utilize self-made or found objects as instrumentation, such as metal plates. While they will use these unorthodox instruments for more conventional sounds in later recordings, their early work is notably harsh as Bargeld would scream and shout over banging and scraping metal percussion. Case in point, their debut album, Kollaps, is defined by that style.

This album can make or break people without more formal introductions to elements of industrial, experimental, and German music. Thankfully, I've taken multiple courses in music analysis back in college, and I got this record after over 300 albums into my journey, including records that would fit into the above categories. I can't imagine the poor soul who got this as their first album without any prior understanding or context of what the group is trying to accomplish here.

With that in mind, I do enjoy this record to an extent. There's an almost primal feel in the abrasive nature of Blixa's harsh vocals over the obtuse percussive elements that weirdly maintain a good sense of rhythm. It must be cathartic for a German music group coming out of post-World War II Berlin, trying to make a living, and experiencing both the frustration and vulnerability of what it must have taken to reconstruct, represented by the use of noises that would be associated with construction equipment. It certainly made for a unique experience that doesn't immediately deter me away, especially with how creative they get, such as the pitter patter of water before the visceral screaming on "Negative Nein" or the literal drill beat that opens "Steh auf Berlin", and the twisted instrumental rendition of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus" that adds a bit of black humor.

Yet, for as much as this album clicked for me, there are still issues I have with it. Besides the obvious lack of cohesion, which may be the point, some songs tend to make a more lasting impression than others. Given the multitude of short tracks that run under two minutes, there isn't as much room to allow the compositional identity to sink in before being launched into the next. This sentiment also extends to the closer "Helga", which felt abrupt as an ending with the ten seconds of radio transmission before cutting to silence.

Still, I was intrigued by Kollaps in all its outlandish execution. It's not an album that would easily get made in today's world, with the way the music marketing landscape has shifted, which makes this record feel special.

I will not include the remastered bonus tracks for this review.

Ahh yes, Soft Cell, the synthpop duo primarily known for their cover of Gloria Jones's "Tainted Love". That's all I knew going into their debut album, and I figured, after "Tainted Love" as the second track, the rest of the record was going to be lackluster in comparison. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret was pretty good for an early synthpop album.

There's a certain roughness to David Ball's electronic instrumentation that lends this album an element of grit uncommon among other synthpop records of the time. Pair that with Marc Almond's soulful vocal delivery and hedonistic lyricism, and the result is a surprisingly dark record for the time. The likes of "Frustration", "Seedy Films", "Sex Dwarf", "Bedsitter", and "Secret Life" run the gamut of twisted desires with such charisma. The only track that didn't stick the landing for me was closer "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye", which came off flimsy in its kiss-off.

Honestly, a pretty good synthpop debut from Soft Cell, as it showcased a lot more talent than the one cover could convey.

Fishbone is one of those groups I've heard before. They're a melting pot of various styles, including ska, reggae, punk, hard rock, and funk. That wild mixing of genres is self-evident on the opening two singles, "Ma and Pa" and their cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead", where there's a bounce to the rhythm section amidst Kendall Jones's distorted guitar riffs and Angelo Moore's smooth yet belting vocals. This album is a fun time, as these songs have such kinetic energy and technical proficiency in the instrumentation. Honestly, my only complaint is with some dated production choices, such as the keyboard tones and the occasional abrasiveness of the horns, such as on "Pourin' Rain". Other than that, Truth and Soul is a pretty good record, well worth checking out.

There's no debate on why this album from Miles Davis is here on this list of albums to listen to before you die. This is one of the most definitive albums of his career, featuring multiple jazz greats in the recording sessions, spanning from John Coltrane, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. In addition to the pedigree of the personnel, the compositions on this record are phenomenal, allowing space for meaningful instrumental soloing over melodic improvisation across a few musical scales. It never felt too busy or overwhelming from any of the musicians' playing. At the same time, the album kept interesting enough that it never felt like any of these tunes went on for too long, which is impressive, given that most of them were over nine minutes. It can't get much easier to describe than that for a stone-cold classic.

This will be my second review of a Paul Simon solo album, and my third from my aunt's CD collection. Though admittedly, this one's a bit of a doozy, because the making of this record is marred with controversy.

Graceland is the byproduct of Paul trying to reignite his career after his last album, Heart and Bones, failed to sell well, and his relationships with former music partner Art Garfunkel and ex-wife Carrie Fisher had deteriorated. He ended up taking a gig producing a record for an up-and-coming singer-songwriter who worked in house bands. This individual sent Simon a bootlegged tape of what she wanted the record to sound like, and the style they were going for was mbaqanga, a particular South African music from Johannesburg. Paul wanted to identify the artists on that tape, and then a record producer suggested he record an album of South African music. Thus, he went and did just that, despite the cultural boycott imposed on South Africa by the United Nations due to the apartheid going on at the time. Even with Paul trying to be as fair and compensatory to the artists he invited to record with him, it proved to be a tumultuous time to record there amidst the tense racial laws of the land.

Nevertheless, the resulting record came out, and it's fine. This is a case where, for me, the story behind the album's creation was more profound than the album itself. That's not to say it's a bad listen, far from it. Paul was able to write a selection of jaunty tunes with various session musicians who contributed world musical elements. Whether it's the backing choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo on tracks like "The Boy in the Bubble" and "Diamonds in the Sole of Her Shoes", or the polyrhythmic percussion on "Crazy Love, Part II", or the contributions of full bands such as the Boyoyo Boys on "Gumboots", Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters on "That Was Your Mother", and Los Lobos on "All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints", there's a large palette of sounds that coalesce into generally likeable music with very wide-eyed lyrical imagery. For sure, there are definite standout songs such as the title track about Paul's trip to Elvis Presley's estate after the dissolution of his marriage, "You Can Call Me Al" with its complex bass lines and rhythmic bounce paired with lyrics about a man's experience with a midlife crisis, and "Under African Skies" with its angelic vocal harmonies shared with Linda Ronstadt. But deep down, as much as Paul was trying to reinvigorate his career by embracing other cultural landscapes, there was an opportunity to push this genre-bending into more challenging territory. It's pleasing to have on in the background, but it doesn't go that extra step further.

I still generally enjoyed Graceland for what it is, embracing African music from a Western perspective. It certainly became influential in that regard.

I will not include the 3 Songs EP that is added to this album in subsequent releases.

Oh hell yeah, this was a nice surprise to get! For those who don't know, Fugazi is a post-hardcore group consisting of Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, Rites of Spring members Guy Picciotto and Brendan Canty, and bassist Joe Lally. These were friends who had each done time with other hardcore punk bands and wanted to try something new together. They released a couple of EPs, which turned into the 13 Songs compilation, and that was my introduction to the group. Then, when it came time to work on their debut, they all decided on a jamming approach, writing songs together instead of MacKaye being the sole songwriter. The result was their debut, Repeater, and I cannot begin to express how awesome it turned out.

Right from the get-go with opener "Turnover", the band effectively carried the ferocity and aggression of hardcore punk alongside catchy guitar riffs and more complex bass and drum play. Even when there are no vocals, such as on "Brendan #1", the instrumental compositions come off as intricate and chock-full of miniature hooks, so it's not a problem when no one sings.

When Ian and Guy do step in with their lyrics, they trade off bars with pure fiery angst at the various problems that plague society. From the mass ignorance of "Turnover", to gun violence on the title track, to anti-consumerism sentiments on "Merchandise" and "Blueprint", to the poisoning of our planet on "Styrofoam", to the traumas of war on "Reprovisional", to the deep contemplation over the loss of a life to addiction on closer "Shut the Door", these guys went through several issues with the profoundness and poignancy that they deserve in highlighting what's going wrong. The only song that didn't have well-thought lyrics was "Greed" with the repeated lines "You wanted everything/You needed everything", but even that was given the same amount of high-energy aggression that other tracks had.

There's no beating around the bush; Fugazi's Repeater absolutely rules as a debut. In a way, these guys captured a sound that predated the alternative rock boom that would happen a year later, and they effectively played in that pocket.

I don't think I've heard the name Röyksopp before. From what I gather, they are a Norwegian electronic music duo, consisting of childhood friends Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. Their music is often categorized as downtempo, featuring vintage synthesizers and multiple session vocalists. There's a very analogue approach to their style, and I think it paid off in dividends on their debut, Melody A.M..

The beauty of this album is that there's enough variety in composition track-by-track, such that it doesn't drag or overstay its welcome at a reasonable 45 minutes. For some tracks like opener "So Easy", "A Higher Place", and "She's So", the focus is placed on samples that are rarely used but purposefully utilized in context. Other tracks make the most of the session vocalists, such as Anneli Drecker's restrained delivery over the slowed-down trip hop of "Sparks" or Erlend Øye's easy-listening hooks over rich grooves on "Poor Leno" and "Remind Me". In some instances, organic instrumentation is given the time to shine, such as the cascading harps over sampled strings on "In Space", or the swooning saxophone play on "She's So". Finally, there are the tracks that go for broke with the synthesizer flair, from the tickling keys over a laidback drumbeat on "Eple", to the dreary chords over a stinging guitar loop on "A Higher Place", to the modulated lines over a squelching beat that fade into a spare melody on closer "40 Years Back/Come", and the centerpiece of this record "Röyksopp's Night Out" that's a free-flowing techno-funk experiment over an extended runtime. This album kept getting interesting as it went on, and not once did it feel tiresome or uninspired to me.

I was genuinely impressed with Röyksopp's debut here. It was an eclectic electronica experience to behold, and it makes me curious what they've done since.

I will not include the CD bonus tracks for this review.

Is it weird that I'm more familiar with Queen Latifah as an actor than as a rapper? In terms of my exposure to Laitfah growing up, the only work I would have recognized her for was providing the voice for the mammoth Ellie as a supporting role in the Ice Age animated film series. Then, in my recent adult years, I recognized her again for her lead role as Robyn McCall in CBS's revival of the action drama TV series The Equalizer, as well as occasional supporting roles, such as opposite Adam Sandler in the film Hustle.

To me, it feels like once Queen Latifah broke into other avenues of the entertainment industry, her music career was largely placed on the back burner. I only became aware of her rapping chops this past year through her guest appearance on the Jungle Brothers' "Doin' Our Own Thang" and her track "U.N.I.T.Y." performed live with Megan Thee Stallion at Coachella this year. If she started in the rap game, then I can try to meet her halfway. With all that said, how does her debut, All Hail the Queen, hold up?

I will say that this album is definitely within the ballpark of the Jungle Brothers' Done by the Forces of Nature and A Tribe Called Quest's debut, both of which I've already covered in the progressive rap narrative of the Native Tongues collective. Latifah maintains a good lyrical flow as she runs the gamut of Afrocentric embracement, female empowerment, and social justice. Particularly on tracks like "The Evil That Men Do" and "Latifah's Law", she articulated how she worked her way off the streets, despite the numerous disadvantages a black woman faced in society. In a word, this album feels like a celebration of how far she has come, and I respect that while putting the spotlight on other up-and-coming artists, especially alongside Monie Love on "Ladies First".

That said, it does feel like the production is dated. Not a bad start for a debut album, but the beats behind Latifah could have used more impact. Also, there are a few missteps in the presentation that couldn't be ignored, such as on "Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children" with the grating baby voice modulations and instrumental motifs that evoke a bizarre nursery rhyme.

Still, this is a reasonably solid debut from Queen Latifah, and it opened many doors for her and other female rappers to come.

I already got the final Doors album with Jim Morrison on my journey, so it's rather fitting to go back to the band's first stint with him.

The Doors' self-titled debut feels iconic in its sound, where the recording was done in an echo chamber to capture that spacious quality, as individual notes and Jim Morrison's howls and wails were captured cleanly in the mix, further enhanced by the occasional use of bass overdub. It's the right kind of atmosphere for the group to play their haunting organ-led blues psychedelia, kicking the door down on "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" before running the gamut of chilling, ethereal tracks like "The Crystal Ship", "Alabama (Whisky Bar)", "Light My Fire" and their thumping rendition of Howlin' Wolf's "Back Door Man". Even lesser cuts such as "Twentieth Century Fox", "I Looked at You", and "Take It as It Comes" bode well, as every word and motif is delivered with pure conviction. It all culminates in "The End", a nearly 12-minute closer that never felt like it overstayed its welcome, as Jim's poetry delved into the Oedipus complex to convey the desire to kill those influences that do not represent who they are as a being and come back to reality. It's an effective finale for such an impressive debut.

I got no complaints here, as the Doors managed to break through near the beginning and help expand the kind of storytelling and dynamics that can be achieved in rock music.

I will not be including the bonus track “Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll” for this review.

The Killers are a band I’m certainly familiar with through various singles, a few of their more recent albums starting with Wonderful Wonderful, and seeing them live twice. They’re one of the more well-known post-punk revival groups to come out of the early 2000s. Funny enough, for being a group out of Las Vegas, they managed to get super popular in the UK. I would not be surprised if their popularity overseas factored into Robert Dimery and company’s decision to include them on this list at one point. With that all said, how does their debut Hot Fuss hold up?

Let’s start by addressing the obvious critique this album usually gets - it’s front-loaded. The first half is defined by the run of singles from the swaggering baseline of “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” through the gospel choir complement in “All These Things That I’ve Done”. It’s in these opening tracks that the band established their early identity - Dave Keuning’s bright-toned and percussive guitar play, Mark Stoermer’s melodic bass work, Ronald Vannucci Jr.’s fluid rhythm behind the drum kit. All these elements coalesce behind Brandon Flowers’s echo-coaxed tenor vocals and synthesizer flair, as he sang with reverence for the melodrama he penned out. The one exception was the album’s centerpiece “All These Things That I’ve Done”, which saw Brandon struggle with his faith and come to accept that he’s not perfect in the practice of belief, and won’t try to push his religion onto someone else.

I’ve talked a big deal about just the front half, but that’s not to say there weren’t any good songs in the back half. The gears change with the brooding “Andy, You’re a Star”, where Brandon reminisced about a former high school jockey he used to flirt with as the crunchy guitar riffs stomp in time with the slowed down rhythm. “On Top” is a haunting new wave track with the commanding synth melody about a one-night stand and the adrenaline of such a passionate moment. Both “Change Your Mind” and “Midnight Show” are uptempo bops that continue in the relationship drama, with the latter chronicling the murder that preludes the interrogation on “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine”. There are intriguing tracks to be found towards the end here.

Really, there’s only two tracks I didn’t quite gel with. Unfortunately, one of those tracks happens to be the closer, “Everything Will Be Alright”, which tries again for the big-swinging anthemic message that “All These Things That I’ve Done” accomplished earlier, but can’t because the pace has been slowed down to a grind as there isn’t much punch in the instrumentation while Brandon’s echo-effected vocals become warbly. Also in this tier is “Believe Me Natalie” which shares a similarly irritating vocal delivery as Brandon tries to convince this girl to come out on the dance floor, though at least Ronald switches up the percussion to focus more on the tom-toms in the verses.

Overall, this is still a solid debut from The Killers. The group would end up changing around their sound to incorporate more heartland rock that they were inspired by. Nevertheless, they broke into the scene with a style that took elements from decades prior and created a fresh take for the time.

I will not include the CD bonus tracks in this review.

Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band are a group that I started listening to within the past year. In fact, I already heard two tracks from their debut right here, "Zig Zag Wanderer" and "Electricity".

Don Van Vilet, the man who would assume the on-stage persona of Captain Beefheart, started as a young sculpting apprentice. However, his parents never financially supported his pursuit of such a career due to pre-conceived notions of artists as being "queer". Don would become so bitter that he abandoned art until he turned 23. He and his family moved during his teenage years to the Mojave Desert area, where he developed his taste in music from the blues and jazz musicians who were popular around this time. Don made friends with the members of local bands, one of whom was Frank Zappa. Through frequent collaborations with Zappa, Don started getting comfortable performing at small clubs and venues. He was invited to front the first iteration of the Magic Band by guitarist Alex St. Clair and assumed the role of Captain Beefheart. After a few other lineup changes and going through a few labels with their demos, the band was able to record and release their debut, Safe as Milk.

Right from the get-go, the Magic Band wore their influences on their sleeve with this record, particularly the Delta blues that Don and the rest grew into, while taking the style into a more garage rock direction. It does get abrasive and esoteric in places, with the grainy production quality, John French's well-accented percussion, the twin guitar complement of Alex and Ry Cooder, and the occasional use of theremin by Sam Hoffman on "Electricity" and "Autumn's Child". Of course, the standout player would be Don as Captain Beefheart, able to croon and howl like the big-name blues musicians while stretching his voice to higher registers that weren't thought of back in 1967. There were even moments where he sang gravelly on tracks like "Dropout Boogie" and "Electricity", which were probably alien for the time but pretty cool to find all these years later.

If anything, the band played it "safe" on Safe as Milk and could've gone a little weirder. Yeah, this is the group's debut album, where they were getting their foot in the door by keeping themselves rooted in the Delta blues with little variations. There's potential for growth here in distinguishing themselves from their influences, which I'm sure has been explored in the rest of their catalog.

All in all, this was a solid debut from Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band. I'd be interested to hear how they turned out a little later down the line.

I figured I would start getting at least one album from Steely Dan on this list. I did not expect that their frontman and keyboardist, Donald Fagen, would also have a solo album on the list. During the group's short breakup in the early 1980s, Fagen pursued a solo career, taking advantage of new-at-the-time digital recording technology and multiple session musicians to carve his path separate from longtime collaborator Walter Becker.

The resulting album from those sessions was The Nightfly, a jazz-pop record that's autobiographical, inspired by Fagen's suburban childhood. Now, the shift in style doesn't seem that far removed from what Steely Dan were doing by the end of the previous decade, but it does sound pristine with the multiple instruments arranged and layered neatly through such bolstered production. I get why this album gets used for testing out recording studio equipment; it just sounds that good to begin with. Some personal highlights of mine include "New Frontier" with the shuffle beat led by Fagen's synthesizer play accompanied by the prominent cowbell, the cover of the Drifters' "Ruby Baby" with the busy sway with organ swell, and horn arrangements, and the electric piano swagger of "Green Flower Street".

Sure, this album could be approached from the perspective that the stakes are lower with the simpler subject matter in the lyrics and more laid-back arrangements that border on lounge music. But given the amount of intricate detail that can be found in the instrumental compositions, I'd say there's more to The Nightfly such that this album could grow on me. I consider this record a nice surprise to find.