Reviews by tipula

This is a good record, though it kind of reminds me why I was never into The Byrds. We all know "Eight Miles High," of course, which is fine to hear once a year or so. It's a pleasant album; I didn't want to turn it off, but it didn't make me want to go out and find a copy either.

The one song that got my attention was "2+2=4 Lear Jet," which was amusingly weird with the air traffic chatter, airplane noises, and noodly guitar. I liked that one, though I'm now going to be muttering "gonna ride a Learjet baby, gonna ride a Learjet" to myself for the rest of the afternoon.

3 stars

Love's earlier "Little Red Book" is to me one of the best songs of the mid-60s, with its insistent beat and emotional vocals. So I was looking forward to more like that on here, but this one didn't quite hit like that.

The first track with its mariachi-like trumpet got my attention, the vocals throughout are good, the rhythm section is compelling, and the occasional guitar solo works. My toes are tapping.

So most of it was pretty enjoyable, but it was mostly much lighter, kinda Donovanesque, than what I'd hoped for. I'd say that "Bummer in the Summer" is the standout track on this one for me.

3 stars

Another record that I heard a lot of at the time but didn't have a copy of because I wasn't very interested in The Who.

Blistering, relentless blues rock with lots of jamming noodling guitar stuff. The best part of it is the breakdown with great drumming at the end of the 15-minute track that begins with "My Generation." I still prefer other bands from the period, and am frankly tired of hearing about my generation. But if you're going to listen to The Who, I figure you should be listening to this.

3

This is one of those records that I could probably sing most of without listening to it beforehand. I never had a copy, but everybody else did. I'm not a big Americana person in general, but there are a lot of toe-tapping songs with engaging lyrics on here.

Much of this is just fun; good songs for sitting on the porch and drinking beer on a hot summer night. But "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "King Harvest" stand out: both are stirring songs. "Dixie" always impressed they Yankee in me that it could make me sympathetic for somebody from the other side. And "King Harvest" is beautiful, with its evocative chorus talking about the sound of wind rippling across a flooded rice field.

Late-60s rock opera reminiscent of early Pink Floyd that I somehow managed to never have heard of. I was intrigued by the track list, as one would be with songs named "Bracelet of Fingers" and "Death."

I'm more into this than I thought it was going to be when the generator served it to me this morning. The live performances of this at the time must have been quite... memorable, with the band pretending to be playing the music while tripping.

I'm tempted to give this a 4, I really am. It's a bit of a mess, but it's an interesting mess.

Here's another record from back in the day that I used to love but later put aside when I got into other stuff, and haven't heard in ages.

So much of this is so good. “Somebody to Love" was a hit for a reason; these angry-sounding tracks are what I like best about the Airplane. The intro line "When the truth is found to be lies / and all the joy within you dies" has kind of a contemporary feel, doesn't it. The guitar instrumental "Embryonic Journey" is of course something I've heard here and there since then, which is a good thing. And who can resist "White Rabbit." Sure we've all heard it 40 million times, but hey, it's got both threatening-sounding Grace Slick vocals AND interesting acid flamenco instrumentation. Don't forget to feed your head, kids. Finally, "Plastic Fantastic Lover" is a great song - I either forgot or only just noticed the interesting stuff going on with the bass on this.

“My Best Friend" was a skip track for me back when I listened to this all the time in the 70s. I'm still not a big fan of that song; it's the part of this record that sounds the most like normal mid-60s music, which isn't very interesting to me. But while I used to skip "Today," too, I'm noticing some things with it that I didn't appreciate at the time.

4 stars

My parents gave me the US version of this album for my birthday shortly after it came out. I'd listen to it sitting on the floor with my crappy one-speaker/turntable combo kiddy record player. Ha ha that was probably a first-pressing copy; bet it would be worth a mint now if I hadn't destroyed it with my grubby little fingers.

This original UK release is a little different from the US one, which made it more interesting to listen to today. There are some great covers of songs from that period on this version, like "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" and "Money." I appreciate that "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" isn't on this version; that's the one thing of theirs from that period that I've really heard enough of at this point.

You know what? This is a pretty darn good record; these Beatle guys knew what they were doing. I probably haven't listened to any of this since the Johnson administration, and am enjoying it a lot.

4 stars

This record came out when I was working in a record store, so I can assure you that I have heard it. Hey, I even had the 7-inch of "Just What I Needed" on red vinyl, though I think I got it for free as some kind of record store promo thing.

This is a crossing point between power pop and early New Wave. The backing music sometimes sounds like a throwback to songs from the early 60s with the twangy guitar and simple choruses, and then on other tracks you get more electronic stuff, like what would be prominent in the early 80s.

The standout track for me on here is "I'm in Touch With Your World" (the b-side of "Just What I Needed"), which is a little weirder and more restrained than the rest of it. This wasn't my favorite record at the time, but it's fun to listen to now.

4 stars

I have all the Mag Fields' records up to and including this one, and spent several years in the late 90s listening to them obsessively and seeing them live. This was the last one I bought, though; I think it was so long that I guess that was enough Mag Fields for me.

But anyway. Some of these songs on here are still my favorites because of the cleverness of their lyrics: "Papa Was a Rodeo," "Washington, DC," "Strange Eyes." "Yeah, Oh Yeah" is particularly amusing, the way it turns the pop song convention of a verse with agreeing chorus of "yeah" to be much darker:

- What a dark and dreary life! Are you reaching for a knife? Would you really kill your wife?
- Yeah, oh yeah

As a whole, the record is a bit much, though. I think if I were more into show tunes, I'd like some of the sillier (and/or more sincere) things on here better - Merritt originally conceived it as a theatrical revue, which isn't a thing I would tend to go for. But the songs I like on here are great.

Mostly countryish soft rock music with spiritual lyrics and an occasional chorus of women singing in the background. There are some interesting arrangements on here, but the consistently mellow, yearning vibe made it unappealing to me, though not enough to send it to the 2-star basement.

3 stars

I'm all in for francophone weirdness right now, so I was glad to see this. This album is very chill. I loved the one exception to that, "Sexy Boy"; I ended up playing that one twice and watching the amusing video twice, too.

4 stars

Another band that I know existed at some point in the past but have no memory of listening to.

This is ok but not exciting. They have some interesting lyrics, and I like the orchestration and guitar on some of these tracks, but most of it isn't really grabbing me. To the point where I don't even really have anything to say about it.

3

Guitar: great
Bass and drums: great
Vocals: irritating
Lyrics: annoying

This is the kind of thing that convinced me that I don't like metal, even though you'd think I'd like it considering some of the other stuff that I like. I would give this record a 4 if it were all-instrumental, because it is headbanging-worthy. But then he starts singing again.

Oh yeah, the Mamas and the Papas. So many songs on here that we've all heard over the years, with their lovely harmonies and memorable tunes.

One thing I have to complain about is these apostrophes in the band's name on the album cover. I can't believe (my eyes and ears) that they would let that go through.

3 stars. I know this is objectively good, but this genre isn't for me.

This is the only Blondie record I ever owned (bought it after hearing "Fade Away and Radiate" on the radio). I hadn't heard it in ages, and I enjoyed it. "Fade Away," "Hanging on the Telephone," "One Way or Another," and "Heart of Glass" are classics, and the rest of it is fun.

4 stars

This record was pretty good. The slow, sad ballads required some endurance, but the rest was fun: short little songs with toe-tapping music and old-timey lyrics.

The cover is intriguing - the guys are all partying down but then there's that intense-looking hipster in the background. Dude's probably wishing these guys would finish it up so he can close up the studio and go home to bed.

3 stars

"You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Adamson! I promise - I won't breathe a word - to anyone"

I bought this CD when it first came out because "The Man With the Golden Arm" was getting a lot of airplay, and Barry Adamson had played with Magazine and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I listened to it ALL the time then, but I haven't heard it in quite a while because you know how it is, there's always something new to listen to; I have a short attention span. But at the time this was one of my favorite records.

On listening again today? Ha, I forgot how much I love this record. Starts off creepy and orchestral, then into the great bouncing "Under Wraps," then into what sounds like it could be a mid-60s soundtrack except... not. Thank you 1001 Albums for reminding me of this marvelously unhinged album.

(I'm laughing at the 1-star review that says "Who is this for? Who is sitting around listening to this? People who listen to this need to be on a registry." I guess that's me?)

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a great song; I enjoyed that one.

But issues with the problematic musician aside, a whole record of this kind of music doesn't work for me. I guess there's a reason that all the "Pop" subgenres are down in the basement in my summary bar graph.

2 stars

Ok I had no idea what to expect from this. It's interesting stuff - lots of odd little tracks with really interesting chaotic jazz and funny lyrics.

Some of the tracks put me off at first because they were a little too much like smooth contemporary r&b stuff, but while he's got this beautiful smooth contemporary r&b voice, what he's singing is stuff like how high he is or "oh my god where's Captain Planet" instead of the usual boring "oooooh baby" kinda stuff.

So put all that together and I'll say this album is pretty great.

4

In the early 80s i had a housemate who was obsessed with Peter Murphy and Bauhaus, so I never had to buy any of these records (and therefore I haven't heard any of them since then). The one track I remember is "Kick in the Eye" - "Kick in the eye! Kick, kick!"

Some of this was a little dirgey, but I have no objection to a good gloomy dirge, so that's ok with me. I'm generally up for gloomy/dancey early 80s music, so this was an enjoyable listen, and I'll listen to it again.

4