Reviews by verbaljazz

"When you've loved and lost like Frank has, then you know what life's about."

Individually the songs are fine. Taken together, they run together.

Frank was born in 1915 and was 40 when this came out. Say he had been born in 1986, what kind of music would he be making today? Would he be a modern day lounge singer? Or would he be a pop-star? Or make his mark on Broadway?

This is great!

There's a book to be written about the, in my words, "great encheesification" of acts in the 1980s. Chicago/Peter Cetera, Journey, Aerosmith, Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship, and Steve Winwood formerly of Traffic all sought pop stardom while abandoning thetype of music that made them great to begin with. Was it the record labels pushing great musicians to make bland music that would not age well? Was it the influence of MTV? To be fair, Steve Winwood's 1980s output isn't terrible, he had some good songs that, with their 1980s production values, felt like a huge step down. Also, comparing Winwood's Traffic output to his 1980's output is a bit unfair. Traffic was a great band with interesting music.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet makes it sound easy when it's anything but. What a fantastic record! This has long been one of favorites.

This is a jazz record for people who love jazz to share with people who claim not to like jazz. The melodies and the rhythms seep into your soul.

The DBQ is so tight.

I saw a meme about them all looking like accountants. And fair - a bunch of white dudes in suits playing this super-sophisticated music.

I saw the cure on the Wish tour. By then, they had lots of crowd pleasures they could end the show with. But they did an extended version of "A Forest." It was simply an amazing way to end the show. "A Forest" is what all the best Cure songs are: moody and atmospheric.

You know that unpredictable alchemy that happens when creative people find each other and push each other to create groundbreaking works of art that would not be possible if it relied on just the output of one person?

This album is not that.

You know those stories that you hear of genius being thwarted by gatekeepers?

This album is not that either.

Somehow, no one involved in its creation tried to stop it, tighten the songs, or just begin again.

This album proves the theme song from M*A*S*H wrong...Suicide is not painless.

Many years ago, my roommate and I swapped our favorite records with each other to listen to. He game me "What's Going On," and I gave him "A Love Supreme" (John Coltrane). He didn't like Coltrane, but, then, he didn't like jazz and "A Love Supreme" is not the easiest entry into jazz.

Regardless of whether that particular roommate liked jazz, he was on to something with this album. "What's Going On" is fantastic.

One would expect a band named the Zombies to have a harder edge, not this flower-power lovey-dovey nonsense!

Decent album, though.

Does not change my impression that Lenny Kravitz is mid. It's fine. Well-produced, but not earth shattering.

Decent late '70s punk. The musicianship is decent but the vocalist is all vibes.

The title track is probably one of the best songs about the futility of war.

Spare me the pearl clutching over the gay slur in "Money for Nothing" and get over yourself. The song is written from the POV of someone who would use that term. That character is likely MAGA and doesn't understand the effort it takes to make music.

The music is so varied in this album.

This album came out when I was 13. At first, I thought it was boring, but the more I listened to it, the more I grew to love it. Often you need repeated exposure to fully appreciate a work of art, which makes this project sometimes frustrating when I wonder if I spent enough time listening to a record.

For funsies, tell your friends that "Money for Nothing" is a cover of a song called "Monet for Nothing" which is about art thieves.

There are some true classics here.

"All Along the Watchtower" is everything a good cover should be. An artist (like Jimi) can take an existing song and imbue their own essence into it. Dylan would likely have never performed it this way and Jimi just elevates it.

It's amazing that someone who died so young left such an enduring body of work.

The Replacements were who they were. Paul Westerberg is such a great song-crafter that they could have sold out. I'm glad they didn't.

Stevie Wonder is a national treasure. I will be taking no other questions at this time.

This slaps.

Pretty impressive to rap in French, but still communicate your verbal dexterity to a non-French speaker.

The '80s, man.

Funny how stuff from the '80s feels so much more dated than stuff from the '60s or '70s.

For instance, my wife and I recently re-watched the original Ghostbusters, and were left wondering how that movie became so popular.

This record feels lie it belongs in the '80s.

A vocal gymnast with incredible range.

Is the melisma overindulgent? Perhaps. But I would wager that the producers and record label wanted that.

By this point she had already told us that she doesn't want a lot for Christmas. I'm guessing that if that song were "All I Want for Today Is You" we would hear a lot less of it AND it would be more universally loved. But that song - in all its brilliance - is not on this record.

Did the makers of the movie "The Family Stone" have to pay Sly Stone royalties for using the name? What if the Sarah Jessica Parker character in that movie hated Sly & the Family Stone, would the Stones have been justified in not liking her? Did anyone go to this movie mistakenly thinking they were seeing a documentary?

Questions aside, this album is a fantastic. So many great songs and grooves.

Britpop is often such a Blur, I mean a Pulp

Normally, when I listen to an album a second time, I hear things that are new, and it softens my initial reaction. Not so with this record. My overall impression was, "Meh."

This album is saved by the organ. Seriously.

Not bad musically all around, but the singing and the lyrics are mid.