Sid’s February Reviews

The Anniversary – An odd record in that no song really starts out strong, but they eventually have great hooks and often times rock. Usually I can tell whether I like songs by listening to the first 20 seconds. Not so here. Great guitar work in that it comes in surprising places. Consistently interesting without being annoying, clever without being forced. 3.5

Fisherspooner – I kept listening and wondering – what the fuck’s wrong with me? Why don’t I hate this record? Any synth beat driven record usually merits a 1 to start and then goes south from there. I think it must be the songs, most of which are good and sometimes great – We Need a War fits that category as does the 9th cut. I mean, it would have been much better with guitars, but for this kind of stuff, it’s OK. 2

Tonight’s the Night – Any objectivity I might have had for this record disappeared some time in 1975 when I heard it for the first time. This is possibly my most listened to record of all time. I have to admit that I’m not sure you can fairly judge it without knowing the circumstances surrounding its recording and if you’re not a Neil fan, this surely won’t turn you around. What it is to me, though, is one of the most personal records of all time. His friends are dead and he doesn’t know what else to do except stay up all night drinking tequila, smoking dope, snorting coke and singing about their death and various subjects that embody their lives and deaths. It is a complex, beautiful record that showcases an artist stripped of everything but his feelings. On a less heavy note, Robert Christgau said it best in his initial review in 1973 – “In Boulder, it reportedly gets angry phone calls every time it’s played it on the radio. What better recommendation could you ask for?” 5

Darkness – Here’s the exchange that did not take place at the meeting of record executives that did not take place –
Record executive one – “I think we should take the vice grips off that guy’s balls.”
Record executive two – “Yeah, that high pitched shit is really fucking annoying.”
And it’s too bad that exchange didn’t take place because this could have been a good record. Sure, they might still waste the first minute of each song and they might still try their hand at disco (what a disaster!), but they clearly know how to write rock riffs, a skill that metal band after metal band clearly don’t possess. Some great stuff here, but eventually Mr. Vice Grips feels compelled to sing. 2

Steely Dan Pre-Suck Hits – Say what you want about Steely Dan’s smugness, but Fagen and Becker knew how to write pop songs and, for the most part, through the first five records, they also understood that there needed to be electric guitar solos to go along with their elegantly crafted songs. When they forgot that, they began to suck. They reached their zenith with the middle record of those five – Pretzel Logic – but it is almost unfair to pick out one of the five as truly superior to the rest. They all contain the requisite number of classic songs and obscure minor classics that make these albums listenable from start to finish in a way most of today’s records are not.


What makes a great guitar record.

The given is that most great rock records would be incomplete without the electric guitar. But what makes a great rock record. Virtuosity? Sound? I don’t know, but I know it when I hear it which isn’t much of an answer for the guy who came up with the topic. I have both virtuosity and raw guitar sound in my list Rock is always about feeling to me and either I feel it or I don’t. Therefore, that’s the definition for me.

Top 10 favorite guitar records

Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East
Dual lead guitar sound reaches for perfection and often gets there.
Television - Marquee Moon
Verlaine and Lloyd redefine the dual lead guitar record.
Matthew Sweet - Live in Chicago
Lloyd again, relentlessly making great songs smoke like they’ve never smoked before.
Rory Gallager - Live
Great Irish guitarist – I picked the live record, but all of his work is great on every one of his records.
Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bullocks
Simplistic for sure, but this record’s power really comes from Jones, not Rotten.
Rolling Stones Live in Brussels – 1972
The greatest rock and roll band in the world – their best line-up in superb form. What the fuck was Mick Taylor thinking?
Neil – Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
How can a three note solo sound great? Listen and learn.
Grateful Dead - Live Dead
Fans might want you to believe that it was always all about the group, but in reality Garcia was the group and he’s at his best on this 1969 live album.
Derek and the Dominos – Layla
Clapton and Allman proving heroin and music can work together.
Sonic Youth – Dirty
A clinic in hard rock guitar and avante garde guitar work, at once basic and experimental within the same songs.