Early Reviews for a Late Meeting

Robert Randolph – A very disappointing follow-up to “Unclassified”. Ridiculously over-produced from the cheesy synthesized handclaps on the Lenny Kravitz-like opener to the piling on of gospel background vocals on damn near every track. Too much noise throughout the disc distracts from Randolph’s playing, which is where the focus should be. Minus ½ a star for inviting Dave Matthews into my ears. 2 stars.

Damone – Oh boy, Avril Lavrene meets Poison. Not an original lick or idea on the whole disc. That said, it’s not entirely miserable. “You’re the One” is a nice little slice of hair-metal cheese. Singer has nice pipes and the sugarcoated production almost obscures the fact that every guitar solo was stolen from the first 3 Queen albums. I got through it a couple of times….2 stars

Kinks – This album stands as testimony to the brilliance of Ray Davies. The British pride (“Victoria”), the every-day man viewpoint (“Drivin”), the epic (“Shangri-La”), its all here. Dave’s harmonies and guitar work will never be better, and the band establishes what will become known as “pub-rock” in the late 1970’s. A sorely overlooked classic by the redheaded stepchildren of the British Invasion. 4 stars.

Isis – Glad to see Mongillo butching up after that sissified French crap. Great lyrics, my favorite line is from “In Fiction” – “yeeeaahhhhh, gorrrgggg, arrrggh, wehtyyy, bleeahhhh”. Puts that pussy Ray Davies to shame. Seriously, why bother having vocals if they’re not only unintelligible, but also buried so far down in the mix that you need a shovel to get at them? Insert standard prog review here – Good guitar work, nice drumming, songs three times longer than needed, etc… 2 stars.

Stooges – Fine representation of Iggy & the boys. Pre-punk, garage, whatever you call it, the Stooges were fantastic. I personally love the sloppiness of the whole thing, and Iggy’s lyrics are so dumb they border on genius. Iggy’s boredom, hostility and primal screaming were the precursor to every punk rock band that followed. Important music historically and yet still sounds vital.

Desert Island (v. 2.0)

My Original Desert Island 10:

The Clash – London Calling
Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks
The Who – Quadrophenia
Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on Gravel Road
The Ramones – Ramones Mania
Warren Zevon – Warren Zevon
Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
Johnny Cash – Live at Folsom Prison

In looking at the list, I would make the following changes:

- Replace “Quadrophenia” with “Live at Leeds – Complete”. The complete version of “Live at Leeds” has a nice mix of jams, singles and most of “Tommy”. A better overview of the Who than “Quadrophenia”.
- Replace “Car Wheels” with Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”. “Car Wheels” while great, has aged a little. I also poop mini-Tweedys.
- Replace “Born to Run” with Drive By Truckers’ “The Dirty South”. “BTR” is just a little clichéd at this point, and I’ll need me some DBT.