Missouri Meanderings

Coldplay – Boy, does this band want to be U2. On several cuts, they hit the mark. In particular, the title song (on my short list for song of the year) and “Death and All His Friends” are absolutely great. However, the rest really sounds like a band with a severe case of Bono/Edge envy, and they just don’t have the songwriting skills to match their reach. They’ve never quite lived up to the promise of their debut, and they sure aren’t U2. What they are is a band that regularly produces competent, reliable, radio-friendly material. No shame in that. 3 stars

TV on the Radio – So we now have the answer to the question “What would a Prince album sound like if Brian Eno produced it?” Despite my severe anti-electronica bias, I enjoyed most of this disc. Songs are well constructed and the styles are varied enough to keep my attention. The Prince influence is obvious, but I hear a lot of Bowie & Gabriel on this disc as well. “Family Tree” in particular sounds straight out of the “Scary Monsters” era. Love the “Surfin’ Bird” rip-off on the opening cut. 3.5 stars

BB King – The man is a national treasure, and in my eyes can do almost no wrong. BB’s less-is-more approach on his soloing is fantastic, and though I’m not sure who the players are, the backing musicians are first rate. What struck me listening to this disc is how much more “authentic” his vocals sound on more recent discs, as if age and life experience gives him more of a right to sing the blues at age 80 than when he was 40. The vocals here are almost too pretty, that bear-like BB growl hadn’t been developed yet. 4 stars

Pink Floyd – At the heart of the best Pink Floyd material, there are some quality songs. They may be difficult to find amidst the spacey, time-travel sound effects, but they’re there. What makes this particular disc so insufferable is the lack of anything resembling a decent tune to wrap the acid trips around. There is nothing but pointless psychedelic meandering, bereft of melody and structure. How anyone can claim listening to “Corporal Clegg” or the title track is an enjoyable, or for that matter, musical experience is absolutely beyond me. Proof that Mr. Mackey is indeed correct, “Drugs are bad, mmm-kay?” 0 stars

Dramarama – Good collection from a band that I had heard little of before. Sound is very much rooted in the 80’s. Highlights for me were “Work For Food” and “Everybody Dies”, both of which reminded me of vintage Soul Asylum. Don’t know if this was arranged chronologically, but the disc got stronger as it went on.

Discussion Question:

First 5 years for me has to be 1975-1980. During that time, the following were released:

Clash’s debut through “London Calling”
“Born to Run”, “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “The River”
“Blood on the Tracks”, “Desire”, “Basement Tapes”, “Before the Flood”
“Some Girls”
“Tonight’s the Night”, “Zuma”, “American Stars &Bars”, “Comes a Time” and “Rust Never Sleeps”
The first three Ramones , Police, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson albums
First two Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds albums
First 4 Warren Zevon albums
First 4 Tom Petty albums

I picked these 5 years probably due to the fact that they were my formative listening years, and listening to these albums turned me into a music geek. I would venture to say that damn near half of my top 20 faves of all time come from this period.

It isn’t much of a variation, but I went with 1969-1973 for my other 5. Check out that list:

Tommy, Live at Leeds, Who’s Next, Quadrophenia, Let It Bleed, Get Your Ya Ya’s Out, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, Lola vs the Poweman, Muswell Hillbillies, Zep II through Houses of the Holy, All Things Must Pass, Abbey Road, the first 4 CCR’s, Velvet Underground, Moondance, the first 4 Randy Newman albums, the first two Jackson Browne albums , the first EIGHT Elton John albums including “Yellow Brick Road”, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, Harvest, Greetings From Asbury Park, The Wild Innocent & E-Street Shuffle , Dark Side of the Moon, Gram Parsons, Flying Burrito Brothers, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, etc… Ironically, Dylan sucked during these 5 years (Dylan, Self Portrait, etc...)

I had to pick these 5 years simply due to the overwhelming quantity of great albums that were made. The Stones and the Who output alone during these years justify it.

Most of what I miss will be country & twang. The years I picked were not Johnny Cash’s strongest eras, plus no Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, Drive By Truckers, Two Cow Garage. I’m getting depressed thinking about it. I’ll also miss early 60’s-era and 1990-present Dylan.