Everthing Old Is Still Old...And Now It Smells Funny.

Blue October – Approaching Normal

I didn’t know what to expect from this, and while it’s way too emo for my tastes and despite the fact that my 17 year old daughter is all gushy over the song “Jump Rope”, I was pretty impressed by how varied, melodic and cohesive this CD is. It’s rare that I’m willing to listen to all the tracks on a ‘single artist’ CD consecutively, but this got repeated listens and, for the most part, it grew on me more and more. It’s funny…you’re not supposed to be able to get away with talking in the middle of a song, but this kid from Texas gets away with it in the very first track. After that point, I liked the pop melodic tracks most (My Never, Should be Loved, Blue Skies and the aforementioned Jump Rope). The last two tracks, as recorded, are probably the most bi-polar pair of tracks ever…Blue Does is tender and sweet…The End is brutal and disturbing. 3.5.

Chris Isaak –Mr. Lucky

As imaginative and creative and forward thinking as Blue October was, Mr. Lucky was none of that. It seemed like Chris Isaak chose to channel his inner Roy Orbison and the result was a collection of pleasant country-tinged tunes sung and performed well, none of terribly memorable, save for “You Don’t Cry Like I Do” which just killed me. I hate to rely on food analogies, but this was a hamburger…not as lightweight as a Mickey D’s , but not “great” hamburger like Plan B, either. It was…Friendly’s. 2.5.

Boomtown Rats – Tonic For The Troops

The interesting part about these “olds” is that I was around when they were “new” so I can compare and contrast my reaction to hearing them “then and now”. Then, I thought this was a very witty pop/punk and an album like “Born To Run” that would give me great pleasure forever. Now…not so much, though the first track sounds like it could have been a Springsteen outtake with weaker vocals. The next two tracks also sounded derivative – Me and Howard Hughes sounds like Elvis Costello's "Welcome to the Working Week" and Eva Braun has a vocal “la la la” hook that is right out of the Grass Roots’ "Midnight Confessions.” There were brilliant moments that stand the test of time, though. Don’t Believe What You Read and She’s So Modern are examples of that. All in all…3. Could have been a 3.5 if it was not so derivative.

Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson

I loved Music From Big Pink and Stage Fright. I wore out my vinyl copies. Anyway, when this album came out, I remember really wanting to love it. I also remember my extreme disappointment with how it sounded, how it had no memorable guitars or songs I really liked. But it did teach me how when someone whose performances I loved stepped out of the comfort of a band full of great musicians and is left to his own devices, he could, in fact, suck. And now…22 years later…this album still sucks. Maybe I just don’t get the whole native American thing. 1.5 stars.

Little Feat – Excellent songs here, like Dixie Chicken and Oh Atlanta as well as better than excellent songs, like Willin’ and Roll Um Easy. I never thought that the studio helped them. They were an incredible live band in the ‘70’s and early ‘80s even after Lowell George left us. For those who want to hear them in their glory, I have their 9/21/81 show from the Sting in New Britian in its entirety for you…enjoy.

Topic - What are your five favorite rock magazines of all time? Discuss briefly each one's influence on you.

Rolling Stone – with the caveat that we’re talking about the late 60’s – early ‘70’s. They jumped the shark shortly after the Lennon assassination, but they were a taste-maker through the ‘70’s and they were, after all, the pioneer of rock journalism. “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” really did mean something then.

Crawdaddy!- Paul Williams’ magazine was second only to National Lampoon in my “must get it on the first day of the month it’s out”. It always had great articles and, back in the day when it was a newspaper, it was an underground classic.

Creem – Was my favorite “metal magazine” in the late ‘70’s. Robert Christgau’s Consumer Guide was a must read. Lester Bangs wrote some cools stuff, too.

Musician – It was best at interviews. Timothy White was a terrific interviewer and writer, too.

Spin – In the mid ‘80’s, I started to look toward this magazine as a bell weather for stuff that was good enough to give a listen.

Five Favorite rock writers/critics?

Bob Christgau – We agreed far more than we disagreed on records.
Paul Williams – If you haven’t read “Outlaw Blues”, it’s worth going back to the ‘60’s.
Timothy White – Even if it’s just for “The Nearest Far Away Place”.
Charles Sawyer – For his work on “The Arrival of B.B. King
Ben Fong Torres- More as an editor than a writer, but he put together some great books like “Rolling Stone’s Rock and Roll Reader” and “What’s that Sound?”