I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass...

Len Price 3 – Nice disc reminiscent of The Kinks, the Who and the Jam. Loved the Moon-ish drumming throughout, and the great Rickenbacker sound, particularly on “Keep Your Eyes on Me”. Yes its shallow, no there’s not a single original idea in the entire 30 minutes, but a great disc to crank with the windows open on a sunny afternoon. 3.5 stars

Slash –  Axl + Slash = great. Axl-Slash = suck. Slash-Axl=suck. It’s inconceivable they both don’t know this. At some point, the egos have to step aside for the greater good, right? Please? The disc: good guitar work, mostly crappy vocals, and mostly crappy songs. 1.5 stars

Taylor Hawkins – Parts of this work, notably the first 3 tracks. But most of it is over-inflated power pop that really wants to be Queen, and ends up being bloated classic rock. Case in point, “Don’t Have to Speak”, which starts off well enough, but then heads straight for Meatloaf/Bonnie Tyler territory. On the plus side, it made me dig out my vinyl copies of “Jazz” and “News of the World” and re-appreciate the work of Brian May. 2.5 stars

The Cure – The Cure tracks that get airplay are always the best songs on the disc, and almost every release has 2-3 killer pop ditties. Poobah perversely submits the one Cure disc without any. What’s here is the Cure in full blown shoe-gazing, black eyeliner, life sucks mode which works better in small doses. But from the opening line (“It doesn’t matter if we die”) to the bitter end, its one dark, depressing dirge desperately needing a “Just Like Heaven” or “Lovecats” to break up the tedium. While no doubt a favorite of outcast, purple-haired, heavily pierced Goth chicks everywhere, it mostly left me cold. 2.5 stars

Stevie Wonder – There’s a real juxtaposition going on here between the tightly written pop songs and the more free-form delicate ballads. For me, the pop songs connect, the others not so much. That said, those pop songs are as powerful musically and lyrically as any R&B recorded in that era. A disc that swings for the fences, hits grand slams when it connects and strikes out when it doesn’t. 3.5 stars

Cult – I’ve never been a big fan, but they certainly have had their moments through the years, particularly when they base their heavy riffing around an actual melody. “Nico”, “She Sells Sanctuary” and “Love Removal Machine” are good examples. More Cult than I’ll ever need, but it’s a keeper.


Discussion Question
AC/DC – Tough call. I’ll go with Brian Johnson.
Beatles – I think Paul had the better pipes of the 4, but not by much.
Chicago – Couldn’t tell you who sang what, liked the guy who sang “Saturday in the Park”
Journey – Hate em, but Perry’s voice suits the bombastic crap they churned out to a tee.
Santana – Didn’t matter.
Eagles – Henley
Rainbow – No idea.
Black Sabbath – Didn’t know anyone but Ozzie sang
Van Halen – Roth. Hagar is a poseur.
The Who – Daltrey is the better singer, but Pete’s voice matches the songs better.
Pink Floyd – Waters
Genesis – Gabriel
Kiss - Stanley
Stones – Keef
DBT – Cooley