Greg...It's Nothing Personal.

Willie Nile – House of a Thousand Guitars
Mix Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan and Ian Hunter in a blender and you get Willie Nile. It’s like all your favorite ingredients together in one smoothie…yum! I especially like “Run”, “Now That the War is Over,” and “A Little Light.” It’s just what I expected in as far as the production work. And he’s no slouch lyrically, either. The coolest thing about this CD is when you hear the up tempo songs for the first time you can sing along AND you think you sound better than he does. 4 stars.

The Grease Band – The Grease Band and Amazing Grease

I guess when these albums were originally released, these guys had a marketing problem since the “Grease” moniker in the ‘70’s meant a 50’s throwback type – like John Milner in American Graffiti - so I’m guessing those folks who liked Sha Na Na bought this and were extremely disappointed, and those “Deadheads” and pot smoking hippies who really would have liked this thought it was like Sha Na Na and didn’t bother with it. For me, it’s kind of a poor man’s Dead…in some spots it’s Little Feat-ish and maybe Poco-ish (to borrow the term from Greg) and all in all, while it doesn’t excite me, I didn’t skip through it… 2 1/2 stars.

The National – High Violet

If you like Radiohead, you’ll love The National. At least that’s what most people say. I hear them as a dark, pissed off version of British Sea Power with lyrics that are kind of like Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” for Master’s Degree holders. I don’t buy music based on critical acclaim, so this is the first National CD I’ve heard. I like the power of the music, especially in songs like “Bloodbuzz, Ohio” and the baritone voice – kind of like when I first heard Bowie sing, “Ground control to Major Tom” – is distinctive and interesting…since music grows better with familiarity for me, it comes down to whether I am willing to give this another listen since I don’t usually like my music dark and I actually pay good money to live in a “Lemonworld”, with no regrets. 3 stars.

Hot Hot Heat – Future Breeds

No…this was not submitted by Greg. It’s actually a departure from their usual awful techno-dance, electronic stuff as they added guitars and punched the sound up a bit. I usually don’t listen to this style of music, but I was pleasantly surprised by the overall feel of this CD. It’s a little “emo” for my enjoyment, but for a band I would have dismissed completely before this CD it’s a nice surprise. 3 stars.

Altered Beast – Matthew Sweet

What Jay said. 4.5 stars.

Here's a brief look at how I rate 'em...

A 5 is a classic. Music I love that's either been enjoyed by previous generations if older, or will be enjoyed by the next generation if newer. Not much "newer" has made my 5 list.

A 4 1/2 is a 5 with a minor flaw. Maybe one clunker on a great CD, or some element that keeps it from being a 5

A 4 is a CD with one bigger flaw...maybe it's average songs on a great sounding CD, maybe it's great songs, but it's Randy Newman singing...that type of thing.

A 3 1/2 is an average CD that I like a lot.

A 3 is an average CD that I'll tolerate and listen to in its entirety.

A 2 1/2 is either a below average effort by someone I like or an average effort by someone I don't like.

A 2 has a song or two on it that is OK, but the rest sucks.

A 1 1/2 has one song on it that is tolerable, but the rest sucks.

A 1 just flat out sucks. I won't listen in its entirety.

A 1/2 was submitted by Greg.

A 0 never got recorded in the first place or no one in this group would dare submit it if it did.

A 2