Tim Brough's Black Leather Bookshelf

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Landing somewhere in the middle of The Flaming Lips' catalog is "Hit To Death In The Future Head," which has long felt like a transitional album in their continual chameleon-like career. The shift seems to be in a move away from the acidic psychedelia into psychedelic Beach Boys. Kinda like goodbye Sonic Youth, hello Beatles' White Album. This most easily found as the lazy roll of "The Sun" or the peppier, undeniably catchy "Gingerale Afternoon." Wayne Coyne is also exploring the possibilities of his singing voice; this is the first Lips CD where his singing really shines all they way through.

It may be also worth noting that "Hit" was the last Lips album to feature guitarist Jonathan Donahue and drummer Nathan Roberts were aboard. Donahue contributes plenty of guitar freakouts, like on "Frogs" and "The Magician Versus The Headache," along with all the whacked out sounds mixed into the CD's half-hour "bonus" track of cacophony. (Shades of 1997's Zaireeka, anyone?) There are plenty of epic moments to be found here, but the follow-up album was the powerful "Transmissions From The Satellite Heart," the Lips' artistic and commercial breakthrough. As such, "Hit" is a cool listen, but not the place to start of you want to discover why Flaming Lips can be such a magic band.

"That's MISTER Mellowmeister to you."
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Andrew Gold was a first rate tunesmith who was often overlooked behind the stellar company he frequently worked with. He came from a musical family, started his first band with the likes of Karla Bonoff and Wendy Waldman, played and wrote on several of Linda Ronstadt's early classics like "Hasten Down The Wind." As a solo performer, he's best known for the 70's kitsch classic "Lonely Boy" and for the perennial friendship song (and theme to The Golden Girls) "Thank You For Being a Friend." He also had a wry sense of humor; the title of this review comes from a letter he once wrote to Rolling Stone magazine when they made a snotty comment about his production on a Nicolette Larson album as being an LA Mellowmeister, he sent them the aforementioned comment in response.

Which is probably why I've owned several of Andrew's albums (including Wax's "Magnetic Heaven") over the years. While this compilation sticks to Gold's four albums from his tenure at Elektra/Asylum, it gives a terrific overview of Gold's easy and straight-to-the-point songwriting. His two hits are both naturally here, but you may find yourself recognizing a 70's song or two as the disc plays out. Freddie Mercury sang backup vocals on the romantic "Never Let Her Slip Away." "Endless Flight" enchanted Leo Sayer enough that he both recorded it and used it for the title of his 1976 album. "The Final Frontier" was heard for many years as the opening theme for Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt's "Mad About You" (until Anita Baker re-recorded it later).

In a more just world, Andrew Gold would have been a star on the level of Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald or a handful of other California singer/songwriters. "Thank You For Being a Friend" gathers 20 songs as convincing proof that Gold ranked with the best of them. (Sure would have been nice to have Wax's near-hit "Right Between The Eyes" or Gold's spry version of "Do Wah Daddy" here, though.) His untimely passing in June 2011 at the age of 59 made me sad, to the point where I hit the repeat on "Never Let Her Slip Away" for much of the afternoon. Here is a hope he gets the recognition now that he deserves.

Between a Rock and a Tidal Place
3 Out of 5 Stars

For his third album, Joshua Radin trying to rock out a bit more. He still specializes in sad girlfriend types of songs, but this time around he pumps up his band. There are traces of Arcade Fire chiming chords and a little bit of U2 guitar soloing in the mix, where he seemed to stick to the James Taylor/Bob Dylan orbit on his first two albums. That will likely surprise fans of "Simple Times" when they hear the bubbling opener "Road To Ride On," which packs more punch than the entirety of Radin's previous album, or "Streetlight," which may be his best single so far.

Knowing his previous works kind of distracts from the decent material on "The Rock and The Tide." Joshua is obviously trying to break away from the singer-songwriter as sad troubadour mold, but it was his sensitivity that made his other records standouts. Unlike John Meyer, who used a desire to blast his old image as wimpy whiz-kid by forming a rocking blues-trio, Radin just sounds like a gifted singer-songwriter going pop. And his whispery vocals are in place for good songs like "We Are Only Getting Better," "You Got What I Need" and "Leap." It's not bad, it's just not unique.

I can't say that I blame Joshua for trying, after all, Jason Mraz and Meyer are working this same territory and breaking the bank on it. "The Rock and The Tide" is enjoyable folk-singer material and written by a better-than-average songwriter. A good album overall, worthy of an average grade.

Nice, Nice, Very Nice
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Ambrosia started life as a prog-rock band with classical leanings, and art-intellectual enough to make a chorus of one of their better songs a lift from a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Then they even gave the author a composer's credit on said song ("Nice Nice Very Nice"), for which Vonnegut sends the band a delightful thank you note, which is reproduced in the CD booklet. Their second album, "Somewhere I've Never Traveled," was produced by legend Alan Parsons and was nominated for an engineering Grammy. The album cover was even designed to fold into an elaborate pyramid. By their third album, "Life Beyond LA," Ambrosia had jettisoned the overtly prog-arty portion of their sound, tightened up their sound considerably, lost founding member Chris North, and hit on the formula for massive mainstream success.

"Life Beyond LA" also found singer David Pack breaking ranks with the band's old style and writing the pop ballad "How Much I Feel." It was totally unlike anything the group had recorded to that date and pushed pack to the front of the band. What is most interesting is how the tightened sound on "Life Beyond LA" seemed to be edging Ambrosia more towards the enigmatic feel of Steely Dan, with both the title track and "Angola" from this collection highlighting this move. Still, a number three pop ballad will tend to make a band feel cornered, which is what happened next.

When the album "One Eighty" appeared, Ambrosia appeared on the cover in a very stylized group photo, and the first single was yet another soft-pop ballad. "The Biggest Part of Me" hit number two on Billboard and the follow-up, "Your The Only Woman" reached the top twenty. Chris North had returned to the band, but Ambrosia was now firmly entrenched in the kind of soulful pop The Doobie Brothers were making. It's not by accident that Michael McDonald and David Pack had become friends in this time (and the two bands toured together); Pack and McDonald sing together on "I Just Can't Let Go," a bonus track on this anthology.

Back to their original four-man line up, Ambrosia tried to break out of this box by recording the harder rocking "Road Island." Along with a cover by the always demented Ralph Steadman (of "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" fame), and is a significant move back toward rocking. "Still Not Satisfied" is the sole song from that album included and this time bassist Joe Puerta sings the lead. (It should be noted that Joe often took lead on Ambrosia songs and the band has always had excellent harmonies). However, by now the public that had pegged the band as pop-stars found something as solid as "Kid No More" (my favorite song from "Road Island" and not included here) too heavy for their interests. "Road Island" flopped and Ambrosia parted ways soon after.

There are three bonus tracks here, the newly recorded "Mama Don't Understand" and "Sky Is Falling" along with the remixed and somewhat re-recorded "I Just Can't Let Go," which originally appeared on David Pack's lone solo album. The band again sounds like they've taken league with latter day Doobie Brothers on these, and they are good tracks. Pack has distinguished himself as both vocalist and producer, while Joe Puerta became the bassist for Bruce Hornsby and The Range. And while they may never create anything as cinematicaly ambitious as "Cowboy Star" or as soulful as "How Much I Feel" again, this collection of songs shows Ambrosia to be a great band that didn't get the creative credit they deserved in their prime.

Modern Day Warrior, Mean, Mean Pride
5 Out of 5 Stars

Rush were one of those rare animals in rock and roll; a Prog-Rock band dressed in power-trio drag. They'd long been toying with epic album themes, like "2112" and "Hemispheres," were welding new wave keyboards into their music by "Permanent Waves," and on "Moving Pictures," everything gelled completely. It's hard for me to argue that any other Rush album was ever better.

Back in the old side one and side two days, you could play the first side over and over and never get tired of it. It remains an absolutely flawless sequence of four songs, including two of the songs most associated with the band. The Synth/Guitar punch in the eye of "Tom Sawyer's" opening notes digs right into your psyche. Who doesn't want to be "today's Tom Sawyer" with a mean, mean stride? The kids of "2112" discover the joy of speed racing in the sci-fi epic of "Red Barchetta," along with a spike of 'beat the man' adrenaline embedded in the tale. The instrumental "YYZ" proved what every Rush fan always knew; these three men are virtuoso musicians. Finally, there was one of the rare 'life of a rock star' songs that didn't suck, "Limelight." For a band that has only ever crept into the Top 40 once, both "Tom Sawyer" and "Limelight" missed that critical mark by a hair. Not that it mattered, as both those songs and "Red Barchetta" have become deserved classic rock staples.

The second side was not as immediately accessible, but holds its rewards closer to its chest. For eleven minutes, "The Camera Eye" bobs and weaves instrumentally, while both the cautionary tale of "Witch Hunt" and "Vital Signs" call to arms ("everybody got to deviate from the norm") all ingrain themselves with repeated listens. It makes "Moving Pictures" a classic album in the truest sense of the word, wherein every song fits into the whole.

Heroes in The Past Tense
4 Out of 5 Stars

Those of you unfamiliar with Tim Kring's TV series "Heroes" will probably think this is a fresh and interesting book. However, those of us who were enthralled by most of "Heroes" run will find Kring's book with Dale Peck, "Shift," to be familiar territory.

A mere mortal everyman (Chandler Forrester) is bestowed unconventional powers. A dark and malevolent man (Melchoir) wants to claim those powers for himself, and will do anything to get them. And between them is a secret agent trying to track down both of them, unsure of who the bad guy is or what exactly he is trying to find. And while no cheerleader is around to save the world, Forrester has a woman that he is drawn to in an almost supernatural fashion. Sound familiar?

That said, Kring and Peck have still written a compelling and complex work. There's a multitude of colorful characters moving back and forth through "Shift," to where you really need to pay attention to the players. Plus, Kring and Peck have tapped into the Holy Grail of Conspiracy Junkies, The Kennedy Assassination, as their alternative history platform. (Alternative History being a genre that the authors themselves take a cheeky poke at early in the book.)

The period and theories are all teased out; there's Cubans, Mafiosi, Nazis, J Edgar Hoover, Timothy Leary, covert ops, etc. If I missed any here, trust me, they eventually make an appearance. It keeps readers of
"Shift" on their toes throughout. Given this is the start of a trilogy, I am once again hooked on Kring.