Tim Brough's Black Leather Bookshelf

Could this be the best album of 2014?
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The Gaslight Anthem are the kind of band that, should you see them in a local pub, would either have you raising your bottle clenched by your pumping fist, or crying in your beer over how damn good they are and how rare a band that rocks like they mean it seems to be these days. This time, on the excellent "Get Hurt," they stretch out even more than any of their previous albums. The hushed sonics of "Stay Vicious" open the album in a way that definitely says that this isn't going to be a carbon copy of "Handwritten" or "American Slang." The band is tighter than ever before, but they are now willing to toy with your expectations.

Granted, they are still worshiping at the alter of Springsteen and Tom Petty, but they claimed their own sound on "Handwritten" only to refine it here. The soulful title track is one of immense longing. It's a slow burner and and an open hearted song, pleading with the woman in question to ultimately sign off with "You might as well do your worst to me." For a band that built its reputation an barband blues and bluster, opening up this much takes a lot of guts. But before you think The Gaslight Anthem have sold out, you have "Helter Skeleton," with big chords and a ripping lead guitar. Lead singer Brian Fallon can emote with the best of them, be it the speed balling "1,000 Years" or the exposing of the heart that is "Underneath The Ground."

"Get Hurt" is an expansion, one some fans may have trouble adjusting to. But to me, hearing them tackle new sounds without losing their original spirit is healthy. TGA know that their listeners are probably still in that bar I talked about at the beginning of the review, clutching that bottle, and getting it on when a band sings more about them than glitz and glamor. Already a best of for 2014.

Wherefore art thou Lazaretto
3 Out Of 5 Stars

A step back from his solo debut, "Blunderbuss," Jack White goes very scattershot on his second solo album, "Lazaretto." Recorded with the all-male Buzzards and all-female Peacocks alternating tracks, the focused energy of the debut is missing here. The time spent in Nashville seems to have guided Jack White into some more country elements, and not in a good way.

There's even a full on twangy ballad, "Alone in My Home," a duet with Lille Mae Rische, that meanders a bit but not so much as the following song, "Entitlement." This feels more like a Neil Young song at its heart. If you're looking for rockers, there are a few. "That Black Bat Licorice" and "Just One Drink" mix it up with white signature crunchy guitars and a touch of Rolling Stones swagger. And just to make sure he hasn't lost his fire, there's a white-hot instrumental called "Highball Stepper." But where "Blunderbuss" had a fire that burned all the way through the album, "Lazaretto" is White experimenting. That's a good thing, because between all his time in separate bands, he's earned the right.

"Lazaretto," which is named after an 18th century asylum, is Jack White exorcising what seems like some of the thoughts in his head and guitar that don't have an outlet in The Dead Weather or The Raconteurs. Again this is not a bad thing. But it does lead to what is essentially an average album.

I Wanna Go Hot Rockin'
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Sandwiched as it is between two five star metal classics, "Point Of Entry" suffers from being buffered by "British Steel" and "Screaming for Vengeance." There's plenty of high energy rocking coming of the disc, but it's only average high energy as opposed to classic stuff like "Breaking The Law" and "You've Got Another Thing Coming" from opposite sides of this release. There are a couple of tracks here that just feel like filler, which was rare for a Priest album.

But when the going is good, Rob Halford and crew were still delivering the goods. "Heading Out On The Highway," "Hot Rocking" and "Desert Plains" are as good as Judas Priest gets, but then you're saddled with the iffy stuff, like "Don't Go." There were some other inconsistencies, like the lack of the trademarked twin-guitar attack that is a huge part of the band's signature sound. It's also worth noting that most of the songs clock in at under four minutes, which means the band was given no room to stretch out. Perhaps it is because of the "large quantities of alcohol" the band admits to using in the liner notes or the fact that the songs were written in the studio without some road-testing to see what would or would not work.

Be that as it may, "Point Of Entry" lacks the drive and inspiration of most of the Priest albums in their discography and especially in the fertile period between "Hell Bent for Leather" and "Defenders Of The Faith." What makes Judas Priest so inspirational is simply missing, and there are many other better albums to pick up on.

35 Years Later...
2 Out Of 5 Stars

And Tom Sholz, the notorious perfectionist, is wondering why folks aren't taking to new Boston albums with the fervor of old. He even blames the unspectacular reception given 2002's "Corporate America" on poor promotion instead of the fact that Boston's audience has simply moved on, so much so that there are three re-recorded or re-mixed songs from that album here, even a few featuring the late Brad Delp. Who was, frankly, a major brick in the wall-of-sound Scholz so prefers. So how does "Life Love and Hope" measure up? Let's just say that nobody will be giving up their copies of "Don't Look Back" for this one.

The fault lies mainly with Scholz. He can spend as much time as he wishes in the studio, but the songs need to have a significant hook if he wants them to stick in the memory. On "Life Love and Hope," it seems he forgot that part. He favors the trademark layers of guitars that are a hallmark of Boston's classic sound, and when it clicks (like on "Someone," featuring Delp), it's "More Than A Feeling" all over again. It's telling that the best track does feature Delp, as the new singers are either imitations (Tommy DeCarlo) or the inappropriate female vocalist Kimberly Dahme, who doesn't have the powerhouse voice needed to propel herself above that wall of sound.

What's memorable then? "Heaven On Earth" may be a cliche of a title, but it does kick the album off with fond reminisces of Boston past. "Someday" is noble in its intent, as a song against bullying. "Te Quiero Mia" is another retread (from the reissued Greatest Hits) and again features Delp, and also makes the best of Sholz's studio perfectionisms. After that, it's strictly hit and miss. I might add "The Way You Look Tonight" as a decent love song, and that's about it. Everything else will depend on personal tastes, or just how bad you're jonesing for Scholz's particular brand of classic rock. I'll even give the guy some bonus points for a decent production job, which studiously ignores the loudness wars for a recording that has some sonic depth to it. If that is also an attraction for you to pick up "Life Love and Hope," by all means, dig in.

Did you do it for love? Did you do it for money?
3 Out Of 5 Stars

The last Eagles album of their initial run was also their weakest. Coming off the triumph of "Hotel California," the same pitfalls that they sang about on that album now befell the band. Drugs, dissent and an impossible to meet demand kind of doomed "The Long Run" before it was even released, but then the weakness of the bulk of the album didn't help the situation, either. "The Long Run" is the first album since their debut to feature obvious filler, and some of it was even desperate sounding.

The two initial singles, "Heartache Tonight" and the title song did do the band proud. Don Henley employs his jaded sense into "The Long Run," asking his lady friend if she measures up to her expectations, while teasing that "all the debutantes in Houston, baby, couldn't hold a candle to you." Heartache Tonight" is a chant along number from Glenn Frey and rocks out pretty well.

But then you start getting to the questionable material. "In The City" was already a modest solo hit for Joe Walsh, so there was not much point to adding it here in an Eagle-fied version other than to fill up time. "Teenage Jail/The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" are kind of goofy, but they'd gone to great lengths on both "Hotel California" and "One of These Nights" proving that they could fill an album without penning songs that ventured into an approximation of self-parody.

That not withstanding, there are three other songs that keep "The Long Run" from being a total dud. Timothy B Schmidt rises to the occasion with his R'n'B inflected "I Can't Tell You Why" while Don Felder and Walsh do a slinky twin talk-box guitar riff on "Those Shoes." Then there's another masterstroke from Henley, who penned what sounds like it could've been an outtake from "Hotel California," the melancholy "The Sad Cafe." Once again, he ruminates on the loss of Californian innocence and wonders where all the good times have gone. After all, Eagles themselves could have been one of those fledgling bands to use the likes of a "Sad Cafe" to get their start. It's kind of ironic that a song lamenting humble beginnings closed out an album that was the sound of Eagles' imminent collapse.

"The Long Run" was basically that. Once they squeaked this album out, the infamous Long Beach incident took place and the band would stay apart until, as Henely oft put it, "Hell Freezes Over." But "The Long Run" was the end of a band that went out, not with a bang but a whimper.

Gunpowder and Roses
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Bridging the worlds between Beatlesque power pop and Who worshiping British Invasion rock, The Smitherrens looked like they were the next great rock and roll hope to spring from the wilds of NJ. With a string of powerful and dark jangle-pop singles, it sounded like they'd make good on that promise. They also brought in other instruments (vibes on "Blue Period" featuring Go Go Belinda Carlilse) and strings on their highest charting pop hit, "Too Much Passion." "Blown To Smithereens" is one of those great compilations; a CD filled with what sounds like classic singles from a band that only charted two, and they peaked in the low 30's.

When Dennis Diken (drums), Jim Babjak (guitar), Mike Mesaros (bass) and Pat DiNizio (vocal, guitar) had their attack down, they literally did a blow-up of rock radio. "Blood and Roses" may be one of the darkest hits to straddle college radio and contemporary radio, When they found their way to a major label (Capitol), they got the promotional muscle to drive "Green Thoughts" to gold status "Smithereens 11" brought them a pop single in "A Girl Like You" and their highest charting album. In addition, you'll find DiNizio powering his way through should be classics like "Blood and Roses" (in my opinion, a masterpiece of the 80's), "Behind The Wall of Sleep" about getting a girl with "hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965" who "stood just like Bill Wyman," and a decent back to the barband roots joyous cover of "Time Won't Let Me."

Guitarist Babjack could fire off great solos, like on "Behind a Wall Of Sleep" and "Blood and Roses," with the band keeping rock steady behind him. The camaraderie put some other bands to shame, and they sounded like a band of brothers. "Blown To Smithereens" packs 16 songs onto its shiny CD, and there's nary a dud in the batch. They should have been megastars.

Eagles Rock
4 Out Of 5 Stars

In the documentary, "History Of The Eagles," band members repeatedly griped that their first two albums, produced by Brit Glyn Johns, were being held back from the band's desire to rock. That lead to the ditching of Johns after two songs for "On The Border," and bringing in Joe Walsh's producer, Bill Szymczyk for the rest. Then came the real magic touch when the band gained Don Felder as an additional guitarist. The chemistry clicked and "On The Border" became Eagles' first album to convincingly rock.

When I say that, I believe that the band may have wanted to think of themselves as rockers, but up to "On The Border," had yet to write a convincing rock song. Say what you want about Glyn Johns, but "Chug All Night" and "Out Of Control" from the first two albums were songs so generic that any bar band in America could've written them. "James Dean" (written by Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey, Don Henley and J.D. Souther) and "Already Gone" (which the band did not write) changed that completely. With the addition of Felder, they had a new twin guitar attack that kicked the songs into a higher gear than before. So yes, Eagles finally got their wish. They rocked.

They rocked for exactly two songs. The rest of "On The Border" still captured the country rock leanings of the first two albums, with Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon turning in a banjo powered bluegrass rocker for "Midnight Flyer" and Leadon's "My Man" (alleged to be written about the late Graham Parsons) is pure country. They also made the interesting choice to cover Tom Waits' "Ol' 55." Then, even with their slagging of Johns, the album's biggest hit and the band's first number one single was countrified ballad "The Best of My Love," one of the two songs John's produced. Then, as a precursor to both "One Of These Nights" and "Hotel California," the title track uses a funky bassline and a political lyric to set itself apart from any prior Eagles' song.

All of this makes "On The Border" a transitional album for the Eagles. The new line-up and producer partnership would yield serious fruit a year later when "One Of These Nights" made its debut. But for now, "On The Border" stepped one up from the "Desperado" concept and made the Eagles feel more like a band than ever before.

Lost Among The Stars
3 Out Of 5 Stars

For their final proper album as Queen (I am one of those who is steadfast that there is no Queen without Freddie Mercury), Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon put in a valiant effort towards making an album worthy of their finest work. But there is no escaping that "Made In Heaven" is a patchwork effort, comprised of B-Sides, remixes and songs cobbled together from snippets of works in progress. It's a good album, but it is not a great one, and Queen is a band that produced more than their share of brilliance.

In 1995, four years after Mercury's passing, the band took a look over what they had. This included vocal tracks that Mercury had laid down prior to his death; he knew what was coming and did what any self respecting Diva would do, he made sure there were plenty of his grand voice tracks for his bandmates to choose from. These are the songs "Mother Love" and (I believe) "A Winter's Tale." Of the two, "A Winter's Tale" fairs the best as a relaxed song where Freddie ruminates on the finer yet unheralded things of life, before adding at the end, "ooo, it's bliss."

Then come the redoes, like "Made In Heaven" and "I Was Born To Love You," reworked from Mercury's underrated "Mr Bad Guy" album. "Born To Love You" started life as a disco-fied dance-rock number, here Mercury's vocal track is synthed out into a mid tempo rocker with the rest of the band adding their background vocals. The two songs where Freddie's vocals weren't originally there come from "Made In Heaven" and "Too Much Love Will Kill You" (now there's some bad irony) via Roger Taylor's unheralded band The Cross and a Brian May solo album, respectively. Both are grand in the traditional Queen fashion. Same with "Let Me Live," which features Taylor and Brian sharing leads with Freddie and a gospel chorus backing them up.

That's the good stuff. The rest of "Made In Heaven" is piecemeal and sounds it. Then there's the inexplicable 23 minutes of ambient chill-out that drags out the CD (thank heaven for the skip button) to a very WTF ending where the final thing you hear is Mercury exclaiming "Fab!" I'm sure someone, somewhere, thought this was a brilliant tribute to Mercury's ascendance into legend, but it wasn't. For Queen fans and completists, "Made In Heaven" is something you should own. But I can't recommend it to much anyone else except for the most ardent of Queen fans. "Innuendo" was the last Queen album that measured up to the bend's mighty legacy. Best it should have stayed that way.