blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with reissues

What We All Like
3 Out Of 5 Stars

They may not have been the most original of the skinny-tie bands of the era, but when it came to pure hi-intensity energy, few could beat the 1980 debut album by Detroit's The Romantics. Fusing bar-band guitar fury with power-pop, this album contained the now classic "What I Like About You." While it may not have broken the top 40 for The Romantics themselves, it's become something of a sports-staduim and TV commercial staple.

This was The Romantics' original lineup of singer/guitarist Wally Palmar, singer/drummer Jimmy Marinos, guitarist Mike Skill, and bassist Richie Cole. (Skill would exit after the second album.) This was an album that reveled in the period's quick and dirty recording methods, as the album took a mere three weeks. It made the sound quality a bit spotty, like the way the harmonica overwhelms the audio in "What I Like About You" or the flatness of the drums overall. Still, that couldn't hold back the energy of "When I Look Into Your Eyes" or a cover of Ray Davies' "She's Got Everything." Red leather suits and all, "The Romantics" remains one of the better calling cards in the American New Wave movement.

There are, however, some problems with the Culture Factory re-issue that are frustrating (and drop my rating from an A to a C). At the end of "What I Like About You" and "She's Got Everything," there's a digital hiccup of some sort that repeats a fraction of the second of the song's ending. I therefore can only recommend The Romantics to collectors and completists.

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "What I Like About You" The Romantics

Queen Clone Themsleves
3 Out Of 5 Stars

It was once reported that the late, great Freddie Mercury wanted "A Day At The Races" and A Night at the Opera to have been a double album. It's too bad that they weren't, because leaving "Races" to follow the first five star classic Queen album makes it seem like a lesser vehicle. From the reverse color scheme to copping a Marx Brothers movie title, "A Day at The Races" came off sounding like a desperate attempt to copy the madly successful "A Night At The Opera."

That is selling "Races" short. While there was no stunner ala "Bohemian Rhapsody" to be found here, there was the Top 20 single "Somebody To Love" (whose liver version happens to be the best of the bonus tracks), which utilized the now trademark multi-tracked vocal style to a near Gospel effect. The album opener, "Tie Your Mother Down," played it kinky while still mimicking "Death on Two Legs" as a big concert rocker. As always, there are nods to camp and vaudeville ("Millionaire Waltz" and the Ooh La La of "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy"). However, there's an unusually high number of filler songs (the dreadful "White Man" and the maudlin "Teo Torriatte" being the most flagrant violations). I've also always wondered how much "A Day At The Races" might have improved had the band opted not to self-produce but brought Roy Thomas Baker back to the studio.

"A Day At The Races" is more easily viewed as the bridge between "A Night At The Opera" and the second five-star Queen album, "News of the World." "Opera" pushed the band into superstar stratosphere, "News" (with "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions" as its marching order) saw Queen proclaiming themselves rulers of the domain. Being lodged in that position leaves "A Day At The Races" looking like a mid-level Queen album, when in fact it's every bit as good as "Queen II," "Jazz" or "The Works."

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Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Tie Your Mother Down" Queen

December Comes At Last
4 Out Of 5 Stars

As the sun sets on the CD era, I have begun to give up hope on some of my favorite brilliant obscurities ever making it to compact disc. Up until a couple of months ago, Until December was on of the bands I'd pretty much thrown in the towel on. After all, their decade ahead of its time lone album, originally released in 1986, failed to chart and - despite dropping a load of great 12 inch singles - couldn't break out of the basement. Like so many of the great bands signed to Howie Klein's 415-Records, Until December blew the minds of tastemakers and fell on deaf ears just about everywhere else. I figured I'd have to content myself with the four tracks on the Best of 415 CD from 1994.

Then there is this album, now, in your grasp. The complete original debut, along with five non-LP singles, plus a second disc loaded with 12 inchers and remixes; this is basically the entire Until December output from that time period. Coming off as a delicious nightmare mix of Visage/New Order/Depeche Mode and foreshadowing industrial by almost a decade, Until December rocked with gothic proportions and a seriously kinky gay undertone (the second disc is labeled "Daddy Side") and the band's idea of a cover song was to take on Blondie's sex anthem "Call Me." (Or even better, a B-Side was a straight-up version of Bauhaus' "Bela Legosli's Dead.")

That was the crazily cool thing about Until December. They tinkered with image that taunted the cuteness of New Wave at the time, made music that both pulsed and pulverized, and left behind this one, gloriously twisted album as their legacy. It's also likely not an accident that Adam Sherburne eventually formed the in-your-face political band Consolidated in the 90's. But again, like so many bands under the 415 banner (and in my humble opinion, one of the greatest and most unrecognized of the American Independent labels), the brass ring eluded them. I have even wondered - as I have with one of my other neglected faves, The Brains - is if Until December had dropped in from London instead of San Fran by way of Austin, Texas, might they have been big stars? Get this comprehensive re-issue and decide for yourself.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "We Are The Boys" Until December

Ascending to the throne
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The difference between Queen and Queen II is really nothing short of amazing. While the first album was a pretty auspicious debut from a nervy prog-rock band, the second album comes off as a band thoroughly settled into its own personality and letting every idea flow free to the recording studio tapeheads. While not completely rid of seventies prog-cliches, this semi-conceptualized album set Queen apart from the pack.

Queen split the original album into a white and black half, with the white half dealing with the regal issues ("Procession" "White Queen As It Began") and the black being the harder rocking ("Ogre Battle" "March of The Black Queen"). You also get a clearer picture of the band's blueprint for extravagance (the really heavy vocal arrangements) along with Brian May's unique guitar sound. Freddie Mercury is already pushing the classical/theatrical piano playing to the front of the band, and once again, Mercury, May and drummer Roger Taylor vary the lead vocal chores.

Still, Queen II had yet to buck the Medieval themes (castles, ogres and - heh heh - fairy fellers put in their appearance all), but the band's assertive musicianship made this a solid album. An interesting thing about this album is that it had no real `hit' songs or Queen classics, but it - in my opinion - was the Queen album that had the best song-flow overall. The following Sheer Heart Attack would finally break Queen in the USA with a hit single, but "Queen II" was Queen's proclamation that they were prepped and ready for world domination.

Also in the amazing dept is the remastering. The intro to "White Queen" is enough to give you chills in its newer, cleaner form, a hugs step up from the 1991 issue. The bonus tracks are also beginning to get interesting, as the band built its catalog, the songs were getting more complex and their live show was gelling into the extravagance they'd soon be notorious for.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Seven Seas of Rhye" Queen

Searchers Return
4 Out of 5 Stars

Original Searchers John MacNally and John Pender were the core of the original incarnation of The Searchers, playing on such classic songs as "Needles and Pins" and "Sweets for My Sweet." Frank Allan had been in the band from the late sixties on. Even if the hits had long stop coming, The Searchers soldiered on. Then, it seems, time caught up with them again. Their brand of jangle pop had been flaunted by everyone from Tom Petty to REM, and in 1979, Sire Records (home to Talking Heads, Ramones, etc) signed them for a new album.

The resulting "The Searchers" was a total surprise. Instead of reviving old hits or trying to chamge their sound, the band carefully selected modern songs from current writers and claimed them as their own. The biggest shocker was "Hearts In Her Eyes," written by Will Birch and John Wicks for English new wavers The Records' second album. It is the album's best song by a huge margin and should have been a comeback hit. The guitar and harmonies were tailor made for The Searchers' brand of music and performance, enough so that this is one of those rare instances where the cover outshines the original.

On other songs, such as Tom Petty's "Lost In Your Eyes" or Mickey Jupp's "Switchbaord Susan" (more famously covered by Nick Lowe), the same formula applies. Overall, this is one of those 60's comeback albums that doesn't fall flat or feel like cheap nostalgia. They followed this album with the equally well done "Love's Melodies" a year later. It's taken them a while to finally see their CD release, and it is well worth getting them if you're an 80's lover.

Come Dancing: The Best of The Kinks 1977-1986

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Hearts In Her Eyes" The Searchers

Probably better than you remember
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Sometime Paul McCartney doesn't get the credit he deserves for separating himself from his past. As a Beatle, he all but defined what popular music is to this date. As a solo artist and Wings-man, he reinvented himself as the leader of a band and made a lot of substantial music under that name. And sometimes, he just wanted to do something that was in the way-out-o-sphere. Thirty years later, when you put "McCartney II" in sequence with albums he's done as "Thrillington" or "The Fireman," there's an experimental streak that becomes clear.

"McCartney II," originally released in 1980, I remember a Rolling Stone review that was titled "McCartney Hits a New Low Again." Granted, this is no "Ram" or "Band On The Run," it's not even "Pipes of Peace." However, with the burgeoning new wave movement surrounding him, Paul made the effort to see if he could rein things back and go minimalist. He did the one man band bit, and recorded the whole thing by plugging his mic right into the tape deck. He then proceeded to ape Devo on "Temporary Secretary," while "Coming Up" sounds like he was trying to write a Beatles song for Orchestral Maneuvers in The Dark. "One The Way" and "Nobody Knows" tilted towards blues and rockabilly, while the lovely "Waterfalls" and "One Of These Days" are the kind of earnest ballads it seems Paul can toss off in an afternoon.

What is telling is how much of "McCartney II" is devoted to electronic instrumentals. "Front Parlour," "Summer's Day Song" and "Frozen Jap" could easily be from his Fireman persona that he debuted in 1994. I don't think that these are the songs any McCartney fan would have in a heavy rotation, but they did show that, after years of being a rock idol, he was willing to go way outside his comfort zone. That still doesn't excuse "Bogey Music" and "Darkroom" or the album's overall this sound. The remaster does help a bit with that issue, though.

The bonus disc is a worthy addition, as it includes the USA hit version of "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" the considerably improves the song's qualities. Both "Blue Sway" and "Secret Friend" could have easily been a part of the original album without affecting its sound. The Christmas tune "Wonderful Chritsmastime" makes another appearance on CD, which is OK for those that haven't heard it enough already. The rest are experiments and songs that were left off for good reason. All together, not worth the scorn heaped on it when originally released. Makes me eager for coming reissues.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Temporary Secretary" Paul McCartney

The Milking of The Legend Begins Here
2 Out of 5 Stars

Three years after John Lennon was assassinated, the first of his posthumous albums appeared. "Milk and Honey" is a collection of songs that John and Yoko were working on at the time of "Double Fantasy," but were unfinished. So let's be frank about this; "Milk and Honey" is half a finished album composed primarily of John Lennon's incomplete demos and Yoko's finished works.

While in 1983, this might have been met with the still lingering pain of John's murder, 26 years later and newly remastered, this album comes up painfully short. It's interesting to hear Lennon's playfulness and the goofy ad-libs, but that is the kind of patter that would have been gone when the time for the master take was laid down. When I hear the la-la's and na-na's in "Borrowed Time," I get the feeling that Lennon was still treating the lyrics as a work in progress. Even the album's best known single, "Nobody Told Me," has such a jerky chorus vocal that I figured it to be an unfinished segment. (Even so, it's one of "Milk and Honey's" highlights.)

Only once does the roughness of the recordings transcend, and that is on Lennon's cassette demo of "Grow Old With Me." Lennon was aiming for the stars on this one, and there's a certain raw charisma that comes out of this very simple love song. There's a hint of an "Imagine" to come, had there only been the chance. Like what the surviving Beatles ultimately did with a similar cassette of "Real Love" years later, perhaps.

Yoko also gets one really great song, in the closing "You're The One," which she wrote after John's death. "In the world's eyes, we were Laurel and Hardy," she pines, only to follow that verse with "in our minds, we were Heathcliff and Cathy." It's one of the few times she's hit upon an amazing song, and it almost justifies the album's purchase. But ultimately, while not as gawd-awful as "Menlove Ave" (which not-so-mysteriously did not get in this 2010 remastering blitz), "Milk and Honey" is unfinished music, placed on the market to feed the morbidly curious. I re-bought it, yes, but now I remember why I sold it out of the collection decades ago.