ALBUMS

• MC5: KICK OUT THE JAMS: 1969: 3 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The debut of the MC5 [Motor City Five} was recorded live over two nights. A forerunner to punk rock. The album is almost as famous for the reviews of the great critic Lester Bangs who in his first review in Rolling Stone magazine called it ‘”ridiculous, overbearing, pretentious album” I tend to think Bangs was on to something- I don’t see the greatness so many see in this. I’ll give it 3 stars for historical significance.

• THE KINKS: SOMETHING ELSE BY THE KINKS: 1967: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: One of my favorite Kinks albums- their 5th album- and last with producer Shel Talmy. Waterloo Sunset alone would make this a significant album- one of my all time favorite songs. Death Of A Clown- a great Dave Davies song, David Watts, Love Me Til The Sun Shines [another Dave tune} Lazy Old Sun, Afternoon Tea are more favorites. The great session man Nicky Hopkins plays piano and keyboards on the album. A gem.

• JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP: UH-HUH! : 1983: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS:  His 7th album and the first one to add his real last name Mellencamp- it was the album that really first got my attention. I had heard his singles before- and only Jack and Diane clicked with me- but when I heard Pink Houses- it sounded different than the old Johnny Cougar stuff- so I went out and bought the album and was very pleasantly surprised. I was a fan. Favorites on this- Crumblin’ Down, Pink Houses, Authority Song, Jackie O [written with John Prine} and Play Guitar but I enjoyed the whole album. I’ve since heard his earlier material and for the most part it isn’t impressive I don’t know what got into him- maybe it was adding the Mellencamp and deciding to be more independent- he went from being kind of a bozo to being an artist.

• THE WAR ON DRUGS: LOST IN THE DREAM: 2014: I know musically for the most part I am living in the past- one of my goals for this coming year is to taste some of the more modern music- stuff that I may like. I have heard a couple of The War On Drugs songs on the radio- so I thought let’s try an album. This was a good start- this group out of Philadelphia is no doubt influenced by earlier heroes like Springsteen and Dylan. The first song “Under The Pressure” is nearly 9 minutes long- and it doesn’t lose me at all- [ most 9 minutes songs are 4-5 minutes too long- this one is just fine at 9}  The album itself comes in at 10 songs in an hour. In reading up on the band and the album I see it was one of the critically acclaimed albums of 2014- and I can hear why- good stuff. Favorites- Under The Pressure, Red Eyes, In Reverse, An Ocean In Between The Waves.  Eyes To The Wind sounds very Dylanesque. The album has a dreamlike quality. I will be listening to this and The War On Drugs more in the future.

• BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: SPRINGSTEEN ON BROADWAY: 2018: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: I haven’t attended the Broadway Show- I haven’t seen the show on Netflix- because I am one of probably a dozen people who don’t have Netflix- but I’ve been looking forward to listening to this. Bruce was a natural for this format. 2 hours 29 minutes- I enjoy the strip down versions of the songs but the stories that set up the songs are what is special here. Bruce is one of the few artists who in concert when he starts to talk- my ears perk up- he’s a great story teller. Although I have read his autobiography- I just ordered it through the library system just so i can hear him reading it.

• THE BEATLES: ABBEY ROAD: 1969: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Since I am covering 1969 this year- I have a goal of listening to every noteworthy album from the year- and while I know I will listen to Abbey Road probably 20 times in the coming year- as I went for a walk I thought it would be a great time to get a first listen of the year in.

• CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: BAYOU COUNTRY: 1969: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Another 1969 album- this was the first of three albums that CCR released that year- did they ever have any spare time? Their first big hit was on this album- their signature song Proud Mary. The title track is also in my mind a masterpiece-it was the b-side to Proud Mary. The rest of the album lives up to the title of the album Bayou Country. A big improvement over 1968’s debut album.

• JONI MITCHELL: BLUE: 1971: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The best of the early 70’s singer-songwriters in my book. Blue and Court and Spark are my favorite Joni Mitchell albums. No use listing favorite songs from this album- they all would need to be mentioned.

• XTC: BLACK SEA: 1980: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS:  XTC’s 4th album and they have really hit their groove with this album. Their sound has changed with each album. A consistently great album. Three hit singles in the UK- Generals and Majors, Towers Of London and Sgt. Rock. Nine of the eleven songs were written by Andy Partridge. There is a lot going on here- it bears close listening.

• R.E.M. CHRONIC TOWN EP : 1982: A 5 Song EP the first R.E.M release. After hearing Radio Free Europe on their debut I was hooked- and had to get Murmur and hunt down this EP- Gardening At Night is my favorite of these five but Carnival Of Sorts and 1,000,000 are also top notch. One of the best bands of the 80’s. I still can’t understand half of what Michael Stipe is singing on these songs but it sounds great!

• PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS: BAND ON THE RUN: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: My favorite Mecca post-Beatles work and on my Mount Rushmore of Beatles solo albums. Band On The Run is one of those songs that I not only love but also brings back great memories. Jet, Bluebird, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, Helen Wheels, and Picasso’s Last Words also favorites.

• SOCCER MOMMY: CLEAN: 2018: I have seen her name [Soccer Mommy aka Sophia Allison} on several best of 2018 lists- so I thought I’d give her a listen. This is her debut album. Singer- songwriter, 21 years old from Nashville. I am liking it- she writes good songs that are filled with hooks- favorites on first listen- Still Clean, Your Dog, Blossom and Cool. I will be going back to this album.