ALBUMS

• THE RAMONES: THE RAMONES: 1976: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: It doesn’t get any better than the debut album from The Ramones. Their first four albums- The Ramones/ Leave Home/ Rock To Russia and Road To Ruin- are must haves for any record collection. The Ramones a tragic history- first off they should have been HUGE- because they were GREAT- as it is they were the ones who helped build the road for others to drive on. And then the tragic personal histories- Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy all dying at relatively young ages. I was lucky enough to see them twice in concert. This album is Punk Rock 101.  The blueprint.

• R.E.M.: FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION: 1984: 4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Of the 1980’s REM albums this one took me the longest to really get into- it took repeated listenings- the others were instant classics. It may have been a difficult listen at first but it was worth the effort. A spooky album. Favorite songs- Feeling Gravity’s Pull, Maps and Legends, Driver 8, Can’t Get There From Here, Wendell Gee. I saw them on the tour for this album.

• THE KINKS: LOLA VERSUS POWERMAN AND THE MONEYGOROUND: PART ONE: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: First off -this has to be one of the worst titles of an album ever. Not a bad album though. Not a Kinks album that I have given the attention it deserves over the years. Lola and Apeman were both Top 5 singles in the UK. Denmark Street, This Time Tomorrow, Strangers and Got To Be Free other favorites.

• ELEPHANT MICAH: GENERICA: 2018:  In search for new music- I was looking through the September 2018 issue of Uncut- and this was the featured new album- the reviewer gave it 9/10. Hey- worth a shot then. Minimalist country/folk from an Indianan named Joseph O’Connell. While playing this I got a ‘what are you listening to’ from my wife in the other room. The song titles- there are 6 songs- Surf A, Fire A, Life A, Life B, Fire A, Surf B- tell you little about the songs. This music is hard to define and I am going to have to listen to it at least a few times before I can figure out how much I like it.

• THE RAMONES: LEAVE HOME: 1977: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The 2nd Ramones album and another great one, similar to the debut- which isn’t a bad thing. 14 songs- the longest being 2:42. The Ramones got to the point- don’t expect any self-indulgent soloing from these guys. Back around this time-I remember a one sentence capsule of The Ramones from a critic in Rolling Stone -“The Ramones may be dumb but they are my kind of dumb.”

• JEFF TWEEDY: WARM: 2018: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS:  First solo album from the Wilco frontman it was released this past fall around the time he released his memoir “Let’s Go {So We Can Get Back} The album and the memoir are said to compliment one another. I haven’t read the book yet- looks like a quick read- it’s not War and Peace in length. More personal writing from Tweedy than in the past- this is the first listen to it- I am liking it so far- more listening required.

• NEIL YOUNG: SONGS FOR JUDY: 2018: 4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: A recent Neil achieves release- 1976 acoustic  solo show- Neil playing most of the great songs he had up to this point. Captures the period of Neil’s career well- 22 songs- sounds great. One song- No One Seems To Know has never before appeared on an official Neil album. Neil’s last Archives release Hitchhiker- was also from 1976. If you like Neil Young you are bound to love this.

• NO THANKS: THE 70’S PUNK REBELLION:2003: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: DISC 1: 4 discs- 100 songs that were released from 1973-1980. 75 different artists. The only glaring omission is The Sex Pistols- Johnny Lydon was made a Rhino for not releasing a Sex Pistols box set and wouldn’t give permission to include any of their songs. Typical Johnny. An outstanding box it covers the genre well.
• NO THANKS: THE 70’S PUNK REBELLION : DISC 2: