ALBUMS

• CULTURE CLUB: KISSING TO BE CLEVER: 1982: 3 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: I really like the three hit singles- all of them made the Top 10 in the US- Do You Really Want To Hurt Me #2, Time #2 [my favorite Culture Club tune} and I’ll Tumble For Ya #9. The other six tracks do not knock me out. I probably haven’t listened to this album in 30 years.

• THE BAND: STAGE FRIGHT: 1970: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The Band’s first two albums- are the greatest first two albums by any band or artist in rock history. Music From Big Pink and The Band- were perfection. A year after The Band came album #3. Maybe they should have given it a little more time but probably it wouldn’t have mattered- how can you keep up with those first two albums? This album is very good but it suffers when you think of the brilliance that came before. They never got the magic back- but all their albums are worth having and this is a very good album. Favorite Tracks- Sleeping, Time To Kill, The Shape I’m In, Stage Fright.

• LEONARD COHEN: SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN: 1967: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Leonard’s debut album- he had earlier been a poet and novelist- he was 33 when he began his music career. The past background shows- his songwriting sets him apart from most rock/ pop acts. His first album out set the tone for the rest of his career- [and the album sure doesn’t fit into the psychedelic 1967 Summer of Love b.s.} Adult themes and sophisticated lyrics- So Long, Marianne, Suzanne, Sisters Of Mercy, Master Song all classics. Cohen hits a home run in his first at bat.

• LEONARD COHEN: SONGS FROM A ROOM: 1969: 3 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS. Cohen’s second album- suffers from the sophomore jinx a bit. It does have one of his most famous and great songs- Bird On A Wire- a song that has been covered by countless others. Kris Kristofferson has famously said he wants the lines” Like A bird on a wire, Like a drunk in a midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free.” on his headstone. Story of Isaac is another favorite- but the album’s songs just don’t match up with the debut. Maybe he should have took a little more time.

• THE BEATLES: PAST MASTERS II: 1988: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The a-sides and b-sides and rarities that hadn’t found a home on a Beatles album- from the second half of their career.

• THE BAND: CAHOOTS: 1970: 2 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The Band’s 4th album in four years and a huge drop off from the first two- and even from Stage Fright. They should have took a year off. The material just isn’t up to par. Their friend Dylan’s When I Paint My Masterpiece is a highlight along with Van The Man stepping in and singing on 4% Pantomime. The other original what is a highlight- the opener-Life Is A Carnival. This would be the last Band album of original material for four years.

• XTC: THE BIG EXPRESS: 1984: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: The band got to spend a lot of time in the studio making this album and their 7th album- became a concept album on their hometown of Swindon and its railway system. Drummer Terry Chambers had quit the band and they didn’t bother to replace him- a drum computer. An ambitious album- favorites songs on it- Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her , Wake Up, All You Pretty Girls and This World Over.

• R.E.M: NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI: 1996: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: I was wrong. I have in the past decade listened very little to R.E.M.- especially their post- Automatic For The People albums- I have written those off- while I was and still think Monster is close to being a real turkey- their next album- New Adventures In Hi-Fi- is excellent, a return to form. I will continue to go through their catalog-we’ll see how I think of their last five albums.