Saturday, March 16, 2024

Baby, let me follow you down (Bob Dylan) (LP 2424 -2434)

Bob Dylan  Bob Dylan (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1962) *****  

Bob Dylan  The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1963) *****  

Bob Dylan  The Times They Are A-Changin' (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1964) *****  

Bob Dylan  Another Side Of Bob Dylan (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1964) ***** 

Bob Dylan   The Bootleg Series Vol 6 - Bob Dylan Live 1964 (2CD, Columbia Records, 2010) *****  

Bob Dylan  Bringing It All Back Home (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1965) ***** 

Bob Dylan  Highway 61 Revisited (CD, CBS Records, 1965) *****  

Bob Dylan  Blonde On Blonde (Vinyl and CD, CBS Records, 1966) **** 

Bob Dylan  Bootleg Series Vol 4 - Bob Dylan Live 1966 (2CD, Columbia Records, 1998) *****  

Bob Dylan  Bootleg Series Vol 11 - Bob Dylan and The Band - The Basement Tapes Raw (2CD, Columbia Records, 2014) ***  

Bob Dylan  John Wesley Harding (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1967) *****  

Genrefolk, pop/rock 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Real Groovy Records, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Song To Woody (Bob Dylan)

Gear costume: Motorpsycho Nightmare (Another Side Of Bob Dylan); I Don't Believe You (Live 1964); Ballad Of A Thin Man (Highway 61 Revisited)

Active compensatory factors: I've divided my Dylan collection up into decades for this run through. Kind of. The eighties onwards will form one post.

By far the biggest cache comes from his sixties period I see - which tells you a story about my Dylan collection and the fact that I don't count Dylan among my obsessions. Buying Self-Portrait cured me of any such thoughts (I no longer own it!)

I don't even own everything he put out in the sixties, but it's close.

It was borrowing a number of his album from the Auckland Central Library while I was an undergraduate at Auckland University that started the ball rolling and woke me up to his genius.

Another Side of Bob Dylan, Freewheelin', The Times They Are A-Changin',
and Blood On The Tracks (which we'll get to in the seventies post) formed my initial education.

From there I backtracked to buy these and his other sixties albums, starting with the debut.

I love that cover image to Bob Dylan. He's got that twice shy, vaguely knowing but faraway look in his eyes right from the off. That helps when you're singing songs like Man Of Constant Sorrow, See That My Grave Is Kept Clean, My Time Of Dyin' and Gospel Plow. Songs that it takes some experience to carry off with conviction. Dylan recorded it in 1961, when he was only 19 years old! Remarkable.

Most of the album is made up of covers of folk songs but two originals shine for me - Song To Woody and Talkin' New York.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, his second, is remarkable for being mostly original songs (only Corrina Corrina is by someone else), and for those original songs being brilliant. Blowin' In The Wind, Masters Of War, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Girl From The North Country, Don't Think Twice It's Alright... ridiculous right!

Two quotes from its liner notes bear repeating: 'He's so God-damned real it's unbelievable' (Harry Jackson) and 'Dylan can't stop searching and looking and reflecting upon what he sees and hears' (Nat Hentoff). Absolutely right.

Third album, The Times They Are A-Changin' continued the parade of riches - apart from the title song: With God On Our Side; One Too Many Mornings; North Country Blues; Only A Pawn In Their Game; When The Ship Comes In and The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll are on this album.

Not a lot of humour though (unlike Freewheelin'), this one is a solid wall to wall protest song album. A lot of it is chilling to the bone. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll for instance is a remarkable work of economy and judgement without being too preachy.

The humour and smile was back from the first track onwards on his fourth album in two years - Another Side Of Bob Dylan. Yes - four classic 5 star albums in two years. Has anyone else ever done that, other than The Beatles and Dylan?

The other side is clearly the light-hearted, casually brilliant side. Again, it's guitar, harmonica, vocals. Simple and devastating!

The Bootleg series will make an appearance throughout these posts when we get to the relevant year. Volume 6 was the 1964 concert and its good humour is a carry over from Another Side Of Bob Dylan.

Again, it's just Bob with his guitar and his harmonica rack doing devastatingly clear versions of songs he's just released, or ones that were yet to be recorded. Another 5 star must have!

Among many great moments is his muffing the intro to I Don't Believe You. He has to ask the audience for help and they do! And then he's off as if nothing happened. Love it!

Another highlight is Joan Baez appearing to duet on some songs at the end of the concert.

Those new songs from the live set would appear on his next studio album - Bringing It All Back Home. Unusually, Side 1 was Bob with a band (not The Band), and Side 2 was acoustic.

It's yet another 5 star classic album - his run would extend to 6 in a row by the end of 1965. Great songs continued to flow, seemingly without too much effort: Love Minus Zero/No Limit; Maggie's Farm, Mr Tambourine Man; It's Alright Ma; It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. 

Not done with all that, for his next trick he produced a song that many believe is the best of all time - Like A Rolling Stone. The lead off song to another magnum opus - Highway 61 Revisited.

The rest of the album lives up to the lead off song. There's Ballad Of A Thin Man, Queen Jane Approximately, It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry, Desolation Row, plus the title track. Another extraordinary set of songs.

In hindsight, each of the sixties albums make progressive leaps forward. Blonde On Blonde is a double album, so has a few songs that I'm not all that keen on, but it still has three sides of brilliance.

The 1966 live set is of historical value. It seems quaint now that anyone should get upset at the band/electric side of Dylan in 1966. I do prefer the acoustic first disc but there is no denying the power and force that hits hard on the second disc.

The basement tapes saga seems overblown to me. I've never understood the fascination with these rehearsal tapes and I defy anyone to listen to the complete tapes on Spotify without skipping. Again, there is the historical value but I don't listen to this CD these days (my copy is the Raw condensed version not the one pictured btw).

Much, much better is the proper album of 1967 - John Wesley Harding. This is brilliant in feel and execution. Darker elements are proposed without compromise. It's almost like he needed to get those basement tape songs and hijinks out of the way before getting down to business.

Where do they all belong? The seventies will follow after a brief return to the jazz CDs.

Sova (Dungen) (LP 2422 - 2423)

Dungen (CD, Subliminal Sounds, 2008) ****  

Dungen Allas Sak (CD, Smalltown Supersound, 2015) ****  

Genre: pop rock, psychedelic rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Fopp

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:
Franks Kaktus ("Frank's Cactus") - Allas Sak

Gear costume: Sova - Allas Sak 

Active compensatory factors
: Swedish band Dungen are fairly enigmatic. I first heard them via 4, bought in the sale racks at JB Hi Fi.

Clearly someone was surprised by the Swedish vocals and weren't sure what to make of it. Maybe they were thinking they were another ABBA, but this is a long way from their crafted female sung pop.

It's a pretty eclectic mix of psych sounds, alt-rock guitars, pop vocals, piano driven mood pieces and squalling fuzzed up guitar. All that makes for a heady mix of quirky psychedelic Beatley pop. I like! 

These are their 5th and 7th albums respectively. No, I don't know why it's called 4 either. 

Allas Sak sometimes has a tougher sound and at others is more prog rock oriented - it even has some flute! Consistent with both is the choice to sing in Swedish rather than English. I respect that. It sounds cool.

Where do they all belong? I'd be up for more if I ever go to Sweden.

This is the life (Dream Theater) (LP 2419 - 2421)

Dream Theater  A Dramatic Turn Of Events (CD, Roadrunner Records, 2011) ***  

Dream Theater  Dream Theater (CD, Roadrunner Records, 2013) ****  

Dream Theater  The Astonishing (2CD, Roadrunner Records, 2016) ***

GenreProg metal, prog rock 

Places I remember: HMV, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Behind The Veil (Dream Theater)

Gear costume: Illumination Theory (Dream Theater)

Active compensatory factors
: These are the albums the band recorded their eleventh studio album without Mike Portnoy, bringing in Mike Mangini instead*.

Not much has changed, aside from John Petrucci doing all the heavy lifting with songs and lyrics, plus producing. The usual heavy prog metal is on display, even if there were a few melodic ballads along the way. I think the new drummer acquits himself well - not easy following Portnoy (who should never have left - but sometimes you need a break I guess).

All up, it's a three star effort - good but not great.

Next studio album was the eponymous one, with a great cover! 

It was an improvement on A Dramatic Turn Of Events in some ways. The band has a sound and a formula that they don't mess with too much, but they were a bit ambitious on this one and I like the way they approach their instrumentals.

The final Dream Theater album in this run down is The Astonishing - their 13th studio album. It's their second concept album. This time they are surveying a dystopian future USA.

Kudos to John Petrucci for committing this epic vision to music and lyrics. They'd be floundering without him post Mike Portnoy.

I like bits of The Astonishing. James LaBrie doesn't get enough credit I feel. He has a terrific voice for Dream Theater and his solo albums are brilliant. He's great on this one - adopting many different looks. But It's a double CD monster and a concept album to boot, so I struggle to pay attention. It's just to damn loooooong!!

Where do they all belong? *Along with Distance Over Time which I have previously reviewed, that's it for Dream Theater. I didn't bother to buy their 2021 album A View From The Top Of The World, their last with Mike Mangini. I'll have a listen to it on Spotify some time and have a think about it though.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Front Burner (The Rodger Fox Big Band) (LP 2417 - 2418)

The Rodger Fox Big Band  Time Piece (Vinyl, Ode Records, 1978) ****  

The Rodger Fox Band and Midge Marsden  Let The Good Times Roll (Vinyl, Circular Records, 1985) ****  

Genre: Jazz, NZ music

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Front Burner (sadly, neither songs are on Spotify or YouTube)

Gear costume: One Night Affair

Active compensatory factors
: I remember seeing Rodger Fox's big band at a music festival a few years after this album came out. That blast of sound is a great memory.

This is an excellent sampler of Fox's various passions - big band (Open Sesame), jazz rock (One Night Affair), and jazz fusion (Time Piece).

The second album is a collaboration with NZ blues exponent Midge Marsden. It's excellent. A bit more cohesive than Time Piece, but still featuring Rodger on trombone fronting a big band (four trumpets, three saxes among the crowd).

Where do they all belong? Check out The 1860 Band entry.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Manhattan (The Jake Hanna Quintet) (LP 2416)

The Jake Hanna Quintet   Jake Takes Manhattan (Vinyl, Concord Jazz Records, 1977) ***  

GenreJazz 

Places I remember: Little Red Bookstore

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Them There Eyes (the closest I could find)

Gear costume: Lester Leaps In (not available on Spotify or YouTube)

Active compensatory factors: I took a punt on this one. Jake Hanna is a drummer, and the quintet includes Danny Stiles on trumpet.

In hindsight, not a smart move. It's good, but not great and those trumpet peels can annoy. Not ideal.

There is some nice piano from John Bunch and some great tenor and alto sax flurries from Carmen Leggio.

Where do they all belong? Sometimes a punt works out, sometimes it doesn't. I'm not looking for any more Jake Hanna albums.

Keep that same old feeling (The 1960 Band) (LP 2415)

The 1860 Band  The 1860 (Vinyl, Ode Records, 1978) ****  

GenreJazz fusion, NZ music 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Us

Gear costume: Porky 

Active compensatory factors: A great run down of the band can be found here. Apparently, this album, their 1
978 debut and swansong, is 'now a very sought-after item by rare groove hunters the world over'.

Weird how that happens. It's certainly well crafted, well played jazz fusion from some great NZ musicians, including the Winch brothers and Rodger Fox.

In the spirit of the times they trot out some pop cover versions as well as the fusion - so Fire and Rain gets a Manfred Mann's Earth Band style treatment (which means goodness in my world), and there's California Dreaming as well.

Where do they all belong? A real one-off, but see The Rodger Fox Big Band coming up in a few posts for another album featuring him from 1978.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Lines in the sand (Dream Theater) (LP 2404 - 2414)

Dream Theater  A Change Of Seasons (CD, EastWest Records, 1995) ****  
Dream Theater  Falling Into Infinity (CD, Elektra Records, 1997) ***  
Dream Theater  Once In A LIVEtime (2CD, EastWest Records, 1999) ***  
Dream Theater  Metropolis Pt 2 - Scenes From A Memory (CD, Elektra Records, 1999) ****  
Dream Theater  Live Scenes From New York (3CD, Elektra Records, 2001) ***  
Dream Theater  Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (2CD, Elektra Records, 2002) **  
Dream Theater  Train Of Thought (CD, Elektra Records, 2003) ****  
Dream Theater  Live At Budokan (3CD, Atlantic Records, 2004) ***
Dream Theater  Octavarium (CD, Atlantic Records, 2005) ***
Dream Theater  Systematic Chaos (CD, Roadrunner Records, 2007) ****
Dream Theater  Black Clouds & Silver Linings (CD, Roadrunner Records, 2009) ****

GenreProg rock 

Places I remember: Fopp, HMV, Virgin Megastore (Dubai), JB Hi-Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Beyond This Life (Scenes From A Memory); All Of Me, Stream Of Consciousness (both on Train Of Thought) 

Gear costume: Just Let Me Breathe (Once In A LIVEtime)

Active compensatory factors
: The first part of my Dream Theater run down includes the albums that had Mike Portnoy on drums until his departure in 2009. 

There are quite a few so grab a coffee! A big one.

I missed the first stack of albums and the first one I bought was actually Systematic Chaos in 2007 from a CD shop in New Plymouth that has long gone. I'd read about them and so took a punt on this one because I was intrigued.

More on that album when I come to it, but like many of my first tastes of a band, it remains my favourite!

But I digress. A Change of Seasons isn't a legit album as such - even though it clocks in at about 100 minutes. The band called it an EP because it wasn't designed as a logical album step after their third album (Awake - which I don't have).

Instead, A Change Of Seasons includes the 23 minute title track and then additional 'seasonings' - i.e. a series of cover versions including a medley of rock classics. So we get fizzed up versions of Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Kansas, Queen and others.

It's a hell of a lot of fun! My favourite sections are the Elton and Led Zep tributes. 

Falling Into Infinity is the first of the proper Dream Theater albums I own. It was their fourth. It's a good album, but not a great one. The follow up to it would be awesome though.

Before that fifth studio album there would be a double CD celebrating the Falling Into Infinity tour - Once In A LIVEtime. It's a great catch up of the first 4 studio albums and A Change Of Seasons - which comes in various parts throughout the concert. 

Given its length - it's bound to be uneven - hence the three stars.

Scenes From A Memory
is part 2 of Metropolis and is the band's first concept album. I don't have part 1 - that was on Images And Words - their second album. It wasn't intended as a part 1 and 2 - the Part 1 tag was added as a joke! But none of that matters as Part 2 hangs together well as a stand-alone album.  

The concept deals with the story of a man named Nicholas and the discovery of his past life/lives through regression therapy. It gets really complicated (Townshend's Lifehouse project is a doddle compared to this) and I get lost every time, but it's a lot of fun musically.

The live triple CD (these guys provide value for money or a test of patience depending on your viewpoint) is a record of their New York concert in 2000.

Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence is another looong album - a double CD. It's their sixth studio album. 

It begins with the static white noise that ended Scenes From A Memory. I like that sense of continuity. Then it hits hard with the first track The Glass Prison. But, it's hard to maintain that fierce attack throughout a double CD.

And so it proves. The first disc is the better of the two, but still far too long and ultimately uneven. Plus, the lyrical content is all over the place. It shapes up as a concept album around Mike Portnoy's pursuit of sobriety and then gives way to things like The Great Debate - about stem cell research.

Album two is pompous, bloated, pretentious and overblown. A tendency they have from time to time. Lord knows what this one is on about - I kind of lose interest. So - a lost opportunity after the brilliance of Scenes From A Memory.

Their next album, a year later (these guys don't dilly dally) was Train Of Thought. Time to peel back the pretentious stuff and go hard!

Train Of Thought holds two of my favourite Dream Theater songs - All Of Me has a killer riff, shades of Tony Iommi during that opening track, and Stream Of Consciousness. Both feature the killer guitar chops of John Petrucci. 

In fact the whole album is much more guitar focussed than normal. All a plus point in its favour for me.

The live triple CD at Budokan features a lot of Train Of Thought and is all the better for it, but a triple CD is a lot to take in and I often get mid-way through CD 2 before needing to hear something different.

Their eighth studio album, Octavarium came in 2005. This album a year strategy is pretty impressive.

Octavarium boasts a great cover, nice reference to it being number 8 and a new record company - Atlantic.

The band's aim for this one was to present a classic Dream Theater album and a simpler more stripped down approach. That may have been the aim but for me Train Of Thought is a classic Dream Theater album. This eighth one is a mixture of styles and often shorter songs, but still with that full-on soundscape of old. Maybe that's what they meant by classic DT (by the way - that's a weird aspiration for a prog metal band - just sayin').

The most interesting track is the title song, weighing in at a massive 24 minutes. It feels like they were going for Pink Floyd's Echoes in places.

Nineth studio album, Systematic Chaos, was where I began listening to the band. I took a punt on it in 2007 after I saw it for sale in a CD shop in New Plymouth (not there now - it was in the City Centre mall).

This is still my go-to Dream Theater album. It hits hard and John Petrucci's guitar hits a peak on this album for me.

Although it's another loooong album (78 minutes of brutal attack), it never outstays its welcome. Mainly because every track twists and turns and keeps its momentum going.

Next up was 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Another 70 plus minute prog metal monster. This one was the last to feature drummer and founding member, Mike Portnoy. He'd eventually rejoin the band 13 years later but for now, this was it.

It's a fitting conclusion for the time being - all of the Dream Theater moves and tropes are present and correct. If it ain't broke don't fix it! But I think they needed a fresh approach from here on in. We'll see because...

Where do they all belong? The second batch of Dream Theater albums comes after Mike Portnoy left amid a dramatic turn of events and Mike Mangini took over on drums.