Unconscious whispers (Melissa Aldana) (LP 3764 - 3769)

Melissa Aldana  Echoes of the Inner Prophet (Vinyl, Blue Note Records, 2024) ***  

Beau Brummels  Triangle (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1967/ 2019 reissue) ***  

Fleetwood Mac Christine McVie's Fleetwood Mac at the BBC 1970-71 (Vinyl, Rhythm & Blues Records, 1967/ 2019 reissue) Mostly **** (songs on side 2 - 5 to 8 = *) 

Vincent H.L.  Golden Sun (Vinyl, 1:12 Records, 2021) ***

Fenne Lily  Big Picture (Vinyl, Dead Oceans Records, 2023) **** 

Ester Rose  How Many Times (Vinyl, Father/ Daughter Records, 2021) ***

Genre: Jazz, psychedelic pop, blues rock, NZ music, indie-folk, country/ Americana.

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Crazy 'Bout You Baby, Tell Me All The Things You Do (Fleetwood Mac), Lights Light Up (Fenne Lily)

Gear costume: Nine Pound Hammer (Triangle) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: JB Hi Fi have been having a big clearout. First it was 75% off, and then those they couldn't move at that price were reduced further to $5 each. Bargains!! And certainly worth a punt. I did a quick Google search while in the store and all seemed worthy of my time, so this was something of a no-brainer. When did you last see a bunch of mint recent releases for five bucks each?

Melissa Aldana (no, I hadn't heard of her either) is a Chilean tenor sax player. The Blue Note label is what made me take the chance on Echoes of the Inner Prophet - her most recent album. Great title - sounds like spiritual jazz which I'm a fan of generally. The album's growing on me, albeit slowly. I'll need a few more listens though to fully appreciate what she is aiming for.

The Beau Brummels album is one I've thought about from time to time. JB Hi Fi must have bought a few of these. Lenny Waronker produced (a good sign), plus it's from 1967 (67 being a magic number for me this year). AllMusic says: All the band's signature styles (folk, country swing, and Brit-pop) are still heard in the mix, but the tunes here assume an added aura of mysticism. Okay. I'll again need a few more listens but I don't quite get it yet.

Christine McVie's Fleetwood Mac Live at the BBC 1970-71 was full price when I visited JB Hi Fi but I couldn't leave it behind. My love of Christine McVie's music has been documented already in this blog.

Three quarters of the album is superb - great audio quality and superb playing, but the other quarter is really rough and while the cover says they are 'very listenable', I beg to differ. Nevermind. For the rest - fantastic songs like Crazy 'Bout You Baby. Side one then is a hoot!

Vincent H.L. looks a bit like Neil Young, sounds a bit like Neil Young and plays a bit like Neil Young. Yikes! Call him the Nu Zild Nil Yung! This album is a slow grower, as in I didn't like it much on the first listen, but then - woh Nelly - second listen, in the spring sunshine, I'm grooving on the sloppy guitars and slurry vocals. This one's a keeper!

The find of the pile though is undoubtably Fenne Lily. Another indie folk singer-songwriter I'd never come across, but for $5 I got a terrific surprise. It helped I heard it first at night. It's perfect at dusk. Then I played it again in the spring sunshine and its magic translated to that scenario as well.

Her delivery is beguiling, as she sings in a hushed tone for the most part. She's reflective but not dour. Songs unwind themselves gently and hauntingly. I'm a fan!

The final $5 purchase is Ester Rose's How Many Times. Ester is an American country musician. This is her third album and, again, I took a punt based on the AllMusic review of her latest album.

How Many Times is a breakup record but it sounds pretty upbeat with some jaunty sounds. Ester's voice is pure and affecting. Nothing wrong with this album and yes, another one that will grow on me in time, I'm sure. The fiddle and pedal steel are particularly fine. 

Where do they all belong? A good haul then with me returning to Fenne Lily every day this week.

Legend in your own time (Carly Simon) (LP 3753 - 3763)

Carly Simon  Carly Simon (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1971) ***  

Carly Simon  Anticipation (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1971) *** 

Carly Simon  No Secrets (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1972) ****  

Carly Simon  Hotcakes (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1974) ***

Carly Simon  Another Passenger (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1976) ****   

Carly Simon  Boys in the Trees (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1978) ****  

Carly Simon  Come Upstairs (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1980) **  

Carly Simon  Hello Big Man (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1983) ***  

Carly Simon  Coming Around Again (Vinyl, Arista Records, 1987) ****  

Carly Simon  Greatest Hits Live (CD, Aritsa Records, 1988) ****  

Carly Simon  Live at Grand Central (CD, Arista Records, 2023) ****  

Genre: Pop

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Chalden Books and Records, 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: You're So Vain (No Secrets)

Gear costume: It Keeps You Runnin' (Another Passenger) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: As you can see, I am obsessed with Carly Simon - the original Taylor Swift. Insanely talented, gorgeous, and somehow she remains down to earth.

I'm not a completist though, as the missing albums below show. Like the rest of the planet, I was aware of her in 1972 thanks to You're So Vain, but the obsession only started with 1985's Spoiled Girl. Head over heels!

Ahem...anyway, back to the beginning. Carly Simon was her debut in very early 1971 (Anticipation was later in that same year). Timothy Crouse, writing in Rolling Stone nailed it: "Carly's voice perfectly matches her material" and her "superbly controlled voice is complemented by deft arrangements." The songs aren't quite there yet, but Thats the Way it Should Be is a standout song (and a top ten hit).

Anticipation builds on the debut and has a more confident set of songs throughout the album. The title song about waiting for her date to arrive (apparently Cat Stevens) remains one of her best songs. These are the good old days! 

All of the songs except for final track (I've Got To Have You) were written by Carly on her own or with a lyricist - usually Jacob Brackman. Talented right?

No Secrets was the big commercial breakthrough, thanks to You're So Vain. However, it's not a one trick pony like the previous two albums. The Right Thing To Do was a second successful single and she covers James Taylor's Night Owl brilliantly. Richard Perry's production was spot on. Plus, the cover image didn't hurt!

Hotcakes has a pregnant Carly on the cover and a love-in with James Taylor in its grooves. We're talking domestic bliss which is great, but it doesn't make for great art ordinarily. 

Haven't Got Time for the Pain and Mockingbird (a duet with JT) were the hits from the album. Richard Perry was again producing, and the guest list of famous musician friends helping out was impressive. Apart from JT, others to put in a shift are Dr John, Robbie Robertson, Jim Gordon, Klaus Voormann, and Jim Keltner.

It was another highly successful album commercially speaking. Carly was on a roll.

I'm missing a copy of her next album (Playing Possum) so her sixth studio album, Another Passenger, is next. She decided on a new producer after Playing Possum, so goodbye Richard Perry and hello Ted Templeman. She also turned to members of The Doobie Brothers and Little Feat for backing. Van Dyke Parks, Andrew Gold, JT, Dr John, Glen Frey, Klaus Voormann, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and Jim Keltner also play/sing on the album. Nice.

Musically, it did the trick - Rolling Stone said it was her best album to date, but I don't think the songs are consistently great (remember - Spoiled Girl is easily my favourite Carly Simon album). Commercially, it continued a slide begun with Playing Possum.

I think Boys in the Trees is as strong, if not stronger than Another Passenger. She tries out some new looks, successfully in my opinion. Some of her strongest material is on it (the title track for instance is superb), the cover is fantastic and the lead single, You Belong To Me is another winner, as well.

Having used the cream of the west coast musicians on Another Passenger, she now opts for some of New York's finest studio guys on Boys in the Trees - including Steve Gadd, Eric Gale, Richard Tee, David Sanborn, and the Brecker Brothers. Oh, and JT makes another cameo performance.

Come Upstairs is a transitional album, away from the soft rock and jazz pop to a rockier, more current, sound and it isn't one of my favourites. Blame the synths but also the material isn't particularly strong (I don't even find the single, Jesse that great). 

The transitional nature of the album extends to her personal life and marriage to James Taylor. James is a plea to JT and a bit embarrassing and In Pain sounds exactly like it sounds - a howl of pain but incongruous given the rest of the songs. So - this one is a meh for me. So was Torch b.t.w. - an attempt in 1981 to sing just standards. 

Carly returns to the Anticipation approach for Hello Big Man which is much more to my taste. She enlists the famous reggae rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare for a number of songs. So, it sounds great!

This was followed up by Spoiled Girl - my absolute favourite Carly Simon album (I'm pretty much alone in this though as the record gets panned elsewhere), as I mentioned above, so the next album is her first on Arista Records - Coming Around Again - her 13th studio effort. The title track became a big international hit. The rest of the album is polished and classic Carly Simon - one of two hot girls looking for love.

I'm missing My Romance and I've included Have You Seen Me Lately already. So, next up are a couple of live albums - Greatest Hits Live and Live at Grand Central.

They are both well named. Greatest Hits Live sounds exactly like the studio version with some audience ambience added in. It's a good collection of the big hits - Nobody Does It Better, You're So Vain, Anticipation, The Right Thing To Do...the list goes on. So, It's good!

Live at Grand Central is also top notch. It's from a mature artist - Carly's voice is still fully intact, but by 2023 it had developed a lovely huskiness. She also avoids all the obvious hits for this performance. Only Anticipation and Coming Around Again are also done on Greatest Hits Live.

The musicians are great too. there is a bedrock of acoustic guitar that creates a different feel to the concert. Together these two live albums are a perfect introduction to Carly's work.

Where do they all belong? Missing: Playing Possum; Spy; Torch; My Romance; and then from Letters Never Sent onwards except for the two live albums listed above.

Degrees of separation (Silent Alliance) (LP 3752)

Silent Alliance  The Spirit of an Age to Come (CD, Fastcut Records, 2008) ***** 

Genre: Indie-pop or better described by the band as 'Guitary electro dance pop'.

Places I remember: From Tom

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hollow Talk

Gear costume: Detachment, Cities on Fire

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I have to declare a bias and conflict of interest here: I am related to two of the stars of Silent Alliance: Tom and Lewis Kirkham. Talented? Devilishly good looking? Modest? Well of course!!

They are from greater Manchester (Liverpool supporters though) and they serve up a delish combination of New Order/ The Smiths jingle jangle. Multi-layered guitars dominate (shoegaze is a touchstone) and the resulting musical stew is insanely addictive and catchy as all get out. Lead singer and lyricist Philip Ybring has real presence, and the songs bite (in a good way yunnerstan).

They were big in Japan, Bury, and Stratford (NZ) but coulda shoulda woulda been huge all over the planet. Hey - it's not too late. Send the gang some love via Spotify!

Where do they all belong? The band also have their follow up (and sadly, at the time of writing - final) album available digitally. It's rather spiffing and called The Midnight Tide. Go to it SA fans!

Autumn leaves (Ed Sheeran) (LP 3750 - 3751)

Ed Sheeran + (CD, Asylum/Atlantic Records, 2011) ***  

Ed Sheeran X (CD, Asylum/Atlantic Records, 2014) ****  

Genre:  Pop, folk-pop

Places I remember: Kings Recording (Abu Dhabi), The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:  Thinking Out Loud (X)

Gear costume: Photograph, Sing (X)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Plus (+) was English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran's debut album. For me, Ed was a bit like Adele - a music that I heard while in The Middle East (Qatar). Both came out of nowhere, seemingly, and then were everywhere!

I'm not that fond of the rap styles he adopts (quite a few on + and X and they've dated a bit since) - I much prefer his simple guitar led love songs.

The debut album got things off to a good start with his unique brand of balladry and acoustic hip-hop becoming commercially very successful. He's generally easy on the ear but without being easy listening - plenty of confronting language, and topical references re drugs and casual sex for that to happen.

Generally, I prefer the more streamlined pop of X to the debut. His melodic gifts seem more to the fore and the raps aren't cringey. 

Where do they all belong? I stopped with X, but Jacky likes Ed's songs, so if I see subsequent albums going cheap, I'd pick them up (maybe). At the time, my daughters enjoyed Ed's approach, and I think that the late teens, early twenties demographic is what he was aiming at anyway, rather than me.

Inevitable (Shakira) (LP 3749)

Shakira   Dónde Están los Ladrones?  (CD, Sony Music, 1998) *****  

Genre: Latin American pop

Places I remember: Virgin Megastore (Dubai)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ciega, Sordomuda

Gear costume: Tú, Ojos Así (YouTube)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (Shakira for short) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. She is a big deal in Latin America and her appeal is now global.

Back in the mid 2000's, I was reading 1001 Records You Must Hear Before You Die and Shakira's Dónde Están los Ladrones? was glowingly featured along the way. I took a punt and was amply rewarded.

Shakira sings in Spanish so her lyrics kind of pass me by (my Spanish is limited to two papers I did as a prerequisite for a masters' degree back in the late seventies). But her emotional vocal delivery and the infectious music carry me along anyway.

Where do they all belong? Yep - I agree, you need to hear this one before you die.

No one there (Sentenced) (LP 3748)

Sentenced  The Cold White Light (CD, Century Media, 2002) ****  

Genre: Finnish goth metal

Places I remember: Virgin Megastore (Dubai)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: No One There

Gear costume: You Are The One

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I picked up quite a few of these kinds of Scandinavian metal albums while living in The Middle East. The Virgin Megastore in the Dubai Mall had leaps of CDs like this (btw - the store's still there but a pale shadow of what it one was).

Sentenced are a gothic metal band from Finland (they were huge in Finland!). The Cold White Light was their seventh album (they released eight before splitting).

The approach on the album is in the melodic metal style of Dream Theater and Lacuna Coil - with powerful lead vocals by Ville Laihiala, and the music has a rock'n'roll heart. It's still pretty heavy but we're not talking early Opeth here.

Where do they all belong? Not an album I play much now - the likelihood of my playing heavy doom metal is much reduced these days.

Singing in my sleep (Semisonic) (LP 3747)

Semisonic  Feeling Strangely Fine (CD, MCA Records, 1998) ****  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Closing Time

Gear costume: Secret Smile

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: This album is so good, I bought two copies. Ha ha! Not quite.

It's one of those times that I forgot I already had a copy and bought a second by mistake.

That said, Feeling Strangely Fine (their second album) is a great record! It includes three excellent singles: Closing Time, Singing In My Sleep, and Secret Smile. 

Although Semisonic is a trio (John Munson - bass, Jacob Slichter – drums, Dan Wilson - lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), it's Dan who is the main man.

Together, they create an excellent commercial pop sound throughout. Not as powerpop or as willfully inventive as Jellyfish, but in that same ballpark.

Where do they all belong? That's the only Semisonic album I have, but I'd be keen to add their next one - All About Chemistry (love that title song)

Let it rock (Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band) (LP 3743 - 3746)

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band  'Live' Bullet (CD and vinyl, Capitol Records, 1976) *****  

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band  The Distance (CD, Capitol Records, 1982) ***  

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band  Like a Rock (CD, Capitol Records, 1986) ***  

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band  Greatest Hits (CD, Capitol Records, 1994) **** 

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records,

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Katmandu ('Live' Bullet)

Gear costume: Get Out of Denver/ Let It Rock/ Little Queenie ('Live' Bullet)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: 'Live' Bullet kind of makes the back catalogue before it redundant. It's that good and that definitive. He'd been grinding away since 1968 without much success outside of the believers in Detroit, but 'Live' Bullet changed everything!

It was recorded live at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. Smart move. In front of a hometown crowd, Bob and the band knock it out of the park. 

My favourties are the rockers like Katmandu, Get Out Of Denver, and Let It Rock. There are also some funkier numbers like I've Been Working that work well too.

It's not all smash and grab, blunt instrument rawk. Jody Girl and Turn The Page have a beautiful heart and resonance to them still. AllMusic sums up the album well: It's a rare occasion when a double live album captures an artist at an absolute peak, while summarizing his talents, and that's exactly what 'Live' Bullet does.

Perversely I don't have copies of the big albums that followed 'Live' Bullet like Night Moves and Stranger In Town. Instead we leap forward to the eighties and a couple of albums that I was given - The Distance and Like A Rock.

The sound is slicker on those albums and he has nothing to prove, but as long as he includes rocking stuff like Makin' Thunderbirds (The Distance) or Like a Rock, I'm onboard.

The best of collection - Greatest Hits, is my go to outside of 'Live' Bullet. It's got all the hits that you'd expect, so it's a great place to start if you are new to Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band.

Where do they all belong? I feel like the Bob Seger bases are covered with those albums.

Sweet muse (John Sebastian) (LP 3742)

John Sebastian The Four Of Us (Vinyl, Reprise Records, 1971) ****  

Genre: Pop, rock

Places I remember: Slow Boat Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Well, Well, Well

Gear costume: Black Snake Blues

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: The Four of Us was his second studio album. I have previously reviewed his debut John B. Sebastian.

The Four of Us is a much rockier album, signaled by the lead off song - his version of In My Time of Dying, renamed here as Well, Well, Well. That's reinforced by the follow up - Black Snake Blues.

Dallas Taylor and John Barbata provide the muscular drums and Dr John (listed as 'Mac Rabinac' in the album credits) is on piano with John Sebastian providing the guitars.

The first side has the tougher edge, while side two is just the title track. It plays out as a suite of four parts (appropriate). It builds from Sebastian solo acoustic guitar - like he's sitting around a fireplace. Steel drums and rock moves interrupt the narrative which centres on a literal and metaphorical journey (it's a road trip - ha ha!).

Where do they all belong? Always keen to find other Sebastian records. He's a bit like Arlo Guthrie in my collection - a Woodstock performer who has an intriguing back catalogue.

The revolution will not be televised (Gil Scott-Heron) (LP 3740 - 3741)

Gil Scott-Heron  A New Black Poet - Small Talk at 125th and Lenix (Vinyl, Flying Dutchman Records, 1970) ****  

Gil Scott-Heron  Pieces of a Man (Vinyl, Flying Dutchman Records, 1971) ****

Genre: Street poetry, jazz 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Pieces of a Man)

Gear costume: Lady Day and John Coltrane (Pieces of a Man), Whitey on the Moon (Small Talk...)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I came across Gil Scott-Heron a long time after 1970, when his first album, performed live in the studio, came out and revolutionised performance poetry.

It was ten years later, while an undergraduate and doing poetry papers as part of my degree, that reading Amiri Baraka and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man led me to Gil Scott-Heron.

While working at Marbecks Records in the late seventies, I bought a compilation and that led to Pieces Of A Man and then to Small Talk at 125th and Lenix - where he is accompanied by David Barnes (percussion), Charlie Saunders, and Eddie Knowles (congas).

Both albums feature Gil's uncensored topical views on black life in America. Sadly, it sounds like not much has changed over 55 years as many of his messages are still extremely relevant (listen to Enough). Some advice: skip the homophobic The Subject Was Faggots.

Pieces of a Man is more conventional with clear song structures and sung songs, rather than the poetry accompanied by congas that is featured on Small Talk...

Brian Jackson's input on the album cannot be overstated. Brian wrote the music, plays piano and is joined by some jazz heavyweights: Hubert Laws on flute and sax, Ron Carter on bass and Bernard Purdie on drums. 

The album's combination of R&B, soul, jazz-funk, and proto-rap influenced the development of electronic dance music and hip hop. Gil was a revolutionary!

Where do they all belong? A must have if you have any kind of social conscience.

Born in a tent (Robert Scott) (LP 3739)

Robert Scott  Ends Run Together (Vinyl, Flying Nun Records, 2010) ****  

Genre: NZ Music, alt rock, alt pop, ambient 

Places I remember: Flying Nun Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Days Run Together

Gear costume: The Moon Upstairs

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: This is the third solo album by Robert Scott - member of The Clean and driving force behind The Bats. 

The music and approach seems deliberately positioned to move away from Clean/ Bats style alt rock and more into experimental ambient soundscapes. Which is bussin and skibidi (and all the other pimply hyperbole) because it allows Robert to stretch creatively.

That said, you can't take The Bats out of the boy so there are a couple of chiming songs that remind me of the band's catchiness (The Moon Upstairs is a good example).

Obviously, his excellent voice remains a touchpoint throughout. While the female vocals (Geva and Rainy) provide terrific harmonies and echoes of Robert's vocal lead.  

Where do they all belong? Always keen to build on my Flying Nun collection via Kevy's fantastic knowledge of the label. I probably wouldn't have found this album without his enthusiasm, although I was already a fan of The Bats. 

I'm easy (Boz Scaggs) (LP 3737 - 3738)

Boz Scaggs  Boz Scaggs (CD, Edsel Records, 1969) **** 

Boz Scaggs  Silk Degress (CD, Columbia Records, 1976) ****   

Genre: Soul, rock, Americana, R&B, country, blues

Places I remember: Amoeba Records, The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Lido Shuffle (Silk Degrees)

Gear costume: Lowdown (Silk Degrees)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Boz Scaggs was his second solo album. In it he already displays easy mastery over a range of genres. It was recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals studio with some of the studios' musicians, and Duane Allman (pre fame).

Over the years, I'd read some glowing reviews of the album and it appears in many of the album review books I have. I had been looking for a while and managed to eventually track down a CD reissue version (comes with the original and a 1977 re-mixed version).

His voice and style are authentic, as in, he hadn't taken on the Toto boys' smoother sophistication yet. A good thing, too. AllMusic calls it 'an enduring blue-eyed soul masterpiece'.

That said, Silk Degrees has him at the zenith of his commercial powers. Four singles were released from it: It's Over; Lowdown; What Can I Say; Lido Shuffle. They all helped Silk Degrees sell heaps!

Where do they all belong? An el cheapo best of collection rounds out the Scaggs corner of my collection. Four of its 14 songs come from Silk Degrees. Breakdown Dead Ahead (from Middle Man) is the most crucial addition to those Silk Degree songs.

Tears of pearls (Savage Garden) (LP 3736)

Savage Garden Savage Garden (CD, Columbia Records, 1997) ***  

Genre: Australian pop 

Places I remember: Shona Walding collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I Want You

Gear costume: To the Moon and Back, Truly Madly Deeply

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: This is definitely not an album I would have normally bought back in 1997, but I hung onto it, rather than throw it away, after it was donated to me in a box of CDs.

Why? Because it's a very good pop album with plenty of hooks. A huge seven singles were lifted from it!

Contrary to my impressions from the record cover (which I've always thought was a male and female duo), Savage Garden are a couple of Aussie battlers: Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on guitar, keyboards, and vocals.

The album was hugely successful and deservedly so - it's a very radio friendly collection of hits.

Where do they all belong? Nice pop album, although it has that nineties sound - so a tad dated in 2025.