Everytime (Vertical Hold) (LP 4792)

Vertical Hold  Vertical Hold (Vinyl, Wea Records, 1993) *****  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Album courtesy of Noel Forth

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Everytime 

Gear costume: United States of America

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Some records in my collection are more special than others because I have a personal connection to them. This one is a fine example of that as I have been a long-distance penpal of drummer Noel Forth since the mid-seventies. Noel is an archetypal Aussie battler and I have a lot of love for him and his family.

Noel wrote to me after I had a letter, about John Lennon's first few albums, published in Sounds magazine in about 1975. At that point he'd only just left NZ to return to Adelaide, so we've never met but he remains the single biggest help to me in collecting Beatles and Apple Records. His knowledge is prodigious and so is his generosity. He's also a cracking drummer!

In those late seventies years he would often mail cassettes to me with Tortis outtakes. Vertical Hold grew out of Tortis (the full history of the band is here). I developed a love for the band, yes because of Noel, but also because they were a fantastic pop band whose influences were obvious.

That would be Beatles principally (check out Everytime on this, their debut and only album), but also The Move, The Hollies, Electric Light Orchestra and others. 

It's a strong album that displays their strengths but it would have been even stronger with the inclusion of their poppy singles from around this time (reviewed here). Tears of Emotion in particular is a world beater. I get why they didn't include them, but still. Regardless, this is a five-star album all the way!

It remains a slight tragedy that they didn't go on to make a second album. Mick and Jim (especially Mick, RIP) were prolific hit single makers. It wasn't to be, but this album stands as a great reminder of their collective talent. Love you, Noel!

Where do they all belong? This is a band ripe for rediscovery and a compilation album that includes the singles and outtakes would be great too. 

Say what! (Stevie Ray Vaughan) (LP 4788 - 4791)

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble  Soul to Soul (CD, Epic Records, 1985) ****  

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble  In Step (CD, Epic Records, 1989) ***** 

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble  The Sky Is Crying (CD, Epic Records, 1991) *** 

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble  Spectrum, Philadelphia 23rd May 1988 (CD, Echoes Records, 2015) ****

Genre: Blues rock 

Places I remember: Hope Collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Come On, (Part III)

Gear costume: Travis Walk (In Step)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: I've previously reviewed his first two albums - Texas Flood and Couldn't Stand The Weather. On reflection I was a bit stingy with a four-star rating on his second album in particular. Listening to it again, it's clearly a peak. This post wraps up the other albums I have by him, all on CD.

Soul to Soul was his third studio album. Double Trouble is expanded to include keyboards and sax so it enters into a hybrid soul blues territory. It's not as consistently brilliant as Couldn't Stand the Weather and I bypassed it back in 1985. I'm glad to have a copy now though.

This CD copy has a brilliant bonus section with an interview and then a 13 minute version of Little Wing/Third Stones from the Sun which is mind blowing. A version of Little Wing would appear on The Sky Is Crying but this one is much better.

In Step is a superb album. Stevie Ray is at his peak here with the album showing all of his various talents. Having become sober he is locked in and the guitar tones are amazing in their depth and feel. There are no weak areas and the guitar playing is simply breathtaking.

The Sky Is Crying is an odds and ends compilation album put together after SRV's death in 1990. The album features ten previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1989. As with most of these kind of things the quality fluctuates and while it's certainly a nice to have, it's not an essential album.

The only live album I have is the Spectrum gig from 1988. It's a radio broadcast but of superior quality to those kinds of live products. As it's from a 1988 gig, it includes material from his first three studio albums. SRV is in fine form and these versions are damn fine! Highlights are live versions of Cold Shot and Voodoo Chile.

Where do they all belong? What a sad outcome for such a talent. Luckily, he'll live on via these recordings.

Rosebud (Tys Van Leer) (LP 4787)

Tys Van Leer  Nice To have Met You (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1978) ***  

Genre: Prog rock 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Hocus Pocus (not on platforms)

Gear costume: Nice to Have Met You (YouTube)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Somewhere along the line Thijs Van Leer became Tys Van Leer. Same guy who was the organist and flautist in Focus (my reviews of their albums are here).

At one point I had a lot more of his solo albums, but that is now whittled down to just this one. I suspect I've kept it for the iconic cover because the music is pleasant in a mainstream kind of way but it's not a patch on the wild progressive experimentation of Focus. That's maybe a bit harsh on the band who play well and provide an excellent musical bed for Van Leer's flute.

It says a lot that the highlight is a rejigged version of Hocus Pocus, and the fact that I've sold off the rest of my Van Leer solo albums. I won't be doing that for Focus, let me tell you!

Where do they all belong? I've learnt my lesson - stick to the parent group.

Hot for teacher (Van Halen) (LP 4785 - 4786)

Van Halen  MCMLXXXIV (Vinyl and CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1984) ****  

Van Halen  For Unlawful Carnel Knowledge (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1991) ***  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Mail order Record Club.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Right Now (For Unlawful...)

Gear costume: Panama (1984)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: I have two studio albums by Van Halen - one with David Lee Roth and the other with Sammy Hagar. I really like both versions of the band. Each lead singer brings something exciting, distinctive and new to the party.

MCMLXXXIV (probably better known as 1984) was the last to feature Diamond Dave until he returned in 2012. The big songs on it are Panama, Jump and Hot for Teacher. They and the high standard on the rest make it one of the best eighties albums.

Eddie's keyboards are a feature of the album, most notably on Jump. That kick starts the album in more ways than one. The songs are built on rock riffs but with a pop leaning - hence its mega success.

Dave was replaced by Hagar and the band changed a bit to build songs around Eddie Van Halen's needs. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (stoopid title) was their third effort together. 

The heavy hitters on this one were Poundcake, The Dream Is Over, Right Now and Top of the World. This time the accompanying songs aren't as dynamic as those four.

Where do they all belong? I have a double CD best of that captures all the essential moments and is the best place to sample all the ban's best moments. Their best album remains 1984.

Shooting Star (Bad Company) (LP 4782 - 4784)

Bad Company  Straight Shooter (Vinyl, Swan Song Records, 1975) *****  

New Riders of the Purple Sage  Oh, What a Mighty Time (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1975) ***  

Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band  The First Minute of a New Day (Vinyl, Arista Records, 1975) **** 

Genre: Rock, country rock, soul jazz.

Places I remember: Little Red Bookshop, Family Store (Hastings)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Good Lovin' Gone Bad (Bad Company)

Gear costume: Shooting Star (Bad Company) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: A recent trip to the Little Red Bookshop and a second hand shop in Hastings resulted in these three purchases - all released in 1975 but in three very distinct genres.

I have long searched for a good copy of Bad Company's second album on Swan Song (in the UK it was released on Island Records). Usually the ones I come across are party records and therefore pretty banged up. This time the planets aligned.

It's a superb hard rock album, of course, with all the members at the peak of their powers. That means Paul Rodgers on vocals is peerless, Simon Kirke kicks ass on drums, Boz Burrell is holding down the bottom end with aplomb and Mick Ralphs' guitars are tastefully superb.

Oh, What a Mighty Time cost me $15 from a charity shop in Hastings and that seems a fair price. Their sixth album is not the greatest album by this country rock outfit, but it's also not the worst (some may disagree, I hasten to add). 

I bought it because of the musicians onboard for the album like Jerry Garcia. He plays on three songs, and Sly Stone is on the title track (which is a mess, it must be said). The band includes Skip Battin (former Byrds member) and Spencer Dryden (former Jefferson Airplane drummer).

After the first two songs on side 1, that side is quite a lot of fun. Really! Side two is also inconsistent. Highlights on the album are a sensitive take on Dylan's Farewell Angelina, Take a Letter Maria, and Going Round the Horn. The pedal steel by Buddy Cage is also very tasty.

Gil Scott-Heron's collaboration with Brian Jackson on his fourth album, The First Minute of a New Day, continued to display his talents in an appropriate cool soul jazz way. Unfortunately, Scott-Heron's messages are still very relevant to 21st century America under Trump. Take Winter in America for instance - Ain't nobody fighting because nobody knows what to save.

Where do they all belong? These three show the depth of music in the mid-seventies.

White sky (Vampire Weekend) (LP 4781)

Vampire Weekend  Contra (CD, XL Records, 2010) ***  

Genre: Indie pop, synth pop 

Places I remember: Virgin Megastore (Dubai)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Cousins

Gear costume: White Sky

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: I bought this one on the strength of a rave review in Mojo Magazine, on a whim while living in Al Ain.

Vampire Weekend is an American band (I thought they were British until I heard the album), and Contra was their second effort.

While the critics loved it, it doesn't do much for me. I think it's because it flits between a number of genres, from indie rock to ska, dancehall, and dance music. So it seems show-offy rather than substantial. On the plus side, though, the songs are joyful, summery, fun efforts.

Where do they all belong? I'm not sure where they belong actually.

Beautiful day (U2) (LP 4776 - 4780)

U2  All That You Can't Leave Behind  (CD, Island Records, 2000) **** 

U2  How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (CD, Island Records, 2004) *** 

U2  No Line on the Horizon (CD, Island Records, 2009) **** 

U2  Songs of Innocence (CD, Island Records, 2014) *** 

U2  Songs of Experience (CD, Island Records, 2017) *** 

Genre: Rock, pop

Places I remember: The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Beautiful Day (All That You Can't Leave Behind)

Gear costume: Wild Honey, Walk On (ATYCLB), Summer of Love (Songs of Experience)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: A new millennium and U2 returns to their signature sound and I'm back on board after a couple of disappointing nineties albums. I wasn't alone, but that left the band in a precarious position. How much do they revitalise the classic U2 sound, and how much do they experiment? Afterall that combination was responsible for their best albums so far - War, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.

All That You Can't Leave Behind still retains some production tropes from those experimental years but marries them, mostly successfully, to the traditional U2 sound. That sound includes nineties masterpiece Achtung Baby. That warm tone has returned.

Wild Honey, Walk On and Beautiful Day are good examples of that tone and U2's pop smarts. All are terrific songs that are standouts.  The rest of the songs have their moments but the album's varying styles ultimately make it seem like a long album. 

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb kicks off with an anthemic U2 number - Vertigo, which deliberately lunches their mainstream rock sound for the early naughties. 

The production is a back-to-basics approach with a clean rock sound that I generally like, but there is no Achtung Baby style reaching for greatness. Nevertheless, it's still a good U2 album.

Five years went by before their third album in nine years - No Line on the Horizon. It's a return to a particular type of U2 experimentalism with Bono abandoning first person narratives and the band toning down the familiar U2 shapes that dominated How to Dismantle...It's also an album I'm not very familiar with - as in I've probably played the album once in the years since its release.

To make up for that, I've played it four times back-to-back for this post. It's definitely grown on me. There seems to be a maturity about the meditative and melancholy sound. At times it vergers on an ambient soundscape. Bono's lyrics also fit this mood, and so it's ripe for continuing rediscovery.

Songs of Innocence came after another lengthy five plus years break. In 2014, the album courted controversy by being an automatic download to itunes. It came to my inbox but I ignored it and bought a physical copy instead. I like to choose my music thanks, rather than being forced into that kind of situation. I think Bono and Apple eventually got the message, because they haven't repeated this promo trick.

It's a double CD (a five-track bonus CD is listed as CD2), so I've listened it (and follow up Songs of Experience) even less that No Line on the Horizon. That makes for a long listening experience. Usually, a double CD is a statement of importance, but this just feels like a lot of fair to middling U2 songs to me (remember I haven't listened to it a lot). Nothing much stands out yet, in other words.

Songs of Experience is a more succinct statement and I enjoy it more than Innocence, but it's a lot like How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in that it's U2 producing their tried and true sounds without getting above a canter. In summary - the progress made towards a mature U2 on No Line on the Horizon has come to little with the two Songs of...albums. Time again for a fresh approach if they want to stay relevant, methinks.

Where do they all belong? That's it for U2 in the 21st Century - a bit hit and miss, nevertheless, U2 are an important rock band and when they get desperate enough they can produce landmark records.