Willin' (Little Feat/ Linda Ronstadt) (LP 3653 - 3659)

Linda Ronstadt  Heart Like a Wheel (Vinyl, Capitol Records, 1974) *****  

Linda Ronstadt  Prisoner in Disguise (CD, Asylum Records, 1975) ****  

Linda Ronstadt  Hasten Down the Wind (CD, Asylum Records, 1976) ***

Linda Ronstadt  Simple Dreams (CD, Asylum Records, 1977) *****   

Linda Ronstadt  Living in the USA (CD, Asylum Records, 1978) *** 

Linda Ronstadt  Mad Love (CD, Asylum Records, 1980) ****  

Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)  Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind (CD, Asylum Records, 1989) ***  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Just for the Record, HMV, Shona's collection (Cry like...)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Living in the USA

Gear costume: Tumbling Dice (Simple Dreams), How Do I Make You (Mad Love) 

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: Linda Ronstadt needs no introduction! Heart Like a Wheel was her fifth solo studio album, and it's only 1974.

It contains a mix of covers - some oldies and some contemporary to 1974. She doesn't put a foot wrong, and her band of LA's finest do her justice - it's a long list of musicians. It all adds up to Californian soft rock heaven. And, man, can she sing!

Prisoner in Disguise followed the Heart Like a Wheel template closely and, once again, delivered the good times. Outside of Little Feat, does anyone do Little Feat songs any better than Linda? First Willin' and now Roll Um Easy. Perfection!

And so, onto Hasten Down the Wind. It was her third straight million-selling album. The same crew of LA's brilliant musicians were involved, but nobody outshines Linda's pipes. It should be said that it does have some hints of getting a little too slick at times. Still. She was on a definite roll.

Some songs are much better than others - That'll Be The Day is a great cover but there are a few songs by Karla Bonoff that are of a lesser standard.

Simple Dreams had her back in the right groove. It's about those cover choices with Linda and with Tumbling Dice, Blue Bayou, It's So Easy, Poor Poor Pitiful Me, and Carmelita - she had some inspired choices. It was huge commercially and critically. She was back to her best (i.e. Heart Like a Wheel).

The slickness is replaced with some grittier rock'n'roll sounds for some songs on Simple Dreams (Poor Poor Pitiful Me, Carmelita, It's So Easy, Tumbling Dice) - hence the five-star rating.

That approach continues to a large extent on Living in the USA, her ninth studio album, and although it was another big seller (her third and final #1), it's a more uneven album than Simple Dreams. It's the choice of covers again, and the rock'n'roll quota that dictates the success factor. Only the title track really rocks out on the album.

Mad Love was the first album of the eighties. It's a pretty successful attempt to update her sound for the times (three songs by Elvis Costello!) and has a great rocky sound. How Do I Make You is a favourite around these parts!

Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind is a collaboration with Aaron Neville. It's a diverse selection of mainstream pop styles, as per normal, except Aaron lends his unique voice to the mix on a few tracks.

Where do they all belong? The Different Drum compilation has her earlier stuff that is also lovely to listen to on a sunny day!

Just dropped in (Kenny Rogers and the First Edition) (LP 3651 - 3652)

Kenny Rogers & the First Edition  Greatest Hits (Vinyl, Reprise Records, 1971) ****  

Kenny Rogers and the First Edition  Backroads (Vinyl, MGM Records, 1972) **   

Genre: Country rock, pop 

Places I remember: Passionate about vinyl (Waipawa);  Turakina Antiques

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town (Greatest Hits)

Gear costume: Just Dropped In (Greatest Hits)

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

Active compensatory factors: I know it's not too fashionable to admit it, but I have a real soft spot for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. 

They started out as The First Edition, before morphing into K R and...They had a popular TV show in the early seventies, which I watched each week, and the popular songs of the late sixties were also very familiar to me from radio exposure. 

So, it was a no brainer to buy the Greatest Hits album in 1971. It was one of the first albums I ever bought with my own money - maybe even the first? I was given The Beatles Hey Jude album for Christmas so, this, along with The Hollies, The Cowsills, and Headband were the first albums I actually saved up for and bought. I can remember buying Greatest Hits for $5.75 from the newly opened St Lukes shopping centre. 

I played it a lot and each song on the album is an old friend. That's not the case with Backroads which came out a year later. Reuben James had signaled Kenny's love for country rock and I was anticipating songs like that on Backroads but sadly it leans toward the overly sentimental country direction Rogers would move towards when The First Edition were abandoned for his (lucrative) solo career.

Where do they all belong? That Greatest Hits album though? Magic!

Dance with the shadow (Riverside) (LP 3643 - 3650)

Riverside  Out of Myself (CD, Laser's Edge Records, 2004) ****  

Riverside  Second Life Syndrome (CD, InsideOut Records, 2005) *****

Riverside  Voices in My Head (CD, InsideOut Records, 2006) ****

Riverside  Memories in My Head (CD, The Laser's Edge Records, 2006) *****

Riverside  Anno Domini High Definition (CD, InsideOut Records, 2009) ****

Riverside  Shine of New Generation Slaves (CD, InsideOut Records, 2013) ****

Riverside  Love, Fear and the Time Machine (CD, InsideOut Records, 2015) ***

Riverside  Eye of the Soundscape (CD, InsideOut Records, 2016) ***

Genre: Prog rock, Prog metal

Places I remember: Fives, Fopp, HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Artificial Smile (Second Life Syndrome)

Gear costume: Celebrity Touch (Shine of New Generation Slaves) 

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: Riverside, from Poland, are one of my favourite prog metal/ prog bands. The brainchild of Mariusz Duda (composer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist) - Riverside combine atmospheric sounds with prog and metal elements to an extent that is right up my street. Brilliant! A band made for me! 

Out of Myself was a terrific debut. At this point, apart from Duda, Riverside was Piotr Grudziński – lead and rhythm guitars, Jacek Melnicki – keyboards (he'd be leaving soon and was replaced by a revolving door of keyboard players), and Piotr Kozieradzki – drums, percussion.

Second album, Second Life Syndrome turned up the guitars and so, wasn't as laid back and atmospheric as the first album. It's a long album, but extremely rewarding. The heavy moments tip the sound into prog metal at times.

Around the same time an E.P. - Voices in My Head, was released (my version is on Inside Out Records and came out just after Second Life Syndrome). It has five new songs and live versions of three songs from Out of Myself. The style of the studio tracks is the meditative one that predominates on Voices in My Head.

Memories in My Head is another E.P. from that earlier time, so it reflects the reflective style of the first two albums and the previous E.P. The three tracks clock in at 30 minutes, so roughly what an old L.P. would be. The tracks are in the form of a suite - very prog!

Sadly, I have yet to find a copy of their third LP - Rapid Eye Movement from 2007. So, we jump to Anno Domini. My copy has the bonus DVD, filmed during a December 2008 live performance at Amsterdam's Paradiso club.

There are five tracks on Anno Domini High Definition (ADHD), to give it its full title. It feels like one continual piece. Suites are again the chosen method. Nothing says prog like a good suite. In this case the tracks segue into each other seemlessly to great effect.

On Anno Domini the influences are quite apparent. Probably Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater with some Pink Floyd on the side, I'd say. There is a real intensity about the energy on this album. The old quiet and loud dynamic is substituted here for just LOUD.

Shine of New Generation Slaves (SoNGS) is the fifth studio album. There is a new confidence and swagger about Riverside on this album. Seems they needed to get the noisenik Anno Domini out of their system. SoNGS is a diverse mix of songs with some jazzy moments along the way.

Love, Fear and the Time Machine was their final album to feature guitarist Piotr Grudziński before his tragic death (pulmonary embolism) on 21 February 2016. It's a much more mellow, atmospheric, album - acoustic guitar is even present on a few tracks. The synth touches are not to my taste however.

It's one of their albums that I haven't listened to much, but each one is rewarding in its own way and this one is no exception.

Wasteland was their next studio album and I have reviewed that earlier (while I was living in the UK). You can find it here.

Eye of the Soundscape is a compilation album - made up of older experimental instrumental pieces in addition to four new tracks: Where the River Flows; Shine; Sleepwalkers and Eye of the Soundscape. The style of music is instrumental, and ambient; progressive electronic music according to Duda.

I am a fan of ambient sounds, so this one is a lovely addition to the collection. Great to mark student work to, as well.

Where do they all belong? Always on the lookout for a physical copy of Rapid Eye Movement, and I have yet to buy their latest album ID.Entity.

Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu (Johnny Rivers) (LP 3641 - 3642)

Johnny Rivers L.A. Reggae (CD, United Artists Records, 1972) *** 

Johnny Rivers Blue Suede Shoes (CD, United Artists Records, 1973) ***  

Genre: Pop, rock

Places I remember: HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu (L.A. Reggae)

Gear costume: Brown Eyed Girl (L.A. Reggae)

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: Johnny Rivers was big in the sixties, but I only came across him in the seventies when his brand of rock'n'roll reached me via those highlighted songs, both covers. 

Both of these albums come from the early seventies. They contain some great vibrant covers, but they were not quite of the time, so they didn't sell well. They are certainly worth finding as they are good fun! When I put them on recently, Jacky and I danced around the lounge to Blue Suede Shoes!

Where do they all belong? Respect to Johnny Rivers - he has only just retired from touring (in 2023). 

Twisted (Stan Ridgway) (LP 3640)

Stan Ridgway  The Big Heat (Vinyl, IRS Records, 1986) ****  

Genre: Alt rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Camouflage

Gear costume: The Big Heat, Walkin' Home Alone

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'm a big fan of the Wall of Voodoo singles in my collection, and The Big Heat, Stan Ridgway's debut solo album, has been on my list for ages. I was thrilled to find a copy in Real Groovy's sale bins earlier this year.

Camouflage, of course, dominates the record. Stan is wise to position it last on side 2, but his vocal chops make anything he does, even if utilising synths and mid-eighties production tropes.

The rest of the album is soaked in Stan's love of noir and pulp fiction and is great without being as great as Vietnam centred Camouflage. Man, I love that shaggy dog song!

Where do they all belong? Always keen to find more of Stan's albums, including his work in Wall of Voodoo.

Passion and love (Alastair Riddell) (LP 3639)

Alastair Riddell  Positive Action  Vinyl, WEA Records, 1982) ***  

Genre: NZ Music, pop 

Places I remember: This is a promo copy sent to Margie's brother who was a rep for Festival Records in the eighties.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Zero (YouTube)

Gear costume: Do You Read Me (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: Alastair is a hero for many New Zealand music fans, including me. His poptastic music has been threaded through my life*.

This one (his second solo album) escaped me at the time. Weird, because in 1982 I was studying at teachers' college in Auckland and very much a music collector.

Hearing these songs on Positive Action in a wash of synths and AI drums in 2025 makes more sense than it probably would have done in 1982 when I thought of him as a glam rocker. I'm glad I finally caught up with it.

Where do they all belong? Stupidly, I sold off his first album many years ago and now it'll cost megabucks to buy a replacement. *Space Waltz albums are yet to come in the countdown.

Catapult (R.E.M.) (LP 3631 - 3638)

R.E.M.  Murmur (Vinyl, IRS Records, 1983) ****  

R.E.M.  Reckoning (Vinyl and CD, IRS Records, 1984) *****  

R.E.M.  Fables of the Reconstruction (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1985) *****  

R.E.M.  Life's Rich Pageant (Vinyl, IRS Records, 1986) ****

R.E.M.  Green (Vinyl and CD, Warner Brothers Records, 1988) ***

R.E.M.  Out of Time (CD, Warner Brothers Records, 1991) ****

R.E.M.  Automatic For the People (Vinyl, Warner Brothers Records, 1992) ****

R.E.M.  Reveal (Vinyl and CD, Warner Brothers Records, 2001) ****

Genre: Alt rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, music store in New Plymouth in the eighties (Reckoning and Fables on vinyl, HMV for deluxe CD edition of Reckoning), JB Hi Fi (Reveal)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Harborcoat (Reckoning)

Gear costume: Driver 8 (Fables of the Reconstruction); Losing My Religion , Shiny Happy People (Out of Time), Imitation of Life (Reveal)

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: Harborcoat and the Reckoning album was my entry drug into the world of Rapid Eye Movement (R.E.M.). We (Jacky, me and new baby Keegan) were living in the pink house in List Street, New Plymouth, and the album was on high rotate. So much so that I instantly associate these songs to that time and place - spring, 1984.

It still sounds fresh as newly mowed grass to these ears. Every song is a work of genius. Harborcoat, Seven Chinese Brothers, Rockville, Persuasion, Second Guessing...every song hits the heights.

I backtracked to Murmur and was a little disappointed at the time. It's grown on me since, but it sounds muddy and doesn't have the pop smarts of Reckoning. Radio Free Europe is the clear standout but Michael Stipe's vocals are pretty buried, not that he sings the words clearly enough to be understood anyway. He sings in the same way on Reckoning but the production is a lot crisper.

From then on I was onboard and collecting each album as they were released. Fables of the Reconstruction was next in 1985. It's a darker, moodier album than the bright Reckoning, with Stipe still slurring his vocals so that only vague phrases can be heard. I love this!

The album a year procession continued with Life's Rich Pageant in 1986. It's a tougher sounding album, which points the way forward to a more mainstream rock sound. Stipe's lyrics are starting to emerge from the murk with a much cleaner production than on Fables of the Reconstruction, with Bill Berry's drums pushed more to the foreground.

I have previously owned a copy of Document (their next album after Life's Rich Pageant) but before going to live in the UK in 2004, I flicked it off. So, the next R.E.M. album in my collection is Green. The one with the orange cover (ho ho).

I'm not that fond of Green. It has some great moments (Stand, Orange Crush for instance), but a lot of it feels like a work in progress. Still, their major label debut is considered a success overall.

Out of Time followed Green. This is the one with mega hit Losing My Religion on it. It's an upbeat record of pop and folk songs with lots of lush new sounds, which also still sounds like classic R.E.M. As such it's an album that I find very rewarding. I love that mandolin sound! Shiny Happy People sort of sums up things well. A great sunny pop song. 

Automatic for the People was their eighth studio album. By this point the band was into veteran status on a major label. The album turned into a massive success, with six singles taken from it. 

AllMusic summed up the album well: Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards.

It's that sweet pop I prefer though, so, although everyone raves about the album, I do prefer the sweet pop of Out of Time and Reveal.

Before Reveal, I bought the next few R.E.M. albums but they went along with Document. For me, the band's albums after Automative for the People became a case of diminishing returns. Monster's guitar riffarama seemed the opposite of what they were about. The experimental Up was not for me.

My final R.E.M. album, Reveal, was bought because of a great couple of iconic videos: All the Way to Reno and Imitation of Life. They were very R.E.M. - clever, and melodic. The band had returned to their core sound and playfulness while reining in the willfully experimental sounds of Up. 

Where do they all belong? There aren't any R.E.M. albums on my list to buy. I'll continue to play Reckoning, Reveal, Pageant, Fables, and Out of Time in the future without needing to buy the albums I don't have.

Live life (Terry Reid) (LP 3626 - 3630)

Terry Reid Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1968) ***  

Terry Reid Terry Reid (CD, Epic Records, 1969) *** 

Terry Reid River (CD, Epic Records, 1973) **** 

Terry Reid Rogue Waves (CD, Epic Records, 1978) **** 

Terry Reid The Driver (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1991) *** 

Genre: Rock, Blues rock

Places I remember: Fopp

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Bang Bang (My baby shot me down) (Bang Bang You're Terry Reid)

Gear costume: Walk Away Renee (Rogue Waves); The Whole of the Moon (The Driver)

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

Active compensatory factors: A.k.a. Superlungs, Terry Reid was a blues belter who was* much admired by his peers and others.

His debut album is a fascinating mix of styles with Terry Reid immediately being the star vocalist. No wonder he was wanted by Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore for their bands. Wisely, Reid stuck to his own path. He moves between jazzy, R&B, and rock genres with ease. 

Second album - Terry Reid, is in a similar style to the debut. Given he hadn't yet turned twenty, these are remarkably confident efforts. His singing style is similar to The Small Faces' Steve Marriott and Aztec's Billy Thorpe on these albums - high praise indeed.

River is a change of approach into a funky, laid-back, rough and tumble blues-rock territory on side one. It's his best album of the three in many ways. The presence of David Lindley on guitars certainly helped! The acoustic second side songs kind of unbalance the record - maybe some better sequencing would have helped?

Rogue Waves came after 1976's Seed of Memory, which I don't have. 

Rogue Waves would be my favourite Terry Reid album. He sounds super on it as a vocalist and the sympathetic rock moves by his band are right on it. 

It was recorded at The Beach Boys' Brother studios in Santa Monica - the magic dust in the room helped create a beautiful sound. Another special feature of the album is the superb backing vocals by Denise Williams, Dyanne Chandler, and Maxine Willard. 

The final Terry Reid album in my collection is The Driver from 1991. Reid's albums always have great cover choices on them. For The Driver he covers The Waterboys and The Spencer Davis Group hits and as per usual - makes them his own in terms of his vocal delivery.

The only problem is the preponderance of synths and gated drum sounds, given it's the early nineties. Reid himself called the album 'unlistenable' but it's not that bad.

Where do they all belong? *Terry recently passed away in August 2025. aged only 75. He leaves a healthy legacy behind.

The arrow and the aim (Nadia Reid) (LP 3623 - 3625)

Nadia Reid  Look for Formations, Look for Signs (CD, Spunk Records, 2015) ***  

Nadia Reid  Preservation (CD, Spunk Records, 2017) ***

Nadia Reid  Out of My Province (CD, Spacebomb Records, 2020) *****    

Genre: NZ Music, folk-rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Oh Canada (Out of My Province)

Gear costume: Call The Days ( Listen to Formation...)

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

Active compensatory factors: Nadia Reid is a New Zealand singer songwriter. She adds some strong pop and folk elements to her music and she has now recorded four albums to critical acclaim.

Ten years ago, I picked up on the mention/review from Mojo Magazine and so bought her debut album. It was good enough for me to also grab a copy of her second album, although I didn't enjoy it as much.

The cover kind of says it all on Preservation. It's not a very flattering portrait, and while the songs continued to be strong, I didn't sense any great development on that second album.

That would change for her next effort.

Third album, Out of My Province (reviewed on my Destination: Records blog) is her best so far, I believe (I haven't heard her latest yet). The arrangements are lusher and the lyrical content bites (as it does on those earlier albums as well).

Where do they all belong? Her latest, Enter Now Brightness, was out earlier this year. She a very talented singer-songwriter with a glorious voice, so I will add this to my Spotify list.

Someday (Refugee) (LP 3622)

Refugee  Refugee (Vinyl, Charisma Records, 1974) ****  

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume: Ritt Mickley 

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

Active compensatory factors: Refugee are as prog rock as they come - grand ideas, classical flourishes, prog keyboards (Patrick Moraz in the Keith Emerson role) and suites abound (Grand Canyon has 5 parts, Credo outdoes it with 8).

This is all to be expected from Patrick Moraz and two guys out of The Nice - that's Lee Jackson on lead vocals, bass and other guitars, and Brian Davison (drums).

This was their only studio album before Yes came calling and employed Moraz as a Rick Wakeman replacement. It's an excellent prog album. If, like me, you love that genre, then you gotta see the baby! If you hate prog's tricksy time signatures and showoffy inclinations then avoid this one.

Where do they all belong? They have released a live album I notice - Live in Concert Newcastle City Hall 1974 (released 2007) which I'd grab if I see it.

Vicious (Lou Reed) (LP 3618 - 3621)

Lou Reed  Rock'n'Roll Animal (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1974) *****

Lou Reed  Lou Reed Live (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1975) ****

Lou Reed  NYC Man (Vinyl, BMG Records, 2013) ****

Lou Reed  A Life in Music (CD, Mojo Magazine covermount, 2016) ***

Genre: Rock, Alt rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, The Warehouse, Mojo Magazine

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Sweet Jane (Rock'n'Roll Animal)

Gear costume: Satellite of Love (Lou Reed Live) 

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

Active compensatory factors: Over the years I've owned other albums by Lou but they were culled at various times and I haven't felt the need to buy them back.

Basically, I love the live albums and the two compilations in this post, but a lot of his studio stuff leaves me cold. He can be very hit and miss I've found.

Both Rock'n'Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live are from the same source material - a concert on December 21, 1973, at Howard Stein's Academy of Music in New York City. The extra guitar power from Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter and the fresh arrangements make these albums all killer. Lou sounds interested!

Rolling Stone has this to say: The band does not emulate the violent, hypnotic, dope-trance staccato power and subway lyricism of the Velvet Underground, but rather opts for a hard, clean, clear, near-royal Mott the Hoople/Eric Clapton opulence and Reed sings out most of the songs in his effective street-talk style.

The two compilations are also important additions to my collection.

NYC Man is a career spanning double album. It combines his solo efforts with his Velvet Underground classics. 

It's also a special compilation as all the songs were chosen, sequenced and remastered by Lou Reed himself.

A Life in Music was a covermount for a Mojo Magazine issue in 2016. It takes the side road route with lesser known Reed songs. I can certainly live without hearing anything off Metal Machine Music that's fersure.

Where do they all belong? I love the Lou Reed albums I own but I don't want any more.