Rock

A superlative album. It’s actually a toss-up for me between this album and ‘Low Spark of High Heeled Boys’ as to which is Traffic’s best recording, but it really doesn’t matter. I’ll take both. Anyway, it is quite ballsy that a rock band of Traffic’s stature should title their album and include a 6.5 minute long version of a 16th century song — an allegory on the cultivation of barley and it alcoholic after-effects. Yet, it works; in fact, I prefer this version of John Barleycorn to that of Martin Carthy, Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span, it is that good. But most of the album is far more jazzier than folky, a compliment to the diversity of Traffic. ‘Glad’ is exactly what its title implies: a joyous and jazzy romp with one of the nicest piano sequences in rock ‘n’ roll. ‘Glad’ segues seamlessly into ‘Freedom Rider’ another bit of jazz fusion, and an excellent vocal bookend to the instrumental ‘Glad’. ‘Empty Pages’ presents Traffic at its most…ummm…’Trafficesque’. It is a quintessential Traffic tune.

And this is the quintessential Traffic album: compositionally diverse, catchy riffing and a musical virtuousity that one does not find in the later ages of rock. As a matter of fact, an argument can be made that this type of album can no longer be made, due to the reliance on strict genre-defining output and the lack of musical diversification in the current crop of rock musicians. I hate the wanking 21st century. —Dark Elf

An orphan in the Bowie canon, crowded together with Low and “Heroes” as part of the Berlin trilogy when in fact it’s best understood as the transition from those albums to Scary Monsters, Lodger is perhaps the most underrated record from Bowie’s classic period. In fact, I would argue it’s the most satisfying of the Berlin trio.

There’s something odd and slightly uncomfortable about Lodger – it’s hurt by a surprisingly muddy mix, and its flow feels disjointed, even after repeated listens – but that’s part of its appeal. I hesitate to use the term “avant-pop,” because that’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but I think it’s fitting in this case. A working title was “Planned Accidents,” and that aesthetic is consistently present on all ten tracks. The songs here are mostly melodic and catchy, but they’re ripped apart by tape-warped guitar solos (courtesy of the always excellent Adrian Belew,) weird flourishes of faux-exotica, and odd song structures.

All in all, there’s not a bad song in the bunch. From the thrilling rush of “Look Back In Anger,” which features wonderfully melodramatic vocals from Bowie, to the catchy ersatz Turkish reggae of “Yassassin,” to the gently swaying, socially conscious opener “Fantastic Voyage,” Bowie is in top form. Even the deliberately jarring, dissonant “African Night Flight,” which bears Eno’s fingerprints all over it, is fascinating. And I haven’t mentioned “DJ” or “Red Sails,” two of the very best songs on here! on’t overlook this gem. —Mason

In the context of his entire body of work, it’s neither out of place nor a difficult listen…quite the opposite. Even after 20 plus years, whenever I play this CD, it seems to fly by and end too soon – I can’t find a boring or wasted second on here. Jackson takes his cues from a wide range of composers (Aaron Copland, Ennio Morricone, Philip Glass to name a few), and comes up with an utterly original and fresh take on contemporary classical music. “No Pasaran” is pensive and slightly nervous with excellent use of dynamic range and spiky orchestral stabs. “Solitude” is beautifully mournful, one of the great treasures of his catalogue. The title track may be my favorite, it incorporates many styles into a unified and exciting whole and does so in a masterful way. “Nocturne” is Jackson’s piano solo showcase, and it’s fantastically beautifully composed and played…so much soul coming from the performance. The album closes with a piece reworked from a score he wrote for a Japanese film, that trivial tidbit hardly matters though. It’s certainly cinematic, or maybe I should really say it’s program music as it conveys a meaning that is forced to be separate from the film music that spawned it (having never seen the movie, that is). The sound quality of this release is expertly engineered – a full digital recording but done right with warmth and fullness. I’ve owned this album since it’s release and it gets played several times a year. As time passes, familiarity has caused a strong personal bond with the music and it’s become one of my favorite albums. —BabeHardy

“Flesh & Blood” found Roxy Music at the height of their transition from the very eclectic and experimental style of their initial first and extraordinary album in 1972 through 1975’s “Siren”. Following the much underappreciated “Manifesto”, and culminating with “Avalon” in 1982. Ferry and Co. continued to expand on their own brand of ‘post modern’ and progressive sound, that would eventually become one of the biggest influence along with Bowie on a slew of the New Wave bands to come. Bryan Ferry’s lounge lizard incarnation seemed to have come to full fruition on “Flesh & Blood”. I think all the songs on here are exceptional, including the covers “In the Midnight Hour” and “Eight Miles High”. I especially like “Flesh and Blood”, “Rain Rain Rain”, “My Only Love”, the Ferry/Manzanera penned “No Strange Delight” and “Running Wild”. The absence of the great Paul Thompson was made up by some great session drummers, like Allan Schwartzberg, Andy Newmark, and Simon Phillips. In my humble opinion, Roxy Music never made a bad record! —Carlos

Blue Moves broke Elton John’s seven consecutive #1 album streak. This has wrongfully earned it a bad reputation. It didn’t help that it was instantly dismissed by the critics and that this in turn drove many of Elton John’s loyal fan away. In fact, it is a step up from it’s predecessor Rock of the Westies and a worthy continuation of what was up until this point his nearly flawless music output. Comparisons between this and Elton’s other, more famous, double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road are likely to be what plagued its public reception, as they were inevitable. Whereas Yellow Brick Road was glamorous and flashy, Blue Moves is intentionally bloated, huge, and vast. Everything is blown out of proportion on this album and its obvious Elton meant it as a big step forward. It’s inherent ambition may have led to its bad reception, but in retrospect it is a fine album, in its own right and compared to its predecessors.

The title Blue Moves suggests a somber and withdrawn album, and this is true to some degree; the album’s hit “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” is solemn and depressing (if not beautiful) and the openers, “Your Starter For” and “Tonight” are dark orchestral pieces. Together, they act as this album’s version of “Funeral For a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding”; “Your Starter For…” and the first half of “Tonight” are instrumental, much as “Funeral For a Friend”, but where that song was progressive rock, these are orchestral- not to mention gorgeous. They sound like the soundtrack to the saddest movie ever made. Then comes the vocals on “Tonight” and the song shifts gears slightly, sounding more poignant and fragile; though just as dark and moody. “Funeral For a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding” may have been a more instantly-winning and exciting opener for Yellow Brick Road, these two songs stir more emotion, even if they don’t grab the listener at first. Continuing the dark trend of the album is the next track, “One Horse Town”, which has helps swing the the album in more of a rock direction. The guitar work is amazing and when coupled with the rich dark atmosphere the orchestra adds, it’s an incredible song. Next is a more lighthearted and traditional ballad; “Chameleon”, which is another lost treasure. Next is “Boogie Pilgrim”, which adds a good funk element to the equation, and the folky masterpiece “Cage the Songbird”. The next two tracks, “Crazy Water” and “Shoulder Holster” favorably recall the funk/rock atmosphere of Rock of the Westies. Then we come to the hit “Sorry”, followed by the odd instrumental “Out of the Blue”. The album continues to hit frequent highs from here, such as the gospel flavored “Where’s the Shoorah”, “If There’s a God in Heaven”, “Idol”, and “Someone’s Final Song”.Then come the final two tracks on the album: “Theme from a Non-Existant TV series”, which is yet another instrumental and by far the least impressive (it has an odd river dance feel to it) and “Bit Your Lip (Get Up and Dance)”, which is mind-numbingly repetitive, way too long and just plain irritating. Though the closing songs end the album on anything but a high note, Blue Moves is an underrated album. It takes some time to grow, but once it does, it ranks among his other great ’70s albums. —Tommy

While countless hours of music geek drooling have been spent over the unreleased Smile album, this rushed it’s place release is nevertheless an unusual and highly original set of seemingly half finished pieces, balanced by the inclusion of pop symphony “Good Vibrations” and the multi-phonic wall of vocals on “Heroes and Villains,” two completely out of place, massive sounding singles. Elsewhere, the rest of the 28-minute Smiley Smile is drastically contrasted by underproduced entries such as the child like “Vegetables,” hushed tones of “Wind Chimes” and “Wonderful,” and doo-wop ballad “With Me Tonight,” tracks that feature simple instrumentation and often exhibit segmented, cut and paste style arrangements. Add in the ultra dry recording of the vocals that make the songs sound even more like demos, and it’s easy to see why the general public didn’t get Smiley Smile upon it’s release.

While it’s still a little underwhelming in light of Wilson’s completion of Smile, there’s a homespun, slightly psychedelic charm here that deserves more appreciation. —Ben