Music Reviews

You have to be in the mood for ELO, and a whole lot of ELO at its most ELO-esque, if you’re going to absorb this entire double album in one sitting. This album contains the singles “Turn To Stone”, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” and “Mr. Blue Sky”, three of the best ELO singles ever to hit the airwaves. Some of the best album tracks also come from this one as well, including “Starlight”, one of the best songs ELO ever recorded. Don’t ask me why, but my favorite Jeff Lynne compositions show their 50s-retro roots quite audibly. Also included are “Jungle”, a song that sounds incredibly silly on the surface but is appealing all the same; “Standing In The Rain”, keyboardist Richard Tandy’s most jaw-dropping performance (and this was years before MIDI, children); the rough-edged Birmingham Blues (about the band’s home town – England, not Alabama); “Summer And Lightning” and “Night In The City” (two of the very few songs in which every possible good clichè of ELO’s sound converges), and one of my favorite instrumentals, “The Whale”. Some would argue that this is the last time ELO really sounded good, and that’s not entirely untrue. Out Of The Blue also marks the beginning of ELO’s most commercial phase of existence; the adventurous ELO of old didn’t return until 1981.

1. Turn To Stone (3:47)
2. It’s Over (4:08)
3. Sweet Talkin’ Woman (3:48)
4. Across the Border (3:53)
5. Night in the City (4:01)
6. Starlight (4:26)
7. Jungle (3:51)
8. Believe Me Now (1:21)
9. Steppin’ Out (4:39)
10. Standin’ in the Rain (4:21)
11. Big Wheels (5:05)
12. Summer and Lightning (4:14)
13. Mr. Blue Sky (5:05)
14. Sweet is the Night (3:26)
15. The Whale (5:02)
16. Birmingham Blues (4:23)
17. Wild West Hero (4:42)

Released by: Jet
Release date: 1977
Total running time: 70:12

It all started here. This was the first ELO album – in fact, the first rock album – ever given to me; my older brother introduced me to this one on 8-track when I was around five or six years old, and it pretty much set the pattern. Having only heard some of my mother’s easy listening records and the only album I truly had to my own name – John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack – I immediately gravitated toward this rock music that sounded like it had a heavy-duty soundtrack incorporated into it, and I have favored that kind of music since. That could, in fact, best describe the kind of music I love the most – something that, if it never has been played by any sort of classical instrument, sounds like it could easily translate to that medium and sound majestic. Where this album specifically is concerned, though, it contains one of my favorite rock songs of all time, “Mission (A World Record)”, a very unusual, dark piece of music with mournful lyrics that seem to be sung from the vantage point of aliens observing life on Earth. Most people will be more familiar with this album’s singles, “Telephone Line”, “Livin’ Thing”, “Rockaria!” (another favorite, a humorous hard rocker that pays tribute to several classical composers) and “Do Ya”. This is my favorite ELO release from the 70s, and my favorite rock album, period. I just haven’t heard it get much better than this.

1. Tightrope (5:03)
2. Telephone Line (4:38)
3. Rockaria! (3:12)
4. Mission (A World Record) (4:26)
5. So Fine (3:55)
6. Livin’ Thing (3:31)
7. Above The Clouds (2:17)
8. Do Ya (3:44)
9. Shangri-La (5:34)

Released by: Jet
Release date: 1976
Total running time: 36:20

Relax. The backward voice that booms through the intro of “Fire On High” is simply saying the famous phrase, “The music is reversible, but time is not,” and just between you and me, the voice treatment and the phrase itself sound like a Vorlon from Babylon 5 (not to mention that later ELO albums credited art and photography to someone simply named Kosh). In the meantime, this album marked the beginning of ELO’s more consciously commercial sound, which had mixed results. The all-time classic “Evil Woman” gets old after a while, but I could listen to “Strange Magic” for a long time. The best song on the album has to be the ballad “Waterfall”, and as for songs I could have done without…well, it could just be the fact that I’m all too familiar with the south, but “Down Home Town” just grates on my nerves…

1. Fire On High (5:30)
2. Waterfall (4:27)
3. Evil Woman (4:20)
4. Nightrider (4:23)
5. Poker (3:32)
6. Strange Magic (4:30)
7. Down Home Town (3:54)
8. One Summer Dream (5:48)

Released by: Jet
Release date: 1975
Total running time: 36:24

This is the first ELO album which achieves a true orchestral sound by using session musicians. It also contains “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head”, one of the very few ELO singles I rate as highly as I do the band’s non-single album tracks; on this song, Jeff Lynne is almost a vocal dead ringer for John Lennon, and though this album was released six years before Lennon’s death, it’s still eerie to hear. It also contains “Laredo Tornado”, a spooky song driven by a mournful guitar phrase and one of my all-time favorites, “Illusions In G Major”, a song which is actually the most rock-oriented piece on the whole album despite its fancy title, and the mournful Eldorado itself in which Lynne strives for other extremes and almost achieves an operatic sound with his singing. Not only is the album on my Damn Near Perfect Album List, but it’s the point at which ELO caught on like wildfire – and not without reason. Highest recommendations.

1. Eldorado Overture (2:13)
2. Can’t Get It Out Of My Head (4:21)
3. Boy Blue (5:19)
4. Laredo Tornado (5:30)
5. Poorboy (The Greenwood) (2:56)
6. Mister Kingdom (5:30)
7. Nobody’s Child (3:57)
8. Illusions In G Major (2:38)
9. Eldorado (5:18)
10. Eldorado Finale (1:39)

Released by: Jet
Release date: 1974
Total running time: 39:21

This is probably ELO’s most schizophrenic album, leaping from the use of the F word in “Oh No, Not Susan” to the lyrics of “Dreaming Of 4000”, which don’t know if they’re trying to be an environmental protest or some kind of vaguely Christian rock. ELO singer/guitarist/songwriter Jeff Lynne has since commented that he doesn’t know what he could have been thinking, and I have to agree with him there. But there are several good things about this album. The instrumental overture, “Ocean Breakup”, is as driving and ominous as “King Of The Universe” is…well, just plain weird. (Lovely to listen to, but weird.) “New World Rising” sounds like an embryonic “Mr. Blue Sky” in the making – same subject, and a very similar sound – and “Bluebird Is Dead”, in spite of the lyrics, sounds like something the Beatles might have turned out had they lasted past 1970. All in all, it’s a very strange and uneven album. I’ve grown to like most of it, though there are still songs that I rarely go back and listen to. And I still don’t know what Jeff Lynne could have been thinking…

1. Ocean Breakup / King Of The Universe (4:06)
2. Bluebird Is Dead (4:22)
3. Oh No, Not Susan (3:28)
4. New World Rising / Ocean Breakup Reprise (4:04)
5. Showdown (4:09)
6. Daybreaker (3:50)
7. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (3:52)
8. Dreaming Of 4000 (5:02)
9. In The Hall Of The Mountain King (6:33)

Released by:
Release date:
Total running time:

This is the album from which “Roll Over Beethoven” sprang, all eight minutes of it, and that’s not even the best reason to pick this one up. The most off-putting thing about ELO’s second album – and the first without co-founder Roy Wood, who walked out of the band after repeated arguments with Jeff Lynne over who was in charge – is the sheer length of every number. At eight minutes, “Roll Over Beethoven” is the third-shortest number on ELO II. “In Old England Town”, the hard-rocking opening piece, clocks in at just under seven minutes, and the longest song, “Kuiama”, runs a little over eleven. All of them are worth a listen, though the band’s studio technique still depended on grungy multiple overdubs of two cellos and a violin to achieve ELO’s titular orchestral obligations, and overall Lynne rocks harder on the first three albums than he does later in the 70s. Highly recommended for the bittersweet “Mama”, the boisterous “From The Sun To The World”, and the very ambitious musical arrangement – if not the anti-war lyrics – of “Kuiama”.

1. In Old England Town – Boogie #2 (6:54)
2. Mama (7:03)
3. Roll Over Beethoven (8:10)
4. From The Sun To The World – Boogie #1 (8:22)
5. Kuiama (11:19)

Released by: Jet
Release date: 1972
Total running time: 41:48

Get ready for a very long stretch of ELO reviews, for these guys, as you probably well know, are my all-time favorites. This first album of theirs offers few hints of their future sound, and is probably the most atypical ELO album of all. The reasons for this abound, ranging from the crude studio technology available to the band at the time, to the schizophrenic feel of the album resulting from the presence of then-lead singer/musician Roy Wood, who had also fronted the Move. In many ways, ELO’s first album sounds much like a Move record – and in many cases the Move’s recordings were better engineered. That aside, the music is strikingly different enough to leave a lasting impression. Wood’s “Whisper In The Night” has an almost religious feel, and the early Jeff Lynne tunes “Queen Of The Hours” and “Mr. Radio” deliver his inimitable gift for composing a good song in the Beatles mold. Other pieces, such as the cello-saturated “10538 Overture” and “Nellie Takes Her Bow”, both of them also Lynne’s creations, leave quite a bit to be desired in terms of being able to discern voices, instruments, lyrics, or much of anything else. The final verdict – an uneven but promising collection.

1. 10538 Overture (5:30)
2. Look At Me Now (3:17)
3. Nellie Takes Her Bow (6:01)
4. The Battle Of Martson Moor / July 2nd, 1644 (6:04)
5. First Movement (3:00)
6. Mr. Radio (5:04)
7. Manhattan Rumble / 49th St. Massacre (4:23)
8. Queen Of The Hours (3:23)
9. Whisper In The Night (4:48)

Released by: Jet
Release date: 1971
Total running time: 41:30

My feelings for this final epic selection of rare Beatles material are bound to be influenced by the fact that, aside from Abbey Road, I just didn’t care all that much for the Fab Four’s latter-day output. Something about it just never quite set well with me. Was it the meditational influence of the time they spent with Maharishi? No, I don’t think so…there were more overt Indian influences earlier on with George’s sitar dabblings. Was it the increasing rift between the Beatles? Nope…unlike a lot of scholars who spend a lot of time trying to psychoanalyze the Beatles, I really can’t tell by listening. Somehow it was a simultaneous lack of musical daring, and a propensity to occasionally go too far out (this I largely attribute to John). But there are still plenty of items to like on this double disc, including a number of Abbey Road demos, rehearsals and outtakes, so I had to spring for it. One notable song is George Harrison’s demo of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, which is almost unrecognizable without the trademark Clapton slide guitar. It seems like a lot of my favorite late-era Beatles tunes, and my favorites on the third Anthology, are Harrison numbers, including “Not Guilty” and “Something” (both again in early stages of development). But there are other buried treasures here as well, including Paul McCartney’s never-before-released demo of “Come And Get It” (which made stars of the band Badfinger), and my favorite of the entire third Anthology, an a capella rendition of “Because” in nine-part harmony. Wow. Even with my skepticism and reservations about the Beatles’ last few albums, hearing this version of Because instantly reminds me of why the the Beatles were great, especially once they sequestered themselves in studio and concentrated on musical ideas.

Disc one
1. A Beginning (0:50)
2. Happiness Is A Warm Gun (2:15)
3. Helter Skelter (4:37)
4. Mean Mr. Mustard (1:58)
5. Polythene Pam (1:27)
6. Glass Onion (1:51)
7. Junk (2:24)
8. Piggies (2:01)
9. Honey Pie (1:19)
10. Don’t Pass Me By (2:43)
11. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (2:56)
12. Good Night (2:38)
13. Cry Baby Cry (2:46)
14. Blackbird (2:19)
15. Sexy Sadie (4:06)
16. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (3:27)
17. Hey Jude (4:21)
18. Not Guilty (3:22)
19. Mother Nature’s Son (3:17)
20. Glass Onion (2:09)
21. Rocky Raccoon (4:12)
22. What’s The New Mary Jane (6:12)
23. Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias (2:31)
24. I’m So Tired (2:30)
25. I Will (2:11)
26. Why Don’t We Do It In The Road (2:13)
27. Julia (1:55)

Disc two
1. I’ve Got A Feeling (2:49)
2. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (3:37)
3. Dig A Pony (4:18)
4. Two Of Us (3:27)
5. For You Blue (2:23)
6. Teddy Boy (3:18)
7. Medley: Rip It Up / Shake, Rattle & Roll / Blue Suede Shoes (3:11)
8. The Long And Winding Road (3:41)
9. Oh! Darling (4:08)
10. All Things Must Pass (3:05)
11. Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues (1:56)
12. Get Back (3:08)
13. Old Brown Shoe (3:03)
14. Octopus’s Garden (2:49)
15. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (3:50)
16. Something (3:19)
17. Come Together (3:40)
18. Come And Get It – Paul’s Demo (2:30)
19. Ain’t She Sweet (2:09)
20. Because (2:23)
21. Let It Be (4:06)
22. I Me Mine (1:47)
23. The End (2:51)

Released by: Capitol
Release date: 1996
Disc one total running time: 74:04
Disc two total running time: 71:30

So, here it is. My first conscious alternative music purchase. I suppose that honor could be bestowed upon the Finn album, but I bought that on the fine reputation of the artists concerned. I heard the single “Flood” from Jars of Clay on a long business trip (the alternative-ish radio station in Fayetteville was the only one that wasn’t driving me up the wall with redneck clichè) without realizing who had done the song. Now I’ve found the CD. And I’m amazed. These guys border on – hang on to your hats – Christian alternative! It wasn’t until I listened to all the words again that it dawned on me. In places, it’s obvious, and in others the references are quite subtle indeed. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this. But that aside, these guys are great! In a way, their sound reminds me of a very raw incarnation of the Move, the avant-garde 60s band that spawned ELO. A small string section in nearly every number confers a bit of dignity to the otherwise raw, “alternative” atmosphere of acoustic guitars and some excellent vocal harmonies. I very highly recommend this.

1. Liquid (3:31)
2. Sinking (3:48)
3. Love Song for a Savior (4:46)
4. Like a Child (4:35)
5. Art In Me (3:58)
6. He (5:17)
7. Boy on a String (3:30)
8. Flood (3:33)
9. Worlds Apart (5:18)
10. Blind (3:59)

Released by: Silvertone
Release date: 1995
Total running time: 65:39

This is a rather curious concept. For all the wonderful melodies that emanated from New Zealand’s Split Enz from the early 70s through 1985, I’d never really thought of them as potential orchestral numbers, though they tend toward complex arrangements (which is surprising, as many interviews with Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner, who initiated this project, revealed that few if any of the band’s players are actually formally-trained musicians). The album kicks off with a haunting and majestic rendition of “Poor Boy” and it’s instantly evident that the quality and intensity of the arrangements have been magnified immensely. I’d heard some very lukewarm (and a couple of downright cold) reviews on the ability of the group’s more standard-issue pop songs to translate into full symphonic arrangements. Possibly the best example of this is the medley of “Stranger Than Fiction” and “Time For A Change”, two songs from the band’s first album which were full of menace and anguish, which are given an even greater tension in this new medium. Even the cartoony “My Mistake” sounds great, going from its circus-organ-like original to a loud and clumsy brass band (kudos to the NZSO for playing quite so badly in just the right places!) One of the most surprising transformations occurs with Tim Finn’s “I Hope I Never”, beautifully sung by Annie Crummer against a backdrop of real strings – not synthesized as in the original. The switcheroo of singers is a fun guessing game; Dave Dobbyn takes over some of Tim’s old falsetto favorites such as “Poor Boy”, while Neil and Tim share vocals on “Stranger Than Fiction” and Neil takes “Stuff And Nonsense” over from his older brother. “Under The Wheel” is recited entirely by poet Sam Hunt with a truly jazzy rendition of the music behind him. Original Enz percussionist Noel Crombie returns to the instrument that made him famous in the early days, playing spoons – specifically the spoon/piano break from “The Woman Who Loves You” is jammed into the middle of “Strait Old Line”, which sounds virtually nothing at all like its original incarnation. In all, this is an outstanding album – the novelty of hearing the Finns singing with an orchestral backing, hearing these old arrangements punched up to maximum intensity with a huge ensemble, and the sheer quality of the whole thing. I know the notoriety of ENZSO would wear off if it were overdone, but I’d love to hear some more of those old Split Enz tunes given this treatment someday. A definite addition to my DNP Album List on the first listen! My singular peeve is the song “I See Red”, which was originally downright hyperactive, but seems to have been toned down drastically so Tim Finn could still sing it without exceeding his current vocal range; the song’s original appeal is diluted enough that I think perhaps another piece could have been substituted to greater effect.

1. Poor Boy (5:06)
2. Message To My Girl (6:05)
3. I Hope I Never (5:35)
4. Strait Old Line (5:50)
5. Stuff and Nonsense (5:39)
6. Albert of India (5:41)
7. My Mistake (2:57)
8. Voices (4:15)
9. I See Red (6:25)
10. Under the Wheel (7:20)
11. Dirty Creature (6:39)
12. Stranger Than Fiction / Time For A Change (11:29)

Released by: Epic Australia
Release date: 1996
Total running time: 73:01

This long-overdue album by my favorite jazz guitarist is just now surfacing in some parts of the country. Ralf’s latest release, surprisingly, sees him popping up on a label other than new age powerhouse Narada, and his material also shifts into a different direction, with harmonies which are more abstract and dissonant than his previous work. Illenberger still maintains his style of building a nearly hypnotic, cyclical sound underlying the melody, which keeps his music complex and interesting enough to avoid being thought of as background music. The experimentation on this album makes one wonder if Ralf has any plans for another release anytime soon…and just how different will his next album be?

1. Riding the Wave (4:46)
2. Falling Down (3:37)
3. Sedona (3:01)
4. Frogs (4:01)
5. Secret Canyon (4:33)
6. Crying Sky (4:46)
7. Full Moon (4:41)
8. Once Again (3:52)
9. Ravens Above (9:49)
10. Still Blue (5:09)
11. Face Shift (4:08)
12. Dream Catcher (5:11)

Released by: in joy music
Release date: 1995
Total running time: 58:02

I really wasn’t planning on getting this until I heard “Head Over Feet” a few times on the radio. I know some people thought “Ironic” and others from this album were “really deep songs,” but I wasn’t convinced of Alanis’ musical merits until I heard “Head Over Feet”, which, if you can stomach the well-worn sound of Alanis’ voice after months of repeated airplay, actually has some rather nice romantic lyrics that manage to avoid the realm of bubblegum-pop fluff. As it so happens, that song is the exception rather than the rule on this album. While I usually tend to like Alanis’ lyrics if nothing else, there is a sameness that plagues every song on this album – it all seems to come down to Alanis singing, a drum machine and the occasional splash of real percussion, and grungy guitar playing. A so-so album at best, though I guess I can see why there are so many die-hard Alanisites out there.

1. All I Really Want (4:45)
2. You Oughta Know (4:09)
3. Perfect (3:08)
4. Hand In My Pocket (3:41)
5. Right Through You (2:56)
6. Forgiven (5:00)
7. You Learn (3:59)
8. Head Over Feet (4:27)
9. Mary Jane (4:41)
10. Ironic (3:50)
11. Not The Doctor (3:47)
12. Wake Up (4:54)

Released by: Maverick
Release date: 1995
Total running time: 57:33

I’m a bit embarassed about this one, to be honest. I got sucked into the Cardigans the same way I got into Merril Bainbridge – I was wondering “Did they really just sing what I think they just sang?” Mind you, I was already reeling from months of unfortunate radio exposure to “LoveFool”, also known as the “love me, love me, fool me, fool me” song, and I had truly grown tired of it. “LoveFool” annoys me on many levels, not the least of which is the “I don’t care how you treat me, just don’t leave” message that the lyrics present – does anyone really want their daughter or sister listening to something like that? “Been It” just flat shocked me – it’s a much better song musically, and the lyrics are much more cohesive in that they actually mean something – though I think it’s the first time I’d ever heard the word “whore” on top 40 radio before the Cardigans came along. Something about the message woven into the Cardigans’ lyrics bothers me greatly as someone who is aware that people – especially impressionable young people – do receive these messages loud and clear. We already have plenty of “ho” lyrics coming from male rappers…do we really need to hear a female singing “Maybe I was your whore” and encouraging that line of thought among women and girls who are listening (to say nothing of the men who are listening)? The Cardigans have the musicianship to hold their own, and Nina Persson’s vocals are effective at both the wispy and the gutsy ends of the spectrum…but the lyrics need some serious work. Later efforts such as “Erase / Rewind” proved that they could do better than this.

1. Your New Cuckoo (3:57)
2. Been It (4:06)
3. Heartbreaker (3:42)
4. Happy Meal II (2:37)
5. Never Recover (3:21)
6. Step On Me (3:48)
7. LoveFool (3:21)
8. Losers (3:06)
9. Iron Man (4:20)
10. Great Divide (3:17)
11. Choice (3:26)

Released by: Mercury
Release date: 1996
Total running time: 39:09

Is it possible that the immensely talented Tori Amos stretched her stylistic envelope about as far as it could possibly go with her 1992 debut album? Or could it be that her subject matter is finally getting so “out there” that I’m losing track of her? Much of the lyrics of 1992’s Little Earthquakes seemed, at least on the surface, to deal with rape; the abusive element continued in 1994 on Under The Pink, which concerned itself with a number of vindictive themes.

So far, I am at a total loss as to what Boys for Pèlè is about. I really can’t decipher most of the lyrics. Tori’s got a penchant for all kinds of clever wordplay and secret messages, but for some reason I’m drawing blanks on a lot of the words this time around. Maybe I just haven’t “been there.” Or maybe she is straying far and wide of what originally drew me to her music. I really can’t tell yet.

Lyrics aside, Boys for Pèlè isn’t especially innovative in the music department alone; “Professional Widow” struck me as being a second dose of “God” from her last album, and I believe I would’ve liked it a lot better if it had been a piano rendering instead of the “funky harpsichord” treatment it got. (I’ll state right here and now, I just do not like the sound of the harpsichord. I don’t like it if the music being played on it was composed centuries ago or mere months ago. This album is smothered with harpsichord, or at least a clavinet trying to pass itself off as one. Urgh!)

At the same time, Boys for Pèlè does exhibit some intriguing new additions to Tori’s repertoire that bear examination next time around. A really jazzy little tune (“In The Springtime Of His Voodoo”) comes out on top as my favorite – it’s a real cookin’, swinging little number! Loved it. I also liked the very percussive “Caught A Lite Sneeze”, the first single off the album. The two big surprises were a couple of numbers on which Tori is joined by a small brass jazz group, and another which features what sounds like a southern gospel choir. Both of these elements are surprising to find on Tori’s music, and they meld with it beautifully.

Still, I found the innovative to be in the minority, but still well worth a listen. When Little Earthquakes was first released, it hit me like a revelation – it was like nothing I’d ever heard before. Now, here it is four years later, and my biggest criticism of Tori’s two albums since her debut is that both of them tried to improve on areas that needed no improvement, and both of them retained weaknesses that could’ve used some work. Tori has never quite managed to surpass her first effort. Or equal it.

1. Beauty Queen / Horses (6:07)
2. Blood Roses (3:56)
3. Father Lucifer (3:43)
4. Professional Widow (4:31)
5. Mr. Zebra (1:07)
6. Marianne (4:07)
7. Caught a Lite Sneeze (4:24)
8. Muhammed My Friend (3:48)
9. Hey Jupiter (5:10)
10. Way Down (1:13)
11. Little Amsterdam (4:29)
12. Talula (4:08)
13. Not the Red Baron (3:49)
14. Agent Orange (1:26)
15. Doughnut Song (4:19)
16. In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (5:32)
17. Putting the Damage On (5:08)
18. Twinkle (3:12)

Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 1996
Total running time:

Slightly more accessible than the first volume of the Anthology, this collection covers what is likely more familiar and beloved ground to many – the years that spanned Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper in which the Beatles abandoned the stage and ensconsed themselves in the studio. And it’s good. It’s really good. For every interesting live/early piece on Anthology 1, Anthology 2 has an unreleased or remixed studio track (and a few live ones too, from Blackpool Night Out and Shea Stadium).

First things first. Not having heard anything but the album masters of the many songs heard in different forms here, the main reason I bought Anthology 2 was “Real Love”, a song which has been stuck in my head since November 1995 when it aired on TV. This is a beautiful song. I thought “Free As A Bird” sounded just like what it was, a Lennon solo piece with overdubs from the other Beatles. “Real Love”, though it is also an incomplete Lennon demo, sounds and feels more like a Beatles song. It hits that soft spot in everyone’s heart, that corner of everybody that – despite all cynical efforts to deny it – is a hopeless romantic. What a great song. On the technical side, great production by my musical hero, Jeff Lynne.

The rest isn’t bad, either. Included are such interesting items as a no-vocals mix of “Eleanor Rigby”‘s string quartet, an instrumental rehearsal of “I’m Only Sleeping” (one of my personal favorite Beatles tunes), the basic rhythm tracks and vocal of “I Am The Walrus” sans overdubbed strings and effects, truly weird takes of “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Your Mother Should Know”, and some very nice stripped-down takes of “Across the Universe” (another beautiful song), “Hello Goodbye”, and many others. The booklet is, again, wonderful to read whether you’re listening to the CDs or not.

How could they top this one with Anthology 3? I asked myself…

Disc one
1. Real Love (3:54)
2. Yes It Is (1:50)
3. I’m Down (2:54)
4. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – false starts (2:45)
5. If You’ve Got Trouble (2:48)
6. That Means A Lot (2:26)
7. Yesterday – first take, guitar only (2:34)
8. It’s Only Love (1:59)
9. I Feel Fine – live TV appearance from Blackpool Night Out (2:15)
10. Ticket to Ride (2:45)
11. Yesterday (2:43)
12. Help! (2:54)
13. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby – Shea Stadium, 8-15-65 (2:46)
14. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) – first take (1:59)
15. I’m Looking Through You (2:54)
16. 12-Bar Original – instrumental (2:55)
17. Tomorrow Never Knows – first take (3:14)
18. Got To Get You Into My Life – no brass (2:54)
19. And Your Bird Can Sing – second take, blooper (2:14)
20. Taxman (2:32)
21. Eleanor Rigby – string quartet only (2:06)
22. I’m Only Sleeping – instrumental rehearsal (0:41)
23. I’m Only Sleeping – first take (2:59)
24. Rock ‘n’ Roll Music – Bukodan, 6-30-66 (1:38)
25. She’s a Woman – Bukodan, 6-30-66 (2:55)

Disc two
1. Strawberry Fields Forever – John’s demo (1:42)
2. Strawberry Fields Forever – first take (2:34)
3. Strawberry Fields Forever – seventh take (4:14)
4. Penny Lane (3:13)
5. A Day in the Life – no orchestral overdubs (5:04)
6. Good Morning, Good Morning – no brass (2:40)
7. Only a Northern Song (2:44)
8. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (1:06)
9. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite – seventh take (2:33)
10. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (3:06)
11. Within You Without You – instrumental tracks only (5:27)
12. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – reprise (1:27)
13. You Know My Name, Look Up The Number (5:44)
14. I Am The Walrus – no orchestral overdubs (4:02)
15. The Fool on the Hill – Paul’s demo (2:48)
16. Your Mother Should Know – 27th take (3:02)
17. The Fool on the Hill – fourth take (3:45)
18. Hello Goodbye – 16th take (3:18)
19. Lady Madonna (2:22)
20. Across the Universe – recorded 2-68, John & guitar only (3:28)

Released by: Capitol
Release date: 1996
Disc one total running time: 63:37
Disc two total running time: 64:21

Yes, it’s another entry in my fascination with music from Australia and New Zealand, but the difference here is that everybody’s heard of Men At Work. Normally, I shy away from “best of” albums unless I only like one or two singles a band does in the first place, or unless the band in question concentrates all their energy on their singles and seems to fizzle out on the album tracks. The latter describes Men At Work. I used to have their first two albums, but gladly traded both in for this CD, which includes some material from a third album I had never heard of. The booklet included is insightful, if a little too slap-on-the-back-ish and self-congratulatory. And naturally, all of the band’s well-known (and even a few less well-known) singles are present. This CD is still widely available, so if you remember Men At Work fondly like I do, it’s probably a good pick for you.

1. Who Can It Be Now? (3:19)
2. Down Under (3:40)
3. It’s a Mistake (4:31)
4. Hard Luck Story (3:41)
5. Still Life (3:49)
6. Underground (3:02)
7. Upstairs In My House (4:00)
8. I Like To – live   (4:25)
9. High Wire (3:00)
10. Maria (4:34)
11. Be Good Johnny (3:33)
12. Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive (4:36)
13. Overkill (3:43)
14. The Man With Two Hearts (3:55)
15. Snakes and Ladders (3:16)
16. Down By The Sea (6:48)

Released by: Legacy
Release date: 1996
Total running time: 64:06

Wow. Now this is more like it. My all-time favorite Police album, Ghost in the Machine may be best remembered as the album from which “Spirits In The Material World” (which will always be, in my mind, the definitive statement of the Police sound) and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” came, but also contains other personal favorites as “Too Much Information”, “Secret Journey” and “Hungry For You”, which is sung entirely in French until the last verse. I’m not sure what else I can say about this album aside from noting that it’s the Police in their finest form, and it was really the last time their music visited the edge of being new wave. The cover design is also very cool, using simple LED-type symbols for the three band members.

1. Spirits in the Material World (2:59)
2. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (4:21)
3. Invisible Sun (3:43)
4. Hungry For You (j’aurais toujours faim de toi) (2:53)
5. Demolition Man (5:55)
6. Too Much Information (3:42)
7. Rehumanize Yourself (3:11)
8. One World (Not Three) (4:46)
9. Omegaman (2:48)
10. Secret Journey (3:34)
11. Darkness (3:13)

Released by: A&M
Release date: 1981
Total running time: 41:05

Let’s get one thing straight, okay? There’s no such thing as a typical Peter Gabriel album. You can barely even compare one Gabriel album to another, as the style and emphasis shifts with each one of them. Hell, it’s even hard to put titles to them because the first three – technically, even the fourth (usually known as Security) as well – are simply titled Peter Gabriel. This is the album with the strange picture of Peter’s face melting. (Well, I’ll even grant you that most of his album covers are strange pictures of one sort or another…this is really getting us nowhere, isn’t it? Let’s talk about music, shall we?) Several of these tracks rank among my favorites, including the somewhat sinister “Intruder”, “I Don’t Remember”, “Not One Of Us”, and “And Through The Wire”. Also included are the slightly more familiar singles “Biko” and “Games Without Frontiers”. There’s also quite a slate of “guest stars” on the album, from Robert Fripp to Phil Collins to Kate Bush, but the end result remains distinctly Peter Gabriel. Highly recommended.

1. Intruder (4:53)
2. No Self Control (3:56)
3. Start (1:21)
4. I Don’t Remember (4:42)
5. Family Snapshot (4:29)
6. And Through the Wire (4:58)
7. Games Without Frontiers (4:07)
8. Not One Of Us (5:21)
9. Lead a Normal Life (4:15)
10. Biko (7:27)

Released by: Charisma
Release date: 1980
Total running time: 45:29

You know, I’ve got a lot of original television soundtracks. Some series span two dozen or more CDs, and others release one title and then vanish into one-season-wonder obscurity. Either way, I’ve got a ton of ’em. And very few of them hold together as well as Hiroshi Miyagawa’s original score from the first season of Space Battleship Yamato (better known in the U.S. as Star Blazers).

It could be that these cues and songs have been a part of my film music consciousness since before the age of ten, making them part of a small number of lifelong soundtrack favorites which also include Doctor Who, Star Trek (the original series) and Star Wars. But as I listened to this somewhat rare soundtrack, I realized that the whole thing is incredibly cohesive from a musical standpoint. Miyagawa utilizes leitmotives as effectively as any Western composer in the John Williams vein of film scoring, and by the end of the forty-four minute duration of the CD, I was amazed by how many permutations the show’s theme music had been put through. From heroic to somber to suspenseful to mournful, it’s a very versatile piece of music. And while I may make a modern-day comparison to John Williams, it’s important to remember that Space Battleship Yamato originally hit Japanese TV screens in 1974…before Star Wars, Superman, Close Encounters, or even Jaws.

Some of the incidental cues are solidly planted in a disco/funk idiom, but they still age well (especially since that whole millieu is well on its way to a comeback). The more orchestral cues also stand up to the test of time. My only regret about this soundtrack? It’s a mono recording. It would’ve been glorious to hear this stuff in stereo. The first incidental track on the CD, “The Universe Spreading To Infinity”, is a lovely choral piece which justifies the purchase price of the whole album.

Several other Star Blazers/Yamato soundtracks and re-recordings (akin to Varese Sarabande and Label X’s classic Trek re-recordings) exist, but for those fans who only plan on buying one Yamato CD, make it this one. Like Star Trek, Yamato “tracked” scenes frequently with music from its library of cues recorded for early episodes, and these pieces of music will strike a nostalgic chord for anyone who fondly remembers the series – these are the cues from early in the first season, and were re-used the most frequently. You’re sure to get a memory jolt from something on this CD! Highly recommended.

1. Space Battleship Yamato opening theme (1:18)
2. The Universe Spreading To Infinity (1:52)
3. Yamato Sleeps In The Setting Sun (1:18)
4. Yamato Launches From The Earth (2:19)
5. Enter Desslar (1:31)
6. Woman of Iscandar (1:00)
7. Sorrow (1:28)
8. Sortie of the Enemy Fleet (1:07)
9. Gathering The Fleet (1:21)
10. Black Tigers (2:50)
11. Search Ship (1:05)
12. Romance (0:47)
13. Shocking Scarf (0:45)
14. Scarf of Sorrow (0:56)
15. Yamato’s Bolero (0:57)
16. Large River Theme (1:32)
17. Crossing The Beautiful Ocean (2:49)
18. The Silence of Space (1:21)
19. Meadow (1:02)
20. Ghost Town (0:45)
21. Suspense A (1:02)
22. Suspense B (0:48)
23. Launch of the Search Ship (1:04)
24. Original Yamato Theme (1:07)
25. Yamato’s Sorrow (1:44)
26. Assembling The Carrier Fleet (1:58)
27. A Desperate Situation (1:07)
28. Warp (0:43)
29. Pathetic Yamato (1:48)
30. Ending Music Selections (cues) (1:32)
31. Procession of Yamato’s Crew (1:27)
32. Scarlet Scarf (ending theme) (1:24)

Released by: Nippon Columbia
Release date: 1995
Total running time: 44:04

This is easily the best album the Moodies unleashed in the ’80s, and is the closest they’d been to their signature sound in many years. Still under the influence of keyboardist Patrick Moraz, the Moodies sported a very electronic sound, but their trademark harmonies and the songwriting of Justin Hayward and John Lodge keep the songs identifiably Moody (or is that Blue?). Most people remember the song “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” from this album, though it’s packed with good music, my favorites being “No More Lies”, “Want To Be With You” and “Vintage Wine”. There are no bad songs on this album. If you like The Other Side of Life, you’ll love Sur la Mer.

1. I Know You’re Out There Somewhere (6:37)
2. Want To Be With You (4:48)
3. River of Endless Love (4:45)
4. No More Lies (5:13)
5. Here Comes The Weekend (4:13)
6. Vintage Wine (3:38)
7. Breaking Point (4:56)
8. Miracle (4:56)
9. Love Is On The Run (5:00)
10. Deep (6:50)

Released by: Threshold
Release date: 1988
Total running time: 50:56

It’s not every album that gets six hours of advertising on national television…and I can’t think of many artists who need less publicity! We’re talking about the Beatles. Just the mere rumors of a double CD with lots of unreleased early material would have sold millions of copies of this…but the six-hour television miniseries probably didn’t hurt sales. The first two CDs in the six-disc Anthology collection are rife with early material, including the first notes ever recorded by the Beatles and a huge number of live tracks, many of them quite good since they predate the era of the huge stadium shows where the fans were too busy screaming at the top of their lungs to allow the band to be heard. Of course, one of the main draws is a reconstructed version of an unreleased Lennon demo recording, “Free As A Bird”, co-produced by Jeff Lynne, though my favorites aside from that one include the almost silly-sounding “Ain’t She Sweet” and the clips from the Morecambe & Wise show. There are also versions of “Love Me Do” and “And I Love Her” that I like better than the masters to which we’re all so accustomed. A lot of the material on here makes no sense without the accompanying text of the CD booklet, and there’s probably a lot of it that has no value to any but the most die-hard Beatles listeners.

Disc one
1. Free As A Bird (4:24)
2. speech – John (0:13)
3. That’ll Be The Day (2:07)
4. In Spite Of All The Danger (2:45)
5. speech – Paul (0:18)
6. Hallelujah, I Love You (1:13)
7. You’ll Be Mine (1:39)
8. Cayenne (1:14)
9. speech – Paul (0:07)
10. My Bonnie (2:42)
11. Ain’t She Sweet (2:13)
12. Cry For A Shadow (2:22)
13. speech – John (0:11)
14. speech – Brian Epstein (0:18)
15. Searchin’ (3:00)
16. Three Cool Cats (2:25)
17. The Sheik of Araby (1:43)
18. Like Dreamers Do (2:36)
19. Hello Little Girl (1:40)
20. speech – Epstein (0:32)
21. Besame Mucho (2:37)
22. Love Me Do (2:32)
23. How Do You Do It (1:57)
24. Please Please Me (1:58)
25. One After 909 – false starts (2:22)
26. One After 909 (2:54)
27. Lend Me Your Comb (1:49)
28. I’ll Get You (2:08)
29. speech – John (0:12)
30. I Saw Her Standing There (2:48)
31. From Me To You (2:05)
32. Money (That’s What I Want) (2:52)
33. You Really Got A Hold On Me (2:58)
34. Roll Over Beethoven (2:22)

Disc two
1. She Loves You (2:50)
2. Till There Was You (2:54)
3. Twist and Shout (3:05)
4. This Boy (2:22)
5. I Want To Hold Your Hand (2:37)
6. The Beatles appear on the Morecambe & Wise Show (2:06)
7. Moonlight Bay (0:50)
8. Can’t Buy Me Love (2:10)
9. All My Loving (2:19)
10. You Can’t Do That (2:42)
11. And I Love Her (1:52)
12. A Hard Day’s Night (2:44)
13. I Wanna Be Your Man (1:48)
14. Long Tall Sally (1:45)
15. Boys (1:50)
16. Shout (1:31)
17. I’ll Be Back – demo (1:13)
18. I’ll Be Back (1:58)
19. You Know What To Do (1:58)
20. No Reply – demo (1:47)
21. Mr. Moonlight (2:47)
22. Leave My Kitten Alone (2:57)
23. No Reply (2:29)
24. Eight Days a Week – false starts (1:25)
25. Eight Days a Week (2:47)
26. Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (2:44)

Released by: Capitol
Release date: 1995
Disc one total running time: 65:23
Disc two total running time: 57:31

Perhaps I’m always looking at ELO Part II from the wrong angle. I keep hoping that they might someday approach the artistry of the original ELO, and that must be too high an expectation. I used to refer to the “original” ELO as the “real,” ELO, but the band’s lineup on this album starts to erode my old argument/complaint that this isn’t the “real” ELO. Bassist Kelly Groucutt, whose backup harmony vocals complemented Jeff Lynne’s leads and overdubs so well from 1975 to 1981, has joined ELO Part II, and arranger/keyboardist Louis Clark and violinist Mik Kaminski, who played with the original ELO from 1973 right through the last album, have joined full-time. Of course ELO/Move drummer Bev Bevan is still there (when ELO Part II debuted in 1990 he was the only representative of the original band). Of the original Part II lineup, only Bevan and Eric Troyer (who once sang backup for John Lennon) have been retained, and if only for Troyer, this is good. The Troyer-penned songs on Part II’s first album were the closest the band came to the distinctive Jeff-Lynne-dictated ELO sound of old, and even Troyer’s best was none too close to that style. Signing on is gravelly voiced guitarist Phil Bates, whom I confess to never having heard of before. The album kicks off with a ponderous and predictable orchestral overture, a lot of which sounds synthesized. “Fire on High”, it ain’t. Then “Breakin’ Down the Walls” opens up and it’s apparent that the band has improved – if for no other reason than the addition of Groucutt and Kaminski – but its orchestra has been diminished. It’s sure not ELO. This song in particular is virtually indistinguishable from Tears for Fears’ “Sowing The Seeds Of Love”…just not as good. A nifty Troyer tune called “Power Of A Million Lights” follows, but the song suffers from some unimaginative arrangement. It’s clear that the entire pool of talent in ELO Part II lacks Jeff Lynne’s genius for classically Beatlesque twists in song structure. “One More Tomorrow” is a bland ballad; Troyer’s almost funky “Don’t Wanna” is a palatable no-strings rocker, and “Voices” sounds like a second-rate copy of Alan Parsons’ recent “You’re the Voice”, found on Parsons’ live CD which was released at around the same time. Following this is a rather pointless 4-second track called “Vixen”, which consists of someone saying “Hello, hello, you little vixen!” A Groucutt-penned tune called “The Fox” wades somewhat tiringly through a tale of a fox hunt from the fox’s point of view. “Love Or Money”, written by Troyer and Bates, improves on the unpredictability of song arrangements that the group should be concentrating on, but not by much. Then follows “Whiskey Girls”, a standard issue southern-fried rocker I could’ve done without. “Twist Of The Knife” is a nondescript collaboration between Groucutt, Bevan and Bates, and “So Glad You Said Goodbye” is a Troyer/Bevan/Bates number that doesn’t arrive at a distinguishable style until about three minutes into the song. Clark’s “Underture” continues the theme of the album’s opening track, followed by a soundbyte of the band in the studio.

“Breakin’ Down The Walls”, “Power Of A Million Lights” and “Don’t Wanna” are the best songs on the album, yet none of them are as close to the sound most listeners associate with ELO as the first album’s “Honest Men” and “Thousand Eyes”. I know, I know, it’s not the same band, and maybe they’re not trying to be the same band. If this continues to be the case, they need to change their name soon so there will be fewer disappointed listeners; if these blokes intend to continue passing themselves off as ELO they might do well to study what made the original incarnation of the band so outstanding and learn from it. I don’t think Jeff Lynne would’ve written a song like “Whiskey Girls”, or would written a song such as “Breakin’ Down the Walls” which constantly addresses its lyrics to an unspecified “girl.” And while someone will no doubt remind me that Jeff Lynne has nothing to do with ELO Part II, someone should also advise the band of this so they can hurry up and change that name. ELO Part II may have all but a couple of key members of the original ELO – no, make that the real ELO after all – but without the caliber of songwriting, arranging and performing that Lynne brought to the group, they don’t even have half of what made ELO what it was. One thing that the real ELO was happened to be my favorite band of all time, hands-down; Part II…isn’t.

1. Moment of Truth – Overture (4:07)
2. Breakin’ Down The Walls (4:27)
3. Power of a Million Lights (4:54)
4. Interlude 3 (0:32)
5. One More Tomorrow (5:00)
6. Don’t Wanna (3:41)
7. Voices (4:27)
8. Interlude 2 (0:20)
9. Vixen (0:04)
10. The Fox (4:35)
11. Love Or Money (4:08)
12. Blue Violin (1:10)
13. Whiskey Girls (3:37)
14. Interlude 1 (0:58)
15. Twist of the Knife (4:30)
16. So Glad You Said Goodbye (4:12)
17. Underture (2:52)
18. The Leaving (0:25)

Released by: Edel
Release date: 1995
Total running time: 54:15

If there was ever a bigger switch in a group’s sound in the 1980s, I must’ve missed it. From the folks who brought you “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” and “Here Comes The Rain Again” comes a chronicle of the band’s hits and oddities (my all-time Eurythmics favorite remains, to this day, the very weird “Love Is A Stranger,” and that’s here too). Included are such personal favorites “Who’s That Girl?” (not the Madonna song, thank you very much), the hard-rocking “Would I Lie To You?”, and my two favorites from their last album, “There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)” and “Don’t Ask Me Why”. If you liked the Eurythmics but aren’t up for tracking down their original catalog, chances are you can save a lot of searching and find the song(s) you liked here.

1. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (4:50)
2. When Tomorrow Comes (4:25)
3. Here Comes The Rain Again (3:03)
4. Who’s That Girl? (3:44)
5. Would I Lie To You? (4:22)
6. Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves (5:54)
7. There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) (5:19)
8. Missionary Man (3:45)
9. Don’t Ask Me Why (4:13)
10. I Need A Man (4:21)
11. Love Is A Stranger (3:40)
12. Thorn In My Side (4:11)
13. The King & Queen Of America (4:31)
14. Angel (4:58)

Released by: Arista
Release date: 1991
Total running time: 64:02

A friend of mine played me some of this album once and I then went about trying to find my own copy of it for quite a few years. When I did find it, though, it seemed to that my memory of this obscure disc had embellished how good it was. In a lot of ways, it’s just a little too outlandish for my tastes. The thing I remembered so fondly was this San Francisco band’s affinity for lambasting wrecked cars, oil drums, and other large items of metal for their percussion sounds – a really interesting sound, to be sure! But what I forgot was that the band’s usual style seems to fall somewhere between industrial and thrash metal – not my type at all. One particularly weird track – actually two weird tracks, part one and part two of “God Devil Head” – consists entirely of two distorted voices screaming “God!” and “Devil!” I’m quite reluctant to even attempt to figure out what they were thinking at the time. I do know, however, that I really don’t want to listen to a grand total of nearly three minutes of two guys shouting the same two words at each other over and over again. There’s also the very unusual “Queer Boy Behind An Iron Gate”, on whose meaning I’m even more reluctant to speculate. But there are some great rhythm pieces in between the very oddly titled nonsense, my favorite being “Song For Trees”, a pounding, native-flavored track with a flute squealing aimlessly and primitively amid a hail of metallic impacts. Really, I can’t recommend this to too many, and it’s probably the furthest outside of my usual music tastes that my collection has ever wandered.

1. Vertical Assault (2:02)
2. Oh My Brothers! (2:56)
3. And Crush (3:58)
4. God Devil Head (1:52)
5. Song for Trees (2:41)
6. SHO (Peace I) (1:42)
7. Queer Boy Behind an Iron Gate (4:18)
8. Praise God (4:04)
9. Arabia Deserta (2:41)
10. Peace II (1:50)
11. Lost at Sea (3:57)
12. I Am So Close (0:39)
13. Metal (4:53)
14. God Devil Head – conclusion (0:52)
15. War Crush (14:40)

Released by: Primitech
Release date: 1991
Total running time: 53:05

I don’t know if it’s because all the best material was used on the first collection of Stalling gems, or if the first album’s huge amount of material left a lot to live up to, but somehow the second Stalling album from Warner Bros. seems lacking. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a lot of classic pieces on here, including the “Orchestra Gag”, “Marching Pink Elephants” and “Satan’s Waitin'”, but the cues on this CD are generally much shorter – many of them lasting less than a minute! – and the music is broken up by short sound effects tracks (credit for which actually goes to Treg Brown, not Carl Stalling). Somehow Volume II pales in comparison to the first Stalling CD…but I’m still hoping for a third one!

1. Zoom and Bored (6:06)
2. Stage Fright (4:07)
3. The High and the Flighty (5:36)
4. Bad Swiss Band (0:36)
5. Marching Pink Elephants (1:45)
6. The Slap Hoppy Mouse (6:31)
7. Orchestra Gag (0:44)
8. Variation on Grandfather’s Clock (0:11)
9. Variation on Chinatown My Chinatown (0:09)
10. Variation on Lucky Day (0:27)
11. Wind-Up Doll (0:45)
12. Guided Muscle (5:53)
13. SFX: Fall and Splat (0:02)
14. Ghost Wanted (3:55)
15. The Unexpected Pest (6:21)
16. Drunk le Cucaracha (3:13)
17. Flea-Ridden Sheep Dog (0:24)
18. Golf Cue (0:25)
19. Barbary Coast Bunny (6:21)
20. Satan’s Waitin’ [excerpt] (2:17)
21. Rubber Dog (0:55)
22. Pappy’s Puppy (5:08)
23. Variations on La Danza (1:28)
24. Variations of Johann Strauss (1:32)
25. SFX: Kangaroo (0:03)
26. Mouse-taken Identity (6:03)
27. Variations on Mexican Hat Dance (3:05)
28. Frazzled Coyote (1:54)

Released by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 1995
Total running time: 76:10