Music Reviews

This was a weird film, and it deserves a weird soundtrack, and did it ever get one. There are tantalizing snippets of a wonderfully low-key, cello-drenched Graeme Revell score, but the rest of the album is comprised of an eclectic list of “various artists.” The best entries here are those by the Talking Heads, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, REM, and U2. Also represented are Depeche Mode, T-Bone Burnett, Daniel Lanois, and a rather dull cover of “Summer Kisses, Winter Tear”s by Julee Cruise of Twin Peaks fame. If only for the lovely tidbits of the score, I recommend this one.

1. Opening Titles (Graeme Revell) (1:59)
2. Sax and Violins (Talking Heads) (5:18)
3. Summer Kisses, Winter Tears (Julee Cruise) (2:37)
4. Move With Me (Neneh Cherry) (2:59)
5. The Adversary (Crime & the City Solution) (5:32)
6. What’s Good (Lou Reed) (5:08)
7. Last Night Sleep (Can) (3:35)
8. Fretless (R.E.M.) (4:49)
9. Days (Elvis Costello) (4:50)
10. Claire’s Theme (Graeme Revell) (0:52)
11. I’ll Love You Til the End of the World (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) (4:38)
12. It Takes Time (Patti Smith & Fred Smith) (5:00)
13. Death’s Door (Depeche Mode) (3:53)
14. Love Theme (Graeme Revell) (0:45)
15. Calling All Angels (Jane Siberry with k.d. lang) (5:11)
16. Humans From Earth (T-Bone Burnett) (3:08)
17. Sleeping in the Devil’s Bed (Daniel Lanois) (3:50)
18. Until the End of the World (U2) (4:34)
19. Finale (Graeme Revell) (0:58)

Released by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 1991
Total running time: 69:36

A dandy bit of conceptual rock opera from the same people who brought you the Alan Parsons Project, sans Eric Woolfson who departed after a divergence of music careers following the Freudiana album. As with the Project, Parsons only produces though the music seems to be attributed to him. This is an uneven collection, though it does kick off with the darkly humorous “The Three of Me”, an ode to schizophrenia with a speaker-blowing orchestral intro reminiscent of the Project’s best 1970s work. The sole single from this album, rock anthem “Turn It Up”, as well as the superior “Back Against the Wall”, feature lead vocals from Manfred Mann’s Chris Thompson. Three other songs deserve special notice – “Siren Song”, “Wine From the Water” (whose keyboards sound like they’ve time-warped into the song straight from the mid 70s), and “I’m Talking To You”, another heraldic rocker written by longtime Project guitarist Ian Bairnson. It’s a good album that thankfully doesn’t try to make any concessions to modernizing its style to keep up with the times – and that alone is a good reason to celebrate Alan Parsons’ return.

1. The Three of Me (5:32)
2. Turn It Up (6:13)
3. Wine from the Water (5:43)
4. Breakaway (4:07)
5. Mr Time (8:17)
6. Jigue (3:24)
7. I’m Talkin’ To You (4:38)
8. Siren Song (5:01)
9. Dreamscape (3:01)
10. Back Against the Wall (4:38)
11. Re-Jigue (2:28)
12. Oh Life…(There Must Be More) (6:34)

Released by: Arista
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 59:36

It’s somewhat common knowledge that prior to tracking his entire two-and-a-half- hour science fiction opus with pieces from the classical repertoire, Stanley Kubrick had commissioned the prolific film composer Alex North – whose other screen accomplishments include Spartacus, Cleopatra and The Agony and the Ecstasy – to compose original music for 2001 along the lines of many classical numbers that Kubrick already had in mind. According to the very detailed liner notes booklet, which is admittedly biased in favor of the late Mr. North, who died in 1991, Kubrick kept North under the illusion that his original music would be used up until shortly before the film’s release; having completed the score up to the moon scenes in the movie, North was told that the entire second half of 2001 taking place aboard spaceships, in spacesuits and so on, would not be scored, but instead covered with “breathing effects.” In short – North’s services would no longer be required. Imagine North’s surprise when he went to the premiere of 2001 and heard the very classical numbers which Kubrick had asked him to approximate. To hear his wife tell it, Alex North stowed the manuscripts of his 2001 score away safely, and the only people aside from Kubrick who heard the music were Mrs. North and a close family friend by the name of Jerry Goldsmith. North, before his death, was finally persuaded to allow a fresh recording of his legendary brainchild to be conducted by Goldsmith. The results are quite satisfying indeed. North’s 2001 main title borrows the triplet structure of “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, but trades the almost religious sound of Strauss in for a somewhat more stately and heraldic tone. (Considering the immense scope of 2001, this could be one place where Kubrick’s choice was justified; indeed, though I like North’s work on the movie, I really do like the movie’s soundtrack as it turned out.) The rest of North’s work is steeped in belligerence for the scenes of primitive man, intricate beauty for the grace of spaceflight, and mystery for the ambiguous story at the heart of the film. Somehow, a track-by-track breakdown of the existing half of North’s work doesn’t seem to carry enough weight to do the music justice. I highly recommend it.

1. Main Title (1:37)
2. The Foraging (3:44)
3. Eat Meat and the Kill (3:27)
4. The Bluff (3:01)
5. Night Terrors (2:02)
6. The Dawn of Man (3:14)
7. Space Station Docking (2:22)
8. Trip to the Moon (3:21)
9. Moon Rocket Bus (5:01)
10. Space Talk (3:30)
11. Interior Orion (1:26)
12. Main Theme Entr’acte (2:31)

Released by: Varese Sarabande
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 35:16

I admit, it took a long, long time for this one to grow on me, but it finally caught up with me and I like it a lot. It’s nowhere near as good as Tim’s 1989 album, but it’s better than Big Canoe and shows a lot of maturity. Mostly somber, the album does have its more energetic moments though even these are sometimes deceptive, including “In Love With It All”, with its allusions to Tim’s (rocky?) relationship with brother Neil of Split Enz/Crowded House fame, and “Hit The Ground Running”. Incidentally, Neil Finn himself duets with Tim on the former (which sounds suspiciously like a Woodface outtake) and on “Strangeness And Charm”. By far the best pieces here are “Persuasion” (a very Bruce-Hornsby-esque ballad), “Many’s The Time (In Dublin)”, In Your Sway, and “Walk You Home”, all of them songs with an adult perspective on youthful longings. If he can maintain this level of thoughtfulness in his content and avoid the attempts to be funky (a la his Smokey Robinson sound-alike falsetto “I Found It”), Tim could easily burst onto the adult contemporary scene and relieve that genre of the constant domination of Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and any soundalikes thereof. It would be a welcome change.

1. Hit the Ground Running (4:38)
2. Protected (5:24)
3. In Love With It All (3:21)
4. Persuasion (3:53)
5. Many’s the Time (in Dublin) (4:27)
6. Funny Way (2:54)
7. Can’t Do Both (4:51)
8. In Your Sway (4:49)
9. Strangeness and Charm (3:24)
10. Always Never Now (3:57)
11. Walk You Home (3:37)
12. I Found It (4:16)

Released by: Capitol
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 49:31

You can’t miss this one, it’s got one of those very weird and nearly-disgusting David Lynch photos on the cover. Julee, for those of you who don’t know, remember or care, did the vocals on most of the Twin Peaks music, and her first album was wonderful. This one leaves a bit to be desired, but shows some promise for the next album. The sound is largely the same as that of her previous album, with music by Angelo Badalamenti and largely pointless lyrics by David Lynch. The best song on the album, curiously, is “In My Other World”, written by Julee herself, which is something I hope she can continue. Badalamenti’s backing is most appropriate for her vocals, but in this case her songwriting makes the piece stand out; the lyrics, though vague, are much more coherent than any of Twin Peaks director/writer Lynch’s aimless wanderings. “Until The End Of The World,” an atypically percussion-heavy song which seems to have no connection to the film of the same name (though Julee is featured on that movie’s soundtrack album), is also a standout. For the most part, the rest of the album suffers badly because it seems simply to be the entire soundtrack of Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me with vocals overdubbed. A disappointment after the first album, and hopefully, should Julee do yet another album, the David Lynch influence can be shaken off some more.

1. This Is Our Night (4:07)
2. The Space For Love (3:24)
3. Movin’ In On You (4:04)
4. Friends For Life (4:44)
5. Up In Flames (4:40)
6. Kool Kat Walk (6:23)
7. Until the End of the World (5:33)
8. She Would Die For Love (6:07)
9. In My Other World (4:47)
10. Questions in a World of Blue (4:48)
11. The Voice of Love (3:14)

Released by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 51:51

It took eleven years for Fagen to concoct a sequel of sorts to his well-received Nightfly album, and not unlike Alan Parsons, Fagen managed to return to the scene while making it sound as though he’d never vanished in the first place. You’d swear it was recorded a year after The Nightfly was released. Fagen’s concept for this album – to which the songs adhere a bit closer than they did on his previous effort – is a drive through the world in the car of tomorrow. It’s a strange subject handled very oddly, to be sure. By and far, the best song on the album is the melancholy “On The Dunes”, with a very sparse jazz ensemble instrumentation (piano, drums, bass, and just a little guitar) and a solo vocal lamenting the state of being emotionally washed-up. The singles “Tomorrow’s Girls” and “Countermoon” are catchy numbers, as is the first tune, “Trans-Island Skyway”, a song whose multisyllabic lyrics explain the premise of the album’s rather high concept.

1. Trans-Island Skyway (6:30)
2. Countermoon (5:05)
3. Springtime (5:06)
4. Snowbound (7:09)
5. Tomorrow’s Girls (6:17)
6. Florida Room (6:01)
7. On the Dunes (8:07)
8. Teahouse on the Tracks (6:11)

Released by: Reprise
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 50:26

I seem to have tremendous difficulty trying to sell anyone on the merits of this album. The style of the production and the performances are far from the beaten path, coming as they do from the dubious musical team of jazz instrumentalist Angelo Badalamenti and Twin Peaks creator/Dune director David Lynch, with the breathy-to-breathless vocals of Julee Cruise. The entire project consists of pieces this team assembled for use in Twin Peaks, though most of them stand very well on their own, the only drawbacks being Lynch’s indecipherably cryptical lyrics which were largely concocted to coincide with the show’s equally confusing imagery and narrative. There also seems to be, as with all of Lynch’s work, a curious preoccupation with birds in the words. You’ll find everything from sparrows to owls to “The Nightingale” and “The Swan”. But if you can overlook the raison d’etre for this album and listen to it on its own, it ain’t bad…you just gotta be prepared for something different!

1. Floating (4:51)
2. Falling (theme from Twin Peaks) (5:18)
3. I Remember (4:11)
4. Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (5:45)
5. Mysteries of Love (4:27)
6. Into the Night (4:42)
7. I Float Alone (4:33)
8. The Nightingale (4:54)
9. The Swan (2:28)
10. The World Spins (6:38)

Released by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 1989
Total running time: 47:47

This, to me, is the definitive Depeche Mode album. It also marked the beginning of many listeners’ fascination with the self-proclaimed all-electronic group. The famous (but tiringly repetitive) “People Are People” emerged from this album, but there are other songs I much prefer. “Somebody” is one of the first, if not the first, really good Depeche Mode ballads in the band’s catalog, which is an aspect of Depeche Mode’s sound that I think they made a big mistake in not pursuing. There’s also “Blasphemous Rumours”, a brutally harsh song that’s probably been burned or banned somewhere in the Bible Belt, though its lyrics seem to be aimed at a teen/young adult audience and one has to wonder just what the message is. But the best thing on here is “It Doesn’t Matter”, easily one of my favorite Depeche Mode songs by miles – and yep, it’s another ballad. Why they shunned that path in favor of going the industrial route baffles me, especially when they were so good at it.

1. Something To Do (3:45)
2. Lie To Me (5:04)
3. People Are People (3:52)
4. It Doesn’t Matter (4:45)
5. Stories Of Old (3:12)
6. Somebody (4:26)
7. Master and Servant (4:13)
8. If You Want (4:40)
9. Blasphemous Rumours (6:21)

Released by: Mute
Release date: 1984
Total running time: 40:18

In a move that may seem like sacrelige to purists, this entire album consists of recent re-recordings of Orbison’s classic hits, mixed and mastered nicely and in some cases arranged and produced more elaborately than they ever had a chance to be when they were first recorded. The genesis of the project was director David Lynch’s desire to use Orbison’s “In Dreams” in his movie Blue Velvet, and Lynch – later of Twin Peaks fame – wanted a better recording than the original, thus the new recording. With that session’s pleasing results, the rest of the album was recorded and we wind up with this very nice album. Oh, yeah, these are not the origial songs as played on the radio way back when, but it is nice to hear them given this kind of treatment. The best thing about Orbison’s music – aside from his truly unique vocals – is that his songs flatly refused to be constricted to the traditional verse-chorus banality of most pop music, and so they’re always full of surprises even to the trained ear. I highly recommend this album to you, whether or not you’ve heard the original hits in question.

1. Only The Lonely (2:25)
2. Leah (2:43)
3. In Dreams (2:51)
4. Uptown (2:11)
5. It’s Over (2:51)
6. Crying (2:46)
7. Dream Baby (2:46)
8. Blue Angel (2:45)
9. Working For The Man (2:43)
10. Candy Man (2:57)
11. Running Scared (2:10)
12. Falling (2:22)
13. I’m Hurtin’ (2:46)
14. Claudette (2:34)
15. Oh Pretty Woman (2:58)
16. Mean Woman Blues (2:24)
17. Ooby Dooby (2:22)
18. Lana (2:48)
19. Blue Bayou (2:51)

Released by: Virgin
Release date: 1987
Total running time: 50:13

Oh, what a wonderfully weird band Roxy Music was. Caught in the middle of the unlikely intersection of amusingly quirky and seriously crooning, Roxy Music had a distinct sound all its own, and this is an excellent starting place for those not already acquainted with that sound. Though there are several cover tunes both whimsical (Wilson Pickett’s “In The Midnight Hour”) and startlingly faithful (Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”, Lennon’s “Jealous Guy”), the cream of the crop are the original songs written by Ferry both for Roxy Music and his own solo albums. The standouts inlcude “Oh Yeah (On The Radio)” (a song which could well qualify as telling at least part of the story of my life), “More Than This”, “Sign Of The Times” (not the Prince song, thank you very much), Street Life and too many others to keep track of. If you’re in the mood for something offbeat, this may be right up your alley.

1. Virginia Plain (2:59)
2. A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall (4:15)
3. Pyjamarama (2:52)
4. Do The Strand (3:46)
5. These Foolish Things (4:49)
6. Street Life (3:29)
7. Let’s Stick Together (2:59)
8. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (2:53)
9. Love is the Drug (4:04)
10. Sign of the Times (2:27)
11. Dance Away (3:44)
12. Angel Eyes (2:51)
13. Oh Yeah (On The Radio) (4:36)
14. Over You (3:26)
15. Same Old Scene (3:58)
16. In the Midnight Hour (3:08)
17. More Than This (4:10)
18. Avalon (4:16)
19. Slave To Love (4:17)
20. Jealous Guy (4:56)

Released by: Reprise / EG
Release date: 1989
Total running time: 73:55

One of the most truly noteworthy albums by Depeche Mode, this one was recorded after the departure of founding member Vince Clarke, and it demonstrated what could have been Depeche Mode’s true calling had they not ventured into heavier, more industrial territory – they could have explored some really different ground with light romantic ballads. On this album, I hold up “See You”, “A Photograph Of You” and “The Meaning Of Love” as examples. As unabashed pop songs go, these aren’t bad at all! Not to say that the more serious tunes on this album – notably “Satellite”, “The Sun And The Rainfall” and “Shouldn’t Have Done That” – aren’t good, but it’s just possible the Depeche Mode took a wrong turn when they became heavily percussive, heavily serious and political, and/or heavily dead serious with their love songs. I really, really like this album, even though it’s quite atypical of the group’s sound.

1. Leave In Silence (6:28)
2. My Secret Garden (4:45)
3. Monument (3:14)
4. Nothing To Fear (4:16)
5. See You (4:35)
6. Satellite (4:40)
7. The Meaning of Love (3:06)
8. further excerpts from My Secret Garden (4:20)
9. A Photograph of You (3:04)
10. Shouldn’t Have Done That (3:10)
11. The Sun & The Rainfall (5:02)

Released by: Mute
Release date: 1982
Total running time: 46:40

After his 1990 album veered away in a very different direction from Circle, Ralf thankfully drifted somewhat closer to the styles he explored in his debut album with his latest release to date. There is a greater emphasis on jazz elements than the second album’s rockier feel, which is as it should be – Illenberger’s music is much more suited to jazz. If anything, this album offers quite a few surprises, including the addition of vocalist Susan Osborn and more keyboards and piano than previous albums. The only problem with Soleil is that it has been Illenberger’s last album to date – and considering the promise that this one showed, that’s a crying shame. If you liked Circle, you’ll love this.

1. First Beam (1:43)
2. Dancing Kachinas (3:22)
3. Thin Blood (4:18)
4. Soleil (5:28)
5. You and I (4:38)
6. Nightfall (2:51)
7. Dark Glow (6:15)
8. Traveler in Time (5:04)
9. Sunstorm (5:24)
10. Quiet Morning (6:21)
11. Southwest (4:52)

Released by: Narada
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 50:16

So, here we go, I’m sure I’ll hear about this. Yes, I like that electronic group whose music careens back and forth between brilliant and banal. And sadly, the group’s debut album was – at least to me – more banal than brilliant. Though Depeche Mode really didn’t start finding its more familiar voice until after founding member Vince Clarke left, there are a few shining moments amid the primitive drum-machine- and-synth droning of the first album; “New Life” and “Dreaming Of Me” are worth a listen, though “Photographic”, a song which a high school friend of mine often played which was one of my first points of interest in Depeche Mode, has never quite fascinated me as much as the group’s later tunes. The same can be said for much of the rest of this album. I know it was revolutionary at the time, but Sgt. Pepper it’s not.

1. New Life (3:56)
2. Puppets (3:57)
3. Dreaming of Me (3:42)
4. Boys Say Go! (3:04)
5. Nodisco (4:13)
6. What’s Your Name? (2:41)
7. Photographic (4:58)
8. Tora! Tora! Tora! (4:24)
9. Big Muff (4:21)
10. Any Second Now (Voices) (2:33)
11. Just Can’t Get Enough (6:41)

Released by: Sire
Release date: 1981
Total running time: 44:30

Though it contains one of the two songs most everyone thinks about when the name 10cc comes up, this album is pretty much average. “The Things We Do For Love” has earned its classic status, but there are other great songs on this album, including the wonderfully beautiful but offbeat ballad “People In Love” and the very strange and well-produced “Honeymoon With B Troop”. (Well-produced in this case meaning that the effects and acoustic treatments used on various voices and instruments are absolutely perfect given the song’s subject; and it’s just so weird, ya gotta love it!) But there are some simply average tracks, such as another well performed and produced track, Feel the Benefit, which is an attempt at emulating the epic-scale structure of such pop medleys as the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers” / “Carry That Weight” / “The End” that comes across as just that, a smaller-scale copy. Most of the album is pretty good, though; and it comes from that remarkable convergence of talents that seemed to take place all around the same time; 1977 brought us this album with one of 10cc’s biggest singles, ELO’s Out Of The Blue, Alan Parsons’ I Robot, The Rumour’s Frogs, Sprouts, Clogs & Krauts, John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack, and many others – at least in my book, 1977 seems to have been a musical flashpoint.

1. Good Morning Judge (2:53)
2. The Things We Do For Love (3:30)
3. Marriage Bureau Rendezvous (4:03)
4. People In Love (3:45)
5. Modern Man Blues (5:35)
6. Honeymoon with B Troop (2:47)
7. I Bought a Flat Guitar Tutor (1:46)
8. You’ve Got A Cold (3:36)
9. Feel the Benefit (11:29)

Released by: PolyGram
Release date: 1977
Total running time: 39:24

If nothing else, you’ll remember the Dragnet theme from the Dan Aykroyd film reworking of the TV show from this album, but even the Art of Noise’s predilection for rehashing TV cop show tunes can’t save this album. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all skillfully executed and technically proficient, but for my tastes, the Art of Noise was closer to the edge than usual, bordering on pointless noise instead of making avant-garde music. There are a handful of wonderful tunes, including “One World” (one of the group’s best ever), the immensely soothing “Crusoe” (not to be confused with their “Robinson Crusoe” remake on the following album), and the boisterous “Day At The Races”. But when most of the rest of the disc is filled with repetitions of the same samples, I find it hard to recommend.

1. Galleons of Stone (1:11)
2. Dragnet (3:27)
3. Fin Du Temps (2:04)
4. How Rapid? (0:51)
5. Opus for Four (3:11)
6. Debut (1:56)
7. E.F.L. (5:23)
8. A Day at the Races (4:00)
9. Ode to Don Jos` (4:13)
10. Counterpoint (0:56)
11. Roundabout 727 (0:44)
12. Ransom on the Sand (1:16)
13. Roller 1 (3:30)
14. Nothing Was Going To Stop Them Then, Anyway (0:44)
15. Crusoe (3:55)
16. One Earth (4:08)

Released by: China Records
Release date: 1987
Total running time: 41:29

This album opens with a sequence designed to trick you into thinking that Rundgren’s whole a capella project – whose sounds and vocals, if not performed live orally, were performed with samples of mouth- manufactured sound – is going to be nothing more than a Bobby McFerren ripoff. Wrong. After the first few seconds of “dum-dum-dum-dum-dum,” you’ll be blown away as “Blue Orpheus” kicks in and leaves McFerren’s music in the dust. This is such a revolutionary album, it’s amazing to think it’s well over a decade old. Rundgren not only had to perform the entire album in the most unconventional way imaginable, but he also had to construct songs that would stand up to a vocal-based arrangement. The harmonies are often reminiscent of those found in really good black gospel, and the range of sounds – including “percussion” – that Rundgren generated orally is remarkable. Most impressive of all is Rundgren’s own vocal range, since he sings every part of every song. Perhaps the two best songs are put back to back for good reason – the shatteringly depressing “Pretending To Care” needs to be followed by the ludicrously bouncy “Hodja”. Fortunately, this album is not at all difficult to find or, failing that, put on order – which could make it as much a part of your DNP Album List is it is of mine! I can’t heap enough praise on this album – and the words don’t stand a chance of doing it justice. You need to hear it for yourself.

1. Blue Orpheus (5:02)
2. Johnee Jingo (3:51)
3. Pretending to Care (3:40)
4. Hodja (3:25)
5. Lost Horizon (4:57)
6. Something to Fall Back On (4:13)
7. Miracle in the Bazaar (4:12)
8. Lockjaw (4:01)
9. Honest Work (2:40)
10. Mighty Love (3:41)

Released by: Rhino
Release date: 1985
Total running time: 39:42

Jellyfish added a new dimension to their 1970s-inspired pop sound by allowing more than just a little influence from Queen sneak into their second – and, due to the quick breakup of a very promising band, last – album. From the opening lullabye number right into the immensely Queen-esque “Joining A Fan Club”, it’s obvious that Jellyfish assimilated some of the best and most distinctive trademarks of Freddie Mercury and friends. The precision of the vocal harmonies on this album are amazing to hear, as is the hauntingly familiar hard-rock-and-thrashing-vocals approach, also inspired by Queen. The only thing that really tips one off that this is not Queen is the absence of Brian May’s unmistakable guitar harmonies. Despite the influx of that particular style, Jellyfish didn’t entirely abandon their original sound, as can be heard in “New Mistake” (my personal favorite) and “Ghost At Number One”, though they also demonstrate a great aptitude for good old-fashioned low-tech rock with “Glutton Of Sympathy”. It’s really sad that the band fell apart after this one – it showed more promise than most bands I’ve heard this decade.

1. Hush (2:10)
2. Joining a Fan Club (4:03)
3. Sebrina, Paste and Plato (2:23)
4. New Mistake (4:03)
5. Glutton of Sympathy (3:49)
6. The Ghost at Number One (3:37)
7. Bye, Bye, Bye (4:02)
8. All Is Forgiven (4:10)
9. Russian Hill (4:45)
10. He’s My Best Friend (3:44)
11. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late (3:15)
12. Brighter Day (6:12)

Released by: Charisma
Release date: 1993
Total running time: 46:13

This album may be a little more mainstream to some, as it sports such relative hits as “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and the catchy “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”, but the non-singles are more examples of the genius of the group in their earlier days. “Man In A Suitcase” is one of my all-time favorite Police tunes for some reason I’ve never quite been able to put a finger on. I have to rate Regatta de Blanc higher than this album, but because of the more familiar material, it may be a more ideal introduction to pre-Synchronicity Police for any curious listeners out there.

1. Don’t Stand So Close To Me (4:02)
2. Driven To Tears (3:21)
3. When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around (3:38)
4. Canary in a Coalmine (2:27)
5. Voices Inside My Head (3:54)
6. Bombs Away (3:06)
7. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (4:10)
8. Behind My Camel (2:55)
9. Man in a Suitcase (2:20)
10. Shadows in the Rain (5:04)
11. The Other Way of Stopping (3:22)

Released by: A&M
Release date: 1980
Total running time: 38:19

It’s a crime that this album, Lynne’s first solo effort after his ELO years and the Traveling Wilburys, wasn’t promoted better, because this album is much better than even most of the favorable reviews gave it credit for. With a comfortable distance between his current sound and the days of ELO, Lynne weaves an easily listenable combination of his thick trademark harmonies, the occasional string section, his more laid-back Wilburyish tendencies, and even a few surprises like the Indian percussion on “Now You’re Gone”. His ability to come up with a catchy and unpredictable combination of melody and harmony is as strong as ever, and the much more acoustic feel of this album (in comparison to ELO or even George Harrison’s Cloud Nine album) benefits from Lynne’s sharp production. “Lift Me Up” and “Every Little Thing”, the two singles which were lifted from the album and not given nearly enough airplay, are probably the strongest tunes here, but there are so many to choose from; if any one number falls short, it is the very short “Save Me Now”, an attempt at a simple, acoustic environmental-awareness anthem with some of the most laughably simplistic lyrics Lynne has penned to date. Otherwise, this is a shoe-in for my Damn Near Perfect Album List.

1. Every Little Thing (3:41)
2. Don’t Let Go (3:00)
3. Lift Me Up (3:36)
4. Nobody Home (3:51)
5. September Song (2:57)
6. Now You’re Gone (3:57)
7. Don’t Say Goodbye (3:09)
8. What Would It Take (2:40)
9. Stormy Weather (3:42)
10. Blown Away (3:29)
11. Save Me Now (2:39)

Released by: Reprise
Release date: 1990
Total running time: 36:41

For some odd reason, this is truly my all-time favorite Fleetwood Mac album. I think it was here that the band managed to create the perfect synthesis of Linsdey Buckingham’s far-afield experimentation on Tusk and the more mainstream sound that endears most people to the Mac. My favorite Mac single, “Hold Me”, hails from this album, as does my favorite non-single album track, the very strange “Empire State”, which sounds like it was sung by Buckingham under the influence of (A) helium, (B) laryngitis, or (C) both of the above. For all the nice weird bits of this album that I loved both then and now, I also have to state that I have never really liked most of the Stevie-Nicks-centric songs; “Gypsy”, while nice in its own way, really set in concrete the sonic pattern for Stevie’s future contributions to the group for the rest of its existence.

1. Love In Store (3:14)
2. Can’t Go Back (2:42)
3. That’s Alright (3:09)
4. Book of Love (3:21)
5. Gypsy (4:24)
6. Only Over You (4:08)
7. Empire State (2:51)
8. Straight Back (4:17)
9. Hold Me (3:44)
10. Oh Diane (2:33)
11. Eyes of the World (3:44)
12. Wish You Were Here (4:43)

Released by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 1981
Total running time: 42:50

Tim Finn’s final album as a member of Split Enz in the studio is a bit uneven. Such Enz classics as Neil’s “Strait Old Line” and the well-known “Message To My Girl” – both revived on the later ENZSO album – came from this album, but there are very electronic and almost disco-esque tunes such as “Bullet Brain And Cactus Head” that I usually skip over. The underlying problem I have with Conflicting Emotions is the predominance of sequencers, drum machines and other synthetic elements – sure, the band had used them before, but not to this degree. To balance this, however, there are two lovely songs that are worth finding, both of which are primarily piano-and-vocal pieces: Neil’s typically cryptic “The Devil You Know” and Tim’s melancholy farewell “Bon Voyage” – appropriately enough, the last song on the album and Tim Finn’s last hurrah as a member of Split Enz.

1. Strait Old Line (4:01)
2. Bullet Brain & Cactus Head (3:59)
3. Message to My Girl (4:04)
4. Working Up An Appetite (4:07)
5. Our Day (4:58)
6. No Mischief (4:14)
7. The Devil You Know (3:36)
8. I Wake Up Every Night (4:46)
9. Conflicting Emotions (4:30)
10. Bon Voyage (4:04)

Released by: Mushroom
Release date: 1984
Total running time: 42:19

This album is one of my guiltiest pleasures in my entire music section. Part of me cringes at how far Genesis fell from its progressive roots to this penultimate studio album – well, penultimate so far, anyway – which consisted largely of typical mid-’80s rock/pop numbers and the crooning ballads with which Phil Collins was becoming more associated at the time. And for that harsh assessment, I’m reluctantly forced to admit that I like the ballad “In Too Deep”. There are actually a few hints of the band’s more progressive roots, such as the instrumental “The Brazilian”, but longer track times don’t always equate to art rock…sometimes, as in the case of “Tonight Tonight Tonight”, they’re just flat boring.

1. Invisible Touch (3:26)
2. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (8:49)
3. Land of Confusion (4:45)
4. In Too Deep (4:59)
5. Anything She Does (4:06)
6. Domino (10:42)
7. Throwing It All Away (4:41)
8. The Brazilian (4:49)

Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 1986
Total running time: 45:45

When I first heard “Giant Heartbeat”, “Hello Sandy Allen” and “Take A Walk” in 1990, I knew right then and there that this album was destined to be on my DNP album list. Where Second Thoughts was the greatest accomplishment of the Enz’ original lineup, Time & Tide was an amazing musical accomplishment for the ’80s Enz. Tim and Neil Finn were perhaps at their best balance with one another, and the considerably darker tone of some of the songs here were indicative that perhaps Split Enz was finally growing beyond the whimsy that had characterized them in the past. What a welcome evolution. Among the highlights here are Neil’s guitar work finally achieving the first hints of the intricacy to come later in his Crowded House material, some wonderfully unusual instrumentation, and Noel Crombie handling both the drums and other percussion duties with tremendous impact. Tim Finn has since commented that Time & Tide was the favorite album of the band members as well – is it any wonder? A must-hear! Also, a rare accolade for the album cover. Track down the LP and look at the back cover – one of the most innovative “band line-ups” you’ve ever seen awaits you.

1. Dirty Creature (4:02)
2. Giant Heartbeat (3:57)
3. Hello, Sandy Allen (3:50)
4. Never Ceases To Amaze Me (3:04)
5. Lost For Words (3:00)
6. Small World (3:35)
7. Take A Walk (3:35)
8. Pioneer (1:31)
9. Six Months in a Leaky Boat (4:20)
10. Haul Away (2:26)
11. Log Cabin Fever (4:35)
12. Make Sense Of It (3:34)

Released by: Mushroom
Release date: 1982
Total running time: 41:29

This is another album I was introduced to in my radio days, and I still like it; it’s quite unusual sounding, to say the least. Some have described Oldfield as new age, but I don’t think that pigeonhole is one into which this album can be stuffed. The material is too experimental and avant-garde for new age, and is really in a class by itself. The intricate multilayered guitar and synth work is wonderful in itself, but that it can be stretched into a thirty-minute concerto with few boring interludes is a marvel. The silly little “Horse Song” which occupies its own track at the end of the album is a nice diversion from the epic “Ommadawn”, but it’s that long stretch of the music that is the most attention-catching for me.

1. One (19:19)
2. Two (13:55)
3. The Horse Song (3:26)

Released by: Caroline
Release date: 1975
Total running time: 36:40