At Home in Hespeler

Bill Wyman’s new album, Back to Basics, starts promising enough, a nice groove song called What & How & If & When & Why. It sounds solid, and so promising. Then at the twenty-four second mark, Alfie Doolitle with laryngitis starts speaking into the big recording machine, and you wonder what’s happening. What’s happening is Bill Wyman is singing – if by singing you mean whispering hoarsely in a cockney accent.

And that’s about it for Back to Basics. It’s chock full of decent songs, most notably, but not exclusively, Seventeen and I Got Time. Yet Wyman hasn’t the voice to carry a song all the way through, never mind an entire album. It’s a pity, because there’s something here, and it could be good: but it’s not.

for certified professional guitar repair in Cambridge Ontario: Brian Gardiner Guitar Repair

Album release, Review Back to Basics, Bill Wyman, Rolling Stones

Tom Cochrane has been making noise that Take It Home, his 13th studio album, might be his last. At 61-years old, apparently Cochrane thinks it may be time to hang them up.

That would be too bad.

Take it Home is Cochrane’s 6th album since he dropped the Red Rider billing, and it’s a solid album. Cochrane is a songwriter first, and his writing doesn’t let him down. While there may be no Life is a Highway or Big League in the collection, Sunday Afternoon Hang and Country Girls Never Get Old are close enough for 2015.

Take it Home is, in reality, a basic Tom Cochrane album. There’s no shocks here, no breakout songs. Just well crafted songs in the rock vein, with hints of folk and country sprinkled throughout. It’s what Cochrane has always done. If you’ve liked Tom Cochrane’s previous work, then you’ll find Take It Home is a decent album.

Track list

1. Can’t Stay Here
2. Sunday Afternoon Hang
3. Diamonds
4. Country Girls Never Get Old
5. When the Lights Start to Fade
6. Pink Time
7. First Time Around
8. The Ones That I’ve Known
9. Another Year
10. A Prayer for Hope
11. Back in the Game

Album release, Record Release, Review Big League, Country Girls Never Get Old, Life is a Highway, Red Rider, Sunday Afternoon Hang, Take it Home, Tom Cochrane

Yes has always been a bit of a favourite band of mine. Not a front line, must see, must have every record band like Led Zeppelin or The Who or the Stones. Oh sure, they changed the lineup too often to be one of the greats. New keyboard players and singers especially dotted the Yes-scape, although there was that abomination 80’s lineup that featured no Steve Howe.

I approached the new live Yes CD, Like It Is – YES At The Bristol Hippodrome, due out December 9th, with some trepidation. Seeing as it featured only three classic line up members, drummer Alan White, bassist Chris Squire and the aforementioned Steve Howe. The lineup is filled out with 80’s era keyboardist Geoff Downes and new singer Jon Davison who sounds scarily like original Yes singer Jon Anderson.

Working a setlist of classic Yes, Like It Is is a great collection of songs played to perfection. The energy is high, no 40-year band going through the motions here. Starting with a surprisingly rockin’ version of Going for the One, the set runs through such greats as Yours is no Disgrace, Steve Howe’s The Clap, Starship Trooper and I’ve Seen All Good People, before finishing up on Perpetual Change.

It’s not perfect, not by a long shot. Released in CD/DVD combo and digital formats, Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome is badly missing a vinyl release, an almost fatal flaw. If one can’t put the LP under the Christmas tree, then what’s the point of going to the trouble of cutting down a tree and propping it up in your living room? But besides format complaints, Like It Is – YES At The Bristol Hippodrome is one of the most enjoyable albums I’ve come across this Christmas release season.

Tracklist

1. Going for the One
2. Turn of the Century
3. Parallels
4. Wonderous Stories
5. Awaken
6. Yours is no Disgrace
7. Clap
8. Starship Trooper
9. I’ve Seen All Good People
10. A Venture
11. Perpetual Change

Album release, Record Release, Review Bristol, Live at the Bristol Hippodrome, Steve Howe, Yes

Today see’s the release of the Led Zeppelin IVand Houses Of The Holyremasters, complete with bonus material, here in North America. The remastered albums have been available as Mastered for iTunes for some time now, so I will reserve comment on their quality besides saying, the iTunes versions are excellent. Otherwise, if you have a chance to hear the CD or LP versions, there’s no reason to believe they won’t also be top notch (and certainly I felt Led Zeppelin, II and III all were).

The bonus material, available on the Deluxe Editions, however, gives us fodder for real discussion. Unlike the third album, which had Keys to the Highway/Trouble in Mind, there is nothing new in the bonus material, nor is there any live material like we saw on the first album. Both IV and Houses of the Holy’s bonus discs are presented as the complete album, with alternate versions, alternate mixes and instrumental versions of the songs.

In February 1971, Jimmy Page and engineer Andy Johns travelled to Los Angeles, master tapes for the fourth album handcuffed to Page (note: kidding), to master the album that would become what many consider Led Zeppelin’s most astonishing moment. He took the tapes to Sunset Sound Studios, where the state of the art studio was booked for mastering of the tapes. Job done, he returned to London and settled into Island Studios with his bandmates to play the new album: the sound was a disappointing mess. No one seems sure what happened, but it appears the equipment at Island couldn’t handle the more sophisticated mastering done at Sunset Sound, and Page returned to the Island Studio to re-master the songs yet again. Of the eight songs on the final album, seven of them were from the London mixes. Only When The Levee Breaks survived from the California mixes.

Of the bonus material on Led Zeppelin IV,the alternate mix of Stairway to Heaven from the Sunset Sound Studios session, and When the Levee Breaks from the London remixing appear. Other alternate mixes from unknown sources are Four Sticks, Rock and Roll and Misty Mountain Hop. Misty Mountain Hop shines the most, with a John Bonham count-in and a much more live sound, the song comes alive in a way it never really did before. When the Levee Breaks is also noticeably different, although not for the better. While Four Sticks sounds more live, wetter in audio geek parlance, Levee is much drier, that famed drum sound somewhat diminished in the mixing. They made the right choice going with the Sunset Sound Studio mix on this song. If we were hearing that mix, that drum sound for the first time here, now, it would be all that anyone would be talking about.

Rock and Roll and Stairway to Heaven on the other hand, have barely noticeable differences. The guitar is a little down in the mix here, the voice up there. Yes, the recorders are definitely louder, but not so much that most people would notice if they didn’t know. On the other hand, Black Dog (Basic Track with Guitar Overdubs) is an alternate take, and while the differences are subtle, at least until the ah-ha’s when a Plant adds a harmony vocal. It doesn’t work actually, sounds too much like that guy beside you at the concert singing along with the band, but you can hear them trying something. Besides, Plant’s ad-lib on the outro is outstanding.

Instrumental mixes of Going to California and Battle of Evermore are interesting, but the repetitive nature of those songs means it’s not something you would listen to more than a few times. While not something you might throw on in the car on your way home from work, throwing the LP on the turntable with a good whiskeywould make for an enjoyable hour on a Friday night.

On Houses Of The HolyLed Zeppelin’s songwriting really grew. Instead of writing pop songs, they were composing music in a rock vein. This becomes evident on the instrumental versions on the Deluxe Edition on this release. The Song Remains the Same is an interesting song unto itself without vocals. And while Over The Hills and Far Away still has it’s repetition, the “guitar mix backing track” is enjoyable. The guitar solo being a little higher in the mix is an added bonus. No Quarter is, again, a complete composition sans vocals, working perfectly as an instrumental composition. What you quickly hear is that Robert Plant was not necessary to either No Quarter or The Song Remains the Same, but manages to put together a performance that adds to the whole of the piece (although a reasonable argument could be made that The Song Remains the Same is a better song as an instrumental than with his speeded up chipmunk vocal added as on the album).

The Rain Song (mix minus piano) baffles me slightly, but only because I can’t detect the difference between the original and this one. The Crunge (rough mix – keys up), Dancing Days (Rough Mix with Vocal) and The Ocean (Working Mix) are the same. Detecting what may be different (no count in on The Ocean for example) could be a game unto itself. So while there’s nothing exciting in the remaining bonus tracks (and no D’Yer Mak’er at all), added in with the three instrumentals you get an idea of what this album could have been like. And in fact, Jimmy Page’s original idea was to start it off with The Song Remains the Same as an instrumental (in fact, it was originally called Overture) that connected to The Rain Song.

What you get from the Houses Of The Holy bonus disk is that it could have been a better album. So far, of all the bonus disks, this may be the only one I play on a regular basis instead of the original album.

Album release, Review Deluxe Edition, Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV, Remasters, Stairway to Heaven

No band has made more hay out of their catalogue than The Who. In their first 40-years, between 1965’s My Generation and 2006’s Endless Wire, they produced 11 studio albums and 20 compilation albums – plus another 5 compilations since. With this years Quadrophenia: Live in London, they have as many live albums as studio albums.

So if you’re Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey, the last remnants of The Who, what better way to celebrate the bands 50th anniversary than with a greatest hits album, The Who Hits 50!?

Stretching from their pre-Who days with The High Numbers Zoot Suit and their first singles as The Who, I Can’t Explain, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere and My Generation to the post-Y2K collection of hits, 2004’s Real Good Looking Boy, 2006’s It’s Not Enough from the last Who studio album Endless Wire and Be Lucky, recorded earlier this year.

As always when you get a collection from a band has been around as long as, and have had as many hits as the Who, the 42 song set is loaded with great material and almost anyone is sure to find a number of songs they like, and one or two they are less keen on. But every significant era of The Who, the early singles, Tommy, Quadrophenia, the 70’s rock, the Kenny Jones era, is well represented here. Personal favourites that I don’t get to hear often enough, Postcard and Who Are You’s Trick of the Light are on the album, compensating for what I consider too many of the early pop singles. Those early singles, however, have never sounded better. The sound on this collection is excellent, with everything sounding clear and clean.

Overall The Who Hits 50! is a solid collection that sounds great and has enough material for everyone to enjoy. If you happened to have bought the last three Who collections, I’m not sure you really need this one. But if your looking for some Who, this is a great set.

Tracklist

1. Zoot Suit (as the High Numbers)
2. I Can’t Explain
3. Anyway Anyhow Anywhere
4. My Generation
5. Substitute
6. The Kids Are Alright
7. I’m a Boy
8. Happy Jack
9. Boris the Spider
10. Pictures of Lily
11. The Last Time
12. I Can See For Miles
13. Call Me Lightning
14. Dogs
15. Magic Bus
16. Pinball Wizard
17. I’m Free
18. The Seeker
19. Summertime Blues
20. See Me, Feel Me
21. Won’t Get Fooled Again
22. Let’s See Action
23. Bargain
24. Behind Blue Eyes
25. baba O’Riley
26. Join Together
27. Relay
28. 5: 15
29. Love Right O’er Me
30. Postcard
31. Squeeze Box
32. Slip Kid
33. Who Are You
34. Trick of The Light
35. You Better You Bet
36. Don’t Let Go The Coat
37. Athena
38. Eminence Front
39. It’s Hard
40. Real Good Looking Boy
41. It’s Not Enough
42. Be Lucky

Album release, Review Anyway Anyhow Anywhere, Be Lucky, Greatest Hits, I Can’t Explain, My Generation, Quadrophenia, The Who, The Who Hits 50, Tommy

A guy knows what he’s going to get when he buys a Bob Seger record: rock and roll played on a straight four beat. Add in a dash of new country guitar pickin’ and you have a Bob Seger album for the new millennium. It used to be such an album was something to look forward to with eager anticipation, as I fondly recall doing for Like a Rock in the mid-80’s. But Seger’s songwriting has diminished over the years, his ability to find a new, unique, interesting way to play an E-chord exhausted, and what’s left is a collection of familiar sounding songs.

There’s nothing wrong with Ride Out, Seger’s latest album, released this week. If you liked his last number of albums, you’ll like this one well enough. The collection of decent songs, in fact, improve on multiple listens, and the early released songs, Detroit Made, Hey Gypsy and The Devil’s Right Hand after a few weeks of listening are my favorites on the album. The same can’t be said, however, of You Take Me In, the early release balled which was boring on first listen, and boring now that’s it’s heard in the context of a full album.

Seger has a go at politics with It’s Your World, a song in which he decries the state of the world without offering solutions (it is a bit rich, the multi-millionaire singer complaining about cash is king), and if the depth of Your World amounts to the depth of Seger’s politics, it’s a good thing there’s 50-years between here to The Ballad of the Yellow Beret. His attempt at Americana, Adam and Eve, also fails pretty miserably.

Hey Gypsy, on the other hand, Seger’s tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, is an album highlight. You’ve never heard a Texas shuffle played so squarely, so tightly on the beat, as this, but it works magnificently and will likely be a strong addition to Seger’s live set in his upcoming tour. The acoustic song, Listen, one of the bonus songs on the Deluxe Edition of Ride Out, is another highlight of the album.

There’s a number of good enough songs on Ride Out, but let’s also be clear, there’s no Hollywood Nights or Rock and Roll Never Forgets, no ballads as good as Mainstreet, no acoustic numbers of the calibre of Night Moves or Against the Wind. If your looking for Seger to find that magic touch he had from the mid-70’s to the mid-80’s you’ll be disappointed. But if your looking for Seger to meet or exceed what he has done the last couple of albums, he has.

Tracklist

Detroit Made
Hey Gypsy
The Devils Right Hand
Ride Out
Adam and Eve
California Stars
It’s Your World
All of the Roads
You Take Me In
Gates of Eden

Listen (Deluxe Edition only)*
The Fireman’s Talkin’ (Deluxe Edition only)*
Let the Rivers Run (Deluxe Edition only)*

*(Note: There is a Target only CD version with 2 extra songs)

Album release, Bob Seger, Record Release, Review Bob Seger, Detroit Made, Hey Gypsy, Hollywood Nights, Like a Rock, Mainstreet, Night Moves, Rock and Roll Never Forgets, Stevie Ray, Stevie Ray Vaughan

John Mellencamp has announced he will release his 20th album of original material, called Plain Spoken, on September 23rd.

The album will feature ten new tracks from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, his first since 2010’s No Better Than This. It will be available on CD, digital download and vinyl LP.

Mellencamp has already released a single from the album, Troubled Man,that is currently available on Amazon and iTunes.

Here’s a live version of Troubled Man from Oklahoma in June.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Troubled Man
2. Sometimes There’s God
3. The Isolation of Mister
4. The Company of Cowards
5. Tears In Vain
6. The Brass Ring
7. Freedom Of Speech
8. Blue Charlotte
9. The Courtesy of Kings
10. Lawless Times

Album release, John Mellencamp John Mellencamp, Plain Spoken, Troubled Man