Random Record Revisited: 

The Roaring Silence – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band [1976]

When Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s version of Blinded By the Light popped up on the radio it was like nothing else out there. It was one of those songs that forced you to sit on the station that just played it or go hopping around the dial looking for it on another station. The single version at 3:49 cuts out three minutes of jamming in the middle [a cardinal sin of say the Knack’s My Sharona single] yet still feels like it captures the complete spirit of the song.

Blinded kicks off MMEB’s The Roaring Silence in high cotton. Unfortunately, the second track Singing The Dolphin Through is an overlong, slow mid-tempo thing that rises and swells like parts of Styx’s Come Sail Away melded with the Monkees’ The Porpoise Song. After about five and a half minutes it falls into the prog death spiral of guitar solo over fanfare keyboards then a descending synthesizer figure that leads to calm, lolling waves over which someone has now decided to add some honking saxophone solo. [To say I am not a fan of this song would be a pretty fair statement.] And then surprisingly, the next cut Waiter, There’s A Yawn In My Ear kicks into some interesting keyboard runs and riffs that turn into an interesting instrumental jam. It's nothing to challenge a band like Yes but it avoids being just stock, dull “rock by numbers.” Applause at the end indicates that this may be something cut off a live tape.

The second side is actually pretty darn good. The Road To Babylon is some good light prog with a choir and some time shifts. Good wah-wah lead work by Chris Hamlet Thompson. Hate the abrupt cut off that ends the song. My copy is the second issue of the album which has a touched up recording of another Bruce song, Spirits In the Night with vocals by new singer Thompson. [A longer version of Spirits had been on the band’s previous album Nightingales And Bombers. It featured a stretched out middle section with some tasty work by Mick Rogers which probably heavily inspired what was to come with Blinded.] This  heavily edited version is nowhere near as interesting. This Side Of Paradise cops the vocal melody from Brandy You’re A Fine Girl but puts it over a bubbling light progressive tune. Starbird has a bit of uptempo jamming ala  Led Boots on Jeff Beck’s Wired that breaks into a little chordal dirge at the end akin to something maybe the Alan Parsons Project would be doing on I, Robot. Questions is not a cover of the Moody Blues but flows similarly like a Moody Blues song with Brian May adding a fanfare like solo.

As a second-tier progressive band album, I find Manfred Mann’s Earth Band satisfying enough to warrant digging up a couple more albums to see if there’s another good record out there.

ADDENDA: Apparently the remastered CD version puts the touched up Spirits In the Night after Questions and adds the single version of BBtL as the final cut. Maybe this original running order which appears on the first pressing [denoted by its sepia brown colored jacket, not the blue green one] might be a little more satisfying than the one with Spirits plopped down [possibly breaking the cosmic flow]between Babylon and Paradise. And one review says Singing the Dolphin Through is a cover of Mike Heron who was also in the Incredible String Band. This does not change my opinion of the Earth Band’s cut here, I add it merely to be informative.

 Random Record Revisited:

Get the Knack – The Knack [1979]

Sure you know the hits, ever tracked the whole album? Should you? I mean if you like Cheap Trick type power pop, you’re going to like the opener Let Me Out. And Lucinda and Frustrated on the B side.

The main difference between the Knack and the Tricksters is the Knack’s base in L.A. jangle pop. Maybe the Raspberries would be a better group to compare the Knack to. But they rarely ever hit as hard as the Raspberries or Cheap Trick. It’s like the band is on a really tight leash and don’t get a chance to really rock. Then you get to Good Girls Don’t. It’s a joyous ode to “school [kid] stuff, sticky sweet romance.” Nudge, wink. Shit man, we’ve all been fifteen, sixteen living out those Fast Times At Ridgemont High things. And someone finally said “girls want it too.” Is it embarrassing if one thinks about it? Maybe. But it’s better than Gene Simmons singing about Christine Sixteen - that’s just pure lechery.

The of course My Sharona kicks off the second side. Berton Averre’s guitar solo makes this song. Lucinda on side 2 is another Trick style song, a ballad this time. A cover of Buddy Holly’s Heartbeat sounds like a tribute to Dave Edmunds’ Rockpile. The previously mentioned Frustrated ends the album with another bit of rocking pop.

I mean I guess if the radio is playing disco, disco and disco and this comes out it’s going to be a breath of fresh air. Ultimately, I don’t think it holds up very well.

 

Random Record Revisited: 

Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush [1985]

I was in Austin’s Waterloo Records & Video looking for [and finding!] something wholly unrelated when I began grooving to Kate on the speakers. Familiar really only with The Whole Story collection, I recognized Hounds Of Love and Cloudbusting [even though I could not recall the name of Cloubusting until looking up the album later]. But nothing in the CD section seemed to be what was playing. I wandered up to the counter and asked and the nice lady held up a vinyl copy of Hounds Of Love.   

I get why some people might not be able to get into this. Kate’s high soprano swooping and diving all over the range might not be for everyone. Kate’s musical left turns like the unexpected jump 1:20 into Waking the Witch might also put some people off. Those shifts from the minimalist Under The Ice into the claustrophobic Tears For Fears like part of Waking the Witch to the Celtic Jig Of Life to the dramatic Hello Earth with it’s section of ethereal voices at the end all as one piece [side 2’s The Ninth Wave suite] aren’t for everybody. Even the ‘pop’ [as in ‘popular music’] side has its share of quirks – the cheery chirpy ‘arfs’/ background vocals in the title track.

Hounds Of Love is an ambitious album for anyone. Considering [now, 35 years after the fact] that this was done by a 26, 27-year-old is stunning. If one needs to add ‘woman,’ then fine [but I don’t think talent knows any gender]. I think it takes someone with an open mind and who enjoys a sense of adventure in their music to get deeply into this album. Not that it can’t be enjoyed by anyone of course!  Anyone putting this album on opens a door to as rich and rewarding an experience as they want to get into.

 

Disclaimer: Reviews of the 2018 remastered version of HoL indicate that this version uses a different mix of the song The Big Sky than the original release – much to the dismay and disappointment of many fans. [I don’t think whether this was by accident or on purpose has ever been addressed.] Some reviews basically claim that this ‘ruined’ the album, makes the album an abomination or red headed stepchild to be hidden away in the basement when company comes over. However, not being familiar with the original, this does not affect my judgement of the album at all.

 

Random Record Revisited 2.24.22

Starless And Bible Black – King Crimson [1974]

I was discussing the recent purchase of the turntable with my friend Mike who informed me that another friend of his had just purchased an Audio Technica turntable as well and was looking forward to some Roxy Music reissues arriving which lead to discussing other remastered editions which lead me to recall the King Crimson reissues I had purchased several years back. “One of those would be a good one to revisit with the new turntable.” Temporarily blanking to Larks Tongue In Aspic I said Red or Starless and Bible Black. Mike almost immediately chose S&BB.

Much like Neil Young, Robert Fripp declines to follow [I would say even damns] expectations and follows the muse wherever she leads. Having parted company with the Islands band and lyricist Peter Sinfield at the end of 1972 because he felt that they did not suit the new material he was writing, Fripp assembled a new band featuring ex-Yes drummer Bill Bruford, ex-Family bassist / vocalist John Wetton and multi-instrumentalist David Cross. [Bruford who had lobbied once before to join Crimson was reportedly told by Robert Fripp “Yes, I think you’re ready now.”]  1973’s Larks Tongue In Aspic took a shocking step in sound away from “progressive” [flutes, Mellotrons, 20 minute suites] to a harder edged rock and fusion sound. 1974’s S&BB continues on that route which will culminate with Red later in ’74.

Desperately short of new material for the album the band took the route used by the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa – they added the new material into their live sets and recorded them then touched up as necessary in the studio.  One of the shows recorded in Amsterdam was later fully mixed and released in 1997 as The Night Watch.

Side one is a set of shorter pieces. It kicks off with the punchier and in your face [some might say harsh] sound of The Great Deceiver that marks what this era of King Crimson would sound like. Sharp eared music fans will notice the tones and sounds that would color David Bowie’s Heroes in a few years. Lament starts in a very pleasant manner that could almost be considered pop but then breaks into a great lurching beast with stops and starts and time shifts that certainly would not have made it on pop radio. But his does not mean that the band entirely abandoned their earlier style. The Night Watch, Trio and The Mincer would have fit comfortably on In the Court Of the Crimson King or In the Wake Of Poseidon. with Wetton very pleasingly filling the large vocal shoes of Greg Lake. [He also plays some very good bass on side 2. R.I.P. Mr. Wetton.]

Side 2 is two longer instrumental songs. The eponymous title track clocking in at just over 9 minutes and Fracture a shade over 11. Some people might cringe at the thought of two instrumental tracks that length but Crimson unlike the Dead rarely wanders even in improvisation. Starless and Bible Black is pretty tame and subdued most of the time. Fracture on the other hand is incredibly sharp and a great showcase for why Bruford was indeed ready to be admitted into the fold.

Truth be told I thought I liked both Red and Larks Tongue in Aspic much better than this record but I now find that I will have to revisit both of those records in the near future to see if that remains the case.

 Random Album Review 2.22.22 

Lucifer’s Friend [1970]

Where does one come across a band called Lucifer’s Friend? Why does one buy it? I came across this in a shop where my prog and psychedelic loving friend John works. Having tired myself of the same old same old [your Sabbaths, Zeppelins, Stones and Airplanes] I spent some time exploring the works of Deep Purple. According to the notes for Purple’s In Rock [or was it Fireball?] anniversary, the Heep and Purple has shared some rehearsal space in 1970, so I had asked about Uriah Heep. John said he was the right man to ask and led me to them.  Not having a good clean copy of The Magician’s Birthday, I wound up with Demons and Wizards.  Soon after I went back to the shop and John has the debut from Germany’s Lucifer’s Friend spinning.

Despite the evil name, the tunes stamped into the wax bear much more in common with Uriah Heep than Black Sabbath or even Deep Purple. To clarify that last bit: Any band that riffs and uses a Hammond organ is going to draw comparisons to Purple. However, the level of musicianship in Purple with Lord, Paice, Blackmore and Glover puts them two heads, shoulders and most of a torso above any other band employing this sound. But it would be very interesting to try and put a timeline together of LF, Purple and Heep to see who came out first and influenced the other. Or to talk to the principles and see where they all copped the idea for this sound. Listener reviews on Rate Your Music suggest Vanilla Fudge would figure prominently. [I checked, it does, at least for Uriah Heep’s Ken Hensley.]

As for the music, Heep is a close cousin. Maybe the early Rod Evans era of Deep Purple, Shades Of…, Book Of the Taliesyn. The band is also incredibly tight much more like Black Sabbath in that one regard. Guitarist Peter Hesslein rarely goes off on Blackmore-ish tangents and runs but matches and compliments what Peter Hecht is laying down on the organ. [Although he plays some tasty licks on Everybody’s Clown.] Vocalist John Lawton on the other hand lays down the blueprint for Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson and other metal screamers to come. Or matches up with Ian Gillan, although Gillan has much more power in his voice.]  Bassist Deiter Horns and drummer Joachim Rietenbach hold the whole thing down a whole lot like Vanilla Fudge’s Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice. The Fudge Connection can be heard very clearly on the final song, the eponymous Lucifer’s Friend. The lead track Ride the Sky features a bombastic blast the either inspired or quotes Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song. [Indeed, the riding main riff here is one that Iron Maiden might have borrowed.] Keep Goin’ has a nice heavy Sabbathy feel, maybe with a touch of Jethro Tull’s influence.

This is a good album and one that is great for revisiting. And if you like Uriah Heep or Deep Purple and have a curiosity for some similar bands, then I would recommend this.

Ride  the Sky on Beat Club:  Lucifer's Friend - Ride The Sky (1971) - YouTube

Having purchased my first brand new out of the box turntable since 1985 I am playing some old favorites...

Random Platter Review 2.18  - Modern Times – Jefferson Starship [1981]

Jefferson Starship had proved themselves ready to step past the shadows of their former singers Marty Balin and Grace Slick and leap boldly into the 80s with the arrival of singer Mickey Thomas [and well-traveled drummer Aynsley Dunbar] on 1979’s Freedom At Point Zero. That streamlined and airworthy Starship continued that ascent with 1981’s Modern Times.

Modern Times continues to flex [power pop / hard rock] muscles that appeared on Point Zero. The band sounds like a lot of other bands out there in 1981. Except that they don’t. Very few bands paid attention to vocal harmonies like this band, one of the few carryovers from the Jefferson Airplane era, to which Paul Kantner was now the last remaining link. Having been restored [by default] as the undisputed leader of Jefferson Starship on Point Zero, Kantner falls back to a secondary role. Modern Times marks the emergence of the writing tandem of the multi-talented Pete Sears and his wife [and lyricist] Jeannette. They would contribute about one third of the band’s songs on the last three Jefferson Starship records. The second single Stranger [a Sears / Sears composition] also brought Grace Slick back into the band. Slick’s only [co-] lead vocal was with Thomas on Stranger, but she added backing vocals on several other songs. She would return to prominence with 82’s Wind Of Change. The ever electrifying Craig Chaquico contributes some [more] amazing lead guitar work, particularly on the side one closing Save Your Love. Mickey Thomas’ vocals soar over the whole thing in ways Marty Balin could never dream of. [But why would he? Marty has his own style. And he would have a couple of top 40 singles himself in 1981.]

The songs – well, the songs are good and mostly memorable. In addition to Stanger, Chaquico and Tom Borsdorf’s Find Your Way Back received some airplay and landed in the top 30. Save Your Love has been noted and Kantner’s Angel [Wild Eyes] is pretty good. The closer Stairway to Cleveland [We Do What We Want] is famously and literally Kantner’s “fuck you” to Roling Stone magazine. Mary and Free may be stock hard rock that could have been done by Heart and Alien might be an over-reach. But if nothing else, nowhere are there 10,000 uses of the word ‘baby’ which make 1975’s top 5 hit Miracles so hard to listen to now.

Modern Times is a good 80s record. [It’s also the last focused and coherent record the band would release in the 80s.] I have no problem saying that it’s at least as good as Foreigner 4 or Billy Squier’s Don’t Say No. and better than what some contemporaries like Steve Miller, Santana or Neil Young and Crazy Horse were putting out. I’d put it on before other 1981 releases like For Those About To Rock or Abacab.

 There are still songs that - no matter how many times you hear them - still send shivers up your spine and give you goosepimples. Those first notes ring out and it still takes you back to the first day you heard it and it perked your ears up and you went "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? I HAVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT.' 

Like the first time you become 'aware' of the Rolling Stones. "What the hell was that?" "That's the Rolling Stones? "Well god damn, I gotta know more about his Rolling Stones!" Or the Beatles. Or the Who. Or Led Zeppelin. Or Motley Crue or Iron Maiden or Elvis Costello or the Police, the Pretenders, Van Morrison, Jackson Browne, Madonna, etc.  

The Cars. A lot of that first Cars album and Let's Go off the second just still take me back to the late 70s, end of elementary school, start of junior high and you're discovering things on the radio.