Still the Same: Great Rock Classics of Our Time
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Unquestionably one of rock’s greatest vocalists, Rod Stewart should have titled this album Fantastic Rock Classics of My Time. Most of these Top 40 tunes and others like Dylan’s “If Not for You” were popularized in the early to mid-’70s, when Stewart was entering his rock prime. He’s perfect to croon Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Like,” soulfully pained on Bonnie Tyler’s “It’s a Heartache,” and right in the pocket on the Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You.” And his unmistakable raspiness puts another layer of wisdom on the ancient Cat Steven’s classic “Father & Son.” But you also have to wonder about some of the safe song choices, such Badfinger’s “Day After Day” and Nazareth’s “Like Hurts.” Why he continues to confirmation mossy cover songs is a legitimate question. What’s stopping him from getting back in trenches with some contemporary rock songwriters and really reinventing himself? The karaoke lounge is no place for a guy this fantastic to hang. –Martin Keller
Some Great Reward: +DVD
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Some Fantastic Reward, the band’s 1984 industrial/mainstream masterpiece, spawned the #13 Billboard® smash “People Are People.” Also features the signature Depeche songs “Somebody,” “Blasphemous Rumors,” and “Master And Servant.” DVD boasts three additional tracks including “In Your Memory” and a remix of “Somebody,” plus five songs captured live in concert in Basel and Liverpool in ‘84 including “People Are People” and “Master And Servant.” 27-minute DVD film Depeche Mode 1984: You Can Get Away With Anything If You Give It A Excellent Tune explores the band circa ‘84 and also features recent interview segments.
Aled
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Aled is Aled Jones’ first CD for 16 years. It’s one thing to make a comeback; it’s something else to re-emerge with a completely new voice. After a high-profile career as a young descant, including the hit single “Walking in the Air”, Jones left the limelight. His time out included a stint at the Royal Academy of Music developing his baritone voice which is now heard on this his first disc as an adult.
The strengths of Jones’ treble, notably clarity of words and musical expression, have been preserved in his adult singing voice. The 14 tracks on Aled include folk songs as well as hymns and other religious pieces, a reflection of his “day job” as a Songs of Praise presenter. On several numbers, Jones teams up with Robert Prizeman and his boys choir Libera. This is an inspired pairing and produces some of the disc’s highlights, including the spine-tingling “Vespera”. It is excellent to hear Jones sing in his native Welsh, but the finest second is saved until last–Adolphe Adam’s standard modern-day carol “O Holy Night” where the two Aleds, young and ancient, duet. –Rebecca Agnew
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The Great Destroyer
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This may be an attempt by Low to shrug off the ridiculous ’slowcore’ tag they’ve been marked with, or it may simply be that someone’s chose it would be amusing to spike Low’s tea with amphetamines. Either way, The Fantastic Destroyer is the result, and it’s the best album you’ll likely hear in 2005. Gone are the funereal, pin-drop arrangements of “Trust”; instead we have lush dense songs filled with keyboard drones, apocalyptic drums and squelchy fuzz bass -and that’s only the first track.
Dave Fridmann’s trademark production will no doubt leave some fans wondering if this is the same band they’ve loved, but they needn’t worry- as always, the rough/ smooth combination of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker’s vocals provide the focus of the band, sounding as warm and lush as anything on the chorus of the single “California”, and perfectly heartrending on the poignant high point of “When I Go Deaf” and “Broadway”- a perfect counterpoint to the music that in lesser hand would sound overwrought. Although there are epic moments for those who prefer Low’s soundscape past, an added dash of Flaming Lips style-magic on every song will be welcomed by nearly all. An essential buy for everyone. Thom Allott
20 Golden Greats: 20 Great Sounds That Grew Out of the North
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As the beat boom evolved into psychedelia and hard rock, The Hollies fell behind. Their most talented songwriter, Graham Nash, had emigrated to unimaginable fortune with Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the remaining Hollies, clinging to newly discredited philosophies of formal, concise pop music, were stuffed. They have, therefore, never been afforded the respect they deserve–for a couple of years they were, creatively and commercially, giving The Beatles a run for their cash. As consistent a singles group as ever there was, they rattled off a huge list of hits, most of which still sound thunderously bustling, driven by those trademark four-part harmonies, precise, inventive and staggeringly powerful. Lined up in a row here, those hits show the right worth of a band who were, for a brief but happily copious period, up there with the greats. –Taylor Parkes
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The Great Depression
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Despite his membership among today’s corporate rap elite, as DMX’s The Fantastic Depression proves, the overwrought production and excessive use of trite catch phrases that typify their breed can’t mask the Dark Man’s intrinsic raw power. While X’s reputation is intact and it’s hip-hop as a genre that’s floundering, the album serves as an antidote to the flood of insipid hip-hop/R&B combinations and “Oochie Wally”-isms that clog the airwaves. Standout tracks include the riot-inducing “Who We Be” and the dead-on “Shorty Was Da Bomb”. Even the lesser tunes are dope. On first listen, Depression’s most accessible song, “We Right Here”, comes off as mindless radio feed, but its blunt chorus quickly grows on you. The album’s centerpiece, “I Miss You”, is a genuinely private composition built around a universal theme. Here, DMX’s lyrics and delivery invite the same favourable comparisons to Tupac Shakur that he had received before in his career. –Rebecca Levine
Categories: Music Tags: Depression, Great
Great Southern Trendkill
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On which the singularly unsubtle Texas quartet further intensify their self-proclaimed “brassy show of power” to a frankly seismic degree. After beginning life in the early Eighties as a band rooted in the mannered tradition of Aerosmith and Kiss, Pantera drastically changed their tack in 1988 by metamorphosing into an uncompromising thrash metal combo reminiscent of Metallica. Since then, they’ve viciously honed their virtuoso, über-rock stampede into hyperspace. The Fantastic Southern Trendkill finds vocalist Phil Anselmo mercilessly ripping his throat to shreds as fretboard strangler “Dimebag” Darrell casually spits out head-spinning lead lines of such ferocity that they clearly belong behind bars. And just as “Suicide Note Part One” lulls you into a fake significance of security with its uncharacteristically acoustic introspection, “Part Two” leaps out of the speakers to rip the top off your cranium and toss it into the trash like a Frisbee. Certainly not for those with nervous dispositions. –Ian Fortnam
20 Golden Greats
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Huge, hurricane lantern-jawed Glen Campbell, erstwhile session guitarist and fill-in Beach Boy, had an image conundrum for years: staple of Seventies Radio 2 and the dream of the everyday housewife. More recently, his best recordings have again been appreciated for their majesty and massive emotional power. 20 Golden Greats is as comprehensive a hits compilation as one could hope for, covering the mid-Sixties to the mid-Seventies and missing small of worth, and to listen and not be affected would require arthritis of the soul. “Rhinestone Cowboy” is pretty cool, if a small camp, but the really fantastic Glen Campbell tracks are invariably Jimmy Webb’s songs: Campbell’s rich, sensitive tenor and the low boom-and-twang of his guitar dovetail perfectly with Webb’s stately songs of torment and regret, haloed with those luscious country strings. The combination yielded the best and best-remembered hits: “Galveston”, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “Where’s The Playground, Suzie?” and the timelessly tender “Wichita Lineman”; schmaltzy, nostalgic, quietly profound and one of the fantastic American songs of the century. –Taylor Parkes
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The Great Eastern
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Despite having founded the revered Scottish indie mark, Chemikal Underground, the Delgados remain its least celebrated act, overshadowed by the likes of Mogwai and Arab Strap. It therefore cascade to their album The Fantastic Eastern to change all that. Named after the renowned Glasgow landmark, now a flop-house, it’s an appropriate title for a sprawling songwriting effort which elevates their expanding sound and lofty a ambitions to new heights. Taking their infatuation with the heavily orchestrated sound of Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips to its logical conclusion, they have used the Rev’s Dave Fridmann to oversee production and mixing in his New York Tarbox Studios. From opener “The Past T That Suits You Best”, with its stalking beats, roughed over effects, swelling brass and gliding strings its clear that the Delgados have gone for broke here. What follows only confirms it, from singer Emma Pollock’s sad interpretation of an ex-girlfriend having second thoughts in “Accused Of Stealing” to the sparse country-fied tale of rejection “Make Your Go” which closes the set. –Mike Pattenden
Some Great Reward: Remastered/+DVD
From Amazon.com
Some Fantastic Reward, the band’s 1984 industrial/mainstream masterpiece, spawned the #13 Billboard® smash “People Are People.” Also features the signature Depeche songs “Somebody,” “Blasphemous Rumors,” and “Master And Servant.” DVD boasts three additional tracks including “In Your Memory” and a remix of “Somebody,” plus five songs captured live in concert in Basel and Liverpool in ‘84 including “People Are People” and “Master And Servant.” 27-minute DVD film Depeche Mode 1984: You Can Get Away With Anything If You Give It A Excellent Tune explores the band circa ‘84 and also features recent interview segments.
Categories: Music Tags: Great, Remastered/+DVD, Reward, Some