Archive for the ‘ Power ’ Category

David Bowie “Hunky Dory”

| Pop,Power

Hunky Dory

File this under “No kidding.” Who cares if this album is holding an outside straight of massive Bowie classics (Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Life On Mars, Queen Bitch).

The problem is the powerhouses tend to overshadow the real gems here. Kooks has to be the best song on this record! Quicksand is great as well, a well orchestrated ballad with rock band climaxes. The ultra catchy Fill Your Heart is another beautiful, piano-led, tune.

With Andy Warhol and Song For Bob Dylan following (before the undeniable Queen Bitch) it’s a wonder people consider The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust the better record. Anyway, that’s more of a Ziggy record than a Bowie record.

“Kooks”

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T. Rex “Tanx”

| Pop,Power

Tanx

If you love Electric Warrior and Slider then you’ll like like Tanx a lot!! For me, Marc Bolan has one of the greatest rock voices of the time. I don’t know what he was putting in his tea between 1971-1973, peppermint jasmine awesome, perhaps?

Tanx picks up right where Slider left off and even broadens the band’s sound adding horns and back up singers throughout the record. This album also serves as a perfect self confidence booster when you get ready to go out on a Friday Night, but don’t get too sexy!

In a way Tanx is a farewell album, mostly because the band would soon start to dismember, and Bolan would go on to make on a few more records that no one would listen to. Please do not let the ridiculousness of the album cover fool you, it’s a great listen; Bolan looks like a member of Gwar on the cover, no?

“Mister, Mister”

I too, was Born to Boogie

T. Rex

Todd Rundgren “A Wizard, A True Star”

| Pop,Power,Psych

A Wizard, A True Star

The suits at Warner Bros must’ve been scratching their heads with this one. Following the success of Something/Anything, Todd Rundgren was well on his way to becoming a superstar but he had something else in mind. The title of this album shows his wariness of his new found success. If Something/Anything was delicious bubble gum then A Wizard A True Star is delicious bubble gum with glass in it and Rundgren makes you like the taste of your own blood.

This album is the first of several of his more Zappa-esque experimental albums and an example of Todd refusing to stay in one genre (don’t worry, in 9 years he’ll write Bang On the Drum All Day which will remain on the radio until “Tubthumping” replaces it). A Wizard A True Star, is a bit of a slap in the face to his record label and a little self indulgent at times but the bottom line is that it works. It’s refreshing to look back at a time when musicians would turn their back on success and do whatever they wanted to musically before this behavior became cliche and annoying. (Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah! I ˜m looking in your direction). wink

This album deserves a few listens so be patient with it, there’s actually a lot of sincerity behind it and even a tribute to Motown! Your homework for the week is to listen to A Wizard, A True Star at least once a day in it’s entirety. Who knows? You might find a hit or two¦.make a game out of it, whoever finds the most hits wins!!!

“When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd”

Wizard For Sale

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, A True Star

Brian Eno “Another Green World”

| Art,Garage,Pop,Power

Another Green World

There are four Eno albums that sort-of go together. These are his first four solo albums after leaving Roxy Music: Here Come The Warm Jets (1973), Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974), Another Green World (1975), and Before & After Science (1977). I could have chosen any one of these recently remastered digipak albums to review today (and probably will get to them all soon enough), but Another Green World jumps out at me first every time.

Don’t expect ambient, experimental, exclusively electronic non-music or anything you have previously associated with Eno’s incredible body of work. This album, as well as the others listed here, is part of Eno’s pop-rock masterpiece phase, at once a listenable rock album and a piece of certifiable Eno art.

The first time I heard this record though, I was really digging it, until Brian started singing. But rest assured, you will learn to love and appreciate his vocal style, as much as you will learn to love each “sound painting” arranged within this perfect album.

Also of note, this album synchronizes excellently (a la Dark Side of the Rainbow) with the 1984 Disney film Where The Toys Come From. I forget exactly which “roar of the lion” to sync them up with, but that doesn’t really matter.

“Another Green World”

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Brian Eno - Another Green World