A Lifetime-Plus of Music

     An interesting selection today, we have the album “Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby”.  The artist, whose name is in the album title, changed his name to Sananda Maitreya in 2001, so I will refer to him as such from this point on in this summary.  This album was not only a big commercial success, it was one of those trendy picks that almost every casual music fan latched onto, not unlike Adele’s album “21” was in more recent times.  Ultimately, this record produced two really big hit singles that helped drive strong album strong sales.

     As I listen now and look back on this phenomenon, I would say I like this album, particularly in spots, but I don’t love it.  He is a very gifted vocalist, although there are certain moments where it just doesn’t quite connect for me.  I would also say that the rest of the album doesn’t have the same hook as the two most successful tracks.  Among the songs I liked best that weren’t at the top of the hit parade were the relatively funky slow-jam opener, “If You All Get to Heaven”, “I’ll Never Turn My Back on You (Father’s Words)”, and “Let’s Go Forward”.

     “Wishing Well” is the biggest hit from the record, and is the only one to reach #1 on the singles charts in the U.S.  It is another funky and catchy groove, and it is written by Maitreya and Sean Oliver.  I like this song a lot, but my highest praise is reserved for his other big song from this record, “Sign Your Name”.  It is a beautifully written love song, that really taps into the soft and sweet side of his singing voice.  He has an impressive ability to blend smoke and rasp with a really lush tone in his voice, which was certainly a big part of his wide appeal with this debut performance.

     I’m not quite sure why Maitreya did not have much commercial or widespread success after this huge record.  Sometimes it just works that way, and even though he was much more than a one-hit wonder, for some reason his staying power did not extend through the continued rise and prominence of R&B moving into the 90s.  I’m glad I was able to listen to this entire album, which I don’t think I did back in its heyday, and I found a couple more solid adds to my playlist as a result.

     “Thinkin’ of a master plan…”  Yes, today is the today we take a quantum leap forward in the world of hip-hop with the debut album from Eric B. and Rakim, “Paid in Full”.  The genre of hip-hop had been building momentum throughout the decade, starting with Grandmaster Flash, The Sugarhill Gang, and more recently, with commercial breakouts like Run D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys, but the emergence of Eric B. and Rakim, with Eric B. as DJ and Rakim as MC, they dropped the record that raised the bar significantly.  In contrast to boisterous yelling and shouting of the lyrics, Rakim’s rhymes were deep and smooth, with a buttery flow that is just so funky and right.  To this day, many people rate Rakim as the greatest MC in hip-hop history, and I’m probably one of those advocates.  As the DJ and primary sound producer, Eric B. dug deep into the funk archives of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and early ‘80s to create a sound that grooved, even to the point that they ultimately faced some legal pushback from James Brown as a part of releasing this album.  “Paid in Full” is rated as the #61 album on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and is also rated #8 on the definitivedose.com list of Top 10 All Time Hip-Hop albums.  If I’m voting, they move higher on both of those lists, without hesitation.

     To most, the album will always be most closely associated with the iconic title track, which I will discuss last, but this is very far from a one-hit album.  The entire piece is a delicious combination of Rakim’s eloquent and elaborate rhymes, interspersed with the mix and cut of Eric B.  There is not a single throwaway song on this album, and that is not something I often say, particularly in the earlier stages of hip-hop.  They open with “I Ain’t No Joke”, and you are introduced to the bottom-end beat and blend of these two for the first time.  “Eric B. is on the Cut”, along with later tracks “Chinese Arithmetic” and “Extended Beat”, showcase the production and DJ skills of Eric B.  In particular, “Extended Beat” sounds like an original funk band, as if they had the Meters in the house with them recording live.

     On “My Melody”, “I Know You Got Soul”, “Move the Crowd”, and the stunning groove that is “As the Rhyme Goes On”, Rakim’s greatness is on full display.  As much as I have loved and obsessed over the title track for more than 30 years, “As the Rhyme Goes On” is a serious contender for the best song on this record.  The bass line is ridiculous, the samples are perfect, Eric B.’s vocal cameo is just right, and Rakim is out of control good on this song.  “I’m R to the A to the KIM, If I wasn’t, then why would I say, I am”… damn, this song is just unbelievably funky and truly heaven with a beat.  “Eric B. is President” is a track where both of these guys shine equally, and the samples, including “Funky President (People It’s Bad)” from James Brown lift the sound up high.

     So, back to “Pain in Full”, the title track.  We first were widely exposed to this track when it was included in the soundtrack for the gang movie Colors, starring Robert Duvall and Sean Penn.  To varying degrees, each of my friends and myself were further warming up to hip-hop, as it was tightly woven with the cultural world of basketball over which we also obsessed over every day.  However, this song was a game changer for us.  Listening, listening, and listening some more, the lyrics from “Paid in Full” were permanently burned in my brain, and to this day, it is the only hip-hop song, and perhaps one of the few songs overall, that I can quote from beginning to end without a single prompt or assist.  As many of my friends know, this memorization has fueled some ridiculous late-night moments over the years, although most of those were also fueled by other outside elements as well.  However, the absurdity of my mediocre rapping cannot take away from the amazing drumbeat, bass line, and vocal delivery that define this song like no other hip-song I have ever heard.  Dozens, if not hundreds of hip-hop and R&B songs that followed in the footsteps of “Paid in Full” borrowed this beat.  It is one in a billion.

     Like I said, there are more than thirty years of beautiful hip-hop music to follow, and a lot to enjoy still, but for my money, no other MC ever does it quite as good as Rakim.  As they announce on the single version of this song, in one of the wonderful samples taken from the 1958 track “Train Sequence”, “this is a journey into sound”…

     Another spectacular 1980s classic today, with The Cure and their double album “Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me”.  Led by vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith, they have such a unique contrast of dark and haunting, along with the occasional burst of sunshine that shines through on a song like “Just Like Heaven” or “Friday I’m In Love” (which is not on this record).  When I think of new-wave or alternative acts of the 1980s, The Cure is usually one of the first bands I think of, and they definitely were a memorable part of my college experience.

     I have to say, I really liked this album a lot.  My previous exposure to The Cure was very narrowly centered on a few songs I have listened to more times than I could count, and I was looking forward to expanding my range with this record.  Being a double album, there is a lot of material to get through, but without fail, I can’t think of a single song I didn’t enjoy listening to during multiple plays.  Most of The Cure is what some might label an “uncomfortable listen”.  For the most part, they aren’t happy or bouncy songs, but they almost always make you think and feel.  One of the very best songs is “The Kiss”, which is the opening track.  It has an intense drive and slow burn that really captures your attention, and if you couldn’t figure this out just from the extended intro alone, the lyrics confirm that this is NOT a song about happy times in a relationship. I thought “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse was the most intense song of despair and empty sadness I had ever heard, but this one is absolutely in the same league. I think the difference is that this song comes a bit later in the process, when you start to shift from devastation to anger. The guitar work on this song, I assume by Smith, is absolutely phenomenal.  At this point in time, Porl Thompson, who later toured with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, was still a part of the band, and was the other primary creative and music force in the group. I have created enough problems as of late for my neighbors with my sound system, but in one of those moments where the darkness creeps in, and we ALL have those, I could see myself sitting on my couch with this on at a volume that would rattle several floors.

     The mood shifts with “Catch”, which has a very Velvet Underground feel to me, and leans heavily on some airy strings to add a melancholy feel to the song.  Another early standout is the first, and perhaps most recognizable single to most listeners, “Why Can’t I Be You”.  Even as an up-tempo track, it radiates with the dark sadness that flows through most of The Cure and their songs.  The horns on this song are great, and Smith’s unusual vocals cut through the melody with a noticeable sharpness.  “How Beautiful You Are” reminds me of “Under The Milky Way” by The Church, and both have that same echoing appeal.

     Playing on the contrast of the band, one of the darkest and intense songs, “Snakepit” serves as the lead in for my all-time favorite song by The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”.  One of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, and it always brings me great joy to think of the nights this song echoed across the dance floor at Garfield’s in Greeley.  Not that I had any clue what I was doing, but the memories are happy ones with friends old and new, moving beyond our “teen bars” into our first 21+ club.  It certainly helped that our former roommates all worked there, as they were the key to my early entry to many clubs from that day on.  “Just Like Heaven” is what drew me to The Cure, but this album is enough to keep my attention all the way through.  You have to be in the right mood, and I could make an argument this album is best suited for listening to alone, but in the right setting, it is one of the best and most complete albums from this time or genre.

     I will admit, when I saw that “Sign o’ the Times”, the next album from Prince, was rated #45 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, I was a bit cynical after thinking “The Joshua Tree” by U2 was rated way too low, at #135.  I really shouldn’t care about these ratings, and I usually don’t.  That said, although I may have started out with a bad attitude, I warmed up to this album fairly quickly.  It isn’t my all-time favorite record by Prince, as there are at least two, and probably three albums I would rate ahead of this one, but it is certainly a shift in sound, and it has some great songs.

     The title track, which is the first song and was the first single from this double album, is a wonderful contrast from over-the-top Prince.  It is restrained and subtle, both with the instruments and vocals.  It is interesting to hear how Prince plays differently on this record now that he had effectively disbanded his backup band, even though Wendy and Lisa, along with drummer Sheila E. can be found playing in multiple places on the record.

     If I had to pick three tracks from this album that I liked the most, I would go with the funky “Housequake”, the smooth tune that is “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker”, and the infectious melody that is “Starfish and Coffee”, my favorite on the record.

     I was surprised to hear “U Got The Look” on this album, as it sounds like, and I had somehow assumed, that it was much older, closer to the “1999” era.  I also had either forgotten, or never realized, that Sheena Easton is the female lead vocalist on this song.  This is definitely classic old school Prince, a sound we don’t hear as often on this record, for good and for bad.

     My son, the huge Prince fan that he is, tells me that the last song, “Adore” is his favorite Prince song of all time.  I knew as soon as I heard it that I wasn’t going to agree with him, and I bet he knew it too.  That said, it was also symbolic of some of his earlier work, in that as soon as I heard the slow jam and his grooving falsetto, it was only a matter of time before Prince completely lost it, and I wasn’t wrong.  Very recognizable as signature Prince, even if it isn’t my favorite.      “Sign o’ the Times” was just that for Prince, as he tightened the circle around him and took a few more inward steps towards his isolated central existence.  All the while, he made a great record that extended and expanded his catalog and legacy.

     Some of these albums require several complete listens from front to back for me to learn the nuances and figure out how I feel about the record, and then there are some that I could write about without even a second thought.  “The Joshua Tree” by U2 definitely belongs in that second category, as I have no doubt listened to it from beginning to end hundreds of times, and certain pieces of it many times moreover.  This monumental moment for the band is when they transcended from being one of the biggest bands in the world to being THE biggest band in the world, and not only was it a massive success critically and commercially, it was one of the most influential records of the 1980s for me personally as well.  This album is rated #135 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, which feels way too low for this powerful piece.

     Coming into this record, this Irish band was evolving after multiple years on the road, primarily in America like many British bands from the original invasion.  They were popular worldwide, but it was in America where the big money and biggest crowds were, and Bono and the band became fascinated with the overwhelming presence of the U.S.  As they dug deeper into the culture, history, and worldwide presence of the United States, they learned the intricacies of American blues, and they also learned the promise and potential of this country sometimes were in direct contradiction with how we lived up to the words or intentions of our founding fathers.  The resulting product was a record based on, and influenced by, these historical sounds and images of America, and the contrasting realities of beauty and arrogance and oppression many outside (and inside) the U.S. were also discovering during the 1980s.

     Musically, the record was another major step forward for the band.  Once again, they worked with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno to help fill out the echoes and sensations of this record.  Of the eleven songs on this record, I’m fairly well enthralled by ten of the songs, and “Exit”, the one I’m on the fence on, probably created some of their most dramatic reactions when played live.  This album came about at a time when I needed it most.  Living alone and away from my family, I was now in college in Colorado, and my world was defined by the relationships with my friends, and in some cases, the relationships I lacked.  I loved this band and this record, and it became one of two albums that really permeated our lives and our house (The Rat Mansion) during my third year in college.  In particular, my friends Mike and John and I would endlessly play “The Joshua Tree” and debate the meaning of life while playing late night darts, and seeing the band live twice while on tour for this record (once in Colorado with my friend Joe, among others, and once in Baton Rouge with my sister) reinforced my passion for their music.

     As I start to break down the individual songs, it was important to reference their live show for the first song.  Over my lifetime, I have seen hundreds of concerts, and while I would really struggle to pick my single all-time favorite show, I can say without any doubt that the best opening song performance, for all of its electricity and musical theater, is “Where the Streets Have No Name”.  Starting with the growing hum of the keyboard, the silhouetted backdrop shows us Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton, The Edge, and finally Bono, in his signature cowboy hat, each entering the stage as Mullen begins in rhythm and in sync with the iconic opening notes from The Edge.  It really is a sight to see, and if you want proof, search for the version of this song in the movie “Rattle and Hum” and you will see exactly what I mean.  I have never felt a surge of energy quite like when they blast the house lights and explode into the song.  I learned that U2 ultimately asked an outside party to sequence the songs when they finished the album, with two exceptions being the first and last songs, and with both, there could be no other way.

     The second song is “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, tapping into Bono and the band’s spiritual roots and spiritual search, all at once.  It was another massive hit, and although not my favorite from this record, it is a great one, especially when performed live with some altered arrangements.

     Perhaps the most personal song for me on the album is “With or Without You”, the first and biggest single from the record.  Although this time in my life was amongst the happiest periods I have ever known, with an amazing group of friends and never-ending adventure, unlike high school, college represented a long run in my life with no connected or committed relationships.  While this was most likely for the best in the long run, it certainly left me with feelings of hurt and sadness, wondering what could have been or should have been.  The lyrics “You’ve got me with nothing to win, and nothing left to lose” perfectly represented the despair and isolation I felt during certain periods of that otherwise happy time-frame.

     “Bullet the Blue Sky” takes on the oppressor and aggressor many saw in the United States, particularly in the heated region of central America at this time.  Every story has two sides, but there is plenty of truth to the unnecessarily excessive displays of force this song references.

     Oddly enough, unlike many albums, the consensus favorite songs on this record for me and my friends in Greeley at the time, were the relatively unsung tracks that composed the last song of side one and the first song of side two.  “Running to Stand Still” is an emotional blockbuster of a sad song, based in classic U2 fashion off of two simple chords on the piano, highlighting the tragic grip of heroin.  Unfortunately, this would only serve as a haunting preview of times to come in the music world during the next decade.  “Red Hill Mining Town” is a more up-tempo rocker, but equally stunning in its performance.  We all loved the power of Edge’s guitar during the bridge, and to this day, these remain my two favorite tracks on the entire record.

     The next two tracks, “In God’s Country” and “Trip Through Your Wires” were both good enough to be lead singles on many records, yet they got lost a bit within all of the other powerhouse songs on side one.  I particularly love the rhythm section and Bono’s harmonica on “Trip Through Your Wires”, and although I don’t think I have mentioned it yet, Bono’s vocal performance on this song and this entire album, really elevated him to superstar status.  Always dramatic, but flavored with soft whispers, growling power and angelic falsetto as needed, he is outstanding on this record, and he also did a brilliant job with all of the lyrics.

     While I didn’t love “Exit”, as noted above, the other two of the last three songs, “One Tree Hill” and “Mothers of the Disappeared” both serve as intense and emotionally gripping songs addressing the loss of life of a close friend and the anguished hopelessness of having a child disappear without reason or explanation.  The album ends on the same roll of energy that it began with, and it is amazing to hear how advanced this record is, even with their raw beginnings fully littered with great, if simple, tracks by comparison.

     For several years, “The Joshua Tree” was a near daily fixture in my life, and the live performances and shared listens with friends only served to reinforce how much I love this record.  I didn’t need to listen to this album today to write this blog, but I’m sure glad that I did.

     “Tommy used to work on the docks…”, yes, it is time today for 1987’s #1 selling album, which was released in August of 1986, “Slippery When Wet” by Bon Jovi.  Not only was the record a massive commercial hit, it opened the aperture further, along with Def Leppard, for the merging of pop music with heavy metal, and with a lot of hair spray and spandex involved, we have one of the most broadly appealing variants of hair metal.  Love it or not, this record launched Jon Bon Jovi into the stratosphere, and he remains one of New Jersey’s most famous recording artists today, along with Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen.

     The album opens with “Let It Rock”, which is somewhat reminiscent of “Let It Go” by Def Leppard from their early days.  The hit parade begins with “You Give Love a Bad Name”.  This song was a massive hit and the first single off of the record, but it has never been a favorite of mine.  As if that song wasn’t a big enough of a hit, then comes “Livin’ on a Prayer”, which along with “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey, is one of the two most enduring anthems of this entire decade.  I would be hard-pressed to find any music fan of almost any generation who doesn’t know this song by heart, whether they like it or not.  It is undoubtedly a pop-rock classic, and like most of the big hits on this album, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora leaned on professional songwriter Desmond Child for an assist.  Child is a hit machine, cowriting many of the hits of the 1980s for bands like Aerosmith and Kiss among many others.

     “Wanted Dead or Alive” is the third single and third massive hit from this record.  It is a bit cliché (ok, maybe a lot cliché) but again, it is an iconic rock ballad with the rock-star in the wild west imagery.  I will cop to liking this song, and always have, and like any of us who only dreamed of rock music success, I certainly wish I could say that I “had seen a million faces, and rocked them all”.  They say it isn’t bragging if you can back it up, and Bon Jovi certainly did that.  I will also give Richie Sambora a well-deserved credit for a really powerful guitar solo on this song (along with his omnipresent backing vocals).  This solo is living proof that a great guitar solo doesn’t have to be the fastest or contain the most notes, it just has to hit the right ones.  David Gilmour of Pink Floyd is another who truly mastered this concept.

     “Raise Your Hands” actually opens with a guitar riff that sounds remarkably similar to the opening of “Bark at the Moon” by Ozzy Osbourne, so Sambora is doing his best to not let the band completely backslide into pop and schmaltz purgatory, which is what we have on most of the rest of the album.  “Never Say Goodbye” was the best of the rest and a reasonably popular hit, if not quite as big as the first three singles.

     In total, Jon Bon Jovi and his band created a wildly successful record that fueled years of sold-out arena shows throughout the rest of the happy and relatively carefree musical 1980s.  While the depth of the content is questionable, good music is often synonymous with the happiest times of life, and I have no doubt an entire generation of music fans look back on this record with big smiles and happy memories.

     After two days of intense metal, who would have thought the relatively soothing sounds of the Beastie Boys would bring me down from the ledge, but that is exactly what happened.  My appreciation for this group evolved much more so in the 1990s, and when “Licensed to Ill” was first released, I didn’t give it a ton of consideration other than knowing the hit single “Fight for Your Right” like everyone did.  Perhaps if I had known that the first three songs, as well as the last one either sampled or referenced Led Zeppelin, I might have paid attention more closely.  Listening to it all again was a hilarious and happy reunion with these talented and unusual dudes from New York.  “Licensed to Ill” is the #192 rated album on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     Featuring Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz (I always struggled to tell these two apart vocally), and the more distinctive raspy tone of Adam “MCA” Yauch, they perfectly blended punk disregard with a strong seasoning of New York attitude in a mixing bowl with hip-hop beats and a sincere affection for White Castle.  The album kicks off with Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks” drum opener crushing the beat for “Rhymin & Stealin”,  blended with the guitar riff from “Sweet Leaf” by Black Sabbath, and on the next track, “The New Style”, we uncomfortably hear that “If I played guitar I’d be Jimmy Page, The girlies I like are underage”.  Doh.  I think what has helped me really grow to love their sound is living on the east coast for most of my adult life, with plenty of time spent in and around New York.  It is a one-of-a-kind town, with a one-of-a-kind sneer, and as they say, if you know, you know.

     That attitude keeps overflowing on “She’s Crafty”, opening with a Zeppelin riff from “The Ocean”.  A simple song with basic beats, the production here, once again courtesy of Rick Rubin and Def Jam, is top notch and extremely infectious.  The beat slows down and gets heavier on “Posse in Effect” and “Slow Ride”, which samples “Low Rider” by War.  “Girls” is a remarkably elementary keyboard melody line that is equally comical.  One of the things I love about the Beastie Boys is that it feels like these three guys could just be three of your buddies from middle school who put a tune together for the talent show, especially if you happened to go to middle school in Brooklyn or Queens.

     “Fight for Your Right” is an absurd but phenomenally popular party anthem that still surfaces frequently 35 years later… “Oh mom, your just jealous, it’s the BEA-STIE BOYS!”  The New York sound rolls on with “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”, another classic from this album.  The laughs just keep coming on their tribute to the infamous “Brass Monkey”, and “Slow and Low” is another slow jam rocker.  Side two ends with “Time to Get Ill”, with one last Zeppelin sample, this time from “Custard Pie”. 

     “Licensed to Ill” was the first hip hop album to reach number one on the album charts, setting the stage for a lot more, both from the Beastie Boys and the much larger movement of hip-hop surging in parallel.  My most favorite Beastie Boy tracks still come from their later work, but it was great to revisit this smash and remind myself how many classics came from a single album.  Sadly, we lost MCA in 2012, and the other two have been content to celebrate their legacy and not try to awkwardly extend this trio in absentia.  Their place in music and hip-hop history is rock-solid, just like this entire album.

     The year of metal continues, with yet another highly acclaimed heavy metal record that came out in 1986.  “Reign In Blood” by Slayer is the 4^th rated album on the loudwire.com list of Top 10 Metal Albums of All Time.  Like Metallica and Megadeth, Slayer also hails from California, and just like Dave Mustaine was previously in Metallica, Kerry King was briefly in Megadeth with Mustaine, which helped to fuel some rivalry and animosity between the bands.

     Where do I even start?  I don’t know that I had ever intentionally listened to Slayer prior to this experience, and I don’t know that I will do so very often again.  My most familiar reference to the band prior to this day was a comedy routine by Jim Breuer, a SNL alum and avowed metal fan who has toured with Metallica.  Jim asserted in hilarious detail to the level of devotion, intensity, depravity and obsession of the prototypical Slayer fan.  As such, I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into, but of course it was even more than I anticipated.

     If Megadeth is darker and more intense than Metallica, then the same can be said for Slayer in comparison to either of these acts.  Fast, crushing, and jarring, the vocals edge closer to what eventually evolved into screamo metal.  Again, the topics are not pleasant or uplifting.  As we listen to the band explore Josef Mengele on the song “Angel of Death” to open the album, it is clear there are not any silly love songs coming down Interstate 5.  The songs are rather similar in pace, volume, range and duration, as they tend to play shorter per track than their peers, not unlike the two and a half minute songs featured by many hardcore punk bands.  If I had to single one track out from the bunch, and that is a task, I would probably go with “Raining Blood”, the last song on the album, although “Angel of Death” is also an intense and interesting burst.  Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty to get cheered up by when listening to “Necrophobic”, “Altar of Sacrifice”, “Criminally Insane” and “Postmortem”, but my metal ear hasn’t evolved enough yet to truly pick my favorites from the bunch.

     With their classic lineup of Tom Araya on bass and vocals, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman on guitars, and Dave Lombardo on drums, along with support from Def Jam records and producer Rick Rubin, this record is in rare air with the other thrash metal classics of 1986.  Along with Anthrax, these four bands redefined the intensity of this sound, even as British leather metal and southern California hair metal were thriving in parallel.

     Back to the heavy metal for another highly acclaimed 1986 release, today we have “Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?” by Dave Mustaine and Megadeth.  Mustaine was originally with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich in Metallica before being fired for substance abuse issues, and was replaced by Kirk Hammett.  It is only natural for the comparisons between the two bands to linger throughout their respective careers.  This intense album by Megadeth is rated #9 on the Top 10 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time by loudwire.com.

     To get the comparisons out of the way, and I can only say this from this limited sample size as I have previously listened to very little Megadeth, there are noticeable similarities and some distinct differences between these two bands.  I would say Hetfield definitely gets the edge as the superior vocalist, and that is the biggest and most important advantage I hear for Metallica.  At least on this album, it feels like Mustaine sings because he is the best available, but not necessarily the best they could do.  His tone is lighter, and reminds me of Rob Halford, but with less power and less range.

     In contrast, as intense as Metallica is, especially on some of “Master of Puppets”, Megadeth answers the bell when it comes to drums, bass and guitar.  That may or may not have sustained long-term, as they experienced way more turnover than Metallica, with only Mustaine remaining as an original member today.  However, at that this point in time, I have no doubt there were Megadeth loyalists who maintained their band was truer to their metal core and intense roots.

     “Wake Up Dead” is an outstanding opening track.  This entire album took me a little more to warm up to, but by the second listen I was certainly banging my proverbial head, and this one rocks.  Like most of this genre, this isn’t happy music about rainbows and puppy dogs.  On songs like the title track, as well as “The Conjouring”, “Good Mourning / Black Friday” and “Bad Omen”, the explosive pace is fueled by darkness and anger.  It is great aggressive music that absolutely gets the blood racing.

     One surprising track where I actually resonated with Mustaine’s vocals was their unexpected cover of the Howlin’ Wolf track “I Ain’t Superstitious”.  Both the arrangement and the vocal performance are reminiscent of the version by Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart, and I like the added dose of metal mania that blasts through, nearly twenty years after the Beck version.  I don’t know if it ever happened, but it would have been great to see them play this song with Jeff Beck actually sitting in with them.

     We aren’t done with the metal yet, but I am enjoying the side-by-side comparison of these two titans of American metal, and I am glad that over time, Mustaine has come to peace with his own success in this band, even somewhat reconciling with Hetfield and Ulrich, particularly after he battled and overcame a diagnosis of throat cancer.

     In the 1980s, several stars of the 1960s and 1970s discovered a resurgence.  Unfortunately, for most of them, it was fueled by superficial pop hits that in many cases, were note even written by these re-emerging artists.  Heart, Aerosmith and Tina Turner are among those that come to mind, and while they had a lot of commercial success in the 1980s, I don’t think that era of their music comes close to the real sounds they created at the peak of their window of influence.  One artist who managed to escape that trap was Paul Simon.  The 1980s didn’t start well for him, as he had split from not only Art Garfunkel but his wife, Carrie Fisher (yes, Princess Leia!!), and he was struggling to be noticed with his recent albums.  That changed when he was introduced to the sounds of mbaqanga, which is street music from South Africa.  Spending time in South Africa, which didn’t come without controversy, Simon crafted an album of material based on, influenced by, and integrated with a large cast of musicians from South Africa and ultimately around the world.  Paying tribute as a spiritual return to musical roots, he titled the album “Graceland” in honor of one of his musical icons, Elvis Presley.  “Graceland” was a major hit, both critically and commercially, and is the #46 rated album on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     I was always fond of both the inspiration and the results that came from this record, but relistening to it now, I have gained a much greater appreciation for how much I really love this entire album.  The sounds are lush, the instrumentation is remarkably unique, and the songwriting is very effectively immersed within the African feel of this record.  Simon is not the first white artist to explore this sound within his own recording.  Previously, we have listened to, and given high praise, to both Neil Diamond and Peter Gabriel for taking this leap, and Simon definitely does it right with his creative collaborations on this record.

     The album opens with a rich accordion, and the bouncy bass lines that drive this entire record burst into “The Boy in the Bubble”.  Next comes the sweet and adoring sounds of the title track, continuing the warm echoes as Simon comes full circle with his African ensemble singing about the glories of “Graceland”, Elvis Presley’s iconic mansion in Memphis.  The standout component of the next song, “I Know What I Know”, is the unusual riff and accompanying backing vocals in a high key, performed by the Gaza Sisters.  One of the first songs Simon embraced and worked to reshape and augment was the legacy South African track “Gumboots”.  An up-tempo track with beautiful horns, Simon intentionally intersperses faster tracks with slow tunes to extend the contrast and variety of the record.  Side one ends with an absolutely gorgeous song, “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”.  It starts in a beautiful a capella opening, which then evolves into a rousing up-tempo mix of sounds that almost seems too good to be true.  This was a late addition to the album, but it is a real masterpiece.

     Most music listeners will of course recognize “You Can Call Me All, the first and biggest single from the album.  Aside from being a song that has always entertained me, this song stands out to me for two reasons.  First, I have always loved the video with Chevy Chase assuming lead vocal duties while Simon is relegated to a series of complimentary tasks.  The video also underscores the notable difference in height between the two, adding some comic fuel to the performance.  This was at the peak of my Chevy Chase fandom as “Caddyshack”, Vacation” and “Fletch” were all easily among the Top 10 most watched movies of that entire decade for me.  Secondly, I will always a recall this song for a strange and unusual recurring interaction during my time in college.  At some point during my freshman year, I met a girl at a party.  We only talked for about a minute or two, and when I asked her what her name was, she simply said, “You can call me Al.”  That of course, made me Betty.  And although I probably never talked to this person for more than a minute at any time again in my life, any time we saw each other for the next four years, I would say “hello” to Al and she would return the favor.  So, Al, if you are out there somewhere, I hope life is treating you well.

     “Under African Skies” is another beautiful melody that features Linda Ronstadt on a vocal duet.  Adrian Belew also appears on this track on guitar.  “Homeless” is a soulful acknowledgment of the economic imbalance and poverty of the black South Africans, and features Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Simon.  “Crazy Love, Vol. II” sounds like Paul Simon coming back to his roots as an American singer after this powerful experience, and on the last two tracks he further diversifies his collaborations.  “That Was Your Mother” is a Cajun zydeco song that features Good Rockin’ Doopsie and The Twisters.  In a really weird coincidence, I was listening to this album I wondered if there was a similar style collaboration with Latin artists, and just as I thought that, the last song “All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints”, which is a collaboration with Los Lobos, came on the stereo.  I’m not sure how that happened, but some times things just happen for a reason.

     Overall, “Graceland” is one of my very favorite records on this list that was not already a deeply embedded part of my musical catalog, and it was great to revisit why I liked it the first time and rediscover why I love it now.  Paul Simon (like Chevy Chase) can be a bit of a grumpy old man these days, and it always struck me how oddly insecure he was in his relationship with Art Garfunkel, given the fact he was the clear and primary creative force of that duo, but for all of those quirks, he made a fantastic record that lives on as a classic today.