A Lifetime-Plus of Music

     Some bands or artists defy genre, they just create their own unique sound and let others decide what to do with it.  Without question, David Byrne and his band “Talking Heads” fits in this category.  It is never dull, it is never bland, and it is never without innovation.  On this album, “Remain in Light”, which is rated #39 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, producer Brian Eno joins the mix, along with contributors like Adrian Belew from King Crimson.  The end result is an outstanding kaleidoscope of sound.

     Heavy on rhythm, percussion, Tina Weymouth’s bass and a quirky collection of grooves, each of these tracks are so unique and different from each other.  Byrne’s vocals and unusual style are the common link, and each song is a new experience.  Starting with the opening track “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)”, the blend of sound is just hard to fully describe.  It isn’t what I would call an easy listen, like Steely Dan, but there are common themes in terms of the sophisticated production and advanced musicality.  I really like almost the entire record, with the only track I don’t really care that much for being the last song, “The Overload”.  I find it cumbersome and plodding, and darker than the rest of the musical celebration on this album.

     For those of us who grew up in Denver of a certain age, as young music fans we clamored for any source that linked music with video, so that we could see the artists we spend all day and night listening to.  Well before the days of cable television and MTV, we turned to KBDI Channel 12 for “FM-TV”., which evolved into “Teletunes”.  It felt like they only had about 15 total videos, so we were fed a pretty steady diet of early ‘80s music, mostly from the alternative corners and shadows outside of mainstream pop or rock.  One of the most recognizable staples of this video collection was “Once in a Lifetime”.  Seeing David Byrne’s truly bizarre performance, with his bowtie, slicked Buddy Holly hair and glasses, is a memory none of us can ever forget.  Even to this day, we can all replicate the arm chops and his seismic tremors as we all ask ourselves, “My god, what have I done?”  This is a song that will ever be linked with the relative innocence and insatiable curiosity of that age, as we tried desperately to connect with the larger musical world out there beyond the boundaries of our tiny little town.

     “Same as it ever was… same as it ever was… “

     1980 is taking us all over the map.  Digging deeper into the expanding genre of heavy metal, we get the first solo album from Ozzy Osbourne.  “Blizzard of Ozz” is rated as the 6^th greatest heavy metal album of all time by loudwire.com, and this is Ozzy’s 3^rd appearance on the list, having already attained the #1 and #10 spots with Black Sabbath albums.  An impressive feat, but I think any metal fan, myself included, would say this album’s greatness, and its inclusion on the list actually has very little to do with Ozzy.  As many of you may know, this was our first wide-scale introduction to guitarist Randy Rhoads, a virtuoso metal guitarist whose life was taken way too young.

     He started his career with the band Quiet Riot before they had their wave of success, but the opportunity to record and tour with a legend like Ozzy was too much to pass up.  Some people might suggest his style is too derivative of the technique and sound of Eddie Van Halen, a claim Eddie himself would make, but for many of us, there is a very unique and masterful sound that Randy Rhoads brought to the guitar.  His chord tone, the way he melded the notes together, and his frenetic and beautifully structured solos were absolutely amazing.

     The album opens with “I Don’t Know”, a great intro, and next comes what is by far their most recognized hit from this era, “Crazy Train”.  There are probably Ozzy-Randy songs I like better, but this song is truly iconic and the signature song from Ozzy’s entire solo catalog over the past 40 years.  The album shifts to a melancholy ballad from the Prince of Darkness, “Goodbye to Romance”, which would seem more out of place if it wasn’t such a good song.  Side one ultimately ends with the controversial “Suicide Solution”.  Some of you will sadly recall the litigation that was filed against Ozzy after a teenage boy tragically took his own life, allegedly after listening to this song.  An action that extreme is hard to pin on a single factor, but regardless, it serves as a reminder that all artists have to be somewhat conscious who is listening to their music, and what they are saying.  I think that is fair, especially on this subject.

     Keeping things dark, Ozzy sings his ode to occultist and magician Aleister Crowley on “Mr. Crowley”.  Prior to this song’s release, Crowley was more closely associated with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, who shared this fascination as well.  I don’t put too much stock personally in any of this black magic, but I do like the song, particularly the extended keyboard opening.  It did serve for great fodder with the evangelists who were convinced Ozzy and others were here to turn all of his fans into devil worshippers.

     The rest of the second side is a bit less eventful, with my favorite song probably being “Steal Away (The Night).”  All in all, it is a really impressive performance, primarily from Rhoads, and one that rock guitar aficionados to this day look back on with admiration and respect. 

     Barely two years past the release of this album (and a second big success as well), Rhoads and Ozzy were touring and arrived in central Florida, preparing for a large rock festival in the Citrus Bowl, approximately three miles from where I am writing this blog right now.  After a long night of partying on the road, they arrived at their destination, parking their tour bus at a small airport in Leesburg, FL, just a few miles up the road.  For some inexplicable reason, the bus driver, who was later confirmed to have been consuming cocaine all night, decided it would be a great idea to not only take members of the band up for flights, but to repeatedly buzz the tour bus in order to get a rise out of, and awaken, Ozzy.  After several close calls, Rhoads hopped on the plane for more of this nonsense, despite his fear of flying.  Unfortunately, they came too close to the bus, actually clipped it with one of the wings of the plane, and were throttled off course directly into trees and a nearby garage, killing all aboard instantly.  Tragic under any circumstances, this served as one of the absolute most pointless and preventable deaths of any music legend from any era.

     Randy Rhoads, in his time as Ozzy’s guitarist, had a tremendous impact on the world of rock music and heavy metal.  Adored by many, I will always think of my friend and former roommate Darren, who elevated Randy to the very top of his long list of influential metal guitarists.  It would be hard to dispute that opinion, he was truly a genius.  For all of his many poor decisions in life, I know Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, who were both there that day, greatly regret and mourn this pointless loss of life, and hopefully they and all who continue to fight the demons of excess can learn from the tragedies we all experience in one way or another.

     “Crazy… but that’s how it goes…”

     Another dramatic swing in genres, as we go from AC/DC to George Jones to one of America’s first and most influential punk rock bands, the Dead Kennedys.  Yes, the name is completely in poor taste, but that is obviously the point, to get your attention and shock your senses.  Even with my uneven history with punk rock, I have to say I have always loved this band, primarily due to the energy and frenetic voice of lead singer Jello Biafra.  Their debut album, “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” is a blast, and is the #3 rated punk rock album of all time on loudersound.com.

     We get things off to a happy and fun start with “Kill the Poor”.  I’m not sure we can actually do that.  The pace intensifies with “Forward to Death”, and continues with “When Ya Get Drafted”.  I’m not one to gather in the pit for some slam-dancing, but this music can’t help but make you a bit more aggressive.  Next comes “Let’s Lynch the Landlord”.  Like the first song, I don’t think we can do that either.  The rest of the album is filled with cheery tracks like “Chemical Warfare”, “I Kill Children”, “Stealing People’s Mail” and “Ill in the Head”.  Obviously, the secret here is not taking any of this too seriously, which probably applies to most of rock and roll music, but I will fully admit I would have loved seeing this band live during their peak.  “Drug Me”, in particular, is a trend-setter in the extremely fast and intense pace, even more so than most of what was coming from the primary UK punk rock leaders.

     The album ends with probably their biggest hit from that first album, “Holiday in Cambodia”, followed by an outstanding cover of “Viva Las Vegas”.  Ridiculous and over the top?  Absolutely.  Good, aggressive rock and roll?  Damn straight.

     Quite the transition today, as we venture back into the world of country music.  On the list of all-time country legends, no list is complete without hard-drinking and hard-living George Jones, whose life was played out as one country song after another.  This comeback album for Jones, “I Am What I Am”, rated #9 on tasteofcountry.com’s Top 10 Greatest Country albums of all time, is full of those moments, singing of heartbreak, betrayal, and struggles with the bottle.

     The album opens with his biggest hit from the album, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, which put him back on top of the country charts for 18 weeks after going 6 years without a notable hit.  Much of the rest of the collection is in the same vein.  “I’ve Aged Twenty Years in Five”, “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)”, “I’m the One She Missed Him With Today”, “Bone Dry”, and perhaps my favorite, “His Lovin’ Her is Getting’ In My Way” all reflect the lifestyle George Jones embodied.  As if to acknowledge what a burden could be, he recorded his version of “Good Hearted Woman”, originally written by Waylon and Willie and a successful release for each of these legends. The music of George Jones is classic country, and very soothing for me. My parents didn’t actively listen to much country music, but I always associate this music with their friends, family and peers from that generation, and it always makes me smile.

     In a story mostly filled with redemption, George Jones overcame the demons of addiction that took the lives of many of his peers.  As he aged into the 1980s and 1990s, he found more stability and health.  Nothing about this recovery was perfect, unblemished, or easy, but he ultimately stands as proof that no matter how bad it may be, you can still make healthier choices and find some balance and enjoyment in a life without destructive excess.

     There are few tasks more seemingly insurmountable for a band than replacing a popular or iconic lead singer.  The Doors tried to move on without Jim Morrison and failed miserably.  Can you imagine the Stones without Mick?  Led Zeppelin has been stymied for almost 40 years by Robert Plant’s refusal to consistently reunite for performances.  Van Halen tried in the mid-80s, with very mixed and divided results.  Many bands, in the late stage of their careers, have found sound-alikes (i.e. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Journey or Stone Temple Pilots, among others) as they somehow try to continue to make music, and more importantly, money.  It just is not an easy thing to do.  No matter how much a critical part of a band any instrumental musician is, their role is somehow slightly more replaceable, especially to the uneducated ear, than replacing a singer.  When Bon Scott tragically died shortly after the release of “Highway to Hell”, AC/DC’s most successful and best album to date, one had to wonder how they could possibly move on, and in doing so, at what level of success?

     Of course, history now tells us they conquered the lead vocalist replacement like no other act I can think of in rock music history.  And not only did they move forward with a home run album, they doubled down big-time on the sex, darkness, and rock-and-roll theme, especially the double-entendres, that shaped the legendary album “Back in Black”, with new singer Brian Johnson.  This timeless album is rated #84 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  On my own hypothetical list, despite a rough patch I will discuss later, this album would rate much higher.  Unprecedented in its success as a rock album, it is the second highest selling album of any genre, in musical history.

       Brian Johnson’s voice defies all practical thinking with regard to protecting your voice and caring for it as an instrument.  I’m sure the approach and technique are much more sophisticated than they appear, but on the surface, it seems like he screams (in perfect pitch) through every song, album, and nightly concert performance without breaking down.  In fact, the only thing that has really slowed him down was his own hearing loss, which isn’t inconceivable either after 40 years of fronting this band.

     One other comment I will make before we hit the track list, is the expanded depth of sound that producer Robert “Mutt” Lange found for this and subsequent AC/DC records.  Although he also produced “Highway to Hell”, there is just a deeper and more robust wallop with each Malcolm Young power chord on this record, and he and the band deliver a remarkable sound.

     As I noted, the band was still emerging from the grief and loss of Bon Scott, but instead of softening their approach in anyway, we hear the dark and ominous bells that open the album, with a slow build erupting into “Hells Bells”.  I can only imagine what it felt like as a fan, to put this record on for the first time, not sure what to expect, and being assaulted by the power and intensity of this song.  Take the fury and vocal blast from Johnson and combine it with the Young brothers, and you have an amazing comeback (and debut) underway.  The pace is escalated on the next track, with the frenzied rocker “Shoot to Thrill”, another phenomenal track.

     As much as I love this album, and it is an all-time favorite, I could completely do without the next three songs.  Don’t get me wrong, any Young riff sounds good musically, especially the last song on side one, it is a great groove.  Where I struggle here is that even for me, and I consider myself a pretty open and tolerant individual, the double-entendres of the next three songs are just a bit too blunt and lowest common denominator for me.  After the brilliance of the first two songs, I definitely consider the collective sum of “What Do You Do for Money Honey”, “Givin the Dog a Bone”, and “Let Me Put My Love Into You” as just a few steps too far down the lack of subtlety road.  I’m sure there are passionate AC/DC fans who will disagree with me, but I’d gladly cut this album to the remaining seven songs and walk away with a complete classic.  OK… enough on that, there is too much good music left to celebrate.

     As if the opening of side one wasn’t enough of a hammer, the title track that opens side two has to be one of the single greatest and most legendary rock songs ever created.  This song, in my mind at least, is perfect in every way.  The rhythmic opening, the assault of Malcolm’s power chord riff, Angus Young’s lead guitar to include a solo that blends and destroys in tandem with his brother, the thundering rhythm section, and of course Brian Johnson’s incomprehensible vocal performance all make this song truly unforgettable.  It is on a very short list of songs that no matter how many times I hear it, and of course that total is easily into the thousands, I love it equally with no fatigue or waning interest. 

      They follow up one masterpiece with another, with their most popular and famous song to the broader fanbase, “You Shook Me All Night Long”.  Like the last song, it is perfectly unforgettable, and while certainly clear in its message, it is just a half-notch more subtle in its approach, along with being an unmatched rock song that could double as a pop favorite.  Without question, the best of this album is the best this band delivered, which is saying something given their deep catalog of classics with Bon Scott.

     Side two loses no momentum all the way through.  “Have A Drink on Me” builds off a bluesy intro into another outstanding song, and “Shake A Leg” is even better and more electric, including an Angus solo that makes you shake your head.  This song and solo were always a favorite of my friend John back in high school, and to this day I can easily picture his oversized blonde mane of hair in a frenzy as he danced and air-guitared around the room every time he played this song.

     A great album usually has a uniquely great closing track, and “Back in Black” is no exception.  AC/DC is not here to back down from anyone, and just in case you are doubting that, listen to “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”.  I mean, who can argue with that statement, especially when it is this good.  Another uniquely written riff, drummer Phil Rudd really drives the rhythm home on this song, in concert with Malcolm Young and bass player Cliff Williams.  Brian Johnson’s voice has the perfect blend of venom and sass, and not to be outdone, Angus Young perfectly leads the top-end with a solo that blends seamlessly into the core of the song.

     There is a reason why pretty much every rock music fan across the world owned this album at some point in their life.  The band’s delivery of this record, particularly in light of the circumstances they encountered, is a real tribute to the enduring greatness of this once under-appreciated act, and it stands today as an album with few, if any, comparable peers.

     After yesterday’s Paul McCartney disaster, I have to admit, I wasn’t very enthusiastic when I saw that “Emotional Rescue” by the Rolling Stones was next up.  I have always heard this referred to as their “disco album”, and I know I’m not a huge fan of the title track.  Thankfully, I was very pleasantly surprised, and this album is actually a very solid listen.

     As noted, unlike many albums, the most well-known song, the title track, is probably my least favorite song on the album.  It is just a little too much falsetto from Mick for my tastes.  And I was certainly on alert when the first song was titled “Dance (pt 1)”.  That said, like most of the album, it is much more traditional Stones guitar rock.  Running in succession, “Summer Romance”, “Send It To Me”, and “Let Me Go” all sound as good as the content on the much higher-acclaimed “Some Girls”.  “Indian Girl” opens with the same chord sequence as “Let It Bleed”, but takes a slower and mellower path to a very nice song.

     “Where The Boys Go” is a lot like “When The Whip Comes Down”, which is a favorable comparison, and “Down In The Hole” is their slow blues jam for the album, a really inviting groove.  As noted, I don’t really care for the title track, but in an unexpected surprise, next came one of my favorite Stones songs of all-time, certainly so from this era, with “She’s So Cold”.  Nobody likes one-sided interest, and this song captures that frustration as good as any, and it is a great rocker too.  The album concludes with a horn-laden slow melody “All About You” that features Keith Richards on lead vocals.  He’s far from a traditionally great singer, but there is just something infinitely hip and rock-and-roll about Keith that carries the day here, like most other songs he takes the lead on.

     “Emotional Rescue” was certainly a much-needed rescue for me, and living proof that almost 20 years in, the Stones were still capable of making really good music.  If you haven’t given this album a listen before or in some time, I give it two thumbs up.

     As a part of compiling my list, not only did I include each full studio album from the Beatles, I also included what I hoped would be a mix of some of their best solo recordings.  It wasn’t intentional, but I think I may have found the worst record Paul McCartney ever released.  In early 1980, he fell into the same trap as many of his peers, and overcompensated for changing music tastes with a synthesizer-heavy album, “McCartney II” (his second album without the Beatles or Wings).  It really is pretty dreadful, and that comes from a huge Paul McCartney fan.

      The first song is the one recognizable hit from the album, “Coming Up” and it isn’t bad, even though it sounds like he might have the Muppets singing backing vocals.  Unfortunately, it slides downhill quickly thereafter.  Next comes “Temporary Secretary”… I don’t even know what to say about this hot mess.  It is just awful. I know Paul can try to be a bit over-cute with some of his songwriting, but this is brutal.  The rest of the album continues on, pretty much alternating between painfully bland (“On The Way”, “Waterfalls”, “One Of These Days” and “Summer’s Day Song”) and more brutal techno-flops like “Front Parlour”, “Darkroom”, and the uncomfortably named “Frozen Jap”.  There is a song called “Bogey Music” that is some sort of an Elvis rock-a-billy track.  At least it is a little more interesting, if not a great listen.

     Sir James Paul McCartney, I love you as much as any musician I have ever heard.  Your music, including your career after The Beatles, has continuously entertained, inspired and moved me.  I’m grateful for the contributions you make to our world to this day.  I tried several times to give this record a chance, but I’m just not getting anywhere with it, so it is time to move on.  I get it, the 80’s were an awkward time for a lot of us.  No hard feelings…

     1980 brings us the third album from Van Halen, “Women and Children First”.  There are some creative moments on this album, and as always, Eddie Van Halen is spectacular, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this proves to be my least favorite of the vintage Van Halen albums with David Lee Roth on vocals.  I will hit some of the details below like always, but I just don’t think the songwriting lives up to the same level as the first two albums.

     The best two songs are probably the first two, “And the Cradle Will Rock” and “Everybody Wants Some!!”.  Both Van Halen brothers crush on these first two tracks, and they both have party Diamond Dave at his best, at least on this album.  I will always remember the Claymation rock-out of “Everybody Wants Some!!” in the John Cusack movie “Better Off Dead”, complete with Eddie’s Frankenstrat guitar.

     Following those two, the next three songs are all a bit uninspired, as if these were songs that didn’t quite make the cut for the first two records.  I hate to say it, but I find “Loss of Control” particularly annoying, even with Eddie blistering away as always.  The vocals are just a bit of a grind to get through.

     The album ends on a better note, with the rocker “Take Your Whiskey Home”, the acoustic blues sound of “Could This Be Magic”, and the closing track “In a Simple Rhyme”, which really relies on the backing vocals of Michael Anthony like many solid Van Halen tracks.  None of these are all-time favorites, although “Could This Be Magic” is my favorite of the three, but even when they aren’t at their best, Van Halen is still capable of bringing down the house.  This is their first album to have all original songs, and while maybe that stretched them a little thin on content, coming this close after their second album, most diehards love it, and it does have perhaps their most iconic band photo on the album cover.

     And here we are, crossing over into the 1980s, and here to help us ring in another highly transformative decade of music, we have our first hip-hop album.  Sort of.  I will explain more later, but for now, let us introduce the self-titled album, “Sugarhill Gang” by The Sugarhill Gang.  They burst onto the scene in late 1979 with the first hip-hop song to crack the Top 40, “Rappers Delight”, and riding that momentum, they released this full album in early 1980 (including “Rapper’s Delight”).

     The Sugarhill Gang was primarily three emcees, Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Big Bank Hank, who is sadly no longer with us.  Like most hip-hop music, there is a wide assortment of backing tracks, backing musicians, and backing vocalists, to include Sylvia Robinson, who added much more of a female voice than I expected on this record.

     Knowing what I was getting into, and as a big fan of The Sugarhill Gang, based on the collective discovery of “Apache” by my friends Matt, Shane and I, I was very excited to throw on my first hip-hop album.  Until I heard the first song, “Here I Am”.  I sat there, completely stunned, listening to some horribly mediocre R&B song.  I felt like Beavis, “Uhhh… wait a minute”.  Where in the hell is the rap??

     Thankfully, we kicked into the rap on the next song, “Rapper’s Reprise”, which was surprisingly long at 7:40.  It sounded similar to “Apache”, which is not on this album, but was nice and pure early hip-hop.  Unfortunately, we had another backslide into bad R&B on “Bad New (Don’t Bother Me)”, before we continued back on the hip hop train.

     Of course, the natural highlight of this album is “Rapper’s Delight”.  For any fan of hip-hop, it pretty much starts here.  This song is pure happiness, and one of the foundations of a genre that pretty much rules the world now.  Wonder Mike starts it off, and takes turns passing the mike to Big Bank Hank and then Master Gee.  Naturally, the sound is a bit rudimentary, but it has such a catchy vibe it isn’t hard to see why people were drawn to this sound.

     I was reminded today that early rap was just an expanding and emerging sound from the core of existing R&B, but thankfully we won’t hear many more tracks like “Here I Am” as the hip-hop ride continues.  Welcome to the 80s!!!

     Finishing up yesterday’s blog on Van Halen, as I was looking for comparisons in late 1970s rock, I realized my list had completely overlooked another of the rock titans from that era.  It is probably because their lead singer, Steven Tyler, annoys me to no end and is in elite company with Paul Stanley and modern-day David Lee Roth as the most obnoxious aging rockers.  All of that being said, back in their day, Aerosmith definitely had some chops, so I’m going back to 1975 to contemplate their best album, “Toys In the Attic”.

     While Tyler can absolutely drive me nuts, most of us can appreciate the cooler side of the band, starting with Joe Perry.  Aerosmith, who come from Boston like many other of the 70s’ most successful bands, are an American blend of the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.  Digging into the blues roots of rock, their sound is riff-heavy and very comparable to many of their peers.

     The album opens with the title track, which is one of the best on the record.  “Uncle Salty” and “Adam’s Apple” are less memorable, but we then have one of their true classics, “Walk This Way”.  Some of the lyrics are a bit cringe-worthy, especially as I reflect on Steven Tyler making suggestive comments to underage girls while he was a judge on American Idol, but the riff is legendary, and the track was used nearly a decade later to help mainstream hip-hop when it was redone by Run DMC with Tyler and Perry on the new version.  Side one ends with the double-entendre classic “Big Ten Inch Record”.  I always thought this was just Steven pushing boundaries, but I was surprised to learn this song was actually written and released in 1952, which is actually a bit “hard” to imagine at that time.  How’s that for double-entendre?

     Anyway, on to side two.  The first track is probably my all-time favorite Aerosmith song, another perfectly crafted riff, “Sweet Emotion”.  As much as they can wear me down, I still love this song a lot.  “No More No More” is definitely a Stones-Zeppelin soundalike, a good hybrid of their brands with Aerosmith’s own touch to top it off.  “Round and Round” is a heavier riff that doesn’t quite hit, but they finish the album with a decent Tyler ballad, “You See Me Crying”.  This is one of the first examples of a trick they relied upon way too much in the 1980s, bringing in an outside songwriter with Tyler to try and invent a hit when the well ran dry.  Success is success and you can’t dispute the commercial success of this album and certainly their run in the 1980s, but I do tend to favor artists who fully create their own sound.

     All of the ups and downs included, “Toys In the Attic” was a massive hit that remains a rock classic to this day, and absolutely deserved to be on the list.  By 1979, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford had actually left the band.  During this gap, they recorded a song called “Lightning Strikes” which is another of my favorite Aerosmith songs, even if it has basically been discarded as a non-Joe Perry song.  I also think it would serve as a great song for my favorite hockey team, but what do I know?  I’m glad this record came to mind and that I took the time to give it a listen.  Any stadium rock festival was just as likely to have Aerosmith present as their peers like Van Halen, ZZ Top, AC/DC and their British rock counterparts, and it is a part of music culture that has all but disappeared today.