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1990 Non-Soundtrack Music T Talk Talk

Natural History: The Very Best Of Talk Talk

Talk Talk - Natural History: The Very Best Of Talk TalkSometimes I like picking up a one-hit wonder’s “best-of” CD just to see what else they did, especially if I liked the one single of theirs that got anywhere. While Natural History shows that not every Talk Talk song was worthy of heavy rotation in the airplay, it does show that the band’s one-hit wonder status is probably undeserved.

I try never to let music videos cloud my judgement of whether or not the song is good, but I must admit that least part of my fond memories of the band’s biggest single, “It’s My Life”, include the extremely cool nature-film video with its flock of ink-blot birds throughout the entire song. It ran so far against the grain of what music videos were at the time that I considered it excessively cool (and I know I’m not the only one, either). “It’s My Life” itself is an interesting song the likes of which I haven’t heard since – heavy on synths, but also heavy enough on musicianship and great vocals that it still sounds like an organic whole, not a machine-assembled song.

Other standouts include “Such A Shame”, which has a style similar to “It’s My Life” (or perhaps that should be the other way around, since “Shame” predates it by a year or two), and one of my personal favorites, Life’s What You Make It. Though from the same album as “It’s My Life”, “Life’s What You Make It” has a soulful sound the straddles the styles of Talk Talk and Squeeze, with some excellent Hammond organ work and some great lyrics to go with it.

4 out of 4There are a couple of live tracks, nice ones to be sure, but Talk Talk was at the height of its powers in the studio, not on stage, and butting live cuts up against studio tracks only heightens that contrast.

If Natural History tells us anything, it is that we may have underestimated Talk Talk when the radio industry in general seemed to shrug them off as one-hit wonders.

Order this CD

  1. Today (3:30)
  2. Talk Talk (3:15)
  3. My Foolish Friend (3:18)
  4. Such A Shame (5:22)
  5. Dum Dum Girl (4:02)
  6. It’s My Life (3:51)
  7. Give It Up (5:19)
  8. Living In Another World (7:00)
  9. Life’s What You Make It (4:25)
  10. Happiness Is Easy (6:29)
  11. I Believe In You (5:55)
  12. Desire (6:56)
  13. Life’s What You Make It – live (4:40)
  14. Tomorrow’s Started – live (7:45)

Released by: Capitol
Release date: 1990
Total running time: 71:47

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Categories
2001 H J L M Neil Finn Non-Soundtrack Music O S T Tim Finn V W

Listen To What The Man Said

Listen To What The Man Said: Popular Artists Pay Tribute To The Music Of Paul McCartney“What’s this?” I asked. “A Paul McCartney tribute album benefitting cancer charities and featuring the Finn Brothers? Sign me up!”

Actually, this nice little selection, proceeds from which go toward the fight against breast cancer, has many good covers of Macca’s post-Beatles best. Owsley kicks things off with a picture-perfect reading of “Band On The Run” which doesn’t stray very far from the original Wings recording. SR-71 turns “My Brave Face” – one of my favorite latter-day McCartney solo tunes simply by virtue of the fact that it isn’t “Hope & Deliverance” – into a gleeful hard-rock thrash. Semisonic also faithfully replicates “Jet”, rocking it out a bit but not so much that it’s unrecognizable. The Virgos give a similar treatment to “Maybe I’m Amazed”, while the Merrymakers punch up “No More Lonely Nights” (another personal favorite) a bit. Some of the other renditions fly under the radar a bit – Matthew Sweet’s “Every Night” for one.

And as for Tim and Neil Finn? It pains me to say it, but their cover of “Too Many People” is a mess – it sounds like an unrehearsed one-take-and-that’s-it wonder, without much effort. The arrangement isn’t organized, the sound quality isn’t even up to the standards of the brothers’ admittedly (and intentionally) lo-fi Finn album, and the vocals just smack of a cover band that’s been asked to play something they’d mostly forgotten. Sad to say, the Finn Brothers, who drew my attention to this collection, turned out to be its biggest disappointment. I was stunned. I was also looking forward to the They 3 out of 4Might Be Giants cover of “Ram On”, but it wasn’t so much disappointing as just inscrutably cryptic in its new arrangement.

Overall, a nice set – and one that truly turned my expectations on ear by introducing me to some excellent new artists while the known quantities gave me a wee bit of a let-down.

Order this CD

  1. Band On The Run – Owsley (5:14)
  2. My Brave Face – SR-71 (3:00)
  3. Junk – Kevin Hearn, Steven Page and Stephen Duffy (2:56)
  4. Jet – Semisonic (4:15)
  5. No More Lonely Nights – The Merrymakers (4:11)
  6. Let Me Roll It – Robyn Hitchcock (4:21)
  7. Too Many People – Finn Brothers (3:43)
  8. Dear Friend – The Minus 5 (4:45)
  9. Every Night – Matthew Sweet (2:56)
  10. Waterfalls – Sloan (4:21)
  11. Man We Was Lonely – World Party (2:59)
  12. Coming Up – John Faye Power Trip (3:43)
  13. Maybe I’m Amazed – Virgos (4:14)
  14. Love In Song – The Judybats (4:04)
  15. Warm And Beautiful – Linus of Hollywood (3:08)
  16. Ram On – They Might Be Giants (2:40)

Released by: Oglio
Release date: 2001
Total running time: 60:30

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Categories
1988 Non-Soundtrack Music T Traveling Wilburys

Traveling Wilburys – Volume One

Traveling Wilburys - Volume OneThis first outing by the collective of rock legends – Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne – has attained something of its own legendary status, and listening back to it, it’s not hard to see why.

The two group efforts, “Handle With Care” and “End Of The Line”, deservedly got a great deal of attention as singles, but there were plenty of other music treasures to be found. “Dirty World” and “Tweeter And The Monkey Man” are obviously Bob Dylan’s babies, while Lynne’s influence is obvious on the retro-rocker “Rattled”. But far and away, the prize on Volume One goes to “Not Alone Anymore”, which was the last thing any of us heard out of Roy Orbison before his death. It was a nice preview of the sound Orbison and Lynne would glean from their collaboration on Orbison’s final solo album Mystery Girl, and took on a bit of a haunting quality in hindsight.

Harrison’s “Heading For The Light” ain’t shabby either…and I think it’s the last song we’ve heard out of him that 4 out of 4really sounds like him, Beatles Anthology “new” songs notwithstanding.

It’s a bit of fun with a little touch of a country twang to it, and while the follow-up, Volume Three, had its own charms, Orbison’s presence – and, indeed, the presence of the other four rock legends working together for the first time – made Volume One a special outing for the Wilburys.

Order this CD

  1. Handle With Care (3:20)
  2. Dirty World (3:30)
  3. Rattled (3:00)
  4. Last Night (3:48)
  5. Not Alone Any More (3:24)
  6. Congratulations (3:30)
  7. Heading For The Light (3:37)
  8. Margarita (3:16)
  9. Tweeter And The Monkey Man (5:30)
  10. End Of The Line (3:30)

Released by: Wilbury Records
Release date: 1988
Total running time: 36:25

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Categories
1990 Non-Soundtrack Music T Traveling Wilburys

Traveling Wilburys – Volume Three

Traveling Wilburys - Volume ThreeIn the absence of the late Roy Orbison, the remaining Wilburys – Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne – soldiered onward to create a memorable second album, paradoxically titled Volume Three. While replacement for Orbison were bandied about by speculating fans and the music press, ranging from Carl Perkins to Del Shannon, the four surviving Wilburys didn’t fill the empty slot.

Volume Three opens with the hard-rocking “She’s My Baby”, with guest star Gary Wright jamming along on this number which swings wide of the group’s acoustic-only ambitions from their first album. Lynne, Harrison, Dylan and Petty each take their turn at the lead vocal, and one can definitely hear Lynne’s hand in the somewhat more polished background harmonies.

Other highlights include Lynne’s piano-heavy boogie “New Blue Moon”, Petty’s shuffling, lyric-heavy rocker “Cool Dry Place”, “Inside Out”, and the group’s tribute to Orbison, You Took My Breath Away. But some 3 out of 4of the tracks ramble just a little bit and dig a style rut early on.

Both volumes of the Traveling Wilburys’ musical adventures are due to be re-released soon by Warner Bros. in connection with Harrison’s Dark Horse label.

Order this CD

  1. She’s My Baby (3:12)
  2. Inside Out (3:33)
  3. If You Belonged To Me (3:11)
  4. The Devil’s Been Busy (3:18)
  5. 7 Deadly Sins (3:14)
  6. Poor House (3:14)
  7. Where Were You Last Night? (3:00)
  8. Cool Dry Place (3:33)
  9. New Blue Moon (3:15)
  10. You Took My Breath Away (3:18)
  11. Wilbury Twist (2:59)

Released by: Warner Bros.
Release date: 1990
Total running time: 35:$7

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Categories
1990 Non-Soundtrack Music T Toto

Toto – Past To Present

Toto - Past To PresentSo, whatever happened to the band that did “Africa”? Well, if you listen to the “new” tracks recorded by Toto for their best-of CD, you’ll probably answer, “Not nearly enough.”

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I used to like Toto’s stuff quite a bit. One can hardly go through a catalog of memorable songs from the 1980s without bringing up “Africa” and “Rosanna”, and “Hold The Line” is still a pleasantly non-guilty memory of late 70s rock for many. (“Georgy Porgy”, on the other hand, is still pretty much a guilty pleasure for those who actually like it. It’s not one of my favorites.) Toto’s right up there with Foreigner in my mind in the “good while it lasted” category.

And right up there with Chicago, too, for Toto has really slipped from its former glory. New vocalist – well, new as of ten years ago, and I haven’t heard a thing out of the band since – Jean-Michel Byron strips Toto of its edge, giving the group’s sound that glossed-over veneer of a one-great rock band that has descended into pre-fabricated, synth-heavy soft-rock schlock. The four new tracks on Past To Present hardly sound like Toto. Even when the old Toto lineup did ballads, such as the palatable “I’ll Be Over You” from their Fahrenheit album, the songs were sung by someone who still clearly had the pipes to do some larynx-ripping rock vocals. Not so here – Toto becomes as rockin’ as Chicago during the Peter Cetera epoch…which is to say, not rockin’ at all.

But those are only four songs. The rest of this album’s material is the classic stuff that put Toto on the map to begin with. The understated percussive textures and vocal harmonies of “Africa” stand up to anything on the charts today, the bluesy rock of “Rosanna” and “Hold The Line” have stood the test of time quite well, and my own guilty pleasure – 1988’s “Pamela” (which is admittedly a ripoff of the group’s own “Rosanna”) – still sounds 3 out of 4good to my ears. I liked Toto’s rock numbers better than their ballads, but even “I’ll Be Over You”, “99” and “I Won’t Hold You Back” are easier on the ears than the four tracks of neo-Toto.

Recommended for casual Toto fans – just remember to skip the new stuff.

Order this CD

  1. Love Has The Power (6:32)
  2. Africa (4:59)
  3. Hold The Line (3:57)
  4. Out Of Love (5:55)
  5. Georgy Porgy (4:08)
  6. I’ll Be Over You (3:50)
  7. Can You Hear What I’m Saying (4:47)
  8. Rosanna (5:35)
  9. I Won’t Hold You Back (4:59)
  10. Stop Loving You (4:29)
  11. 99 (5:12)
  12. Pamela (5:12)
  13. Animal (5:02)

Released by: Columbia
Release date: 1990
Total running time: 64:32

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Categories
1980 E ELO Film N Soundtracks T X

Xanadu – music by Olivia Newton-John & ELO

Xanadu soundtrackAt the time of this review, Xanadu doesn’t seem to have been pressed on CD in the States, at least not recently, so I had to get a Japanese import, but at least the Japanese realized where the true value of this movie’s music was and put the ELO tracks first! (Oh, all right, just to be fair, I really, really like Olivia Newton-John’s “Magic”, and the big-band/rock combo “Dancin'” featuring The Tubes is really nifty. There, I admitted it.) Among the ELO tracks, the only weak entry is “Xanadu” itself, but even so3 out of 4 stars it’s not a bad song. It may not be the lost holy grail that ELO fans would really like to hear – Jeff Lynne’s abandoned instrumental score for the movie itself – but in general, the music was better than the movie.

    Order this CD in the Store
  1. I’m Alive (3:47)
  2. The Fall (3:36)
  3. Don’t Walk Away (4:47)
  4. All Over The World (4:05)
  5. Xanadu (with Olivia Newton-John) (3:28)
    Olivia Newton-John tracks:
  6. Magic (4:28)
  7. Suddenly – with Cliff Richard (4:00)
  8. Dancin’ – with the Tubes (5:15)
  9. Suspended in Time (3:53)
  10. Whenever You’re Away From Me / with Gene Kelly (4:18)

Released by: MCA
Release date: 1980
Total running time: 41:37

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Categories
10cc 1977 Non-Soundtrack Music T

10cc – Deceptive Bends

10cc - Deceptive BendsThough it contains one of the two songs most everyone thinks about when the name 10cc comes up, this album is pretty much average. “The Things We Do For Love” has earned its classic status, but there are other great songs on this album, including the wonderfully beautiful but offbeat ballad “People In Love” and the very strange and well-produced “Honeymoon With B Troop”. (Well-produced in this case meaning that the effects and acoustic treatments used on various voices and instruments are absolutely perfect given the song’s subject; and it’s just so weird, ya gotta love it!) But there are some simply average tracks, such as another well performed and produced track, Feel the Benefit, which is an attempt at emulating the epic-scale structure of such pop medleys as the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers” / “Carry That Weight” / “The End” that comes across as just that, a smaller-scale copy. Most of the album is pretty good, though; and it comes from that remarkable convergence of talents that seemed to take place all around the same time; 1977 3 out of 4brought us this album with one of 10cc’s biggest singles, ELO’s Out Of The Blue, Alan Parsons’ I Robot, The Rumour’s Frogs, Sprouts, Clogs & Krauts, John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack, and many others – at least in my book, 1977 seems to have been a musical flashpoint.

Order this CD

  1. Good Morning Judge (2:53)
  2. The Things We Do For Love (3:30)
  3. Marriage Bureau Rendezvous (4:03)
  4. People In Love (3:45)
  5. Modern Man Blues (5:35)
  6. Honeymoon with B Troop (2:47)
  7. I Bought a Flat Guitar Tutor (1:46)
  8. You’ve Got A Cold (3:36)
  9. Feel the Benefit (11:29)

Released by: PolyGram
Release date: 1977
Total running time: 39:24

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